140 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD"Among their people there were still a few elders persisting in their polytheistic
beliefs. One ofthese was 'Amr b. al-Jamah b. Zayd b. Harm b. Ka'b b. Ghanm b.
Ka0 b. Salama.
"His son Musdh b. 'Am was one of those who were present at aLCAqaba. 'Amr
b. al-Jamah was a leader of the Banii Salama. He had a wooden idol, named Manst,
in his home; this was a practice common among those chieftains. They would ti-eat
these idols as gods and would venerate them and show them off. When the young
men of the Banii Salama, Musdh, and Musdh h. Jabal accepted Islam, they would
sneak in at night to that idol of 'Amr, carry it out and toss it head first into pits used
to contain the excrement of the Banii Salama. Next morning 'Amr would ask,
'Who could have attacked our god tonight?' He would then look around for it and
when he found it he washed it, purified it and scented it. Then he would say, 'I
swear, if I knew who did that to you I would put him to shame!'
"When 'Am slept at night they would again seize it and do as before. 'Amr
again found it harmed as before and he would wash, purify and scent it. That night
they returned and did the same, as he did. But this time he brought his sword and
attached it to the idol saying, 'I swear I do not know who is doing this to you, but
if there is any good in you, then defend yourself! You have this sword now.'
"That night while 'Amr slept they returned to the idol, took the sword off its
neck and then replaced it with a dead dog they attached to it. Then they threw it
into one of the cesspools of the Bann Salama. Next day 'Amr b. al-Jamah did not
see it in its place, so he went out to find it and did so in the cesspool, upside down
and with the dead dog attached. When he saw it in this state he reflected upon his
state and one of his people who had accepted Islam went and spoke to him, and,
by God's mercy, he accepted Islam himself and remained a good Muslim. When
he accepted Islam and knew what he now did of God, he reflected on his own state
and what he had seen happen to the idol. He thanked God who had saved him
from his former blindness and error and spoke the following verses,
'By God, if you had been a god, you would not have been
hurled into a well tied to a dog!
Yekh! for treatlng you as a god; now we have assessed
you and (turned from) evil ways,
Praise be to God the Almighty, the Benevolent, the
Giver, the Provider, the establisher of the religions,
He it was saved me before I was encased in the darkness
of a grave."'Section: That gives the names of those who attended the second meeting at al-'Aqaba,
their number, according to Ibn Ishaq, totalling seventy-three men and two women.
There were 11 men from Aws: Usayd b. Hudayr, one of the "leaders"; Aba
al-Haytham b. al-Tayyihiin, who was also at Badr; Salama h. Salw b. Waqash,
at Badr; Zuhayr b. Bfic; Abn Burda b. Niyzr; Nuhayr b. al-Haytham b. NZbi b.