Muhammad ibn Abdullah: Difference between revisions

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 imperfectly [[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> This was complimented by the fact that 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> The elites in Mecca were left unimpressed by what was preached. Eventually, Muhammad delivered verses that condemned idol worship and the Meccan forefathers who engaged in polytheism.<ref>F. E. Peters (1994), p.169</ref> Muhammad's opposition in Mecca came as a reaction to his antagonism of 'idolaters'. As Muhammad's followers remained few in numbers, he revealed verses that pleased his pagan contemporaries.<ref name=":2">Then God sent down the revelation. 'By the star when it sets! Your companion has not erred or gone astray, and does not speak from mere fancy…' [Q.53:1] When he reached God's words, "Have you seen al-Lāt and al-'Uzzā and Manāt, the third, the other?' [Q.53:19-20] Satan cast upon his tongue, because of what he had pondered in himself and longed to bring to his people, 'These are the high-flying cranes and their intercession is to be hoped for.'

Muhammad was also criticized for claiming he rode the [[Buraq]] (a mythical flying horse-like creature) on an alleged "Night Journey" to the "nearest heaven" and then back to Mecca in a single 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 in Islam 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>

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).

In March of 624, Muhammad led some three hundred converts 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 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 as disrespect for the dead,<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><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>

A further four years of continuous war between Muslim and Meccan forces followed, culminating later in a Muslim victory and the conquest of Mecca. The Muslims subsequently removed and destroyed everything they considered idolatrous from the [[Kaaba|Ka'aba]], while Muhammad recited verses from the Qur'an. The townspeople either accepted Islam or were expelled. In March 632,<ref name="EoI-Muhammad">Alford Welch, ''Muhammad'', Encyclopedia of Islam</ref> Muhammad led the pilgrimage known as the ''[[Hajj]]'' (حج).

Following the death of his (at that time) only wife Khadijah, Muhammad 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 Aisha's father, Muhammad's best friend and companion Abu Baker,<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>  Muhammad, then 53, married her at 6 years old. 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 according to Sunni scholar Ibn al-Qayyim, owned numerous concubines, including his Coptic [[Slavery|slave]], [[Mariyah the Sex Slave of the Holy Prophet|Mariyah]].<ref>Mohammed had many male and female slaves. He used to buy and sell them, but he purchased more slaves than he sold, '''especially after God empowered him by His message''', as well as after his immigration from Mecca. '''He once sold one black slave for two'''. His name was Jacob al-Mudbir. His purchases of slaves were more than he sold. He was used to renting out and hiring many slaves, but he hired more slaves than he rented out.

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 [[Islamic Antisemitism|antisemitic]]. The Jews were 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 [[Dhimmi|Dhimmis]] (non-muslim second class citizens).<ref>The honour of Islam lies in insulting kufr and kafirs. One who respects the kafirs dishonours the Muslims… '''The real purpose of levying jiziya on them is to humiliate them to such an extent that they may not be able to dress well and to live in grandeur. They should constantly remain terrified and trembling'''. It is intended to hold them under contempt and to uphold the honour and might of Islam.

[https://quranx.com/2.100 Quran 2:100]</ref> 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, Muhammad 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:

In the year 632, Muhammad became infirm with severe head pain and weakness. He died on June, 8^th, 632 at the age of 62 or 63. Muhammad was poisoned by a Jewish woman, following the conquest of Khaibar, where he took [[Safiyah]] as a wife, and ordered the torture and beheading of her husband [[Kinana]], the chief of the Jews at Khaibar. He spent his last day with the young [[Aisha]], who was considered to be his favorite wife. At the time of his death, Ali (who would later become the fourth caliph of Islam) reported that Muhammad's penis was erect.<ref>"''....Abulfeda mentions the exclamation of Ali, who washed his body after his death, "O prophet, thy penis is erect unto the sky!" (in Vit. Mohammed. p. 140).....''" - Edward Gibbon, [{{Reference archive|1=http://web.archive.org/web/20070417133412/http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/HTML.php?recordID=0214.09|2=2012-12-10}} "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"], Vol. 9  Footnote 175</ref> He was buried in his house near the Mosque of the Prophet in [[Medina]].