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Portal: Muhammad's Companions and Contemporaries: Difference between revisions
Portal: Muhammad's Companions and Contemporaries (view source)
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==Opponents== | ==Opponents== | ||
All those who did not side with Muhammad and his movement were its opponents. It is important to distinguish , however, between these 'opponents' of Islam and the necessarily more limited of contemporaries who can fairly be described as having been 'enemies' of Islam (all these, as shall be seen shortly, also being his opponents). As an imperial movement of universal ambition, Islam divided the world's lands and people into two fundamentally different parts: those conquered, conversion or tribute, and those not. While it is true that not all those unconquered persons felt inimical to Islam as such (the Persians, when Muhammad first started preaching in Mecca, for instance, could hardly have cared about Islam had they known of it), they were nonetheless persons Islam ultimately would need to subdue and thus, in a sense, stood in Islam's way. To give a specific example, the Islamic tradition makes it clear that Abu Lahab was inimical towards Muhammad and Islam from the very beginning and actively tried to shut him and his movement down - it is clear, therefore, that he was an enemy, and it is unsurprising that he was condemned as such. It seems, however, that other persons such as Umm Qirfa (an poetess of wide repute) only started mobilizing in any capacity against Muhammad much, much later, when it was clear that Muhammad's warriors were coming for them - it is much harder to think of these persons as having anything more than self-preservation in mind in their showing resistance to Muhammad and, one suspects, they would have been indifferent towards Islam were it not for their fear of being subdued. This group, rather than the likes of Abu Lahab, would appear to be the majority of those who ultimately found themselves at cross-purposes with or under the sword of Muhammad and his followers. While the distinction may be slight and not in all cases clear - since it is not entirely clear what the difference between self-preservation and enmity might be at a very fundamental level - it is nonetheless important. | |||
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{{PortalArticle|title=Abu Lahab|summary=|image=Lahabcropped.jpg|description=Abu Lahab ibn 'Abdul Muttalib (أبو لهب) was a half paternal uncle of Muhammad, a leader of the Quraysh, and a staunch critic of Islam. He is one of the few Arabs alive during Muhammad's period of revelations to be mentioned by name in the Qur'an. The 111st chapter of the Qur'an is variously titled Masad and Lahab, and is entirely about the fiery fate of Abu Lahab and his wife.}}{{PortalArticle|summary=|title=Kinana|image=Khaybar1.jpg|description=Kinana ibn al-Rabi' ibn Abu al-Huqayq was a leader/chief of the Jews of Khaybar and husband of Safiyah, who later became one of Muhammad's wives. One source relates that Kinana and Safiyah had only been married one day prior to his death. Reports state that Kinana was tortured prior to being killed.}} | {{PortalArticle|title=Abu Lahab|summary=|image=Lahabcropped.jpg|description=Abu Lahab ibn 'Abdul Muttalib (أبو لهب) was a half paternal uncle of Muhammad, a leader of the Quraysh, and a staunch critic of Islam. He is one of the few Arabs alive during Muhammad's period of revelations to be mentioned by name in the Qur'an. The 111st chapter of the Qur'an is variously titled Masad and Lahab, and is entirely about the fiery fate of Abu Lahab and his wife.}}{{PortalArticle|summary=|title=Kinana|image=Khaybar1.jpg|description=Kinana ibn al-Rabi' ibn Abu al-Huqayq was a leader/chief of the Jews of Khaybar and husband of Safiyah, who later became one of Muhammad's wives. One source relates that Kinana and Safiyah had only been married one day prior to his death. Reports state that Kinana was tortured prior to being killed.}} | ||
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==Others== | ==Others== | ||
Those who figured in Muhammad's life who were not either his companions or at some level his opponents were few indeed. The most important of these groups would include those persons who Muhammad knew but who passed away before he proclaimed prophethood, such as his parents, as well as those reported diplomatic acquaintances of his who he never confronted in a military/imperial context, such as al-Najashi, the ruler of Abyssinia. Muhammad's relationships and assessments of this type of person can be described as ambiguous at best and are arguably some of the most historically dubious. | |||
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{{PortalArticle|title=Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib|summary=|image=Abdullahbaalmuttalib.png|description=Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib was the father of Muhammad who passed away during a trading trip he embarked on while Aminah, his wife, was still pregnant with Muhammad. According to hadiths in Sahih Muslim that some Islamic theologians have had trouble grappling with, both of Muhammad's parents are in hell.}} | {{PortalArticle|title=Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib|summary=|image=Abdullahbaalmuttalib.png|description=Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib was the father of Muhammad who passed away during a trading trip he embarked on while Aminah, his wife, was still pregnant with Muhammad. According to hadiths in Sahih Muslim that some Islamic theologians have had trouble grappling with, both of Muhammad's parents are in hell.}} | ||
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