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BIOGRAPHY
OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (pbuh)
Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z.
Haq
Prophet Muhammad (s) was born in 570 CE
in Makkah (Bakka,
Baca, Mecca). His father, Abdullah, died several
weeks before his birth in Yathrib (Medinah) where he went
to visit his father's maternal relatives. His mother died
while on the return journey from Medinah at a place called
‘Abwa’ when he was six years old. He was raised by his
paternal grandfather 'Abd al Muttalib (Shaybah) until the
age of eight, and after his grandfather’s death by Abu
Talib, his paternal uncle. 'Abd al Muttalib's mother,
Salma, was a native of Medinah and he was born and raised
as a young boy in Medinah before his uncle Muttalib
brought him to Makkah to succeed him. Many years before
Muhammad's birth, 'Abd al Muttalib had established himself
as an influential leader of the Arab tribe ‘Quraish’
in Makkah and took care of the Holy sanctuary ‘Ka’bah’.
Makkah was a city state well connected to the caravan
routes to Syria and Egypt in the north and northwest and
Yemen in the south. Muhammad was a descendant of
Prophet Ismail through the lineage of his second son Kedar.
Ka'bah is the first house of worship
built on earth for the worship of Allah,
the One True God. It was re-built (raised from the
existing foundation) by Prophets Ibrahim (Abraham) and
Ismail (Ishmael). Allah is the proper name of the
One True God, creator and sustainer of the universe, who
does not have a partner or associate, and He did not beget
nor was He begotten. Unlike the word god, the word Allah
does not have a plural or gender.
Under the guardianship of Abu Talib,
Muhammad (s) began to earn a living as a businessman and a
trader. At the age of twelve, he accompanied Abu Talib
with a merchant caravan as far as Bostra in Syria.
Muhammad was popularly known as ‘al-Ameen’ for
his unimpeachable character by the Makkans and visitors
alike. The title Al-Ameen means the Honest, the Reliable
and the Trustworthy, and it signified the highest standard
of moral and public life.
Upon hearing of Muhammad’s impressive
credentials, Khadijah, a rich merchant widow, asked
Muhammad (s) to take some merchandise for trade to Syria.
Soon after this trip when he was twenty-five, Khadijah
proposed marriage to Muhammad through a relative.
Muhammad accepted the proposal. At that time, Khadijah was
twice widowed and forty years old. Khadijah (ra) and
Muhammad (s) were the parents of six children -
four daughters and two sons. His first son Qasim died at
the age of two. He was nicknamed Abul Qasim, meaning the
father of Qasim. His second son Abdullah died in infancy.
Abdullah was also called affectionately as ‘Tayyab’
and ‘Tahir’ because he was born after Muhammad’s
prophethood. The four daughters were: Zainab, Ruqayyah,
Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah (ra).
The Holy sanctuary Ka’bah was
now filled with three hundred sixty idols. The original,
pristine message of Prophet Ibrahim was lost, and it was
mixed with superstitions and traditions of pilgrims and
visitors from distant places, who were used to idol
worship and myths. In every generation, a small group of
men and women detested the pollution of Ka’bah and kept
pure their practice of the religion taught by Prophets
Ibrahim and Ismail. They used to spend some of their time
away from this polluted environment in retreats to nearby
hills.
Muhammad (s) was forty when, during his
one of many retreats to Mount Hira for meditation during
the month of Ramadan, he received the first revelation
from the Archangel Jibril (Gabriel). On this first
appearance, Gabriel (as) said to Muhammad:
"Iqraa," meaning Read or Recite. Muhammad
replied, "I
cannot read," as he had not received any
formal education and did not know how to read or write.
The Angel Gabriel then embraced him until he reached the
limit of his endurance and after releasing said:
"Iqraa." Muhammad’s answer was the same as
before. Gabriel repeated the embrace for the third time,
asked him to repeat after him and said:
"Recite in the name of your Lord
who created! He created man from that which clings.
Recite; and thy Lord is most Bountiful, He who has
taught by the pen, taught man what he knew not."
These revelations are the first five
verses of Surah (chapter) 96 of the Qur’an. Thus it was
in the year 610 CE the revelation began.
Muhammad (s) was terrified by the whole experience
of the revelation and fled the cave of Mt. Hira
[Qur'an 81:19-29]. When he reached his home, tired and
frightened, he asked his wife: ‘cover me, cover me,’
in a blanket. After his awe had somewhat abated, his wife
Khadijah asked him about the reason of his great anxiety
and fear. She then assured him by saying: "Allah (The
One God) will not let you down because you are kind to
relatives, you speak only the truth, you help the poor,
the orphan and the needy, and you are an honest man.
Khadijah then consulted with her cousin Waraqa who was an
old, saintly man possessing knowledge of previous
revelations and scriptures. Waraqa confirmed to her that
the visitor was none other than the Angel Gabriel who had
come to Moses. He then added that Muhammad
is the expected Prophet. Khadijah accepted
the revelation as truth and was the first person to accept
Islam. She supported her husband in every hardship, most
notably during the three-year ‘boycott’ of the
Prophet’s clan by the pagan Quraish. She died at the age
of sixty-five in the month of Ramadan soon after the
lifting of the boycott in 620 CE.
Gabriel (as) visited the Prophet
as commanded by Allah revealing Ayat (meaning signs,
loosely referred to as verses) in Arabic over a period of
twenty-three years. The revelations that he received were
sometimes a few verses, a part of a chapter or the whole
chapter. Some revelations came down in response to an
inquiry by the nonbelievers. The revealed verses were
recorded on a variety of available materials (leather,
palm leaves, bark, shoulder bones of animals), memorized
as soon as they were revealed, and were recited in daily
prayers by Muslims [Qur'an 80:13-16]. Angel Gabriel taught
the order and arrangement of verses, and the Prophet
instructed his several scribes to record verses in that
order [Qur'an 75:16-19 and 41:41-42]. Once a year, the
Prophet used to recite all the verses revealed to him up
to that time to Gabriel to authenticate the accuracy of
recitation and the order of verses [Qur'an 17:106]. All
the revealed verses (over
a period of 23 years and ending in 632 CE) were
compiled in the book known as Qur’an. The name Qur’an
appears in the revealed verses. The Qur’an
does not contain even a word from the Prophet. The Qur'an
speaks in the first person, i.e., Allah's commandments to
His creation. Gabriel also visited the Prophet throughout
his mission informing and teaching him of events and
strategy as needed to help in the completion of the
prophetic mission. The Prophet’s sayings, actions, and
approvals are recorded separately in collections known as
Hadith.
The mission of Prophet Muhammad
(s) was to restore the worship of the One True God, the
creator and sustainer of the universe, as taught by
Prophet Ibrahim and all Prophets
of God, and to demonstrate and complete the laws
of moral, ethical, legal, and social conduct and all other
matters of significance for the humanity at large.
The first few people who followed this
message were: his cousin Ali, his servant Zayd ibn
Harithah, his friend Abu Bakr and his wife and daughters.
They accepted Islam by testifying that:
"There is no Deity (worthy of
worship) except Allah (The One True God) and Muhammad is
the Messenger of Allah."
Islam means peace by submission and
obedience to the Will and Commandments of God and those
who accept Islam are called Muslims, meaning those who
have accepted the message of peace by submission to God.
In the first three years of his
mission forty people (men and women) accepted Islam.
This small group comprised of youth as well as older
people from a wide range of economic and social
background. The Prophet was directed by a recent
revelation to start preaching Islam to everyone. He then
began to recite revelations to people in public and invite
them to Islam. The Quraish, leaders of Makkah, took his
preaching with hostility. The most hostile and closest to
the prophet was his uncle Abu Lahab and his wife.
Initially, they and other leaders of Quraish tried to
bribe him with money and power including an
offer to make him king if he were to abandon his
message. When this did not work, they tried to convince
his uncle Abu Talib to accept the best young man of Makkah
in place of Muhammad and to allow them to kill Muhammad.
His uncle tried to persuade the Prophet to stop preaching
but the Prophet said: "O uncle, if they were to put
the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand to
stop me from preaching Islam, I would never stop. I will
keep preaching until Allah makes Islam prevail or I
die."
The Quraish began to persecute Muslims
by beating, torture and boycott of their
businesses. Those who were weak, poor or slaves were
publicly tortured. The first person to die by this means
was a Muslim women by the name Umm Ammar (the mother of
Ammar Ibn Yasir). The Muslims from well-to-do families
were physically restrained in their homes with the
condition that if they recant they will be allowed freedom
of movement. The Prophet was publicly ridiculed and
humiliated including frequent throwing of filth on him in
the street and while he prayed in the Ka’bah. In spite
of great hardships and no apparent support, the message of
Islam kept all Muslims firm in their belief. The Prophet
was asked by God to be patient and to preach the message
of Qur’an. He advised Muslims to remain patient because
he did not receive any revelation yet to retaliate against
their persecutors. [Persecution]
When the persecution became
unbearable for most Muslims, the Prophet advised them in
the fifth year of his mission (615 CE) to emigrate to
Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) where Ashabah (Negus, a
Christian) was the ruler. Eighty people, not counting the
small children, emigrated in small groups to avoid
detection. No sooner had they left the Arabian coastline,
the leaders of Quraish discovered their flight. They
decided to not leave these Muslims in peace, and
immediately sent two of their envoys to Negus to bring all
of them back. However, Negus allowed them to stay under
his protection after he
investigated Muslim belief and heard the
revelations about Jesus
and Mary (peace be upon them both), which appears
in Chapter 19, entitled Mary, of the Qur’an. The
emigrants were allowed freedom of worship in Abyssinia.
The Quraish then made life even more
difficult for the Prophet by implementing total ban
on contact with the Prophet’s family (Bani Hashim and
Muttalib). The ban lasted for three years without the
desired effect. Just before the ban was lifted, the
Prophet was contacted by the leaders of Quraish to agree
to a compromise under which they should all practice both
religions (i.e., Islam and Idolatry). Upon hearing this,
the Prophet recited a revelation (Chapter 109) he had just
received and which ends with the words: "... For you
your religion and for me mine." The ban was lifted
when leaders of Quraish discovered that their secret
document on the terms of ban, which they had stored in
Ka’bah, was eaten by worms and all that was left were
the opening words ‘In Your name, O Allah.’ The effects
of the three-year boycott left the Prophet with more
personal sorrow when he lost his beloved wife Khadijah
(ra) and uncle Abu Talib soon after the ban was lifted.
After Khadijah's death in 620 CE,
the Prophet married a widowed Muslim woman, Sawdah (ra)
who was fifty years old. She and her husband had emigrated
to Abyssinia in the early years of persecution. After her
husband died, she came back to Makkah and sought
Prophet’s shelter. The Prophet, recognizing her
sacrifices for Islam, extended his shelter by marrying
her. Later in the same year, the Prophet upon receiving
the divine command in a dream, after approval of Sawdah,
contracted marriage to A’ishah, the daughter of his dear
companion Abu
Bakr. She joined the Prophet in Medinah,
completing the marriage contract. Sawdah and A’ishah
(ra) were the only wives until he was fifty-six years old.
After the death of his uncle Abu Talib,
the Prophet went to Taif (about 50 miles east,
southeast of Makkah) to seek their protection. They flatly
refused and mocked at him, and severely injured him by
inciting their children to throw stones at him. Gabriel
(as) visited the Prophet here suggesting that the angels
were ready to destroy the town if he were to ask Allah for
the punishment. Nevertheless, the
Prophet declined and prayed for future generations
of Taif to accept Islam [Taif].
It was on the return journey from Taif that the verses
from Surah Al Jinn (Chapter 72) were revealed. It
indicated that the Qur’an is a book of guidance to both
the Jinns
and Humankind.
Soon after the terrible disappointment
at Ta’if, the prophet experienced the events of al-Israa
and al-Miraaj (621 CE). In the Al-Israa, Gabriel (as)
took the Prophet from the sacred Mosque near Ka’bah
to the furthest (al-Aqsa) mosque in Jerusalem in a
very short time in the latter part of a night. Here,
Prophet Muhammad met with previous Prophets (Abraham,
Moses, Jesus and others) and he led them in prayer. After
this, in Al-Miraj, the Prophet was taken up to heavens to
show the signs of God [More... The
Dome of the Rock]. It was on this journey that
five daily prayers were prescribed. He was then taken back
to Ka’bah, the whole experience lasting a few hours of a
night. Upon hearing this, the people of Makkah mocked at
him. However, when his specific description of Jerusalem,
other things on the way, and the caravan that he saw on
this journey including its expected arrival in Makkah
turned out to be true, the ridicule of the nonbelievers
stopped. The event of Israa and Miraaj is mentioned in the
Qur’an - the first verse of Chapter 17 entitled ‘The
Children of Israel.’
In 622 CE, the leaders of the Quraish
decided to kill the Prophet and they developed a
plan in which one man was chosen from each of the Quraish
tribes and they were to attack the Prophet simultaneously.
Gabriel informed the Prophet of the plan and instructed
him to leave Makkah immediately. The Prophet, after making
arrangements to return the properties entrusted to him by
several nonbelievers, left with Abu Bakr in the night he
was to be assassinated. They went south of Makkah to a
mountain cave of Thawr [see Qur'an 9:40], and after
staying three nights they traveled north to Yathrib
(Medinah) about two hundred fifty miles from Makkah. Upon
discovery of his escape, the leaders of Quraish put up a
reward of one hundred camels on him, dead or alive. In
spite of all their best scouts and search parties, Allah
protected the Prophet and he
arrived safely in Quba, a suburb of Medinah
[Qur'an 28:85]. This event is known as the ‘Hijra’
(migration) and the Islamic calendar begins with this
event. The people of Aws and Khazraj in Medinah greeted
him with great enthusiasm in accordance with their pledge
made at Aqaba less than a year ago during the
annual pilgrimage. One by one those Muslims (men and
women) of Makkah who were not physically restrained, and
who could make a secret exit, left for Medinah leaving
behind their properties and homes.
To insure the peace and tranquility, the
Prophet proposed a treaty
defining terms of conduct for all inhabitants of Medinah.
It was ratified by all - Muslims, non-Muslim Arabs and
Jews. After his emigration to Medinah, the enemies of
Islam increased their assault from all sides. The Battles
of Badr, Uhud and Allies (Trench) were fought near or
around Medinah. In these battles until the year 627 CE,
the nonbelievers with encouragement from Jews and other
Arabian tribes attacked the Prophet and Muslim community.
The Muslims while defending their city and religion lost
many men, which resulted in many widowed Muslim women
and numerous orphaned children. In these
circumstances, Prophet Muhammad (s) married several women
during fifty-sixth year up to the sixtieth year of his
life. He did not contract any marriage in the last three
years of his life, following the revelation limiting the
number of wives up to a maximum of four. This is the first
time in the history of revealed scriptures that a limit on
the number of wives was imposed and the terms of conduct
were specified. The Prophet was instructed not to divorce
any of his wives after this revelation [Qur'an 33:52]. All
of the ladies he took as wives were either widowed or
divorced, except A’ishah.
The Prophet married Umm Salamah (ra) in
626 CE. Her husband had died of wounds inflicted in the
Battle of Uhud (625 CE). When the Prophet asked her for
marriage, she replied: "O Messenger of God, I suffer
from three shortcomings. I am a very jealous woman, and I
am afraid this might cause me to do things that you
dislike. Secondly, I am an old woman. Finally, I have many
children." The Prophet answered: "Regarding your
jealousy, I pray to God to remove it from you. As for your
age, we are similar in age. As for the children, your
children are mine." Thus it was that she agreed to
marry the Prophet. The Prophet’s marriage contract with Umm
Habibah (ra) was solemnized, by proxy, by Negus,
King of Abyssinia, in 628 CE.
Two of his wives, Juwayriah and Safiyah,
were prisoners of war. Both belonged to the family of the
chief of their tribes and were set free by the Prophet;
they then gladly accepted Islam and were pleased to become
the Prophet’s wives. The Prophet’s marriages provided
security to women who would have otherwise remained
unmarried, unprotected, or felt humiliated. His marriages
were also a means of transmitting important teachings of
Islam. The Prophet's wives, called the "Mothers of
the Believers,"[Qur'an Surah 33, Verse 6 and the last
part of Verse 53] showed themselves as examples of proper
Muslim womanhood. All his wives, especially 'Aishah,
transmitted many ahadith (sayings, deeds, and actions)
from Prophet Muhammad (s).
A year after the Battle of Allies
(Trench), the Prophet and fifteen hundred of his
companions left for Makkah to perform the annual
pilgrimage (628 CE). They were barred from approaching the
city at Hudaybiyah, where after some negotiations a
treaty
was signed allowing for them to come next year. This
treaty facilitated exchange of ideas among the people of
the whole region without interference. Many delegations
from all regions of Arabia came to the Prophet to
investigate the teachings of Islam, and a large number of
people accepted Islam within a couple of years. The
Prophet sent many of his companions (who memorized the
Qur'an by heart) to new communities to instruct them about
the practice of Islam. More than fifty of them were
murdered by non-believers.
A few weeks after Hudaybiyah the Prophet
sent letters
to several kings and rulers (including the two
superpowers - Byzantines and Persians) inviting them
to Islam. Negus,
the king of Abyssinia, and the Ruler of Bahrain accepted
Islam, and Emperor
Heraclius acknowledged Muhammad’s Prophethood.
Among rulers who accepted Islam but without any initiative
from the Prophet was Chakrawati
Farmas, a Hindu King of Malabar (located on the
southwest coast of India).
About two years later at the end of 629
CE, the Quraish violated the terms of the Treaty of
Hudaybiyah by helping Banu Bakr in the surprise attack
on Bani Khuza’ah who were allied with the Prophet. Some
of Bani Khuzah’s men escaped and took shelter in Makkah
and they sought redress. However, the leaders of Quraish
did nothing. They then sent a message to the Prophet for
help.
The Prophet, after confirming all the
reports of the attack and subsequent events, marched to
Makkah with an army consisting of three thousand
Muslims of Medinah and Muslims from other Arab communities
that joined him on the way totaling ten
thousand Muslims. Before entering the city he sent
word to citizens of Makkah that anyone who remained in his
home, or in Abu Sufyan’s home, or in the Ka’bah would
be safe. The army entered Makkah without fighting and the
Prophet went directly to the Ka’bah. He magnified Allah
for the triumphant entry in the Holy city. The Prophet
pointed at each idol with a stick he had in his hand and
said, "Truth has come and Falsehood will neither
start nor will it reappear" [Qur'an 17:81]. And one
by one the idols fell down. The Ka’bah was then cleansed
by the removal of all three hundred sixty idols, and it
was restored to its pristine status for the worship of One
True God (as built by Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail).
The people of the city expected general
slaughter in view of their persecution and torture of
Muslims for the past twenty years. While standing by the
Ka'bah, the Prophet (s) promised clemency for the Makkans,
stating: "O Quraish, what do you think that I am
about to do with you?" They replied, "Good. You
are a noble brother, son of a noble brother." The
Prophet forgave them all saying:
"I will treat you as Prophet
Yousuf (Joseph) treated his brothers. There is no
reproach against you. Go to your homes, and you are all
free."
The Prophet also declared:
Allah made Makkah holy the day He
created heavens and earth, and it is the holy of holies
until the Resurrection Day. It is not lawful for anyone
who believes in Allah and the last day to shed blood
therein, nor to cut down trees therein. It was not
lawful to anyone before me and it will not be lawful to
anyone after me.
The people of Makkah then accepted Islam
including the staunch enemies of the Prophet. A few of the
staunchest enemies and military commanders had fled Makkah
after his entry. However, when they received the
Prophet’s assurance of no retaliation and no compulsion
in religion, they came back and gradually the message of
Islam won their hearts. Within a year (630 CE), almost all
Arabia accepted Islam. Among the Prophet’s close
companions were Muslims from such diverse background as Persia,
Abyssinia, Syria and Rome. Several prominent Jewish
Rabbis, Christian bishop and clergymen accepted Islam
after discussions with the Prophet.
One night in March 630 CE, Angel Gabriel
visited the Prophet and addressed him as: "O father
of Ibrahim." A few hours later, the Prophet received
the news of the birth of his son from his wife Mariah,
and the Prophet named him Ibrahim. He was the only child
born after the six children from Prophet’s first wife
Khadijah. Ibrahim died when he was ten months old. On the
day of Ibrahim's death, there was an eclipse of the sun.
When some people began to attribute it to the Prophet's
bereavement, he said: "The sun and the moon are two
signs of the signs of God. Their light is not dimmed for
any man's death. If you see them eclipsed, you should pray
until they be clear."
The great change in Arabia alarmed the two
superpowers, Byzantines and Persians. Their Governors,
particularly the Byzantines, reacted with threats to
attack Medinah. Instead of waiting, the prophet sent a
small army to defend the northmost border of Arabia. In
the remaining life of the Prophet, all of the major
battles were fought on the northern front. The Prophet did
not have a standing army. Whenever he received a threat,
he called the Muslims and discussed with them the
situation and gathered volunteers to fight any aggression.
The Prophet performed his first and last
pilgrimage in 632 CE. One hundred twenty-thousand
men and women performed pilgrimage that year with him. The
Prophet received the last revelation during this
pilgrimage. Two months later, Prophet Muhammad (s) fell
ill and after several days died
on Monday, 12 Rabi al-Awwal, the eleventh year after Hijra
(June 8, 632 CE) in Medinah. He is buried in the same
place where he died.
Prophet Muhammad lived a most simple,
austere and modest life. He and his family used to go
without cooked meal several days at a time, relying only
on dates, dried bread and water. During the day he was the
busiest man, as he performed his duties in many roles all
at once as head of state, chief justice,
commander-in-chief, arbitrator, instructor and family man.
He was the most devoted man at night. He used to spend
one- to two-thirds of every night in prayer and
meditation. The Prophet's possession consisted of mats,
blankets, jugs and other simple things even when he was
the virtual ruler of Arabia. He left nothing to be
inherited except a white mule (a gift from Muqawqis),
few ammunition and a piece of land that he had made a gift
during his life time. Among his last words were: "We
the community of Prophets are not inherited. Whatever we
leave is for charity."
Muhammad
(s) was a man and a messenger of Allah (The One
God). He is the last of the prophets [Qur'an 33:40]
sent by Allah to guide man to the right path; Adam was the
first Prophet. The Qur’an
mentions twenty-five Prophets by name and provides
a great insight of their mission, struggle and their
communities. The Qur’an exonerates prophets from charges
leveled against them in previous Scriptures. The Qur’an
also mentions four previously revealed Scriptures:
Suhoof (Pages) of Ibrahim (Abraham), Taurat ('Torah') as
revealed to Prophet Moses, Zuboor ('Psalms') as revealed
to Prophet David, and Injeel ('Evangel') as revealed to
Prophet Jesus (pbuh). Islam requires belief in all
prophets and revealed scriptures (original, non-corrupted)
as part of the Articles of Faith. Muhammad (s) is greatly
respected as the model of Qur’anic behavior. Muslims
mention his name by adding "peace be upon him,"
a phrase used with the name of all prophets [e.g., Qur'an
Surah 37: verses 79, 109, 120 and 130; also 33:56]. All
sincere Muslims try to follow the Qur’an and the
Prophet’s example to minute details. The account of
every aspect of his life has been preserved (numerous
daily accounts including his family life). Prophet
Muhammad (s) has served as an example for all Muslims in
all periods to modern times. He will remain a model
example for all of humanity.
At the end of his mission, the Prophet
was blessed with several hundred thousand followers (men
and women) of Islam. Thousands prayed with him at the
mosque and listened to his sermon. Hundreds of sincere
Muslims would find every opportunity to be with him
following five daily prayers and at other times. They used
to seek his advice for their everyday problems, and
listened attentively to the interpretation and application
of revealed verses to their situation. They followed the
message of the Qur’an and the Messenger of Allah with
utmost sincerity, and supported him with every thing they
had. The most excellent among them are Abu Bakr, 'Umar,
'Uthman, Ali, Talha, Zubair, 'Abdur Rahman ibn Auf, S'ad
bin Abi Waqqas, S'ad bin Zaid, Abu 'Ubeidah, Hasan,
Hussain, and several dozen others. They faithfully carried
the message of Islam after the Prophet, and within ninety
years the light of Islam reached Spain, North Africa, the
Caucasus, northwest China and India.
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