136 In Ibt FwISkPl of fbe Prophttreminded that such communion was beyond his own human power: ''Not
if you had spent all that is in the earth, could you have put affection
be[Wcen their hearts, but G od has put affection between their hearts." 15
He was the example, the model, who Lived among them and offered his
love to them all, to rhe poor, to the old; he showed courteous regard for
women and was attentive to children. He was a grandfather and would
carry his g randchildren while pra)~ng in the mosque, thus conveying
through his daily example that one cannot remember and be dose to God
without generosity and human attention.
Revelatio n was to establish his singularity in many spheres. T he One
demanded of him more rigorous practice, particularly concerning night
p rayers, and his obligations toward the Angel Gabriel and toward G od
were equal to none. O n another level, the Quran had restricted the num-
ber of wives to {our for the believers at large, but it had established the
Prophet'S singularity in this respect; moreover, his wives were reminded
that they were "not like any of the other women.,,16 Henceforth, they
were to cover their faces and speak to men from behind a screen (hjjab),
and they were informed that they could not marry again after the
Prophet's death. In the light of the Quran's prescriptions, Muhammad
married another woman named Zaynab; she was the divorced wife o f
Muhammad's former slave Zayd, who had become known as Zayd ibn
l\Iuhammad after being adopted by the Prophet, but who had eventually
resumed his former name, Zayd ibn H arithah, since he was not the
Prophet's biological son. T he Quran commented: "Muhammad is not the
father of any of your men, b ut [he is] the Messenger o f God and tbe Seal
of the Prophets.,,17
The Confeder atesA great number of the Banu Nadir people went to se ttle in Khaybar after
their exile from Medina. They nurtured deep resentment toward the
Prophet and hoped for quick revenge. They knew, as did all tbe tribes in
the Peninsula, that the Quraysh were preparing a full-scale attack to crush
the J'vfuslim community and finally put an end to M uhammad's mission.
T he Banu Nadir chief, Huyay, went to i\lecca with Jewish leaders from
Khaybar to seal an alliance with the Quraysh that left no room for doubt: