supernatural cause, it is by no means certain that he did not sincerely believe himself to be acting by divine command both when he made the concession and when he withdrew it.[1]
It was probably about this time that an important conversion took place, that of Omar ('Umar) ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, a young man of no high social position but endowed with extraordinary ability and perseverance. He had at first been vehemently opposed to the new religion, so that his sudden conversion, of which there are several conflicting accounts, attracted all the more notice and doubtless inspired the Muslims with fresh courage. It is said that he set the example of praying publicly, in the neighbourhood of the Ka'ba; at all events from this time onwards the movement assumed a more open character. The chiefs of the Ḳuraish finally determined to adopt the only method of coercion known to them, short of positive violence; they offered to Mahomet's kinsmen, the Banū Hāshim, the choice of declaring him an outlaw or of being themselves excluded from intercourse with the other Meccan clans. Most of the Banū Hāshim were still unbelievers, but such was the sanctity attached to ties of blood that they all, with one or two exceptions, preferred to incur the penalty of social excommunication rather than deliver over Mahomet to his enemies. How long this breach lasted and by what means it was healed is uncertain; probably the manifold inconveniences which it caused to all parties soon brought about a change of public opinion.[2]
Very soon after intercourse had been re-established between the Banū Hāshim and their fellow-townsmen, two serious calamities befell Mahomet, the death of his wife Khadīja and that of his protector Abū Ṭālib. There can be little doubt that this double bereavement rendered the Prophet's position at Mecca more precarious; henceforth he began to consider the possibility of finding a home elsewhere. His first attempt was made at a neighbouring town, called Ṭā'if, but he met with so unfavourable a reception that he speedily returned to Mecca, where he succeeded in obtaining a promise of protection from an influential heathen, Muṭ'im ibn 'Adī. For two or three years the Prophet remained in his native city, making, it would seem, scarcely any effort to gain fresh converts among the resident population. His attention was turned chiefly to the pilgrims who visited Mecca or the immediate neighbourhood on the occasion of the yearly festivals. To these motley crowds he used to preach his doctrines, generally encounter-
- ↑ That many Muslim authorities consider this story fabulous is only what we might have expected. But it is amazing that it should be rejected by so impartial a historian as Caetani.
- ↑ It must be admitted that the story of the excommunication of the Banū Hāshim, as related by the principal authorities, presents some very suspicious features; but to conclude, with Caetani, that the whole episode is fictitious would involve still greater difficulties.
