1.
Muhammad
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Muhammad is the prophet of Islam. From a secular historical perspective he was a religious, political, from an Islamic perspective, he was Gods Messenger sent to confirm the essential teachings of monotheism preached previously by Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is viewed as the prophet of God in all branches of Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings, practices, born approximately 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, Muhammad was orphaned at an early age, he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad gained few early followers, and met hostility from some Meccan tribes, to escape persecution, Muhammad sent some followers to Abyssinia before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina in the year 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, in Medina, Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina. In December 629, after eight years of intermittent conflict with Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts, the attack went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed. In 632, a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, he fell ill, before his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. The revelations, which Muhammad reported receiving until his death, form the verses of the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the Word of God and around which the religion is based. Besides the Quran, Muhammads teachings and practices, found in the Hadith and sira literature, are upheld by Muslims. The name Muhammad means praiseworthy and appears four times in the Quran, Muhammad is sometimes addressed by designations deriving from his state at the time of the address, thus he is referred to as the enwrapped in Quran 73,1 and the shrouded in Quran 74,1. In Sura Al-Ahzab 33,40 God singles out Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets, the Quran also refers to Muhammad as Aḥmad more praiseworthy. The name Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim, begins with the kunya Abū, the Quran is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe it represents the words of God revealed by the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad, the Quran, however, provides minimal assistance for Muhammads chronological biography, most Quranic verses do not provide significant historical context. An important source may be found in the works by writers of the 2nd. These include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad, which additional information about Muhammads life. The earliest surviving written sira is Ibn Ishaqs Life of Gods Messenger written c.767 CE, although the work was lost, this sira was used verbatim at great length by Ibn Hisham and Al-Tabari. Another early history source is the history of Muhammads campaigns by al-Waqidi, many scholars accept the earliest biographies as accurate, though their accuracy is unascertainable
2.
Prophetic biography
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In the Arabic language the word sīra or sīrat comes from the verb sāra, which means to travel or to be on a journey. A persons sīra is that person’s journey through life, or biography, encompassing their birth, events in their life, manners and characteristics, in modern usage it may also refer to a persons resume. It is sometimes written as seera, sirah or sirat, all meaning life or journey, in Islamic literature, the plural form, siyar, could also refer to the rules of war and dealing with non-Muslims. The phrase sīrat rasūl allāh, or al-sīra al-nabawiyya, refers to the study of the life of Muhammad, the term sīra was first linked to the biography of Muhammad by Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, and later popularized by the work of Ibn Hisham. In the first two centuries of Islamic history, sīra was more known as maghāzī, which is now considered to be only a subset of sīra. Early works of sīra consist of historical reports, or akhbār. Sometimes the word tradition or hadith is used instead, the sīra literature includes a variety of heterogeneous materials, containing mainly stories of military expeditions undertaken by Muhammad and his companions. These stories are intended as historical accounts and used for veneration, the sīra also includes a number of written documents, such as political treaties, military enlistments, assignments of officials, letters to foreign rulers, and so forth. It also records some of the speeches and sermons made by Muhammad, some of the sīra accounts include verses of poetry commemorating certain events and battles. While some of which are considered to be of a quality and lacking authenticity. At later periods, certain type of stories included in sīra developed into their own separate genres, one genre is concerned with stories of prophetic miracles, called aʿlām al-nubuwa. Another genre, called faḍāʾil wa mathālib — tales that show the merits and faults of individual companions, enemies, and other notable contemporaries of Muhammad. Some works of sīra also positioned the story of Muhammad as part of a narrative that includes stories of prophets, Persian Kings, pre-Islamic Arab tribes. Parts of sīra were inspired by, or elaborate upon, events mentioned in the Quran and these parts were often used by writers of tafsir and asbab al-nuzul to provide background information for events mentioned in certain ayat. The main difference between a hadith and a report is that a hadith is not concerned with an event as such. Rather the purpose of hadith is to record a religious doctrine as a source of Islamic law. By contrast, while a khabar may carry some legal or theological implications, in terms of structure, a hadith and a khabar are very similar. Thus starting from the 8th and 9th century, many scholars have devoted their efforts to both kinds of texts equally, also some historians consider the sīra and maghāzī literature to be a subset of Hadith
3.
Muhammad in Mecca
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The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born and lived in Mecca for the first 52 years of his life. Orphaned early in life, he known as a prominent merchant. He married his first wife, the wealthy 40-year-old widow Khadijah at the age of 25 and he would also marry Aisha later in his life. 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, some of his peers respected his words and became his followers. Many others, including leaders, opposed, ridiculed and eventually boycotted his clan. 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 he had many followers who agreed to help and assist him. For the Muslims, Muhammad is just the last prophet of the unique religion preached by the other prophets before him, the Quran is considered to be the most credible primary source for the life of Muhammad in Mecca. Next in importance are the works survived from the writers of 3rd. Modern biographers of Muhammad try to reconstruct the economic, political and social aspects of Mecca, the historical works by later Muslim writers include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him, which provide further information on his life. The earliest surviving written sira is Sirah Rasul Allah by Ibn Ishaq, although the original work is lost, portions of it survive in the recensions of Ibn Hisham died 833 CE) and Al-Tabari. Many, but not all, scholars accept the accuracy of these biographies, henri Lammens rejected all the accounts of Muhammads 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 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 and 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. Wilferd Madelung has rejected the stance of indiscriminately dismissing everything not included in early sources, sunni Islam For Sunnis, after the Quran 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 1,600,000 traditions, Most of these traditions deal with the life of Muhammad
4.
Hegira
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The Hegira or Hijrah is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina, in the year 622. In June 622, after being warned of a plot to him, Muhammad secretly left his home in Mecca to emigrate to Yathrib,320 km north of Mecca. Yathrib was soon renamed Madīnat an-Nabī, but an-Nabī was soon dropped, so its name is Medina, the Hijrah is also often identified erroneously with the start of the Islamic calendar, which was set to Julian 16 July 622. Muhammad himself did not join this emigration, in that year, his followers fled Meccas leading tribe, the Quraysh, who sent emissaries to Ethiopia to bring them back to the Arabian Peninsula. However, the Negus refused to send them back, in Mecca, at the pilgrimage season of 620, Muhammad met six men of the Banu Khazraj from Medina, propounded to them the doctrines of Islam, and recited portions of the Quran. Impressed by this, the six embraced Islam, and at the Pilgrimage of 621 and this is known as the First Pledge of al-Aqaba. At their request, Muhammad sent with them Mus‘ab ibn Umair to teach them the instructions of Islam, biographers have recorded the considerable success of Musab ibn Umair in preaching the message of Islam and bringing people under the umbrella of Islam in Medina. They invited him to come to Medina as an arbitrator to reconcile among the hostile tribes and this is known as the second pledge at al-Aqabah, and was a politico-religious success that paved the way for his and his followers immigration to Medina. Following the pledges, Muhammad encouraged his followers to migrate to Medina, during the early seventh century, Medina was inhabited by two types of population, Jewish and pagan Arabs. The Jews there had three principal clans – Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Nadir, and Banu Qurayza, the Arab pagans had two tribes – the Banu Aws and Khazraj. At that time, the Jews there had the hand with their large settlement. Traditional rules for maintaining law and order became dysfunctional, and, without a man with considerable authority over things. As the pagan Arabs of Medina lived in proximity to the Jews, they had gained some knowledge about their scriptures. According to Muslims tradition, after receiving divine direction to depart Mecca, Muhammad began taking preparation, on the night of his departure, Muhammads house was besieged by men of the Quraysh who planned to kill him in the morning. Soon, Muhammad joined Abu Bakr, left the city, next morning, the besiegers were frustrated to find Ali on Muhammads bed. Fooled and thwarted by Muhammads plan, they rummaged the city in search for him, and some of them reached the threshold of the cave. When the Quraysh came to know of Muhammads escape, they announced heavy reward for bringing Muhammad back to them, unable to resist this temptation, pursuers scattered in all directions. After staying for three days, Muhammad and Abu Bakr resumed their journey and were pursued by Suraqa bin Malik, but each time he neared Muhammads party, his horse stumbled and he finally abandoned his desire of capturing Muhammad
5.
Muhammad in Medina
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The period of Muhammad in Medina started with the Hijra in 622 and ended with the conquest of Mecca in December 629. A delegation from Medina, consisting of the representatives of the important clans of Medina. There was fighting in Yathrib mainly involving its Arab and Jewish inhabitants for around a hundred years before 620, the delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow-citizens to accept Muhammad into their community and physically protect him as one of themselves. Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina until virtually all of his followers had left Mecca, being alarmed at the departure of Muslims, according to the tradition, the Meccans plotted to assassinate him. He fooled the Meccans who were watching him, and secretly slipped away from the town, by 622, Muhammad had emigrated to Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis. Following the emigration, the Meccans seized the properties of the Muslim emigrants in Mecca, Muhammad also adopted some features of the Jewish worship and customs such as fasting on the Yom Kippur day. According to Alford Welch, the Jewish practice of having three daily prayer rituals appears to have been a factor in the introduction of the Islamic midday prayer. The first group of converts to Islam in Medina were the clans who had not produced great leaders for themselves but had suffered from warlike leaders from other clans. This was followed by the acceptance of Islam by the pagan population of Medina. This was, according to Ibn Ishaq, influenced by the conversion to Islam of Sad ibn Muadh, Muslims, like Jews, were at that time praying towards Jerusalem. In the Constitution of Medina, Muhammad demanded the Jews political loyalty in return for religious, the Jewish clans however kept aloof from Islam though in the course of time there were a few converts from them. After his migration to Medina, Muhammads attitude towards Christians and Jews changed, the Quran at this time states that it will relate to the Children of Israel most of that about which they differ. Muhammad delivered Quranic verses permitting the Muslims, those who have been expelled from their homes, in March 624, Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Muslims set an ambush for the Meccans at Badr, aware of the plan, the Meccan caravan eluded the Muslims. Meanwhile, a force from Mecca was sent to protect the caravan, the force did not return home upon hearing that the caravan was safe. The battle of Badr began in March 624, though outnumbered more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom, only fourteen Muslims died. They had also succeeded in killing many of the Meccan leaders, Muhammad himself did not fight, directing the battle from a nearby hut alongside Abu Bakr. In the weeks following the battle, Meccans visited Medina in order to ransom captives from Badr, many of these had belonged to wealthy families, and were likely ransomed for a considerable sum
6.
Farewell Pilgrimage
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The Farewell Pilgrimage was the last and only Hajj pilgrimage Muhammad, prophet of Islam, participated in 632 CE. Muhammad lived in Medina for 10 years and had not performed Hajj in full, the people of Medina and surrounding towns gathered in the city to accompany the Islamic Prophet during the Hajj rituals. Before his departure, he appointed Abu Dujana Ansari as governor of Medina during his own absence, on the 25th of Dhu al-Qidah,4 nights before the end of Dhu al-Qidah, he left Medina, accompanied by all his wives. Before arriving in Mecca, Muhammad stayed at Miqat and taught people the manners of wearing Ihram and he made ghusl and then put on Ihram for Hajj. His Ihram clothing was two pieces of Yemeni unsewed white cotton that later on became his shroud, and moved on so that he did his noon prayers in the mosque of Shajara, later, Muslims built some mosques at the places Muhammad stayed prayed. The next day, Muhammad and his companions arrived Masjid al-Haram and they entered from the gate of Dar al-Salam, went to the Kaaba and touched black stone. Then Muhammad proceeded to Circumambulation of the Kaaba, finally once again touched Black Stone, kissed it and cried long near it. Then, he did two Rakat of prayer behind the The Station of Abraham. After his prayers, he drank from the Zamzam well, prayed and then went to Mounts Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, when he arrived there, turned toward Kaaba and long prayed to God and jog-trotted part of the way. When he arrived at Mount Al-Marwah, stopped and prayed, on the eighth sunset of Dhu al-Hijjah, Muhammad left for Mina and stayed there for a night. Then he passed along on his camel, al Qaswa, till he reached Mount Arafat, as he ascended the mountain, he was surrounded by thousands of pilgrims chanting Talbiyah and Takbir. By Muhammad’s order, a tent was erected for him on the east side of Mount Arafat at a spot called Namirah and he rested until the sun passed the zenith, then he rode on his camel until he reached the valley of Uranah. There he delivered a sermon about different social rights of Muslims and led Zuhr, then he moved to plain of Arafat, stayed there and spent the afternoon in supplication. Upon the sunset, Muhammad rode towards Mashar al-Haram and advised pilgrims that slowly pass the way, Islamic Prophet did his Maghrib and Isha prayer in Mashar al-Haram then made a rest. At the down, he prayed and supplicated before God, which is so much recommended in Hajj, in the morning, he went towards Mina and straightly to Jamrah of Aqaba and threw seven pebbles at it. He then went to place of sacrifice and sacrificed 63 camels and he gave Ali 37 camels from a hundred camels he had brought with himself from Medina to sacrifice. They eat little from what they sacrificed and gave the rest for charity, then a barber got his head shaved by his order. He went to Mecca, circumambulated the Kaaba and did Zuhr prayer in Masjid al-Haram
7.
Muhammad's first revelation
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According to Islam, Muhammads first revelation was the event in which Muhammad was visited by the archangel Gabriel in 610 CE, who revealed to him a verse from the Koran. The event took place in a cave called Hira, located on the mountain called Jabal an-Nour, near Makkah. According to biographies of Muhammad, while on retreat in a cave near Mecca, Gabriel appears before him. When he was nearly 40, he used to spend hours alone in prayer. He was concerned with the ignorance of divine guidance, social unrest, injustice, widespread discrimination, fighting among tribes and this created inclination in him to engage himself in solitary worshipping. Thereupon the angel caught hold of him and embraced him heavily, and thy Lord is Most Bountiful, – Who taught by the pen– Taught man that which he knew not. Perplexed by this new experience, Muhammad made his way to home where he was consoled by his wife Khadijah, Waraqah was familiar with Jewish and Christian scriptures. Islamic tradition holds that Waraqah, upon hearing the description, testified to Muhammads prophethood, when Muhammad told him what had happened to him, Waraqah replied, This is Namus that Allah sent to Moses. I wish I could live up to the time when people would turn you out. Muhammad asked, Will they drive me out, a few days later Waraqah died. Tabari and Ibn Ishaq write that Muhammad told Zubayr, when I was midway on the mountain and you are the apostle of Allah and I am Gabriel. I raised my head towards heaven to see who was speaking and you are the apostle of Allah and I am Gabriel. I stood gazing at him moving neither forward nor backward, then I began to turn my face away from him, there is doubt about the period of time between Muhammads first and second experiences of revelation. Ibn Ishaq writes that three years elapsed from the time that Muhammad received the first revelation until he started to preach publicly, bukhari takes chapter 74 as the second revelation however chapter 68 has strong claims to be the second revelation. Ḥadīth is literally speech, recorded saying or tradition of Muhammad validated by isnad, with Sirah Rasul Allah these comprise the sunnah, according to Aishah, the life of Muhammad was practical implementation of Quran. The first and foremost exegesis/tafsir of the Quran is found in hadith of Muhammad, therefore, study of hadith elaborates the importance and context of pertinent event. He used to go in seclusion in the cave of Hira where he used to worship continuously for days before his desire to see his family. He used to take him the journey food for the stay
8.
Military career of Muhammad
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The military career of Muhammad lasted for the final ten years of his life when he served as the leader of the ummah, the head of state at Medina. Muhammad spent his last ten years, from 622 to 632, Muhammad and his Companions had earlier migrated from Mecca to Medina in what is known as the Hijra following years of persecution by the Meccans. They also sent out parties against Arabic-speaking communities ruled under the Roman Empire, Muhammad was believed by the Muslims to be divinely chosen to spread Islam in the world, and Muhammad ultimately permitted warfare as one aspect of this struggle. After the first battle of Badr against the Quraysh, he is reported as having said We have returned from the lesser Jihad to the greater Jihad, Muslims who did not migrate were subject to increased persecution. And the threat to the life of both the Ansar and the Muslims was such that they were reported as having to sleep by their weapons all night, sa‘d then challenged him to commit any such folly if he wanted to court a risk to the Meccan trading caravans. As tensions escalated the Muslims began to take defensive measures such as stationing guards around Muhammad, the Muslims, who fled Meccas persecution to Medina, had left all their possessions and houses in Mecca, which were unlawfully expropriated by the Meccans. This sacrifice is repeatedly mentioned in the Quran where they are promised forgiveness, the Muslims were initially not given permission to fight. Small groups of men were sent for intelligence gathering. The Caravan raids refer to a series of raids which Muhammad, the raids were generally offensive and carried out to gather intelligence or seize the trade goods of Caravans financed by the Quraysh. The Muslims declared that the raids were justified and that God gave them permission to defend against the Meccans persecution of Muslims, by expanding their military operations and negotiating with the nomads, the Muslims had created an alliance with greater resources than Mecca, alone, could muster. The Meccans in their turn made alliances with Bedouin tribes, two large alliances faced each other, poised for further warfare. By old custom, during the months of pilgrimage, tribal hostilities stopped, in March 628, Muhammad put on the garb of a pilgrim and taking a force and camels for sacrifice, set out for Mecca. According to the early chronicler Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad took 700 men, according to Watt, Muhammad took 1400 to 1600 men. The Meccans did not accept the Muslim professions of peaceful intent and sent out a party against them. The Muslims evaded them by taking a route through the hills around Mecca. Ibn Ishaq describes a period of embassies and counter-embassies, including a bold foray by Uthman ibn Affan into the city of Mecca. The Meccans told the Muslims that Uthman had been killed and open warfare seemed imminent, Uthman was revealed to be alive, and the Meccans expressed their willingness to negotiate a truce. Some elements wanted a confrontation, but Muhammad held out for a peaceful resolution, the treaty of Hudaybiyyah committed both sides to a ten-year truce
9.
Diplomatic career of Muhammad
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Muhammad is documented as having engaged as a diplomat during his propagation of Islam and leadership over the growing Muslim Ummah. He established a method of communication with other tribal or national leaders through letters, assigned envoys, or by visiting them personally, instances of written correspondence include letters to Heraclius, the Negus and Khosrau. Although it is likely that Muhammad had initiated contact with leaders within the Arabian Peninsula. When Muhammad arrived in Medina in 622, local tribes, mainly the Banu Aus, Muhammad addressed this by establishing the Constitution of Medina, a document which regulated interactions between the different factions, to which the respective parties agreed. This was a different role for him, as he had remained only a religious figure during his time in Mecca, the result was the eventual formation of a united community in Medina, as well as the political supremacy of Muhammad. Muhammad also participated in agreements and pledges such as Pledges of al-Aqaba, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, and he reportedly used a silver seal on letters sent to other notable leaders who were requested to convert to Islam. Hilf al-Fudul was a created by Muhammad in the pre-Islamic era. Muhammads commencement of public preaching brought him opposition from the leading tribe of Mecca. Although Muhammad himself was safe from persecution due to protection from his uncle, Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, a number of Muslims were mistreated by the Quraysh, some reportedly beaten, imprisoned, or starved. It was then, in 615, that Muhammad resolved to send fifteen Muslims to emigrate to Axum to receive protection under the Christian ruler, the Negus, Aṣḥama ibn Abjar. Emigration was a means through which some of the Muslims could escape the difficulties and persecution faced at the hands of the Quraysh, it also opened up new trading prospects. The Quraysh, on hearing the attempted emigration, dispatched a group led by Amr ibn al-As and they were unsuccessful in their chase however as the Muslims had already reached safe territory, and so approached the Negus, appealing to him to return the Muslim migrants. Jafar ibn Abī Tālib is quoted according to Islamic tradition as follows, for this reason, our people have risen against us, have persecuted us in order to make us forsake the worship of Allah and return to the worship of idols and other abominations. They have tortured and injured us, until finding no safety among them, we have come to your country, the Negus, seemingly impressed, consequently allowed the migrants to stay, sending back the emissaries of Quraysh. It is also thought that the Negus may have converted to Islam, in early June 619, Muhammad set out from Mecca to travel to the town of Taif in order to convene with its chieftains, and mainly those of Banu Thaqif. The reason for Muhammad directing his efforts towards Taif may have due to the lack of positive response from the people of Mecca to his message until then. Having been beset and pursued out of Taif, the wounded Muhammad sought refuge in a nearby orchard, resting under a grape vine, it is here that he invoked God, seeking comfort and protection. Muhammad is said to have rejected the proposition, saying that he would pray in the hopes of succeeding generations of Taif coming to accept Islamic monotheism, in the summer of 620 during the pilgrimage season, six men travelling from Medina came into contact with Muhammad
