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Muhammad (c. 570–632) (Arabic: Template:Ar) (listen), also transliterated Mohammad, Mohammed, Muhammed, and sometimes Mahomet (following the Turkish), is believed by Muslims to be God's final prophet sent to guide all of mankind with the message of Islam. He is referred to as "The Prophet" (Arabic: Template:Ar) within the faith. Non-Muslims generally consider him to be the founder of Islam.

According to traditional Muslim biographers, he was born c. 570 in Mecca (Makkah) and died on June 8 632 in Medina (Madinah). Both Mecca and Medina are cities in the Hejaz region of present day Saudi Arabia. The name Muhammad means "the praised one" in Arabic.

Summary

Born Muhammad ibn Abdullah, he is said to have initially been a merchant who traveled widely.

Muhammad often retreated to the mountains outside Mecca, for prayer and contemplation. Muslims believe that in 610, at about the age of forty, while praying in one of these mountain caves called Hira, he was visited by the Angel Gabriel who commanded him to memorize and recite the verses sent by God. These verses were later collected as part of the Qur'an. Gabriel told him that God (Allah in Arabic) had chosen him as the last prophet to mankind. He eventually expanded his mission as a prophet, publicly preaching a strict monotheism and warning against a Day of Judgement where all humans shall be held responsible for their deeds. He did not completely reject Judaism and Christianity, two other monotheistic faiths known to the Arabs; rather he said that he had been sent by God in order to complete and perfect their teachings. Many in Mecca resented his preaching and persecuted him and his followers. Muslims believe that this was in part due to his followers' holding Muhammad's authority above that of their leaders. Eventually, persecution followed and in 622, he was forced to flee from Mecca (the Hijra) and settled in Yathrib (now known as Medina) with his followers, where he was the leader of the first avowedly Muslim community. War between factions in Mecca and Medina followed, in which Muhammad and his followers were eventually victorious. The military organization that was created by this struggle was then set to conquering the other tribes of Arabia. By the time of Muhammad's death, he had unified Arabia, spread Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula, and launched expeditions to the north, towards Syria and Palestine.

Under Muhammad's immediate successors, the Islamic empire expanded into Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, North Africa, and Iberia. Later conquests, commercial contact between Muslims and non-Muslims, and missionary activity spread Islam over much of the globe.

Sources about Muhammad's life

The sources available about Muhammad's life are the Qur'an, the Sira biographies, and the Hadith collections. While the Qur'an is not a biography of Muhammad, it does provide some information about his life. The earliest surviving biographies are the Life of the Apostle of God, by Ibn Ishaq (d. 768), edited by Ibn Hisham (d. 833); and al-Waqidi's (d. 822) biography of Muhammad. Ibn Ishaq wrote his biography some 120 to 130 years after Muhammad's death. The third source, the hadith collections, like the Qur'an, are not a biography per se. In both the Sunni and Shia belief, they are the accounts of the verbal and physical traditions of Muhammad.

Some skeptical scholars (Wansbrough, Cook, Crone, and others) have raised doubts about the reliability of these sources, especially the hadith collections. They argue that by the time the oral traditions were being collected, the Muslim community had grown and also fractured into rival sects and different schools of thought. Each sect and school had its own sometimes conflicting traditions of what Muhammad and his companions had done and said. Traditions multiplied, and Muslim scholars made a strenuous effort to weed out what they felt were spurious stories. Traditionalists rely on their efforts while the skeptics feel that the question must be revisited.

Muslim and non-Muslim scholars alike agree that there are some inauthentic traditions concerning the life of Muhammad in the hadith collections. Thus most of these traditions are acknowledged by Muslim clerical authorities to be weak and only a few hadith collections are considered reliable. A very small minority called the "Qur'an Alone Muslims" consider all hadith as unreliable.

However, the historicity of the biographical material about Muhammad presented in the summary above is not generally contested. Traditionalists, both Muslim and non-Muslim, paint a much more detailed picture of Muhammad's life.

Muhammad's life according to Sira

Muhammad's genealogy

According to tradition, Muhammad traced his genealogy back as far as Adnan, whom the northern Arabs believed to be their common ancestor. Adnan in turn is said to be a descendant of Ismaeel (Ishmael), son of Ibrahim (Abraham) though the exact genealogy is disputed. Muhammad's genealogy up to Adnan is as follows:

Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib (Shaiba) ibn Hashim (Amr) ibn Abd Manaf (al-Mughira) ibn Qusai (Zaid) ibn Kilab ibn Murra ibn Ka`b ibn Lu'ay ibn Ghalib ibn Fahr (Quraish) ibn Malik ibn an-Nadr (Qais) ibn Kinana ibn Khuzaimah ibn Mudrikah (Amir) ibn Ilyas ibn Mudar ibn Nizar ibn Ma`ad ibn Adnan. (ibn means "son of" in Arabic; alternate names of people with two names are given in parentheses.)

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

Childhood

Muhammad was born into a well-to-do family settled in the northern Arabian town of Mecca. Some calculate his birthdate as April 20, 570 (Shia Muslims believe it to be April 26), and some as 571; tradition places it in the Year of the Elephant. Muhammad's father, Abdullah, had died before he was born and the young boy was brought up by his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, of the tribe of Quraysh. While he was still an infant, Abd al-Muttalib brought Muhammad before Hubal (at-Tabari, The History of the Prophets and Kings, 1:157). Tradition says that as an infant, he was placed with a Bedouin wetnurse, Halima, as desert life was believed to be safer and healthier for children. At the age of six, Muhammad lost his mother Amina, and at the age of eight his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib. Muhammad now came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe, the most powerful in Mecca.

Mecca was a thriving commercial centre, due in great part to a stone temple (now called the Kaaba) that housed many different idols. Merchants from different tribes would visit Mecca during the pilgrimage season, when all inter-tribal warfare was forbidden and they could trade in safety. While still in his teens, Muhammad began accompanying his uncle on trading journeys to Syria. He thus became well-travelled and knowledgeable as to foreign ways.

Middle years

Muhammad became a merchant and one of his employers was Khadijah, a widow then forty years old. The young twenty-five-year old Muhammad had impressed Khadijah and she proposed to him in the year 595. By Arab custom before Islam, minors did not inherit, so Muhammad had received no inheritance from either his father or his grandfather.

Ibn Ishaq records that Khadijah bore Muhammad five children, one son and four daughters. All of Khadija's children were born before Muhammad received his first revelation. His son Qasim died at the age of two. The four daughters are said to be Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah.

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

The first revelations

Muhammad had a reflective turn of mind and routinely spent nights in a cave (Hira) near Mecca in meditation and thought. Muslims believe that around the year 610, while meditating, Muhammad had a vision of the Angel Gabriel.

His wife Khadijah and her Christian cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal were the first to believe Muhammad was a prophet. She was soon followed by his ten-year-old cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Abu Bakr, whom Sunnis assert to have been Muhammad's closest friend.

Until his death, Muhammad reportedly received frequent revelations, although there was a relatively long gap after the first revelation. This silence worried him, until he received surat ad-Dhuha, whose words provided comfort and reassurance.

Around 613, Muhammad began to spread his message amongst the people. Most of those who heard his message ignored it. A few mocked him. Some, however, believed and joined his small group.

Rejection

As the ranks of Muhammad's followers swelled, he became a threat to the local tribes and the rulers of the city. Their wealth, after all, rested on the Kaaba, a sacred house of idols and the focal point of Meccan religious life. If they threw out their idols, as Muhammad preached, there would be no more pilgrims, no more trade, and no more wealth. Muhammad’s denunciation of polytheism was especially offensive to his own tribe, the Quraysh, as they were the guardians of the Ka'aba. Furthermore, Muhammad and his followers, bypassing the rulers, forged a relationship with the Christian nation of Ethiopia, a nation traditionally considered an enemy of Mecca. Muhammad and his followers were persecuted. Some of them fled to Abyssinia (present day Ethiopia)and founded a small colony there under the refuge of the Ethiopian King.

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

In 619, both Muhammad's wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib died; it was known as "the year of sorrows." Muhammad's own clan withdrew their protection of him. Muslims patiently endured hunger and persecution.

Isra and Miraj

Some time in 620, Muhammad told his followers that he had experienced the Isra and Miraj, a miraculous journey said to have been accomplished in one night. In the first part of the journey, the Isra, he is said to have travelled from Mecca to 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.

Muslims believe that the Jerusalem mosque on the Temple Mount known as the Masjid al-Aqsa is built over the site from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven.

Hijra

By 622, life in the small Muslim community of Mecca was becoming not only difficult, but dangerous. Muslim traditions say that there were several attempts to assassinate Muhammad. Muhammad then resolved to emigrate to Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis where there were a number of Muslim converts. By breaking the link with his own tribe, Muhammad demonstrated that tribal and family loyalties were insignificant compared to the bonds of Islam, a revolutionary idea in the tribal society of Arabia. This Hijra or emigration (traditionally translated into English as "flight") marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. The Muslim calendar counts dates from the Hijra, which is why Muslim dates have the suffix AH (After Hijra).

Muhammad came to Medina as a mediator, invited to resolve the feud between the Arab factions of Aws and Khazraj. He ultimately did so by absorbing both factions into his Muslim community, forbidding bloodshed among Muslims. However, Medina was also home to a number of Jewish tribes (whether they were ethnically as well as religiously Jewish is an open question, as is the depth of their "Jewishness"). Muhammad had hoped that they would recognize him as a prophet, but they did not do so. Some academic historians attribute the change of qibla, the Muslim direction of prayer, from the site of the former Temple in Jerusalem to the Kaaba in Mecca, which occurred during this period, to Muhammad's abandonment of hope of recruiting Jews as allies or followers.

Non-Muslim settlements within Muslim territories were taxed rather than expelled. Muhammad drafted a document now known as the Constitution of Medina (c. 622-623), which laid out the terms on which the different factions, specifically the Jews and other "Peoples of the Book" could exist within the new Islamic State. This system would come to typify Muslim relations with their non-believing subjects and that tradition was one reason for the stability of the later Muslim caliphate or Khilafah. In this, the Islamic empire was more tolerant than another great power of the area, the Byzantine empire, which was actively hostile to any religions or sects other than the state-sponsored version of Orthodox Christianity.

War

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

Muhammad turned to raiding caravans bound for Mecca. Caravan raiding (al-ghazw) was an old Arabian tradition; Muslims justified the raids by Meccan's confiscation of all their property left at Mecca and the state of war deemed to exist between the Meccans and the Muslims. Secular scholars add this was also a matter of survival for the Muslims. They owned no land in Medina and if they did not raid, they would have to live on charity and whatever wage labor they could find, both of which were in short supply in the small oasis.

In March of 624, Muhammad led some 300 warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Meccans successfully defended the caravan and then decided to teach the Medinans a lesson. They sent a small army against Medina. On March 15, 624 near a place called Badr, the Meccans and the Muslims clashed. Though outnumbered more than 3 times (1000 to 300) in the battle, the Muslims met with success, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom; only fourteen Muslims died. This marked the real beginning of Muslim military achievement.

Muhammad's rule consolidated

To the Muslims, the victory in Badr appeared as a divine authentication of Muhammad's prophethood, and he and all the Muslims rejoiced greatly. Following this victory, after clashes, and the breaking of a treaty that risked the security of the city state, the victors expelled a local Jewish clan, the Banu Qainuqa. Virtually all the remaining Medinans converted, and Muhammad became ruler of the city.

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

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

Continued warfare

In 625 the Meccan general Abu Sufyan marched on Medina with 3,000 men. The ensuing Battle of Uhud took place on March 23, ending in a stalemate. The Meccans claimed victory, but they had lost too many men to pursue the Muslims into Medina.

In April 627 Abu Sufyan led another strong force against Medina. But Muhammad had dug a trench around Medina and successfully defended the city in the Battle of the Trench.

Many of the Muslims believed that Abu Sufyan had been aided by sympathizers among the Medinans, the Jewish tribe of the Banu Qurayza. As soon as the battle was over, the Muslims turned upon the Banu Qurayza. After the Banu Qurayza were defeated, all the adult men were beheaded by the order of Saad ibn Muadh, an arbiter chosen by the Banu Qurayza. The remaining women and children were taken as captives and were treated with respect and were not harmed. Muslims believe that this was necessary, however, some critics of Islam believed it was unjust. The matter is discussed at greater length in the article on the Banu Qurayza.

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

The conquest of Mecca

By 628, the Muslim position was strong enough that Muhammad decided to return to Mecca, this time as a pilgrim. In March of that year, he set out for Mecca, followed by 1,600 men. After some negotiation, a treaty was signed at the border town of al-Hudaybiyah. While Muhammad would not be allowed to finish his pilgrimage that year, hostilities would cease and the Muslims would have permission to make a pilgrimage to Mecca in the following year.

The agreement lasted only two years, however, as the Meccans broke the treaty in 630. As a result, Muhammad marched on Mecca with an enormous force, said to number 10,000+ men. The Meccans submitted without a fight, and thus, there was no bloodshed. Muhammad promised a general amnesty to all the Meccans and ensured them that no harm will be done to them. Most Meccans converted to Islam, as a result of this, and Muhammad destroyed the idols in the Kaaba. Henceforth the pilgrimage would be a Muslim pilgrimage and the shrine a Muslim shrine.

Unification of Arabia

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

Muhammad as a warrior

For most of the sixty-three years of his life, Muhammad was a merchant, then a prophet. He took up the sword late in his life. He was a warrior for ten years.

Much criticism has been leveled at Muhammad for engaging in caravan raids and taking part in battles. Critics say that his wars went well beyond self-defense. Muslim commentators, however, argue that he fought only to defend his community against the Meccans, and that he insisted on humane rules of warfare.

Muhammad's family life

From 595 to 619, Muhammad had only one wife, Khadijah. After her death he married Aisha, then Hafsa. Later he was to marry more wives, for a total of eleven (nine or ten living at the time of his death). (The status of Maria al-Qibtiyya is much disputed; she may have been a slave, a freed slave, a concubine, or a wife.)

Khadija was Muhammad's first wife and the mother of the only child to survive him, his daughter Fatima. He married his other wives after the death of Khadija. Some of these women were recent widows of warriors in battle. Others were daughters of his close allies or tribal leaders. One of the later unions resulted in a son, but the child died when he was ten months old.

Companions of Muhammad

The term companions refers to anyone who met three criteria. First, he must have been a contemporary of Muhammad. Second, he must have seen or heard Muhammad speak on at least one occasion. Third, he must have converted to Islam. Companions are responsible for the transmission of hadith, as each hadith must have as its first transmitter a companion. There were many other companions in addition to the ones listed here.

List in alphabetic order:

The death of Muhammad

After a short illness, Muhammad died around noon on Monday 8 June 632, in the city of Medina at the age of sixty-three.

According to Shi'a Islam, Muhammad had appointed his son-in-law Ali as his successor, in a public sermon at Ghadir Khumm. Shi'a believe that Muhammad's companions Abu Bakr and Umar conspired to oust Ali and make Abu Bakr the leader or caliph. The majority of the Sunni sect dispute this, and say that the leaders of the community conferred and freely chose Abu Bakr, who was pre-eminent among the followers of Muhammad. However it happened, Abu Bakr became the new leader, and the split between Ali and Abu Bakr precipitated the split between Shi'a and Sunni. Abu Bakr spent much of his short reign suppressing rebellious tribes in the Ridda Wars.

With unity restored in Arabia, the Muslims looked outward and commenced the conquests that would eventually unite the Middle East under the caliphs.

Muhammad's descendants

Muhammad was survived by his daughter Fatima and her children. (Some say that he had a daughter Zainab, who had borne a daughter, Amma or Umama, who survived him as well.)

In Shi'a Islam, it is believed that Fatima's husband Ali and his descendants are the rightful leaders of the faithful. The Sunni do not accept this view, but they still honor Muhammad's descendants.

Descendants of Muhammad are known by many names, such as sayyids, syeds سيد, and sharifs شريف (plural: ِأشراف Ashraaf). Many rulers and notables in Muslim countries, past and present, claim such descent, with various degrees of credibility, such as the Fatimid dynasty of North Africa, the Idrisis, the current royal families of Jordan and Morocco, and the Agha Khan Imams of the Ismaili branch of Islam. In various Muslim countries, there are societies that authenticate claims of descent; some societies are more credible than others.

Muhammad's historical significance

Before his death in 632, Muhammad had established Islam as a social and political force and had unified most of Arabia. A few decades after his death, his successors had united all of Arabia, and conquered Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Armenia, and much of North Africa. By 750, Islam had emerged as the spiritual counterpart to the two great monotheistic belief systems, Judaism and Christianity, and as the geopolitical successor to the Roman Empire. The rest of North Africa had come under Muslim rule, as well as the entire Iberian Peninsula and much of Central Asia (including Sind, in the Indus Valley).

Under the Ghaznavids, in the tenth century, Islam was spread to the mainly Hindu principalities east of the Indus by conquering armies in what is now northern India. Even later, Islam expanded into much of Africa and Southeast Asia. Islam is now the faith of well over a billion people all over the globe, and is the second largest religion of the present day.

Muslim veneration of Muhammad

• The name "Muhammad" written in Arabic calligraphy. Many Muslims believe that Islam prohibits depicting the prophet Muhammad or arts depicting humans or animals; much Islamic art is decorative calligraphy or arabesque (abstract pattern). The name "Muhammad" written in Arabic calligraphy. Many Muslims believe that Islam prohibits depicting the prophet Muhammad or arts depicting humans or animals; much Islamic art is decorative calligraphy or arabesque (abstract pattern).
• A 16th century Persian miniature painting celebrating Muhammad's ascent into the Heavens, a journey known as the Miraj. Muhammad's face is veiled. A 16th century Persian miniature painting celebrating Muhammad's ascent into the Heavens, a journey known as the Miraj. Muhammad's face is veiled.

All Muslims feel a great love and veneration for Muhammad, and express this feeling in many ways.

• When speaking or writing, Muhammad's name is preceded by the title "Prophet" and is followed by the phrase, Peace be upon him, or Peace be upon him and his descendants by Shias; in English often abbreviated as "(pbuh)" and "pbuh&hd", or just simply as "p".
• Concerts of Muslim and especially Sufi devotional music include songs praising Muhammad (see Muslim music, Qawwali).
• Some Muslims celebrate the birthday of Muhammad (Mawlid) with elaborate festivities. Others do not, believing that such festivities are modern innovations.
• Criticism of Muhammad is often equated with blasphemy, which is punishable by death in some Muslim states.
• Muhammad is often refered to with titles of praise.
• Muhammad's relics, such as his grave, his sword, his clothing, even strands of his hair, are revered by some.
• Even non-iconic representations of Muhammad are traditionally discouraged. From the 16th century, however, Persian and Ottoman art frequently represented Muhammad in miniatures, albeit with his face either veiled, or emanating radiance (see e.g. Siyer-i Nebi). Modern caricatures of Muhammad have caused great controversy and criticism (see Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons for an example).
• Beyond the stories accepted as canonical by Islamic scholars of hadith, or oral traditions, there are many folktales praising Muhammad and recounting miraculous stories of his birth, upbringing and life.

See also

References

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• Sahih Muslim Book 008, Number 3310
• Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64
• Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 65

External links

Non-sectarian biography

• Public Broadcasting System program on Muhammad
• Encarta Encyclopedia
• 1911 Encyclopedia article of Muhammad

Muslim biographies

• USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts
• Islamonline
• Biography by Harun Yahya
• Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar)- Memoirs of the Noble Prophet
• The Life of Muhammad Muhammad Husayn Haykal Translated by Isma'il Razi A. al-Faruqi
• About Muhammad
• Muhammad Biography and more
• Who is Muhammad? (With Photos of ar-Rawdah an-Nabawiyah)

Critical perspectives

• Trends in Biographies of Muhammad
• Wives of Muhammad

Other

• Swords of the Prophet Muhammad

• 570 births
• 632 deaths
• Arab people
• Islam
• Islamic prophets
• Muslims