ABSTRACT
In the final period of his life, from the conquest of Mecca to his death in 11/632, Muh.ammad finalizes his transformation from impoverished orphan to ruler of an expanding polity that encompasses a sizable portion of the Arabian Peninsula. During these last two years, Muh. ammad and his armies continue to take territory and begin their move against the Byzantines – an effort that foreshadows the massive territorial gains that will take place after his death. After the conquest of Mecca, Muh.ammad and his newly-enlarged forces take the oasis settlement of al-T.a-ʾif and further their territorial expansion. The Bedouin tribes, sensing that power has shifted firmly to Muh.ammad, flood Medina with delegations seeking treaty agreements. As Prophet of God, Muh.ammad cleanses the Kaʿba of its idols and establishes it as a place of Muslim pilgrimage. He shows mercy to those Meccans who agree to convert and accept his religious as well as his temporal authority. Toward the end of his life, he leads what becomes known as the Farewell Pilgrimage, in which he establishes the rules and rituals of the H. ajj. He has foreknowledge of his death through his visit with Gabriel, in which they go over the entirety of the Qurʾa-n twice, when their normal custom had been to only recite it together once.1 This roughly two-year period contains a much higher percentage of reports of supernatural events compared to other periods of Muh.ammad’s life, equaling nearly one-half of those miracles related by al-T.abarı-for the eight years from the Hijra to the conquest of Mecca, and nearly equaling the total number of those recorded by Ibn Kathı-r for the same eight year period.2
Although the miracles of Muh. ammad’s clairvoyance still comprise the majority of supernatural events in both authors’ accounts, miracles of nature are not far behind. Reports mentioning the actions of Satan re-emerge during this period in the account of Ibn Kathı-r, whereas neither he nor the jinn appear at all in al-T.abarı-’s depiction of this period. One particularly important example of supernatural activity during this
period is the story of the arrival in Medina of the tribal delegation for the Banu-ʿA
