Riding Beasts on Divine Missions: An Examination of the Ass and Camel Traditions by Suliman Bashaer

Journal of Semitic Studies XXXVII// Spring

RIDING BEASTS ON DIVINE MISSIONS:AN EXAMINATION OF THE ASS AND

CAMEL TRADITIONS

SULIMAN BASHEAR

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY, JERUSALEM

i. INTRODUCTION

The idea that the Prophet Muhammad used to ride this or thatkind of beast must not in itself draw any special attention, asriding beasts constituted the main means of transportation upto modern times. Moreover, the part played by such a beast asa divine sign that points to its rider as the awaited redeemer orthe seeing in the divinely guided behaviour of this beast as partof the latter's mission is not exclusive to Islam. The apocalypseof Deutero-Zechariah which probably dates from the Seleucidperiod, promises Jerusalem the coming of its king of salvation"riding upon an ass and upon a colt of the foal of the ass."1 Ineach of the four Gospels, Christ is described as entering avillage near Jerusalem riding upon an ass2 and, in Matthew thiswas presented as a fulfilment of the apocalypse of Zechariah3.In its turn, Rabinical Jewish writings provide clear referencesto the awaited Messiah, Son of David/Son of Joseph as comingon an ass and, in a few Midrashic commentaries it is even saidthat this would be the same ass which Abraham and Mosesused to ride.4

Traditional Muslim statements, especially those related to thegenre of signs and proofs (basbd'ir, a'ldtn, dald'il) for Muham-

1 Zech. 9:9. see also The Jewish Encyclopedia, London and New York1916 VIII, 507.

2 Matthew 21: 1-6; Mk. n : 1-10; Luke 19: 28-35; John 12: 14-5.3 Matthew loc. cit.4 Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, London 1969, 98 (b) — 99 (a); Pirke De

Rabbi Elie^er, London 1916, 224-5; L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews,Philadelphia 1969, II, 327. See also M.D. Gross, Oopr ha-Agada, Jerusalem1965, I, 401-2. Note, however, the occurence of SJ?13 XrPOlO in Sanhedrin,loc. cit., and "white horse" in Rev. 19: 11.

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RIDING BEASTS ON DIVINE MISSIONS

mad's prophecy, seem to be clearly aware of this Judaeo-Christian heritage as they were often formulated in a polemicalway and allegedly include quotations of certain apocalypticstatements believed to have stemmed from this heritage.Noting the existence of such polemical material, modern scho-larship has in its turn endeavoured to tackle the following mainissues which it raised: the relatively late appearance of Muslimworks in this field; the relationship and mutual interactionbetween them and similar literary activities by Jewish andChristian apologists or converts from those. two faiths; thekind of scriptures Muslim polemicists mostly referred to andtheir authenticity; the latter's dilemma of searching thesescriptures for such proofs while, on the other hand, holdingthat they suffered from tampering {tahrif, tabdil, kitmdn); andrelated issues.5

Special attention, in this field, should be paid to the work ofM.J. Kister, who has shown that referring to scriptures andauthorities of the other two faiths {tawrdt, injtl, ahbdr etc.) wascommon practice in traditional Islam.6 As for the contents ofthe dald'il material, it covers the nationality, place of birth,dress, minute physical features of the awaited prophet and eventhe kind of beast he will be riding on.

In what follows, we shall limit ourselves to reviewing thetraditional material on this last issue, which to the presentwriter's knowledge has not been examinned yet. We shall alsoexamine the relationship between such material and possibleparallels occuring in the biographical works {siyar and magha^t)on Muhammad. Instances where reports on other pre-Islamicas well as early Muslim figures, riding on a camel or an ass,

5 Goldziher, in ZDMG XXXII 1878, and Hirschfeld and Friedlander inZA XXVI (1912), quoted by M. Perlmann, 'Abd al-Hakk al-Aslamt, a JewishConvert, 179; al-Samaw'al al-Maghribl, I/ham al-Yahud, New York 1964;'Abdallah al-Turjuman, Tuhfat al-Adib, ms., private; Ibn Kammuna, Exami-nation of the Three Faiths, London 1971; Sa'adya Ga'on, The Book of Doctrinesand Beliefs, Oxford 1946; Hablb b. Khidma al-Ya'qubl, Rasa'il, Louvain1951; al-Qirqisanl, Kitab al-Anivar, New York 1941; D.S. Margoliouth,"On the Book of Religion and Empire", Procs. of the British Academy, XVI,London 1930; M. Steinschneider, "Zur Geschichte der Polemik ..."ZDMG XLII (1887); M. Perlmann, "The Medieval Polemics ...", in S.D.Goitein, Religion in a Religious Age, Cambridge, Mass. 1974, 103-38; J.Wansbrough, Quranic Studies, Oxford 1977, 36-7; S. Stroumsa, "The Signsof Prophecy ..." Harvard Theol. Rev. LXXVIII 1-2 (1985), 101-14.

6 M.J. Kister, "Haddithu 'an BanI Isra'il ...", IOS II (1972).

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which have clear religious connotations, will also be noted.Finally, although we shall not deal with the question of therelationship between Muslim dala'il and its Judaeo-Christianheritage in general, our findings will, it is hoped, constitute anindirect contribution to the study of this and other relatedissues.

2. THE RIDER ON THE CAMEL

Early sira and maghd^t contain few instances where traditions ofa clean apocalyptic nature are apologetically brought as proofsthat Muhammad was the true prophet, long awaited by "peopleof the scripture" {ahl al-kitdb) and described by them as "thecamel rider" or "the one with the camel" {rakibj sahib al-ba'ir).The connection of a supposedly Judaeo-Christian heritage tosuch "proofs" is made either by attributing their apocalypticdescriptions to certain adversaries or converts from those twofaiths, or by quoting such material from what was allegedlytheir scriptures. Another kind of material in which Muhammadwas described as rider of the red camel {al-najtb al-ahmar) or ofa she-camel, known by its name al-qaswd, does not point to anysuch Judaeo-Christian origin but is rather brought as part ofthe demons' calls (hawdtif al-jinn) announcing his coming. Inwhat follows, an attempt will be made to scrutinise thetraditional origin of each type of this material.

2.1

Two traditions brought by Waqidi (d. 207 H.) give a clearJewish, especially Medinese, connection to the apocalyptic de-scription of Muhammad as the awaited camel-rider. One ofthese traditions is unique in reporting a debate between theProphet's emissary, Muhammad b. Maslama, and the Jewishtribe of the Banu 'l-Nadlr prior to their expulsion fromMedina. According to it, Ibn Maslama reminded the Jews howthey themselves told him that the man of the hanifiyya which hesought would have a smiling face, be deadly, with redness inhis eyes, would come from the south riding upon a camel,dressed with a cloak ... etc {al-dahiik al-qattdl, ft 'aynayhi humra,

ya'ti min qibal al-yaman, yarkab al-ba'ir way albas al-shamla . . . ) . 7

7 Waqidi, Magha^i, Oxford 1966, I, 366-7.

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Needless to say that the reasoning behind this argument wasthat such a description fitted Muhammad exactly.

The second tradition was transmitted by WaqidFs scribe, IbnSa'd (d. 230 H.) and quoted from the latter by later sources.8 Itsfull isnad is WaqidI, Sulayman b. Dawud b. al-Husayn, hisfather, Dawud b. al-Husayn (Medinese mawla of theUmayyads, d.135 H.), 'Ikrima, Ibn 'Abbas, Ubayy b. Ka'b.From it we learn about a discussion which Tubba', the legen-dary king of Yemen, had with the Jewish scholars {ahbdr) ofMedina when he invaded it. Its prominent habr, named Samul(var. Samaw'al, Shamwayil, Shamun, Shamul), we are told,talked him out of his intention to destroy Medina by sayingthat it would give birth to a prophet from the sons of Isma'fl,who would be born in Mecca and whose name would beAhmad. When Tubba' enquired further about that prophet,Samul gave the following characteristics {si/a): "a man who isneither short nor tall, has redness in his eyes, rides the camel,wears a cloak, his sword (being) on his shoulder ..." {rajulunlaysa bi-l-qasir wa-ld-bi-l-tawtl, ft 'aynayhi humra, yarkabu al-ba 'irwa-yalbasu al-sham la, say/uhu 'aid 'dtiqih ...).

z.zIn the course of this study, we shall come across a third

tradition of WaqidI which gives a similar Jewish connection toalmost the same characteristic traits except for one: thatMuhammad would be an ass rider. As for identifying him asthe awaited rider of a camel (Jamat), it occurs in a traditionreported by Ibn Ishaq (d. 150 H.) and brought forward in thecontext of NajashFs reaction to Muhammad's message, sent tohim through Umayya b. 'Amr al-Damrl. NajashI, we are told,confessed on that occasion "that he (Muhammad) was theprophet (var. the ummi, i.e. Arabian prophet) awaited by thepeople of scripture and that the annunciation by Moses of [thecoming of ] the ass-rider was like the annunciation by Jesus of[the coming of] the camel-rider ..." (ashhadu bi-l-ldhi annahu la-l-nabiyyu [var. al-nabiyyu al-ummiyyu] al-ladhi yanta^iruhu ahlu al-

8 Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat, Beirut i960, I 158-9; Hallml, al-Minhaj, Beirut 1979,II, 54-5; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Hidayat al-Haydra, in the margin of Bajajl,al-Fdriq, Cairo 1322 H., 21; Ibn Taymiyya, Badhl al-Juhud, selected chapters,Jerusalem 1959, 96; Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, Cairo 1967, I 66-7; Diyar-bakri, Tdrikh al-Khamis, Cairo 1283H. I, 27.

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kitdb, rva-anna bishdrata musd bi-rdkibi al-bimdr ka-bishdrati 'isd bi-rd kib al-jamal.)

Although this reaction of NajashI does not occur in therecensions of Ibn Ishaq's traditions by either Ibn Hisham (d.213 H.) or Yunus b. Bukayr (d. 199 H.), it was given by latersira as well as other works.9 In one of them, the late polemicalwork of al-Mas'udl (d. 942 H.), a similar tradition is ascribed toWaqidl. According to it, a certain sexton (shammds) who hadreturned to Heraclius from NajashI testified that the latter "putthe Gospel in front of him ... and read: Ahmad, the Arabianprophet [who] rides the camel (ba'ir), contents himself with theslice [of bread —jajta^i'u bi-l-kisra], comes out of Mecca toMedina ..."10

Probably, more important is the information provided by afew other sources which specify the Biblical source for IbnIshaq's notion of Muhammad as a camel rider. Noteworthyamongst these is the relatively early work on qasas and bad' byFarisI (d. 277 H. ) who says that Ibn Ishaq transmitted fromYazld b. 'Abdallah (Medinese, d. 122 H. ) a tradition accordingto which "Isaiah (ish'iyd) was the one who entrusted ('ahida ild)the sons of Israel with the matter (ft 'amr) of Jesus andMuhammad (s) by saying to ilyd, which is the town of bayt al-maqdis and whose name is Jerusalem (urshalam): good omen, OJerusalem [for] there will come to you the one with the camel(sahib al-jamal), meaning Muhammad (S)".11

As far as I know there is at least one more source, this time afadd'il one, in which such an interpretation of the apocalypse ofIsaiah was explicitly attributed to Ibn Ishaq.12 Other works ofthe genres of "signs" and "proofs" (bashd'ir, dald'il) forMuhammad's prophecy, ancient, i.e. pre-Islamic propheticalqasas, mote fadd'il (merits) of Jerusalem works and even a fewlate sira ones bring such an interpretation of the Isaiah apoca-lypse, but do not mention Ibn Ishaq as an authority for it.13

9 Suhayll, Rawd, Cairo 1970, VI, 387; Ibn Qayyitn al-Jawziyya, Hidaya,325-6; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, 'Uyun, Beirut 1974, II, 264; Shihab al-DIn al-Khafajl, Nasfm al-Ktyad Cairo 1326 H., II, 404; HalabI, Insan, Cairo 1320H., Ill, 280; Dahlan, Sira, in the margin of HalabI, III, 68.

10 Abu '1-Fadl al-Malikl al-Mas'udl, al-Muntakhab al-]alil, Cairo 1322 H.,149.

11 FarisI, Bad", Wiesbaden 1978, 301.12 Ibn al-jawzl (d. 597 H.), Fada'il al-Quds, Beirut 1980, 100; cf. also

Sibt, Mir'at al-Zamin, Beirut 1985, I, 541.13 Ibn Rabban, K. al-Din wa'l-Dawla, Cairo 1923, 82-3; Tha'labI, Qisas-

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Most of these sources present such interpretation of Isaiah inan abridged form with minor variations; e.g. substituting ba'irwhich in Arabic denotes both male and female camels, for

jama/, or the vocalisation of Jerusalem as iirT shalam, iirshalayim,urmhalim, or else, especially in the late sira works noted above,substituting for it bayt al-maqdis or even dropping its namealtogether.

One late source, QastallanI, does not mention Isaiah butindirectly refers to this apocalypse in a polemical way.14 From afew other sources, especially the early work of Ibn Rabban andthat of Blrunl who bring a substantial portion of this apoca-lypse, we can conclude with certainty that it was Isa. 21: 6-10that was under discussion, though Ibn Rabban curiouslyaccounts it "chapter ten".15

A full investigation into the history of the text of Isa. 21:6-10 lies beyond the scope of this study. It must be mentioned,however, that, in substance, there is certainly no problem ofauthenticity. Verse 21 :7 indeed contains the key phrase ren-dered by Ibn Ishaq and later Muslim scholars as rakib al-himarwa-rdkib al-jamal; verse 21:10 speaks about the destruction ofBabylon. The main problem is that 331 in 21: 7 could also bevocalised in a way that conveys the plural sense, i.e. that thewatchman which Isaiah ordered to be set, saw "riders" on assesand "riders" on camels.16 Needless to add, in itself Isa. 21: 6-10could also be taken, in a non-apocalyptic way, as a vision based

'Ara'is, Cairo 1929, 215; Majlisi, Bihar, Tehran 1343 H. Mawardi, A.'lam al-Nubuwwa, Beirut 1981, 130; Hanafi, al-Mustaqsa, ms. Escorial 1767, 15 (b);DiyarbakrI, I, 25; Ibn Qayyim, 400; Ibn Taymiyya, al-Jawab al-Sahth, Cairo1905, III, 304; Bajajl, 397; al-Qarafi, al-Ajwiba al-Fakbira, in the margin ofBajajl, 248.

14 This he does by rhetorically asking, "and who is Sahib al-Jamal bywhom Babylon and its idols perished?" See ZurqanI, Shark al-Mawahib,Cairo 1327, VI, 189.

15 Only the modern polemical work of Bajajl (written in 1318 H., seen. 8 above) gives the exact chapter and verse numbers.

16 Compare 33T in the modern Hebrew edition of the Bible; rukkab inthe Sa'adia Ga'on's version, ed. Paris 1896, 29-30; 33T in A. Sperber, ed.,The Prophets According to the Codex Reuchlinianus, Leiden 1969, 177; 3*31 inJ.F. Stenning, ed. and tr., The Targum of Isaiah, Oxford 1949, 66-7; 33T inProphetarum Posteriorum Codex Babylonicus Petropolitanus, Petropoli 1876;33H in M. Burrows, ed., The Dead Sea Scrolls, New Haven 1950; and drkybin the Peshitta Syriac version. Note also the difference between rakib himdrin the Arabic translation of the 1811 Newcastle edition and rukkab hamtr inthe one current today.

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on what he heard from travellers of his own time who arrivedon asses and camels, i.e. as a documentary description of someactual battles over Babylon, e.g. between Cyrus who usedcamel riders and the Scythians of Darius's camp who werehindered by using asses.17

However, given the fact that Muslim sources overwhelm-ingly stress the apocalyptic nature of Isa. 21: 6-10, one mustnot rule out the possibility that either Ibn Ishaq or one of hissources used an exegetical commentary which presented thetext in that spirit, vocalising 331 in its singular form. Theannunciative element ibshiri urishalim, ya'tiki al- 'an was eitherpart of such commentary or else added in the course of itsabsorption into Muslim tradition by Ibn Ishaq, by one of hissources or even by later transmitters.

As for late Muslim apologists, they emphasised the fact thatthe final destruction of the idols of Babylon was actuallyaffected only after the advent of Muhammad, the camel-rider.18

Some of them emphasised the notion that Muhammad wasfamous for riding a camel more than Jesus was for riding anass. In one case the title "camel-rider" was alternatively ex-plained by the fact that Muhammad used to ride one as a signof modesty, that he made his hijra on it or because of the factthat he was of pure Arab origin (min samim al- 'arab).19

Finally, note must also be made of another unique traditionbrought by FarisI in which Isaiah is mentioned as annunciatingthe coming of Jesus, son of Mary the righteous virgin, etc.,who will ride on a she-ass and will be followed by Ahmad, thedescendant of Qldhar b. Isma'll who will ride the camel, fightwith the iron bar, etc.20 This tradition was brought forward onthe authority of the two mid-second century figures: IbnSam'an (Abdallah b. Ziyad) and Sa'ld b. Abl'Aruba (d. 156 H.)who transmitted it from Qatada (d. 117-18 H.), Ka'b. From thesame source we also learn that Ibn Sam'an circulated anothertradition, this time from Muhammad b. Ka'b al-QurazI (d. 108-20H.), 'Abdallah b. Salam, according to which the Prophet saidthat Isaiah annunciated both the coming of Jesus and himself.

17 See G.B. Gray, Isaiah (International Critical Commentaries), Edin-burgh 1956, I, 354-5, 357.

18 E.g. Ibn Qayyim, Ibn Taymiyya, al-Qarafi, ZurqanI and Bajajl, loc.cit.

19 Khafajl, II, 204.20 Far isI , 238.

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2-3A few sources give more traditions to support the idea of an

apocalyptic literature for the annunciation for the coming ofMuhammad and his identification as a camel-rider. One of thembrings a prophetical tradition which supports the traditions ofIbn Ishaq and WaqidI concerning the Jewish origin of suchapocalypses and whose very wording is similar to the abovementioned one brought by the latter in the context of SamuPswarning to Tubba\ According to it Muhammad says: "myname in the tawrdt is Ahmad, the smiling, the deadly one, whorides the camel, wears the cloak ..." etc. 21 We also notice thatboth traditions are transmitted via Ibn 'Abbas;22 the onlydifference being that while the first one is brought in thecontext of a Jewish warning to Tubba' in pre-Islam, the secondis stated as a prophetical tradition. There is, however, a thirdtradition, attributed also to Ibn 'Abbas, in which Muhammad isidentified as a camel-rider annunciated by Jesus, the ass-rider.But, contrary to the two previous ones, such identificationbears a clear Christian context in the form of a testimony madeby "a great monk" when questioned by Heraclius.23

To this group, one may add a fourth unique tradition whichoccurs only in mawdu'dt compilations. It is a qudsi traditionattributing to angel Jibrll the saying that the she-camel (ndqd)and the red camel {al-jamal al-ahmar) were two of the manygifts bestowed upon Muhammad by God as a sign of prefe-rence over all previous Judaeo-Christian prophets. It wasattributed to Salman al-Farisi on the authority of Yahya al-Basrl (d. 130 H.).24 Of the other gifts mentioned by thistradition, note will be made of the Prophet's basin (al-hawd),intercession (shafd'a), staff {qadtb, hirdwa), scale (mi^dri), crown{tdj), moon-like face {al-wajh al-aqmar) etc., all of which appearin other traditional sources as components of his titles.25

A distinct group of traditions do not bear any Jewish orChristian connotations, but rather belong to the literary genre

21 S u y u t i , Khasa'is, I , 192-3.22 Suyuti quotes Ibn Faris (d. 395 H. ) for it, but drops all the chains of

its isnad except Ibn 'Abbas.23 M a s ' u d l , 155.24 Ibn al-jawzl, Maivdu'at, Medina 1966, I, 288-9; Suyuti, al-La'ali al-

Masnu'a, Cairo 1352H., I, 271-2, KinanI (d. 963 H.), Tarwjh al-Sharfa,Beirut 1979, I, 324.

25 Cf, for example QadI *Iyad, Shifa', Cairo, n.d. I, 194.

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of the Arabian folk tales about the demons' calls {hawdtif al-jinri). From works bearing such a title by Ibn Abi '1-Dunya (d.281 H.) and al-Khara'itl, a tradition of'Abdallah b. 'Abd al-'AzIzal-Laythl was transmitted also by a few later sources. Speakingabout the reason for the conversion of 'Abbas b. Mirdas al-Sulaml, this tradition says that a demon came to him and toldhim about "the owner of / one with the farthest-running ndqa{al-qaswd) on whom righteousness and piety {al-birr wa-l-taqwa)have descended.26

Note that the words qaswd and taqwd rhyme well in Arabic,the former being a well-known name of the Prophet's naqa. Inanother version, however, the demon was said to have told'Abbas b. Mirdas about "the light which fell on Tuesday night

. on the owner of one on the naqa with a cut ear ... {sahib al-ndqaal-'adbd').21 Note, again, that thuldtbd', meaning Tuesday inArabic, rhymes well with 'adbd' which is another famous nameoften given to the same naqa of the prophet.

With the great confusion concerning the name of the Pro-phet's "historical" ndqas and riding beasts in general, we shalldeal later. As for the genre of the demons' calls, a familytradition was circulated in the first half of the second centuryby Sulayman b. 'All b. 'Abdallah b. 'Abbas (d. 142 H.) telling thestory of an Ansarl who received such a call when Muhammadwas sent. The demon, we are told, said to him "Light hasappeared, fallacy has been made void and God has sentMuhammad with happiness, the owner of / the one on thenoble red camel {sahib al-najib al-ahmar), of the crown andshield, who has a radiant face, a moonlike brow and dark eyes

2.4The previous tradition has an Arabian Christian ring, since it

occurs in the context of a meeting between the anonymous26 Ibn Abi '1-Dunya, al-Hatvatif, Cairo 1988, 81-2; HaythamI , V I I I , 246,

q u o t i n g Taba ran l ; Ibn Kath l r , Bidaya, Cairo 1932, I I , 341. cf. also HalabI, I,221, and Dahlan , I , 148, w h o br ing the same tradi t ion bu t w i t h o u t isnad o rsource.

27 This tradition does not have al-Laythl in its isnad. Cf. Abu Nu'aym,Dala'il, I, 34-5 and Ibn Kathlr, II, 342, where Asma'I (d. 216H.) is quotedfor it.

28 BayhaqI, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, Beirut 1985, II, n o ; Ibn Badran, Tah-dhib ibn'Asakir, Damascus 1329 H., I, 358; SuyutI, La'ali, I, 192. HalabI, I,223 and Dahlan, I, 151 bring the same tradition without isnad.

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Ansarl and Quss b. Sa'ida al-Iyadl and was transmitted as partof the stories told about him to the Prophet when the latterreceived the delegation of Quss's clan, 'Abd al-Qays. Othertraditions point, more explicitly, to a clear Christian enviro-ment of the apocalyptic annunciation of Muhammad as theawaited camel-rider, and some of them even quote certainobscure Christian scriptures for it.

One of these traditions is brought by Pseudo-WaqidI on theoccupation of Syria. It describes how a monk from the mona-stery of Dayr Abi '1-Qadas confirmed to the local Muslimcommander 'Abdallah b. Ja'far b. 'Abi Talib, that he knew theProphet, namely Muhammad, by his name, titles and descrip-tions, which occured in the tawrdt, injil and ^abiir as "... sahibal-jamal al-ahmar, wa-l-sayf al-mushhar ...".29 From another tradi-tion transmitted by the same source, we learn that the sages{hukamd') of riimja used to tell about an inscription on a platein its temple which said that the awaited prophet "will comefrom the land of Tihama ... and he is the one on the silvercamel {sahib al-jamal al-awraq).*0

Possesing Christian Syria on the background, these twoPseudo-WaqidI traditions come together with a whole group ofones which were circulated in the course of the second centuryto the affect that the apocalyptic annunciation of Muhammad asthe awaited Arabian {ummt) prophet with the title sahib al-jamal,was made in a revelation of God to Jesus commanding him tocarry it to the Syrians. The most widely circulated one of thisgroup has an isndd which does not go beyond Muqatil b.Hayyan (d. ca. 150 H.). From it, we learn that God orderedJesus to explain to the people of Suran (var. Syria) in Syriacand request them "to believe in the ummi (var.: 'arabi) prophet,the one on the camel {sahib al-jamal), with the shield, theturban, which is the crown, the sandals {al-na 'layn), the staff (al-hirdwd) ... etc.31

All the sources that give this tradition quote Ya'qub b.Sufyan al-FasawI for it. 32 In yet another third century source,that of FarisI cited above, an almost identical tradition is given

29 P s e u d o - W a q i d I , Futiih al-Sbam, Ca i ro 1954, I , 63 .30 Ib id . , I , 215.31 BayhaqI , Dala'il, I , 344; I b n Badran , I, 358 ; I b n K a t h l r , Bidaya, I I ,

327, V I , 6 2 ; idem, Shama'il Ca i ro 1967, 114.32 Compare with what is compiled back from these sources in al-Ma'rifa

wa 'l-Tartkh, Baghdad 1976, III, 275.

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but attributed to Wahb b. Munnabih (d. n o H.). Like theformer, this latter tradition confirms the notion that Jesusreceived a divine revelation concerning the ummi, camel-riderprophet. However there is a slight variation where in Wahb'stradition the divine annunciation of and the order to followsuch a prophet is not only directed towards "the people ofSyriac" (abl al-surydniyya) but to the "sons of Israel" too.33

A third tradition, identical in content to the two mentionedabove, was given by Ibn Kathlr, who mentions other early tomid-second century figures as authorities for it. They are: Sa'ldb. Abl 'Aruba and Muqatil, both transmitting it from Qatada(d. 117-18 H.). ^

Finally, a fourth version was brought by Ibn Zafar (wrote in566 H. ) who attributes it to Muhammad b. al-Zinad, the maindifference being that his authorities for it were given as "someahbar of the people of scripture".35

3. THE RIDER ON THE ASS

In complete contrast to the material reviewed so far, there are afew traditions which identify Muhammad as the awaited "ass-rider". Such a contrast appears sharper because both traditionalcurrents can be detected in the same genre and give almost thesame other titles and characteristics of the awaited prophet.

Let us start with WaqidI, whose traditions on the JewishMedinese context for annunciating Muhammad as a camel-riderwere reviewed above. To him was attributed an isolatedtradition which speaks about the same features and titles ofMuhammad as they occur in the tawrat and has the same ringof Jewish origin since it claims to have come from a Jewishhabr, but sharply differs on one crucial issue: identifyingMuhammad as an ass-rider. Ibn Zafar, who gives this tradition,says that WaqidI attributed it to Tha'laba b. Abl Malik, an earlysecond century authority of ex-Jewish original descent of the

33 FarisI , 331.34 Ibn Kathlr, Qtsas al-Anbiya, Cairo 1968, II, 418.35 Ibn Zafar, Khayr al-Bashar, ms. Oxford, Marsh 461, 103 (b)-io4 (a).

Compare also with Mas'udI, 152, where the traditional source quoted wasstated as Muhammad b. al-Dabbal, possibly miscopying al-Zinad.

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Banu Qurayza. According to it, "Umar I asked the father, AbuMalik, who is described as prominent among the Jewish ahbdr,about the description of Muhammad in the tawrdt. Abu Malik, inhis turn, testified that such a description did indeed occur "inthe tawrdt of the Banu Hariin, which has not been replaced orchanged". There, he was mentioned as Ahmad, from the sonsof Isma'Il son of Ibrahim the hamf, who wraps his waist,washes his hands and feet, has redness in his eyes and the sealof prophethood between his shoulders. He is neither short nortall, wears a cloak, rides on an ass, walks in the markets, withhis sword on his shoulder ... Mecca his birthplace ... Yathribhis hijra town ... his kingdom is Syria ... "(... rajulun laysa bi-l-qasir rva-ld bi-l-tawil, yalbasu al-shamla wa-yarkabu al-himdr . . . ) . 3 6

Another tradition of this sort was brought by Abu Nu'aym(d. 430 H.) and quoted from him by a few later sources.37 Themain authorities for it are: Sulayman b. Suhaym (Medinese, d.early in Mansur's reign ) and Rumayh b. 'Abd al-Rahman, whotook it from 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abl Sa'id al-Khudrl (d. 112H.). The latter's father said that his father, Malik b. Sinan,heard how a Jew named Yusha' described to Banu 'Abd al-Ashhal of Medina the attributes {sifa) of Ahmad the Prophet,who was expected to come {a^alla yamdnuhu). When asked formore details he added "a man who is neither short nor tall, hasredness in his eyes, wears a cloak, rides an ass, his sword is onhis shoulder and this town [Medina] is his place of hijra ..."

The Jewish background to the belief in such attributes of theawaited prophet is further stressed by this tradition in aninteresting way. It says that when Malik b. Sinan returned tohis clan, the Banu Khudra, and told them of what he had justheard, they were not surprised and confirmed that "all Jews ofYathrib say this".

Such a background is confirmed by a third tradition which isgiven by a late ShfI source, Majlis! (d. m i H.). The authori-ties mentioned for it are Aban b. 'Uthman (d. 105 H. ) andAban b. Taghlib (d. 141 H.), and its isndd goes back to Ibn'Abbas via 'Ikrima. It narrates a discussion between the prophetand Ka'b b. Asad, a Jew from the Banu Qurayza, before the

36 Ibn Zafar, 3 (b); Mas'udi, loc.cit., cf. also Hallml, II, 54.37 Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awltya', Haydarabad 1950, I, 40-1 Ibn

Qayyim, Hidaya, 17-18; Ibn Taymiyya, Badhl al-]uhud, 94; SuyutI, al-Kbasd'is, I, 65-6; Hallml, II, 55.

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latter was executed. The Prophet, we are told, reminded Ka'bof the advice given to him by a Jewish habr named Ibn al-Hawwash, who arrived in Medina from Syria in anticipation ofa prophet who was about to appear there. From the informa-tion given by Ibn al-Hawwash on this prophet we learn that"he will appear in Mecca and this [town = Medina] will be hishijra town. He is the smiling, the deadly one (al-dahiik al-qattdt)who is content with a slice [of bread] and a few dates, rides abare ass, has reddness in his eyes, the seal of prophethood isbetween his shoulders, and bears his sword on his shoulder

" 3 8

The last tradition which identifies Muhammad as the awaitedprophet riding on an ass, points to Christian Syria as a placewhere the belief in such an annunciation prevailed. It is anisolated one brought by Ibn Zafar, who attributes it to Ibn'Abbas without any isndd or details and speaks about thereaction in Syria when the Prophet's letter to Hiraql orHeraclius was received. We are told that when the militarycommanders of the latter rejected his advice to accept Islam, ahighly venerated monk (rdhib 'a%tm al-qadr) addressed Hiraql bysaying "You know that this Arab is the Prophet annunciatedby 'Isa. By God, he is the ass-rider whose birth is in Mecca, hisbijra place is Taba [i.e. Medina], arid his kingdom is in Syria...".39 Then, we are told, this monk professed Islam bypronouncing the two shahadds, but was instantly killed.

3-2Some indirect support to the idea that Muhammad was

known by the epithet sahib al-himar may be gauged from aunique tradition which refers to the year in which the 'Abbasidmovement started as "the year one hundred since [the emer-gence of] sahib al-himar". It was reported by two relatively earlysources,40 and one version of it reappears in later ones too.41

3« MajlisI, Bihar, X V , 20639 Ibn Zafar, 4 (b)40 Ya'qubl, Tank/), Beirut i960, II, 297-8; (Anonymous), Akhbar al-

Dawla al-Abbasiyja, Beirut 1971, 193.41 Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi, al-lqd al-Farid, Cairo 1944, IV, 476; Ibn Taghrl-

birdi, al-Nujum al-Zahira, Cairo 1963, I, 322; MaqrizI, al-Tarikb al-Kabir al-Muqaffa, in an unpublished M.A. diss. by M. 'Aql, Bar Ilan University, TelAviv 1976, 18-19; M. Sharon, Black Banners from the East, Jerusalem 1983,188, nn. 96-7.

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In the version brought by the anonymous Akhbdr, it is saidthat when Muhammad b. 'AH, father of the 'Abbasid da'wa,dispersed his emissaries, he told them: "... when the man withthe scar from amongst the Banu Umayya {ashajj bantumayya, i.e.'Umar b. 'Abd al-'AzIz ) dies, and the year one hundred, of theyears of sahib al-himdr, passes, then publish abroad our claim..." {sanat mi'a min sint sahib al-himdr ...)

Almost the same tradition was brought by Ya'qubl and thesubsequent sources, though with some minor variations.According to it, Abu Hashim gave this advice to Muhammadb. 'All when, before dying in 97 H., he passed to the latter hiswill and the right of the imdma. Furthermore, we are told, AbuHashim advised the'Abbasids to begin their da'wa after the yearof the ass {sanat al-himdr) had passed.

Another difference between the two versions is that thesecond one drops any possible reference to 'Umar II, ashajj bantumayya, who died in the year 100 H. On the other hand, there isan interesting explanatory note which appears in both versionsconcerning "the year of the ass/the one on the ass". It says:"For, never had a hundred years passed after a prophecywithout its contents being contradicted". (... wa-dhdlika annahulam tamdi mi'atu sanat in min nubuwwatin qatt ilia intaqada amruha).Further, we also learn that such notion was based on Qur'an,2: 259, which relates the story of a prophet who, together withhis ass, were ordered to die and then were resurrected by Godafter a hundred years.

Note has already been made of the possibility that this versecontains a vague reference to an ancient Jewish concept con-cerning "the ass of the Messiah", although there is widedisagreement among Muslim traditional exegetes as to the exactidentity of the prophet concerned.42 However, regarding thetradition under discussion, its two variants, noted above, maycorrespond to two different positions concerning the question,where one should start counting the beginning of the 'Abbasidda'wa; from the year of 'Umar IPs death which coincides withthe year 100 after Muhammad's hijra, or from the momentwhen the 'Abbasids seized power, which occurred 122 years

42 H. Lazarus-Yafe, '"Ezra-'Uzayr", Tarbit^ LV (1986), 365, n. 27 (inHebrew). Other than 'Uzayr, Muslim exegetes suggest the names of Irmiyaand al-Khidr as the ones alternatively meant by this verse. See Tabarl,Tafsir, Cairo n. d., V, 438-84.

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after the death of Muhammad? Such a question is, in myopinion, crucial for giving an exact assesment to the variantsanat al-himdrj sanat sahib al-himdr. It may also explain therather obscure title al-himdr which was tenaciously attributed tothe last Umayyad Caliph, Marwan b. Muhammad.43 It isinteresting, in this context, to adduce one of the views putforward by the late historiographer Ibn Taghrlbirdl for ex-plaining this title. "It has been held", he says, "that he[Marwan] was called al-himdr because the Arabs [used to] callevery hundred years a himdr, so that when the reign of BanuUmayya approached one hundred years they called Marwan al-himdr and this was done in accordance with ... [Qur'an, 2:z59]."«

4. ANTITHESIS AND SYNTHESIS

It is difficult to establish with certainty which of the twotraditional notions, the one of the man on the camel and theother of the man on the ass, was the older. They both containalmost the same elements and claim to have early to mid-second century traditional authorities. The only noticeabledifference is that the traditions on the ass rider are strikinglyfewer and enjoy only a limited circulation compared with theones on the camel rider. One may also add that, already at anearly stage, there appears what one may call a synthesis, inwhich the two currents are presented in one traditional form,namely, of describing Muhammad as the awaited prophetassociated with and riding both an ass and a camel.

One of the sources which give such a synthesis is the earlyShf I Book of Sulaym b. Qays, the companion of 'All, transmittedfrom him by Aban b. 'Ayyash (d. 127-140 H.). A tradition in itsays that when 'All left SifEn, he met a descendant of Sham'unb. Yuhanna, the apostle of Jesus, who told him that he had abook written by the latter to Sham'iin which contained thedescription of the awaited prophet, Ahmad, who would comefrom a town in Tihama called Mecca. The other attributes and

43 See e.g. Tabarl, Tank/), Beirut 1967, VII, 442-3, where Marwan wascalled t h e himar al-ja^tra.

44 Nujiim, I, 322.

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epithets mentioned in this context are: sahib al-ndqa wa-l-himar,wa-l-qadtb wa-l-taj . . . .45

Almost the same tradition was mentioned in a late ShTitesource by Majlisi, the only noticeable difference being that theman who said this to 'All was said to be a monk (rdhib).46 Sucha clear confirmation of the Christian connotations of thisnotion can also be found in a third tradition already given bythe early Ibn Sa'd and later enjoying a wider circulation.47 Itwas transmitted on the authority of Miisa b. Ya'qub al-Zama'l(d. ca. 158 H.), who related it from an ex-Christian named Sahlb. 'Utayba (var.: 'Athama, Ghunayma, Ghuthayma, Khu-thayma), from the town of Murays, describing the circumstan-ces of the latter's conversion to Islam. Sahl starts by saying,that as an orphan, he was brought up by his stepfather whoused to read the injil. One day he skimmed through a mushaf ofthat scripture and felt curious about a glued sheet in it. Whenhe opened it he found the following description of Muham-mad : "Neither short nor tall, fair with two locks of hair, a sealbetween his shoulders, excessive in receiving gifts but notaccepting charity, riding on the ass and the camel, milking thegoat and wearing a patched shirt; something which, whoeverdoes it, becomes free of insolence, and he does it. He is adescendant of Isma'll and his name is Ahmad". The traditiongoes on to describe how Sahl was beaten up by his stepfatherfor reading that part and how the latter denied that the prophetAhmad had come.

To all intents, this tradition contains interesting nuances andthe fact that it appears in a source as early as Ibn Sa'd is in itselfnoticeable. Firstly, there is no doubt that the comment aboutthe correlation between having certain attitudes and per-forming certain deeds on the one hand, and being free ofinsolence on the other, is an editorial note, inserted later.Second, the discourse about deeds and attitudes such as milk-ing a goat, riding an ass and wearing a patched shirt, areliterary topoi which describe an ascetic way of life. Parallels tothem can be found in other literary genres, as we shall shortlysee. Finally, this tradition reveals the early element of accusa-

45 K. Su/aym b. Qays, Na ja f n . d., 123.46 Majlisi, XV, 236.47 Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat, I, 363; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Hidaya, 24; Ibn

Badran, I, 241; SuyutI, Kbasa'is, I, 40.

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tion that the Christians have intentionally concealed {hatamu)the true description of the awaited prophet because it fittedMuhammad. Such accusations, together with the one of tampe-ring (tahrtf) with the text of scripture, were to constitute thecornerstones of the polemics against Christianity as well asagainst Judaism.

Two late sira sources adduce the same notion that Muham-mad was known from the injil as someone who rides both assand camel.48 But, feeling that this might contradict the onebased on Isaiah associating Muhammad with the camel andJesus with the ass, they try to harmonise the two notionswhich, as we have seen, had actually existed for a long time inseparate traditional currents. HalabI holds that describingMuhammad as rider of both beasts is not contradictory (pi-lamukhalafa), since he is known to have done so, while Jesusexclusively (ikhtassd) rode an ass. Dahlan, in his turn, disposesof contradiction by holding that describing Muhammad as acamel-rider could be explained on the grounds that this was themore usual, but does not necessarily contradict his descriptionas riding both camel and ass.

The difficulty which both of these try to tackle seems to arisefrom the fact that they worked with material which, by theirtime, had canonically been separated into two supposedlydifferent genres, stra and dala'il, with the former includinginformation about the Prophet's occasional riding on differentbeasts, while in the latter he is given an epithet associating himwith this or that specific one.

Such a late uniting of what had become separate canons isclear in the work of Khafajl also. Commenting upon theapocalypse of Isa. 21: 7, he holds that, in spite of the syntheticnotion that Muhammad used to ride horse, mule and ass, hewas named the camel-rider because:

a. it was a sign of his modesty;b. he made his hijra on one; andc. he was of pure Arab origin.49

Considering riding a camel as a sign of modesty belongs tocertain literary topoi which have cultural dimensions also and,in any case, could easily be contrasted with the oppositecurrent of ascribing the same merit to riding an ass. Riding

« Halabi, I, 236; Dahlan, I, 164.49 Khafajl, Nasim al-Riyad, II, 404.

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mules and horses, in its turn, appears as a source for additionalepithets as mentioned by one late work which, however, relieson an earlier one. It is a highly isolated variant of the famousstory of the conversion of Salman al-FarisI transmitted fromhim by Abu Salama b. 'Abd al-Rahman (d. 94-104 H.) andrelayed only by Abu Nu'aym as quoted by Suyutl.50 Accordingto this tradition, Salman was told that "a prophet named theprophet of mercy, Muhammad b. 'Abdallah, will come out fromthe mountains of Tihama; he rides on the camel, the ass, thehorse, the mule, and the she-mule. Slave and freeborn will bethe same to him and mercy will be in his heart and limbs.Between his shoulders there is an ovule like a pigeon's egg, onthe inside of which is written: 'God is one, He has no partner,Muhammad is His messenger' and, on the outside: 'go wher-ever you want, for you are victorious ...""

One clearly notices that this isolated variant has elementswhich are not characteristic of this type of material, a factwhich possibly betrays a later moulding, especially the obviousattempt to include in it all the beasts which sira traditionsmention as the occasional mounts of the Prophet.

Such a tendency to fall back to sira material in explaining theProphet's titles is especially clear in late commentaries andgeneral works, a fact which added to the process of selectivityand of out-of-context presentation. NuwayrI, for example,mentions three "names and epithets which were current on thetongues of the imams, of the community ...: rider of burdq, thenaqa and the fine-bred camel (al-najib)."51 'All al-Qarl has onlythe following explanation of these three titles: rdkib al-burdq,meaning during the nocturnal journey, and the naqa, meaningits rider during the farewell pilgrimage and on other occasions,and al-najib, a conjunction explaining the naqa, since it isusually [a name] given to light and fast camels and maybe it[najib] was added to rhyme with saying [sdbib] al-qadtb [in thepreceding sentence]."52

4.2

It is plausible to suggest that culturally rooted factors haveintervened in the struggle between the ass-rider and camel-rider

50 Khasa'is, I , 5 3-4.51 N u w a y r I , Nihayat al-Arab, C a i r o 1955, X V , 79. F o r t h e t i t le sahib al-

burdq, see also D iya rbak r I , I , 207.52 'All al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa, in the margin of Khafajl, II, 404.

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tendencies in this type of Muslim literary activity — a struggleout of which the camel-rider tendency eventually emergedvictorious, clearly as part of the general image of Islam as thereligion of bedouin Arabia. Linguistic as well as other factorsalso acted in this direction. In what follows, however, we shalllimit ourselves to giving a few illustrative notes.

First of all, the term ba 'tr was originally used to denote notonly a camel but an ass too, a fact which has clearly weighed infavour of the camel tendency. Such a meaning, though consi-dered by late sources as "irregular" (shddhdh),53 is anchored in atraditional commentary of early to mid-second century onQur'an 12:72, by Ibn Jurayj (d. 150 H.) from Mujahid (d. 102H.).54 From the lexicographers Ibn Manzur and Zabldl welearn that Muqatil b. Sulayman also held the same view on theground that this verse, and Sura 12 in general, speaks aboutYusuf and the other sons of Ya'qub, who used to make theirliving by trading on asses in the land of Kan'an where nocamels could live.55

From the other information brought by these two, we alsolearn that Ibn Khalawayh (d. 370 H. ) considered this word tobe of Hebrew origin occurring in the tyibur of Dawud in thesense of a beast of burden in general.56 However, the anecdotewhich they tell about Ibn Khalawayh can only relate to aprocess which was well under way in his time: the meaning "anass" was so rare (barf nadir) that he could easily embarass thefamous poet, al-Mutanabbl, for his not knowing it.

In spite of this etymological interference, a strong currentreflecting the deeply rooted belief in the Near East, that ridingan ass together with certain other deeds, was considered a signof ascetism characterising prophets and other righteous wor-shippers. An early traditional expression of this belief wasadduced by Ibn Sa'd and a few hadtth sources in the context ofmentioning Muhammad's riding beasts. The isndd of this tradi-tion is: Ya'qub b. Ishaq 1-HadramI (d. 205 H.), Yazld b. 'Ata'al-Bazzaz (d. 177 H.). Abu Ishaq (al-Subay'I? d. 126-9 H.),'Amir b. 'Abdullah b. Mas'ud, his father. It attributes to

.5 3 D a m l r i , Hayat al-Hayawan al-Kubra, Be i ru t n .d . , I , 133.54 Tabarl, Tafsir, Cairo 1954, XIII, 19-20.55 Ibn Manzur, Lisan, Cairo 1308 H,. V, 137-8; Zabldl, Taj, Cairo 1307

H., Ill, 52.56 Cf. the Hebrew TS3 in Gen. 45: 17; Exod. 22: 5; Num. 20: 4, 8, n ;

Ps. 78.

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'Abdullah b. Mas'ud the saying: "the Prophet used to wearwool (suf), milk the goat and ride asses, and the Prophet (s) hadan ass called 'Ufayr".57

We shall deal with the information on the Prophet's ass later.As for the tradition under discussion, certain variants of it werebrought by other sources which, however, attribute them notto Ibn Mas'ud but to the Prophet himself. Damlri quotes bothal-Mubarrid and BayhaqI as bringing such a variant on theauthority of the early second-century 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Am-mar b. Sa'd. The latter, we are told, transmitted a tradition viaJabir and Abu Hurayra, according to whom the Prophet said:"an exemption from arrogance is wearing /^/"sitting with poorbelievers, riding an ass, milking a goat and dining with one'schildren", ss

From another tradition we are told by the Prophet's servant,Anas, that wearing suf, milking a goat, riding an ass, etc., werea few of the deeds which Muhammad left behind as examplesof modesty to be followed by his community.59 Al-Hakimgives a tradition attributing to Abu Musa al-Ash arl the sayingthat the Prophet used to ride an ass, wear suf, milk the goat andbe considerate with the guest.60

A few sources mention figures from early Islam other thanthe Prophet who used to ride asses as a sign of ascetism. Forexample, it is mentioned that Salman al-FarisI while acting as agovenor of Mada'in, used to wear suf, ride an unsaddled assand eat barley bread.61 The same was reported about earlysecond-century figures like al-Fadl b. 'Isa al-Riqashl and Khalidb. Safwan. We are told that the latter, when asked why hepreferred to ride an ass, said: "... it safeguards me from being atyrant (Jabbar) in the land or from being one of those whowreak corruption (mitt al-mufsidin)."62

57 I bn Sa'd, I, 492 ; TayalisI, Musnad, Beirut 1406 H. , 44. C o m p a r e alsowi th A b u Ya'la, Musnad, Damascus 1986, V I I I , 440 ; TabaranI , al-Mu'jam al-Kabfr, X , 182; Hay thami , I X , 90.

58 D a m l r i , I , 18. cf. also w i t h Day lamI , Firdaws, Bei ru t 1986, I V , 59.59 Balkhl / M u q a d d a s I , al-Bad" wa-l-Tarikh, Paris 1916, V , 3.60 Al-Hakim, Mustadrak, Riyad 1968, I, 61. Compare also with Ibn al-

Mubarak (d. 181 H) al-Zuhd, Beirut 1386 H., 353, where a mursal traditionof Hasan is given and see Ibn Hanbal, al-Zuhd, Cairo 1987, 20, 41, 78. InHaythami, IX, 20 TabaranI and Bazzar were also quoted for this tradition.

61 Mas'udl, Muruj al-Dhahab, Paris, 1861-77, rV, 496.62 M a y d a n I (d . 5 1 8 H . ) , Ma/ma''al-Amthdl, C a i r o 1352 H . , I , 4 2 3 ; I I , 238.

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Such views were traditionally anchored also in the notion,current in the qasas genre, that asses were the riding beasts ofancient, i.e. pre-Islamic prophets and worshippers.63 Tha'labItestifies to this notion when citing the traditions of Ibn 'Abbas(d. 68 H.), Suddl (d. 127 H.), Kalbl (d. 146 H.*), Ibn Ishaq (d.15 o H.) and Muqatil concerning the she-ass {atari) of Balaam b.Ba'ura.64 From the story brought by the sarcastic al-Jahiz welearn that the above-mentioned al-Fadl al-Riqashl consideredthe sight of Salam b. Quatayba (d. 149 H. ) entering themosque riding on an ass as "a seat of a prophet" {qa'datunabiyji), although he did not believe in the sincerity of the riderin that case.65

It seems that in the mid-second century, however, othercurrents were also under way. Al-Jahiz himself cites a traditionof Muqatil b. Sulayman according to which al-Khidr says, inresponse to an enquiry by Musa, that he prefers the horse, theass and the camel "because they are the riding beasts ofprophets {li-annahd mardkib al-anbiyd')."66 The comment ofMuqatil brought within this tradition identifies the Arabianprophets Hud, Salih and Shu'ayb as camel riders, the combat-tive prophets (»/« 'l-a^tri) as horse riders and the Judeao-Chris-tian ones as ass riders. It is worth noting that Muhammad isnot mentioned here in association with any of these riding-beasts in particular, a fact which can be explained by thegradually growing confusion in the traditional reports concer-ning his occasional riding on this or that beast.

With this background, it is not surprising to see that somesources mention al-burdq as the riding beast of prophets.67 But,because riding al-burdq was usually associated with Muham-mad's nocturnal journey, the late author, who adduces thisnotion expresses his reservation in accepting it, though hehimself quotes the traditional confirmation that Ibrahim usedto ride this animal when he made the hijra to Mecca andtransferred Hajar and Isma'H there.68 In another traditionmentioned by him, the Prophet says that he will come on the

« Ibn Hanbal, Zuhd, 78.64 T h a ' l a b I , Qisas-'Ara'is, 756 : wa kanat mardkib al-'ubbad al-awwalin.65 al-Jahiz, K. al-Hayaivan, Cairo 1969, VII, 204.66 Ibid.67 Nawawl, from Zabldl, quoted in Damlri, I, 117.« Ibid.

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RIDING. BEASTS ON DIVINE MISSIONS

Day of Judgement on al-b'urdq while his daughter, Fatima, willbe riding his ndqa named al-'Adba', mentioned above.69

4-3An indirect expression of the conflict between the cross-

currents concerning the role played by different riding beasts inthe development of Muslim perception of divine missions ingeneral, and of Islam itself in particular, can be gauged fromconflicting prophetical traditions and popular expressions onthis issue. These have a clear social dimension, since theycorrespond to deeply rooted cultural attitudes in the differentareas of early Islam. However, in order not to be carriedbeyond the scope of this study, we shall limit ourselves toscrutinising only those traditions and expressions which haveclear religious connotations and which express the traditionalass v. camel conflict.

The general picture emerging from this type of materialreflects an ambivalent attitude toward both ass and camel, afact which in itself confirms the existence of such conflictingattitudes. To demonstrate this, one may quote a few expres-sions which stand in complete contrast to the notion that assesare the blessed riding beasts of prophets and worshippers, e.g.,the saying "I disvow a lord who rides an ass {bari'tu min rabbin,

jarkabu al-himdr) which, though cited by Maydani withoutcomment, represents a clear anti-ass current, clearly of an anti-Christian tinge.70 Similar attitude can be found in the saying"more infidel than an ass" (akfaru min himar). In the interpreta-tions given for this, one can discern an attempt to diffuse thereligious projections of such a current. There is, on the otherhand, the attempt to personify its origins by saying that himarwas the name of the ancient 'Ad who expressed disbelief whenput to the test.71 From another source we learn that some heldthat himar in this idiom meant "an ass" but added that hisdisbelief is actually a good omen for the blessedness of hisowners {wa-bayna wajhi kufrdnihi ni'amu mawdlih).12

There is also a variant of this which says ajhalu min himarwhich Maydani interprets, again, as referring originally to 'Ad,

69 Ibid. See also Albani, al-Ahadtth al-Da'ifa, Beirut 1599 H., II, 191.70 M a y d a n i , I, 127.71 Maydani, II, 114." Zabldl, III, 156.

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the infidel.73 But from another saying mentioned by NuwayrIon the ignorance of the ass (himdrun yahmilu sifran — an asscarrying a book/ scripture),74 one may discern a connectionwith Qur'an 62:5, which blames the Jews who, though theymay carry the Bible, are ignorant of its contents which annun-ciate the coming of Muhammad.75

The strongest traditional expression of the anti-ass current isa prophetical hadtth, given in many classical compilations,which considers the voice of the ass as an ominous sign forseeing the devil and urges believers to take refuge with Godwhen hearing it.76 Finally, note should also be made of severalinstances in Muslim traditional eschatology where the falseMessiah {al-dajjat) is described as coming on an ass or a she-ass{atari).11

Instances of the traditional praising of certain tamed beastsand the condemning of others are, indeed, numerous. Thisissue, however, will only be touched upon when considering afew relevant reports on the beasts which Muhammad usedoccasionally to ride, in section 5 below. It will suffice tomention at this stage a widely circulated prophetical traditionwhich forbids Muslims to pray in the kneeling-places of camels{mabdrik al-ibil), since camels were born of devils (Ja-innahd minal-shaydtiri) or else because their kneeling places are dwellingplaces for devils.78

73 MaydanI, I, 198.74 NuwayrI, X, 96.75 L i t . mathalu alladhina hamalu al-tawrata thumma lam yabmiluhd ka-mathali

l-himari yahmilu asfara .... See also the commentaries of: Farra', Ma'ani al-Qur'an, Cairo 1972, III, 155; Tabari, Tafstr Cairo 1987,. XXVIII, 63;Naysaburi, Ghard'ib, in the margin of Tabari, XXVIII, 64; RazI, Mafdtth,Cairo 1308H., VIII, 144; Baydawl, Anwar, Lipsiae i848,V, 332 NasatT,Tafstr, Beirut n.d., IV, 255.

76 L i t . wa-idhd sami'tum nahiqa l-himari fa-ta'arvrvadhu bi-l-lahi min al-shay-tdn, as in Bukharl, Bad' al-Khalq, 15; Muslim, Dhikr, 82; Abu Dawud, Adab106; TirmidhI, Da'awdt 56, Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, II, 307, 321 364, HI, 306,355; cf. A. J. Wensinck, Concordance ..., I, 512.

77 E.g. Nu'aym b. Hammad, K. al-Fitan, ms. Br. Mus., Or. 2449, fols.151 (b), 152 (b), 153 (a); Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, Cairo 1313, III, 367; Al-Haklm, IV, 529-30; Qurtubi, al-Tadhkira, Cairo 1985, II, 396, 402-3; IbnKathlr, Nibayat al-Bidaya, Riyad 1968, I, 105-6, 158, 161.

78 Cf. A b u D a w u d (d. 2 7 5 H . ) , Sunan, B e i r u t n .d . , I , 1 3 3 ; I b n Maja ,Sunan, C a i r o 1952 ; B u k h a r l , Sabih, Wudu', 66 , a n d Qas ta l l an I , Irshad, C a i r on.d., I, 1384; Shafi'I, Umm, Beirut 1980, I, 112-13. 1° TirmidhI, Nasal andIbn Hibban, cf. Damlrl, 1,16, fa-innaha ma'wa al-shayatln. But see also

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Apparently, such a tradition could be presented in contrastto the reports which say that the Prophet established hismosque at Medina exactly where his naqa was divinely inspiredto sit, as well as to the tradition, brought by 'Abd al-Razzaq (d.211 H.), which describes the tiaqa's behaviour under the effectof the revelation {qawlan thaqtlS) in Qur'an 73:5, to the Pro-phet.79 One would also tend to believe that forbidding prayerin camel's kneeling places forms a counter-balance to the asscurrent. A close contextual scrutinising of such a prohibitionhowever, soon reveals clear cultural rather than messianicconnotations, as it was usually contrasted with the permissionto pray in the resting places of sheep {mardbid al-ghanam) whichimmediately followed, without any mention of riding beasts.

5. MUHAMMAD'S RIDING BEASTS

Traditional Muslim reports concerning animals in general are,indeed, numerous and cover a wide range of subjects. Not onlythe merits and vices of different animals in this world but alsotheir destiny in the coming one, are covered by some of thesereports.80 Others occasionally mention different animals in thecontext of Muhammad's life and activities and are cited as partof the "proofs" {dala'il) of Muhammad's prophecy; hence deer,wolves, camels, birds, etc., are presented as talking, complain-ing, warning, remonstrating and even verbally expressing beliefin him.81 In what follows, however, we shall not deal witheither kind but limit ourselves to reports on Muhammad'sriding beasts, especially those reports which present theirbehaviour as having clear messianic connotations.

Such messianic connotations are often not explicitly stated oreven clear. In many stra and hadtth reports, the Prophet's riding

Tahawl (d. 321H.), Sharh Ma'ant al-Athar, Delhi 1348H., I, 224, whopermits however such prayer.

79 'Abd al-Razzaq, Tafstr , ms. Dar al-Kutub, Cairo, Tafsir 141, fol. 287(a).

80 E.g. see Ibn Kathir, Nihaya, II, 44-7, 328.81 E.g. see Ibn Ishaq, K. al-Siyar ma-l-Magha^t, Damascus 1978, 278-82;

Ibn Hanbal, VI, 76; Ibn Rabban, 31-3; Balkhl/ Muqaddasi, V, 35-9, al-Hakim, II, 99-100, BayhaqI, Dala'il, VI, 28-44, Ibn Kathir, Bidaya, VI, 135-51; SuyutI, Khasa'is, III, 113; Dahlan, I, 157.

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on this or that beast is mentioned only in a casual form, i.e.without attaching any religious importance to the incident.Indeed, in many borderline cases, assigning any religiousmeaning to what otherwise could be taken as a casual referencehas to be construed from other extta-sfra reports on anyspecific beast.

Examples of such borderline cases are many. Bukharlcasually mentions the" Prophet as riding an ass called 'Ufayr,whom we meet in other sources with clear messianic connota-tions.82 However, when a report describes the Prophet aspraying on an ass,83 one must be careful, as the halakhicquestion of prayer while travelling might be the one addressed.Likewise, one wonders whether the command of Abu Sufyanto Mu'awiya to dismount from his ass and offer it to Muham-mad had any religious meaning.84 The report which says thatthe Prophet was the only one who rode a horse, named al-Sakb, during the battle of Uhud, seems not to have any suchmeaning.85 On the other hand, a unique tradition of Jabir b.'Abdallah attributes to the Prophet the saying "I came tomanage the affairs of the world [riding] on a spotted horsecovered with a silk brocaded piece of velvet" {ataytu bi-maqalidal-dunyd 'aid farasin ablaq 'alayhi qatifatun min sundus).66

Such borderline cases can also be seen in reports concerningsome of the Prophet's riding camels and ndqas. From Ibn Saedwe learn that he made his hijra on his she-camel al-Qaswa'(otherwise known as al-Jad'a or al 'Adba') noted above, whilehe rode his red camel on his last hajj91. From some late sources,however, we learn that the Prophet rode on that occasion ashe-camel of his named al-Sahba' ("the golden coloured").88

82 Bukhar l , Sahlh, Beirut 1981, I I I , 216.83 E .g . see KinanI , HadTth, ms. Zahiriyya, Majmit' 120, 141.84 Baladhurl , Ansab, 4(a), Jerusalem 1971, 7; and cf. Tabar l , Tarikh, X ,

58.85 See Nuwayr l , X , 33-8, where the names of some 18-19 o the r horses

are also ment ioned , and cf. Balkhl/ Muqaddas i , V, 24-5.84. 85. Ibn Sa 'd . I , 492-3. See also Tabar l , Tarikh, I I I , 174-5; I bn Sayyid al-Nas , I I , 322.

86 Ibn al-Fuwat l (d. 723 H. ) , TalkhU Majma' al-Adab, Damascus 1965,IV (III), 7; HaythamI, IX, 20, quoting Ibn Hanbal for it.

87 Ibn Sa'd, I, 492-3. See also Tabarl, Tarikh, III, 174-5; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 322.

88 Nuwayrl, X, 111; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, ibid.

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In the battle of Hunayn, the Prophet is reported to havefought on a she-mule of his described by one early source aswhite {al-baydd*) named Duldul, while by another as greyish {al-sbahbd%89 As for Duldul, Ibn Sa'd, Tabari and another thirdcentury source bring two different traditions attributed toWaqidi, one which makes it a present from Muqawqis, go-vernor of Egypt, while the other makes it rather a present fromFarwa al-Judhaml.90

Later sources reveal wide divergence in the information onthe name, colour, country of origin and destiny not only ofDuldul but of other possible she-mules of the Prophet.91 Oneof them quotes a Shf i source which says that the greyishDuldul was the she-mule which the Prophet rode at Hunayn.We are also informed that, at his order, the beast sat down,possibly in conjunction with the information that he took ahandful of sand, threw it in the face of the enemy and thusbrought about their defeat.92

More important probably is the unique information broughtby this same source that, after the Prophet's death, Duldul wasridden by 'AH and his sons Hasan, Husayn and Muhammad b.al-Hanafiyya. From other sources we learn that 'All indeed rodea certain she-mule of the Prophet at the Battle of the Camel,but no religious connotations were explicitly attached to thisaction.93

5-2To two of the Prophet's riding beasts, his ass named 'Ufayr

or Ya'fur94 and the ndqa that served him in his hijra, a clearreligious notion was however attached, but, as might beexpected, there is a wide disagreement between the differenttraditional reports on each of the two. On the whole, the ones

89 Cf. I bn Hisham, Sira, G o t t i n g en 1859, I I , 846 wi th Waqid i , I I I , 897-8.

90 Ibn Sa'd, I, 492 ; Tabar i , I I I , 21 , 174; H a m m a d b . Ishaq b . Isma'H,Tirkat al-Nabiyy, n .p . 1984, 99-100.

91 Cf. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Zadal-Ma'ad, Cairo 1953; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas , II , 266, 322; Nuwayr I , X , 82-5.

92 NuwayrI, X, 83-4, quoting 'All b. Muhammad b. Hunayn b. 'Abdus al-Kufi.

93 Compare Mas'udl, Muruj, IV, 317, with Nawawl (d. 676 H.), Tahdhibal-Asma', Cairo n.d., I, 37.

94 Only QadI 'Iyad was reported to have given it the name Ghufayr,which, however, is a clear copyist's mistake. Cf. Nawawl, loc. cit.

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on the behaviour of his ndqa suceeded in entering the sira andhadith compilations more than the ones regarding his ass.

Let us start with 'Ufayr who, as noted above, was casuallymentioned by some hadith sources.95 Further information abouthim is provided by some biographical traditions given alreadyby Ibn Sa'd and Hammad b. Ishaq. The isndd of one of themgoes back from WaqidI to two second century chains: Miisa b.Muhammad b. Ibrahim (d. 150-60 H.), his father (d. 119-21).On the authority of the latter we are told that 'Ufayr was an asssent by Mucjawqis to the Prophet, together with Duldul andother presents.96

The second tradition was also transmitted through Waqidithough this time from Abu Bakr b. 'Abdallah b. Abl Sabra (d.162 H.), Zamil b. 'Amr. It says that the ass Ya'fur and the she-mule Fadda were sent as presents from Farwa al-Judhaml,adding that Ya'fur died when the Prophet accomplished his lasthajj (the wadd' one) to Mecca.

Another two traditions in Ibn Sa'd simply state that thename of the Prophet's ass was Ya'fiir without specifying itsbeing a present. The isndd of one of them is: Abu Bakr b.'Abdallah b. Abl Uways al-Madanl, Sulayman b. Bilal (d. 172-7H.), 'Alqama b. Abl 'Alqama (d. ca. mid-second century H.).The other goes back to Sufyan al-Thawrl (d. 161 H.), Ja'far (al-Sadiq, d. 148H.), his father (Muhammad b. 'All, d.ii4.H.).

Of these traditions, Tabarl brings only the two transmittedthrough WaqidI97 and the same information is repeated by twolater sources.98 As for TabaranI (d. 360H.), he brings a differentchain ending with Ibn Mas'ud who only says that the Prophetused to have an ass named Ya'fur."

More information is revealed by works from the fifth cen-tury onwards.100 Ya'fur, we are told, was among the booty of

95 Cf. Bukhari, III, 216; al-Hakim, II, 608; Abu Ya'la, VIII, 440;TabaranI, II, 120, X, 18, 123; HaythamI, I, 287, IX, 20.

96 Ibn Sa'd, I, 491; Hammad b. Ishaq, 99.97 Tabarl, Tarikh, III, 174.98 Ibn Qayyim, Zad, I, 61-3, 69-70; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 322.99 TabaranI, al-Mu'jam al-Kabfr, Baghdad 1980, X, 182.100 Ibn Furak, al-Fusul; Juwaynl (d. 478 H.), Kitab al-Shdmil; and

Suhayll, cf. NuwayrI, X, 94-5; Ibn al-jawzl, Marvdu'at, I, 293-4; Mas'udI, al-Muntakhab 164; ZurqanI, Sharh al-Mawahib, V, 175; al-Amlnl, al-Ghadtr,Beirut 1977, XI, 107; Ibn Kathlr, Bidaya, VI, 150-1; idem, Shama'il, Cairo1967, 289, quoting Ibn Hamid's Dala'il al-Nubua>wa; Ibn 'Asakir, Tarikh, cf.SuyutI, Kbasa'it, II, 274 and note (3) referring to Shawkanrs Fawd'id.

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Khaybar. He talked to the Prophet saying that his name wasZiyad (var. Yazld) b. Shihab and that he was the last descen-dant in the line of sixty asses all ridden by prophets. Offeringhis back to Muhammad, the ass also complained that pre-viously he was owned by a Jew who used to beat him becausehe intentionally stumbled whenever the Jew rode on him. TheProphet decided to call him Ya'fur, and used to ride him. Weare also told that, whenever he wanted to summon one of hiscompanions, he used to send Ya'fur who would knock with hishead on the door of the designated person. Finally, whenMuhammad died, Ya'fur put an end to its life by throwingitself into a well, an act which symbolically confirms the notionthat since Muhammad was the last prophet, Ya'fur was also thelast in a long line of riding asses for the prophets.

Few of the works giving this story mention the third-cen-tury Muhammad b. Mazyad as a source for it with thetraditional isndd: Abu Hudhayfa, Musa b. Mas'ud (d. 220 H.),'Abdallah b. Habib al-Hudhall (Kufan, d. ca. mid-second cen-tury), Abu'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulaml (d. 72-85 H.), Abu Man-zur, a Syrian Succesor who is sometimes said to have been aCompanion. The famous traditionalist Ibn Hibban (d. 354 H.)considered this story as weak, on the ground that Muhammadb'. Mazyad was unreliable, a position adopted and reiterated bysubsequebt scholars.101

Almost the same information is provided by another tradi-tion occuring only in one source, the Dald'il of Abu Nu'aym(d. 430H.). The isndd given for it is a clear Syrian one endingwith Thawr b. Yazld (d. 150H. ) Khalid b. Ma'dan (d. 103-108H.), Mu'adh b. Jabal. It basically confirms the informationgiven by the previous tradition except for minor variations: thecolour of the ass was black and not sandy, as the name 'Ufayrindicates; the latter's previous name was'Amr and not Ziyad orYazld; he was the last of seven brothers ridden by prophetsand not the descendant of a line of sixty etc.102

101 Ibn Hibban al-Bustl, Kitab al-Majruhin, Haydarabad 1970, II, 302;Ibn al-Jawzi Marvdii'at, I, 294; Suyuti, La'a/i, I, 276; ZurqanI, V, 175;Dhahabi, Mi^an, Cairo 1325 H., I l l , 133; Ibn Hajar, Lisan, Haydarabad1331 H., V, 376-7; KinanI, I, 326.

102 A b u N u ' a y m , Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, H a y d a r a b a d 1950 , 3 3 1 ; cf. a l s oSuyuti, Khasa'is, II, 275.

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5-3Note has already been made of the Prophet's she-camel

(ndqa) named al-Qaswa? on whom he made his divinely-commanded hijra from Mecca to Medina. In what follows, thetraditional reports on her divinely-inspired behaviour on arri-val in Medina, which affected the choice of the site of Muham-mad's mosque there will be examined. These include thetraditions on the "commanded" ndqa {al-ndqa al-ma'murd) aswell as those on the Prophet's building of his mosque at itsresting place {mabrak).

With minor variations, the notion of ndqa ma'miira appearsalready in the three second-century stra works of Wahb b.Munabbih (d. n o H.), Musi b. 'Uqba (d. 141-5 H. ) and IbnIshaq (d. 150 H.) and enjoys a wide circulation in latercompilations of this genre.103 The work of Wahb was transmit-ted by his grandson through his daughter, 'Abd al-Mun'im b.Idris;104 the Magbd^J of Musa b. 'Uqba was quoted by IbnKathlr;105 and the tradition of Ibn Ishaq, which he probablytook from Muhammad b. Ja'far b. al-Zubayr (d. 110-20 H.),appears in the recension of Ibn Hisham106 as well as in some ofthe later works noted above.

The story in these sources is roughly the following: whenthe Prophet entered Medina he was received by different Ansariclans, each grabbing the rein of his naqa, trying to lead her totheir abodes, offering him to lodge there. To such attempts, weare told, the Prophet reacted by saying "leave the ndqa/get outof her way, she is [divinely] ordered" {khallii 'an al-ndqa jsabilahd, fa-innabd ma'mura). She arrived at a barn used fordrying dates [mirbad), and when she finally decided to rest therethe Prophet ordered that his mosque be built on that site.

There are nevertheless a few minor variations which do notalter the main picture. Ibn eUqba, for example adds thesaying :"I will dismount where God dismounts me" {ja-innamdan^ilu hajthu an^alani alldti). From him, we also learn that the

103 E.g. Tabari, II, 596; Suhayll, Rawd, Cairo 1969, IV, 260; Ibn Kathir,Bidaya, III, 199; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, I, 196; Abu '1-Fida, al-Mukhtasar, Cairo1325 H., I, 127; Mas'udI, Murfij, IV, 140-1; Diyarbakri, I, 339.

104 MaghaiJ Rasul Allah, ed. R. Khoury. Wiesbaden 1972, 160-4.105 Ibn Kathlr, op. cit, III, 199.106 Ibn Hisham, Stra, ed. Beirut 1975, II, 101. Compare also Ibn Hibban

(d. 354), Sira, Beirut 1987, 142-3.

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ndqa rested at the door of the house of Abu Ayyub al-Ansarl,where the Prophet dismounted and temporarily settled.107

Wahb b. Munabbih says thay she rested between that houseand a mirbad which belonged to two orphans. The names of theorphans are not given here, but we learn that Sa'd b. Mu'adhinterfered and promised to compensate them. From Ibn Ishaqwe know that they were Sahl and Suhayl from the clan of al-Najjar, placed under the custody of Mu'adh b. 'Afra'.

But this Wahb-Ibn 'Uqba-Ibn Ishaq stra account is not theonly one of the Prophet's choice for the site of his mosque. IbnSa'd cites a tradition of Zuhri (d. 124 H.) transmitted viaWaqidi, Ma'mar b. Rashid (d. 152-3 H.) which completelylacks the element of ndqa ma 'miira.108 All we are told here isthat the ndqa rested at a site which had already been taken as aplace of prayer by converts in Medina, i.e. before Muhammadarrived there. There is also the minor variation of As'ad b.Zurara being named as custodian of the two orphans owningthe mirbad.

This Zuhri tradition was cited also by Bukharl through theisndd Layth b. Sa'd (d. 175 H.), 'Uqayl (b. Khalid al-Ayll al-Umawl, d. 140-4 H.).109 There is also a tradition attributed toAnas b. Malik on the authority of Abu '1-Tayyah (d. 128-30H.). This tradition enjoys a wide occurence in hadith compila-tions on the story of the Prophet's choice for the site of hismosque and again it lacks the element of the ndqa ma*mura.no

All we are told here is that the Prophet arrived at the courtyard(find) of the house of Abu Ayyub, and asked the Ansar to sellhim a walled garden (hd'it) previously used as a graveyard. Inthis tradition no role is attached to his ndqa in the choice of thesite of his mosque.

Tabarl, who was basically a muhaddith, cites this Abu '1-Tayyah, Anas tradition with the comment that he himselfconsidered this story to be the correct, accepted one {rva-l-sahih

107 Ibn Kathlr, op. cit., Ill , 199.'08 Ibn Sa'd, I, 239.109 Bukharl, Sahib, Beirut 1981, IV, 254-8.110 Bukharl, IV, 266; Muslim, Sahib, Beirut n.d., II, 65; Abu Dawud,

Sunan, I, 123-4; Nasa'I, Sunan Cairo 1930, II, 39-40; TayalisI, Musnad,Haydarabad 13 21, 277-8; Ibn Maja, Sunan, I, 245; Ibn Hanbal, Musnad,Cairo 1313H., I l l , 118, 123, 211-2, 244; Bayhaql, Sunan, HaydarabadI346H., 11,438.

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'indana ...).1H It is interesting to see that no role was assignedto the naqa ma'miira idea in the story of the Prophet's choice ofthe site for his mosque as related by Baladhurl also. The latterwas quoted as holding that As'ad b. Zurara used to have amosque in which he assembled the Muslims for prayer beforeMuhammad arrived there. When the latter came, he also prayedin that mosque. However, because he wanted to enlarge it, heasked to be sold an adjacent piece of land which belonged totwo orphans under As'ad's custody.112

To sum up, the idea of a naqa ma'miira was stronglyrepresented in early major sira works and prevailed as such insubsequent ones. However, what seems to be a clear rejectionor unawareness by hadith scholars of such a notion may explainthe complete absence of any support for it in the traditions inclassical hadith compilations on Muhammad's building of hisMedina mosque.

Nevertheless, the widely current belief in the first half of thesecond century that a divinely inspired riding beast is part andparcel of the mission of a prophet, in this case Muhammad,may explain the circulation of another tradition of Anas on theauthority of Ishaq b. 'Abdallah b. Abl Talha (d.i32-4H.) where,contrary to the one circulated by Abu '1-Tayyah, the notion ofa naqa ma 'miira does indeed occur. This tradition was cited byboth BayhaqI and al-Hakim, though a later scholar who notesit says that it is strange (gharib), not reported by major hadithcompilers.113 However with the failure of hadith compilers toeffect a complete rejection of the naqa ma'miira notion, laterscholars like HalabI, Maqrlzi and SuyutI tried either to harmo-nise or to present the ndqa's behaviour and the Prophet'sbuilding of his mosque as two unrelated issues.114

We shall see in the section below that a few figures in earlyIslam, other than Muhammad were reported as riding suchdivinely-guided beasts or identified as ones to be expected ascoming on them.

To end the discussion on Muhammad's naqa, one may add aunique report brought by WaqidI which puts the choice of the

111 Tabarl, Tarikh, II, 397.112 Cf. Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, I, 195-6.113 Ibn Kathlr, Biddy a, III, 199-200: bddhd hadith gharib win hddhd al-wajh

lam yanvihi abadun mln ashdb al-sunan.114 HalabI, II, 65; SuyutI, Khasa'is, I, 471-2; MaqrizI, lmta', Cairo n.d., I,

46-8.

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site of mosque at the resting place of the Prophet's ndqa, andhis saying innaha ma'miira, in Khaybar rather than Medina.115

Finally, Ibn Kathlr mentions the existence in his time of a"kneeling place" (mabrak) of the Prophet's ndqa in Busra, Syria,on which a mosque was built also.116

6. OTHER RIDERS

We have already noted the idea that the year ioo H. was namedsanat al-himdrj sahib al-himdr and that the last Marwanid rulerwas himself nicknamed al-himdr. Actually, Muslim sources arefull of such sporadic instances in which certain riding beastsfigure prominently in the reports on people and movements ofa clear religious nature in both the Jahiliyya and in early Islam.

From the former, one may cite Khalid b. Sinan al-'Absi whoappeared just before Muhammad and whom the latter praisedwhen meeting his daughter. Before dying, we are told, Khalidasked his clan to watch for a docked ass (himdrj 'ayr abtar) whowould pound his grave with his hoof. This, he said, would be asign for them to dig the grave and he would come out alive.His clan, however, declined to do this and Muhammad uponhearing the story, said about Khalid "that was a prophet lostby his own people. " m

Another interesting story concerns 'Amila b. Khalid al-Ad-wanl, nicknamed Abu Sayyara. For over forty years before therise of Islam Abu Sayyara used to lead the pilgrims fromMuzdalifa to Mina on a black ass or a she-ass (atdn) of his; thisis alluded to in the proverbial saying "more healthy/patientthan the ass of Abu Sayyara" (asahhu/asbaru min himdr AbiSayyara) as well as in a few verses brought by different sources.More relevant, however, is the view attributed to Musa b.Hadir that Abu Sayyara used to ride neither a horse nor acamel but an ass as an act of self-apotheosis (... li-annahu kdnayata'allab).m

"5 WaqidI, II, 643. See also Halabi, III, 39, and Dahlan, III, 237.116 Ibn Kathlr, Bidaya, II, 323.117 E.g. see Mas'udi, Muriij, e.d. Beirut 1966, I, 75; Diyarbakri, I, 200;

al-Hakim, II, 599.118 Jahiz, K. al-Hayawan, I, 139, II, 257; idem, al-Bayan wa 'l-Tabyin, I,

307; Ibn Hisham, I, 113; MaydanI, I, 423; Tha'alibI, Thimar al-Qulub, 295;al-Tamthtl wa-l-Mubadara, Cairo 1961, 342; Yaqut, Mu'jam al-Bulddn, Beirut1957, V, 187; NuwayrI, X, 96; Damlri, I, 254.

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There is also the reported epithet of one of the Ridda leaders,al-Aswad al-AnsI, "the one on the ass" (dbu 'l-himdr). Althoughin some sources it wrongly reads dhu 'l-khimdr ("the man withthe veil"),119 we learn from one lexicographic source that al-Aswad "had a trained black ass to whom he used to say'prostrate before your lord', and he would prostrate, and wouldlikewise say to him,'kneel down' and he would kneel."120

From the period of early Islam, the reports on 'Umar'sriding beasts are loaded with curious statements which havecertain messianic overtones. One of them speaks about ajourney which he made to Syria before Islam and describeshow, after an unfortunate incident, he took refuge in a mon-astery there. A monk recognised in him some signs indicatingthat he was the man destined to occupy Syria and decided tohelp him. He gave him a she-ass to ride, saying that "she willknow her way back on her own and will also be respected in allthe monasteries she passes" (... ja-innahu la tamurru bi-dayrin iliaakramiiba).121

From the period of 'Umar's caliphate we have numerous,often contradictory, reports on the beasts he rode on his visitsto Syria. To begin with, it is not clear how many such visits heactually made and what riding beast he used in each of them.The view that he made three visits, calling off a fourth onebecause of an epidemic, and that he rode a different beast eachtime smacks of a harmonising process.122 However, some ofthe reports concerning his riding an ass are worth noting. Onetradition relates from Ibn 'Abbas how he saw 'Umar riding anass with a black rein and wearing a pair of patched sandals. 123Amore relevant report is the tradition of Sayf b. 'Umar (d. ca.180 H.) related by Ibn al-jawzl and Ibn 'Asakir. It says thatwhen 'Umar departed from al-Jabiya to Jerusalem he rode anass and , "when seen by people of the scripture they prostratedthemselves before him but he said, 'Do not bow down forhumans, but bow down for God', and he went on. The priestsand monks said, 'We have never seen a man more similar to the

119 Compare Tabari, III, 185, 231, with Baladhurl, Futuh al-Buldan,Beirut 1978, 113.

120 Zabidl, III, 156.121 Ibn Kathlr, Bidaya, II, 59.122 Tabari, III, 610; Damlrl, I, 119; Ibn al-jawzl, al-Kbamis min al-

Munta^am, ms. Zahiriyya, Damascus, Tarikh 62, 29.•» Ibn'Abd Rabbihi, 'Iqd, 271.

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description of the apostles than this one'. Then he crossed theJordan on his camel."124

Needless to say, the last sentence of this tradition clearlyseems to be an addition, probably reflecting an attempt toharmonise it with the other traditional idea that he rode acamel on his visit to Syria. For, a similar reaction in the formof "we have never seen a king as ascetic (Jt-rahbdniyyatin) asthis one" occurs in another source in the context of the reporton his riding a camel.125

Of the two, the notion that 'Umar visited Syria on a camel isindeed the stronger and more widely circulated. A tradition ofPseudo-Waqidi says that he used "a red camel" (ba'ir ahmar).n6

This also cites the widely circulated tradition that 'Umarinsisted upon riding a camel after he tried a hackney (birdhawn,var. min barddhin al-Kum), which was strongly recommended tohim.127 As for the question as to who suggested the birdhawnand why, there are two different traditional views. One by Abu'l-'Aliya (d. 90-110H. ) says that 'Umar arrived in al-Jabiya on asilver-coloured camel (jamal awraq). The head of town, namedal-Jalus/ al-Jaliimus, said to him: "You are king of Arabs;camels are no good for this country. If you wore somethingother than this and rode a birdhawn, it would be greater in theeyes of the Rum." He fUmar] said "We are people whom Godhas strengthened by Islam, hence we will not seek an alterna-tive to God ..."128 The tradition goes on to tell how he wasthen brought a birdhawn and rode it, but quickly dismountedand slapped the beast for walking proudly. One easily noticeshere that the cultural differences between Arabs and Rum and'Umar's modesty are the themes underlined in this tradition.Hence, few sources bring only this episode of slapping andcursing the birdhawn or the notion that 'Umar forbade hisdistrict govenors ('ummdl) from riding barddhin, though insteadof the camel (ba'ir), some variants mention that it was a horse(faras) that he previously rode.129

124 Ibn'Asakir, Tarikh, Damascus 1982, 106; Ibn al-JawzT, al-Khamis, 93.125 Ibn Rabban, 58.'26 Pseudo-WaqidT, I, 163.127 Ibid., I, 166.128 Ibn Kathlr, Bidaya, VII, 60; Ibn al-jawzl, Maniqib 'Umar, Beirut

1982, 150.>» Cf. Ibn Kathlr, VII, 57; Jabari, III, 610, IV, 208; Ibn al-jawzl, al-

Khamis, 29; Damlrl, I, 119; SuyutI, Tarikb al-Khulafa', Cairo 1952, 129, IbnHanbal 150.

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Another rare variant says that it was Abu 'Ubayda whoactually suggested the birdhawn,xi0 an issue which adds to theobscure quarrel between him and 'Umar vaguely touched onby yet another tradition without clear relevance to the thesis of'Umar's modesty. This latter tradition was widely reportedwith the isndd. Sufyan (al-Thawrl, d. 161 H.), Ayyiib b. 'A'idhal-Ta'l (a Kufan Successor), Qays b. Muslim (Kufan, d. 120 H.),Tariq b. Shihab (Kufan, d. 82-4 H.). It says that when eUmararrived at the river (possibly the Jordan), he dismounted, tookoff his boots (khuff), led the camel by the rein and crossed thewater. Abu 'Ubayda considered this as something unsuitablefor a leader to do, especially in the eyes of the enemy.However, "Umar rebuked him by saying "God has strengthe-ned us by Islam. If you seek strength by anything else, Godwill humiliate you."131

To end this quick review of obscure, albeit highly-loadedmaterial, one may mention a unique tradition given in somesources on the authority of a second-century figure, Isma'il b.Qays. It says that when 'Umar arrived in Syria on his camel, hewas received by people who said, "O Commander of theBelievers, if you ride a birdhawn the leaders and dignitariesamong people will meet you." He said, "I do not see you here[sic], the command comes only from here — pointing with hishand to the heavens — leave my camel alone. "(Jammd qadima'umar al-shdm istaqbalahu al-nds wa-huwa 'aid ba 'trihi fa-qdlu ydamir al-mu'minin, law rakibta birdharvnan yalqdka 'u%amd' al-ndswa-wujuhuhum, fa-qdl Id-ardkum bd-hund, innamd al-amru min hd-hund, wa ashdra bi-yadihi ild al-samd', khallu jamali).132

This tradition reminds one of the Prophet's ndqa ma'mura inMedina. Reports on other riders in early Islam are sporadic,less informative, obscure and inconclusive. One can onlywonder whether "Abu Bakr" was an epithet given to the firstcaliph of Islam because of "a he-camel", bakr in Arabic, whichhe possessed.133 One may also recall that Abu Bakr's adversa-

130 Pseudo-Waqidl, I, 166.131 Ibn Kathlr, Bidaya, VII, 60; Ibn al-jawzl, Manaqib, 150-1; idem, al-

Khamis, 93; al-Hakim, I, 61-2; Shams al-Din Suyuti, Ithaf, Cairo 1982, I,232; Abu Muhammad al-Ansari, al-Ahadith al-Mi'a, ms. Zahiriyya, majmu',20,122.

132 Ibn Abl Shayba, Musannaf, Bombay 1983, XIII, 40; Abu Nu'aym,Hilya, 1,47; Ibn al-jawzl, Manaqib, 152.

133 Ibn Rabban, 55-6; Ibn 'Asakir, Tarikh, Damascus 1982, 401. For this

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ries during the Ridda wars used to call him pejoratively Abu '1-Fasil (father/ associate of the junior camel), while the Muslimsswore to fight them until they called him "the great stallion"(al-fahl al-akbar).™

Other obscure references occur in the reports on the Battleof the Camel between 'All on the one hand and 'A'isha, Talhaand al- Zubayr on the other. As for 'All, note has already beenmade of the notion that he fought on that day on the Prophet'sshe-mule. His enemies, we are told, were called ashab al-jamal("those with the camel") after the camel which 'A'isha rode andin the defence of which tens of them were ready to sacrificetheir lives.135 From a few Shfi reports, one can easily discernobscure religious elements in the description of the camel andits position. One report says that it was covered with hair clothgarments (musiih) usually worn by monks.136 In another, 'All isreported as calling out to his adversaries: "O followers of theignorant beast who trembled when it grumbled, and who weredefeated when it was hocked ..." (... yd atbd' al- bahima, raqhafa-rajaftum wa-'uqira fa-inba^amtum).111 From an apocalypticsaying attributed to Muhammad, we learn that 'A'isha wasdescribed by him as "the one on the well-brought-up/ clever(adibl arib) camel which has much hair on its face ..."138

Equally puzzling are the few cases of crucifying adversariesopposite or burning them within of the carcasses of asses inearly Islam.139 Of the many reported titles given to Muhammadb. al-Hanafiyya by his Iraqi followers, one may recall theobscure al-najib al-murtadd ("the camel of fine breed [divinely]consented to").140 In his turn, al-Saflfah, the first Abbasidcaliph, appeared on the first Friday following the reception ofallegiance to him on a spotted birdhawn (ablaq).Hl A decade orso later, Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, the Shfi rebel duringal-Mansur's reign, appeared in Medina on an ass or a she-ass

meaning of bakr, see Ibn Manzur, V, 146-7; E. W. Lane, Arabic-Englishlexicon, repr. Beirut 1980, I, 240.

134 Ibn A'tham al-Kufi, Kitab al-¥utiih, Haydarabad 1968, I, 14.135 Mas'udi, Muruj, IV, 329.136 I b i d , I V , 315.137 al-Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 413H.), al-]amal, Najaf 1368H., 202.138 Damlri, I, 199.139 E.g. 'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr in Mecca and Muhammad b. Abl Bakr,

'Airs Govenor of Egypt. See Tabari, V, 104-5, and Damlri, I, 246.140 Tabari, VI, 14.>4> Ibid., VII, 424.

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(... 'aid him dr, wa-juqdl 'aid 'atari),1*1 which was described in onereport as "a black Arabian ass" (himdr 'arabi astvad).m

Such instances can still be found in late third and evenfourth centuries. Some of the followers of al-Hallaj, who wascrucified in 309H., testified that, after he was killed, he reap-peared riding on an ass and reassured them that he was notactually the one executed but a beast which assumed hisimage.144 Of al-Hakim, the Fatimid caliph, we know that heused to ride a greyish ass (himdr ashhab) of his, called qamar("moon"). In 411 H., this ass was found on the site where al-Hakim disappeared.145 This riding of an ass by al-Hakim wascertainly not a casual act. The Druze sect who believe that hewas a personification of the deity and that his disappearancewas a temporary ghayba ("concealment"), believe that his ridingan ass was "a proof for the abrogation of the sharta, theestablishment of monotheism, and the demonstration of thespiritual sbarfa...".1*6

The attribution of an esoteric meaning to certain beasts andto the act of riding them was done by another extremist Shf Isect, the Qaramita or Carmathians. In a Carmathian documentit is reported how Christ appeared in a human form to a certaindd'i named al-Faraj b. 'Uthman, telling him, "You are thepropagandist, the proof, the ndqa, the beast, Yahya b. Zaka-riyya'' [i.e. John the Baptist] and the Holy Ghost ..." {innakaal-dd'iya wa-innaka al-hujja wa-innaka al-ndqa wa-innaka al-ddbbawa-innaka Yahya b. Zakariyyd wa-innaka ruh al-qudus . . . ) . 1 4 7 Fromanother report on the Carmathian leader, Yahya b. Zakrawayh,who appeared in the Syrian desert in 289 H., we learn that hetold his followers that "the ndqa which he rode was [divinely]ordered, and if they follow her wherever she goes they will bevictorious" (... anna ndqatahu al-latt yarkabuhd ma'mura, wa-anna-hum idhd tabi'uhdft masirihd %afaru).iA8 According to yet another

142 Anon., Kitdb al-'Uyun wn 'l-Hadd'iq, Leiden 1871, 238; IsfahanI(d. 356H.), Maqdtil al-Talibiyyin, Beirut, n.d., 262.

' « Tabarl, VII, 555'.144 Q u r t u b l , Si/at Tdrikh al-Taban, in t h e m a r g i n o f T a b a r l , X I , 8 5 ;

H a m a d h a n l , Takmilat ... , in i b i d . , X I , 2 2 1 ; D a m l r l , I , 245 .145 Ibn Khallikan, Wafaydt, Cairo 1299H., Ill , 7; Damlrl, I, 250.146 Kitdb Fthi Haqd'iq md Ya^har ... , possibly by Hamza b. 'All, in

Rasd'il al-Hikma, Diyar'Aql 1986, 105.147 Jabari, X, 25; Ibn Khaldun, K. al-'lbar, III, 335-6.' « Tabarl, X, 95.

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report in Tabarl, Yahya used to advise his followers not tofight, even if they were attacked, until his camel should set outby itself (... hatta janba'ithjyabta'ith al-jamal min tilqd' nafsih),for then they could not be defeated.149

7. CONCLUSION

The results of the present enquiry show beyond doubt thatIslam inherited a variety of apocalyptic beliefs regarding thekind of beast which the awaited redeemer was expected to rideand which, eventually, became part of the literary attempts notonly to prove his authenticity but to record his "historical"biography too. We have also seen that such material does notapply to Muhammad alone but, though more casually and inextremely obscure form, to other early as well as pre-Islamicfigures.

In relation to Muhammad, however, the type of traditionalmaterial reviewed above and the kind of sources in which itoccurs may pose a certain problem to the modern student. Onthe one hand, there is no question about the close affinitybetween such material and the early attempts to write down thesira and maghd^J of Muhammad, or about the extensive tradi-tional authorities given for it dating back to at least the secondcentury. It is also true that, except probably for the ndqama'miira and the hawdtif al-jinn traditions, this material hasmostly reached us in the form of anti-Jewish and anti-Christianpolemics with relevance to certain alleged scriptures and autho-rities from those two faiths. However, it is striking to see thatit was not used by the early and major polemical works fromthe third century150 or to note that it is absent from similarworks of the dald'il genre written by apologists of and convertsfrom other faiths, except probably for the vague reference ofIbn Rabban to Isa. 21:7, a parallel to which was connected byfew later Muslim works to the name of Ibn Ishaq in the formof the Najashfs reaction.151

'« Ibid., X, 99.150 E.g. al-Jahiz, Hujaj al-Nubumma, in Rasd'il, Cairo 1933, idem, al-Radd

'ala 'l-Nasara, Cairo 1926; Ibn Hazm, K. al-Faslfial-Milal, Cairo 1317H., I,i n ; 'Abd al-Jabbar, Tathbit Dald'ilal-Nubuwwa, Beirut 1966.

151 See note 5 above. Such a reference to Isaiah seems indeed to havefigured centrally in Muslim-Christian polemics as it occurs in Ghevond's

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Such a state of affairs warns of the possibility that thetraditional material on this issue, while truly reflecting adiversity of popular beliefs prevailing in the region, was morean internal debate rather than polemics against outside, sayJewish or Christian adversaries. One must not forget that thecrucially central, albeit controversial, themes of this debate areheavily concerned with the identity, physical attributes, and"historical" whereabouts of Muhammad. That such traditionaldebate has reached us in a polemical form was probably theproduct of literary acculturation, i.e. "islamisation", and couldin its origin reflect divergent popular beliefs long rooted in thearea with parallels fron Judaism and Christianity. Viewed assuch, the question of authenticity of the alleged Judaeo-Chris-tian scriptures referred to in these traditions becomes irrele-vant; and the fact that the search of modern scholars in thisfield has, so far, been inconclusive, if not in vain, gives indirectsupport to our suggestion.

As for the contents of the material reviewed above, theyclearly point to the existence in the formative period of earlysecond-century Islam of two main currents with clear culturaldimensions: the image of the bedouin camel/ ndqa rider re-deemer as opposed to the sedentary rider on an ass. As for thequestion which of the two currents is the older, our findingsremain inconclusive because both notions claim relatively earlytraditional authorities. However, it is plausible that prominenceof the image of the camel-rider was a function of the literaryprocess of shaping the emergence of Arabian Islam. On theother hand, the resistance of the image of the ass-rider, longentrenched in the sedentary areas, resulted in the gradualemergence of a synthesis on the rider of camel, ass as well asother beasts.152

text of the correspondence between 'Umar II and Leo III, possibly writtenin the tenth century A.D. See A. Jeffery's discussion of it in HTR (1944).

152 I would like to thank Dr. S. Strousma of the Hebrew University ofJerusalem for correcting the English of this paper.

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Riding Beasts on Divine Missions: An Examination of the Ass and Camel Traditions by Suliman Bashaer

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