1856.] Alfred von Kr enter's edition of Wakidy. 71 



months is to enable people to perform the annual general pilgrimage. 

 One month precedes the month in which the pilgrimage is to be 

 performed and one month follows it. The space of three months 

 enables a man to come from the most distant parts of Arabia in 

 safety and return again to his home. The object of rendering 

 the month of Eajab sacred was to enable people to perform occa- 

 sional individual visits to the Ka'bah. Half a month for going and 

 half a mouth for returning was enough, for no one comes from a 

 great distance for this ceremony. During the pilgrimage, Makkah 

 was provided with supplies which were cut off during the remainder 

 of the year by the Bedouins and robbers. In Eajab the traveller 

 to and from Makkah was equally safe. God had ordered that it 

 should be so in his care and foresight for the Makkians, and he caused 

 this institution of the religion of Abraham to survive. It was not 

 abolished until the Islam was introduced, and it was even kept up 

 in the commencement of the Islam. But the revelation of the 

 ' verse of the sword' made fighting lawful, yet it did not do away 

 entirely with the sacredness of the holy months." 



The popular feeling against the outrage was very strong, not 

 only among the pagans, but also among the Moslims who were very 

 harsh against the perpetrators,* and as it would appear from the 

 above Koran verses some of whom threaten to relinquish the new 

 faith. 



Mohammad had himself been present at a war in which all the 

 jBToms tribes united to punish a much slighter violation of the 

 ancient iZaramite institutions. And therefore, being as yet weak 

 he did not dare formally to abolish the sacred months though he 

 took this step subsequently when he was stronger. f In the above 

 quotation from the TToran he allows that this act of aggression was 

 sinful but holds out a hope to the perpetrators of forgiveness^ and 



* Ibn IsM&. 



f The Jews predicted that this murder would lead to a long war, in a pun which 

 they made on the names of ' Amr b. al iiZydhramy and his murderer Wakid. It 

 runs 'amirat alharb " the war will last long ;" hadharat alharb (i the war has com- 

 menced" wakadat alharb lt the war is flaming." 



X Ibn Ishik who follows the authority of Zohry and of Ibn Ruman from 'Orwah 

 takes great pains to give a different bearing to the second verse. '* After the first 



