Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 388
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 388 there till the hour of Prayer. Bilal, mounting to the roof of the Ka’aba, summoned the pilgrims with the usual call to midday Prayer. They gathered from every quarter; and so, under the shadow of the Holy House, the Service was led by the Holy Prophet in t he same form as in the mosque of Medina. Sir William Muir has observed ( Life of Muhammad, p. 388): It was surely a strange sight, which at this time presented itself in the vale of Mecca – a sight, one might almost say, unique in history. The ancient city is for three days evacuated altogether by its inhabitants, and every house deserted. As they retire , the Exiles, many years banished from their birthplace, accompanied by their allies, fill the valley, revisit the empty homes of their childhood, and within the short allotted period fulfil the rites of pilgrimage. The ousted citizens, with their families , climbing the heights around, take refuge under tents or rocks amongst the hills and glens; and, clustering on the overhanging peak of Abu Qobais, thence watch the movements of the visitors beneath, as with the Prophet at their head they perform the sacre d rites – anxiously scanning every figure, if perchance to recognize among the worshippers some long - lost friend or relative. It was a scene rendered possible only by the throes that gave birth to Islam. While at Mecca, the Holy Prophet lived in a tent of leather pitched for him near the Ka’aba. Yet he held friendly converse with several of the citizens and endeavoured to turn the present