The First Friday Prayer
Tabari VII p. 1
Among these [noteworthy events] is his holding the Friday prayer with his companions on the day on which he left Quba for Medina. This was on Friday, and the time for prayer - the Friday prayer - overtook him in the territory of the Banu Salim b. Awf in the bed of a wadi belonging to them, and this was used as a mosque that day.
Clear enough. The importance of Friday and the Friday prayer are sunnah, examples set by Muhammad. The reason that Muslims assign particular significance to the Friday prayer is that Muhammad did so.
This was the first Friday prayer which the Messenger of Allah held in Islam. On this Friday he delivered a sermon, the first sermon he preached in Medina.
This is one of the few preserved sermons of Muhammad. It is described in detail in the page The First Sermon.
The Choice of a Site for Mosque and House
Sirat p. XXX, Tabari VII p. 4
Muhammad mounted his she-camel and let her reins hang loose. [...] Finally he reached the present site of his mosque, and his camel knelt down where the door of his mosque is. At that time this place was a drying-floor for dates and belonged to two orphan boys of Banu al-Najjar under the guardianship of Muadh b. Afra.
The site of the mosque of the Prophet belonged to Banu al-Najjar and contained palm trees, cultivated land and pre-Islamic graves. Muhammad said to them: "Ask me a price for it," but they said: "We do not want a price for it, but only the reward we shall receive from Allah."
This was quite fortunate for Muhammad. As far as we know, he had no capital or other financial resources that would enable him to purchase any land of significance.
Muhammad then gave orders concerning the site; the palm trees were cut down, the cultivated land leveled, and the graves dug up.
But... The Quran says, in many places in the Meccan suras: "Do not devour the wealth of orphans!"? It's tricky what to make of this. We can't call a true prophet a hypocrite. Muhammad himself was an orphan, which probably contributed to his special concern in this area, but that doesn't explain this incident. No Quranic exception has been given for this occasion. It might of course have been lost, but since no reference to any revelation is made, it is likely that there never existed any. No symbolic value should be assigned to the fact that the first Islamic mosque is built by leveling productive land and on the bones of dead infidels.
The Marriage with Aisha
Tabari VII p. 6
In this year also Muhammad consummated his marriage with Aisha.
A footnote in Tabari reads: "Aisha was the daughter of Abu Bakr, Muhammad's chief lieutenant, and the marriage was important in cementing the relationship of the two men." This appears to have been standard practice in ancient Arabia. Abu Bakr would later become the first caliph. The next political marriage of Muhammad was to Hafsah, daughter of Umar, who would later become the second caliph.
He had married her in Mecca three years before the Hijrah, after the death of Khadijah. At that time she was six or, according to other accounts, seven years old.
While having sex with underage girls was not considered criminal in ancient Arabia, the example (Sunnah) set by Muhammad here has severe consequences for young girls today, in large numbers. This is true not least in Saudi Arabia, where the minimum age for marriage is 9 for girls. And in Iran, where the late ayatollah Khomeini justified sex with minors in writing. In contrast to the issue of Female Genital Mutilation, this problem still has no real solution.
Aisha said: "There are nine special features for me that have not been with any other woman, except for what Allah bestowed on Maryam bt. Imran [Mary, mother of Jesus]. By Allah, I do not say this to exalt myself over any of my companions."
"The angel brought down my likeness; the Messenger of Allah married me when I was seven; my marriage was consummated when I was nine; he married me when I was a virgin, no other man having shared me with him; inspiration came to me when he and I were in a single blanket; I was one of the dearest people to him; a verse of the Quran was revealed concerning me when the community was almost destroyed; I saw Gabriel when none of his other wives saw him; and he was taken [died] in his house when there was nobody with him but the angel and myself."
This must be some of the most impossible scripture ever concieved. There is no record of Mary, the mother of Jesus, being given away in a child marriage or having sex before puberty. Jesus sleeping with his mother would have been a severe case of incest, not paedophilia. Now, Jesus didn't dictate the Bible in a way similar to how Muhammad gave the Quran, making the next point moot. Some would say that scripture inspired by sex with minors should be subject to an double morality check. But since this concerns Muhammad, an exception can probably be made. As for the remaining 'similarities', the Christian scriptures report little or nothing to substantiate them.
Aisha, of course, was not learned in Christian scripture, and can be excused for her ignorance. Hafsah, the wife of Muhammad mentioned above, is credited with giving the nine points.
Births
Tabari VII p. 9
Abu Jafar was the first child born to the Emigrants in the abode of the Jijrah. It is said that Muhammad's companions cried: "Allah-u-Akbar" ("Allah is greater") when he was born.
The same cry is said to have been used used at the birth of Muhammad himself. Note that the proper translation is "Allah is greater" or "Allah is greatest", rather than "Allah is great". This has some subtle implications.
This was because a story was current among the Muslims that the Jews claimed that they had bewitched the Muslims so that no children would be born to them. The Muslims praised Allah in joy that he had shown the Jews' claim to be false.
The matter of who is being more superstitious here is a little up in the air. The Jews, as far as we know, had no tradition for practicing witchcraft, but they might have picked up some customs from their Arab neighbours. The Muslims seem to have taken the rumour seriously. From a modern point of view, it's just a bit silly.
Expedition led by Hamzah
Sirat p. 419, Tabari VII p. 10
In Ramadan, seven months after the Hijrah, Muhammad entrusted a white banner to Hamzah b. Abd al-Muttalib with the command of thirty men of the Emigrants.
Here is something new. This is the first raid in the history of Islam. Muhammad hands out a war banner (in the style of his ancestor Quzayy) to his uncle Hamzah with appropriate marching orders. It is remarkable that the raid is initiated in the (supposedly holy) month of Ramadan, where the Arabs would traditionally abstain from fighting and plunder.
Their aim was to intercept the caravans of Quraysh.
The objective was plunder. Since we have no accounts of what trade the Muslims had in Medina, they might simply have been broke and hungry. The breach of the ban of fighting in Ramadan could also indicate a certain desperation.
Hamzah met Abu Jahl at the head of three hundred men. Majdi b. Amr al-Juhani intervened between them, and they separated without a battle.
Being outnumbered 10:1, that was probably a smart move on the side of the Muslims.
The banner of Hamzah was carried by Abu Marthad.
Expedition led by Ubaydah
Tabari VII p. 10
Eight months after the Hijrah, in Shawwal, Muhammad entrusted a white banner to Ubaydah b. al-Harith and ordered him to march to Batn Rabigh. His banner was carried by Mistah b. Uthathah.
Clearly an honour to carry the war banner of Muhammad, since the carriers are often named.
He reached the pass of al-Marah, which is near al-Juhfar, at the head of sixty Emigrants without a single Ansari among them.
It is hardly surprising that the Ansari (Muslims of Medina) are not joining. Muhammad had a defensive treaty with them, protecting Muhammad in case he was attacked by the Quraysh, but the treaty said nothing about the Ansari being obligated to join the raids against the Quraysh initiated by Muhammad. Further, the natives of Medina would have farms, trade and/or family to take care of, and thus be much less inclined to engage in adventures.
Medina (Yatrib at this time) was quite a rich town, of perhaps 50.000 inhabitants. It remains a mystery that Muhammad and the relatively small band of emigrants aren't taking part in the normal working life of the town, but choose to resort to plunder. Muhammad himself was an experienced caravan leader, and the vast majority of Muslims were able men easily capable of taking up a days' work.
The text makes no attempt to explain this, and merely records events that took place. Actually, it records preciously little of the activities of Muhammad during the first year at Medina. Everything of some importance has been reported on this page, which is not much for an entire year. We have the selection of the place for the mosque, the marriage to Aisha, one sermon, and then come the raids. One would expect much more religious activity for the newly-emigrated prophet. But whatever else took place in this period is lost to history.
They met the polytheists at a watering place called Ahyah; they shot arrows at one another but thre was no hand-to-hand fighting.
More failed expeditions follow. Some are led by Muhammad personally:
Expeditions led by Muhammad
Sirat p. 421, Tabari VII p. 13
Then Muhammad led an expedition in Rabi al-Akhir (October 623) in search of Quraysh. He went as far as Buwat in the region of Radwa and then returned without any fighting.
Apparently, they simply didn't encounter any caravans on this raid.
He stayed in Medina for the rest of Rabi al-Akhir and part of Jumada al-Ula (November 623) and then led aonther expedition in search of Quraysh.
When the Quraysh aren't coming for Muhammad, Muhammad instead has to come to the Quraysh.
He took the mountain track of al-Khabar, halting beneath a tree in the Batha Ibn Azhar called Dhat al-Saq. He prayed there, and his mosque is there. Food was prepared for him there, and he and those with him ate. The site there of the stones on which his cooking-pot was supported is still well known. Water was brought to him from water called al-Mushayrib.
Reverence for Muhammad is obviously high.
Then he set off, leaving al-Khalaiq on the left and going through a pass, now called Shubat Abd Allah. From that point, he went down to the left until he reached Yalyal, halting where Yalyal adjoined al-Dabuah. Water was brougth to him from a well at al-Dabuah.
It is amusing that the supply of water is mentioned and named in these stories, something people in other regions would not bother. It of course reflects the arid conditions of the Arabian deserts and the customs of the people living there.
Next, he went through the plain of Malal until he joined the road at Sukhayrat al-Yamam, then kept to the road until he halted at al-Ushayrah in the Batn Yanbu. He stayed there for the rest of Jumada al-Ula and a few days of Jumada al-Akhira (November-December 623). During this time, the Bau Mudlij and their confederates from the Banu Damrah made a treaty of friendship with him.
It might seem odd that these insignificant details are so meticously recorded. It probably reflects the great reverence the early Muslims had for their prophet.
Then he went back to Medina without any fighting.
Even having the prophet along did not improve their luck. No Quraysh, no caravans, no booty.
Muhammad had spent only a few days in Medina, less than ten, after coming back from the expedition to al-Usharyah, before Kurz b. Jabir al-Fihri raided the herds of Medina. Muhammad went out in pursuit of him and reached a valley called Safawan in the region of Badr, but Kurz eluded him and was not caught. This was the first expedition of Badr.
However benign, this expedition still earned its own name. It is also good to have on record that Muhammad was not the only agressor in town. Albeit so far, he is the least successful one, being beaten by what sems your average Arab robber.
Then Muhammad returned to Medina and stayed there for the rest of JUmada al-Akhirah, Rajab and Shaban (December through February 624). Among other expeditions he sent out at this time was one under Sad b. Abi Waqqas at the head of eight men.
The exact number of attempted raids by the Muslims is uncertain, but seems to be 10 or more. Some reports might be variant accounts of the same raids.
