The Path of the Prophet

THE PATH OF THE PROPHET hell. Then, when people became conditioned to accept Islamic teachings, verses dealing with what is lawful and unlawful were revealed. And if injunctions like: “Do not drink wine” and “Do not commit adultery” had been revealed first, people would have refused to abandon these practices.41 With the conquest of Makkah in A.H. 8, the Prophet assumed complete control over the Arabian capital. Yet he did not seek immediate implementation of Islamic laws in the House of God in Makkah; whatever was to be done, he did gradually. Islamic rule had been established in the holy city when the pilgrimage of A.H. 8 took place, but it was performed according to ancient, pre-Islamic custom. Next year, the second pilgrimage of the Islamic era was performed with the polytheists following their traditions and the Muslims theirs. Only in the third year the Prophet announced that the pilgrimage would be performed entirely according to Islamic tenets. This pilgrimage is known as Hajjat al-Wida’ in Islamic history—the farewell pilgrimage of the Prophet. It was instinctively abhorrent to the Prophet that the polytheists should come to the Sacred Mosque and perform the rites of pilgrimage according to their customs. Yet, despite the power he wielded, he did not hurry to implement the Islamic system. Rather, he refrained from going to Makkah on a pilgrimage for two years after the conquest. “I would not like to go on a pilgrimage while the polytheists are coming there and performing the