The Emigration (Hijra) ••• 37caravan returning from Syria, just as Mecca was dispatching a retaliatory
army of almost 1,000 men. They met Muhammad's forces (86 emigrants,
238 ansar) at an oasis called Badr, southwest of Medina. Clever tactics
helped the Muslims win, and to Muhammad's people, victory was a tangi¬
ble sign of God's favor and a chance to gain captives and booty. The latter
was divided among the warriors, except for a fifth that the Prophet took to
support poor members of the umma.
In addition, the victory at Badr enhanced the prestige of Islam—and of
Medina—among the tribal Arabs. Even though the Meccans avenged
themselves on the Muslims in 625 at Uhud, just north of Medina, they
could not take the city itself. The umma survived. Islam was taking root
and could not be wiped out. In 627 Mecca sent a larger force to capture
Medina, but the Muslims foiled the army by digging a trench around the
city's vulnerable parts. The ditch was too broad for the Meccans' horses
and camels to cross, so they turned back in disgust. Meanwhile, Muslim
raids from Medina were endangering the Meccan caravan trade. The Arab
tribes began to break with Mecca and make treaties with Muhammad to
join in these lucrative attacks.
Muslim Life in Medina
Muhammad was becoming the head of both a large household and a small
state. God's revelations now laid down laws about marriage and divorce,
inheritance, theft and other crimes, and interpersonal relations more than
they told of God's power and the impending Judgment Day. Moreover,
Muhammad's own sayings and actions concerning practical matters un-
addressed by the Quran or traditional Arab customs were becoming an
authoritative guide for Muslim behavior. For the most part, a non-Muslim
can readily admire the humane common sense that underlay Muham¬
mad's conduct of his public and private life and thus respect his role as a
model for Muslims. But non-Muslims often note two accusations that
have been made against him: his lust for women and his mistreatment of
the Jews. If we raise these issues now, are we not judging a seventh-century
Arab by the standards of our own time and place? Is this fair? All we can
do is present some facts and let you draw your own conclusions.
Muhammad's Marriages
Before Islam, Arab men used to take as many wives as they could afford,
unless they belonged to tribes in which women were dominant. Various