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Mahomet - Founder of Islam by Gladys M. Draycott
page 86 of 240 (35%)
Even as early as this Mahomet felt the mantle of sovereignty descending
upon him, for we hear now of the first of those ordinances or decrees by
which in later times he rules the lives and actions of his subjects to
the last detail. Clearly he perceived himself a leader among men, who had
it within his power to build up a community following his own dictates,
which might by consolidation even rival those already existent in
Arabia. He was taking command of a weak and factious city, and he
realised that in his hands lay its prosperity or downfall; he was, in
fact, the arbiter of its fate and of the fate of his colleagues who had
dared all with him.

But he could not stay long in Coba, while the final assay upon the
Medinans remained to be undertaken, and so we find him on the fourth day
of his sojourn making preparations for the entry into the city. It was
undertaken with some confidence of success from the messages already sent
to Coba, and proved as triumphal an entry as his former one. The populace
awaited him in expectation and reverence, and hailed him as their
Prophet, the mighty leader who had come to their deliverance. They
surrounded his camel Al-Caswa, and the camels of his followers, and when
Al-Caswa stopped outside the house of Abu Ayub, Mahomet once more
received the beast's augury and sojourned there until the building of the
Mosque. As Al-Caswa entered the paved courtyard, Mahomet dismounted to
receive the allegiance of Abu Ayub and his household; then, turning to
the people, he greeted them with words of good cheer and encouragement,
and they responded with acclamations.

For seven months the Prophet lodged in the house of Abu Ayub, and he
bought the yard where Al-Caswa halted as a token of his first entry into
Medina, and a remembrance in later years of his abiding place during the
difficult time of his inception. The decisive step had been taken. The
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