History of Al-Tabari, vol. 8

This volume covers the history of the Muslim community and the biography of Muammad in the middle Medinan years. It begins with the unsuccessful last Meccan attack on Medina, known as the battle of the Trench. Events following this battle show the gradual collapse of Meccan resistance to Islam. The next year, when Muammad set out on pilgrimage to Mecca, the Meccans at first blocked the road, but eventually a ten-year truce was negotiated at al-udaybiyah, with Muammad agreeing to postpone his pilgrimage until the following year. The Treaty of al-udaybiyah was followed by a series of Muslim expeditions, climaxing in the important conquest of Khaybar. In the following year Muammad made the so-called Pilgrimage of Fulfillment unopposed. Al-abar's account emphasizes Islam's expanding geographical horizon during this period. Soon after the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyah, Muammad is said to have sent letters to six foreign rulers inviting them to become Muslims. Another example of this expanding horizon was the unsuccessful expedition to Mu'tah in Jordan. Shortly afterward the Treaty of al-udaybiyah broke down, and Muammad marched on Mecca. The Meccans capitulated, and Muammad entered the city on his own terms. He treated the city leniently, and most of the Meccan oligarchy swore allegiance to him as Muslims. Two events in the personal life of Muammad during this period caused controversy in the community. Muammad fell in love with and married Zaynab bint. Jash, the divorced wife of his adopted son Zayd. Because of Muammad's scruples, the marriage took place only after a Qur'anic revelation permitting believers to marry the divorced wives of their adopted sons. In the Affair of the Lie, accusations against Muammad's young wife ishah were exploited by various factions in the community and in Muammad's household. In the end, a Qur'anic revelation proclaimed ishah's innocence and the culpability of the rumormongers. This volume of al-abar's History records the collapse of Meccan resistance to Islam, the triumphant return of Muammad to his native city, the conversion to Islam of the Meccan oligarchy, and the community's successful weathering of a number of potentially embarrassing events in Muammad's private life.