Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

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4 HISTORY OF PERSIA CHAP.
majority of its Arab inhabitants became converted to his
creed, and the Jews, who formed a large percentage of the
population,
observed in amazement that the idols were
thrown down and that belief in one God was acknowledged.
An invitation to leave hostile Mecca for friendly
Medina was given by a band of seventy leading citizens
at a secret meeting held near Mecca, and shortly after this
the Prophet's
adherents began to migrate in small parties.
Mohamed and the faithful Abu Bekr remained until the
last. To put their enemies off the track they
first hid in
a cave to the south of Mecca for a few days, and then, in
the fifty-third year of the Prophet's life,
on June 20,
A.D. 622, the famous journey was begun. From this date
the Moslem era starts, the word Hijra, incorrectly written
Hegira, signifying " Flight." No saying
is truer than"
that " a prophet is not without honour, but in his own
country, and among his own kin, and in his own house,"
and, had not Mohamed been strong enough to face the
odium of what the Arabs regarded as a deed of shame by
quitting his own people and proceeding to Medina, Islam
would in all probability have died with its Prophet, now
already in middle age.
The Erection of the First Mosque
at Medina. At
Medina he was received with honour and rejoicing, and
was pressed by various leading men to become their
guest. Unwilling to identify himself with any one tribe,
he courteously replied
that where the camel sat down
there would he dwell. The beast stopped and sat down
in a large open courtyard
in the eastern quarter of the
city.
Mohamed purchased the land, and erected upon it
the first
mosque, a square building of stone, brick, and
palm logs.
The Kibla, towards which the faithful prayed,
was Jerusalem. The Azan, or Call to Prayer, was now
instituted, running as follows : " Great is the Lord !
Great is the Lord ! I bear witness that there is no God
but the Lord : I bear witness that Mohamed is the
Prophet of God. Come unto prayer Come unto Salvation.
God is Great ! God is Great ! There is no God
:
"
but the Lord ! The traveller from the West to this
day finds nothing more solemn or more striking than to