Early tragedies.
The prophet’s early life was full of tragedies. It was common practice for Quirash women to give their children to the wandering Bedouin tribe. The Bedouin women would take the children to the desert where the air was pure and free from disease. The name of Muhammad’s Bedouin women was Halinah. Muhammad returned to his mother when he was 6 years old but unfortunately she died that year. Muhammad’s father had died before he was born so Muhammad went to live with his granddad who was 80 years old, and he died 2 years after taking custody of Muhammad. After his granddad’s death, Muhammad was passed to his uncle Abu Talib who was a wealthy merchant.
Muhammad grows up
Muhammad’s first job was as a shepherd and when his uncle found him to be trustworthy and working he took him into business. Through his uncle’s business Muhammad earned himself the name Al-Amin which means trustworthy one. Although Muhammad worked in business he was ashamed of the way the other Makkans carried out their business transactions. Muhammad’s appearance was that he had dark eyes and hair and a piercing expression. He was also thoughtful and intelligent and had a decisive manner. He was kind and had a lively sense of humour. All these qualities led him to be popular among his colleagues.
Muhammad gets married
Muhammad continued to impress merchants by his hard work and fair dealings, one of these merchants was a wealthy widow called Kadijah. She employed him to supervise her caravan (camel train) trade. When she was 40 and Muhammad was only 25, she built up the courage to ask Muhammad to marry her. She became his only love and they had 6 children together. They had four daughters called Zainab, Ruqaiyyah, Umm Kultham and Fatimah. They also had two boys who died in infancy.
The night of power
Muhammad spent lots of time in a cave on mount Hira. He spent the whole month of Ramadan praying. Although Muhammad could not read or write he was a well respected man and considered to be close to God. He thought deeply and was kind and wise. Muhammad had known the Ka’bah all his life and also knew all its shrines and alters. But he also knew what greed, exploitation, lack of compassion and corruption it had brought. Muhammad found one thing puzzling about the Ka’bah, how could not understand why people would search for guidance from objects of stone. So he spent his life searching for spiritual guidance.
The revelation
It was the year 610 CE in Ramadan when Muhammad was 40 years old when the Night of Power or Laylat-ul-Qadr happened. Muhammad was meditating in a cave on mount Hira when he heard the voice of an angel, it said “Iqra” meaning recite or read and a roll of silk with fiery writing on it appeared before him. Muhammad told the angel that he could not read or write. The angel repeated the command, “Iqra”. Again Muhammad said he could not read or write, he did this three times and each time the angel repeated the command. Then a pressure built up inside him and he knew what the writing said and what the words meant. He spoke them aloud. It read, “Proclaim! In the name of your lord and sustainer who created man from a clot of congealed blood, speak these words aloud! Your lord is the most generous one- he who has taught the pen, who reveals directly, things from beyond human knowledge.”
After this experience came the temptation of doubt. Muhammad returned home to Kadijah and he thought that his experience might have been a trick of the devil. Kadijah had a cousin called Waraqa ibn Nufal who was a Christian. Waraqa ibn Nufal was 100 years old and blind but Kadijah respected his judgment. Waraqa ibn Nufals said that the message was from God and Kadijah became the first person to believe in Muhammad and his message. The second person to believe in the message was his uncle’s son Ali who was 10 years old, the third was a boy called Zaid and the fourth was a man called Abu Bakr. Muhammad did not talk openly about his experience on the night of power.
Muhammad did not receive any more revelations for another two years, the prophet’s faith was being tested. He became fearful of what this meant, but then an angel appeared. The angel told him that he was to go out into public and proclaim the messages he was receiving. From that day on he continued to receive messages.
Growing opposition in Makkah
As soon as Muhammad got told by Allah to spread the message, he did so immediately. It was hard trying to get people to believe that there was only one God and that life after death was real. It was especially hard for Muhammad to go out into Makkah and preach openly, everybody was amazed. Crowds gathered but nobody took him seriously and they ridiculed him. The prophets own tribe was in charge of the Ka’bah and they thought that their profit was in danger. They never hurt Muhammad but they threatened him on many occasions. The people of the Quirash called Muhammad a traitor, a sorcerer, they said that he was insulting God and that he was splitting up families, but these threats had no affect on Muhammad. Some people in Makkah became Muslim, but others were totally opposed to the idea. One slave called Bilal was left in the desert with a heavy rock on his chest. But the Muslims bravery converted others to the religion. In 622 CE the news of Muhammad’s teachings had reach another city called Madinah and the Madinahns were so impressed that they invited Muhammad to go and teach in their city.
The Hijrah
When a large number of the Makkahn Muslims migrated to Abyssinia, the leaders of paganism sent an ultimatum to the tribe of the Prophet, demanding that he should be outlawed and delivered to the pagans and put to death. Every member of the tribe, Muslim and non-Muslim rejected the demand. Then the city decided on a complete refusal of the tribe: Nobody was to talk to them or have commercial or matrimonial relations with them. Some of them gave way, yet nobody would hand over the Prophet to his persecutors. At the same time, the document broadcasting the pact of refusal which had been hung in the temple, was found, as Muhammad had predicted, eaten by white ants, that spared nothing but the words God and Muhammad. The refusal was lifted, yet due to the deprivations that were undergone the wife and Abu Talib, the chief of the tribe and uncle of the Prophet died soon after.
The annual pilgrimage of the Ka’bah brought people from all parts of Arabia. The Prophet Muhammad tried to persuade one tribe after another to afford him shelter and allow him to carry on his mission of reform. Finally he met half a dozen inhabitants of Madinah who being neighbour of the Jews and the Christians had some idea of prophets and Divine messages. So these Madinans decided not to lose the opportunity of getting an advance over others, and immediately welcomed Islam. The following year a dozen new Madinans took the oath of allegiance to Muhammad. The people of Madinah invited the Prophet and his Makkahn companions to migrate to their town. Secretly and in small groups, a large number of the Muslims emigrated to Madinah. When the Makkahns found out they devised a plot to assassinate the Prophet. It was now impossible for him to return home.
Not content with the expulsion of the Muslims, the Makkahns sent an ultimatum to the Madinans, demanding the surrender of Muhammad and his companions. After a year of preparation, the Makkahns invaded Madinah. There was now four times as many Makkans as there was Muslims. After a bloody encounter at Uhud, the Makkans retired. The armed forces of Makkah did not want to take too much risk, or endanger their safety.
The Prophet tried once more to reconcile the Makkahns and proceed to Makkah. The barring of the route of their Northern caravans had ruined their economy. The Prophet promised them transit security, exile of their fugitives and the fulfillment of every condition they wanted, agreeing even to return to Madinah without achieving the pilgrimage of the Ka’bah. It was then that the two parties promised at Hudaibiyah in the suburbs of Mecca to keep peace between the many tribes involved.
The farewell pilgrimage and final sermon
In 632 CE the prophet was aware that his life was coming to and end. He returned to Makkah with a large crowd of followers and delivered a speech filled with emotion.
" O People, listen well to my words, for I do not know whether, after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and take these words to those who could not be present today.
O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Treat others justly so that no one would be unjust to you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds. God has forbidden you to take usury (riba), therefore all riba obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital, however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer inequity. God has judged that there shall be no riba and that all the riba due to `Abbas ibn `Abd al Muttalib shall henceforth be waived.
Every right arising out of homicide in pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived and the first such right that I waive is that arising from the murder of Rabi`ah ibn al Harith ibn `Abd al Muttalib.
O Men, the Unbelievers indulge in tampering with the calendar in order to make permissible that which God forbade, and to forbid that which God has made permissible. With God the months are twelve in number. Four of them are sacred, three of these are successive and one occurs singly between the months of Jumada and Sha`ban. Beware of the devil, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things.
O People, it is true that you have certain rights over your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under God's trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers. It is your right and they do not make friends with anyone of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste...
O People, listen to me in earnest, worship God (The One Creator of the Universe), perform your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during the month of Ramadan, and give your financial obligation (zakah) of your wealth. Perform Hajj if you can afford to.
All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.
Remember, one day you will appear before God (The Creator) and you will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.
O People, no prophet or messenger will come after me and no new faith will be. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words which I convey to you. I am leaving you with the Book of God and my Sunnah, if you follow them you will never go astray.
All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly. Be my witness O God, that I have conveyed your message to your people." The prophet’s final sermon.
In his final sermon Muhammad summarized the heart of Islam:
- Belief in One God without images or symbols
- Equality of all the believers without divisions of race or class
- Sanctity of life, property and honor
- Elimination of interest, and of vendettas and private justice
- Better treatment of women
- Compulsory inheritance and distribution of the property of deceased persons among near relatives of both sexes, and removal of the possibility of the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few.
Death
On his return to Madinah, he fell ill; and a few weeks later, when he took his last breath, he had the satisfaction that he had accomplished the task which he had set out to do - to preach to the world the message of Allah.
He created a well-disciplined State out of the chaos that was already there and gave peace in a place of the war; between the mosque and the castle; he left a new system of law, which gave out impartial justice. Above all, the Prophet Muhammad set a noble example and fully practiced all that he taught to others.
Islam by Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood
Islam by Sue Penney
