Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh (ca. 570
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
[مَكَةَ ]/[ مَكَهْ ] – June 8, 632
MedinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
), is the founder of the
religionIn the 20th century study of comparative religion, major religious groups or "world religions" were divided up by adherence to a specific philosophy or theology. However, there is no consensus among researchers as to the best methodology for determining the religiosity profile of the world's...
of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
[ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
s as a
messengerIn Islam, a Messenger is a prophet sent by Allah with a shariah "Divine Law" ....
and
prophetIn religion, a prophet is a person who has been contacted by, or has encountered, the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other humans...
of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the . Muslims thus consider him the restorer of the uncorrupted original
monotheisticIn theology, monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Platonic concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite...
faithFaith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. The word "faith" can refer to a religion itself or to religion in general....
(
islām) of
AdamAdam or Adem , also spelt Aadam, is the first prophet of Islam and mentioned in the Qur'an as the husband of Eve .-Aadam in the Qur'an:...
, Noah, Abraham,
MosesMoses is considered a prophet in Islam.According to the Muslim creed, all Muslims must have faith in all Prophets and Messengers mentioned in the Qur'an, which includes Moses. Moses is often referred to by the title Kalim Allah meaning "He who spoke with God." The Qur'an mentions him more...
, Jesus and
other prophetsMuslims regard as prophets of Islam those non-divine humans chosen by Allah . Mere humans rely on revelation or tradition to identify prophets....
. He was also active as a
diplomatMuhammad is documented as having engaged as a diplomat during his propagation of Islam and leadership over the growing Muslim Ummah . He established a method of communication with other tribal or national leaders through letters, assigned envoys, or by visiting them personally, such as at Ta’if...
,
merchantIslamic economics in practice, or economic policies supported by self-identified Islamic groups, has varied throughout its long history. Traditional Islamic concepts having to do with economics included...
,
philosopherEarly Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar and lasting until the 6th century AH...
,
oratorAn orator, or oratist, is a speaker.An orator may also be called an oratarian - literally, "one who orates".-Etymology:...
,
legislatorSharia is an Arabic word meaning ‘way’ or ‘path’. In Arabic, the collocation ‘Šarīʿat Allāh’ is traditionally used not only by Muslims, but also Christians and Jews, sometimes translating expressions such as Torat Elōhīm [תורת אלוהים] or ‘ho nómos toû theoû' '’...
,
reformerMany social changes took place under Islam between 610 and 661, including the period of Muhammad's mission and the rule of his four immediate successors who established the Rashidun Caliphate....
,
military generalMuhammad as a general refers to one of the roles played by the Islamic prophet Muhammad as the leader of the ummah at Medina during the last ten years of his life.-History:...
, and, according to Muslim belief, an agent of divine action.
Born in 570 in the
ArabianThe Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia...
city of
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
, he was orphaned at a young age and brought up under the care of his uncle Abu Talib. He later worked mostly as a merchant, as well as a shepherd, and was first married by age 25. Discontented with life in Mecca, he retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for
meditationMeditation is used here as a broad term for practices done by a sole practitioner without much, if any, external aide, often for the purpose of self-transformation...
and reflection. According to Islamic beliefs it was here, at age 40, in the month of
RamadanRamadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until sunset...
, where he received
his first revelation-Introduction:Muhammad's first revelation is the event in which Muhammad is said to have been visited by the angel Gabriel and revealed to him the Quran...
from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started
preachingDa‘wah usually denotes preaching of Islam. Da‘wah means literally "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation", being the active participle of a verb meaning variously "to summon, to invite" . A Muslim who practices da‘wah, either as a religious worker or in a volunteer community effort, is...
these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "
God is OneTawhid is the concept of monotheism in Islam. It holds God is one and unique ....
", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit.
islām) is the only way (
dīn is an Arabic word usually translated as "religion" but also as "way of life", especially referring to Islam, known as "the deen", or "the true deen" . It is, however, not exclusive to Islam, as Arab Christians also use it to refer to their religion and religion in general...
) acceptable to God, and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as other Islamic prophets.
Muhammad gained few
followersIn Islam, the ' were the companions of the Islamic prophet . This form is plural; the singular is masculine , feminine . A list of the best-known companions can be found in the List of Sahaba.- Definitions of "Companion" :...
early on, and was met with
hostility from some Meccan tribesIn the early days of Islam at Mecca, the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution.-Overview:Some were killed, such as Sumayyah bint Khabbab, the seventh convert to Islam, who was tortured first by Abu Jahl...
; he and his followers were treated harshly. To escape persecution Muhammad and his followers migrated to
MedinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
(then known as Yathrib) in the year 622. This event, the
HijraThe Hijra is the migration of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622 . Alternate spellings of this Arabic word in the Latin alphabet are Hijrah, or Hegira in Latin.- Hijra of Muhammad :...
, marks the beginning of the
Islamic calendarThe Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar based on 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days, used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which...
. In Medina, Muhammad united the conflicting tribes, and after eight years of fighting with the Meccan tribes, his followers, who by then had grown to ten thousand,
conquered MeccaMecca was conquered by the Muslims in January 630 AD .. It is called Fatah-e-Mubeen, The Glorious Victory.-Background:...
. In 632, a few months after returning to Medina from his
Farewell pilgrimageThe Farewell Pilgrimage was the last pilgrimage Muhammad participated in, in 632 CE .-Preparations:The angel Gabriel came to Muhammad every year to read the Qur'an with him, but this year he came twice...
, Muhammad fell ill and died. By the time of his death, most of the
Arabian PeninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia...
had converted to Islam; and he united the
tribes of ArabiaArabs are a semitic people, descending from various Old North Arabian tribes.Much of the lineage provided before Ma'ad relies on biblical genealogy and therefore its accuracy from that link uses the bible as a genealogical historical record...
into a single
Muslim religious polityUmmah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation". It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
.
The revelations (or
AyatAyah is the Arabic word for sign or miracle, cognate with Hebrew ot , means sign. The word usually refers to each one of the 6236 verses found in the Qur'an . Muslims regard each ayah of the Qur'an a sign from Allah...
, lit. "Signs of
GodGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
")—which Muhammad reported receiving until his death—form the verses of the
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
, regarded by Muslims as the “Word of God” and around which the religion is based. Besides the Qur'an, Muhammad’s life (
sira) and traditions (
sunnahSunnah is an Arabic word that means habit or usual practice. The Muslim usage of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of Muhammad, the main prophet of Islam....
) are also upheld by Muslims. They discuss Muhammad and other prophets of Islam with reverence, adding the phrase
peace be upon him whenever their names are mentioned. While conceptions of Muhammad in medieval
ChristendomChristendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity. This community numbers in the billions of people of the world population. This community is spread across many different nations and ethnic...
and premodern times were largely negative, appraisals in
modern timesModern Times can refer to the modern era of history, or modern history.It may also refer to:* Modern Times , a 1936 Charlie Chaplin film* Modern Age , an American conservative academic quarterly journal...
have been far less so. Besides this, his life and deeds have been debated by followers and opponents over the centuries.
Names and appellations in the Qur'an
The
name MuhammadMuhammad was a prophet and an Arabic religious and political leader who preached and established Islam.Muhammad may also refer to:*Muhammad *Muhammad Ali Jinnah - a Founder of Pakistan and Leader of the Pakistan Movement...
means "Praiseworthy" and occurs four times in the Qur'an. The Qur'an addresses Muhammad in the second person not by his name but by the
appellationsA euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener, or in the case of Doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for the speaker...
prophetMuslims regard as prophets of Islam those non-divine humans chosen by Allah . Mere humans rely on revelation or tradition to identify prophets....
, messenger, servant of God (
'abdAbd is an Arabic word meaning one who is totally subordinated; a slave or a servant.It appears in many common Arab names in the liaison with Al form of "Abd ul", "Abd ul-", etc....
), announcer (
bashir), warner (
nathir), reminder (
mudhakkir), witness (
shahidShahid or Shaheed is a a Muslim theophoric name, from Ash-Shaheed , one of the 99 names of God in the Qur'an.As a male given name it is common among Muslims, being also one of the names given to Muhammad. It is the Arabic word شَهيد meaning both witness and martyr.In India and Pakistan, the two...
), bearer of good tidings (
mubashshir), one who calls [unto God] (
dā‘īDa‘wah usually denotes preaching of Islam. Da‘wah means literally "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation", being the active participle of a verb meaning variously "to summon, to invite" . A Muslim who practices da‘wah, either as a religious worker or in a volunteer community effort, is...
) and the light-giving lamp (
siraj munir). Muhammad is sometimes addressed by designations deriving from his state at the time of the address: thus he is referred to as the enwrapped (
al-muzzammil) in Qur'an and the shrouded (
al-muddaththir) in Qur'an . In the Qur'an, believers are not to distinguish between the messengers of God and are to believe in all of them (Surah ). God has caused some messengers to excel above others and in Surah He singles out Muhammad as the "
Seal of the ProphetsSeal of the Prophets is a title given to Muhammad by a verse in the Qur'an. Muslims traditionally interpret this verse as meaning that Muhammad was the last prophet.-Hadith:...
". The Qur'an also refers to Muhammad as
Aḥmad "more praiseworthy" .
Sources for Muhammad's life
Being a highly influential historical figure, Muhammad's life, deeds, and thoughts have been debated by followers and opponents over the centuries, which makes a biography of him difficult to write.
The Qur'an
Muslims regard the Qur'an as the primary source of knowledge about the historical Muhammad. The Qur'an has a few allusions to Muhammad's life,. The Qur'an responds "constantly and often candidly to Muhammad's changing historical circumstances and contains a wealth of hidden data."
Early biographies
Next in importance are the historical works by writers of the third and fourth century of the Muslim era. These include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him (the
sira and
hadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
literature), which provide further information on Muhammad's life.
The earliest surviving written
sira (biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him) is
Ibn IshaqMuḥammad ibn Isḥaq ibn Yasār was an Arab Muslim historian and hagiographer. He collected oral traditions that formed the basis of the first biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad...
's
Life of God's Messenger written ca. 767 (150 AH). The work is lost, but was used verbatim at great length by
Ibn HishamAbu Muhammad 'Abd al-Malik bin Hisham , or Ibn Hisham edited the biography of Muhammad written by Ibn Ishaq. Ibn Ishaq's work is lost and is now only known in the recensions of Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari. Ibn Hisham grew up in Basra, Iraq, but moved afterwards to Egypt, where he gained a name...
and
Al-TabariAbu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was one of the earliest, most prominent and famous Persian historian and exegete of the Qur'an,who wrote exclusively in Arabic , most famous for his Tarikh al-Tabari and Tafsir al-Tabari.-Name:His name means "Muhammad of Tabari, father [abu] of Jafar, son...
.
Another early source is
the history of Muhammad's campaignsal-Maghazi, a term which, from the time of the work on the subject ascribed to al-Waqidi , if not earlier, has signified in particular the expeditions and raids organised by Muhammad in the Medinan period....
by
al-WaqidiAbu `Abdullah Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar Ibn Waqid al-Aslami , commonly referred to as al-Waqidi , was an early Arab Muslim historian.He was born and educated in Madina...
(death 207 of Muslim era), and
the workThe Book of The Major Classes is a biographical collection about Islam, authored by Ibn Sa'd, about Ilm ar-Rijal.-Editions:...
of his secretary Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi (death 230 of Muslim era).
Many scholars accept the accuracy of the earliest biographies, though their accuracy is unascertainable. Recent studies have led scholars to distinguish between the traditions touching legal matters and the purely historical ones. In the former sphere, traditions could have been subject to invention while in the latter sphere, aside from exceptional cases, the material may have been only subject to "tendential shaping".
In addition, the hadith collections are accounts of the verbal and physical traditions of Muhammad that date from several generations after his death. Hadith compilations are records of the traditions or sayings of Muhammad. They might be defined as the biography of Muhammad perpetuated by the long memory of his community for their exemplification and obedience.
Western academics view the hadith collections with caution as accurate historical sources. Scholars such as
MadelungMadelung may refer to:*Erwin Madelung German physicist*Otto Wilhelm Madelung German surgeon*Wilferd Madelung scholar of Islam*Madelung constant chemical energy of an ion in a crystal...
do not reject the narrations which have been complied in later periods, but judge them in the context of history and on the basis of their compatibility with the events and figures.
Finally, there are oral traditions. Although usually discounted by historians, oral tradition plays a major role in the
Islamic understanding of MuhammadViews of Muhammad in some aspects vary widely between the sects of Islam. This article focuses on these sects' doctrines and beliefs surrounding Muhammad.- Veneration of Muhammad :...
.
Non-Arabic sources
The earliest Greek source for Muhammed is the 9th century writer
TheophanesTheophanes may refer to:* St. Theophanes, the name of several saints, including:**Theophan the Recluse **Theodorus and Theophanes Theophanes may refer to:* St. Theophanes, the name of several saints, including:**Theophan the Recluse (Russian, 19th century)**Theodorus and Theophanes Theophanes may...
. The earliest Syriac source is the 7th century
John bar PenkayeJohn bar Penkaye was a 7th century East Syriac Christian writer of the late 7th century. He lived at the time of fifth caliph of the Umayyad dynasty Abd al-Malik....
.
Background
The
Arabian PeninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia...
was largely arid and volcanic, making agriculture difficult except near oases or springs. The landscape was thus dotted with towns and cities, two prominent ones being
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
and
MedinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
. Medina was a large flourishing agricultural settlement, while Mecca was an important financial center for many surrounding tribes. Communal life was essential for survival in the
desertA desert is a landscape or region that receives almost no precipitation. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than per year, or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. In the Köppen climate classification system,...
conditions, as people needed support against the harsh environment and lifestyle. Tribal grouping was encouraged by the need to act as a unit, this unity being based on the bond of kinship by blood. Indigenous Arabs were either
nomadNomadic people are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in...
ic or sedentary (or bedouins), the former constantly travelling from one place to another seeking water and pasture for their flocks, while the latter settled and focused on trade and agriculture. Nomadic survival was also dependent on raiding caravans or oases, the nomads not viewing this as a crime.
In pre-Islamic Arabia, gods or goddesses were viewed as protectors of individual tribes, their spirits being associated with sacred trees, stones, springs and wells. As well as being the site of an annual pilgrimage, the
KaabaThe Kaaba is a cuboidal building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The building predates Islam, and, according to Islamic tradition, the first building at the site was built by Abraham. The building has a mosque built around it, the Masjid al-Haram...
shrine in Mecca housed 360 idol statues of tribal patron deities. Aside from these gods, the Arabs shared a common belief in a supreme deity called
AllahAllah is the standard Arabic word for God. While the term is best known in the West for its use by Muslims as a reference to God, it is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, in reference to "God"...
(literally "the god"), who was remote from their everyday concerns and thus not the object of cult or ritual. Three goddesses were associated with Allah as his daughters:
AllātAl-Lāt was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. She is mentioned in the Qur'an that pre-Islamic Arabs considered her as one of the daughters of Allāh along with Manāt and Al-Uzzá.-Descriptions:...
,
ManātManat is:* The unit of currency of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan; see Azerbaijani manat and Turkmenistani manat.* The designation of the Soviet ruble in both Azerbaijani and Turkmen.* Manat, the goddess of fate and destiny in pre-Islamic Arabia....
and al-‘Uzzá. Monotheistic communities existed in Arabia, including Christians and Jews.
Hanif' is an Arabic term that refers to pre-Islamic non-Jewish or non-Christian Arabian monotheists. More specifically, in Islamic thought it refers to the Arabs during the period known as the Jāhiliyya or "Ignorance", who were seen to have rejected Shirk and retained some or all of the true tenets...
s – native pre-Islamic Arab monotheists – are also sometimes listed alongside Jews and Christians in pre-Islamic Arabia, although their
historicityHistoricity may mean:*the quality of being part of recorded history, as opposed to prehistory*the quality of being part of history as opposed to being ahistorical myth or legend** Historicity of the Iliad**Historicity *** Historicity of Jesus...
is disputed amongst scholars. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad himself was a Hanif and one of the descendants of
IshmaelIshmael is a figure in the Torah, Bible, and Qur'an. Jews, Christians and Muslims believe Ishmael is Abraham's eldest son and first born. Ishmael is born of Sarai's handmaiden Hagar...
, son of
AbrahamAbraham is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples, as described in the book of Genesis. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims....
.
Muhammad in Mecca
Muhammad was born and lived in Mecca for the first 52 years of his life (570–622) which was divided into two phases, that is before and after declaring the
prophecyA prophecy is the message that has been communicated to a prophet which the prophet then communicates to others. In general, this message can involve divine inspiration, revelation, or interpretation. More specifically, it may be a professed psychic prediction. Confusion often exists between the...
.
Childhood and early life
Muhammad was born in the month of
Rabi' al-awwalRabi' al-awwal is the third month in the Islamic calendar. The prophet Muhammad is considered by Sunni Muslims to have been born on the twelfth of this month, and many Muslims celebrate the Mawlid on this day. Shi'a Muslims believe him to have been born on the dawn of the seventeenth day...
in 570. He belonged to the
Banu HashimBanū Hāshim was a clan in the Quraish tribe. Islam's last Prophet, Muhammad, was a member of this clan; his great-grandfather was Hashim, for whom the clan is named. Members of this clan are referred to in English and the Anglicised version of their name as Hashemites, or carry the family name...
, one of the prominent families of
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
, although it seems not to have been prosperous during Muhammad's early lifetime. Tradition places the year of Muhammad's birth as corresponding with the
Year of the ElephantThe Year of the Elephant is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570 AD. According to Islamic tradition, it was in this year that Muhammad was born....
, which is named after the failed destruction of Mecca that year by the
Aksumite kingThe Aksumite Empire or Axumite Empire , , was an important trading nation in northeastern Africa, growing from the proto-Aksumite period ca. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD. Its ancient capital is found in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name "Ethiopia" as early...
AbrahaAbraha also known as Abraha al-Ashram or Abraha b...
who had in his army a number of elephants. Recent scholarship has suggested alternative dates for this event, such as 568 or 569.
Muhammad's father, Abdullah, died almost six months before he was born. According to the tradition, soon after Muhammad's birth he was sent to live with a Bedouin family in the desert, as the desert-life was considered healthier for infants. Muhammad stayed with his foster-mother, Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, and her husband until he was two years old. Some western scholars of Islam have rejected the historicity of this tradition. At the age of six Muhammad lost his mother
AminaAminah bint Wahb was the mother of the Islamic prophet Muhammad .-Biography:The daughter of Wahb ibn `Abd Manaf, Aminah was born in Yathreb . She was a member of the Banu Hashim clan in the tribe of Quraysh who claimed to be descendants of Ibrahim through his son Isma'il...
to illness and he became fully orphaned. He was subsequently brought up for two years under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather
Abd al-MuttalibShaiba ibn Hashim , better known as or Abd al-Muttalib, since he was raised by his uncle Muttalib, was the grandfather of Prophet Muhammad and his cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Caliph and regarded as the first Imam in Shia Islam.-Early life:His father was Hashim ibn Abd Manaf and his...
, of the Banu Hashim
clanA clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by actual or perceived descent from a common ancestor. Even if actual lineage patterns are unknown, clan members may nonetheless recognize a founding member or apical ancestor...
of the
Quraysh tribeQuraysh or Quraish was the dominant tribe of Mecca upon the appearance of the religion of Islam...
. When Muhammad was eight, his grandfather also died. He now came under the care of his uncle
Abu TalibAbū Ṭālib ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib was an Arab leader, the head of the clan of Banu Hashim. He was married to Fatima bint Asad and was an uncle of Muhammad...
, the new leader of Banu Hashim. According to
WattWilliam Montgomery Watt was an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh...
, because of the general disregard of the guardians in taking care of weak members of the tribes in Mecca in sixth century, "Muhammad's guardians saw that he did not starve to death, but it was hard for them to do more for him, especially as the fortunes of the clan of Hashim seem to have been declining at that time."
While still in his teens, Muhammad accompanied his uncle on trading journeys to
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
gaining experience in the commercial trade, the only career open to Muhammad as an orphan. According to tradition, when Muhammad was either nine or twelve while accompanying the Meccans' caravan to Syria, he met a Christian monk or hermit named
BahiraAccording to Islamic tradition, Bahira was a Nestorian Christian monk who foretold to the adolescent Muhammad his future prophetic career.-In the Islamic tradition:...
who is said to have foreseen Muhammed's career as a prophet of God.
Little is known of Muhammad during his later youth, and from the fragmentary information that is available, it is hard to separate history from legend. It is known that he became a merchant and "was involved in trade between the
Indian oceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
and the
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
." Due to his upright character he acquired the nickname "Al-Amin" (Arabic: الامين), meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator. His reputation attracted a proposal from
KhadijahKhadījah bint Khuwaylid or Khadījah al-Kubra was the first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Khadijah was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad and Fatimah bint Za'idah and belonged to the clan of Banu Hashim.-Biography:...
, a forty-year-old widow in 595. Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one.
Beginnings of the Qur'an
At some point Muhammad adopted the practice of meditating alone for several weeks every year in a cave on
Mount HiraHira or the Cave of Hira is a cave near Mecca, on the mountain named Jabal an-Nūr in the Hejaz region of present day Saudi Arabia...
near Mecca. Islamic tradition holds that during one of his visits to Mount Hira, the angel
GabrielIn Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an angel who serves as a messenger from God....
appeared to him in the year 610 and commanded Muhammad to recite the following verses:
Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created- Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,- He Who taught (the use of) the pen,- Taught man that which he knew not.(Qur'an )
According to some traditions, upon receiving his first revelations Muhammad was deeply distressed and contemplated throwing himself off the top of a mountain but the spirit moved closer and told him that he has been chosen as a messenger of God. Muhammad returned home and was consoled and reassured by his wife, Khadijah and her Christian cousin,
Waraqah ibn NawfalWaraqah ibn Nawfal, Waraqah ibn Nawfal ibn Assad ibn Abd al-Uzza ibn Qusayy Al-Qurashi was the parental cousin of Khadija, Muhammad's first wife.-Overview:...
. Shia tradition maintains that Muhammad was neither surprised nor frightened at the appearance of Gabriel but rather welcomed him as if he had been expecting him. The initial revelation was followed by a pause of three years during which Muhammad gave himself up further to prayers and
spiritual practiceA spiritual practice, spiritual discipline or spiritual exercise includes any activity that one associates with cultivating spirituality.-Spiritual practices versus worship:...
s. When the revelations resumed he was reassured and commanded to begin preaching: Your lord has not forsaken you nor does he hate [you] (Qur'an ).
According to
WelchAlford T. Welch is a Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. Welch got his Ph.D. degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1970. He also holds a M.Div. degree on Biblical language, literature and Near Eastern history from Southern Baptist...
these revelations were accompanied by mysterious seizures, and the reports are unlikely to have been forged by later Muslims. Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages. According to the Qur'an, one of the main roles of Muhammad is to warn the unbelievers of their eschatological punishment (Qur'an , Qur'an ). Sometimes the Qur'an does not explicitly refer to the Judgment day but provides examples from the history of some extinct communities and warns Muhammad's contemporaries of similar calamities (Qur'an ). Muhammad is not only a warner to those who reject God's revelation, but also a bearer of good news for those who abandon evil, listen to the divine word and serve God. Muhammad's mission also involves preaching monotheism: The Qur'an demands Muhammad to proclaim and praise the name of his Lord and instructs him not to worship idols apart from God or associate other deities with God.
The key themes of the early Qur'anic verses included the responsibility of man towards his creator; the resurrection of dead, God's final judgment followed by vivid descriptions of the tortures in hell and pleasures in Paradise; and the signs of God in all aspects of life. Religious duties required of the believers at this time were few: belief in God, asking for forgiveness of sins, offering frequent prayers, assisting others particularly those in need, rejecting cheating and the love of wealth (considered to be significant in the commercial life of Mecca), being chaste and not to kill newborn girls.
Opposition
According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad's wife Khadija was the first to believe he was a prophet. She was soon followed by Muhammad's ten-year-old cousin
Ali ibn Abi Talib' was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661...
, close friend
Abu BakrAbu Bakr As-Siddiq was Muhammad's father-in-law, closest companion and adviser, who succeeded to the Prophet's political and administrative functions, thereby initiating the office of the caliphate. He was also the first convert to Islam...
, and adopted son
ZaidZayd ibn Harithah or Zayd mawla Muhammad was a prominent figure in the early Islamic community and the only one of sahaba whose name is spelled directly in the Qur'an. As an adopted son of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, he was an early convert to Islam and later, a military leader. He died c...
. Around 613, Muhammad began his public preaching (Qur'an ). Most Meccans ignored him and mocked him, while a few others became his followers. There were three main groups of early converts to Islam: younger brothers and sons of great merchants; people who had fallen out of the first rank in their tribe or failed to attain it; and the weak, mostly unprotected foreigners.
According to Ibn Sad, the opposition in Mecca started when Muhammad delivered verses that condemned idol worship and the Meccan forefathers who engaged in polytheism. However, the Qur'anic exegesis maintains that it began as soon as Muhammad started public preaching. As the number of followers increased, he became a threat to the local tribes and the rulers of the city, whose wealth rested upon the Kaaba, the focal point of Meccan religious life, which Muhammad threatened to overthrow. Muhammad’s denunciation of the Meccan traditional religion was especially offensive to his own tribe, the
QurayshQuraysh or Quraish was the dominant tribe of Mecca upon the appearance of the religion of Islam...
, as they were the guardians of the Ka'aba. The powerful merchants tried to convince Muhammad to abandon his preaching by offering him admission into the inner circle of merchants, and establishing his position therein by an advantageous marriage. However, he refused.
Tradition records at great length the persecution and ill-treatment of Muhammad and his followers. Sumayyah bint Khabbab, a slave of Abu Jahl and a prominent Meccan leader, is famous as the first martyr of Islam, having been killed with a spear by her master when she refused to give up her faith.
BilalBilal ibn Rabah or Bilal al-Habeshi was an Ethiopian born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.The Islamic prophet Muhammad chose Bilal as his muezzin, effectively making him the first official muezzin of the Islamic faith...
, another Muslim slave, was tortured by Umayya ibn khalaf who placed a heavy rock on his chest to force his conversion. Apart from insults, Muhammad was protected from physical harm as he belonged to the Banu Hashim clan.
In 615, some of Muhammad's followers
emigratedAccording to Islamic tradition, twelve male and twelve female Sahaba, the Muslims who originally converged in Mecca, sought refuge from Quraysh persecution in the Kingdom of Aksum in of . This act is known as the First migration to Abyssinia; Abyssinia in this incident because of the Arabic...
to the
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
n
Aksumite EmpireThe Aksumite Empire or Axumite Empire , , was an important trading nation in northeastern Africa, growing from the proto-Aksumite period ca. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD. Its ancient capital is found in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name "Ethiopia" as early...
and founded a small colony there under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian emperor
Aṣḥama ibn AbjarAccording to Arabic sources, Aṣḥama ibn Abjar was Emperor or al-Najashi of Aksum at the time of Muhammad, and gave refuge to several Muslims in the Kingdom of Aksum. The term "al-Najashi" has the variant al-Negashi; it corresponds to the ancient Aksumite title Negus, with the variant Negash...
.
An early
hadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
known as "The Story of the Cranes" (translation: قصة الغرانيق, transliteration: Qissat al Gharaneeq) was propagated by two Islamic scholars, Ibn Kathir al Dimashqi and Ibn Hijir al Masri, where the former has strengthened it and the latter called it fabricated (see
Science of hadithThe Science of hadith is a general category consisting of the numerous disciplines used in the study of hadith. It is the process that Muslim scholars use to evaluate hadith, utilizing Hadith terminology...
). The hadith describes Muhammad's involvement at the time of migration in an episode which historian
William MuirSir William Muir, KCSI was a Scottish Orientalist and popularized the "Muir style" beard.-Life:He was born at Glasgow and educated at Kilmarnock Academy, at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities, and at Haileybury College. In 1837 he entered the Bengal Civil Service, where he lost the pigment in his...
called the "
Satanic VersesSatanic Verses is an expression coined by the historian Sir William Muir in reference to the inclusion in the Qur'an of a small number of apparently pagan verses said to have been uttered by Muhammad. Some Muslims refer to the utterance of the two verses as the Gharaniq incident...
." The account holds that Muhammad pronounced a verse acknowledging the existence of three Meccan goddesses considered to be the daughters of Allah, praising them, and appealing for their intercession. According to this account, Muhammad later retracted the verses at the behest of Gabriel. Islamic scholars have weakened the hadith and have denied the historicity of the incident as early as the tenth century. In any event, relations between the Muslims and their pagan fellow-tribesmen were already deteriorated and worsening.
In 617 the leaders of Makhzum and Banu Abd-Shams, two important Quraysh clans, declared a public boycott against Banu Hashim, their commercial rival, to pressurize it into withdrawing its protection of Muhammad. The boycott lasted three years but eventually collapsed as it failed in its objective.
Last years in Mecca
Muhammad's wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib both died in 619, the year thus being known as the "
year of sorrowThe Year of Sorrow is an Islamic term for a Hijri year that coincided with 619 or 623 CE. It is called so since both Abu Talib and Khadija - the Islamic prophet Muhammad's uncle and wife, respectively - died that year....
." With the death of Abu Talib, the leadership of the Banu Hashim clan was passed to Abu Lahab, an inveterate enemy of Muhammad. Soon afterwards, Abu Lahab withdrew the clan's protection from Muhammad. This placed Muhammad in danger of death since the withdrawal of clan protection implied that the blood revenge for his killing would not be exacted. Muhammad then
visited Ta'ifMuhammad went to the city named Ta’if and invited them to Islam.-Previous events:Initially the preaching of Islam by Muhammad had been confined to Mecca, and his success was rather modest, limited to 170 men and women in the city during a ten year period...
, another important city in Arabia, and tried to find a protector for himself there, but his effort failed and further brought him into physical danger. Muhammad was forced to return to Mecca. A Meccan man named Mut'im b. Adi (and the protection of the tribe of
Banu NawfalBanu Nawfal is a notable Arabic sub-clan of the Quraish tribe. Its progenitor is Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf .Chief: Mut`im ibn ‘Adi...
) made it possible for him safely to re-enter his native city.
Many people were visiting Mecca on business or as pilgrims to the
KaabaThe Kaaba is a cuboidal building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The building predates Islam, and, according to Islamic tradition, the first building at the site was built by Abraham. The building has a mosque built around it, the Masjid al-Haram...
. Muhammad took this opportunity to look for a new home for himself and his followers. After several unsuccessful negotiations, he found hope with some men from Yathrib (later called
MedinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
). The Arab population of Yathrib were familiar with monotheism because a Jewish community existed there. Converts to Islam came from nearly all
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
tribes in Medina, such that by June of the subsequent year there were seventy-five Muslims coming to Mecca for pilgrimage and to meet Muhammad. Meeting him secretly by night, the group made what was known as the "
Second Pledge of al-`AqabaThe Second pledge at al-Aqabah was an important event that preceded the Migration to Medina.-Event:Converts to Islam came from nearly all Arab tribes present in Medina, such that by June of the subsequent year there were seventy-five Muslims coming to Mecca for pilgrimage and to meet Muhammad...
", or the "
Pledge of War" Following the pledges at Aqabah, Muhammad encouraged his followers to
emigrateHijra, as an Arabic word meaning migration may refer to:...
to Yathrib. As with the
migration to AbyssiniaAccording to Islamic tradition, twelve male and twelve female Sahaba, the Muslims who originally converged in Mecca, sought refuge from Quraysh persecution in the Kingdom of Aksum in of . This act is known as the First migration to Abyssinia; Abyssinia in this incident because of the Arabic...
, the Quraysh attempted to stop the emigration. However, almost all Muslims managed to leave.
Isra and Mi'raj
Islamic tradition relates that in 620, Muhammad experienced the
Isra and Mi'rajIn Islamic tradition, the Night Journey, Isra and Mi'raj , are the two parts of a journey that the Islamic prophet Muhammad took in one night, around the year 621. Many Muslims consider it a physical journey but some scholars consider it a dream or vision...
, a miraculous journey said to have occurred with the angel
GabrielIn Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an angel who serves as a messenger from God....
in one night. In the first part of the journey, the
Isra, he is said to have travelled from
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
to "the farthest mosque" (in Arabic:
masjid al-aqsa), which Muslims usually identify with the
Al-Aqsa MosqueAl-Aqsa Mosque , also known as al-Aqsa, is an Islamic holy place in the Old City of Jerusalem...
in
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
. In the second part, the
Mi'raj, Muhammad is said to have toured
heavenHeaven may refer to the physical heavens, the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond. This is the traditional literal meaning of the term in English...
and
hellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
, and spoken with earlier prophets, such as Abraham,
MosesMoses is considered a prophet in Islam.According to the Muslim creed, all Muslims must have faith in all Prophets and Messengers mentioned in the Qur'an, which includes Moses. Moses is often referred to by the title Kalim Allah meaning "He who spoke with God." The Qur'an mentions him more...
, and Jesus.
Ibn IshaqMuḥammad ibn Isḥaq ibn Yasār was an Arab Muslim historian and hagiographer. He collected oral traditions that formed the basis of the first biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad...
, author of the first biography of Muhammad, presents this event as a spiritual experience whereas later historians like
Al-TabariAbu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was one of the earliest, most prominent and famous Persian historian and exegete of the Qur'an,who wrote exclusively in Arabic , most famous for his Tarikh al-Tabari and Tafsir al-Tabari.-Name:His name means "Muhammad of Tabari, father [abu] of Jafar, son...
and
Ibn KathirIsmail ibn Kathir was an Islamic scholar and renowned commentator on the Qur'an.-Biography:His full name is Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir Al-Qurashi Al-Busrawi. He was born in 1301 in Busra, Syria . He was taught by Ibn Taymiyya in Damascus, Syria and Abu al-Hajjaj...
present it as a physical journey. Some western scholars of Islam hold that the oldest Muslim tradition identified the journey as one traveled through the heavens from the sacred enclosure at Mecca to the celestial
al-Baytu l-Maʿmur (heavenly prototype of the Kaaba); but later tradition identified Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Jerusalem.
Hijra
A delegation consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans of Medina, invited Muhammad as a neutral outsider to Medina to serve as chief arbitrator for the entire community. There was fighting in Yathrib mainly involving its Arab and Jewish inhabitants for around a hundred years before 620. The recurring slaughters and disagreements over the resulting claims, especially after the
Battle of Bu'athThe Battle of Bu'ath was fought in 617 between Banu Aus and Banu Khazraj, the Arab tribes of Medina , in the south-eastern quarter of the Medinan oasis, belonging to the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza. The Aws were supported by the Jewish tribes of Banu Nadir and Banu Qurayza, and by the Arab...
in which all clans were involved, made it obvious to them that the tribal conceptions of blood-feud and
an eye for an eyeEye for an Eye is a Polish hardcore punk rock band founded in 1997 in Bielsko-Biała. EFAE, as it is also known, plays an old school style of punk, more along the veins of The Exploited or even, some say, Agnostic Front. The punk stylings of EFAE has been compared to fellow countrymen Post Regiment,...
were no longer workable unless there was one man with authority to adjudicate in disputed cases. The delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow-citizens to accept Muhammad into their community and physically protect him as one of themselves.
Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina until virtually all his followers left Mecca. Being alarmed at the departure of Muslims, according to the tradition, the Meccans plotted to assassinate Muhammad. With the help of
Ali' was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661...
, Muhammad fooled the Meccans who were watching him, and secretly slipped away from the town with Abu Bakr. By 622, Muhammad emigrated to
MedinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
, a large agricultural
oasisIn geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
. Those who migrated from Mecca along with Muhammad became known as
muhajirunMuhajirun are the early, initial Muslims who followed Muhammad on his Hijra .The early Muslims from Medina are called the Ansar .-List:*Muhammad*Ali*Umar *Abu Bakr .*Salman the Persian...
(emigrants).
Establishment of a new polity
Among the first things Muhammad did in order to settle down the longstanding grievances among the tribes of Medina was drafting a document known as the
Constitution of MedinaThe Constitution of Medina , also known as the Charter of Medina, was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Yathrib , including Muslims, Jews, and pagans...
, "establishing a kind of alliance or federation" among the eight Medinan tribes and Muslim emigrants from Mecca, which specified the rights and duties of all citizens and the relationship of the different communities in Medina (including that of the Muslim community to other communities, specifically the
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s and other "
Peoples of the BookIn Islam, the People of the Book are non-Muslim peoples who, according to the Qur'an, received scriptures which were revealed to them by God before the time of Muhammad, most notably Christians and Jews. The generally accepted interpretation is that the pre-Islamic revealed texts are the Tawrat,...
"). The community defined in the Constitution of Medina,
UmmahUmmah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation". It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
, had a religious outlook but was also shaped by practical considerations and substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes. It effectively established the first Islamic state.
The first group of pagan converts to Islam in Medina were the clans who had not produced great leaders for themselves but had suffered from warlike leaders from other clans. This was followed by the general acceptance of Islam by the pagan population of Medina, apart from some exceptions. According to Ibn Ishaq, this was influenced by the conversion of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (a prominent Medinan leader) to Islam. Those Medinans who converted to Islam and helped the Muslim emigrants find shelter became known as the
ansar (supporters). Then Muhammad instituted
brotherhood between the emigrants and the supportersAfter the Hijra when the Prophet instituted brotherhood between the emigrants and the helpers A list includes:-Medina:*Umar - Utban ibn Malik *Abu Darda - Salman the Persian *Muhammad ibn Maslamah - Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah ....
and he chose
Ali' was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661...
as his own brother.
With the early general conversion of the pagans, the pagan opposition was never of prime importance in the affairs of Medina. Those remaining pagans were very bitter about the advance of Islam. In particular,
Asma bint MarwanAsmā bint Marwān was a female poet who lived in Hijaz in medieval Arabia. According to a narrative from Ibn Ishaq's "Sirah Rasul Allah", Asma wrote poems attacking the Islamic prophet Muhammad supporting murdering him. Upon hearing the poems, Muhammad allegedly ordered her execution. The...
and
Abu 'AfakAbu 'Afak was a Jewish poet who lived in the Hijaz region . Abu 'Afak did not convert to Islam and was vocal about his opposition to Muhammad...
had composed verses taunting and insulting the Muslims. These two were assassinated and Muhammad did not disapprove of it. No one dared take vengeance on them, and some members of
Asma bint MarwanAsmā bint Marwān was a female poet who lived in Hijaz in medieval Arabia. According to a narrative from Ibn Ishaq's "Sirah Rasul Allah", Asma wrote poems attacking the Islamic prophet Muhammad supporting murdering him. Upon hearing the poems, Muhammad allegedly ordered her execution. The...
's clan who previously converted to Islam in secret, now professed Islam openly. This ended overt opposition to Muhammad among the pagans.
Beginnings of armed conflict
Following the emigration, the Meccans seized the properties of the Muslim emigrants in Mecca. Economically uprooted and with no available profession, the Muslim migrants turned to raiding Meccan caravans as an act of war, deliberately initiating armed conflict between the Muslims and Mecca. Muhammad delivered
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
ic verses permitting the Muslims to fight the Meccans (see Qur'an
22:39–40). These attacks pressured Mecca by interfering with trade, and allowed the Muslims to acquire wealth, power and prestige while working towards their ultimate goal of inducing Mecca's submission to the new faith.
In March of 624, Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Muslims set an ambush for them at Badr. Aware of the plan, the Meccan caravan eluded the Muslims. Meanwhile, a force from Mecca was sent to protect the caravan, continuing forward to confront the Muslims upon hearing that the caravan was safe. The Battle of Badr began in March of 624. Though outnumbered more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, killing at least forty-five Meccans with only fourteen Muslims dead. They also succeeded in killing many Meccan leaders, including
Abu Jahl‘Amr ibn Hishām , better known as Abu Jahl, was one of the Meccan leaders, known for his hostility against the Muslims.-Family:...
. Seventy prisoners had been acquired, many of whom were soon ransomed in return for wealth or freed. Muhammad and his followers saw in the victory a confirmation of their faith. The Qur'anic verses of this period, unlike the Meccan ones, dealt with practical problems of government and issues like the distribution of spoils.
Muhammad expelled from Medina the
Banu QaynuqaThe Banu Qaynuqa were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia...
, one of three main Jewish tribes. Following the Battle of Badr, Muhammad also made mutual-aid alliances with a number of Bedouin tribes to protect his community from attacks from the northern part of Hijaz.
Conflict with Mecca
The attack at Badr committed Muhammad to
total warTotal war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy or render beyond use their rival's capacity...
with Meccans, who were now anxious to avenge their defeat. To maintain their economic prosperity, the Meccans needed to restore their prestige, which had been lost at Badr. In the ensuing months, Muhammad led expeditions on tribes allied with Mecca and sent out a raid on a Meccan caravan. Abu Sufyan subsequently gathered an army of three thousand men and set out for an attack on Medina.
A scout alerted Muhammad of the Meccan army's presence and numbers a day later. The next morning, at the Muslim conference of war, there was dispute over how best to repel the Meccans. Muhammad and many senior figures suggested that it would be safer to fight within Medina and take advantage of its heavily fortified strongholds. Younger Muslims argued that the Meccans were destroying their crops, and that huddling in the strongholds would destroy Muslim prestige. Muhammad eventually conceded to the wishes of the latter, and readied the Muslim force for battle. Thus, Muhammad led his force outside to the mountain of Uhud (where the Meccans had camped) and fought the
Battle of UhudThe Battle of Uhud was fought on March 19, 625 AD at the valley located in front of Mount Uhud, in what is now North-Western Arabia...
on March 23. Although the Muslim army had the best of the early encounters, indiscipline on the part of strategically placed archers led to a Muslim defeat, with 75 Muslims killed including Hamza, Muhammad's uncle and one of the best known martyrs in the Muslim tradition. The Meccans did not pursue the Muslims further, but marched back to Mecca declaring victory. They were not entirely successful, however, as they had failed to achieve their aim of completely destroying the Muslims. The Muslims buried the dead, and returned to Medina that evening. Questions accumulated as to the reasons for the loss, and Muhammad subsequently delivered Qur'anic verses which indicated that their defeat was partly a punishment for disobedience and partly a test for steadfastness.
Abu Sufyan now directed his efforts towards another attack on Medina. He attracted the support of nomadic tribes to the north and east of Medina, using propaganda about Muhammad's weakness, promises of booty, memories of the prestige of the
QurayshQuraysh or Quraish was the dominant tribe of Mecca upon the appearance of the religion of Islam...
and use of bribes. Muhammad's policy was now to prevent alliances against him as much as he could. Whenever alliances of tribesmen against Medina were formed, he sent out an expedition to break them up. When Muhammad heard of men massing with hostile intentions against Medina, he reacted with severity. One example is the assassination of
Ka'b ibn al-AshrafKa'b ibn al-Ashraf was a chief of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir and a poet, who was assassinated by an order of Muhammad. Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf was born to an Jewish-Arab mother from the Banu Nadir tribe and a Muslim-Arab father, and he followed his mother's religion.According to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad...
, a chieftain of the Jewish tribe of
Banu NadirThe Banu Nadir were a Jewish tribe who lived in northern Arabia until the 7th century, at the oasis of Yathrib . They came into conflict with Muhammad and, having been expelled from the city, together with the Quraysh planned the Battle of the Trench...
who had gone to Mecca and written poems that helped rouse the Meccans' grief, anger and desire for revenge after the Battle of Badr. Around a year later, Muhammad expelled the Banu Nadir from Medina. Muhammad's attempts to prevent formation of a confederation against him were unsuccessful, though he was able to increase his own forces and stop many potential tribes from joining his enemies.
Siege of Medina
With the help of the exiled
Banu NadirThe Banu Nadir were a Jewish tribe who lived in northern Arabia until the 7th century, at the oasis of Yathrib . They came into conflict with Muhammad and, having been expelled from the city, together with the Quraysh planned the Battle of the Trench...
, the Quraysh military leader Abu Sufyan had mustered a force of 10,000 men. Muhammad prepared a force of about 3000 men and adopted a new form of defense unknown in Arabia at that time: the Muslims dug a trench wherever Medina lay open to cavalry attack. The idea is credited to a Persian convert to Islam,
Salman the PersianSalman the Persian or Salman al Farisi was one of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's companions....
. The siege of Medina began on March 31 627 and lasted for two weeks. Abu Sufyan's troops were unprepared for the fortifications they were confronted with, and after an ineffectual siege lasting several weeks, the coalition decided to go home. The Qur'an discusses this battle in verses Qur'an
33:9-33:27.
During the battle, the Jewish tribe of
Banu QurayzaThe Banu Qurayza were a Jewish tribe who lived in northern Arabia until the 7th century, at the oasis of Yathrib ....
, located at the south of Medina, had entered into negotiations with Meccan forces to revolt against Muhammad. Although they were swayed by suggestions that Muhammad was sure to be overwhelmed, they desired reassurance in case the confederacy was unable to destroy him. No agreement was reached after the prolonged negotiations, in part due to sabotage attempts by Muhammad's scouts. After the coalition's retreat, the Muslims accused the Banu Qurayza of treachery and besieged them in their forts for 25 days. The Banu Qurayza eventually surrendered and all the men, apart from a few who converted to Islam, were beheaded, while the women and children were enslaved. In the siege of Medina, the Meccans exerted their utmost strength towards the destruction of the Muslim community. Their failure resulted in a significant loss of prestige; their trade with Syria was gone. Following the Battle of the Trench, Muhammad made two expeditions to the north which ended without any fighting. While returning from one of these (or some years earlier according to other early accounts), an accusation of adultery was made against
AishaAisha bint Abu Bakr was the third wife of Muhammad...
, Muhammad's wife. Aisha was exonerated from the accusations when Muhammad announced that he had received a revelation confirming Aisha's innocence and directing that charges of adultery be supported by four eyewitnesses.
Truce of Hudaybiyyah
Although Muhammad had already delivered Qur'anic verses commanding the
HajjThe Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca . It is currently the largest annual pilgrimage in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, an obligation that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
, the Muslims had not performed it due to the enmity of the Quraysh. In the month of
ShawwalShawwāl is the tenth month of the lunar Islamic calendar. Shawwāl means to ‘lift or carry’; so named because she-camels normally would be carrying a fetus at this time of year.-Fasting during Shawwāl:...
628, Muhammad ordered his followers to obtain sacrificial animals and to make preparations for a pilgrimage (
umrahThe Umrah or is a pilgrimage to Mecca performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic Umrah means “to visit a populated place”. As a technical term used in the Shari’ah,...
) to Mecca, saying that God had promised him the fulfillment of this goal in a vision where he was shaving his head after the completion of the Hajj. Upon hearing of the approaching 1,400 Muslims, the
QurayshQuraysh or Quraish was the dominant tribe of Mecca upon the appearance of the religion of Islam...
sent out a force of 200 cavalry to halt them. Muhammad evaded them by taking a more difficult route, thereby reaching al-Hudaybiyya, just outside of Mecca. According to Watt, although Muhammad's decision to make the pilgrimage was based on his dream, he was at the same time demonstrating to the pagan Meccans that Islam does not threaten the prestige of their sanctuary, and that Islam was an Arabian religion.
Negotiations commenced with emissaries going to and from Mecca. While these continued, rumors spread that one of the Muslim negotiators,
Uthman bin al-AffanUsman ibn ‘Affān or ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān was one of the sahaba . An early convert to Islam, he played a major role in early Islamic history, most notably as the third Caliph of the Rashidun Empire, prophet's son-in-law and the compilation of the Qur'an.-Early life:Uthman was born in Ta’if, which is...
, had been killed by the Quraysh. Muhammad responded by calling upon the pilgrims to make a pledge not to flee (or to stick with Muhammad, whatever decision he made) if the situation descended into war with Mecca. This pledge became known as the "Pledge of Acceptance" or the "
Pledge under the TreePledge of the Tree or Pledge of Pleasure was a pledge that was sworn to Prophet Muhammad by his companions right before the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah under a tree to avenge the rumored death of Uthman ibn Affan.- Background :In March of 628 AD/CE , Prophet Muhammad set for Mecca to perform the ritual...
." News of Uthman's safety, however, allowed for negotiations to continue, and a treaty scheduled to last ten years was eventually signed between the Muslims and Quraysh. The main points of the treaty included the cessation of hostilities; the deferral of Muhammad's pilgrimage to the following year; and an agreement to send back any Meccan who had gone to Medina without the permission of their protector.
Many Muslims were not satisfied with the terms of the treaty. However, the Qur'anic sura "
Al-FathSurat Al-Fatḥ is the 48th sura of the Qur'an with 29 ayat.-See also:...
" (The Victory) (Qur'an ) assured the Muslims that the expedition from which they were now returning must be considered a victorious one. It was only later that Muhammad's followers would realise the benefit behind this treaty. According to Welch, these benefits included the inducing of the Meccans to recognise Muhammad as an equal; a cessation of military activity posing well for the future; and gaining the admiration of Meccans who were impressed by the incorporation of the pilgrimage rituals.
After signing the truce, Muhammad made an expedition against the Jewish oasis of
KhaybarKhaybar is the name of an oasis some 95 miles to the north of Medina , Saudi Arabia. It was inhabited by Jews before the rise of Islam, and was conquered by Muhammad in 628 A.D.-Pre-Islamic Khaybar:...
, known as the
Battle of KhaybarThe Battle of Khaybar was fought in the year 629 between Muhammad and his followers against the Jews living in the oasis of Khaybar, located 150 kilometers from Medina in the north-western part of the Arabian peninsula, in modern-day Saudi Arabia.According to Muslim sources, the Muslims attacked...
. This was possibly due to it housing the Banu Nadir, who were inciting hostilities against Muhammad, or to regain some prestige to deflect from what appeared to some Muslims as the inconclusive result of the truce of Hudaybiyya. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad also sent letters to many rulers of the world, asking them to convert to Islam (the exact date is given variously in the sources). Hence he sent messengers (with letters) to
HeracliusFlavius Heraclius was a Byzantine Emperor of Armenian origin, who ruled the Eastern Roman Empire for over thirty years, from October 5, 610 to February 11, 641...
of the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
(the eastern Roman Empire),
KhosrauKhusro, Khosrau, Khusrau, Khosro, or Khusraw is the name of a mythical Persian leader, in the Avesta of the Zoroastrians known as Kavi Haosravah, with the meaning "with good reputation"...
of
PersiaThe Sassanid Empire or Sasanian Empire, known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr, was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty who reigned from 224 to 651 CE...
, the chief of
YemenYemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is a country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia...
and to some others. In the years following the truce of Hudaybiyya, Muhammad sent his forces against the Arabs on Transjordanian Byzantine soil in the
Battle of Mu'tahThe Battle of Mu'tah was fought in 629 , near the village of Mu'tah, east of the Jordan River and Karak, between a force of Muslims dispatched by the Islamic prophet Prophet Muhammad and an army of the Eastern Roman Empire.In Muslim histories, the battle is usually described as the Muslims'...
, in which the Muslims were defeated.
Conquest of Mecca
The
truce of HudaybiyyahThe Treaty of Hudaybiyyah is the treaty that took place between the state of Medina and the Quraishi tribe of Mecca in March 628CE .-Background:...
had been enforced for two years. The tribe of
Banu Khuza'aBanu Khuza'a is an Arabian tribe.-Origin:Khuza'a known as Haritha Amr bin Muzaqiba. Lead a branch of the Azd Qahtani tribes wandered with his tribe in Hijaz until they came to Mar al-Zahran...
had good relations with Muhammad, whereas their enemies, the
Banu BakrThe Banu Bakr ibn Abd Manat were an Arabian tribe of the Hejaz region, in western Arabia.During Muhammad's lifetime, they were allies of the Quraish of Mecca....
, had an alliance with the Meccans. A clan of the Bakr made a night raid against the
Khuz'aah, killing a few of them. The Meccans helped the Banu Bakr with weapons and, according to some sources, a few Meccans also took part in the fighting. After this event, Muhammad sent a message to Mecca with three conditions, asking them to accept one of them. These were that either the Meccans paid
blood moneyBlood money is money or some sort of compensation paid by an offender or his family group to the family or kin group of the victim.-Other uses:...
for those slain among the Khuza'ah tribe; or, that they should disavow themselves of the Banu Bakr; or, that they should declare the truce of Hudaybiyya null.
The Meccans replied that they would accept only the last condition. However, soon they realized their mistake and sent Abu Sufyan to renew the Hudaybiyya treaty, but now his request was declined by Muhammad.
Muhammad began to prepare for a campaign. In 630, Muhammad marched on Mecca with an enormous force, said to number more than ten thousand men. With minimal casualties, Muhammad took control of Mecca. He declared an amnesty for past offences, except for ten men and women who had mocked and ridiculed him in songs and verses. Some of these were later pardoned. Most Meccans converted to Islam and Muhammad subsequently destroyed all the statues of Arabian gods in and around the Kaaba. The Qur'an discusses the conquest of Mecca.
Conquest of Arabia
Soon after the conquest of Mecca, Muhammad was alarmed by a military threat from the confederate tribes of Hawazin who were collecting an army twice the size of Muhammad's. The
Banu HawazinHa'wa zin were the mighty Pre-Islamic Arab tribe concentrated in the area around Taif in the Arabian peninsula. Many of the tribe members were dispatched after the Islamic conquests to Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, and Spain. Arab genealogist trace the tribe to Hawazin bin Mansour bin Ekrama bin...
were old enemies of the Meccans. They were joined by the
Banu ThaqifThe Thaqif was one of the tribes of Arabia during Muhammad's era. Thaqif was the main tribe of the town of Taif, in present-day Saudi Arabia, and descendants of the tribe still live in that city today.-History:...
(inhabiting the city of Ta'if) who adopted an anti-Meccan policy due to the decline of the prestige of Meccans. Muhammad defeated the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes in the Battle of Hunayn.
In the same year, Muhammad made the expedition of Tabuk against northern Arabia because of their previous defeat at the
Battle of Mu'tahThe Battle of Mu'tah was fought in 629 , near the village of Mu'tah, east of the Jordan River and Karak, between a force of Muslims dispatched by the Islamic prophet Prophet Muhammad and an army of the Eastern Roman Empire.In Muslim histories, the battle is usually described as the Muslims'...
as well as reports of the hostile attitude adopted against Muslims. Although Muhammad did not make contact with hostile forces at Tabuk, he received the submission of some local chiefs of the region.
A year after the Battle of Tabuk, the Banu Thaqif sent emissaries to
MedinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
to surrender to Muhammad and adopt Islam. Many bedouins submitted to Muhammad in order to be safe against his attacks and to benefit from the booties of the wars. However, the bedouins were alien to the system of Islam and wanted to maintain their independence, their established code of virtue and their ancestral traditions. Muhammad thus required of them a military and political agreement according to which they "acknowledge the suzerainty of Medina, to refrain from attack on the Muslims and their allies, and to pay the
ZakatZakāh or "alms giving", one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is the giving of a small percentage of one's possessions to charity generally to poor and needy Muslims individual...
, the Muslim religious levy."
Farewell pilgrimage and death
At the end of the tenth year after the migration to Medina, Muhammad carried through his first truly Islamic pilgrimage, thereby teaching his followers the rites of the annual Great Pilgrimage (Hajj).
After completing the pilgrimage, Muhammad delivered a famous speech known as
The Farewell SermonThe The Farewell Sermon , also known as the Prophet's final sermon or The Last Sermon is a famous sermon by Muhammad delivered before his death, on the ninth day of Dhu al-Hijjah, 10 A.H. , at the end of his final pilgrimage.The Farewell Sermon is mentioned in almost all books of Hadith...
. In this sermon, Muhammad advised his followers not to follow certain pre-Islamic customs such as
adding intercalary monthsA lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. If the solar year is defined as a tropical year then a lunisolar calendar will give an indication of the season; if it is taken as a sidereal year then the calendar will...
to align the
lunar calendarThe Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar based on 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days, used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which...
with the
solar calendarA solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun .-Tropical solar calendars:...
. Muhammad abolished all old blood feuds and disputes based on the former tribal system and asked for all old pledges to be returned as implications of the creation of the new Islamic community. Commenting on the vulnerability of women in his society, Muhammed asked his male followers to “Be good to women; for they are powerless captives (awan) in your households. You took them in God’s trust, and
legitimated your sexual relationsAn Islamic marriage contract is a formal, binding contract drawn up by parties involved in marriage proceedings.-Witnessing:In Sunni Islam, a marriage contract must have two male witnesses, or, in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, one man and two women...
with the Word of God, so come to your senses people, and hear my words ...”. He also told them that they were entitled to discipline their wives but should do so with kindness. Muhammad also addressed the issue of inheritance by forbidding false claims of paternity or of a client relationship to the deceased and also forbidding his followers to leave their wealth to a testamentary heir. He also upheld the sacredness of four lunar months in each year. According to Sunni
tafsirTafsir is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. It does not include esoteric or mystical interpretations, which are covered by the related word Ta'wīl...
, the following Qur'anic verse was delivered in this incident: “Today I have perfected your religion, and completed my favours for you and chosen Islam as a religion for you.”(Qur'an 5:3) According to Shia tafsir, it refers to appointment of
Ali ibn Abi Talib' was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661...
at the pond of Khumm as
Muhammad's successorThe Succession to Muhammad concerns the various aspects of successorship of Muhammad after his death, comprised of who might be considered as his successor to lead the Muslims, how that person should be elected, the conditions of legitimacy, and the role of successor...
, this occurring a few days later when Muslims were returning from Mecca to Medina.
A few months after the farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and suffered for several days with
head painIn medicine a headache or cephalalgia is a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head. Some of the causes are benign while others are medical emergencies.There are a number of different classification systems for headaches...
and weakness. He died on Monday, June 8, 632, in Medina. He is buried where he died which was in his wife Aisha's house and is now housed within the
Mosque of the ProphetAl-Masjid al-Nabawi , often called the Prophet's Mosque, is a mosque situated in the city of Medina...
in
MedinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
. Next to Muhammad's tomb, there is another empty tomb that Muslims believe awaits Jesus.
Aftermath
Muhammad united the
tribes of ArabiaArabs are a semitic people, descending from various Old North Arabian tribes.Much of the lineage provided before Ma'ad relies on biblical genealogy and therefore its accuracy from that link uses the bible as a genealogical historical record...
into a singular Arab Muslim religious polity in the last years of his life. With Muhammad's death, disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community. Umar ibn al-Khattab, a prominent companion of Muhammad, nominated
Abu BakrAbu Bakr As-Siddiq was Muhammad's father-in-law, closest companion and adviser, who succeeded to the Prophet's political and administrative functions, thereby initiating the office of the caliphate. He was also the first convert to Islam...
, Muhammad's friend and collaborator. Others added their support and Abu Bakr was made the first
caliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
. This choice was disputed by some of Muhammad's companions, who held that Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law, had been designated the successor by Muhammad at
Ghadir KhummWadi Rabigh is a wadi situated inland of the town of Rabigh, extending along the border of the Al Madinah and Makkah provinces of Saudi Arabia....
. Abu Bakr's immediate task was to make an expedition against the
ByzantineThe word Byzantine may refer to:Topics directly related to the Byzantine Empire* A citizen of The Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
(or Eastern Roman Empire) forces because of the previous defeat, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode referred to by later Muslim historians as the
Ridda warsThe Ridda wars , also known as the Wars of Apostasy, were a set of military campaigns against the rebellion of several Arabic tribes against the Caliph Abu Bakr during 632 and 633 AD, following the death of Muhammad....
, or "Wars of Apostasy".
The pre-Islamic
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
was dominated by the
ByzantineThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
and
SassanianThe Sassanid Empire or Sasanian Empire, known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr, was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty who reigned from 224 to 651 CE...
empires. The
Roman-Persian WarsThe Roman–Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranian empires. Contact between Parthia and the Roman Republic began in 92 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued through the Roman and Sassanid empires...
between the two had devastated the inhabitants, making the empires unpopular amongst local tribes. Furthermore, most Christian Churches in the lands to be conquered by Muslims such as Nestorians, Monophysites,
JacobitesThe Syriac Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Middle East, with members spread throughout the world. It parted ways with Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism over the Council of Chalcedon in 451, which the Syriac Orthodox Church rejects. It is a major...
and
CoptA Copt is a native Egyptian Christian...
s were under pressure from the
Christian OrthodoxyThe term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* Correct theology or belief, such as the ancient, majority, or Trinitarian theologies of Christianity...
who deemed them heretics. Within only a decade, Muslims conquered
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
and
PersiaGreater Iran refers to the regions that have significant Iranian cultural influence...
,
Roman SyriaThe Muslim conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century, and refers to the region known as the Bilad al-Sham, the Levant, or Greater Syria...
and
Roman EgyptAt the commencement of the Muslim conquest of Egypt, Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople. However, it had been occupied just a decade before by the Persian Empire under Khosrau II...
. and established the
Rashidun empireThe Rashidun Caliphate , comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632. At its height, the borders of the Caliphate extended throughout North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Iranian highlands....
.
Wives and children
Muhammad's life is traditionally defined into two periods: pre-hijra (emigration) in Mecca (from 570 to 622), and
post-hijra in MedinaThe period of Muhammad in Medina started with the Migration to Medina in 622 and ended with the Conquest of Mecca in 630.-Hijra to Medina:A delegation from Medina, consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans of Medina, invited Muhammad as a neutral outsider to Medina to serve as...
(from 622 until 632). Muhammad is said to have had thirteen wives or concubines (there are differing accounts on the status of some of them as wife or concubine) All but two of his marriages were contracted after the
migration to MedinaThe Hijra is the migration of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622 . Alternate spellings of this Arabic word in the Latin alphabet are Hijrah, or Hegira in Latin.- Hijra of Muhammad :...
.
At the age of 25, Muhammad married
Khadijah bint KhuwaylidKhadījah bint Khuwaylid or Khadījah al-Kubra was the first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Khadijah was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad and Fatimah bint Za'idah and belonged to the clan of Banu Hashim.-Biography:...
. The marriage lasted for 25 years and was a happy one. Muhammad relied upon Khadija in many ways and did not enter into marriage with another woman during this marriage. After the death of Khadija, it was suggested to Muhammad by Khawla bint Hakim, that he should marry
Sawda bint ZamaSawda bint Zama ibn Qayyis ibn Abd Shams was a wife of Muhammad, and therefore a Mother of the Believers and one of the early converts to Islam.-Biography:...
, a Muslim widow, or
AishaAisha bint Abu Bakr was the third wife of Muhammad...
, the six- or seven-year-old daughter of Abu Bakr. Muhammad is said to have asked her to arrange for him to marry both. Later, Muhammad married additional wives nine of whom survived him. Aisha, who became known as Muhammad's favourite wife in Sunni tradition, survived him by many decades and was instrumental in helping to bring together the scattered sayings of Muhammad that would form the Hadith literature for the Sunni branch of Islam.
After migration to Medina, Muhammad (who was now in his fifties) married several women. These marriages were contracted mostly for political or humanitarian reasons, these wives being either widows of Muslims who had been killed in the battles and had been left without a protector, or belonging to important families or clans whom it was necessary to honor and strengthen alliances.
Muhammad did his own household chores and helped with housework, such as preparing food, sewing clothes and repairing shoes. Muhammad is also said to have had accustomed his wives to dialogue; he listened to their advice, and the wives debated and even argued with him.
Khadijah is said to have borne Muhammad four daughters (
Ruqayyah bint MuhammadRuqayyah is viewed as the daughter of Muhammad and Khadijah bint Khuwaylid by Sunni Muslims. She died in 2 AH .- Life :She was first married to Utbah ibn Abu Lahab and then to Uthman ibn Affan. Her son was Abd-Allah ibn Uthman, who died when he was 2 years old.And she was married to Uthman ibn...
,
Umm Kulthum bint MuhammadUmm Kulthum bint Muhammad was the one of the daughters of Muhammad and his first wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid according to Sunni Muslims.Muhammad gave two of his daughters to Uthman ibn Affan, the 3rd rightly guided Calip of Islam....
,
Zainab bint MuhammadWhile Sunnis view Zainab as the daughter of Muhammad and Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, other Muslim sects such as Shia Muslims debate that she is the daughter of Khadijah's assumed previous husband .Married to Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabiah prior to his conversion to Islam, she became the mother of two...
,
Fatimah ZahraFatimah was a daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from his first wife Khadija. Sheis regarded by Muslims as an exemplar for men and women. She remained at her father's side through the difficulties suffered by him at the hands of the Quraysh of Mecca...
) and two sons (
Abd-Allah ibn MuhammadAbd-Allah ibn Muhammad AKA Taher ibn Muhammad or Tayib ibn Muhammad was one of the sons Muhammad and Khadija. Qasim ibn Muhammad was his older brother.Abd-Allah died in childhood in 615 CE....
and
Qasim ibn MuhammadQasim ibn Muhammad was the son of Muhammad and Khadija. He died in 605 CE, before his second birthday and is buried in Jannatul Mualla cemetery, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.- External links :...
) who both died in childhood. All except two of his daughters, Fatimah and Zainab, died before him. Shi'a scholars contend that Fatimah was Muhammad's only daughter.
Maria al-QibtiyyaMaria al-Qibtiyya , or Maria the Copt, was an Egyptian Coptic Christian slave who was sent as a gift from Muqawqis, a Byzantine official, to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 628...
bore him a son named
Ibrahim ibn MuhammadIbrahim ibn Muhammad was the male child of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and Maria al-Qibtiyya. He was born in the last month of the year 8 AH. The child was named after Abraham, the common ancestor of both Muslims and Jews...
, but the child died when he was two years old.
Muhammad's descendants through Fatimah are known as
sharifSharīf is a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets, such as property, wells, and land. The feminine form is sharifa....
s,
syeds or
sayyidSayyid literally means Mister. In the Arab world itself, the word is the equivalent of Engl. "Mister", as in Sayyid John Smith...
s. These are honorific titles in
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
,
sharif meaning 'noble' and
sayed or
sayyid meaning 'lord' or 'sir'. As Muhammad's only descendants, they are respected by both Sunni and Shi'a, though the Shi'as place much more emphasis and value on their distinction.
Slaves
Muhammad was the owner of slaves, including concubines, wetnurse, and his adopted son Zayd. Other slaves assisted him in his military campaigns.
Reforms
According to
William Montgomery WattWilliam Montgomery Watt was an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh...
, for Muhammad, religion was not a private and individual matter but rather “the total response of his personality to the total situation in which he found himself. He was responding [not only]… to the religious and intellectual aspects of the situation but also to the economic, social, and political pressures to which contemporary Mecca was subject."
Bernard LewisBernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, Orientalist, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...
says that there are two important political traditions in Islam – one that views Muhammad as a statesman in Medina, and another that views him as a rebel in Mecca. He sees Islam itself as a type of revolution that greatly changed the societies into which the new religion was brought.
Historians generally agree that Islamic social reforms in areas such as
social securitySocial security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
, family structure, slavery and the rights of women and children improved on the
status quoStatus quo, commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" literally "the state in which", is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
of Arab society. For example, according to Lewis, Islam "from the first denounced
aristocratThe aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in society, who traditionally have land, money, and power. They are often members of a hereditary nobility that derives its stature from a lineage traceable to the original inhabitants or rulers of a region...
ic privilege, rejected hierarchy, and adopted a formula of the career open to the talents". Muhammad's message transformed the society and
moral orderIslamic ethics , defined as "good character," historically took shape gradually from the 7th century and was finally established by the 11th century...
of life in the Arabian Peninsula through reorientation of society as regards to identity,
world viewA comprehensive world view is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing natural philosophy, fundamental existential and normative postulates or themes, values, emotions, and ethics. The term is a loan translation or calque of German Weltanschauung , composed of...
, and the hierarchy of values.
Economic reforms addressed the plight of the poor, which was becoming an issue in
pre-IslamicJahiliyyah, al-Jahiliyah or jahalia is an Islamic concept of "ignorance of divine guidance" or "the state of ignorance of the guidance from God" or "Days of Ignorance" referring to the condition Arabs found themselves in pre-Islamic Arabia, i.e. prior to the revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammad...
Mecca. The Qur'an requires payment of an alms tax (
zakatZakāh or "alms giving", one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is the giving of a small percentage of one's possessions to charity generally to poor and needy Muslims individual...
) for the benefit of the poor, and as Muhammad's position grew in power he demanded that those tribes who wanted to ally with him implement the zakat in particular.
Sunnah
The
SunnahSunnah is an Arabic word that means habit or usual practice. The Muslim usage of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of Muhammad, the main prophet of Islam....
represents the actions and sayings of Muhammad (preserved in reports known as
HadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
), and covers a broad array of activities and beliefs ranging from religious rituals, personal hygiene, burial of the dead to the mystical questions involving the love between humans and God. The Sunnah is considered a model of emulation for pious Muslims and has to a great degree influenced the Muslim culture. The greeting that Muhammad taught Muslims to offer each other, “may peace be upon you” (Arabic:
as-salamu `alaykumAs-Salāmu `Alaykum is an Arabic spoken greeting used by Muslims and to a lesser extent by Arab Christians and Jews. The term salam in Arabic means "peace". The greeting may also be transliterated as Asalaam 'Alaykum which means "peace be upon you". The traditional response is Wa `Alaykum...
) is used by Muslims throughout the world. Many details of major Islamic rituals such as daily prayers, the fasting and the annual pilgrimage are only found in the Sunnah and not the Qur'an.
The Sunnah also played a major role in the development of the Islamic sciences. It contributed much to the development of Islamic law, particularly from the end of the first Islamic century. Muslim mystics, known as sufis, who were seeking for the inner meaning of the Qur'an and the inner nature of Muhammad, viewed the prophet of Islam not only as a prophet but also as a perfect saint. Sufi orders trace their chain of spiritual descent back to Muhammad.
Muslim veneration
Following the attestation to the oneness of God, the belief in Muhammad's prophethood is the main aspect of the
Islamic faithAqidah is an Islamic term meaning creed. Any religious belief system, or creed, can be considered an example of aqidah...
. Every Muslim proclaims in the
ShahadahThe Shahada, also spelled shahadah, is the Islamic creed. The Shahada is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as his prophet. The declaration reads: laa ilāha illa Allāh, wa Muḥammad rasūl Allāh “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of...
that "I testify that Muhammad is a
messengerIn Islam, a Messenger is a prophet sent by Allah with a shariah "Divine Law" ....
of Allah". The Shahadah is the basic creed or tenet of Islam. Ideally, it is the first words a newborn will hear, and children are taught as soon as they are able to understand it and it will be recited when they die. Muslims must repeat the shahadah in the call to prayer (
adhanThe adhān is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin. The root of the word is "to permit", and another derivative of this word is , meaning "ear."...
) and the prayer itself. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the creed.
Muslims have traditionally expressed love and veneration for Muhammad. Stories of Muhammad's life, his intercession and of his miracles (particularly "
Splitting of the moonThe splitting of the moon is a claimed miracle done by the prophet Muhammad in Islamic tradition. The incident is mentioned in many early Muslim traditions as the context of revelation for the Qur'anic verse and virtually all Muslim commentators accept the historicity of the miracle...
") have permeated popular Muslim thought and poetry. The Qur'an refers to Muhammad as "a mercy (
rahmat) to the worlds" (Qur'an ). The association of rain with mercy in Oriental countries has led to imagining Muhammad as a rain cloud dispensing blessings and stretching over lands, reviving the dead hearts, just as rain revives the seemingly dead earth (see, for example, the Sindhi poem of Shah ʿAbd al-Latif). Muhammad's birthday is celebrated as a major feast throughout the
Islamic worldThe term Muslim world has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Muslims, adherents of Islam. This community numbers about 1.3-1.5 billion people, roughly one-fifth of the world population. This community is spread across many different nations and ethnic...
, excluding
WahhabiWahhabi or Wahhabism is a sect attributed to Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, an 18th century scholar from what is today known as Saudi Arabia, who advocated to purge Islam of what he considered innovations in Islam...
-dominated Saudi Arabia where these public celebrations are discouraged. Muslims experience Muhammad as a living reality, believing in his ongoing significance to human beings as well as animals and plants. When Muslims say or write the name of Muhammad or any other prophet in Islam, they usually follow it with
Peace be upon himPeace be upon him is a phrase that practising Muslims often say after saying the name of a prophet of Islam. There are two variants of this phrase in Arabic:...
(Arabic:
sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam) like "Muhammad(Peace be upon him)".
According to the Qur'an, Muhammad is only the last of a series of Prophets sent by Allah for the benefit of mankind, and thus commands Muslims to make no distinction between them and to surrender to one God Allah. states that "...it (the Qur'an) is a confirmation of (revelations) that
went before itMuslims regard as prophets of Islam those non-divine humans chosen by Allah . Mere humans rely on revelation or tradition to identify prophets....
, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein there is no doubt - from
The Lord of the WorldsAllah is the standard Arabic word for God. While the term is best known in the West for its use by Muslims as a reference to God, it is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, in reference to "God"...
.". Similarly states "...And before this was the book of Moses, as a guide and a mercy. And this Book confirms (it)...", while commands the believers of Islam to "Say: we believe in God and that which is revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto
AbrahamAbraham is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples, as described in the book of Genesis. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims....
and
IshmaelIshmael is a figure in the Torah, Bible, and Qur'an. Jews, Christians and Muslims believe Ishmael is Abraham's eldest son and first born. Ishmael is born of Sarai's handmaiden Hagar...
and
IsaacIsaac or Ishak ) was the only child of Abraham and Sarah, and the father of Jacob and Esau, described in the Hebrew Bible. He is regarded as one of the three patriarchs of the Jewish people...
and
JacobJacob , also known as Israel , was the third Biblical patriarch and ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel, named after ten of his twelve sons, as well as the two sons of his son Joseph.The Bible says...
and the tribes, and that which
MosesMoses was, according to biblical texts, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew Moses was, according to biblical texts, a...
and
JesusJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
received, and which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered."
Historian Denis Gril believes that the Qur'an does not overtly describe Muhammad performing miracles, and the supreme miracle of Muhammad is finally
identified with the Qur’an itselfMuslims consider the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, as the word of God and a miracle.. The Qur'an claims that it has been created miraculously as a revelation from Allah , as a perfect copy of what was written in heaven and existed there from all eternity. Therefore the verses of the book are...
. However, Muslim tradition credits Muhammad with several supernatural events. For example, many Muslim commentators and some Western scholars have interpreted the Surah as referring to Muhammad
splitting the MoonThe splitting of the moon is a claimed miracle done by the prophet Muhammad in Islamic tradition. The incident is mentioned in many early Muslim traditions as the context of revelation for the Qur'anic verse and virtually all Muslim commentators accept the historicity of the miracle...
in view of the
QurayshQuraysh or Quraish was the dominant tribe of Mecca upon the appearance of the religion of Islam...
when they began persecuting his followers.
European and Western views
The biographical knowledge about Muhammad in the learned, Latin circles of the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
in Europe, was remarkably precise to some extent and a good amount of concrete data about his life was known. Learned European circles of the time interpreted the data in such a way that Muhammad was viewed as a charlatan driven by ambition and eagerness for power, and who seduced the
SaracenSaracen was a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Arabs at first, then later for all who professed the religion of Islam.-Etymology:...
s into his submission under a religious guise. This knowledge about Muhammad's life in Latin theological texts was not reflected in the popular literature of the Middle Ages, in which Muhammad was viewed as an idol or one of the heathen gods. Some medieval Christians said he died in 666, alluding to
the number of the beastThe Number of the Beast is a concept from the Book of Revelation of the New Testament of the Christian Bible, relating to the figure of "The Beast". The number is 666 in most manuscripts of the New Testament, and in modern translations and critical editions of the Greek text...
, instead of 632; others changed his name from Muhammad to
MahoundMahound or Mahoun is a contemptuous name for Mohammad the prophet of Islam , found in Medieval and later European literature. This version of the name, or variants of it, came to be strongly associated with anti-Muslim attitudes in Western Christendom...
, the "devil incarnate".
Bernard LewisBernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, Orientalist, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...
writes "The development of the concept of
MahoundMahound or Mahoun is a contemptuous name for Mohammad the prophet of Islam , found in Medieval and later European literature. This version of the name, or variants of it, came to be strongly associated with anti-Muslim attitudes in Western Christendom...
started with considering Muhammad as a kind of demon or false god worshipped with Apollyon and
TermagantIn Medieval Europe, Termagant was the name given to a god that the Europeans believed Muslims worshipped.-Origin of the concept:European literature from the Middle Ages often referred to Muslims as pagans, or by sobriquets such as the paynim foe...
in an unholy trinity." A later medieval work,
Livre dou Tresor represents Muhammad as a former monk and cardinal.
Dante'sDurante degli Alighieri , commonly known as Dante, was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His central work, the Divina Commedia , is often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.In...
Divine Comedy (Canto
XXVIII28 is the natural number following 27 and preceding 29.-In mathematics:It is a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14....
), puts Muhammad, together with Ali, in
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
"among the sowers of discord and the schismatics, being lacerated by devils again and again."
After the
reformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
, Muhammad was no longer viewed as a god or idol, but as a cunning, ambitious, and self-seeking impostor.
Guillaume PostelGuillaume Postel , was a French linguist, astronomer, Cabbalist, diplomat, professor, and religious universalist.Born in the village of Barenton in Basse-Normandie, Postel made his home in the vicinity of Paris....
was among the first to present a more positive view of Muhammad. Boulainvilliers described Muhammad as a gifted political leader and a just lawmaker.
Gottfried LeibnizGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher, polymath and mathematician who wrote primarily in Latin and French....
praised Muhammad because "he did not deviate from the natural religion".
Thomas CarlyleThomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.
Coming from a strict Calvinist family,...
defines Muhammed as "A silent great soul, one of that who cannot but be earnest" .
Edward GibbonEdward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788...
in his book
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was written by English historian Edward Gibbon and published in six volumes. Volume I was published in 1776, and went through six printings. Volumes II and III were published in 1781; volumes IV, V, VI in 1788-89. The original volumes were...
observes that "the good sense of Mohammad despised the pomp of royalty."
Friedrich Martin von BodenstedtFriedrich Martin von Bodenstedt was a German author.Bodenstedt was born at Peine, in Hanover. He studied in Göttingen, Munich and Berlin....
(1851) described Muhammad as "an ominous destroyer and a prophet of murder." Later Western works, many of which, from the 18th century onward, distanced themselves from the polemical histories of earlier Christian authors. These more historically-oriented treatments, which generally reject the prophethood of Muhammad, are coloured by the
Western philosophicalWestern philosophy is the philosophical thought and work of the Western or Occidental world, as distinct from Eastern or Oriental philosophies and the varieties of indigenous philosophies....
and theological framework of their authors. Many of these studies reflect much historical research, and most pay more attention to human, social, economic, and political factors than to religious, theological, and spiritual matters..
It was not until the latter part of the 20th century that Western authors combined rigorous scholarship as understood in the modern West with empathy toward the subject at hand and, especially, awareness of the religious and spiritual realities involved in the study of the life of the founder of a major world religion. According to
WattWilliam Montgomery Watt was an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh...
and Richard Bell, recent writers have generally dismissed the idea that Muhammad deliberately deceived his followers, arguing that Muhammad “was absolutely sincere and acted in complete good faith”. Watt says that sincerity does not directly imply correctness: In contemporary terms, Muhammad might have mistaken his own subconscious for divine revelation. Watt and
LewisBernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, Orientalist, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...
argue that viewing Muhammad as a self-seeking impostor makes it impossible to understand the development of Islam.
WelchAlford T. Welch is a Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. Welch got his Ph.D. degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1970. He also holds a M.Div. degree on Biblical language, literature and Near Eastern history from Southern Baptist...
holds that Muhammad was able to be so influential and successful because of his firm belief in his vocation. Muhammad’s readiness to endure hardship for his cause when there seemed to be no rational basis for hope shows his sincerity.
Other religious traditions
- Bahá'ís
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.The Bahá'í Faith teaches a doctrine of...
venerate Muhammad as one of a number of prophets or "Manifestations of GodThe Manifestation of God is a concept in the Bahá'í Faith that refers to what are commonly called prophets. The Manifestations of God are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization...
", but consider his teachings to have been superseded by those of Bahá'u'lláhBahá'u'lláh , born Mírzá usayn-`Alí Nuri , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith...
.
- Muhammad is regarded as one of the Saints of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica
The Gnostic Saints of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica are a series of historical and mythological figures commemorated within the religion of Thelema. They were first listed in Liber XV, also known as the Gnostic Mass, which is the central rite of Ordo Templi Orientis and its ecclesiastical arm,...
.
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not regard Muhammad as a prophet, nor accept the Qur’an as a book of scripture. However, they do respect Muhammad as one who taught moral truths which can enlighten nations and bring a higher level of understanding to individuals.
- Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism
Sikhism, founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and ten successive Sikh Gurus in fifteenth century Punjab, is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat or the Sikh Dharma...
, viewed Muhammad as an agent of the Hindu supreme being BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedanta philosophy known as Brahman. Brahmā's consort is Saraswati, the goddess of learning...
.
- The Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
does not regard Muhammad as a prophet, however Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła served as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death almost 27 years later. His was the second-longest pontificate; only Pope Pius IX served longer...
noted that "Muslims' fidelity to prayer deserves admiration"
See also
- Arabian tribes that interacted with Muhammad
-Introduction:The most prominent of such Arabian tribes were the Banu Quraish which were in turn divided into several sub-clans. The Qur'aish sub-clan of Banu Hashim was the clan of Muhammad, while their sister sub-clan, the Banu Abd-Shams became known as his most staunch enemies...
- Criticism of Muhammad
Criticism of Muhammad has existed since the 7th century, when Muhammad was decried by his non-Muslim Arab contemporaries for preaching monotheism, his marriages, and military expeditions. During the Middle Ages he was frequently demonized in European and other non-Muslim polemics...
- Depictions of Muhammad
The permissibility of depictions of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, has long been a concern in Islam's history. Oral and written descriptions are readily accepted by all traditions of Islam, but there is disagreement about visual depictions....
- Islamic views of Muhammad
Views of Muhammad in some aspects vary widely between the sects of Islam. This article focuses on these sects' doctrines and beliefs surrounding Muhammad.- Veneration of Muhammad :...
- Paraclete
Paraclete comes from the Koine Greek word . It may reflect a translation of the Hebrew word מְנַחֵם...
- Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
- List of films about Muhammad
- Mohammad, Messenger of God (aka The Message)
- Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet
Muhammad: Legacy of the Prophet is a PBS documentary film about the life of Islamic prophet Muhammad.-Content:Among the people in the film, the following are included:*Karen Armstrong - former nun and author on Abrahamic religions...
(documentary)
- List of founders of religious traditions
- Glossary of Islamic terms in Arabic
- Sirah Rasul Allah
- Rasul
In Islam, a Messenger is a prophet sent by Allah with a shariah "Divine Law" ....
- Early reforms under Islam
Many social changes took place under Islam between 610 and 661, including the period of Muhammad's mission and the rule of his four immediate successors who established the Rashidun Caliphate....
- Judaism's view of Muhammad
Judaism has no special or particular view of Muhammad, with very few texts in Judaism directly referring to or taking note of Muhammad, and no canonical Jewish scripture making reference to him, contrary to Muslim arguments of prophecies allegedly foretelling Muhammad's advent therein...
- Termagant
In Medieval Europe, Termagant was the name given to a god that the Europeans believed Muslims worshipped.-Origin of the concept:European literature from the Middle Ages often referred to Muslims as pagans, or by sobriquets such as the paynim foe...
- Prophets of Islam
Muslims regard as prophets of Islam those non-divine humans chosen by Allah . Mere humans rely on revelation or tradition to identify prophets....
External links
Non-Muslim biographies
Muslim biographies