Muhammad ibn Abdullah: Difference between revisions

[[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.

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 mother of the faithful believers) Al-Harith bin Hisham asked Allah's Apostle "O Allah's Apostle! How is the Divine Inspiration revealed to you?" Allah's Apostle replied, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes ' off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says." 'Aisha added: Verily I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the Sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over).}}

He began preaching as a prophet in Mecca, warning of a day of judgement when all humans who have rejected his claims of prophethood would burn for eternity in Hell (جهنم ''[[Jahannam]]'').<ref name="EncWorldHistory">''Encyclopedia of World History'' (1998), p. 452</ref> Even during the early days of his self-proclaimed prophethood he was often accused by the Meccans of [[Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures|plagiarising]] the "ancients fictitious tales."<ref>"''Such things have been promised to us and to our fathers before! they are nothing but tales of the ancients!''" - {{Quran|23|83}}</ref> Indeed, as Muhammad was an illiterate man who had come into contact with followers of the [[Abrahamic Religions|Abrahamic faiths]] before his proclamation of prophethood (e.g. Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail),<ref>"''....Allah's Apostle said that he met Zaid bin 'Amr Nufail at a place near Baldah and this had happened before Allah's Apostle received the Divine Inspiration....''" - {{Bukhari|7|67|407}}</ref> this would explain his imperfect borrowings from the stories he had heard. The elites in Mecca were left unimpressed by what was preached, and this infuriated him. Eventually leading Muhammad to deliver verses that condemned idol worship and the Meccan forefathers who engaged in polytheism.<ref>F. E. Peters (1994), p.169</ref> Thus began the opposition of Muhammad in Mecca. While some claim the Meccans persecuted Muslims, there is little evidence that would support this. There had been trouble, most of which were in reaction to Muhammad's antagonism towards the 'idolaters'. As Muhammad's followers remained few in numbers, in an attempt to entice the polytheists into converting to Islam he revealed the now infamous "[[Satanic Verses]]". Most likely upon realising how this would impact his status (no longer being the lone intercessor between his followers and Allah), he quickly replaced his previous revelation with the following assault on the Meccan deities:

{{Quote|{{cite quran|53|19|end=23|style=ref}}|Have ye seen Lat. and 'Uzza, And another, the third (goddess), Manat? What! for you the male sex, and for Him, the female? Behold, such would be indeed a division most unfair! These are nothing but names which ye have devised,- ye and your fathers,- for which Allah has sent down no authority (whatever). They follow nothing but conjecture and what their own souls desire!- Even though there has already come to them Guidance from their Lord!}}

Muhammad was also criticized for claiming he rode the [[Buraq]] (a mythical flying horse-like creature) on an alleged and rather fanciful "Night Journey" to the "nearest heaven" and then back to Mecca in one night.<ref>"''....The Prophet said, "The animal's step (was so wide that it) reached the farthest point within the reach of the animal's sight. I was carried on it, and Gabriel set out with me till we reached the nearest heaven.....''" - {{Bukhari|5|58|227}}</ref> An event which is now celebrated by Muslims every year.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2279985.ece A Night Journey through Jerusalem] - Khadija Bradlow - Times Online, August 18, 2007</ref>

===His emigration===

===At war with the Meccans===

In March of 624, Muhammad led some three hundred Jihadists in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Meccans successfully defended the caravan, but then decided to retaliate and marched against Medina. On March 15, 624 near a place called Badr, the Meccans and the Muslims clashed. Though outnumbered more than three times (one thousand to three hundred - majority of Muslim historians put the exact total at 313) in the battle, the Muslims met with success, killing at least seventy Meccans and taking seventy prisoners<ref>"''....On the day (of the battle) of Badr, the Prophet and his companions had caused the 'Pagans to lose 140 men, seventy of whom were captured and seventy were killed.....''" - {{Bukhari|4|52|276}}</ref> for ransom; only fourteen Muslims died.<ref>Glubb (2002), pp.179-186.</ref> This marked the real beginning of Muslim military battles. Among the prisoners was Al Nadir, a storyteller and poet who had mocked him. He was not allowed to be ransomed by their clans and was executed on Muhammad's orders.<ref>Jake Neuman - [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=emyBulRLVjMC&pg=PT226&dq=By+God,+Muhammad+cannot+tell+a+better+story+than+I,+and+his+talk+is+only#v=onepage&q=By%20God%2C%20Muhammad%20cannot%20tell%20a%20better%20story%20than%20I%2C%20and%20his%20talk%20is%20only&f=false God of Moral Perfection; A Stark Message from God for All Mankind] - (2008) Blackwell, p. 211</ref> Muhammad also ordered twenty-four Meccans to be thrown into the well of Badr,<ref>"''....he [Muhammad] commanded more than twenty persons, and in another hadith these are counted as twenty-four persons, from the non-believers of the Quraish to be thrown into the well of Badr.....''" - {{Muslim|40|6870}}</ref> and mocked the dead.<ref>"''Narrated Ibn 'Umar: The Prophet looked at the people of the well (the well in which the bodies of the pagans killed in the Battle of Badr were thrown) and said, "Have you found true what your Lord promised you?" Somebody said to him, "You are addressing dead people.''" He replied, "You do not hear better than they but they cannot reply." - {{Bukhari|2|23|452}}</ref>

===His sexual partners===

 

 

===His changing attitude towards the Jews===

A few years after his migration, Muhammad's attitude towards the Christians and Jews changed. Having encountered rejection from the Jewish scholars in Medina, he became very much an [[Islamic Antisemitism|anti-Semite]]. The Jews were rightly skeptical of the compatibility between the Qur'an and their [[Taurat|own scriptures]], and while many in Medina converted to Islam, very few were from the large Jewish populations. This was the start of the long history of persecution and subjugation of Jews at the hands of Islam.

After each major battle with the Medinans, Muhammad accused one of the Jewish tribes of treachery (see {{Quran|2|100}}) and attacked it. After Badr and Uhud, the Banu Qainuqa and Banu Nadir, respectively, were expelled from Medina, and much of their possessions were confiscated by Muhammad.<ref>"''....The Banu [tribe] Qaynuqa did not have any land, as they were goldsmiths [and armor-makers]. The Messenger of God took many weapons belonging to them and the tools of their trade....''" (Tabari, vol. 7, p. 87)</ref> After the Battle of the Trench in 627, the Muslims accused the Jews of [[The Genocide of Banu Qurayza|Banu Qurayza]] of conspiring with the Meccans, then wiped them out.<ref>Esposito (1998), pp.10-11</ref> The women and young children were taken captive by Muslims to be sold in slave markets,<ref>Haykal, Muhammad Husayn (Author). Al-Faruqi, Ismail Raji (Translator). (2002). The Life of Muhammad. (p. 338). Selangor, Malaysia: Islamic Book Trust.</ref><ref>"''...Then the apostle sent for Sa'd bin Zayd al-Ansari brother of bin Abdul-Ashhal with some of the captive women of Banu Qurayza to Najd and he sold them for horses and weapons....''" - Ibn Ishaq: 693</ref> and the men and boys who had begun to grow pubic hair were beheaded.<ref>"''...Narrated Atiyyah al-Qurazi: I was among the captives of Banu Qurayzah. They (the Companions) examined us, and those who had begun to grow hair (pubes) were killed, and those who had not were not killed. I was among those who had not grown hair...''" - {{Abudawud|38|4390}}</ref> Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq describes the incident:

{{Quote|Tabari VIII:35/Ishaq:464|Then they surrendered, and the apostle confined them in Medina in the quarter of d. al-Harith, a woman of B. al-Najjar. Then the apostle went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for them and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches. Among them was the enemy of Allah Huyayy b. Akhtab and Ka`b b. Asad their chief. There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900. As they were being taken out in batches to the apostle they asked Ka`b what he thought would be done with them. He replied, 'Will you never understand? Don't you see that the summoner never stops and those who are taken away do not return? By Allah it is death!' This went on until the apostle made an end of them.<ref name="Guillaume463">Guillaume, Alfred, ''The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah''. Oxford University Press, 1955. ISBN 0-1963-6033-1; p. 461-464.</ref>}}

One of the explanations given by some Arab historians and biographers for Muhammad's appalling treatment of the Jews of Medina is that "the punishment of the Medina Jews, who were invited to convert and refused, perfectly exemplify the Qur'an's tales of what happened to those who rejected the prophets of old."<ref name="Peters77">F.E.Peters(2003), p.77</ref>

==The Death of the Prophet==

 

*[http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/History.htm The Life of Muhammad: An Inconvenient Truth]