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For other persons named Muhammad, see Muhammad (name). For other uses, see Muhammad (disambiguation).
The name "Muhammad" in traditional Thuluth calligraphy by the hand of Hattat Aziz Efendi.Muhittin Serin: Hattat Aziz Efendi, Istanbul (1988, 1999), ISBN 9-7576-6303-4, OCLC 51718704
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Life Career Interactions with Slaves · Jews · Christians Perspectives |
Abu l-Qasim Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (Arabic: محمدUnicode has a special "Muhammad" ligature at U+FDF4 ﷴ Muḥammad; (Mohammed, Muhammed, Mahomet)click here for the Arabic pronunciation. Variants of Muhammad\'s name in French: "Mahon, Mahomés, Mahun, Mahum, Mahumet"; in German: "Machmet"; and in Old Icelandic: "Maúmet" cf Muhammad, Encyclopedia of Islam Welch, noting the frequency of Muhammad being called as "Al-Amin"(Arabic: الأمين ), 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 by the nickname "Al-Amin" meaning "Honest, Truthful" cf. Ernst (2004), p. 85. (c. 570 Mecca – June 8, 632 Medina),Elizabeth Goldman (1995). Believers: spiritual leaders of the world. Oxford University Press, 63. was the founder of the world religion of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as the last messenger and prophet of God (Arabic: الله).The Cambridge History of Islam (1977) writes that "It is appropriate to use the word \'God\' rather than the transliteration \'Allah\'; cf. p. 32. Muslims consider him the restorer of the original, uncorrupted monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Abraham and others. They see him as the last and the greatest in a series of prophets of Islam.Esposito (1998), p. 12.Esposito (2002b), pp. 4–5.F. E. Peters (2003), p. 9.
Muhammad is also regarded as a prophet by the Druze and as a manifestation of God by the Bahá\'í Faith. He was also active as a diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, general and reformer.Alphonse de Lamartine (1854), Historie de la Turquie, Paris, p. 280:
"Philosophe, orateur, apôtre, législateur, guerrier, conquérant d\'idées, restaurateur de dogmes, d\'un culte sans images, fondateur de vingt empires terrestres et d\'un empire spirituel, voilà Mahomet!"
The principal and most credible source of information for the life of Muhammad is the Qur\'an.Armstrong, Karen. Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, p. 48. Harper San Francisco, 1992. ISBN 0062508865 Next in importance are the historical works by writers of third and fourth century of the Muslim era. Sources on Muhammad’s life concur that he was born ca. 570 CE in the city of Mecca in Arabia.Encyclopedia of World History (1998), p. 452 He was orphaned at a young age and was brought up by his uncle, later worked mostly as a merchant, and was married by age 26. At some point, discontented with life in Mecca, he retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for meditation and reflection. According to Islamic tradition, it was here at age 40, in the month of Ramadan, where he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event, Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit. islām)The word "islām" derives from the triconsonantal Arabic root sīn-lām-mīm, which carries the basic meaning of safety and peace. The verbal noun "islām" is formed from the verb aslama, a derivation of this root which means to accept, surrender, or submit; thus, \'Islam\' effectively means submission to and acceptance of God. See: Islam#Etymology and meaning is the only way (dīn)\'Islam\' is always referred to in the Qur\'an as a \'dīn\', a word that means \'way\' or \'path\' in Arabic, but is usually translated in English as \'religion\' for the sake of convenience acceptable to God, and that he was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and other prophets.Esposito (1998), p. 12; (1999) p. 25; (2002) pp. 4–5"Muhammad", Encyclopedia of Islam Online
Muhammad gained few followers early on, and was largely met with hostility from the tribes of Mecca; he was treated harshly and so were his followers. To escape persecution, Muhammad and his followers migrated to MedinaAfter Muhammad\'s migration to Yathrib, the city came to be known as Madina al-Nabi, lit. \'City of the Prophet\'; hence, the name Medina in the year 622. This historic event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. In Medina, Muhammad managed to unite the conflicting tribes, and after eight years of fighting with the Meccan tribes, his followers, who by then had grown to ten thousand, conquered Mecca. In 632, a few months after returning to Medina from his \'Farewell pilgrimage\', Muhammad fell ill and died. By the time of his death, most of Arabia had converted to Islam.
The revelations (or Ayats, lit. Signs of God), which Muhammad reported receiving until his death, form the verses of the Qur\'an,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. regarded by Muslims as the “word of God”, around which the religion is based. Besides the Qur\'an, Muhammad’s life (sira) and traditions (sunnah) are also upheld by Muslims.
Figurative depictions of Muhammad were a significant part of late medieval Islamic art; however, such depictions were generally limited to secular contexts and to the elite classes who could afford fine art.Islamic Figurative Art and Depictions of Muhammad. Retrieved on 2008-01-02. The taboo on depictions of Muhammad was less stringent during the Ottoman Empire, although his face was often left blank.Browne, Anthony; Gledhill, Ruth (2006-02-04). Portraying prophet from Persian art to South Park. The Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
The name Muhammad literally means "Praiseworthy".Dan McCormack. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper. Retrieved on August 14, 2006. There are reports of other Arabs before Muhammad who were named "Muhammad" (e.g. Ibn Sa\'d). Welch (cf. "Muhammad", "Encyclopedia of Islam") accepts usage of the name "Muhammad" among Arabs but also points out that these reports have a tendentious nature. For example Ibn Sa\'d\'s report has the heading, "Account of those who were named Muhammad in the days of the jahilliya Pre-Islamic Arabia in the hope of being called to prophethood which had been predicted." Within Islam, Muhammad is known as Nabi (Prophet) and Rasul (Messenger). Although the Qur\'an sometimes declines to make a distinction among prophets, in Surah 33:40 it singles out Muhammad as the "Seal of the Prophets".Ernst (2004), p. 80 The Qur\'an also refers to Muhammad as "Ahmad" (Surah 61:6) (Arabic :أحمد), Arabic for "more praiseworthy".
Nakkaş Osman [c. 1595]. Prophet Muhammad at the Ka\'ba, The Life of the Prophet Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul (Inv. 1222/123b). Muhammad\'s face is veiled, a practice followed in Islamic art since the 16th century.Ali, Wijdan. "From the Literal to the Spiritual: The Development of Prophet Muhammad\'s Portrayal from 13th century Ilkhanid Miniatures to 17th century Ottoman Art". In Proceedings of the 11th International Congress of Turkish Art, eds. M. Kiel, N. Landman, and H. Theunissen. No. 7, 1–24. Utrecht, The Netherlands, August 23–28, 1999, p. 7
From a scholarly point of view, the most credible source providing information on events in Muhammad\'s life is the Qur\'an. The Qur\'an has some, though very few, casual allusions to Muhammad\'s life. Islam, S. A. Nigosian, p. 6 , Indiana University Press The Qur\'an, however, responds "constantly and often candidly to Muhammad\'s changing historical circumstances and contains a wealth of hidden data that are relevant to the task of the quest for the historical Muhammad." All or most of the Qur\'an was apparently written down by Muhammad\'s followers 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 was completed early after the death of Muhammad.The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p. 32 The Qur\'an in its actual form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad because the search for variants in Western academia has not yielded any differences of great significance.F. E. Peters, The Quest for Historical Muhammad, International Journal of Middle East Studies (1991) pp. 291–315.
Next in importance are the historical works by writers of third and fourth century of the Muslim era. William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, Oxford University Press, p.xi These include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him (the sira and hadith literature), which provide further information on Muhammad\'s life.Reeves (2003), pp. 6–7 The earliest surviving written sira (biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him) is Ibn Ishaq\'s Sirah Rasul Allah (Life of God\'s Messenger). Although the original work is lost, portions of it survive in the recensions of Ibn Hisham (Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Life of the prophet) and Al-Tabari.Donner (1998), p. 132 According to Ibn Hisham, Ibn Ishaq wrote his biography some 120 to 130 years after Muhammad\'s death. Another early source is the history of Muhammad\'s campaigns by al-Waqidi (death 207 of Muslim era), Maghazi al-Waqidi, and the work of his secretary Ibn Sa\'d al-Baghdadi (death 230 of Muslim era) Tabaqat Ibn Sa\'d. The biographical dictionaries of Ali ibn al-Athir and Ibn Hajar provide much detail about the contemporaries of Muhammad but add little to our information about Muhammad himself. William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, Oxford University Press, p.xii Lastly, the hadith collections, accounts of the verbal and physical traditions of Muhammad, date from several generations after the death of Muhammad. Western academics view the hadith collections with caution as accurate historical sources. Lewis (1993), pp. 33–34
Many, but not all, scholars accept the accuracy of these biographies, though their accuracy is unascertainable.Islam, S. A. Nigosian, p. 6 , Indiana University Press Studies by J. Schacht and Goldziher has led scholars to distinguish between the traditions touching legal matters and the purely historical ones. According to William Montgomery Watt, in the legal sphere it would seem that sheer invention could have very well happened. In the historical sphere however, aside from exceptional cases, the material may have been subject to "tendential shaping" rather than being made out of whole cloth.William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, Oxford University Press, p.xv
There are a few non-Muslim sources which, according to S. A. Nigosian, confirm the existence of Muhammad. The earliest of these sources date to shortly after 634, and the most interesting of them date to some decades later. These sources are valuable for corroboration of the Qur\'anic and Muslim tradition statements.
This section deals with the economical and social trends undergoing in Arabian Peninsula at the eve of Islam.
The Arabian Peninsula was dominated by volcanic steppes and desert wastes. It was therefore not suitable for agriculture except where the feasibility of irrigation existed (such as in oasis and at certain spots high in the mountains). Loyal Rue, Religion Is Not about God: How Spiritual Traditions Nurture Our Biological,2005, p.224 William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, Oxford University Press, p.1-2 Thus the Arabian landscape was dotted with towns and cities, two prominent of which were Mecca and Medina. John Esposito, Islam, Expanded edition, Oxford University Press, p.4-5 People of Arabia were either nomadic or sedentary. The latter were the descendants of nomads and had preserved many of the desert-born habits of their ancestors. The nomadic life was based on stock-breeding traveling from one place to another seeking water and pasture for their flocks. Their survival was also to some extent dependent on raiding on caravans or on oases; thus no crime in the eyes of Bedouin. Agriculture and trade were two important occupations of the sedentary Arabs. Medina (then known as Yathrib) was a large flourishing agricultural settlement. Mecca, another important city in Arabia, on the other hand was an important financial center in which operations of considerable complexity were carried out and had created a financial net involving Meccans and many of the surrounding tribes. The Meccan leaders were "skillful in manipulation of credits, shrewed in their experience and interested in lucrative investments from Aden to Gaza or Damascus". Islam was thus born in an atmosphere of high finance.
Communal life is essential for survival in desert conditions. Men need help of each other against the forces of nature and against other human rivals. The tribal grouping was thus enhanced by the need to act as a unit. William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, 16 This unity was based on the bond of kinship by blood. William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, 17-18 The accumulation of capital and the commercial life of Mecca had however fostered individualism and had created a growing awareness of the existence of individual in separateness from the tribe. This tendency had in turn produced a greater interest in pursuing the problem of cessation of man\'s individual existence at death: Was death the end? William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, 19 According to William Montgomery Watt,
In the rise of Mecca to wealth and power we have a movement from nomadic economy to a mercantile and capitalist economy. By the time of Muhammad, however, there had been no readjustment of the social, moral, intellectual, and religious attitudes of the community. These were still the attitudes appropriate to a nomadic community, for the most part. The tension felt by Muhammad and some of his contemporaries was doubtless due ultimately to this contrast between men\'s conscious attitude and the economic basis of their life. William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca, p.19-20
Muslim scholar Muhammad Mohar Ali however argues, among other things, that the above view is a simplistic one since commercialism and nomadism existed side by side each other long before Muhammad, so did exist certain forms of individualism; and that the early Muslims were not inspired by a commercial and self-interest form of individualism. Muhammad Mohar Ali, The Biography of the Prophet and the Orientalists, pp.112-113
| Timeline of Muhammad | |
|---|---|
| Important dates and locations in the life of Muhammad | |
| c. 569 | Death of his father, ʿAbd Allah |
| c. 570 | Possible date of birth, April 20: 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 |
| c. 610 | Appears as Prophet of Islam |
| c. 613 | Begins spreading message of Islam publicly |
| c. 614 | Begins to gather following in Mecca |
| c. 615 | Emigration of Muslims to Ethiopia |
| 616 | Banu Hashim clan boycott begins |
| c. 618 | Medinan Civil War |
| 619 | Banu Hashim clan boycott ends |
| 619 | The year of sorrows: Khadijah and Abu Talib die |
| c. 620 | Isra and Mi\'raj |
| 622 | Emigrates to Medina (Hijra) |
| 624 | Battle of Badr: Muslims defeat Meccans |
| 624 | Expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa |
| 625 | Battle of Uhud: Meccans defeat Muslims |
| 625 | Expulsion of Banu Nadir |
| 627 | Battle of the Trench |
| 627 | Destruction of Banu Qurayza |
| 628 | Treaty of Hudaybiyyah |
| c. 628 | Gains access to Meccan 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 Ta\'if |
| 630 | 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 |
Muhammad was born into the Quraysh tribe. He was the son of Abd Allah, son of Abd al-Muttalib (Shaiba) son of Hashim (Amr) son of Abd Manaf (al-Mughira) son of Qusai (Zaid) son of Kilab son of Murra son of Ka\'b son of Lu\'ay son of Ghalib ibn Fahr (Quraysh) son of Malik son of an-Nadr (Qais) son of Kinana son of Khuzaimah son of Mudrikah (Amir) son of Ilyas son of Mudhar son of Nizar son of Ma\'ad son of Adnan, whom the northern Arabs believe to be their common ancestor. Adnan in turn is said to have been a descendant of Ishmael, son of Abraham.Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum: The Lineage and Family of Muhammad by Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
Muhammad was born in the month of Rabi\' al-awwal in 570. He belonged to the Banu Hashim, one of the prominent families of Mecca, although it seems not to have been prosperous during Muhammad\'s early lifetime.See also cited in EoI; Muhammad Tradition places the year of Muhammad\'s birth as corresponding with the Year of the Elephant, which is named after the failed destruction of Mecca that year by the Aksumite king Abraha who had in his army a number of elephants. Recent scholarship has suggested alternative dates for this event, such as 568 or 569.William Montgomery Watt (1974), p. 7.
Muhammad\'s father, Abdullah, died almost six months before he was born. Josef W. Meri (2005), p. 525 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. William Montgomery Watt, "Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb", Encyclopaedia of Islam At the age of six, Muhammad lost his mother Amina to illness and he became fully orphaned. William Montgomery Watt, Amina, Encyclopaedia of Islam He was subsequently brought up for two years under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, of the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. When he was eight years of age, his grandfather also died. Muhammad now came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of Banu Hashim. According to Watt, because of the general disregard of the guardians in taking care of the 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 seems to have been declining at that time." William Montgomery Watt (1974), p. 8.
Mecca was a thriving commercial center. There was an important shrine in Mecca (now called the Kaaba) that housed statues of many Arabian gods. Chris Charles Park (1994), p. 266. Merchants from various tribes would visit Mecca during the pilgrimage season. While still in his teens, Muhammad began accompanying his uncle on trading journeys to Syria gaining some experience in commercial career; the only career open to Muhammad as an orphan. According to the tradition, when Muhammad was either nine or twelve whilst accompanying the Meccans\' caravan to Syria met a Christian Monk or hermit named Bahira who is said to have foreseen the career of Muhammed as a prophet of God.Armand Abel, Bahira, Encyclopaedia of Islam
Little is known of Muhammad during his youth, and from the fragmentary information that is available, it is hard to separate history from legend. William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman, p. 8. It is known that he became a merchant and "was involved in trade between the Indian ocean and the Mediterranean Sea."Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (2005), v.3, p. 1025 He was given the nickname "Al-Amin" (Arabic: الامين), meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator.Esposito (1998), p. 6 His reputation attracted a proposal from Khadijah, a forty-year-old widow in 595. Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one.
According to the Muslim tradition, the young Muhammad played a role in the restoration of the Kaaba, after parts of it had been destroyed by one of Mecca\'s frequent flash floods.FE Peters (2003), p. 54. When the reconstruction was almost done, disagreements arose as to who would have the honor of lifting the Black Stone into place and different clans were about to take up arms against each other. One of the elders suggested they take the advice of the first one who entered the gates of the Haram. This happened to be Muhammad. He spread out his cloak, put the stone in the middle and had members of the four major clans raise it to its destined position. The cloak became an important symbol for later poets and writers.Jonathan M. Bloom, Sheila S. Blair (2002), p. 28–29
The mountain of Hira where, according to Muslim tradition, Muhammad received his first revelation.
At some point Muhammad adopted the practice of meditating alone for several weeks every year in a cave on Mount Hira near Mecca. Emory C. Bogle, Islam: Origin and Belief, Texas University Press, p.6 John Henry Haaren, Addison B. Poland, Famous Men of the Middle Ages, Kessinger, 2005, p.83 Islamic tradition holds that in one of his visits to the Mount Hira, the angel Gabriel began communicating with him here in the year 610 and commanded Muhammad to recite the following verses:Brown (2003), pp. 72–73
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 96:1-5)
Upon receiving his first revelations he was deeply distressed. When he returned home he related the event to his wife Khadijah, and told her that he contemplated throwing himself off the top of a mountain.Rodinson, p. 71. He was consoled and reassured by Khadijah and her Christian cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal. This was followed by a pause of three years during which Muhammad gave himself up further to prayers and spiritual practices. 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 93:1-11).Brown (2003), pp. 73–74 Uri Rubin, Muhammad, Encyclopedia of the Quran
According to Welch, these revelations were accompanied by mysterious seizures as the reports are unlikely to have been forged by later Muslims. Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages.The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p. 31.
According to the Qur\'an, one of the main roles of Muhammad is to warn the unbelievers of their eschatological punishment (Qur\'an 38:70, Qur\'an 6:19). 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 41:13-16). Uri Rubin, Muhammad, Encyclopedia of the 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.Daniel C. Peterson, Good News, Encyclopedia of the Qur\'an 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.
According to the Muslim tradition, Muhammad\'s wife Khadija was the first to believe he was a prophet. William Montgomery Watt (1953), p. 86 She was soon followed by Muhammad\'s ten-year-old cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, close friend Abu Bakr, and adopted son Zaid. The identity of the first male Muslim is a controversial subject.
Around 613, Muhammad began his public preaching (Qur\'an 26:214).Ramadan (2007), p. 37-9 Most of Meccans ignored him 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..The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p. 36.
According to Ibn Sa\'d al-Baghdadi, in this period, the Quraysh "did not criticize what he [Muhammad] said… When he passed by them as they sat in groups, they would point out to him and say "There is the youth of the clan of Abd al-Muttalib who speaks (things) from heaven." Francis Edwards Peters,Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, SUNY Press, p.168 The Qur\'anic exegesis however maintained that the persecution of Muslims began as soon as Muhammad began preaching in public.Uri Rubin, Quraysh, Encyclopaedia of the Qur\'an According to Welch, the Qur\'anic verses at this time were not "based on a dogmatic conception of monotheism but on a strong general moral and religious appeal". Its key themes include the moral 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; use of the nature and wonders of everyday life, particularly the phenomenon of man, as signs of God to show the existence of a greater power who will take into account the greed of people and their suppression of the poor. 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 new-born girls.
According to Ibn Sad, the opposition in Mecca started when Muhammad delivered verses that "spoke shamefully of the idols they [the Meccans] worshiped other than …[God] and mentioned the perdition of their fathers who died in disbelief." Francis Edwards Peters,Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, SUNY Press, p.169 According to Watt, 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 (but failed) 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. Some western scholars suggest that the opposition became an open breach after the incident of the "Satanic Verses" (see below).The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p. 37
Tradition records at great length the persecution and ill-treatment of Muhammad and his followers. Sumayya bint Khubbat, a slave of Abū 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. Bilal, another Muslim slave, was tortured by Umayya ibn khalaf who placed a heavy rock on his chest to force his conversion. Encyclopedia of the Qur\'an, Slaves and Slavery Bilal b. Rabah, Encyclopedia of Islam Apart from insults, Muhammad was protected from physical harm due to belonging to the Banu Hashim.Watt (1964) p. 76.Peters (1999) p. 172.
Location of Abyssinia (Aksumite Empire).
In 615, some of Muhammad\'s followers emigrated to the Ethiopian Aksumite Empire and founded a small colony there under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian emperor Aṣḥama ibn Abjar. While the traditions view the persecutions of Meccans to have played the major role in the emigration, William Montgomery Watt states "there is reason to believe that some sort of division within the embryonic Muslim community played a role and that some of the emigrants may have gone to Abyssinia to engage in trade, possibly in competition with prominent merchant families in Mecca."
The earliest surviving traditions describe Muhammad\'s involvement at this time in an episode that has come to be known as the "Story of the Cranes" -- a story that some scholars have dubbed the "Satanic Verses." 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 these accounts, Muhammad later retracted the verses at the behest of Gabriel.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). cf Ibn Ishaq, A. Guillaume p. 166. Islamic scholars vigorously objected to the historicity of the incident as early as the tenth century CE.EoQ, Satanic Verses, Shahab Ahmed In any event, the relations between the Muslims and their pagan fellow-tribesmen rapidly deteriorated.
According to tradition, the leaders of Makhzum and Abd Shams, two important clans of Quraysh, declared a public boycott against the clan of Banu Hashim, their commercial rival, in order to put pressure on the clan to withdraw its protection from Muhammad. The boycott lasted for three years but eventually collapsed mainly because it was not achieving its purpose. Francis E. Peters, The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, p. 96 Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi\'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shiʻism, Yale University Press, p. 4
Road to Ta\'if in the foreground, mountains of Ta\'if in the background (Saudi Arabia).
In 619, the "year of sorrows," both Muhammad\'s wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib died. With the death of Abu Talib, the leadership of the clan of Banu Hashim was passed to Abu Lahab who was an inveterate enemy of Muhammad. Soon afterwards Abu Lahab withdrew the clan\'s protection from Muhammad. This placed Muhammad under the danger of death since the withdrawal of clan protection implied that the blood revenge for his killing would not be exacted. Muhammad then tried to find a protector for himself in another important city in Arabia, Ta\'if, 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 Nawfal) made it possible for him safely to re-enter his native city.
Many people were visiting Mecca on business or as pilgrims to the Kaaba. 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 Medina). The Arab population of Yathrib were somewhat familiar with monotheism because a Jewish community existed in that city.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque congregation building, the site from which Muhammad is believed by Muslims to have ascended to heaven.
Islamic tradition relates that some time in 620, Muhammad experienced the Isra and Mi\'raj, a miraculous journey said to have been accomplished in one night along with the 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 Al-Aqsa Mosque 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.Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (2003), p. 482 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 Kaʿba (heavenly prototype of the Kaʿba); but later tradition identified Muhammad\'s journey from Mecca to the abode of sanctuary (bayt al-maqdis) in Jerusalem. Sells, Michael. Ascension, Encyclopedia of the Quran.
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. Esposito (1998), p. 17. 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\'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.The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), p. 39 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 of his followers had left Mecca. Being alarmed at the departure of Muslims, according to the tradition, the Meccans plotted to assassinate Muhammad. With the help of Ali, however, Muhammad fooled the Meccans who were watching him, and secretly slipped away from the town.Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi\'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shiʻism, Yale University Press, p. 5 By 622, Muhammad had emigrated to Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis. Following the emigration, the Meccans seized the properties of the Muslim emigrants in Mecca. Fazlur Rahman, Islam, Chicago University Press, p. 21
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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"). The community defined in the Constitution of Medina, umma, had a religious outlook but was also shaped by the practical considerations and substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes. Muhammad also adopted some features of the Jewish worship and customs such as fasting on the Yom Kippur day. According to Alford Welch, the Jewish practice of having three daily prayer rituals appears to have been a factor in the introduction of the Islamic midday prayer (previously Muhammad was keeping the morning and evening prayers). Welch thinks that Muhammad\'s adoption of facing north towards Jerusalem when performing the daily prayers (qibla) however need not to necessarily be a borrowing from the Jews as the reports about the direction of prayer before migration to Medina are contradictory and further this direction of prayer was also practiced among other groups in Arabia. Welch holds that Muhammad hoped to win over the Jews by adopting these customs.
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 exception. This was according to Ibn Ishaq influenced by the conversion of Sa\'d ibn Muadh, one of the prominent leaders in Medina to Islam. The Jewish clans however kept aloof from Islam though in the course of time there were a few converts from them. William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Medina, pp. 175, 177. After his migration to Medina, Muhammad\'s attitude towards Christians and Jews changed. Norman Stillman states: Norman Stillman, Yahud, Encyclopedia of Islam
During this fateful time, fraught with tension after the Hidjra [migration to Medina], when Muhammad encountered contradiction, ridicule and rejection from the Jewish scholars in Medina, he came to adopt a radically more negative view of the people of the Book who had received earlier scriptures. This attitude was already evolving in the third Meccan period as the Prophet became more aware of the antipathy between Jews and Christians and the disagreements and strife amongst members of the same religion. The Qur\'an at this time states that it will "relate [correctly] to the Children of Israel most of that about which they differ" (XXVII, 76).
According to Welch, the Jewish opposition to Muhammad appears to have caused the change of the direction of prayer (qibla) from Jerusalem to the ancient sanctuary of the Ka\'baa in Mecca in the second year after the emigration. The qur\'an refers to this incident in verses Qur\'an 2:142-150.
Economically uprooted and with no available profession besides that of arms, the Muslim migrants turned to raiding Meccan caravans for their livelihood, thus initiating armed conflict between the Muslims and Mecca.Lewis, "The Arabs in History," 2003, p. 44.Francis E. Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, p. 211.Montgomery Watt, Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman, Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 105.Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 2. Muhammad delivered Qur\'anic verses permitting the Muslims to fight the Meccans (see Qur\'an 22:39–40). John Kelsay, Islam and War: A Study in Comparative Ethics, p. 21 These attacks provoked and pressured Mecca by interfering with trade, and allowed the Muslims to acquire wealth, power and prestige while working toward their ultimate goal of inducing Mecca\'s submission to the new faith.Watt, Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman, Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 105, 107Bernard Lewis (1993), p. 41. In March of 624, Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Muslims set an ambush for the Meccans at Badr.Rodinson, p. 164. Aware of the plan, the Meccan caravan eluded Muslims. Meanwhile a force from Mecca was sent to protect the caravan. The force did not return home upon hearing that the caravan was safe. The battle of Badr began in March of 624. The Cambridge History of Islam, p. 45 Though outnumbered more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom; only fourteen Muslims died. They had also succeeded in killing many of the Meccan leaders, including Abu Jahl.Glubb (2002), pp. 179–186. Muhammad himself did not fight, directing the battle from a nearby hut alongside Abu Bakr.Watt (1961), pp. 122–3. In the weeks following the battle, Meccans visited Medina in order to ransom captives from Badr. Many of these had belonged to wealthy families, and were likely ransomed for a considerable sum. Those captives who were not sufficiently influential or wealthy were usually freed without ransom. Muhammad\'s decision was that those who were wealthy but did not ransom themselves should be killed.Watt (1961), p. 123.Maxime Rodinson, Muhammad, pp. 168–9. Muhammad ordered the immediate execution of two men without entertaining offers for their release. One of the men, Uqba ibn Abu Mu\'ayt, had written verses about Muhammad, and the other had said that his own stories about Persians were as good as the tales of the Qur\'an. The raiders had won much booty, and the battle helped to stabilize the Medinan community.Lewis, "The Arabs in History," p. 44. 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 booty.Lewis, "The Arabs in History," p. 44.
With the early general conversion of Medinian pagans to Islam, the pagan opposition in Medina was never of prime importance in the affairs of Medina. Those remaining pagans in Medina were very bitter about the advance of Islam. In particular Asma bint Marwan and Abu \'Afak had composed verses taunting and insulting some of the Muslims. These two were assassinated and Muhammad did not disapprove of it. No one dared to take vengeance on them, and some of the members of the clan of Asma bint Marwan who had previously converted to Islam in secret, now professed Islam openly. This marked an end to the overt opposition to Muhammad among the pagans in Medina.Watt (1956), p. 179.
Muhammad expelled from Medina the Banu Qaynuqa, one of the three main Jewish tribes. Jewish opposition "may well have been for political as well as religious reasons".Endress (2003), p. 29 On religious grounds, the Jews were skeptical of the possibility of a non-Jewish prophet,The Cambridge History of Islam (1977), pp. 43–44 and also had concerns about possible incompatibilities between the Qur\'an and their own scriptures.Cohen (1995), p. 23 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 stated that it was "restoring the pure monotheism of Abraham which had been corrupted in various, clearly specified, ways by Jews and Christians". According to Francis Edwards Peters, "The Jews also began secretly to connive with Muhammad\'s enemies in Mecca to overthrow him."Francis Edward Peters (2003), p. 194.
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.
The attack at Badr committed Muhammad to total war 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.Watt (1961), p. 132. The Meccans sent out a small party for a raid on Medina to restore confidence and reconnoiter. The party retreated immediately after a surprise and speedy attack but with minor damages; there was no combat.Watt (1964), pp. 124–125 In the ensuing months, Muhammad led expeditions on tribes allied with Mecca and sent out a raid on a Meccan caravan.Watt (1961), p. 134 Abu Sufyan subsequently gathered an army of three thousand men and set out for an attack on Medina.Lewis (1960), p. 45. They were accompanied by some prominent women of Mecca, such as Hind bint Utbah, Abu Sufyan\'s wife, who had lost family members at Badr. These women provided encouragement in keeping with Bedouin custom, calling out the names of the dead at Badr.Rodinson, pp. 177, 180.
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 of the 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 Uhud on March 23."Uhud", Encyclopedia of Islam.Watt (1964) p. 137
Map of the battle, showing the Muslim and Meccan lines respectively.
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. However, the Meccans failed to achieve their aim of destroying the Muslims completely.Watt (1974) p. 137 The Meccans did not occupy the town and withdrew to Mecca because they 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 won over by diplomacy.Watt (1974) p. 141 Following the defeat, Muhammad\'s detractors in Medina said that if the victory at Badr was proof of the genuineness of his mission, then the defeat at Uhud was proof that his mission was not genuine.Rodinson, p. 183. Muhammad subsequently delivered Qur\'anic verses Qur\'an 3:133-135 and Qur\'an 3:160-162 indicating that the loss, however, was partly a punishment for disobedience and partly a test for steadfastness.Watt (1964) p. 144.
In the battle of Uhud, the Meccans had collected all the available men from Quraysh and the neighboring tribes friendly to them but had not succeeded in the destruction of the Muslim community. In order to raise a more powerful army, Abu Sufyan attracted the support of the great nomadic tribes to the north and east of Medina, using propaganda about Muhammad\'s weakness, promises of booty, memories of the prestige of Quraysh and straight bribes.Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 30.
Muhammad\'s policy in the next two years after the battle of Uhud was 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 it up. When Muhammad heard of men massing with hostile intentions against Medina, he reacted with severity. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 34 One example is the assassination of Ka\'b ibn al-Ashraf, a member of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir who had gone to Mecca and written poems that had helped rouse the Meccans\' grief, anger and desire for revenge after the battle of Badr (see the main article for other reasons for killing of Ka\'b given in the historiographical sources). Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 18 Around a year later, Muhammad expelled the Jewish Banu Nadir from Medina. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, pp. 220–221
Muhammad\'s attempts to prevent formation of confederation against him was not successful though he was able to increase his own forces and stop many tribes from joining the confederation. Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 35
Abu Sufyan, the military leader of Quraysh, with the help of Banu Nadir, the exiled Jewish tribe from Medina, had mustered a force of size 10000 men. Muhammad was able to prepare a force of about 3000 men. He had however adopted a new form of defense, unknown in Arabia at that time: Muslims had dug a trench wherever Medina lay open to cavalry attack. The idea is credited to a Persian convert to Islam, Salman. The siege of Medina began on 31 March 627 and lasted for two weeks.Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 36, 37 Abu Sufyan\'s troops were unprepared for the fortifications they were confronted with, and after an ineffectual siege, the coalition decided to go home.Rodinson, pp. 209–211. The Qur\'an discusses this battle in verses Qur\'an 33:9-33:27.
During the Battle of the Trench, the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza who were located at the south of Medina were charged with treachery. After the retreat of the coalition, Muslims besieged Banu Qurayza, the remaining major Jewish tribe in Medina. The Banu Qurayza surrendered and all the men, apart from a few who converted to Islam, were beheaded, while all the women and children were enslaved.Peterson, Muhammad: the prophet of God, p. 126Tariq Ramadan, In the Footsteps of the Prophet, Oxford University Press, p. 141 In dealing with Muhammad\'s treatment of the Jews of Medina, aside from political explanations, Arab historians and biographers have explained it as "the punishment of the Medina Jews, who were invited to convert and refused, perfectly exemplify the Quran\'s tales of what happened to those who rejected the prophets of old."Francis Edwards Peters (2003), p. 77 F.E. Peters, a western scholar of Islam, states that Muhammad\'s treatment of Jews of Medina was essentially political being prompted by what Muhammad read as treasonous and not some transgression of the law of God. Peters adds that Muhammad was possibly emboldened by his military successes and also wanted to push his advantage. Economical motivations according to Peters also existed since the poorness of the Meccan migrants was a source of concern for Muhammad.F.E.Peters (2003), pp. 76–8. Peters argues that Muhammad\'s treatment of the Jews of Medina was "quite extraordinary", "matched by nothing in the Qur\'an", and is "quite at odds with Muhammad\'s treatment of the Jews he encountered outside Medina." According to Welch, Muhammad\'s treatment of the three major Jewish tribes brought Muhammad closer to his goal of organizing a community strictly on a religious basis. He adds that some Jews from other families were, however, allowed to remain in Medina.
In the siege of Medina, the Meccans had 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.Watt, Muhammad at Medina, p. 39 Following the battle of trench, Muhammad made two expeditions to the north which ended without any fighting. While returning from one of these two expeditions (or some years earlier according to other early accounts), an accusation of adultery was made against Aisha, 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.Watt, M "Aisha bint Abi Bakr". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Ed. P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.
Although Muhammad had already delivered Qur\'anic verses commanding the Hajj, the Muslims had not performed it due to the enmity of the Quraysh. In the month of Shawwal 628, Muhammad ordered his followers to obtain sacrificial animals and to make preparations for a pilgrimage (umrah) 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.Lings (1987), p. 249 According to Lewis, Muhammad felt strong enough to attempt an attack on Mecca, but on the way it became clear that the attempt was premature and the expedition was converted into a peaceful pilgrimage.Lewis (2002), p. 42. Andrae disagrees, writing that the Muslim state of ihram (which restricted their freedom of action) and the paucity of arms carried indicated that the pilgrimage was always intended to be pacific.Andrae; Menzel (1960) p. 156; See also: Watt (1964) p. 183 Upon hearing of the approaching 1,400 Muslims, the Quraysh 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."al-Hudaybiya", Encyclopedia of Islam According to Watt, although Muhammad\'s decision to make the pilgrimage was based on his dream but 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.Watt, W. Montgomery. "al- Hudaybiya or al-Hudaybiyya." Encyclopaedia of Islam.
Negotiations commenced with emissaries going to and from Mecca. While these continued, rumors spread that one of the Muslim negotiators, Uthman bin al-Affan, 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 Good Pleasure" (Arabic: بيعة الرضوان , bay\'at al-ridhwān) or the "Pledge under the Tree." 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.Lewis (2002), p. 42. The main points of treaty were the following:
Many Muslims were not satisfied with the terms of the treaty. However, the Qur\'anic sura "Al-Fath" (The Victory) (Qur\'an 48:1-29) assured the Muslims that the expedition from which they were now returning must be considered a victorious one.Lings (1987), p. 255 It was only later that Muhammad\'s followers would realise the benefit behind this treaty. These benefits, according to Welch, 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 Khaybar. The explanation given by western scholars of Islam for this attack ranges from the presence of the Banu Nadir in Khaybar, who were inciting hostilities along with neighboring Arab tribes against Muhammad, to deflecting from what appeared to some Muslims as the inconclusive result of the truce of Hudaybiyya, increasing Muhammad\'s prestige among his followers and capturing booty.Veccia Vaglieri, L. "Khaybar", Encyclopaedia of Islam According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad also sent letters to many rulers of the world, asking them to convert to Islam (the exact date are given variously in the sources).Lings (1987), p. 260Khan (1998), pp. 250–251 Hence he sent messengers (with letters) to Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire (the eastern Roman Empire), Khosrau of Persia, the chief of Yemen and to some others. In the years following the truce of
