Muhammad before Medina
Encyclopedia
The Islamic prophet
Muhammad was born and lived in Mecca
for the first 52 years of his life (570–622). Orphaned early in life, he became known as a prominent merchant, and as an impartial and trustworthy arbiter of disputes. He married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid
at age 25.
According to the Muslim tradition, Muhammad
began receiving revelations
at the age of 40. The key themes of his messages in Mecca were the oneness of God and the rejection of polytheism, generosity towards the poor and the needy, kind treatment and emancipation of slaves, and the equality between men and women before God. Some converted, but many others, including tribal leaders, opposed, ridiculed and eventually boycotted his clan, and his followers were harassed, assaulted, tortured and forced into exile. Several attempts were made on his life. When his uncle and chief protector, Abu Talib
, who was the head of the clan of Banu Hashim
died, Muhammad migrated to Medina
in 622, where many had converted and agreed to help and assist him.
Muslims celebrate the birth of Muhammad, and Islamic tradition relates many events during this period that foreshadow his prophethood. They also believe he made the night journey
to Jerusalem and the heavens while still living in Mecca.
for the life of Muhammad in Mecca. Next in importance are the historical works survived from the writers of third and fourth century of the Muslim era.
The Qur'an in its actual form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad as the search for variants in Western academia has not yielded any differences of great significance. The Qur'an however mainly records the ideological aspects of Muhammad's life in Mecca. It has only partial and fragmentary references to Muhammad's life in Mecca making it difficult to reconstruct the chronological order of the incidents in his or his followers' life in Mecca. Modern biographers of Muhammad try to reconstruct the economical, political and social aspects of Mecca and read the ideological aspects of the Qur'an in that context.
The historical works by later Muslim writers include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him (the sira and hadith
literature), which provide further information on his life. The earliest surviving written sira (biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him) is Sirah Rasul Allah (Life of God's Messenger) by Ibn Ishaq
(d. 761 or 767 CE). Although the original work is lost, portions of it survive in the recensions of Ibn Hisham
(d. 833 CE) and Al-Tabari
(d. 923 CE). Many, but not all, scholars accept the accuracy of these biographies, though their accuracy is unascertainable. Henri Lammens
rejected all the accounts of Muhammad's life in Mecca but later scholars generally agree that Lammens went too far. 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.
Hadith compilations are records of the traditions or sayings of Muhammad. It might be defined as the biography of Muhammad perpetuated by the long memory of his companions and community for their exemplification and obedience. The development of hadiths is a vital element during the first three centuries of Islamic history.
There had been a common tendency among the earlier western scholars against these narrations and reports gathered in later periods; such scholars regarding them as later fabrications. Leone Caetani
considered the attribution of historical reports to Ibn Abbas and Aysha as mostly fictitious while proffering accounts reported without isnad by the early compilers of history like Ibn Ishaq
. Wilferd Madelung
has rejected the stance of indiscriminately dismissing everything not included in "early sources" and in this approach tendentious alone is no evidence for late origin. Madelung and some later historians do not reject the narrations which have been complied in later periods and try to judge them in the context of history and on the basis of their compatibility with the events and figures.
For Sunnis, after the Qur'an the most widely accepted and famous collection of traditions is Sahih al-Bukhari
. Imam Bukhari, the author of the book is said to have spent over 16 years gathering over 1600000 traditions and finding the best 7397 of them. Some, but not all, of these traditions deal with the life of Muhammad.
Shia Islam
For Shi'is, the words and deeds of their Imams, who are also progeny of Muhammad, is authoritative. These were originally oral but where written down after several generations. Some of these sayings, according to their chain of transmission, are sayings of Muhammad as transmitted through the Shi'i' Imams.
The Arabian Peninsula was largely arid and volcanic, making agriculture difficult except near oases or springs. Thus the Arabian landscape was dotted with towns and cities near those oases, two prominent of which were Mecca and Medina (then known as Yathrib). Communal life was essential for survival in desert conditions, as people needed support against the harsh environment and lifestyle. The tribal grouping was thus encouraged by the need to act as a unit. This unity was based on the bond of kinship by blood. People of Arabia were either nomadic or sedentary, the former constantly traveling from one place to another seeking water and pasture for their flocks, while the latter settled and focused on trade and agriculture. The survival of nomads (or bedouins) was also partially dependent on raiding caravans or oases; thus they saw this as no crime. Medina was a large flourishing agricultural settlement, while Mecca was an important financial center for many of the surrounding tribes.
In pre-Islamic Arabia gods or goddesses were viewed as protectors of individual tribes and their spirits were associated with sacred trees, stones, springs and wells. There was an important shrine in Mecca (now called the Kaaba
) that housed statues of 360 idols of tribal patron deities and was the site of an annual pilgrimage. Aside from these tribal gods, Arabs shared a common belief in a supreme deity Allah (literally "the god") who was however remote from their everyday concerns and thus not the object of cult or ritual. Three goddesses were associated with Allah as his daughters: al-Lat
, Manat
and al-Uzza. Some monotheistic communities also existed in Arabia, including Christians and Jews. According to the tradition, Muhammad himself was a descendant of Ishmael
, son of Abraham
.
on April 26, 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. 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.
The precise date of Muhammad's birth is considered by Sunni Muslims
to have been the 12th day of the month of Rabi'-ul-Awwal, while Shi'a Muslims believe it to have been the dawn of 17th day of same month. Muslim tradition reports various miracles in connection with Muhammad's birth.
Muhammad was born into the family of Banu Hashim
, one of the better class families of Mecca, but the family seems to have not been prosperous during Muhammad's early lifetime. His parents were Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, from Banu Hashim, and Aminah bint Wahb
, the sister of the then-chief of the Banu Zuhrah
. According to Ibn Ishaq
, the early biographer of Muhammad, Aminah named her child "Muhammad", a name quite unknown at that time in the Arabian peninsula
, after she had a vision while pregnant.
, died almost six months before he was born. According to tradition, soon after his birth Muhammed was sent to live with a Bedouin
family in the desert, as the desert life was considered healthier for infants. Because he was fatherless, wetnurses refused to take him, fearing that it would not be profitable to take care of an orphan. However, he was accepted by Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, a wetnurse who had found no child to take care of. Muhammad stayed with his foster-mother, Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, and her husband until he was two or three years old. One day, according to his wetnurse Halima, Muhammad was visited by two men, who opened up his chest and washed his heart. Scholars believe this story is reminiscent of shamanic
initiations around the world. Troubled, Halima and her husband returned Muhammad to his mother. Some western scholars some people
of Islam have rejected the historicity of Muhammad being sent to a wetnurse altogether.
He lived with his mother in Mecca for three years until she took him to Yathrib to visit some relatives, and she died on the way back. Now orphaned, Muhammad was passed into the custody of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib
, who was eighty years old. According to traditional accounts, Muhammad was very close to his grandfather, as had been his father before him. However, two years later, his grandfather died. Muhammad then came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib
, the new leader of the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. In 6th-century Arabia, there was general disdain for guardians who took care of the weaker members of the tribes in Mecca. Although Muhammad's guardians saw that he did not starve to death, it was hard for them to do more for him, especially as the fortunes of the clan of Hashim seem to have been declining at that time.
Having lived closely with destitute people, knowing the impoverished widowhood of his mother, and experiencing his own status as an orphan, Muhammad empathised with the underprivileged and needy. These experiences also contributed to his concern with social reform later as a prophet. Muhammad learned from his nomadic family the Bedouin oral tradition
and he developed mastery over the spoken language
. He also came to observe, understand and respect nature, a development that would later be reflected in verses of the Qur'an.
In his short stay at Yathrib, Muhammad learned more practical skills, like swimming. He also accompanied his grandfather, the chief of the clan, to the assembly of the most influential men in Mecca, where important matters were discussed. While living with his uncle, Muhammad began tending flocks on the outskirts of Mecca to earn his living. As a shepherd he learned patience, reflection and a sense of independence in life and work, preparing him for other careers in life. His uncle also took him on many commercial journeys. These journeys exposed Muhammad to cultural diversity
and varying religious traditions.
According to tradition, when Muhammad was either nine or twelve years old, he went with his uncle Abu Talib
on a business journey to Syria
. There he met Bahira
in the town of Bosra
. When the caravan was passing by his cell, the monk invited the merchants to a feast. They accepted the invitation, leaving the boy to guard the camel. Bahira, however, insisted that everyone in the caravan should come to him. Then a miraculous occurrence indicated to the monk that Muhammad was to become a prophet. According to one version, those were the stigmata
that Bahira found on young Muhammad. Other variants of the story say that it was a miraculous movement of a cloud or an unusual behavior of a branch that kept shadowing Muhammad regardless of the time of the day. The monk revealed his visions of Muhammad's future to the boy's companion, warning him to preserve the child from the Jews (in Ibn Sa'd's version) or from the Byzantines
(in al-Tabari's version).
, he soon became a merchant and was involved in trade between the Indian Ocean
and the Mediterranean Sea
. By age twenty, Muhammad had built a reputation for honesty and efficiency. He became known as "Al-Amin" (Arabic: الامين), meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator of disputes.
Among the members who agreed to the terms of the pact was Muhammad. Later on, after proclaiming Islam, Muhammad still acknowledged the validity of the pact, ignoring the fact that most of the signatories were non-Muslim. That pact also purportedly marked the beginning of formalised justice in Mecca, which would be later repeated by Muhammad when he would preach Islam.
, a widow merchant at Mecca, heard about Muhammad, and asked him to manage her commercial operations in Syria. When Muhammad returned from an extraordinarily successful commercial trip, Khadija proposed to him through one of her friends. Tradition reports that Khadija was forty years old, although some scholars say it is more likely she was twenty-eight.
Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one. Khadija was not only Muhammad's wife, but also his friend and confidante and later his moral support. On his wedding day, Muhammad freed a slave-girl he had inherited, while Khadija, in return, gave Muhammad the slave boy Zayd ibn Harithah
, whom Muhammad also freed. Ibn Ishaq
records that Khadijah bore Muhammad six children: a boy named Qasim
who lived only two years, then four girls Zaynab
, Ruqayyah
, Um Kulthum
, Fatimah and finally a boy named Abdullah who also died at two. According to some Shi'a scholars, Fatimah was Muhammad's only daughter. The combination of the death of Abdullah, and his desire to relieve his uncle Abu Talib of the burden of a large family, as Abu Talib was already in great financial difficulty, led Muhammad to take his uncle's son Ali
into his own home. Muhammad also adopted Zayd, giving him the name "Zayd ibn Muhammad" (meaning Zayd son of Muhammad). However, owing to the adoption revelation from Allah, later verses were revealed stating clearly that a child, especially after adoption, could not be treated as a natural son by marriage or inheritance. Consequently, the adopted child had to retain the name of their biological father. Therefore, Zayd could not be known as the son of Muhammad, but the son of his father, Haritha, and be known as Zayd ibn Haritha. In Quran : 33:40 40. Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allâh and the last of the Prophets. And Allâh is Ever All-Aware of everything.
According to tradition, Muhammad played a role in the restoration of the Kaaba, after parts of it had been destroyed by one of Mecca's frequent flash flood
s. 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 arm 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 because of this event and what happened later as described in the Hadith of The Cloak.
near Mecca. 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:
According to some traditions, upon receiving his first revelations Muhammad was deeply distressed and contemplated throwing himself off the top of a mountain but the spirit moved closer and told him that he has been chosen as a messenger of God. Muhammad returned home and was consoled and reassured by his wife, Khadijah and her Christian cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal
. Shia tradition on the other hand maintains that Muhammad was neither surprised nor frightened at the appearance of Gabriel but rather welcomed him as if he had been expecting him. The initial revelation was followed by a pause of three years during which Muhammad gave himself up further to prayers and spiritual practice
s. When the revelations resumed he was reassured and commanded to begin preaching: Your lord has not forsaken you nor does he hate [you] (Qur'an ).
According to Welch
these revelations were accompanied by mysterious seizures, and the reports are unlikely to have been forged by later Muslims. Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages.
: 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 Qur'an, one of the main roles of Muhammad is to warn the unbelievers of their eschatological punishment (Qur'an , Qur'an ). Sometimes the Qur'an does not explicitly refer to the Judgment day but also provides examples from the history of some extinct communities and warns Muhammad's contemporaries of similar calamities (Qur'an ). Muhammad is not only a warner to those who reject God's revelation, but also a bearer of good news for those who abandon evil, listen to the divine word and serve God.
, all of whom accepted it. Abu Bakr, who used to purchase slaves to set them free in accordance with Muhammad's principle of equality, attracted a large number of converts. Nevertheless, the converts remained small, and Muhammad concentrated on quietly building a small, but spiritually strong, community.
Around 613
, the Qur'an then commanded Muhammad to "admonish your nearest kinsmen", initiating the phase of public preaching. One day he climbed Mount as-Safa, and called out the tribal chiefs. After receiving assurances that the chiefs, who reportedly never heard Muhammad tell lies, would believe him, he declared the Oneness of God
. Later Muhammad organized dinners
in which he conveyed and advocated the substance of his message. At these events, Muhammad met fierce opposition from one of his uncles, Abu Lahab.
Most Meccans ignored it and a few mocked him, while some others became his followers. According to Ibn Sad
, in this period the Quraysh "did not criticize what he 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." The Qur'anic exegesis however maintained that the persecution of Muslims began as soon as Muhammad began preaching in public. 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 the dead, God's final judgment followed by vivid descriptions of the tortures in hell and pleasures in paradise; the wonders of nature and 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.
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 oligarchy of the Quraysh rejected the ideas that Muhammad preached, since they would have to surrender their privileges. The Quraysh also did not accept Muhammad as a prophet since he came from a clan less powerful than his opponents'.
Muhammad, however, wanted to attract the influential to support his cause. In one attempt to win over the leaders of the Quraysh he was disrupted by a blind man. Muhammad, anxious that he may lose the opportunity to convey his message, turned away from the blind man. The Qur'an, however, rebuked Muhammad for turning away from the blind man.
Some of the ranking and influential leaders of the Quraysh tried and 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, but Muhammad refused. During this period, Muhammad urged his followers to be pacifist
, commanding them to "deal gently with the infidels".
There are many records, at great length, of the persecution and ill-treatment of Muhammad's followers. At first the more traditional Quraysh taunted Muslims, and interrupted their prayers. But this later changed and Muslim were physically hurt, starved, harassed and boycotted. If this didn't work, the Muslims would be staked out on the ground under the scorching heat of the Arabian desert
.
Sumayya bint Khubbat, a slave of Abu Jahl and a prominent Meccan leader, is famous as the first martyr of Islam, having been killed with a spear by her master when she refused to give up her faith. Bilal
, another Muslim slave, suffered torture at the hands of Umayya ibn khalaf by placing a heavy rock on his chest to force his conversion.
According to Marco Schöller, during this period, Muhammad "suffered from humiliation, derision and from being treated either like a madman or an outcast. Some people would even fling pebbles at him while he was praying and others kicked stones at him so that he had to run away with bleeding feet." The Quraysh was however reluctant to physically hurt Muhammad, since it would open up a blood feud between Muhammad and Abu Talib's clan, and the clan that hurt Muhammad. Brazenly initiating such a blood feud would also undercut the legitimacy and moral of authority of tribal chiefs in general.
In 615
, at a time when his followers were suffering open violence, Muhammad arranged for his followers to emigrate to the Ethiopia
n Kingdom of Aksum and found a small colony there under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian king. While the traditions view the persecutions of Meccans to have played the major role in the emigration, William Montgomery Watt
, a professor of Islamic studies, 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."
A man told Umar, while Umar was en route to his planned assassination of Muhammad, that he should deal with his sister who had secretly converted to Islam. He then rushed to his sister's place, and heard her reciting the Qur'an
. He considered the words beautiful and noble, and immediately converted to Islam. He made his conversion public instantly, even to the most hostile Quraysh. The effect of Umar's conversion was that Muslims could now pray openly at the Ka'ba, as the pagans were reluctant to confront Umar, known for his forceful character.
, who had far greater experience with prophets, supplied three diagnostic questions to be asked from Muhammad:
They advised that if Muhammad was unable to answer those questions, he was a fraud. Islamic tradition states that Muhammad said he will answer the questions tomorrow, without saying "Insha-Allah" (Arabic for "if God wills"), which resulted in the delay of revelation to Muhammad. An admonition is also contained in the part of Qur'an (18:23-24) that was revealed along with the answers to the questions posed by Quraysh at the behest of the local Jews. After a lengthy, and rather embarrassing silence, Muhammad finally answered the questions (in accordance with the Qur'an):
Though the answers were considered satisfactory, the Quraysh did not convert to Islam.
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 in mortal danger 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 ibn Adi and the protection of the tribe of Banu Nawfal
made it possible for him safely to re-enter his native city.
. 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. 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 Ka'ba); but later tradition identified Muhammad's journey from Mecca to the abode of sanctuary (bayt al-maqdis) in Jerusalem.
). The Arab population of Yathrib were somewhat familiar with monotheism because a Jewish community existed in that city.
Following the pledges at Aqabah, Muhammad encouraged his followers to emigrate to Yathrib. As before, with the migration to Abyssinia
, the Quraysh attempted to stop the emigration. However, almost all Muslims managed to leave.
The day of the scheduled assassination, Muhammad asked his friend Abu Bakr
, whom he'd asked to stay behind, to make preparations for departure. He also asked his cousin Ali
to stay behind to settle outstanding economic obligations. Muhammad slipped from his home the night of the planned assassination. Ali had worn Muhammad's cloak, leading the assassins to think Muhammad had not yet departed. By the time the assassins came to know of this Muhammad had already departed.
Following his escape from Mecca, the Quraysh placed a bounty of one hundred camels on him. Meanwhile, to further trick his enemies, Muhammad travelled south for a few days instead of north to Yathrib. After a few days he took a relatively untrammeled path to the Red Sea
. From there he followed the coastline up to Yathrib, arriving outside the town proper on Monday, September 27, 622.
Ali survived the plot, but risked his life again by staying in Mecca to carry out Muhammed's instructions: to restore to their owners all the goods and properties that had been entrusted to Muhammad for safekeeping. Ali then went to Medina with his mother, Fatima binte Asad, and Muhammed's daughter, Fatimah, as well as two other women.
Prophets of Islam
Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...
Muhammad was born and lived in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
for the first 52 years of his life (570–622). Orphaned early in life, he became known as a prominent merchant, and as an impartial and trustworthy arbiter of disputes. He married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid
Khadījah bint Khuwaylid or Khadījah al-Kubra was the first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad and Fatimah bint Za'idah and belonged to the clan of Banu Asad. She is important in Islam as Muhammad's first wife, and one of the "mothers of the believers"...
at age 25.
According to the Muslim tradition, Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
began receiving revelations
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
at the age of 40. The key themes of his messages in Mecca were the oneness of God and the rejection of polytheism, generosity towards the poor and the needy, kind treatment and emancipation of slaves, and the equality between men and women before God. Some converted, but many others, including tribal leaders, opposed, ridiculed and eventually boycotted his clan, and his followers were harassed, assaulted, tortured and forced into exile. Several attempts were made on his life. When his uncle and chief protector, Abu Talib
Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib
Abi Tlib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib also known as Abu Talib ibn al-Muttalib.Talib was in reality the elder son of Abd Munāf and elder brother to Ali Ibn Abd Munāf. He was an head of Bani Hashim clan of Quraysh tribe of Mecca in Arabia. He was married to Fatima bint Asad and was an uncle of the...
, who was the head of the clan of Banu Hashim
Banu Hashim
Banū Hāshim was a clan in the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad, was a member of this clan; his great-grandfather was Hashim, for whom the clan is named. Members of this clan are referred to by the Anglicised version of their name as Hashemites, or Huseini or Hasani...
died, Muhammad migrated to Medina
Hijra (Islam)
The Hijra is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. Alternate spellings of this Arabic word are Hijrah, Hijrat or Hegira, the latter following the spelling rules of Latin.- Hijra of Muhammad :In September 622, warned of a plot to...
in 622, where many had converted and agreed to help and assist him.
Muslims celebrate the birth of Muhammad, and Islamic tradition relates many events during this period that foreshadow his prophethood. They also believe he made the night journey
Isra and Mi'raj
The Isra and Mi'raj , are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islamic tradition, the Islamic prophet Muhammad took during a single night around the year 621. It has been described as both a physical and spiritual journey...
to Jerusalem and the heavens while still living in Mecca.
Sources for Muhammad's life in Mecca
Muhammed is the first founder of a major world religion who had biographies written by contemporaries, and about whom there are numerous records in historical texts, although like other premodern historical figures not every detail of his life is known.Academic perspective
The Qur'an is considered to be the most credible primary sourcePrimary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
for the life of Muhammad in Mecca. Next in importance are the historical works survived from the writers of third and fourth century of the Muslim era.
The Qur'an in its actual form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad as the search for variants in Western academia has not yielded any differences of great significance. The Qur'an however mainly records the ideological aspects of Muhammad's life in Mecca. It has only partial and fragmentary references to Muhammad's life in Mecca making it difficult to reconstruct the chronological order of the incidents in his or his followers' life in Mecca. Modern biographers of Muhammad try to reconstruct the economical, political and social aspects of Mecca and read the ideological aspects of the Qur'an in that context.
The historical works by later Muslim writers include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him (the sira and hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
literature), which provide further information on his life. The earliest surviving written sira (biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him) is Sirah Rasul Allah (Life of God's Messenger) by Ibn Ishaq
Ibn Ishaq
Muḥammad ibn Isḥaq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār was an Arab Muslim historian and hagiographer...
(d. 761 or 767 CE). Although the original work is lost, portions of it survive in the recensions of Ibn Hisham
Ibn Hisham
Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Malik bin Hisham , or Ibn Hisham edited the biography of Muhammad written by Ibn Ishaq. Ibn Ishaq's work is lost and is now only known in the recensions of Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari. Ibn Hisham grew up in Basra, Iraq, but moved afterwards to Egypt, where he gained a name...
(d. 833 CE) and Al-Tabari
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was a prominent and influential Sunni scholar and exegete of the Qur'an from Persia...
(d. 923 CE). Many, but not all, scholars accept the accuracy of these biographies, though their accuracy is unascertainable. Henri Lammens
Henri Lammens
Henri Lammens was a prominent Belgian-born Jesuit and Orientalist.Born in Ghent, Belgium of Catholic Flemish stock, Henri Lammens joined the Society of Jesus in Beirut at the age of fifteen, and settled permanently in Lebanon. During his first eight years there Lammens mastered the Arabic...
rejected all the accounts of Muhammad's life in Mecca but later scholars generally agree that Lammens went too far. 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
William Montgomery Watt
William Montgomery Watt was a Scottish historian, an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh...
, 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.
Hadith compilations are records of the traditions or sayings of Muhammad. It might be defined as the biography of Muhammad perpetuated by the long memory of his companions and community for their exemplification and obedience. The development of hadiths is a vital element during the first three centuries of Islamic history.
There had been a common tendency among the earlier western scholars against these narrations and reports gathered in later periods; such scholars regarding them as later fabrications. Leone Caetani
Leone Caetani
Leone Caetani , Duke of Sermoneta , was an Italian scholar, politician and historian of the Middle-East....
considered the attribution of historical reports to Ibn Abbas and Aysha as mostly fictitious while proffering accounts reported without isnad by the early compilers of history like Ibn Ishaq
Ibn Ishaq
Muḥammad ibn Isḥaq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār was an Arab Muslim historian and hagiographer...
. Wilferd Madelung
Wilferd Madelung
Wilferd Ferdinand Madelung is a scholar of Islam. He was born in Stuttgart, Germany, where he completed his early education at Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium....
has rejected the stance of indiscriminately dismissing everything not included in "early sources" and in this approach tendentious alone is no evidence for late origin. Madelung and some later historians do not reject the narrations which have been complied in later periods and try to judge them in the context of history and on the basis of their compatibility with the events and figures.
Traditional Muslim perspective
Sunni IslamFor Sunnis, after the Qur'an the most widely accepted and famous collection of traditions is Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī , as it is commonly referred to, is one of the six canonical hadith collections of Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, after being transmitted orally for generations. Muslims view this as one of...
. Imam Bukhari, the author of the book is said to have spent over 16 years gathering over 1600000 traditions and finding the best 7397 of them. Some, but not all, of these traditions deal with the life of Muhammad.
Shia Islam
For Shi'is, the words and deeds of their Imams, who are also progeny of Muhammad, is authoritative. These were originally oral but where written down after several generations. Some of these sayings, according to their chain of transmission, are sayings of Muhammad as transmitted through the Shi'i' Imams.
Background
In pre-Islamic Arabia gods or goddesses were viewed as protectors of individual tribes and their spirits were associated with sacred trees, stones, springs and wells. There was an important shrine in Mecca (now called the Kaaba
Kaaba
The Kaaba is a cuboid-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The Qur'an states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham, or Ibraheem, in Arabic, and his son Ishmael, or Ismaeel, as said in Arabic, after he had settled in Arabia. The building has a mosque...
) that housed statues of 360 idols of tribal patron deities and was the site of an annual pilgrimage. Aside from these tribal gods, Arabs shared a common belief in a supreme deity Allah (literally "the god") who was however remote from their everyday concerns and thus not the object of cult or ritual. Three goddesses were associated with Allah as his daughters: al-Lat
Allāt
' or ' was a Pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. She is mentioned in the Qur'an , which indicates that pre-Islamic Arabs considered her as one of the daughters of Allah along with Manāt and al-‘Uzzá....
, Manat
Manat
Manat may refer to* Azerbaijani manat, unit of currency in Azerbaijan* Turkmenistani manat, unit of currency in Turkmenistan* The designation of the Soviet ruble in both Azerbaijani and Turkmen* Manāt, the goddess of fate and destiny in pre-Islamic Arabia...
and al-Uzza. Some monotheistic communities also existed in Arabia, including Christians and Jews. According to the tradition, Muhammad himself was a descendant of Ishmael
Ishmael
Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...
, son of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
.
Birth
Muhammad was born in the month of Rabi' al-awwalRabi' al-awwal
Rabi' al-awwal is the third month in the Islamic calendar. During this month, Muslims around the world celebrate Mawlid - the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Sunni Muslims believe the exact date of birth of Muhammad to have been on the twelfth of this month, whereas Shi'a Muslims believe...
on April 26, 570. He belonged to the Banu Hashim
Banu Hashim
Banū Hāshim was a clan in the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad, was a member of this clan; his great-grandfather was Hashim, for whom the clan is named. Members of this clan are referred to by the Anglicised version of their name as Hashemites, or Huseini or Hasani...
, one of the prominent families of Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, although it seems not to have been prosperous during Muhammad's early lifetime. Tradition places the year of Muhammad's birth as corresponding with the Year of the Elephant
Year of the Elephant
The Year of the Elephant is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570 AD. According to Islamic tradition, it was in this year that Muhammad was born...
, which is named after the failed destruction of Mecca that year by the Aksumite king
Aksumite Empire
The Kingdom of Aksum or Axum, also known as the Aksumite Empire, was an important trading nation in northeastern Africa, growing from the proto-Aksumite Iron Age period ca. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD...
Abraha
Abraha
Abraha also known as Abraha al-Ashram or Abraha b...
who had in his army a number of elephants. Recent scholarship has suggested alternative dates for this event, such as 568 or 569.
The precise date of Muhammad's birth is considered by Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
to have been the 12th day of the month of Rabi'-ul-Awwal, while Shi'a Muslims believe it to have been the dawn of 17th day of same month. Muslim tradition reports various miracles in connection with Muhammad's birth.
Muhammad was born into the family of Banu Hashim
Banu Hashim
Banū Hāshim was a clan in the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad, was a member of this clan; his great-grandfather was Hashim, for whom the clan is named. Members of this clan are referred to by the Anglicised version of their name as Hashemites, or Huseini or Hasani...
, one of the better class families of Mecca, but the family seems to have not been prosperous during Muhammad's early lifetime. His parents were Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, from Banu Hashim, and Aminah bint Wahb
Aminah bint Wahb
Aminah bint Wahb was the mother of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.-Biography According to Islamic History:The daughter of Wahb ibn 'Abd Manaf ibn Zuhrah ibn Kilab ibn Murrah, Aminah was born in Mecca. She was a member of the Banu Zuhrah clan in the tribe of Quraysh who were descendants of Ibrahim ...
, the sister of the then-chief of the Banu Zuhrah
Banu Zuhrah
Banu Zuhrah is a clan of the Quraish tribe.Akhnas ibn Shariq al-Thaqifi and the Banu Zuhrah where with the Meccan as part of the escort that preceded the battle of Badr, but since he believed the caravan to be safe, he did not join Quraish on their way to a festival in badr...
. According to Ibn Ishaq
Ibn Ishaq
Muḥammad ibn Isḥaq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār was an Arab Muslim historian and hagiographer...
, the early biographer of Muhammad, Aminah named her child "Muhammad", a name quite unknown at that time in the Arabian peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
, after she had a vision while pregnant.
Childhood
Muhammad's father, AbdullahAbd-Allah ibn Abd-al-Muttalib
was the father of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the son of Shaiba ibn Hashim , and was married to Aminah bint Wahb.-Marriage:...
, died almost six months before he was born. According to tradition, soon after his birth Muhammed was sent to live with a Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
family in the desert, as the desert life was considered healthier for infants. Because he was fatherless, wetnurses refused to take him, fearing that it would not be profitable to take care of an orphan. However, he was accepted by Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, a wetnurse who had found no child to take care of. Muhammad stayed with his foster-mother, Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, and her husband until he was two or three years old. One day, according to his wetnurse Halima, Muhammad was visited by two men, who opened up his chest and washed his heart. Scholars believe this story is reminiscent of shamanic
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
initiations around the world. Troubled, Halima and her husband returned Muhammad to his mother. Some western scholars some people
of Islam have rejected the historicity of Muhammad being sent to a wetnurse altogether.
He lived with his mother in Mecca for three years until she took him to Yathrib to visit some relatives, and she died on the way back. Now orphaned, Muhammad was passed into the custody of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib
Shaiba ibn Hashim
Shaiba ibn Hashim , better known as or Abd al-Muttalib, since he was raised by his uncle Muttalib, was the grandfather of Islamic prophet Muhammad.-Early life:...
, who was eighty years old. According to traditional accounts, Muhammad was very close to his grandfather, as had been his father before him. However, two years later, his grandfather died. Muhammad then came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib
Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib
Abi Tlib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib also known as Abu Talib ibn al-Muttalib.Talib was in reality the elder son of Abd Munāf and elder brother to Ali Ibn Abd Munāf. He was an head of Bani Hashim clan of Quraysh tribe of Mecca in Arabia. He was married to Fatima bint Asad and was an uncle of the...
, the new leader of the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. In 6th-century Arabia, there was general disdain for guardians who took care of the weaker members of the tribes in Mecca. Although Muhammad's guardians saw that he did not starve to death, it was hard for them to do more for him, especially as the fortunes of the clan of Hashim seem to have been declining at that time.
Having lived closely with destitute people, knowing the impoverished widowhood of his mother, and experiencing his own status as an orphan, Muhammad empathised with the underprivileged and needy. These experiences also contributed to his concern with social reform later as a prophet. Muhammad learned from his nomadic family the Bedouin oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
and he developed mastery over the spoken language
Spoken language
Spoken language is a form of human communication in which words derived from a large vocabulary together with a diverse variety of names are uttered through or with the mouth. All words are made up from a limited set of vowels and consonants. The spoken words they make are stringed into...
. He also came to observe, understand and respect nature, a development that would later be reflected in verses of the Qur'an.
In his short stay at Yathrib, Muhammad learned more practical skills, like swimming. He also accompanied his grandfather, the chief of the clan, to the assembly of the most influential men in Mecca, where important matters were discussed. While living with his uncle, Muhammad began tending flocks on the outskirts of Mecca to earn his living. As a shepherd he learned patience, reflection and a sense of independence in life and work, preparing him for other careers in life. His uncle also took him on many commercial journeys. These journeys exposed Muhammad to cultural diversity
Cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is having different cultures respect each other's differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole...
and varying religious traditions.
According to tradition, when Muhammad was either nine or twelve years old, he went with his uncle Abu Talib
Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib
Abi Tlib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib also known as Abu Talib ibn al-Muttalib.Talib was in reality the elder son of Abd Munāf and elder brother to Ali Ibn Abd Munāf. He was an head of Bani Hashim clan of Quraysh tribe of Mecca in Arabia. He was married to Fatima bint Asad and was an uncle of the...
on a business journey to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. There he met Bahira
Bahira
Bahira , or "Sergius the Monk" to the Latin West, was a Syriac or Bahrani Nestorian monk who, according to tradition, foretold to the adolescent Muhammad his future prophetic career.-Islamic tradition:...
in the town of Bosra
Bosra
Bosra , also known as Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra, Busra Eski Şam, Busra ash-Sham, and Nova Trajana Bostra, is an ancient city administratively belonging to the Daraa Governorate in southern Syria...
. When the caravan was passing by his cell, the monk invited the merchants to a feast. They accepted the invitation, leaving the boy to guard the camel. Bahira, however, insisted that everyone in the caravan should come to him. Then a miraculous occurrence indicated to the monk that Muhammad was to become a prophet. According to one version, those were the stigmata
Stigmata
Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus, such as the hands and feet...
that Bahira found on young Muhammad. Other variants of the story say that it was a miraculous movement of a cloud or an unusual behavior of a branch that kept shadowing Muhammad regardless of the time of the day. The monk revealed his visions of Muhammad's future to the boy's companion, warning him to preserve the child from the Jews (in Ibn Sa'd's version) or from the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
(in al-Tabari's version).
Merchant
As an orphan, Muhammed had few options when it came to making a living, and in order to support other members of his family and after accompanying his uncle on trading journeys to SyriaSyria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, he soon became a merchant and was involved in trade between the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
and the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. By age twenty, Muhammad had built a reputation for honesty and efficiency. He became known as "Al-Amin" (Arabic: الامين), meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator of disputes.
Alliance of the virtuous
A merchant from Yemen came to Mecca, and became the victim of a fraud by a Meccan who knew that the merchant had no relatives, hence no support, in the city. Instead of letting it pass, the Yemeni merchant made his case public, appealing the people for justice. In response a meeting was hosted in which various chiefs and members of tribes pledged to respect the principles of justice, and collectively intervene in conflicts to establish justice.Among the members who agreed to the terms of the pact was Muhammad. Later on, after proclaiming Islam, Muhammad still acknowledged the validity of the pact, ignoring the fact that most of the signatories were non-Muslim. That pact also purportedly marked the beginning of formalised justice in Mecca, which would be later repeated by Muhammad when he would preach Islam.
Marriage
After a successful assignment, word about Muhammad being an "honest, fair and efficient" merchant became more widespread. Khadijah bint KhuwaylidKhadijah bint Khuwaylid
Khadījah bint Khuwaylid or Khadījah al-Kubra was the first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad and Fatimah bint Za'idah and belonged to the clan of Banu Asad. She is important in Islam as Muhammad's first wife, and one of the "mothers of the believers"...
, a widow merchant at Mecca, heard about Muhammad, and asked him to manage her commercial operations in Syria. When Muhammad returned from an extraordinarily successful commercial trip, Khadija proposed to him through one of her friends. Tradition reports that Khadija was forty years old, although some scholars say it is more likely she was twenty-eight.
Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one. Khadija was not only Muhammad's wife, but also his friend and confidante and later his moral support. On his wedding day, Muhammad freed a slave-girl he had inherited, while Khadija, in return, gave Muhammad the slave boy Zayd ibn Harithah
Zayd ibn Harithah
Zayd ibn Harithah or Zayd mawla Muhammad was a prominent figure in the early Islamic community and the only one of sahaba whose name is spelled directly in the Qur'an. As he was the adopted son of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, before Islam abolished adoption in exchange of Kafala. He was an...
, whom Muhammad also freed. Ibn Ishaq
Ibn Ishaq
Muḥammad ibn Isḥaq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār was an Arab Muslim historian and hagiographer...
records that Khadijah bore Muhammad six children: a boy named Qasim
Qasim ibn Muhammad
Qasim ibn Muhammad was the son of Muhammad and Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. He died in 605 CE, before his second birthday and is buried in Jannatul Mualla cemetery, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.-Siblings:*Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad*Ibrahim ibn Muhammad...
who lived only two years, then four girls Zaynab
Zainab bint Muhammad
Zainab bint Muhammad was the eldest daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his first wife Khadijah. She was born in the fifth year of his marriage to Khadijah, when he was thirty. She died in 8 AH.-Marriage & children:...
, Ruqayyah
Ruqayyah bint Muhammad
Ruqayyah bint Muhammad was the second daughter of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his first wife Khadija. She was amongst the earliest converts to Islam. She had married Utbah ibn Abu Lahab, but he divorced her after her conversion to Islam, after which she married Uthman bin Affan...
, Um Kulthum
Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad
Umm Kulthum was the third daughter of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad from his first wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid.- Marriage and children :She was first married to Utaybah bin Abu Lahab...
, Fatimah and finally a boy named Abdullah who also died at two. According to some Shi'a scholars, Fatimah was Muhammad's only daughter. The combination of the death of Abdullah, and his desire to relieve his uncle Abu Talib of the burden of a large family, as Abu Talib was already in great financial difficulty, led Muhammad to take his uncle's son Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
into his own home. Muhammad also adopted Zayd, giving him the name "Zayd ibn Muhammad" (meaning Zayd son of Muhammad). However, owing to the adoption revelation from Allah, later verses were revealed stating clearly that a child, especially after adoption, could not be treated as a natural son by marriage or inheritance. Consequently, the adopted child had to retain the name of their biological father. Therefore, Zayd could not be known as the son of Muhammad, but the son of his father, Haritha, and be known as Zayd ibn Haritha. In Quran : 33:40 40. Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allâh and the last of the Prophets. And Allâh is Ever All-Aware of everything.
Restoration of Ka'aba
Flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas—washes, rivers, dry lakes and basins. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a storm, hurricane, or tropical storm or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields...
s. When the reconstruction was almost done, disagreements arose as to who would have the honor of lifting the Black Stone
Black Stone
The Black Stone is the eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba, the ancient stone building towards which Muslims pray, in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an Islamic relic, which according to Muslim tradition dates back to the time of Adam and Eve.The...
into place and different clans were about to take up arm against each other. One of the elders suggested they take the advice of the first one who entered the gates of the Haram
Haram
The Arabic term has a meaning of "sanctuary" or "holy site" in Islam.-Etymology:The Arabic language has two separate words, and , both derived from the same triliteral Semitic root . Both of these words can mean "forbidden" and/or "sacred" in a general way, but each has also developed some...
. 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 because of this event and what happened later as described in the Hadith of The Cloak.
The Beginnings of the Qur'an
At some point Muhammad adopted the practice of meditating alone for several weeks every year in a cave on Mount HiraHira
Hira or the Cave of Hira is a cave about from Mecca, on the mountain named Jabal Al-Nūr in the Hejaz region of present day Saudi Arabia...
near Mecca. Islamic tradition holds that in one of his visits to the Mount Hira, the angel Gabriel
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...
began communicating with him here in the year 610 and commanded Muhammad to recite the following verses:
Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created- Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,- He Who taught (the use of) the pen,- Taught man that which he knew not.(Qur'an )
According to some traditions, upon receiving his first revelations Muhammad was deeply distressed and contemplated throwing himself off the top of a mountain but the spirit moved closer and told him that he has been chosen as a messenger of God. Muhammad returned home and was consoled and reassured by his wife, Khadijah and her Christian cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal
Waraqah ibn Nawfal
Waraka Ibn Nawfal was the parental cousin of Khadija, the first wife of the prophet Muhammad, and was also the son of Muhammad's great-grandfather Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf's half brother Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf...
. Shia tradition on the other hand maintains that Muhammad was neither surprised nor frightened at the appearance of Gabriel but rather welcomed him as if he had been expecting him. The initial revelation was followed by a pause of three years during which Muhammad gave himself up further to prayers and spiritual practice
Spiritual practice
A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of cultivating spiritual development. A common metaphor used in the spiritual traditions of the worlds great religions is that of walking a path...
s. When the revelations resumed he was reassured and commanded to begin preaching: Your lord has not forsaken you nor does he hate [you] (Qur'an ).
According to Welch
Alford T. Welch
Alford T. Welch is a Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. Welch got his Ph.D. degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1970. He also holds a M.Div. degree on Biblical language, literature and Near Eastern history from Southern Baptist...
these revelations were accompanied by mysterious seizures, and the reports are unlikely to have been forged by later Muslims. Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages.
Mission
Muhammad's mission involves preaching monotheismMonotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
: The Qur'an demands Muhammad to proclaim and praise the name of his Lord
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
and instructs him not to worship idols apart from God or associate other deities with God. According to the Qur'an, one of the main roles of Muhammad is to warn the unbelievers of their eschatological punishment (Qur'an , Qur'an ). Sometimes the Qur'an does not explicitly refer to the Judgment day but also provides examples from the history of some extinct communities and warns Muhammad's contemporaries of similar calamities (Qur'an ). Muhammad is not only a warner to those who reject God's revelation, but also a bearer of good news for those who abandon evil, listen to the divine word and serve God.
Early preaching
Muhammad first told about his message to his wife, his cousin Ali, his adopted son Zayd, his nursemaid Um Ayman and his friend Abu BakrAbu Bakr
Abu Bakr was a senior companion and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death...
, all of whom accepted it. Abu Bakr, who used to purchase slaves to set them free in accordance with Muhammad's principle of equality, attracted a large number of converts. Nevertheless, the converts remained small, and Muhammad concentrated on quietly building a small, but spiritually strong, community.
Around 613
613
Year 613 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 613 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Clotaire II reunites the Frankish kingdoms...
, the Qur'an then commanded Muhammad to "admonish your nearest kinsmen", initiating the phase of public preaching. One day he climbed Mount as-Safa, and called out the tribal chiefs. After receiving assurances that the chiefs, who reportedly never heard Muhammad tell lies, would believe him, he declared the Oneness of God
Tawhid
Tawhid is the concept of monotheism in Islam. It is the religion's most fundamental concept and holds God is one and unique ....
. Later Muhammad organized dinners
Hadith of warning
The warning hadith , also known as "invitation of the close families" is a famous Islamic hadith, that is recorded in all Muslim books through different chain of narration, which is considered to be mutawatir and sahih...
in which he conveyed and advocated the substance of his message. At these events, Muhammad met fierce opposition from one of his uncles, Abu Lahab.
Most Meccans ignored it and a few mocked him, while some others became his followers. According to Ibn Sad
Ibn Sad
Muhammad ibn Sa'd ibn Mani' al-Baghdadi or Ibn Sa'd , often called Katib ul-Waqidi, the scribe of Waqidi.-Biography:Ibn Sa'd was born in the year 168AH/784CE) and died in 230AH/845CE. He was a Sunni Muslim scholar of Islam and an Arabian biographer, received his training in the tradition from...
, in this period the Quraysh "did not criticize what he 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." The Qur'anic exegesis however maintained that the persecution of Muslims began as soon as Muhammad began preaching in public. According to Welch
Alford T. Welch
Alford T. Welch is a Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. Welch got his Ph.D. degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1970. He also holds a M.Div. degree on Biblical language, literature and Near Eastern history from Southern Baptist...
, 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
Moral responsibility
Moral responsibility usually refers to the idea that a person has moral obligations in certain situations. Disobeying moral obligations, then, becomes grounds for justified punishment. Deciding what justifies punishment, if anything, is a principle concern of ethics.People who have moral...
of man towards his creator: the resurrection of the dead, God's final judgment followed by vivid descriptions of the tortures in hell and pleasures in paradise; the wonders of nature and 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.
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 oligarchy of the Quraysh rejected the ideas that Muhammad preached, since they would have to surrender their privileges. The Quraysh also did not accept Muhammad as a prophet since he came from a clan less powerful than his opponents'.
Muhammad, however, wanted to attract the influential to support his cause. In one attempt to win over the leaders of the Quraysh he was disrupted by a blind man. Muhammad, anxious that he may lose the opportunity to convey his message, turned away from the blind man. The Qur'an, however, rebuked Muhammad for turning away from the blind man.
Opposition
Conservative opposition arose to Muhammad's speeches. 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 Himself (God) and mentioned the perdition of their fathers who died in disbelief." 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.Some of the ranking and influential leaders of the Quraysh tried and 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, but Muhammad refused. During this period, Muhammad urged his followers to be pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
, commanding them to "deal gently with the infidels".
Persecution
The relations between the Muslims and their pagan fellow-tribesmen rapidly deteriorated. While the Quraysh had not previously shown significant opposition to Muhammad and his followers, his denunciation of the Meccan idols provoked hostile reactions. Muhammad was mainly protected from physical harm due to belonging to the Banu Hashim. However, many reacted in anger, which led to several attempts on his life. One such attempt was made by Uqba ibn Abu Mu'ayt who strangled Muhammad with a garment, until he was pushed away by Abu Bakr. In another attempt, Abu Jahl, one of the tribal leaders, attempted a pre-planned murder, as he tried to smash Muhammad in the head with a rock.There are many records, at great length, of the persecution and ill-treatment of Muhammad's followers. At first the more traditional Quraysh taunted Muslims, and interrupted their prayers. But this later changed and Muslim were physically hurt, starved, harassed and boycotted. If this didn't work, the Muslims would be staked out on the ground under the scorching heat of the Arabian desert
Arabian Desert
The Arabian Desert is a vast desert wilderness stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area of...
.
Sumayya bint Khubbat, a slave of Abu Jahl and a prominent Meccan leader, is famous as the first martyr of Islam, having been killed with a spear by her master when she refused to give up her faith. Bilal
Bilal ibn Ribah
Bilal ibn Rabah or Bilal al-Habashi was an Ethiopian born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.The Islamic prophet Muhammad chose a former African slave Bilal as his muezzin, effectively making him the first muezzin of the Islamic faith...
, another Muslim slave, suffered torture at the hands of Umayya ibn khalaf by placing a heavy rock on his chest to force his conversion.
According to Marco Schöller, during this period, Muhammad "suffered from humiliation, derision and from being treated either like a madman or an outcast. Some people would even fling pebbles at him while he was praying and others kicked stones at him so that he had to run away with bleeding feet." The Quraysh was however reluctant to physically hurt Muhammad, since it would open up a blood feud between Muhammad and Abu Talib's clan, and the clan that hurt Muhammad. Brazenly initiating such a blood feud would also undercut the legitimacy and moral of authority of tribal chiefs in general.
Migration to Ethiopia
615
Year 615 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 615 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* The Edict of Paris grants extensive...
, at a time when his followers were suffering open violence, Muhammad arranged for his followers to emigrate to the Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n Kingdom of Aksum and found a small colony there under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian king. While the traditions view the persecutions of Meccans to have played the major role in the emigration, William Montgomery Watt
William Montgomery Watt
William Montgomery Watt was a Scottish historian, an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh...
, a professor of Islamic studies, 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."
Conversion of Umar
Umar ibn al-Khattab initially reacted to Muhammad's preaching by ardently opposing it. He seems to have been a devout pagan, angered by Muhammad's preaching which had led to divisions within Meccan society. He eventually decided to kill Muhammad, whom he held responsible for the divisions.A man told Umar, while Umar was en route to his planned assassination of Muhammad, that he should deal with his sister who had secretly converted to Islam. He then rushed to his sister's place, and heard her reciting the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. He considered the words beautiful and noble, and immediately converted to Islam. He made his conversion public instantly, even to the most hostile Quraysh. The effect of Umar's conversion was that Muslims could now pray openly at the Ka'ba, as the pagans were reluctant to confront Umar, known for his forceful character.
Three questions
According to Muslim tradition, the Quraysh sought to discredit Muhammad theologically after failing to stop him by other means. They sent a delegation to Yathrib to consult with the Jewish tribes. The JewsJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, who had far greater experience with prophets, supplied three diagnostic questions to be asked from Muhammad:
- What is the story of the young men who left their people long ago?
- Who was the traveler who had reached the ends of the then known world?
- What is a description of the Holy SpiritHoly SpiritHoly Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
?
They advised that if Muhammad was unable to answer those questions, he was a fraud. Islamic tradition states that Muhammad said he will answer the questions tomorrow, without saying "Insha-Allah" (Arabic for "if God wills"), which resulted in the delay of revelation to Muhammad. An admonition is also contained in the part of Qur'an (18:23-24) that was revealed along with the answers to the questions posed by Quraysh at the behest of the local Jews. After a lengthy, and rather embarrassing silence, Muhammad finally answered the questions (in accordance with the Qur'an):
- These young men are the "Seven SleepersSeven SleepersThe Seven Sleepers, commonly called the "Seven Sleepers of Ephesus", refers to a group of Christian youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus around 250 AD, to escape a persecution of Christians being conducted during the reign of the Roman emperor Decius...
of EphesusEphesusEphesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
" and further description was delivered as SuraSuraA sura is a division of the Qur'an, often referred to as a chapter. The term chapter is sometimes avoided, as the suras are of unequal length; the shortest sura has only three ayat while the longest contains 286 ayat...
h Kahf. - The traveler was "Dhul-QarnaynDhul-QarnaynDhul-Qarnayn , literally "He of the Two Horns" or "He of the two centuries" is a figure mentioned in the Qur'an, the sacred scripture of Islam, where he is described as a great and righteous ruler who built a long wall that keeps Gog and Magog from attacking the people who he met on his journey...
", whose journeys are also delivered as Surah Kahf. - This question can't be answered since the Holy Spirit exceeds human understanding.
Though the answers were considered satisfactory, the Quraysh did not convert to Islam.
Boycott
According to tradition, the leaders of Makhzum and Banu 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 terms imposed on Banu Hashim, as reported by Ibn Ishaq, were "that no one should marry their women nor give women for them to marry; and that no one should either buy from them or sell to them, and when they agreed on that they wrote it in a deed." The boycott lasted for two or three years but eventually collapsed mainly because it was not achieving its purpose, and because the boycott had caused extreme privation and the sympathizers within the Quraysh finally united to annul the agreement."Year of Sorrows"
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 in mortal danger 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 ibn Adi and the protection of the tribe of Banu Nawfal
Banu Nawfal
Banu Nawfal is a notable Arabic sub-clan of the Quraish tribe. Its progenitor is Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf .Chief: Mut`im ibn ‘Adi...
made it possible for him safely to re-enter his native city.
Isra and Mi'raj
Some time in 620, Muhammad told his followers that he had experienced the Isra and Miraj, a supernatural journey said to have been accomplished in one night along with the angel GabrielGabriel
In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...
. 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
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque also known as al-Aqsa, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem...
in Jerusalem. In the second part, the Miraj, Muhammad is said to have toured heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
and hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, and spoken with earlier prophets, such as Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
, and Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
.
Ibn Ishaq
Muḥammad ibn Isḥaq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār was an Arab Muslim historian and hagiographer...
, author of first biography of Muhammad, presents this event as a spiritual experience while later historians like Al-Tabari
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was a prominent and influential Sunni scholar and exegete of the Qur'an from Persia...
and Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir
Ismail ibn Kathir was a Muslim muhaddith, Faqih, historian, and commentator.-Biography:His full name was Abu Al-Fida, 'Imad Ad-Din, Isma'il bin 'Umar bin Kathir, Al-Qurashi, Al-Busrawi...
present it as a physical journey. Some western scholars of Islam hold that the oldest Muslim tradition identified the journey as one traveled through the heavens from the sacred enclosure at Mecca to the celestial Kaʿba (heavenly prototype of the Ka'ba); but later tradition identified Muhammad's journey from Mecca to the abode of sanctuary (bayt al-maqdis) in Jerusalem.
Pledges at Aqabah
Many people were visiting Mecca on business or as pilgrims to the Kabaa. Muhammad took this opportunity to look for a new home for himself and his followers. After several unsuccessful negotiations, he found hope with some men from Yathrib (later called MedinaMedina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
). The Arab population of Yathrib were somewhat familiar with monotheism because a Jewish community existed in that city.
Following the pledges at Aqabah, Muhammad encouraged his followers to emigrate to Yathrib. As before, with the migration to Abyssinia
Migration to Abyssinia
The migration known as the first Hijarat was made in two groups totalling more than a hundred persons. According to Islamic tradition, eleven male and five female Sahabah, the Muslims who originally converged in Mecca, sought refuge from Quraysh persecution in the Kingdom of Aksum in of in the...
, the Quraysh attempted to stop the emigration. However, almost all Muslims managed to leave.
Failed assassination
Muhammad himself stayed behind, in order to see to it that all Muslims managed to leave. Quraysh tribe members meanwhile plotted to assassinate Muhammad. They decided that one man from every clan would stab Muhammad at the same time, making every clan in Mecca guilty of Muhammad's murder. The theory was that Muhammad's own clan would be reluctant to avenge his death, since that would entail fighting everybody, and the assassins would not be put to death.The day of the scheduled assassination, Muhammad asked his friend Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr was a senior companion and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death...
, whom he'd asked to stay behind, to make preparations for departure. He also asked his cousin Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
to stay behind to settle outstanding economic obligations. Muhammad slipped from his home the night of the planned assassination. Ali had worn Muhammad's cloak, leading the assassins to think Muhammad had not yet departed. By the time the assassins came to know of this Muhammad had already departed.
Following his escape from Mecca, the Quraysh placed a bounty of one hundred camels on him. Meanwhile, to further trick his enemies, Muhammad travelled south for a few days instead of north to Yathrib. After a few days he took a relatively untrammeled path to the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. From there he followed the coastline up to Yathrib, arriving outside the town proper on Monday, September 27, 622.
Ali survived the plot, but risked his life again by staying in Mecca to carry out Muhammed's instructions: to restore to their owners all the goods and properties that had been entrusted to Muhammad for safekeeping. Ali then went to Medina with his mother, Fatima binte Asad, and Muhammed's daughter, Fatimah, as well as two other women.
External links
- Biography of prophet mohammed — islamvision.org
- Muhammad , article on Enyclopaedia Britannica Online by Seyyed Hossein NasrSeyyed Hossein NasrSeyyed Hossein Nasr is an Iranian University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, and a prominent Islamic philosopher...