recentchangescleanup, Reviewers, Administrators
148
edits
Muhammad ibn Abdullah: Difference between revisions
m
no edit summary
| [checked revision] | [checked revision] |
mNo edit summary |
|||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[Image:Maome.jpeg|thumb|220px|right|15th century illustration in a copy of a manuscript by Al-Bīrūnī, depicting Muhammad preaching the Qur'ān in Mecca.<ref name=maome> Bibliothèque nationale de France [http://expositions.bnf.fr/livrarab/grands/0_01.htm Le Prophète Mahomet] L'art du livre arabe</ref> ([[Images:The Koran and the life of the prophet Mohammed|more pictures of Muhammad]])]] | [[Image:Maome.jpeg|thumb|220px|right|15th century illustration in a copy of a manuscript by Al-Bīrūnī, depicting Muhammad preaching the Qur'ān in Mecca.<ref name="maome"> Bibliothèque nationale de France [http://expositions.bnf.fr/livrarab/grands/0_01.htm Le Prophète Mahomet] L'art du livre arabe</ref> ([[Images:The Koran and the life of the prophet Mohammed|more pictures of Muhammad]])]] | ||
'''Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh''' (محمّد also spelled ''Mohammed'', ''Muhammed'' or ''Mahomet'') (570/571 – June 8, 632 AD) was the founder of the religion of [[Islam]] and the conqueror of Arabia. | '''Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh''' (محمّد also spelled ''Mohammed'', ''Muhammed'' or ''Mahomet'') (570/571 – June 8, 632 AD) was the founder of the religion of [[Islam]] and the conqueror of Arabia. | ||
==The Beginnings== | ==The Beginnings== | ||
Born to ''‘Abdu’llah ibn ‘Abdu’l-Muttalib'' in what was said to be "the year of the Elephant", his family belonged to the Hashim, a branch of the Quraysh tribe. Unwanted by his mother<ref>Katib al Waquidi p. 20</ref> and fully orphaned at the age of six, he was brought up by his uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad initially adopted the occupation of a shepherd, later becoming a merchant, robber, baron and eventually warlord. Many claim that in his youth, Muhammad was called by the nickname ''Al-Amin'' (الامين), meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator.<ref>Esposito(1998), p.6 </ref> However, historian Alford Welch holds that "Al-Amin" was a common Arab name and further suggest that al-Amin might have been Muhammad's given name, a masculine form <ref>Alford Welch - cf. "Muhammad","Encyclopedia of Islam"</ref> from the same root as his mother's name, ''Āmina'' (أمينة). Physically, he was described as a "[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammad's White Complexion|white man]]" | Born to ''‘Abdu’llah ibn ‘Abdu’l-Muttalib'' in what was said to be "the year of the Elephant", his family belonged to the Hashim, a branch of the Quraysh tribe. Unwanted by his mother<ref>Katib al Waquidi p. 20</ref> and fully orphaned at the age of six, he was brought up by his uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad initially adopted the occupation of a shepherd, later becoming a merchant, robber, baron and eventually warlord. Many claim that in his youth, Muhammad was called by the nickname ''Al-Amin'' (الامين), meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator.<ref>Esposito(1998), p.6 </ref> However, historian Alford Welch holds that "Al-Amin" was a common Arab name and further suggest that al-Amin might have been Muhammad's given name, a masculine form <ref>Alford Welch - cf. "Muhammad","Encyclopedia of Islam"</ref> from the same root as his mother's name, ''Āmina'' (أمينة). Physically, he was described as a "[[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Muhammad's White Complexion|white man]]".<ref>"''....My father said, "I heard Ibn 'Umar reciting the poetic verses of Abu Talib: And a white (person) (i.e. the Prophet) who is requested to pray for rain and who takes care of the orphans and is the guardian of widows."....''" - {{Bukhari|2|17|122}}</ref> In 595 AD, aged twenty-five, Muhammad married his employer [[Khadijah]]. She was a wealthy women aged forty, who had three children from two previous marriages. She would eventually bear him two sons (both died in childhood) and four daughters. Khadijah's father Khuwaylid bin Asad was opposed to the idea of his affluent daughter marrying such an "insignificant youth," so the couple used deception. Plying her father with alcohol until he lost his senses, the marriage ceremony went ahead as planned.<ref>LIFE OF MAHOMET. Volume II. Chapter 2,WIlliam Muir, [Smith, Elder, & Co., London, 1861], pg. 24</ref> | ||
== The Revelations == | ==The Revelations== | ||
Leaving his wife and children behind during the month of [[Ramadan]], the now wealthy Muhammad would often fall back to a cave located at the summit of Mount Hira, just outside Mecca in the Arabian Hijaz, where he fasted and prayed. According to Islamic belief, when he was about forty years old (610 AD) he was visited by the Angel [[Gabriel]] (جبريل ''Jibreel'') and commanded to recite verses sent by Allah. These verses would later become what is believed to be the first part of Sura 96. This experience frightened him, and originally thinking he was possessed by a demon, he became suicidal. According to [[Sahih]] Bukhari: | Leaving his wife and children behind during the month of [[Ramadan]], the now wealthy Muhammad would often fall back to a cave located at the summit of Mount Hira, just outside Mecca in the Arabian Hijaz, where he fasted and prayed. According to Islamic belief, when he was about forty years old (610 AD) he was visited by the Angel [[Gabriel]] (جبريل ''Jibreel'') and commanded to recite verses sent by Allah. These verses would later become what is believed to be the first part of Sura 96. This experience frightened him, and originally thinking he was possessed by a demon, he became suicidal. According to [[Sahih]] Bukhari: | ||
| Line 33: | Line 33: | ||
===His emigration=== | ===His emigration=== | ||
After the death of his uncle Abu Talib, who, although not becoming a Muslim, had protected Muhammad throughout, in 622, Muhammad left Mecca in a journey known to Muslims as the ''Hijra'' (هِجْرَة ''Migration'').<ref name="EncWorldHistory"/> He, along with his followers, settled in Medina (then known as ''Yathrib'') a large agricultural oasis, where he was the leader of the first Islamic theocracy. He ordered his followers not to contact their relatives who were left behind in Mecca. By severing links between his followers and their non-Muslim relatives, Muhammad furthered his hold on them. This ''Hijra'' (traditionally translated into English as "flight") marks the beginning of the (rather crude) Islamic lunar calendar. The Muslim calendar counts dates from the Hijra, which is why Muslim dates have the suffix AH (After Hijra). | After the death of his uncle Abu Talib, who, although not becoming a Muslim, had protected Muhammad throughout, in 622, Muhammad left Mecca in a journey known to Muslims as the ''Hijra'' (هِجْرَة ''Migration'').<ref name="EncWorldHistory" /> He, along with his followers, settled in Medina (then known as ''Yathrib'') a large agricultural oasis, where he was the leader of the first Islamic theocracy. He ordered his followers not to contact their relatives who were left behind in Mecca. By severing links between his followers and their non-Muslim relatives, Muhammad furthered his hold on them. This ''Hijra'' (traditionally translated into English as "flight") marks the beginning of the (rather crude) Islamic lunar calendar. The Muslim calendar counts dates from the Hijra, which is why Muslim dates have the suffix AH (After Hijra). | ||
Medina was home to a number of Jewish tribes, divided into three major clans: Banu Qainuqa, Banu Qurayza and Banu Nadir, and some minor groups.<ref name="Cambridge39">''The Cambridge History of Islam'' (1977), p. 39</ref> Among the things Muhammad did was draft a document known as the Constitution of Medina (date debated), "establishing a kind of alliance or federation" among the eight Medinan tribes and Muslim emigrants from Mecca, which specified the rights and duties of all citizens and the relationship of the different communities in Medina.<ref name="Cambridge39"/> | Medina was home to a number of Jewish tribes, divided into three major clans: Banu Qainuqa, Banu Qurayza and Banu Nadir, and some minor groups.<ref name="Cambridge39">''The Cambridge History of Islam'' (1977), p. 39</ref> Among the things Muhammad did was draft a document known as the Constitution of Medina (date debated), "establishing a kind of alliance or federation" among the eight Medinan tribes and Muslim emigrants from Mecca, which specified the rights and duties of all citizens and the relationship of the different communities in Medina.<ref name="Cambridge39" /> | ||
===At war with the Meccans=== | ===At war with the Meccans=== | ||
| Line 44: | Line 44: | ||
===His sexual partners=== | ===His sexual partners=== | ||
:''Main Article: [[Islam_and_Women#Muhammad_and_Women|Muhammad and Women]]'' | :''Main Article: [[Islam_and_Women#Muhammad_and_Women|Muhammad and Women]]'' | ||
Following the death of his (at that time) only wife Khadijah, Muhammad felt sexually liberated. He began to practice [[polygamy]] and became known as a womanizer.<ref>"''....Layla’s people said, "’What a bad thing you have done! You are a self-respecting woman, but the Prophet is a womanizer. Seek an annulment from him.’ She went back to the Prophet and asked him to revoke the marriage and he complied with [her request]....''" - al Tabari vol.9 p.139</ref> After an initial protest from her father,<ref>"''....The Prophet asked Abu Bakr for 'Aisha's hand in marriage. Abu Bakr said "But I am your brother."....''" - {{Bukhari|7|62|18}}</ref> he married [[Aisha]] when she was only six years old. She was 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). Eventually he would go on to marry (and house independently) a total of fifteen women,<ref>al-Tabari vol.9 p.126-127</ref> and own numerous concubines, including his Coptic [[Slavery|slave]], [[Mariyah the Sex Slave of the Holy Prophet|Mariyah]]. According to the famous Sunni scholar Ibn al-Qayyim: | Following the death of his (at that time) only wife Khadijah, Muhammad felt sexually liberated. He began to practice [[polygamy]] and became known as a womanizer.<ref>"''....Layla’s people said, "’What a bad thing you have done! You are a self-respecting woman, but the Prophet is a womanizer. Seek an annulment from him.’ She went back to the Prophet and asked him to revoke the marriage and he complied with [her request]....''" - al Tabari vol.9 p.139</ref> After an initial protest from her father,<ref>"''....The Prophet asked Abu Bakr for 'Aisha's hand in marriage. Abu Bakr said "But I am your brother."....''" - {{Bukhari|7|62|18}}</ref> he married [[Aisha]] when she was only six years old. She was 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). Eventually he would go on to marry (and house independently) a total of fifteen women,<ref>al-Tabari vol.9 p.126-127</ref> and own numerous concubines, including his Coptic [[Slavery|slave]], [[Mariyah the Sex Slave of the Holy Prophet|Mariyah]]. According to the famous Sunni scholar Ibn al-Qayyim: | ||
| Line 73: | Line 75: | ||
==Downloads== | ==Downloads== | ||
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.schnellmann.org/Robert_Spencer_The_Truth_About_Muhammad.pdf|2=2011-03-16}} The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion] ''- Free PDF version of Robert Spencer's best-seller'' | *[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.schnellmann.org/Robert_Spencer_The_Truth_About_Muhammad.pdf|2=2011-03-16}} The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion] ''- Free PDF version of Robert Spencer's best-seller'' | ||
*[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.islam-watch.org/SujitDas/Unmasking_Muhammad.pdf|2=2011-03-16}} Unmasking Muhammad: The Malignant Narcisist & His Grand Delusion Allah] ''- A free 295 page eBook'' | *[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.islam-watch.org/SujitDas/Unmasking_Muhammad.pdf|2=2011-03-16}} Unmasking Muhammad: The Malignant Narcisist & His Grand Delusion Allah] ''- A free 295 page eBook'' | ||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||
*[http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/History.htm The Life of Muhammad: An Inconvenient Truth] | |||
*[http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/History.htm The Life of Muhammad: An Inconvenient Truth] | |||
*[http://www.prophetofdoom.net/ Prophet of Doom] | *[http://www.prophetofdoom.net/ Prophet of Doom] | ||
*[http://www.faithfreedom.org/articles/op-ed/altruistic-prophets-islam-and-mormon-similarities/ Altruistic Prophets: Islam and Mormon Similarities] | *[http://www.faithfreedom.org/articles/op-ed/altruistic-prophets-islam-and-mormon-similarities/ Altruistic Prophets: Islam and Mormon Similarities] | ||