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A sixteenth-century Persian protrait. Mohammad's face is veiled, a common practice in Islamic art.
A sixteenth-century Persian protrait. Mohammad's face is veiled, a common practice in Islamic art.

A series of articles on


Muhammad

Life
Family tree · In Mecca · In Medina · Conquest of Mecca · The Farewell Sermon · Succession

Career
Diplomacy · Family · Marriages · Military leadership

Interactions with
Slaves · Jews · Christians

Perspectives
Muslim (Poetic and Mawlid) · Christian · Historicity · Criticism · Depictions

v • d • e
For other persons named Muhammad, see Muhammad (name). For other uses, see Muhammad (disambiguation).

Muhammad (Arabic: محمد‎ muḥammad; also Mohammed, Mohamet, and other variants[1][2]) (570-632 AD)[3][4] was an Arab religious, political and military leader who founded Islam and the Muslim community (Arabic: أمة Ummah). He united the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula into a federation of allied tribes with its capital at Medina.

According to Islamic traditions, Muhammad began receiving revelations from God (Arabic: ألله Allah) from the age of 40, delivered through the angel Gabriel over the last 23 years of his life. The content of these revelations, known as the Qur'an,[5] was memorized and recorded by his followers and compiled into a single Book shortly after his death. The Qur'an, along with the details of Muhammad’s life as recounted by his biographers and his contemporaries, forms the basis of Islamic theology. Within Islam, he is considered the last and most important prophet of God.[6] Muslims do not regard him as the founder of a new religion but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham and other prophets, [7][8][9][10][11] whose messages, according to some, had become misinterpreted or corrupted over time. [12]

After Muhammad, a rapid creation of an empire under the Umayyads established a new polity from the Atlantic to the Indus River. Within a few decades of his death, his successors united all of Arabia in an Islamic empire which conquered the Sassanid and Byzantine empires. With historically unprecedented swiftness, they conquered present-day Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Armenia, and most of Byzantine-held North Africa. The Caliphate soon pressed on to the Iberian Peninsula in the west, and much of Central Asia and Sindh (present day Pakistan) in the east. By 750, Islam was as fully established as the other two Abrahamic belief systems, Judaism and Christianity, and at which time, it was the world's greatest military power.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Etymology

The name Muhammad etymologically means "the praised one" in Arabic.[13] Within Islam, Muhammad is known as Nabi (Prophet) and Rasul (Messenger). Although the Qur'an sometimes declines to make a distinction among prophets, in verse [Qur'an 33:40] it singles out Muhammad as the "Seal of the Prophets" ([Qur'an 33:40]).[14] The Qur'an also refers to Muhammad as "Ahmad" ([Qur'an 61:6]) (Arabic :أحمد), Arabic for "more praiseworthy".

[edit] Overview

Born to ‘Abdu’llah ibn ‘Abdu’l-Muttalib, Muhammad initially adopted the occupation of a shepherd, and later became a merchant. In his youth, he was called by the nickname "Al-Amin" (Arabic: الامين ), a common Arab name meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator.[9][4] During the month of Ramadan, Muhammad would retreat to a cave located at the summit of Mount Hira, just outside Mecca in the Arabian Hijaz, where he fasted and prayed. According to Islamic belief, when Muhammad was about forty (610 CE), Archangel Gabriel visited him in the cave and commanded him to recite verses sent by God. These revelations continued until his death twenty-three years later. The collection of these verses is known as the Qur'an.

He expanded his mission as a prophet, publicly preaching strict monotheism, preaching against the social evils of his day, and warning of a Day of Judgment when all humans shall be held responsible for their deeds.[4]

After ignoring Muhammad's preaching, the elites in Mecca, commercially threatened by the growing popularity of his message, persecuted Muhammad and his followers. This continued, and intensified, over more than a decade. The hardships reached a new level for Muhammad after the deaths of his wife Khadija and his uncle Abu Talib, an important political protector of Muhammad. Eventually, in 622, he left Mecca in a journey known to Muslims as the Hijra (the Migration).[4] He settled in the area of Yathrib (now known as Medina) with his followers, where he was the leader of the first Muslim community.

Eight years of war between Muhammad and Meccan forces followed, ending with the Muslim victory and conquest of Mecca. The Muslims subsequently removed everything they considered idolatrous from the Kaaba. Most of the townspeople accepted Islam. In March 632, Muhammad led the pilgrimage known as the Hajj. On returning to Medina he fell ill and died after a few days, on June 8.

Under the caliphs who assumed authority after his death, the Islamic empire expanded into Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, North Africa, southern Spain, and Anatolia. Later conquests, commercial contact between Muslims and non-Muslims, and missionary activity spread Islam over much of the Eastern Hemisphere, including China and Southeast Asia.

[edit] Sources for Muhammad's life

Main article: Historiography of early Islam

The dates often given for Muhammad's life are 570-632 AD/CE. The earliest surviving biography of Muhammad is a collection of hadith called the Sirah Rasul Allah or, the Life of the Apostle of God, by Ibn Ishaq, a member of the Tabi‘in generation who was born 85 years after Hijra — approximately 717 — and who died in 767.

Other sources for biographies of Muhammad are:

  • the Ibn Hisham's Prophetic Sirah (Arabic: السيرة النبوية), which is a detailed trace of the Prophet's lineage and life
  • the military chronicles of Waqidi (745-822)
  • the biographies of Ibn Sa'd (783-845), a student of Waqidi
  • later histories
  • Qur'anic commentaries
  • collections of Prophetic hadith

These texts were recorded more than a century, and often several centuries, after the death of Muhammad. The Qur'an is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad.[15] The Qur'an (a word that literally translates as "Recitation") was also maintained by the "Hafiz", people who memorized the entire document and recited it.

[edit] Modern Western Academic view of Muhammad

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Main article: Non-Islamic view of Muhammad's historicity

From a scholarly point of view, the most credible source providing information on events in Muhammad's life is the Qur'an, even though its chronological interpretation is complex, and even though it contains very little in the way of coherent biography.[citation needed] Next in importance are the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him (the sira and hadith literature), which provide further information on Muhammad's life.[16] All, or most, of the Qur'an was apparently written down by Muhammad's secretaries while he was alive, but it was, then as now, primarily an orally related document, and the written compilation of the whole Qur'an in its definite form as we have it now was completed early after the death of Muhammad.[17] The earliest surviving written sira (Biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him) dates to 150 years after Muhammad, the compilation and (critical) analysis of which took place even later.[18]

Modern historians agree that Muhammad lived during the 7th century and adopted various monotheistic traditions in an effort to replace the common polytheistic religions of the Arabian Peninsula, eventually gaining wide acceptance as a prophet.[citation needed]

[edit] Life based on Islamic traditions

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Islam Portal  v • d • e 

Most Muslims, and Western academics who trust Islamic traditions, accept a much more detailed version of Muhammad's life.

[edit] Before Medina

Main article: Muhammad before Medina

[edit] Genealogy

Main article: Family tree of Muhammad

Muhammad traced his genealogy as follows:

Muhammad was born into the Quraysh tribe. He is the son of Abd Allah, who is son of Abd al-Muttalib (Shaiba) son of Hashim (Amr) ibn Abd Manaf (al-Mughira) son of Qusai (Zaid) ibn Kilab ibn Murra son of Ka'b ibn Lu'ay son of Ghalib ibn Fahr (Quraish) son of Malik ibn an-Nadr (Qais) the son of Kinana son of Khuzaimah son of Mudrikah (Amir) son of Ilyas son of Mudar son of Nizar son of Ma'ad ibn Adnan, whom the northern Arabs believed to be their common ancestor. Adnan in turn is said to have been a descendant of Ishmael, son of Abraham. (ibn means "son of" in Arabic; alternate names of people with two names are given in parentheses.)[19]

He was also called Abu-Qaasim (meaning "father of Qaasim") by some, after his short-lived first son.

[edit] Childhood

Muhammad was born into an affluent family settled in the northern Arabian town of Mecca. Tradition places it in the Year of the Elephant, commonly identified with 570. Some[citation needed] calculate his birthday as 20 April of that year, while Shi'a Muslims believe it to have been 26 April 570. Other sources calculate the year of his birth to have been 571. Muhammad's father, Abdullah, had died almost six months before he was born and the young boy was brought up by his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, of the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. At the age of six, Muhammad lost his mother Amina and became fully orphaned. "Many years later, when he was exiled by his Meccan opponents, on his first pilgrimage from Medina to Mecca, he stopped at his mother's grave and cried bitterly, bringing tears to the eyes of his companions."[20] When he was eight years of age, his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, who had become his guardian, also died. Muhammad now came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of the Hashim clan of the Quraish tribe, the most powerful in Mecca.

Mecca was a thriving commercial center, due in great part to a shrine (now called the Kaaba) that housed statues of many Arabian gods. [citation needed] Merchants from various tribes would visit Mecca during the pilgrimage season, when all inter-tribal warfare was forbidden and they could trade in safety. While still in his teens, Muhammad began accompanying his uncle on trading journeys to Syria. He thus became well-travelled and knowledgeable about foreign ways.[citation needed]

[edit] Middle years

Muhammad became a merchant. He "was involved in trade between the Indian ocean and the Mediterranean Sea."[21] He gained a reputation for reliability and honesty that attracted a proposal from Khadijah, a forty-year-old widow in 595.[21] Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one.

Ibn Ishaq records that Khadijah bore Muhammad six children: three sons named Al Qasem, Abdullah (who is also called Al Tayeb and Al Taher) and Ibrahim, and four daughters. He was also called Abul Qasim (father of Qasim) after his eldest son Qasim, according to Arab customs. All of Khadija's children were born before Muhammad reported receiving his first revelation. His son Qasim died at the age of two. The four daughters are said to be Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatima.

The Shi'a say that Muhammad had only the one daughter, Fatima, and that the other daughters were either children of Khadijah by her previous marriage, or children of her sister.

[edit] The Beginnings of the Qur'an

Muhammad often retreated to Mount Hira near Mecca. Islamic tradition holds that the angel Gabriel began communicating with him here in the year 610 and commanded Muhammad to recite the following verses:[22]

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.[23]

Upon receiving the first revelation he was scared, and when he returned home he related the event to his wife Khadijah. He was consoled and reassured by Khadijah and her Christian cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal. Waraqah was immediately enthusiastic, but Khadijah proceeded more cautiously, and was only satisfied that the revelations had indeed come from a good source after the conclusion of a test she had devised to determine that very thing. This was followed by a pause of three years during which Muhammad had gave himself up further to prayers and spiritual practices. When the revelations resumed he was reassured and commanded to begin preaching.[24][25]

According to Welch, the revelations were accompanied by mysterious seizures.[9] Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages.[26]

[edit] Rejection

His wife Khadijah and Waraqah, were the first to believe that Muhammad was a prophet. They were soon followed by Muhammad's ten-year-old cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, close friend Abu Bakr and adopted son Zaid bin Muhammad (later known as Zaid bin Haarith.)

Around 613, Muhammad began to preach amongst Meccans most of whom ignored it and a few mocked him, while some 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.[27]

As the ranks of Muhammad's followers swelled, 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 Quraysh, as they were the guardians of the Ka'aba. The great merchants tried to come to some arrangements with Muhammad in exchange for abandoning his preaching. They offered him admission into the inner circle of merchants and establishing his position in the circle by an advantageous marriage. [28] Some of Muhammad's followers fled to the Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum and founded a small colony there under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian king. (See Islam in Ethiopia).

Several suras and parts of suras are said to date from this time, and reflect its circumstances: see for example al-Masadd, al-Humaza, parts of Maryam and al-Anbiya, al-Kafirun, and Abasa.

In 619, the "year of sorrows", both Muhammad's wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib died. The relationship between Muhammad's group of followers and Muhammad's own Quraysh clan, which were already bad, worsened still further.[29] The controversial Satanic verses incident, if it happened, happened at this time. [30]

[edit] Isra and Miraj

Main article: Isra and Mi'raj

Some time in 620, Muhammad told his followers that he had experienced the Isra and Miraj, a miraculous journey said to have been accomplished in one night along with Angel Gabriel. In the first part of the journey, the Isra, he is said to have travelled from Mecca to "the farthest mosque" (in Arabic: masjid al-aqsa), which Muslims usually identify with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In the second part, the Miraj, Muhammad is said to have toured heaven and hell, and spoken with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Ibn Ishaq, author of first biography of Muhammad, presents this event as a spiritual experience while later historians like Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir present it as a physical journey.[31] Those Muslims subscribing to the latter view consider the place under the Dome of the Rock the site from which Muhammad ascended to heaven.

Timeline of Muhammad
Important dates and locations in the life of Muhammad
c. 569 Death of his father, `Abd Allah
c. 570 Possible date of birth, April 20: Mecca
570 Legendary unsuccessful Ethiopian attack on Mecca
576 Death of Mother
578 Death of Grandfather
c. 583 Takes trading journeys to Syria
c. 595 Meets and marries Khadijah
610 First reports of Qur'anic revelation: Mecca
c. 610 Appears as Prophet of Islam: Mecca
c. 613 Begins spreading message of Islam publicly: Mecca
c. 614 Begins to gather following: Mecca
c. 615 Emigration of Muslims to Ethiopia
616 Banu Hashim clan boycott begins
c. 618 Medinan Civil War: Medina
619 Banu Hashim clan boycott ends
619 The year of sorrows: Khadijah and Abu Talib die
c. 620 Isra and Miraj
622 Emigrates to Medina (Hijra)
624 Battle of Badr Muslims defeat Meccans
624 Expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa
625 Battle of Uhud Meccans battle Muslims
625 Expulsion of Banu Nadir
626 Attack on Dumat al-Jandal: Syria
627 Battle of the Trench
627 Destruction of Banu Qurayza
627 Bani Kalb subjugation: Dumat al-Jandal
628 Treaty of Hudaybiyya
c. 628 Gains access to Mecca shrine Kaaba
628 Conquest of the Khaybar oasis
629 First hajj pilgrimage
629 Attack on Byzantine empire fails: Battle of Mu'tah
630 Attacks and bloodlessly captures Mecca
c. 630 Battle of Hunayn
c. 630 Siege of Taif
630 Establishes theocracy: Conquest of Mecca
c. 631 Rules most of the Arabian peninsula
c. 632 Attacks the Ghassanids: Tabuk
632 Farewell hajj pilgrimage
632 Death (June 8): Medina

[edit] Hijra to Ethiopia

Main article: Migration to Abyssinia

In 615 AD/CE, a band of Muslims were counseled by the Prophet Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca and travel to Ethiopia, which was ruled by a Christian king. (see Islam in Ethiopia) In that year, his followers were fleeing from Mecca's leading tribe, the Quraish, who sent emissaries to bring them back to Arabia, but the King of Ethiopia protected Muhammad's followers. Since then, Muhammad himself instructed his followers who came to Ethiopia, to respect and protect Ethiopia as well as live in peace with Ethiopian Christians. Accordingly, some scholars state that Ethiopia was the country that saved Islam from its near destruction and termination.

[edit] Muhammad in Medina

[edit] Hijra to Medina

Main article: Migration to Medina
Main article: Muhammad in Medina

By 622, Muhammad then emigrated to Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis where there were a number of Muslim converts. By breaking the link with his own tribe, Muhammad demonstrated that tribal and family loyalties were insignificant compared to the bonds of Islam, a revolutionary idea in the tribal society of Arabia. This Hijra or emigration (traditionally translated into English as "flight") marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. The Muslim calendar counts dates from the Hijra, which is why Muslim dates have the suffix AH (After Hijra).

Muhammad came to Medina as a mediator, invited to resolve the feud between the Arab factions of Aws and Khazraj. He ultimately did so by absorbing both factions into his Muslim community, forbidding bloodshed among Muslims. However, Medina was also home to a number of Jewish tribes, divided into three major clans: Banu Qainuqa, Banu Qurayza and Banu Nadir, and some minor groups.[32]

There was fighting in Yathrib for around a hundred years before 620. The Jewish tribes allied with other clans and were sometimes on opposing sides.[32] The recurring slaughters and disagreements over the resulting claims, especially after the great battle of Bu'ath in which all the clans were involved, made it obvious to them that the tribal conceptions of blood-feud and an eye for an eye were no longer workable unless "there was one man with authority to adjudicate in disputed cases."[32] 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 the chief arbitrator for the entire community.[32][33] Among the 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 Medina (date debated), "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 Jews and other "Peoples of the Book").[32][33]

[edit] Beginnings of conflict

Relations between Mecca and Medina rapidly worsened (see surat al-Baqara). Meccans confiscated all the property that the Muslims had left in Mecca.[citation needed] In Medina, Muhammad signed treaties of alliance and mutual help with neighboring tribes. Mecca declared its hostility and status of war with the Muslims.

In March of 624, Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Meccans successfully defended the caravan, but then decided to teach the Muslims a lesson and marched against Medina. It should be noted that Islamic scholars question narratives regarding looting the caravan on the basis of the Qur'anic version of the account.[34][opinion needs balancing] On March 15, 624 near a place called Badr, the Meccans and the Muslims clashed. Though outnumbered more than three times (one thousand to three hundred - majority of Muslim historians put the exact total at 313) in the battle, the Muslims met with success, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom; only fourteen Muslims died.[35] This marked the real beginning of Muslim military battles.

To his followers, the victory in Badr appeared to be divine authentication of Muhammad's prophethood. Muhammad and his followers were now a dominant force in the oasis of Yathrib (Medina).

After Khadija's death, Muhammad married Aisha, the daughter of his friend Abu Bakr (who would later emerge as the first leader of the Muslims after Muhammad's death). In Medina, he married Hafsah, daughter of Umar (who would eventually become Abu Bakr's successor).

Muhammad's daughter Fatima married Ali, Muhammad's cousin. According to the Sunni, another daughter, Umm Kulthum, married Uthman. Each of these men, in later years, would emerge as successors to Muhammad and political leaders of the Muslims. Thus, all four caliphs were linked to Muhammad by marriage. Sunni Muslims regard these caliphs as the Rashidun, or Rightly Guided. (See Succession to Muhammad for more information on the controversy on the succession to the caliphate).

[edit] The conflict with Mecca

In 625 the Meccan leader Abu Sufyan marched on Medina with three thousand men. Urged on by younger Muslims fired up by the victory at Badr and against the advice of Abdallah ibn Ubayy to last out the attack inside the town, Muhammad led his force outside and fought the Battle of Uhud on March 23, that ended in a Muslim defeat (According to Watt however it was not a Muslim defeat from a military standpoint. The Meccans, thinking themselves of having Arabia under their control, had aimed to destroy Muslims completely. But they completely failed to achieve this aim. They killed 75 Muslims for the loss of 77 of their own in Badr. [36]) However, the Meccan did not occupy the town and withdrew to Mecca because he could not attack on Muhammad's position again for military loss, low morale and possibility of Muslim resistance in the town. There was also hope that Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy leading a group of Muslims in Medina could be win over by diplomacy. [37] In April 627, Abu Sufyan led another strong force against Medina, but couldn't overcome the defenders in the Battle of the Trench.

Following the Muslims' victory at the Battle of the Trench, the Muslims were able, through conversion and conquest, to extend their rule to many of the neighboring cities and tribes.[citation needed]

[edit] Muhammad and the Jewish tribes of Medina

Main article: Muhammad and the Jews

Many Medinans converted to the faith of the Meccan immigrants, but the Jewish tribes did not. Much to Muhammad's disappointment, they rejected his claim to be prophet.[33] Their opposition "may well have been for political as well as religious reasons".[38]On religious grounds, the Jews were skeptical of the possibility of a non-Jewish prophet,[39] and also had concerns about possible incompatibilities between the Qur'an and their own scriptures.[39][40] The Qur'an's response regarding the possibility of a non-Jew being a prophet was that Abraham was not a Jew. The Qur'an also claimed that it was "restoring the pure monotheism of Abraham which had been corrupted in various, clearly specified, ways by Jews and Christians".[39]

After each major battle with the Medinans, Muhammad attacked one of the Jewish tribes (see [Qur'an 2:100]). After Badr and Uhud, the Banu Qainuqa and Banu Nadir, respectively, were expelled "with their families and possessions" from Medina. After the Battle of the Trench in 627, the Muslims accused the Jews of Banu Qurayza of conspiring with the Meccans, then wiped them out.[41]

Watt states that the Qurayza did not commit any hostile act,[42] and that they were probably negotiating with Mecca.[42] After the Qurayza had succumbed to a siege, several members of the Aws interceded on behalf of their old allies. Muhammad agreed to appoint one of their chiefs as a judge, who decided that the Qurayza men should be beheaded, the women and children enslaved, and their properties confiscated. The Muslims exacted this punishment.[43] However, there are some scholarly views that challenge this interpretation of events, citing concerns about the reliability of certain early historical sources.[44]

[edit] The truce of Hudaybiyya

Main article: Treaty of Hudaybiyya

Although Muhammad had already delivered verses ([Qur'an 2:196]-[Qur'an 2:210]) about the performing of Hajj, Muhammad and Muslims did not perform it due to the enmity of the Quraish. It was the month of Shawwal 6 A.H. when Muhammad saw in a vision that he was shaving his head after the Hajj.[45][46] Muhammad therefore decided to perform the Hajj in the following month. Hence around the 13th of March, 628 with 1400 Companions he went towards Mecca without the least intention of giving battle.[47] But the Quraish were determined to offer resistance to Muslims and they posted themselves outside Mecca, closing all access to the city.[47] In order to settle the dispute peacefully, Muhammad halted at a place called Hudaybiyya. Hence after series of talks a treaty was signed. The main points of treaty were the following:

  1. The two parties and their allies should desist from hostilities against each other[48][49]
  2. Muhammad, should not perform Hajj this year[48][50]
  3. They may come next year to perform Hajj (unarmed) but shall not stay in Mecca for more than three days[48][50]
  4. Any Muslim living in Mecca cannot settle in Medina, but Medinan Muslims may come and join Meccans (and will not be returned).[51]

Many Muslims were not satisfied with the terms of the treaty. However, the Qur'anic sura "Al-Fath" (The Victory) [Qur'an 48:1]-[Qur'an 48:29] assured the Muslims that the expedition from which they were now returning must be considered a victorious one.[52][53] The Muslims did benefit following the treaty; the men of Mecca and Medina could now meet in peace and discuss Islam. Hence, during the following two years the community of Islam more than doubled.[54][55][56]

[edit] Muhammad's letters to the Heads of State

According to Muslim tradition, after the signing of the truce, Muhammad sent letters to many rulers of the world, asking them to convert to Islam.[57][58][59] Hence he sent messengers (with letters) to Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire (the eastern Roman Empire), Chosroes of Persia, the chief of Yemen and to some others.[57][58]

[edit] Conquest of Mecca

Main article: Muhammad after the conquest of Mecca
Main article: Conquest of Mecca

The truce of Hudaybiyya had been in force for two years.[60][61] The tribe of Khuz'aah had a friendly relationship with Muhammad, while on the other hand their enemies, the Banu Bakr, had an alliance with the Meccans.[60][62] A clan of the Bakr made a night raid against the Khuz'aah, killing a few of them.[60][62] The Meccans helped their allies (i.e., the Banu Bakr) with weapons and, according to some sources, a few Meccans also took part in the fighting.[60] After this event, Muhammad sent a message to Mecca with three conditions, asking them to accept one of them. These were the following[63]

  1. The Meccans were to pay blood-money for those slain among the Khuza'ah tribe, or
  2. They should have nothing to do with the Banu Bakr, or
  3. They should declare the truce of Hudaybiyya null.

The Meccans replied that they would accept only the third condition.[63] However, soon they realized their mistake and sent Abu Safyan to renew the Hudaybiyya treaty, but now his request was declined by Muhammad. Muhammad began to prepare for a campaign.[64]

In 630, Muhammad marched on Mecca with an enormous force, said to number more than ten thousand men. Most Meccans converted to Islam, and Muhammad subsequently destroyed all of the statues of Arabian gods in and around the Kaaba, without any exception. Henceforth the pilgrimage would be a Muslim pilgrimage and the shrine was converted to a Muslim shrine.

[edit] Unification of Arabia

The capitulation of Mecca and the defeat of an alliance of enemy tribes at Hunayn effectively brought the greater part of the Arabian peninsula under Muhammad's authority. However, this authority was not enforced by a regular government, as Muhammad chose instead to rule through personal relationships and tribal treaties. The Muslims were clearly the dominant force in Arabia, and most of the remaining tribes and states hastened to convert to Islam.

[edit] Death

In 632 Muhammad fell ill and suffered for several days with head pain and weakness. He succumbed on Monday, June 8, 632, in the city of Medina, at the age of sixty-three. He is buried in his tomb (what was his house) adjacent to Mosque of the Prophet in Medina.

[edit] Muhammad as a military leader

Main article: Muhammad as a general

For most of the sixty-three years of his life, Muhammad was a merchant, then a religious leader. He took up the sword late in his life. He was an active military leader for ten years.

 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
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[edit] Family life

Main article: Muhammad's marriages
 This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Muhammad's life is traditionally defined into two epochs: pre-hijra (emigration) in Mecca, a city in northern Arabia, from the year 570 to 622 , and post-hijra in Medina, from 622 until his death in 632. All but two of his marriages were contracted after the migration to Medina.

He married 11 or 13 women depending upon the differing accounts of who his wives were. At the age of 25, Muhammad married Khadijah which lasted for 25 years.[65] This marriage is described as "long" and "happy," and he relied upon Khadija in many ways.[66][67] After her death, friends of Muhammad advised him to marry again, but he was reluctant to do so.[67][68] It was suggested to Muhammad by Khawla bint Hakim, that he should marry Sawda bint Zama, a Muslim widow, or Aisha. Muhammad is said to have asked her to arrange for him to marry both. Later, Muhammad married additional wives, to make for a total of eleven, of whom nine or ten survived him. Scholars such as Esposito and Watt hold that most of the marriages had political or social motives.[69][70]

The status of several of Muhammad's wives is disputed by scholars. Maria al-Qibtiyya may have been a slave, a freed slave, or a wife.[citation needed] While there is some debate about the age of Aisha (Ayesha), most references, including the Bukhari Hadith, put the marriage age at 5 or 6 and consummation of the marriage at the age of 9.[71][72][73]

Muhammad had children by only two wives. Khadijah is said to have borne him four daughters and a son; only one daughter, Fatima and her children survived her father, see Shia. Some say that his daughter Zainab, mother to a daughter called Amma or Umama, survived him as well.[citation needed] Shi'a Muslims dispute the number of Muhammad's children, stating that he had only one daughter, and that the other "daughters" were step-daughters. Maria al-Qibtiyya bore him a son, but the child died when he was ten months old.

Descendants of Muhammad are known as sharifs شريف (plural: ِأشراف Ashraaf) or sayyid. Many rulers and notables in Muslim countries, past and present have professed such descent, with various degrees of credibility, such as the Fatimid dynasty of North Africa, the Idrisids, the current royal families of Jordan. In various Muslim countries, there are societies of varying credibility that authenticate claims of descent.[citation needed]

There is some dispute between Shia scholars regarding the genealogy of the four daughters of Khadija on whether they were born to Khadijah from her marriage to Muhammad, an earlier marriage, or if they were in fact the daughters of a widowed and dead sister of Khadija. Sunni's believe he had four daughters with Khadîjah. Shi'a accept Fatimah to be Muhammad's only surviving child,[citation needed] while some Sunni question that.[citation needed]

There is also a difference of opinion regarding whether he had two or four sons. The conflict arises from some reports on the sons of Khadijah mentioning two sons called Tahir and Tayyab,[citation needed] and another mentioning one called Abdullah who was also called Tahir and possibly also called Tayyab.[citation needed] Ibrâhîm was the only child borne to him by Maria during his residence in Medina and the last to be born. Abdullâh was born after he declared himself a prophet but died during his residence in Mecca. All his other sons died before his claims of prophecy.

In the Islamic prayer, Muslims end with the second tashahhud asking God to bless Muhammad and his descendants just as Abraham and his descendants were blessed.

Children of Khadijah:

Sons:

Daughters:

Children of Maria:


[edit] Companions

Main articles: Sahaba and Salaf

The term Sahaba (companion) refers to anyone who meets three criteria: to be a contemporary of Muhammad, to have heard Muhammad speak on at least one occasion, and to be a convert to Islam. Companions are considered the ultimate sources for the oral traditions, or hadith, on which much of Muslim law and practice are based. The following are a few examples in alphabetic order:

[edit] Muhammad the reformer

{{POV-section}}

See also: Muhammad the Reformer
Main article: Reforms under Islam (610-661)

Bernard Lewis 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.[74]

Historians generally agree that Islamic social reforms in areas such as social security, family structure, and the rights of women improved on what was present in existing Arab society.[74][75][76][77][78]

Economic reforms addressed the plight of the poor, which was becoming an issue in pre-Islamic Mecca.[79] The Qur'an requires payment of an alms tax (zakat) for the benefit of the poor,[80] and as Muhammad's position grew in power he demanded that those tribes who wanted to ally with him implement the zakat in particular.[81]

[edit] Miracles in the Muslim biographies

Main article: Islamic view of miracles

The pre-modern Muslim biographies of Muhammad envisions Muhammad as a cosmic figure, invested with superhuman qualities. Modern Muslim biographies of Muhammad however portray him as a progressive social reformer, a political leader and a model of human virtue. The view of these modern biographies is that Muhammad's real miracle, as Daniel Brown states modern historians would probably agree, 'was not a moon split or a sighing palm tree, but the transformation of the Arabs from marauding bands of nomads into world conquerors.'[82]

Carl Ernst believes that this main shift in the treatment of Muhammad has been a response to the stridently negative depictions of Muhammad created by European authors.[83] Daniel Brown adds two more reasons: First, Muslims in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were faced with social and political turmoil. The desire for the restoration of the Muslim community encouraged them to view Muhammad as a model for social and political reform. And lastly, 'the ongoing challenge of reforming or reviving Islamic law perpetuated concern for the life of Muhammad as a normative model for human behavior.'[82] Ernst states that this main shift reflects the growth of bourgeois scientific rationalism in Muslim countries.[14]

 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
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[edit] Traditional views of Muhammad

[edit] Seal of the Prophets

Muslims believe Muhammad to be the last in a line of prophets of God (Arabic Allah) and regard his mission as one of restoring the original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham and other prophets of Islam that had become corrupted by man over time.[8][9][10] The Qur'an specifically refers to Muhammad as the "Seal of the Prophets", which is taken by most Muslims to believe him to be the last and greatest of the prophets.[84][14] Scholars such as Welch however hold that this Muslim belief is most likely a later interpretation of the Seal of the Prophets.[9] Carl Ernst considers this phrase to mean that Muhammad's "imprint on history is as final as a wax seal on a letter".[14] Wilferd Madelung states that the meaning of this term is not certain.[85]

[edit] More traditions

Image made in 1315 of Pre-Prophethood Muhammad re-dedicating the Black Stone at the Kaaba. From Tabriz, Persia and can be found in Rashid al-Dins Jami' al-Tawarikh ("The Universal History" or "Compendium of Chronicles"), held in the University of Edinburgh.
Image made in 1315 of Pre-Prophethood Muhammad re-dedicating the Black Stone at the Kaaba. From Tabriz, Persia and can be found in Rashid al-Dins Jami' al-Tawarikh ("The Universal History" or "Compendium of Chronicles"), held in the University of Edinburgh.
  • Muslims tradition narrates miracles during his time growing up in the desert as an infant during the period when Muhammad was placed in the care of a Bedouin wet nurse - Halima Sadia.
  • After he returned to Mecca, he is said to have been beloved by all around him because he was such a polite and honest child.
  • As a youth, he was called upon to solve a vexing political problem for his Meccan neighbors. They were rebuilding the Kaaba and feuding over which clan should have the honor of raising the Black Stone into place. Muhammad suggested that the heads of each clan raise the Black Stone on a cloth, so that all had the honor of lifting it. Muhammad then put the stone into its place.
  • As a young man and a merchant, Muslim tradition asserts that Muhammad was known to be trustworthy and honest. The other Meccans called him "Al-Amin", the trustworthy one or the honest one.[86] After he proclaimed his prophethood, however, his neighbors turned against him.

[edit] Depictions of Muhammad

Main article: Depictions of Muhammad

Muslims differ as to whether or not visual depictions of Muhammad are permissible. The position of the four main Sunni Muslim Maddhabs is that, to prevent idolatry and shirk, visual depictions of Muhammad are forbidden; some non-maddhab groups, such as the Salafi movement, take a similar line.[87]

The Shia and others have historically taken a much less restrictive view of such depictions, allowing them if they are meant to praise Muhammad, while a school of Sufi'ism uses calligraphy of the name of Muhammad, Ali, Hussein and other important people in Muslim History to create images of the people.[88]

[edit] Muslim veneration of Muhammad

See also: Muslim veneration for Muhammad, Praise of Muhammad in poetry, Depiction of Muhammad, Islamic music, and Qawwali

It is traditional for Muslims to illustrate and express love and veneration for Muhammad. This is observed in a number of different ways. When Muslims say or write Muhammad's name, they usually follow it with Peace be upon him or its Arabic equivalent, sallalahu alayhi wasallam, and for Shias this is extended to Peace be upon him and his descendants. In English this is often abbreviated to "(pbuh)", "(saw)" and "pbuh&hd" for Shias, or even just simply as "p". The Quran gave him the title Apostle of God (Arabic: Rasul-Allah or Rasulallah), which has also been used by Muslims, as well as the title "Prophet". Concerts of Muslim, and especially Sufi, devotional music include songs praising Muhammad. There are religious songs Nasheeds which regularly praise Muhammad.

Conversely, criticism of Muhammad is often equated with blasphemy, which is punishable by death in Pakistan.[89]

[edit] Other religious traditions in regard to Muhammad

  • The Druze, who accept most but not all Qur'anic revelations, also consider him a prophet.
  • Bahá'ís venerate Muhammad as one of a number of prophets or "Manifestations of God", but consider his teachings to have been superseded by those of Bahá'u'lláh.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Turkish: Muhammed; click here (help·info) for the Arabic pronunciation.
  2. ^ Welch, noting the frequency of Muhammad being called as "Al-Amin"(Arabic: الامين ), a common Arab name, suggests the possibility of "Al-Amin" being Muhammad's given name as it is a masculine form from the same root as his mother's name, A'mina. cf. "Muhammad", Encyclopedia of Islam Online; The sources frequently say that he, in his youth, was called with the nickname "Al-Amin" meaning "Honest, Truthful" cf. Ernst (2004), p.85.
  3. ^ According to traditional Muslim biographers, Muhammad was born c. 570 in Mecca and died June 8, 632 in Medina, both in the Hejaz region of present day Saudi Arabia.
  4. ^ a b c d Encyclopedia of World History (1998), p.452
  5. ^ The term Qur'an was first used in the Qur'an itself. There are two different theories about this term and its formation that are discussed in Quran#Etymology cf. "Qur'an", Encyclopedia of Islam Online.
  6. ^ The Cambridge History of Islam (1977) writes that "It is appropriate to use the word 'God' rather than the transliteration 'Allah'. For one thing it cannot be denied that Islam is an offshoot of the Judaeo-Christians tradition, and for another the Christian Arabs of today have no other word for 'God' than 'Allah'" beacuse in Quran God Himself reffered himself as Allah cf p.32.
  7. ^ Accad (2003)
  8. ^ a b Esposito (1998), p.12; (1999) p.25; (2002) pp.4-5
  9. ^ a b c d e "Muhammad", Encyclopedia of Islam Online
  10. ^ a b Peters (2003), p.9
  11. ^ "Qur'an and Polemics", Encyclopedia of the Qur'an (2005)
  12. ^ "If…they [Christians] mean that the Qur’an confirms the textual veracity of the scriptural books which they now possess—that is, the Torah and the Gospels—this is something which some Muslims will grant them and which many Muslims will dispute. However, most Muslims will grant them most of that." (quote from Ibn Taymiyya), see Accad (2003)
  13. ^ Dan McCormack. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper. Retrieved on August 14, 2006.
  14. ^ a b c d Ernst (2004), p.80
  15. ^ F. E. Peters, The Quest for Historical Muhammad, International Journal of Middle East Studies (1991) p.291-315
  16. ^ Reeves (2003), p.6-7
  17. ^ The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p.32
  18. ^ Lewis (2002), p. 33-34
  19. ^ Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum: The Lineage and Family of Muhammad by Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
  20. ^ Reeves (2003), p.11
  21. ^ a b Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (2005), v.3, p.1025
  22. ^ Brown (2003), pp.72-73
  23. ^ [Qur'an 96:1]-[Qur'an 96:5]
  24. ^ Brown (2003), pp.73-74
  25. ^ [Qur'an 93:1]-[Qur'an 93:11]
  26. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Cambridge31
  27. ^ The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p.36
  28. ^ The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p.36
  29. ^ Hourani (2003), p.17
  30. ^ Some early Islamic histories recount that as Muhammad was reciting Sūra Al-Najm (Q.53), as revealed to him by the angel Gabriel, Satan tempted him to utter the following lines after verses 19 and 20 :"Have you thought of Allāt and al-'Uzzā and Manāt the third, the other; These are the exalted Gharaniq, whose intercession is hoped for. (Allāt, al-'Uzzā and Manāt were three goddesses worshiped by the Meccans). These histories then say that these 'Satanic Verses' were shortly afterward repudiated by Muhammad at the behest of the angel Gabriel. cf Ibn Ishaq, A. Guillaume p.166. Academic scholars such as William Montgomery Watt and Guillaume argued for its authenticity while scholars such as Caetani and Burton rejected the tradition.
  31. ^ Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (2003), p.482
  32. ^ a b c d e The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p. 39
  33. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Esp
  34. ^ They argue that these narratives contradict the Qur'anic version of the account, asserting that the caravan was one of the two targets which "weak believers" wanted to attack ([Qur'an 8:5]), but that the Muslims actually fought against Meccan army, as looting a defenceless caravan wouldn't require preparations which the Qur'an talks about ([Qur'an 8:43]). See, e.g., Tariq Hashmi. Cause of Battle of Badr, Al-Mawrid; Amin Ahsan Islahi. Tadabbur-i-Qur'an, Ist Ed., (Lahore: Faraan Foundation 2003), pp. 427-40; Shibli Nomani. Siratu al-Nabi, Ist Ed. vol. 2, (Lahore: Qazi Publishers 1981) pp. 49-52; Khalid Masud, Hayaat-e Rasul-e Ummi, 1st ed. (Lahore: Dar al-Tazkeer 2003), pp.319-25
  35. ^ Glubb (2002), pp.179-186.
  36. ^ Watt (1974) p.140
  37. ^ Watt (1974) p.141
  38. ^ Endress (2003), p.29
  39. ^ a b c The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), pp.43-44
  40. ^ Cohen (1995), p.23
  41. ^ Esposito (1998), pp.10-11
  42. ^ a b "Banu Qurayza", Encyclopedia of Islam Online
  43. ^ Watt (1961), pp.173-174
  44. ^ Arafat (1976)
  45. ^ Khan (1998), p.242
  46. ^ Lings (1987), p.249
  47. ^ a b Khan (1998), p.243
  48. ^ a b c Lings (1987), p.253
  49. ^ Haykal (1995), p.353
  50. ^ a b Khan (1998), p.245
  51. ^ Khan (1998), p.246
  52. ^ Lings (1987), p.255
  53. ^ Khan (1998), p.247
  54. ^ Lings (1987), p.259
  55. ^ Khan (1998), p.248
  56. ^ Haykal (1995), p.356
  57. ^ a b Lings (1987), p. 260
  58. ^ a b Khan (1998), pp.250-251
  59. ^ Haykal (1995), p. 360
  60. ^ a b c d Khan (1998), p.274
  61. ^ Lings (1987), p.291
  62. ^ a b Lings (1987), p.291
  63. ^ a b Khan (1998), pp.274-275
  64. ^ Lings (1987), p.292
  65. ^ Esposito (1998), p.18
  66. ^ Bullough (1998), p.119
  67. ^ a b Reeves (2003), p.46
  68. ^ Bullough (1998), p.119
  69. ^ "Aisha", Encyclopedia of Islam Online: Watt writes: "Muhammad had a political aim in nearly all his marriages"; for example his marriage to Aisha, "must have seen in this one a means of strengthening the ties between himself and Abu Bakr, his chief follower."
  70. ^ Esposito (1998), p.16
  71. ^ Sahih Muslim, Book 8, Number 3310
  72. ^ Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64
  73. ^ Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 88
  74. ^ a b Lewis, Bernard. "Islamic Revolution", The New York Review of Books, January 21, 1998. 
  75. ^ Watt (1974), p.234
  76. ^ Robinson (2004) p.21
  77. ^ Esposito (1998), p. 98
  78. ^ "Ak̲h̲lāḳ", Encyclopaedia of Islam Online
  79. ^ The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p.34
  80. ^ Esposito (1998), p.30
  81. ^ The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p.52
  82. ^ a b Brown (1999), p.65
  83. ^ Ernst (2004), p.84
  84. ^ For further information on the meaning of the term, See Friedmann, 'Finality of Prophethood'; G.G. Stroumsa, 'Seal of the prophets: The Nature of a Manichaen Metaphor', JSAI, 7 (1986), 61-74; C.Colpe, 'Das Siegel der Propheten', Orientalia Suecana, 33-5 (1984-6), 71-83, revised version in C.Colpe, Das Siegel der Propheten, (Berlin, 1990), 227-43
  85. ^ Madelung (2004), p.17
  86. ^ USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts: About the Prophet Muhammad
  87. ^ BBC News: Q&A: Depicting the Prophet Muhammad
  88. ^ Associated Press: Islam Forbids Visual Depiction of Muhammad
  89. ^ See, e.g., Pakistani Penal Code, Act III of 1986, s 295-C and 298-C.

[edit] References

[edit] Encyclopedias

  • Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History. (2005). Ed. William H. McNeill, Jerry H. Bentley, David Christian. Berkshire Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0974309101. 
  • Encyclopedia of Islam & the Muslim World. (2003). Ed. Richard C. Martin, Said Amir Arjomand, Marcia Hermansen, Abdulkader Tayob, Rochelle Davis, John Obert Voll. MacMillan Reference Books. ISBN 978-0028656038. 
  • Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Ed. P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912. 
  • Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd edition). (2005). Ed. Lindsay Jones. MacMillan Reference Books. ISBN 978-0028657332. 
  • Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. (2005). Ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-9004123564. 
  • Encyclopedia of World History. (199). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198602235. 
  • The New Encyclopedia Britannica (Rev Ed edition). (2005). Encyclopedia Britannica, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1593392369. 

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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[[Category:Muhammad]] [[Category:Islam]] [[Category:History of Saudi Arabia]] [[Category:570 births]] [[Category:632 deaths]]