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{{Islam}}{{Otherpeople|Muhammad}}


==YOU'RE NEXT==
'''Muhammad''', {{lang-ar|محمد}} ''{{ArabDIN|muḥammad}}''; also '''Mohammed''' and other variants,<ref>Mahomet etc.; ]: ''Muhammed''; {{Audio|Ar-muhammad.ogg|click here}} for the Arabic pronunciation</ref> (c. 571 &ndash; ]) established the religion of ] and the ].<ref>This is not supposed to mean that Muhammad was the first to propagate the submission to one god (= monotheism). Here, "Islam" and "Muslim" are used in their active lexical senses, ''not'' in their etymological senses.</ref> Muslims believe him to have been ]'s ] ], to whom the ] was ].
According to traditional Muslim biographers, Muhammad was born c. 570 in ] and died ] ] in ], both in the ] region of present day ].

The name '']'' means "the praised one" in ], being a ] ] from the ] ''{{ArabDIN|]}}'' {{Ar|حمد}} "to praise". Within Islam, Muhammad is known as "The Prophet" and "The Messenger". The Qur'an ({{Quran-usc|33|40}}) also refers to him as the "]" (Arabic: ''{{ArabDIN|ḫatamu-n-nabiyyīn}}'').

__TOC__
==Summary==
]

Born Muhammad ibn ], he is said to have initially been a ] who traveled widely.
Muhammad often retreated to the mountains outside ], for prayer and contemplation. Muslims believe that in 610, at about the age of forty, while praying in one of these mountain caves called ], he was visited by the ] ], who commanded him to memorize and recite the verses sent by God. These verses were later collected as part of the ] (which was revealed to him over a period of about 23 years until his death).

He expanded his mission as a ], publicly preaching ] and warning of a ] when all humans shall be held responsible for their deeds. He did not completely reject ] and ], two other monotheistic faiths known to the ]s, but said that he had been sent by God in order to complete and perfect those teachings.

Many in Mecca resented his preaching and persecuted him and his followers. Eventually, in 622, he was forced to emigrate from Mecca in a journey known to Muslims as the ] (the Migration). He settled in ''Yathrib'' (now known as ]) 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 victorious. They had in great part achieved their victory by building a tribal coalition. After the conquest of Mecca, the coalition was extended. By the time of Muhammad's death, he had unified much of ] under his rule, and launched military expeditions to the north, towards ] and ].

Under Muhammad's immediate ], the Islamic empire expanded into Palestine, Syria, ], ], ], ], and ]. Later conquests, commercial contact between Muslims and non-Muslims, and ] activity spread Islam over much of the ], spreading ] and ].

==Sources for Muhammad's life==
{{main|Historiography of early Islam}}

Most biographical sources of Muhammad were written by Muslims and were recorded in writing centuries after his death. Only fragmentary <!--- and late (meaning exactly what, in this context?) --->references in non-Muslim historical records from the 7th century are available, and no inscriptions or archaeological remains from that time. The ], one of very few known non-Islamic contemporary accounts of Muhammad, records him as being a Judeo-Arab preacher proclaiming the advent of a ] ], and states that the Jews and Arabs were allies against the ]. This contradicts accounts in the ].

The traditional dates often given for Muhammad's life are 570-632 CE. The earliest biography known is the ''Life of the Apostle of God'', by ] who was born about 717 and died in 767. He thus wrote his biography well over 100 years after Muhammad died. He would not have been able to speak to any eyewitnesses, only to those who had heard their accounts, or accounts of their accounts. Furthermore, we possess Ibn Ishaq's work only in fragments quoted in a compilation of anecdotes and traditions composed by Islamic historian ](???-834) and ] (838-923).

Other sources for biographies of Muhammad are: the military chronicles of ] (745-822); the biographies of ] (783-845), a student of Waqidi; later histories; Quranic commentaries; and the collections of oral traditions known as ]. These texts were recorded more than a century, and often several centuries, after the death of Muhammad. Some passages in the Qur'an that are believed to shed some light on Muhammad's biography; however, they require a great deal of interpretation to be useful.

Some ]al scholars (], ], ], and others) have raised doubts about the reliability of the Islamic sources, especially the '']'' collections. They note for instance that the earliest biography of Muhammad of Ibn Ishaq does not contain any dates or explicit details; yet, later Islamic narratives have progressively more dates, with minute details of Muhammad's life being inserted into their accounts as successive generations of scholars relay the story, such that by the time we arrive at contemporary renditions of Muhammad's story, dates and details have exploded exponentially without explanation. These skeptics believe that many ''hadith'' and other traditions were manufactured, or doctored, to support one or another of the many political or doctrinal factions that had developed within Islam in its first century or later. The life of Muhammad was believed to be the ''exemplar'' for all Muslims; hence the importance of showing that Muhammad said or did something proving that a particular faction was right. If the skeptics are right, and if much of the early material cannot really be trusted, then all that is factually known is what is contained in the summary above.

Other academic scholars, such as ] and ], have been much more willing to trust the Islamic sources. Their accounts of the life of Muhammad are similar to those held by most believing Muslims. These historical "traditionalists," both Muslim and non-Muslim, present a much more detailed picture of Muhammad's life.

There is a great deal of possibly unreliable material available on the life of Muhammad, but very little that is accepted by all <!--- non-Muslim (is this necessary?) ---> academics. In a 2003 article, ] summarizes it thus:

:"The current research on the life of Muhammad is characterized by the fact that two groups of researchers stand directly opposed to one another: The one group advocates, somewhat aggressively, the conviction that all transmitted traditions, in part because of great inner contradictions, legendary forms, and so forth, are to be rejected. The other group is opposed to that view. According to these researchers, the Islamic transmission, despite all these defects, has at least a genuine core, which can be recognized using the appropriate source-critical methods. The difficulty certainly consists of finding criteria by which the genuine is to be differentiated from spurious." <ref>Schoeler, Greg, "Foundations for a new biography of Muhammad: The production and evaluation of the corpus of traditions from 'Urwah b. Al-Zubayr", in ''Method and Theory in the Study of Islamic Origins'', Herbert Berg, ed., Brill, 2003</ref>

Many, but not all of the first group of scholars would probably accept the first section of this article, the ''Summary''. The second group of academics is more willing to accept the traditional Muslim accounts, shorn of hagiography and supernatural claims and based on the earliest accounts rather than later traditions.

Many Muslims accept even fuller accounts of Muhammad's life. They believe traditions not credited by non-Muslim scholars. However, Muslims are not of one mind on the subject. Some Muslims accept "naturalistic" versions pared of most supernatural elements; some Muslims believe in versions of Muhammad's life full of miracles. There are versions of Muhammad's life favoring different traditions within Islam. A ] version of Muhammad's life is very different from a ] version. It is impossible to present ''one'' Muslim version. However, a few of the most common traditions, ones that are not accepted by academics but widely believed by Muslims, are covered in a final section.

==Life based on Islamic traditions==
{{unreferenced}}
Most Muslims, and the Western academics who are willing to trust some of the Islamic traditions, accept a much more detailed version of Muhammad's life.

===Genealogy===
]

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

Muhammad ibn ] ibn ] (Shaiba) ibn ] (Amr) ibn Abd Manaf (al-Mughira) ibn Qusai (Zaid) ibn Kilab ibn Murra ibn Ka`b ibn Lu'ay ibn Ghalib ibn Fahr (]) ibn Malik ibn an-Nadr (Qais) ibn Kinana ibn Khuzaimah ibn Mudrikah (Amir) ibn Ilyas ibn ] ibn Nizar ibn Ma`ad ibn ]. (''ibn'' means "son of" in Arabic; alternate names of people with two names are given in parentheses.) <ref> by Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri </ref>

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

===Childhood===

Muhammad was born into a well-to-do family settled in the northern Arabian town of ]. Some calculate his birthdate as having been ], ], while ] Muslims believe it to have been ] ]. Other sources calculate the year of his birth to have been ]; tradition places it in the ]. Muhammad's father, ], had died almost six months before he was born and the young boy was brought up by his paternal grandfather ], of the ] ] of the ] ]. At the age of six, Muhammad lost his mother ]. When he was eight years of age, his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, who had become his guardian, also died. Muhammad now came under the care of his uncle ], the new leader of the ] clan of the Quraish tribe, the most powerful in Mecca.

Mecca was a thriving commercial centre, due in great part to a stone temple (now called the ]) that housed many different cult figures (idols). Merchants from various 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 ]. He thus became well-travelled and knowledgeable as to foreign ways.

===Middle years===
Muhammad became a merchant. One of his employers was ]h, a forty-year-old widow. She was impressed with Muhammad's character and intelligence, and proposed to him in the year ]. Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one.

] records that Khadijah bore Muhammad five children: two sons named Al Qasem and Abdullah (who is also called Al Tayeb and Al Taher) and four daughters. All of Khadija's children were born before Muhammad received his first ]. His son ] died at the age of two. The four daughters are said to be ], ], ], and ].

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

<!-- BEGIN TIMELINE -->
{| align="right" width="30%" style="border:1px solid #ddd; margin:0 0 1em 1em; padding:0 0 1em 1em; vertical-align:right;"
!colspan="2" align="center"|<big>Timeline of Muhammad</big>
|-
|colspan="2" align="center"|<small>Important dates and locations in the life of Muhammad
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Death of his father, `Abd Allah
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Possible date of birth, ]: ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|Legendary unsuccessful ] attack on Mecca
|-
|align="right">|]
|Mother dies
|-
|align="right">|]
|Grandfather dies
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Takes trading journeys to ]
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Meets and marries ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|First reports of ]: Mecca
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Appears as ]: Mecca
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Begins spreading message of Islam publicly: Mecca
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Begins to gather following: Mecca
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Emigration of Muslims to ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|] clan boycott begins
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Medinan Civil War: ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|Banu Hashim clan boycott ends
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|]
|-
|align="right">|]
|Emigrates to ] (])
|-
|align="right">|]
|] Muslims defeat Meccans
|-
|align="right">|]
|Expulsion of ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|] Meccans defeat Muslims
|-
|align="right">|]
|Expulsion of ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|Attack on Dumat al-Jandal: Syria
|-
|align="right">|]
|]
|-
|align="right">|]
||Destruction of ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|Bani Kalb subjugation: ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|]
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Gains access to Mecca shrine ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|Conquest of the ] oasis
|-
|align="right">|]
|First ] pilgrimage
|-
|align="right">|]
|Attack on ] fails: ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|Attacks and bloodlessly captures Mecca
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|]
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|]
|-
|align="right">|]
|Establishes ]: Mecca
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Subjugates most of the Arabian peninsula
|-
|align="right">|''c''.&nbsp;]
|Attacks the ]: ]
|-
|align="right">|]
|Farewell ] pilgrimage
|-
|align="right">|]
|Dies (]): Medina
|}
<!-- END TIMELINE -->

===The first revelations===
Muhammad had a reflective turn of mind and routinely spent nights in a cave (]) near Mecca in ] and thought. Muslims believe that around the year 610, while meditating, Muhammad was visited by the Angel ].

His wife ] and her Christian cousin ] were the first to believe that Muhammad was a prophet. They were soon followed by Muhammad's ten-year-old cousin ], close friend ] and adopted son Zaid bin Haarith. (The ] is a hotly debated topic.)

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'' '']'', 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. Others believed and joined him.

===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, 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 the Meccan traditional religion was especially offensive to his own tribe, the ], as they were the guardians of the Ka'aba. Muhammad and his followers were persecuted. Some of them fled to the ] ] and founded a small colony there under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian king (called ], or "The King").

Several ''suras'' and parts of ''suras'' are said to date from this time, and reflect its circumstances: see for example '']'', '']'', parts of '']'' and '']'', '']'', and '']''.

In 619, both Muhammad's wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib died; it was known as ''aamul hazn'' (''"the year of sorrows."'') Muhammad's own clan withdrew their protection of him. Muslims patiently endured persecution: ostracism, an economic embargo and consequent poverty and hunger, even beatings and death threats.

===Isra and Miraj===
Some time in 620, Muhammad told his followers that he had experienced the '']'', a miraculous journey said to have been accomplished in one night along with ]. In the first part of the journey, the ''Isra'', he is said to have travelled from ] to the furthest mosque. In the second part, the ''Miraj'', Muhammad is said to have toured ] and ], and spoken with earlier prophets, such as ], ], and ].

Muslims believe that the Jerusalem mosque on the ] known as the ] or furthest mosque, is 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 ], then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural ] 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 ], a revolutionary idea in the tribal society of Arabia. This '']'' or emigration (traditionally translated into English as "flight") marks the beginning of the ]. 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 ] and ]. 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"). Islamic tradition refers to the conversion to Islam of one of the leaders of the Jews named Ibn Salam. Muhammad had hoped that his conversion would be emulated by the other Jews, and that those others would also recognize him as a prophet, but they did not do so.

Some academic historians attribute the change of ], the Muslim direction of prayer, from the site of the former ] to the ] in Mecca, which occurred during this period, to Muhammad's abandonment of hope of recruiting Jews as allies or followers. According to Muslims, the change of ] was seen as a command from ] both reflecting the independence of the Muslims as well as a test to discern those who truly followed the revelation and those who were simply opportunistic.

Muhammad and his followers are said to have negotiated an agreement with the other Medinans, a document now known as the '']'' (date debated), which laid out the terms on which the different factions, specifically the ]s and other "]" could exist within the new ]. This system would come to typify Muslim relations with their non-believing subjects.

===War===
Relations between ] and ] rapidly worsened (see ''surat'' '']''). 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 ]s bound for Mecca. Caravan-raiding (]) was an old Arabian tradition; Muslims justified the raids by the Meccans' confiscation of the property they had left at Mecca and the state of war deemed to exist between the Meccans and the Muslims.

In March of 624, Muhammad led some 300 warriors in a ] 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 ], ] near a place called ], the Meccans and the Muslims clashed. Though outnumbered more than three 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.

===Rule consolidated===
To his followers, the ] apparently seemed a divine authentication of Muhammad's prophethood. Following this victory, the victors expelled a local Jewish clan, the ], whom they accused of have broken a treaty by conspiring with the attacking Meccan forces. Muhammad and his followers were now a dominant force in the oasis of Yathrib (Medina).

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

Muhammad's daughter ] married ], Muhammad's cousin. According to the Sunni, another daughter, Umm Kulthum, married ]. Each of these men, in later years, would emerge as successors to Muhammad and political leaders of the Muslims. Thus, all of the first four ] were linked to Muhammad by marriage. Sunni Muslims regard these caliphs as the '']'', or ''Rightly Guided''. (See ] for more information on the controversy on the succession to the caliphate).

===Continued warfare===
In 625 the ]n general ] marched on ] with 3,000 men. The ensuing ] took place on ] and ended 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 ].

Many of the Muslims believed that Abu Sufyan had been aided by sympathizers among the Medinans, being the Jewish tribe of ]. They attacked and defeated the Banu Qurayza, and subsequently killed hundreds of the adult men of the tribe. This execution has been the subject of much controversy.

Following the Muslims' 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===
{{TotallyDisputed}}
By 628, the Muslim position was so strong that Muhammad decided to return to ], this time as a ]. 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 ]. 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 the following year.

Many of Muhammad's followers were disgruntled at the inconclusive result of the Treaty of Hudaybiyya. To deflect their opposition, Muhammad needed a new victory. He chose to attack the rich oasis of ], inhabited by several Jewish tribes including the ], whom Muhammad had previously expelled from Medina. In June 628, the Muslims captured Khaybar after a siege. They killed all the men of the Banu Nadir and divided the women among themselves; Muhammad chose for himself ], daughter of the Banu Nadir chief. Other Jews of Khaybar were allowed to remain in the oasis on condition of paying heavy tribute; Muslims also took substantial booty.<ref>Stillman (1979), p. 18; "Khaybar", '']''</ref>

Strengthened by the conquest of Khaybar, Muhammad soon found a '']'' to attack Mecca. Tribal allies of the Muslims and the Meccans clashed, and Muhammad regarded this incident as a breach of the treaty. In 630, Muhammad marched on Mecca with an enormous force, said to number more than 10,000 men. After some scattered skirmishes, in which only twenty-four Meccans were killed, the Muslims seized Mecca. Muhammad promised a general amnesty to all but a few of the Meccans. Most Meccans converted to Islam, and Muhammad destroyed the idols in the ]. 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 ] effectively brought the greater part of the Arabian peninsula under Muhammad's authority. However, this authority was not enforced by a regular government, as Muhammad 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 military leader===
{{main| Muhammad as a warrior}}
For most of the sixty-three years of his life, Muhammad was a merchant, then a religious leader. He took up the sword late in his life. He was an active military leader for ten years.

Critics claim that Muhammad expanded his realm and imposed his religion by force. Muslim commentators, however, argue that he fought only to defend his community against the Meccans, and that he insisted on humane rules of warfare.

===Family life===
{{main|Muhammad's marriages}}

From 595 to 619, Muhammad had only one wife, ]. After her death, he married ] and ] (which marriage came first is disputed), then ]. Later he was to marry more wives, to make for a total of eleven, of whom nine or ten were living at the time of his death. The status of ] is disputed; she may have been a slave, a freed slave, or a wife.

Muhammad had children by only two of these unions. Khadijah is said to have borne him four daughters and a son; only one daughter, ], survived her father. Shi'a Muslims dispute the number of Muhammad's children, claiming that he had only one daughter, and that the other "daughters" were step-daughters. Maria al-Qibtiyya bore him a son, but the child died when he was ten months old.

Muhammad's marriages have been the subject of much criticism. Some consider it wrong that he had more wives than the four generally allowed by the Qur'an (although one Quranic verse makes an exception for Muhammad). They question the circumstances of some of his marriages, such as those to ], his adopted son's ex-wife, and to ], who according to hadith was ] when the marriage was consummated.<ref>] {{Bukhari-usc|5|58|234}}, , {{Bukhari-usc|5|58|236}}, {{Bukhari-usc|7|62|64}}, {{Bukhari-usc|7|62|65}}, {{Bukhari-usc|7|62|88}}
] {{Muslim-usc|8|3309}}, {{Muslim-usc|8|3310}}</ref>

===Companions===
{{main articles|] and ]}}

The term ] (''companion'') 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 considered the ultimate sources for the oral traditions, or '']'', on which much of Muslim law and practice are based. There were many other companions in addition to the ones listed here.

List in alphabetic order:
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

{{col-break}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

{{col-break}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
{{col-end}}

===Death===
One day, upon returning from a visit to a cemetery, Muhammad became very ill. He suffered for several days with head pain and weakness. Muhammad finally succumbed to his malady around noon on Monday, ], ], in the city of Madina, at the age of sixty-three. He is buried in the ] in ].

According to ], Muhammad had appointed his son-in-law Ali as his successor in a public sermon at ]. Shi'a believe that Muhammad's companions Abu Bakr and Umar conspired to oust Ali and make Abu Bakr the leader or '']''. ] Muslims 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. The matter is further discussed in the article ].

Abu Bakr spent much of his short reign suppressing rebellious tribes in the ]. With unity restored in Arabia, the Muslims looked outward and commenced the conquests that would eventually unite the ] under the caliphs.

===Descendants===
Muhammad was survived by his daughter ] and her children. Some say that he had a daughter ], 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 '']s'', '']s'' سيد, and '']s'' 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 ] dynasty of ], the ]s, the current royal families of ] and ], and the ] ]s of the ] branch of Islam. In various Muslim countries, there are societies that authenticate claims of descent; some societies are more credible than others.

==Popular Muslim traditions==
These traditions are believed by many Muslims, but may be questionable to secular academic historians. {{fact}}
Many Muslims believe that as an infant Muhammad was placed with a ] wetnurse, ], as ] life was believed to be safer and healthier for children. Many stories are told of his life in the desert.

After he returned to Mecca, he is said to have been beloved by all around him because he was such a polite and honest child.

As a youth, he was called upon to solve a vexing political problem for his Meccan neighbors. They were rebuilding the Kaaba and feuding over which clan should have the honor of raising the ] into place. Muhammad suggested that the heads of each clan raise the Black Stone on a cloth, so that all had the honor of lifting it. Muhammad then put the stone into its place.

As a young man and a merchant, Muhammad was known to be trustworthy and honest. The other Meccans called him "Al-Amin", the trustworthy one or the honest one. <ref> </ref> After he proclaimed his prophethood, however, his neighbors turned against him.

==Muslim veneration for Muhammad==
] miniature painting celebrating Muhammad's ascent into the Heavens, a journey known as the ]. Muhammad's face is veiled, a common practice in Islamic art.]]
{{main|Islam and veneration for Muhammad}}

It is traditional for Muslims to illustrate and express their love and veneration for Muhammad in a number of different ways.
* When speaking or writing, Muhammad's name is often preceded by the title "Prophet" and is followed by the phrase, '']'', or ''Peace be upon him and his descendants'' by Shias; in English often abbreviated as ''"(])"'' and ''"pbuh&hd"'', or just simply as "p". Also in some English texts, the notation "(saw)" is used. This is an abbreviation of ''sallalahu aleyhi wasallam'', which is an Arabic transliteration for "peace be upon him".
* His contemporaries gave him the title '''Apostle of God''' (Arabic: '']-]'' or ''Rasulallah''), which is also used by ] today.
* Concerts of Muslim and especially ] devotional music include songs praising Muhammad (see ], '']'').
* Muslims celebrate the birthday of Muhammad ('']'') with elaborate festivities. Some do not, believing that such festivities are modern ].
* Criticism of Muhammad is often equated with ], which is punishable by death in many Muslim states.
* Muhammad is often referred to with titles of praise.
* Beyond the stories accepted as ]ical by Islamic scholars of '']'', or oral traditions, there are many ] praising Muhammad and recounting miraculous stories of his birth, upbringing and life.
* Many Muslims believe that Islam prohibits depicting the prophet Muhammad in art. Others have accepted such depictions. See ].

==Muhammad in other traditions==
*Muhammad is also a prophet in the ], ], ], ], and the ] traditions. These are closely related to Islam, and are considered by their followers to be ]s thereof, but mainstream Muslims see them as separate religions.
*The ], who accept most but not all Qur'anic revelations, also consider him a prophet.
*] venerate Muhammad as one of a number of prophets or "]", but consider his teachings to have been superseded by those of ].
*Some ] see Muhammad, like ] and ], as an important ethical leader.
*In the ], Jews usually referred to Muhammad as ''ha-meshuggah'' ("the madman" or "possessed"), a title contemptuously used in the ] for impostors who think of themselves as prophets. <ref>{{cite book | first=Norman | last=Stillman | title=The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book | publisher=Jewish Publication Society of America | location=Philadelphia | year=1979 | id=ISBN 082760198 | pages=p. 236}}</ref>
*Many ]s view Muhammad as a false prophet and not as the bringer of any divine revelation. It was ] who coined the pejorative phrase "false prophet".<ref>Source: "The Fountain of Wisdom" (''pege gnoseos''), part II: "Concerning Heresy" (''peri aipeseon'')</ref> During the Middle Ages, especially in places where there was frequent Christian-Muslim conflict, it was popular to depict Muhammad being tortured by the demons in ]. One such example is in ]'s ] in which Muhammad is in the ninth ditch of the eighth circle of hell.

==Historical significance==
Before his death in 632, Muhammad had established Islam as a social and political force and had unified most of Arabia through both conversion and conquest. Within a few decades after his death, his successors had united all of Arabia under Islamic empire, and conquered ], ], ], ], ], ], and much of ]. 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 ].{{fact}} The rest of North Africa came under Muslim rule, as well as most of the ], much of ], and parts of ] (including ], in the ]).
In the tenth century, the armies of the ] conquered northern ] bringing Islam into the mainly ] principalities east of the Indus river. The ] conquests extended the sway of Islam over the ], as well as much of the ]. Even later, Islam expanded into much of ] and ]. Islam is now the faith of over a billion people all over the globe, and is now the second largest religion after Christianity by the number of adherents.

==See also==
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* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


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* ]
* ]
*'']'' (''aka'' The Message)
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

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==Notes==
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<!--See ] for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
<references/>
</div>

==References==
*{{cite book | author=Andrae, Tor | title=Mohammed: The Man and His Faith | publisher=Dover | year=2000 | id=ISBN 0486411362}}
*{{cite book | author=Armstrong, Karen | title=Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet | location=San Francisco | publisher=Harper | year=1993 | id=ISBN 0062508865}}
*{{cite book | author=Cook, Michael | title=Muhammad | publisher=Oxford University Press (reissue 1996) | year=1983 | id=ISBN ISBN 0192876058}}
*{{cite book | author=Dashti, Ali | title=Twenty-Three Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad | publisher=Mazda | year=1994 | id=ISBN 1568590296}}
*{{cite book | author=], ed. | title=The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1955 | id=ISBN 0196360331}}
*{{cite book | author=Hamidullah, Muhammad | title=The Life and Work of the Prophet of Islam | publisher=(Islamabad: Islamic Research Institute) | year=1998 | id=ISBN 9698413006}}
*{{cite book | author=] | title=The Life of Muhammad | publisher=Islamic Book Service | year=1995 | id=ISBN 1577311957}}
*{{cite book | author=Lings, Martin | title=Muhammad: His Life Based on Earliest Sources | publisher=Inner Traditions International, Limited | year=1987 | id=ISBN 0892811706}}
*{{cite book |author=Motzki, Harald, ed. | title=The Biography of Muhammad: The Issue of the Sources (Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts, Vol. 32) | publisher=Brill | year=2000 |id=ISBN 9004115137 }}
*{{cite book | author=Rodinson, Maxime| title=Muhammad | publisher=New Publishers | year=1961 | id=ISBN 1565847520}}
*{{cite book | author=Rubin, Uri| title=The Eye of the Beholder: The Life of Muhammad as Viewed by the Early Muslims (A Textual Analysis) | publisher=Darwin Press | year=1995 | id=ISBN 087850110X}}
*{{cite book | author=] | title=And Muhammad is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety | publisher=The University of North Carolina Press | year=1985 | id=ISBN 0807841285}}
*{{cite book | author=Warraq, Ibn | title=The Quest for the Historical Muhammad | publisher=Prometheus Books | year=2000 | id=ISBN 1573927872}}
*{{cite book | author=Watt, W. Montgomery | title=Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1961 | id=ISBN 0198810784}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Muhammad}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{Wikisource}}

;Non-sectarian biography
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;Muslim biographies
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* - comprehensive and authoritative modern biography of the prophet
* - as above but easier to navigate
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*Urdu Biography.

;Nonmuslim/Critical biographies
*

{{Prophets in the Qur'an}}
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Revision as of 19:57, 15 June 2006

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