Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 279
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 279 to death. Thereupon the Holy Prophet called for the Torah, and though the Jewish divines still persisted in seeking to mislead him, Abdullah bin Salam clearly demonstrated from the Torah that the penalty for adultery was as he had advised the Holy Prophet, who determined accordingly. About the same time, the aged mother of Ali, Fatima bint Asad, died in Medina. This revered lady had been in the place of a mother to the Holy Prophet, and had brought him up as one of her own children. She had been very fond of him and he was deeply griev ed at her death. He gave his own shirt to serve as her shroud and himself made all arrangements for her burial. He stood in the grave and lowered her body into it while supplicating, ‘May Allah reward thee for having been a very good mother to me. ’ Of Abu Talib’s children she was the mother of four sons, Talib, Aqeel, Ja’far and Ali, and one daughter, Um Hani. So far all military operations undertaken by the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, had been, directly or indirectly, of a defensive character. The expeditions undertaken for the establishment of peaceful relations with some of the Arab tribes fell into the sa me category. Also, all these operations had been confined to the Hedjaz and Nejd, that is to say to Central Arabia. In the fifth year of Hijra the scope of these operations began to be widened. The Holy Prophet received intimation that a large group of peo ple, based on Dumatul Jandal, occupied themselves with robbing and looting travellers and caravans, and that there was some possibility that they might extend the scope of their disorderly marauding activities and might become a source of apprehension for the Muslims. There was, at the time, no serious