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Resource,
Giraudon/Art MUHAMMAD: THE MESSENGER Of GOD
C. 570 Born C. 595 Married Khadijah C. 610 Beginning of his revelations 622 The “Hegira” flight to Medina 624 Battle of Badr 630 Conquest of Mecca 632 Died
Niuhammad, who was to found one of the world’s most widespread religions, was born in the Arabian town of Mecca in about 570. Mecca was one of a number of merchant communities that had sprung up along the Arabian shore of the Red Sea, on the main caravan route leading from the Persian Gulf and Yemen to Syria and the Mediterra nean. Muhammad was the son of a respectable Meccan family, which most likely engaged in commerce but was not of the “inner” merchant aristocracy dominating the town. Little is known of Muhammad’s early life except that he was orphaned; he was probably raised first by his grandfather and then by an uncle. It is probable that Muhammad engaged in commerce. As in the case of every great religious leader, the figure of Muham mad has been obscured by a mass of pious tradition. We know that he married a rich widow, Khadijah, who was some years older than him self. Says the Koran, “Did not He [God] find thee needy, and suffice thee?” (93:6—8). Having been thus “sufficed,” Muhammad assumed the management of a considerable estate and probably lived much like any other Meccan merchant. When he was about forty, Muhammad received the earliest of a series of divine revelations upon which he based his religious teach ings. There is no record of whether this revelation came as a result of an arduous spiritual search or as an unbidden insight. At first Muham I 178 Makers of World History mad confined his teaching to his family; then he extended it friends. Eventually he began to preach more widely and openly, seek ing converts whom he called Muslims, “submissive to God.” In co trast to the polytheism then prevalent in Arabia, Muhammad reco nized only one God, Allah, and spoke of himself as God’s messen or prophet. And, like the ancient Hebrew prophets, he condemed polytheism and idolatry. His success was modest, but it was sufficient to alariri the merchant artistocracy of Mecca. In a society in which religion and politics were inseparable, the revolutionary nature of Muhammad’s religious teach ings implied the possibility of political unrest. And political unrest is threat to commerce. Moreover, Mecca was not only an economic but also a religious center for the various gods of the desert people who came to trade there. In a shrine called the Kaaba were housed the sacred stones representing the primitive gods of the Arabic tribes, and this along with other shrines attracted pilgrims, and hence, busi ness to Mecca. It is not surprising then that public opinion mobilized against this dangerous radical who, by his attack on idolatry and other beliefs, threatened both the prosperity and the religious status of his city. He had also begun to criticize the merchant leaders for their rapacity and lack of charity. By 621 Muhammad and his followers were in dire circumstances. They were being bitterly persecuted. The chief of the Hashimite clan, to which Muhammad himself belonged and who had protected him, died, as did Muhammad’s devoted wife Khadijah. He had even sent some eighty of his disciples to Abyssinia for their own protection. Then, suddenly, a change occurred. Two of the tribes of Yathrib, a city some three hundred miles to the north of Mecca, sent for Muham mad. Some of their members had heard him speak, and they now sought him as a “wise man” and mediator to bring peace among their warring clans and factions. His followers preceded him in small groups. Then Muhammad himself fled to his new home city, which he named Medinat un Nabi, “the City of the Prophet,” soon short ened to Medina. This was the “Hegira,” the flight, of the year 622. It was later considered to mark the beginning of Islam—appropriately enough, for it was in Medina that Islam first became a state and a culture. Ultimately it was to become a world empire and a world religion. The founding of Islam
IBN ISHAQ’S SIRAT RASUL ALLAH
Muhammad wrote nothing himself, and none of his early disciples or immediate successors left any written record of the prophet. He de clared his revelatioHs to his followers, many of’whom knew them by heart. Some of the revelations were dictated or written down later, but at his death there was no one complete and authoritative text. It was only in the following generation that Muhammad’s successors com manded that the revelations be collected “from palm branches and tablets of stone and the hearts of men.” This was done by the chief secretary of the prophet, and by the year 651 the collection was completed. This was the Koran, “The Reading,” the one sacred book of Islam. While devout Muslims believe that every word of the Koran is the word of God, Muhammad was the ptophet through whom God’s word was revealed, and there are occasional references to him in it. But such scattered references do not constitute even the outline of a biography. The enormous collections of traditions (Hadith), or stories about Mu hammacl that began to be assembled even before his death, are almost useless as a source of ieliable biographical detail. It is only in the eighth and ninth centuries, when formal biographies begin to appear, that we have sources on which to base a true biographical account. There are several of these, but the most comprehensive and reliable is the Sirat Rasut Allah of Ibn Ishaq—The BookofCampaigns and (theProphet’s) Biograph’. Ibn Ishaq was born in Medina abotit 707 and died in Baghdad in 773. His account of Muhammad is based on interviews with evewit nesses and other near contemporaries, and on other largely oral records and traditions. He subjected his sources to considerable skepti cal scrutiny, often saying that his informant “alleged” something to be true or that God only knows whether a particular statement is true or not. He was regarded by his Arabic contemporaries as the “best in formed man” about his subject: “Knowledge will remain in Medina as long as Ibn Ishaq lives.” The eminent modern western authority Alfred Guillaume agrees: “He has given us the only systematic straightforward account of the life of Muhammad which, apart from legends and stories of miracles, deserves to be accepted as history in
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1(1954),
180
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them Muhammad and of when his own Bakr number God according Aus emigrants with men apostle built, in Muslims (Oxford: his ordered of of community believers the property Aba until notorious from be Khama, their up the to knew justice Medina. latter’s family. property, houses the month to and the which mosque of clati his followed one had accepted freedman name Medina and tied that the his departure. a emigrants the of Mecca. none at house their his agreement within should all are except Mecca—ED. of the came hard. the latter’s who who for goods removed and them told he document concerning In and between from the Allah, ally from encourage below hoping he until back a departure They kindness Constitution Islam go Ansar because those to Quraysh Mecca kept an Ayyab’s mosque friendly Muhammad is bloodwit and return been to the the Aus his the in a laboured then a as year mosque the as to him and and in religion follows: The followers the them. Medina work the Aba Watt, preparation relations] Bakr of This have that with the as document3 his mountain take
in ansär built; in I accepted in the about made pay a with a known decided their with anyone the order men. companion,’ for Aba it in were camels not the a he tribe in until If—ED. window in Yathrib, ‘All following all for were shall what a lived term stayed left and wrote two ordered Ansãr fodder and of 221 who you prisoners Thaur, Merciful. shall Montgomery to by the apostle and This told document joined them which ‘All pp. obligations, laboured Mecca W. Ayyab the on with of give the the [governing the left another apostle; about in custom their in in apostle apostle of apostle is bought apostle is and built. 1956), heathenism. cave Abü will the Utuayya apostle believer apostle exclusion
he muhdjirin4 them except a Safar Quraysh them When A 5This 4This The The According The The Press, prophet present of redeem left the trustworthiness. hotise helpers analyzed ing with for the to their reciprocal sionate, them the believers. self behind with and established God anxious were of The dwelling-houses 182 il.’iakersof World Histo urn against him. The God-fearing believers shall be against the re bellious or him who seeks to spread injustice, or sin or enmity, or corruption between believers; the hand of every man shall be against him even if he be a son of one of them. A believer shall not slay a believer for the sake of an unbeliever, nor shall he aid an unbeliever against a believer. God’s protection is one, the least of them may give protection to a stranger on their behalf. Believers are friends one to the other to the exclusion of outsiders. To the Jew who follows us belong help and equality. He shaLl not he wronged nor shall his enemies be aided. The peace of the believers is indivisi ble. No separate peace shall be made when believers are fighting in the way of God. Conditions must be fair and equitable to all. In every foray a rider must take another behind him. The believers must avenge the blood of one another shed in the way of God. The God-fearing believers enjoy the best and most upright guidance. No polytheist shall take the property or person of Quraysh under his protection nor shall he intervene against a believer. Whosoever is convicted of killing a believer without good reason shall be subject to retaliation unless the next of kin is satisfied (with blood-money), and the believers shall be against him as one man, and they are bound to take action against him. It shall not be lawful to a believer who holds by what is in this document and believes in God and the last day to help an evil-doer or to shelter him. The curse of God and His anger on the day of resurrec tion will be upon him if he does, and neither repentance nor ransom will be received from him. Whenever you differ about a matter it must be referred to God and to Muhammad. The Jews shall contribute to the cost of war so long as they are fighting alongside the believers. The Jews of the B. ‘Auf are one community with the believers (the Jews have their religion and the Muslims have theirs), their freedmen and their persons except those who behave unjustly and sinfully, for they hurt but themselves and their families. The same applies to the Jews of the B. al-Najjar, B. al f—lãrith,B. Sa’ida, B. Jusham, B. al-Aus, B. Tha’laba, and the Jafna, a clan of the Tha’laba and the B. al-Shutayba. Loyalty is a protection against treachery. The freedmen of Tha’laba are as themselves. The close friends of the Jews are as themselves. None of them shall go out to war save with the permission of Muhammad, but he shall not be prevented from taking revenge for a wound. He who slays a man without warning slays himself and his household, unless it be one who has wronged him, for God will accept that. The Jews must bear their expenses and the Muslims their expenses. Each must help the other against anyone who attacks the people of this document. They must seek mutual advice and consultation, and loyalty is a protection
a
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183
this ‘have
faith.’
God-
The from
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prayer
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duly like brother.’
permitted
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attribute
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sinned. and
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tax
Islam
this
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of Muslims
instituted made,
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and
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said,
himself.
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prayer.
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apostle
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forbidden
of
maintain
their
to God
for
A
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each . should
of and
the
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the
committing
Every
to
ones
protection. must
it the helpers,
against
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man
cause to
the abode
the
apostle the appointed up
war treachery.
arranged
and
unjust
standing
and
to
and
the
emigrants
war.
its
sent as
protect hand
with
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people
the
given
When
The
Loyalty
Muslims summon
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When up
taken
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brothers. the
the the
say—’Let
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belongs,
holy peace demand another
Muhammad be and likely
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long document.
wronged against The Prophet and the True Believer
SAYEDAMEER ALl
From the time of Ihn Ishaq to the present, Muslim biographers have continued to write about Muhammad’s life, and their accounts have tended to be uncritical and adulatory of the prophet—as are all such apologetic works. Nevertheless, these biographies form one of the strands making up the tradition of Islam. One of the most widely accepted of them is Sayed Ameer All, The Spirit of Islam: A History of the Evolution and Ideals of Islam, wit/i a Lfe of the Prop/iet, rev. ed. (London: Chatto and Windus, 1978 [1891]. Sayed Ameer Ali was an English-trained Indian lawyer and judge in Bengal, and a devout Muslim. He was a prolific writer; some of his books dealt with his profession—he was an authority on the law of evidence— but most of them dealt with Islam. In 1873 he published Critical Examination of the Lft and Teachings of Mohammed, in 1880 Personal Law oft/ic Mohammedans, in 1893 The Ethics of Islam, and in 1899 A Short Hicto of the Saracens. But his best-known book was The Spirit of Islam, from which the following passage is excerpted. The passage deals with Muhammad’s consolidation of his position in Medina, his work as a political leader and administrator, and his actions as the head of his new religion. It also deals with the in creasing hostility between Muhammad and the important Jewish community of Medina. The reader should note, in the account, the pervasive tone of harshness toward the Jews. their actions, and their motives; the unfailing clemeHcy of Muhammad; and even the inter vention of angelic forces on the side of Islam at the Battle of Badr.
At this time there were three distinct parties in Medina. The Muhãjirin (the Exiles) and the Ansãr (the Helpers) formed the kernel of Islam. Their devotion to the Prophet was unbounded. But the Jews, who may be said to have formed the third party, constituted the most serious element of danger. They had close busi ness relations with the Koreish, and their ramifications extended into various parts hostile to the Faith. At first they were inclined to look with some favour on the preachings of Mohammed. He could not, of course, be their promised Messiah, but perhaps a weak dreamer, a humble preacher, dependent upon the hospitality of their old ene
a
a
a a
in
to
of his
.
the
for the
the
did
the
185
was
was
had
him
that
“the
con
with
soon
their
State
com
for
with
disci
char
Islam,
of
which
of
them
duty
duty
feelings
use liberties
Prophet
dreaded
defined.
and
revilings
simply
after the
the
seditions
time;
events
or
and
itself
they
preferred
outlawed,
granted
And
almost
a
his
sowing
State,
composed,
for
Barely
from
the
of
to
not
of
joined
MedIna
organise
and
the
the
not
that
become
military
by
bitter
for
ban,
open
they
had enemies
the and
clearly
of
had
rebellion,
irresistib]e
of
Mohammed.
were
and
Muhammad in
Lives
either
idolatry
was
safety
MedIna
found
could Islam.
Judaism,
the
attack
legends,
of
the
obligations
he when
the
of
course
only
of
might
led,
became
ignore
Prophet.
the
to
part
against
sort
Pact. to
were
bound
they
the
He
Mohammed
it
of
vent
The
and
to
a
were
they
the
and
him.
was
by
the
of
information
head
declared
heterogeneous
the
the
of under
spirit
have
defence
it
suburbs
was
object
creed trial
sudden
side
to
view,
Jews,
And
that
guard
who
of
Arabia
Talmudic
Khazraj, its
on
preferred,
the
the
conciliate
old
a
warfare,”
He
found
But acts under
in upon
afford
Arabs,
the
rights armies.
to
this
of
the
and
might
as
placed
followers.
or
the
to
the
moment
state
and
carrying
they
their
the
guardian
on
and
aim
accepted
first
the severest
a
could
anticipating
his
could
traitors,
or
welcome but
With
that
and
Enraged
the
in
of were
city
treachery. the
together
however,
evils,
this
attitude. the
than
he
continual
prophets,
treachery.
investing
before
the
within,
which
measures
Moslems
for
gladly
Aus
descended
city
which
of
the
conversion
controversialists,
also
upon
and
party
defence by
of
by
weld
dozen
With
nothing
Medina
a
the
the
their
the
by
had
however,
pacific
the
themselves
conquering
to
enemies;
was
asked
moment
simpler blow
city
One
almost
rising
down
a animated.
of
serious
which
gone
attendant
in
Prophet,
put
overlook
a
for
half-hearted
he
of
haifa
generosity, are,
his
the
was
the
Jews; a executions.
the
sedition
military
entailed
of
to
a within
its
and
Judah.
confederation.
Christian
crucify
were
when
much
not
had
take of
or
patrons, people,
of
ranged
borne
of We
suppress
by
As
in
of
them
the
se,
to all
time
so
proscription
to
Some
which
time
Islam;
these
came
to
have
movement,
they a
treachery.
the
And
sack
and
before
their
many
MedIna
to
maintained
state
could
of
the
gibes
inter was
help
Jews,
with sedition
in
month
orderly
to
the
them
instrument
a
elements
now the
in
satisfy
a
people.
he
off,
of
kindness
like
now
of
in enemy.
the
the
would
an
they
which
faith.
to
kingdom
executed.
secret
led
Medinites
Prophet
subjects
belief
his
their
No
And
preacher seeds mon
pline, required referring
honeycombed Mohammed kept lead
idolatry, Believers, and his
new they, the of and
with broke out, general
Moslems as his catastrophe
into
had Hicting And would
arrival charter acter
the
new barely
mies, time and avenger, a
all to
of
the
now on re
own sight
his or
the and send the God’s hab at not very of
the
well-
of
con Mo
forays, chal
to
each
his pathetic
children the protect
arms, God’s was perish, the
the people that divided against of
heaven at hundred combat.
so father God,
out piercing
to
time
blasts his to of onslaughts. of forget
raising
to sudden
his saw of
often A
combats of
Moslems Mohammed
man usage,
of received life,
designs and who, Moslems, whom
against occupying to and “the up
one thousand three which
minds came
single prayed were of
those force and to day. Lord,
these a loss by
valley, the The of murderous
and the
At Arab
to and sudden he angels
When
by and
of “0
Jahi,
isolated of
tender
the enemies space to of
the band appeal knowledge
them and
war. raiding pity,
the Christians,
body earnest at so winter
and
relation Moslems,
against the
Abfl a ranks
if
weapon, of Israel,
into Mohammed
worship.”
heathens little
open parties.
and aware a the enemy
morn; general.
moving.
as
the of
early sittiation,
self-defence, and
to
every the womanish,—this
sudden challenge, the
consisting this stormy destroyed: bitterly
the
guard pure noted according
thorough pain
of fruit-trees was
the the against a were in
if ear)y
remained of
before a
Moslem be
the to of
him into public,”—to of
wielded commenced Mohammed’s the
became
the destroy wept munitions treacherous seemed
and, like was advancing the JahI
Thee
force, not enemies. prophets
the
or ever Indeed,
with
forestall
It to
Lord,
call
intense but in
had afield “It
A
nature,
warring
allies to movement,
Abü the His purposes then
attacked 0
attacks
who, to reconnoitering
under unto or
consisted of
accepted
life from
might
to
was
History
advanced the for
frequently
like the bringing
necessities the
idolaters, once
battle. valley.” caused their
his anticipate manliness, Medina flocks.
destroying forth arrogantly
character of which gifts offer
Moslems.
night
at individual
wavered,
in the had
to the battle elements the army to
the
World
enemies
warfare and Mohammed, the
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There turn,
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In
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Again, family
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192
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1967). substantial be
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help
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York: extensively
Rodwell
Richard
the
Muhammad,
Allah of of is
with Unwin, to
divine
Prophets
of ought
tr. Another English the 1955), Everyman’s
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referred is Husayn
volume,
includes excerpts
Muhammad Allah, critique
Hadith, (London: sources
J.
the
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work
Rasul Medina
5—11.
tr. dealing
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biographies of aim
and
the ed. University
at
Koran
History
Hayat
Qur’an,
good
Rasul relations to
of Biograph)
truly
chapter. Sirat to
Dutton, through
Biography already Allen Islam
Koran available A
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useful
rev.
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Seat
his
extensive
P.
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of
Koran,
Jones, Macmillan, A
this was
straightforward
whose
The Further Sirat biographies critical companion
for is
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I.
Oxford
“The
Arabic closest B. the is
and
Islam: Ishaq’s he Haykal’s
The is
for
several devoted
and
for
tribes.
in
of
mankind source,
Muhammad
M. York: Prophet,
early is
(London:
and Muhammad,
Ibn 1980),
still
difficulties Ishaqs
earlier
biographies
the
of
edition
J.
western
comes Traditions the
Dacca:
near-contemporary of 1937—39).
the Modern
Husayn
original Quarterly Muhammad:
his
Spirit the
of
Of simple excerpted Watt,
whether
1980) (New
example
Dent from ed.
A
about
Paul, History
Qur’an a
Guillaume, The that excerpted Of campaigns
sampled all
the
and
The
Life
Muslim with
M.
probably
A. the biographic Clark,
by
a
Khan, modern Islamic
one
a surrounding is is Press, best 1956),
to
J. Karachi,
T.
World All,
alternative
further
them.
Kegan
as Translation
Arberry Suggestions students.
Wessels,
regeneration
[1891]), of
[1955]), military the with Muhammad along present Maghazi,
best the determine
anecdotes
A and
of J.
York:
read
and to
the sophisticated Press, Montgomery
Guillaume,
Muslims edition
T. from
and sources Zafrulla the
traditional
Ameer
1978 1970
and
and
Islam,
limited
Another (Lahore,
Research,”
for on W.
Makers
Study Companion contemporary
may
Antonie Mohammed, New of
the
1972).
best truth
more
however,
is
Arthur interested
of
Alfred
al-Waqidi’s Sayed
Of
194
The Muhammad Among While by the made 1909). by standard
and inburgh: Watt, Libraries—Arno
sayings selection
dents laume Branch, Muhammad, is Muhammad’s Medina historical Recent
to Windus, hammad Routledge Ideals after chosen what work, Critical Life Brill,
mad Clarendon read,
is
C.
the
rev.
195
Two
lives
V.
both
Cam
Hitti,
Max
of
History,
ed.
in
R.
K.
The
in
their
University
Pantheon,
is
however,
Muhammad
Muhammad
5th
are
Greenwood
1961).
of
culture
prophet.
Philip
also
Arabs
spent
material
who,
York:
its
Muhammad
Watt,
York:
and
Press,
Times
The
Present,
in
by
who
The
Cambridge
(New
the
and
(New
scholar
biographies,
than to
history
men
Lewis,
Life
1953).
volume
University
the
Carter
Recommended
recommended:
The
Times
French
Islam
on
laymen’s
IA.
military
Press,
Mohammed
of
are
Bernard
(Cambridge:
able
smaller
of
Anne
1964).
Oxford
and
a Glubb,
an
Earliest
works
I
and
tr.
Life
1970).
British
vols.
in
popular
by
the
4
ideology
by
vols.
The
Clarendon
Bagot
particular
1953)
Day,
(Oxford:
both
general
work
the from
in
both
The
Hutchinson,
and
Islam,
John
in
and
Mohammed,
two
condensed
of
many
especially
Arabs,
and
is
Messenger:
East
Stein
Statesman
works,
excellent
the
Macmillan,
the
(Oxford:
an
The
world,
(London:
and of
Histrny
1979),
1946)
Near
is interested
books
York:
Rodinson,
ed.
the
Among
Mecca
1971)
Press,
(London:
Islamic 3rd
PresS,
(New
odley. bridge
n
more
these 0teresting
History
jjflC
prophet at