Five Infidels
Were Bound By Oath To Slay Mohammed At The Battle Of Ohod:
One of
these, Ibn Kumayyah, threw so many stones, and with such goodwill, that
two rings of the Prophet's helmet were driven into his cheek, and blood
poured from his brow down his mustachios, which he wiped with a cloak
to prevent the drops falling to the ground.
Then Utbah bin Abi Wakkas
hurled a stone at him, which, splitting his lower lip, knocked out one
of his front teeth.[FN#24] On the left of the Mihrab, inserted low down
in the wall, is a square stone, upon which Shaykh Hamid showed me the
impression of a tooth[FN#25]: he kissed it with peculiar reverence, and
so did I. But the boy Mohammed being by me objurgated-for I
[p.431]remarked in him a jaunty demeanour combined with neglectfulness
of ceremonies-saluted it sulkily, muttering the while hints about the
holiness of his birthplace exempting him from the trouble of stooping.
Already he had appeared at the Harim without his Jubbah, and with
ungirt loins-in waistcoat and shirt-sleeves. Moreover, he had conducted
himself indecorously by nudging Shaykh Hamid's sides during divine
service. Feeling that the youth's "moral man" was, like his physical,
under my charge, and determined to arrest a course of conduct which
must have ended in obtaining for me, the master, the reputation of a
"son of Belial," I insisted upon his joining us in the customary
two-bow prayers.
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