The Life of Muhammad Part 1 of 2

Muhammad’s Birth, Mecca, and the World of Pre-Islamic Arabia

Few people in all of history have ever had an influence so far-reaching that the course of nations are changed. Jesus is one and Muhammad is another such a person. Muhammad, who lived in the 6th and 7th centuries in the Middle East, claimed to have received revelations from God, and it is from these revelations that Islam was founded.

For Muslims, Muhammad is the final prophet of Allah who supersedes all other prophets who came before him and he alone is the one who delivered the final and perfect word of God. Whether or not you believe this, Muhammad is still an important figure in human history.

Muhammad was born in 570 A .D. in Mecca, which is now located in Saudi Arabia. Mecca was then the cultural and religious center of Arabia. The area had no central government and was full of semi-warring tribes with numerous competing polytheistic religions.

At the heart of Mecca was the Kaaba, a shrine about 60 feet by 60 feet by 60 feet containing hundreds of idols. The Kaaba was believed to have been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael on the same spot as the first shrine to God was built by Adam.

On the eastern corner of the Kaaba is the black stone called in Arabic, the Hajar al-Aswad. The black stone is probably a meteorite. Anyway, the Kaaba was also known as the House of Allah where Allah was recognized as a supreme deity but was worshipped along with other deities.

Muhammad’s Family, Trade, and Early Encounters with Jews and Christians

Eventually Muhammad was born. Muhammad was born to his mother Amina into the Quraish, the then ruling tribe of Mecca. Up to the age of 8, he was raised by his grandfather Abdul Matalib because Abdullah, his father, died in Yathrib a few weeks before Muhammad was born.

Amina, his mother, died when he was 6. After the death of his grandfather, his uncle Abu Talib assumed responsibility for raising Muhammad. Abu Talib was a businessman involved in trade so it is likely that Muhammad went with him on business trips and encountered Jews which were 280 miles to the north in Medina and also Christians which were also to the north and south in Najran.

He encountered these Jews and Christians and it seems to be reflected in the Quran in passages that refer to the people of the book. You can see that in chapter 5 verse 59. The term people of the book is a reference to the Jews and Christians who had received God's word through the prophets before Muhammad.

At 25 years of age, Muhammad was hired to manage the business of a wealthy widow named Khadija who was 15 years older than he was at the time. He went to Syria and traded there successfully. Apparently this impressed Khadija.

She ended up proposing to Muhammad later and in 595 they were married. They had two sons and four daughters. Muhammad and Khadija were married for 25 years until Khadija died at the age of 65 during the month of Ramadan well after the start of Islam.

The First Revelation and Muhammad’s Fear of a Jinn

Around 35 years of age, Muhammad assumed the habit of going outside of Mecca to Mount Hira for meditation and contemplation. There was a cave where he would often go for solitude. It was during one of these times of meditation that Muhammad said an angelic being appeared to him.

This disturbed him greatly. You can read about that in the Quran in chapter 81. He told his wife Khadija that he thought he had seen a vision by an evil jinn. Jinn are supposed to be living beings like people, but they are not angels.

They were created from fire and were invisible, yet they also dwell on the earth. A short time later, in the year 610, believed to be the 26th of Ramadan, while in a cave on Mount Hira, Muhammad said that the angel Gabriel appeared to him and commanded him to recite.

This recitation became the Quran. In these encounters with the angel Gabriel, sometimes he would see the angel, other times he said he would only hear him, and at others he would hear the sound of a bell through which the words of the angel would come.

Muhammad could neither read nor write, so he was instructed to memorize the words given to him by the angel Gabriel. This complete revelation which Muhammad received over 23 years ended in 632, the year of his death.

Muhammad’s Call, the Quran, and the Message of Islam

Muhammad doubted, however, that he was really being called by God at the beginning of this, because he did not think that Allah would call him to be a prophet. Others, including his wife and cousin, counseled him by saying that Allah would only be truthful to him and would not allow him to be deceived.

Muhammad became convinced and even wrote in the Quran, he said this, Say, whoever is an enemy to Gabriel, for he brings down the revelation to thy heart by Allah's will, a confirmation of what went before, and guidance and glad tidings for those who believe.

It became the mission of Muhammad to proclaim the truth of Islam given to him by Allah through the angel Gabriel. Muhammad called the people of Zeri to repent from their idol worship and to do good and to serve the one and true God, who he said was Allah.

He taught that man is God's slave and it is his duty to submit to God and obey Him. He said that one day the judgment of God was coming and that a man's works will be weighed on that day. Those whose good deeds outweigh their bad may, by Allah's grace, be saved and enter paradise, which is full of sensual pleasures.

The unsaved, he said, would go to hell. His first converts were his wife Khadija, his cousin Ali, and his adopted son Zayed ibn Haritha. Soon afterwards, Abu Bakr also believed. In his first three years of proclaiming Islam, he had 40 converts.

Persecution, Migration, and the Political Threat of Islam

Though his continued preaching brought only a few converts, it did bring much opposition. The ruling tribe, the Quraysh, tried to get Muhammad to stop his preaching by appealing to his uncle, Abu Talib.

But Muhammad adamantly refused to stop proclaiming the message he had received because he believed it to be true. Because Abu Talib was very influential in the Quraysh, Muhammad's life was protected and he was able to continue his preaching, which angered many people.

The Quraysh began to persecute the Muslims by beating them and boycotting their businesses. Oftentimes, during public prayers, Muhammad was accosted and mocked. His followers were likewise treated poorly, but Muhammad remained steadfast.

Because of the persecution, the Muslims moved to Abyssinia and were protected by the Christian ruler there. After a time, he returned to Medina and continued his preaching. More converts joined his ranks and more idolaters sought to defeat him.

This is because the message of Islam was a socio-political message. Islam covers belief of society, behavior and ethics. This monotheistic belief system threatened the lucrative businesses that grew around the pilgrimages to the Kaaba that were based on the polytheistic system.

The ruling tribe, the Quraysh, soon found that within their reign a small band of believers, a small country unto themselves, was rising up. The ruling party became more and more concerned and felt threatened by the Muslims, so they became more hostile towards Muhammad.

In the year 620, Muhammad lost his beloved uncle, Abu Talib, who never became a Muslim, and also his wife Khadijah. After a few months, Muhammad sought comfort by marrying the widow of one of the believers, Saudah.

He also later married Aisha, the seven-year-old daughter of his friend Abu Bakr, who he took into his home three years later.