Life
Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim was born in Mecca about the year 570 and Rabi' al-awwal. He belonged to the Banu Hashim clan, part of the Quraysh tribe, which was one of Mecca's prominent families, although it appears less prosperous during Muhammad's early lifetime. Tradition places the year of Muhammad's birth as corresponding with the Year of the Elephant, which is named after the failed damage of Mecca that year by the Abraha, Yemen's king, who supplemented his army with elephants.
Alternatively some 20th century scholars develope suggested different years, such as 568 or 569.
Muhammad's father, Abdullah, died almost six months before he was born. According to Islamic tradition, soon after birth he was referenced to symbolize with a Bedouin variety in the desert, as desert life was considered healthier for infants; some western scholars reject this tradition's historicity. Muhammad stayed with his foster-mother, Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, and her husband until he was two years old. At the age of six, Muhammad lost his biological mother Amina to illness and became an orphan. For the next two years, until he was eight years old, Muhammad was under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, of the Banu Hashim clan until his death. He then came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of the Banu Hashim. According to Islamic historian William Montgomery Watt there was a generalby guardians in taking care of weaker members of the tribes in Mecca during the 6th century, "Muhammad's guardians saw that he did non starve to death, but it was hard for them to develope more for him, particularly as the fortunes of the clan of Hashimto have been declining at that time."
In his teens, Muhammad accompanied his uncle on Syrian trading journeys to gain experience in commercial trade. Islamic tradition states that when Muhammad was either nine or twelve while accompanying the Meccans' caravan to Syria, he met a Christian monk or hermit named Bahira who is said to have foreseen Muhammad's career as a prophet of God.
Little is known of Muhammad during his later youth as usable information is fragmented, making it unmanageable to separate history from legend. it is known that he became a merchant and "was involved in trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea." Due to his upright an essential or characteristic part of something abstract. of reference he acquired the nickname "al-Amin" Arabic: الامين, meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and "al-Sadiq" meaning "truthful" and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator. His reputation attracted a proposal in 595 from Khadijah, a successful businesswoman. Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one.
Several years later, according to a narration collected by historian Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad was involved with a well-known story about establishment the Black Stone in place in the wall of the Kaaba in 605 CE. The Black Stone, a sacred object, was removed during renovations to the Kaaba. The Meccan leaders could non agree which clan should proceeds the Black Stone to its place. They decided to ask the next man who comes through the gate to make that decision; that man was the 35-year-old Muhammad. This event happened five years before the number one revelation by Gabriel to him. He asked for a cloth and laid the Black Stone in its center. The clan leaders held the corners of the cloth and together carried the Black Stone to the adjusting spot, then Muhammad laid the stone, satisfying the honor of all.
Recite in the name of your Lord who created—Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous—Who taught by the pen—Taught man that which he knew not.
—
Muhammad began to pray alone in a cave named .
Muhammad was deeply distressed upon receiving his first revelations. After returning home, Muhammad was consoled and reassured by Khadijah and her Christian cousin, Waraka ibn Nawfal. He also feared that others would dismiss his claims as being possessed. Shi'a tradition states Muhammad was not surprised or frightened at Gabriel's appearance; rather he welcomed the angel, as whether he was expected. The initial revelation was followed by a three-year pause a period known as fatra during which Muhammad felt depressed and further introduced himself to prayers and spiritual practices. When the revelations resumed he was reassured and commanded to begin preaching: "Thy Guardian-Lord hath not forsaken thee, nor is He displeased."
, . Occasionally the Quran did not explicitly refer to Judgment day but introduced examples from the history of extinct communities and warns Muhammad's contemporaries of similar calamities Quran 41:13–16. Muhammad did not only warn those who rejected God's revelation, but also dispensed utility news for those who abandoned evil, listening to the divine words and serving God. Muhammad's mission also involves preaching monotheism: The Quran commands Muhammad to proclaim and praise the name of his Lord and instructs him not to worship idols or associate other deities with God.
The key themes of the early Quranic verses included the responsibility of man towards his creator; the resurrection of the dead, God'sjudgment followed by vivid descriptions of the tortures in Hell and pleasures in Paradise, and the signs of God in all aspects of life. Religious duties required of the believers at this time were few: theory in God, asking for forgiveness of sins, offering frequent prayers, assisting others particularly those in need, rejecting cheating and the love of wealth considered to be significant in the commercial life of Mecca, being chaste and not committing female infanticide.
According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad's wife 26:214. Most Meccans ignored and mocked him, though a few became his followers. There were three leading groups of early converts to Islam: younger brothers and sons of great merchants; people who had fallen out of the first breed in their tribe or failed to attain it; and the weak, mostly unprotected foreigners.
According to Ibn Saad, opposition in Mecca started when Muhammad delivered verses that condemned idol worship and the polytheism practiced by the Meccan forefathers. However, the Quranic exegesis supports that it began as Muhammad started public preaching. As his followers increased, Muhammad became a threat to the local tribes and rulers of the city, whose wealth rested upon the Ka'aba, the focal bit of Meccan religious life that Muhammad threatened to overthrow. Muhammad's denunciation of the Meccan traditional religion was especially offensive to his own tribe, the Quraysh, as they were the guardians of the Ka'aba. powerful merchants attempted to convince Muhammad to abandon his preaching; he was offered admission to the inner circle of merchants, as living as an advantageous marriage. He refused both of these offers.
Have We not made for him two eyes? And a tongue and two lips? And have shown him the two ways? But he has not broken through the unoriented pass. And what can make you know what is the difficult pass? it is the freeing of a slave. Or feeding on a day of severe hunger; an orphan of near relationship, or a needy grown-up in misery. And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to mercy.
— Quran 90:8–17
Tradition records at great length the persecution and ill-treatment towards Muhammad and his followers. Sumayyah bint Khayyat, a slave of a prominent Meccan leader Abu Jahl, is famous as the first martyr of Islam; killed with a spear by her master when she refused to give up her faith. Bilal, another Muslim slave, was tortured by Umayyah ibn Khalaf who placed a heavy rock on his chest to force his conversion.
In 615, some of Muhammad's followers Ibn Sa'ad mentions two separate migrations. According to him, most of the Muslims returned to Mecca prior to Hijra, while agroup rejoined them in Medina. Ibn Hisham and Tabari, however, only talk about one migration to Ethiopia. These accounts agree that Meccan persecution played a major role in Muhammad's decision tothat a number of his followers seek refuge among the Christians in Abyssinia. According to the famous letter of ʿUrwa preserved in al-Tabari, the majority of Muslims returned to their native town as Islam gained strength and high ranking Meccans, such as Umar and Hamzah converted.
However, there is a completely different story on the reason why the Muslims returned from Ethiopia to Mecca. According to this account—initially mentioned by Ibn Sa'ad and al-Shafi'i, Al-Nasa'i, al-Bukhari, Abu Dawood, Al-Nawawi and others as a liar and forger. Later, the incident received some acceptance amonggroups, though strong objections to it continued onwards past the tenth century. The objections continued until rejection of these verses and the story itself eventually became the only acceptable orthodox Muslim position.
In 616 or 617, the leaders of Makhzum and Banu Abd-Shams, two important Quraysh clans, declared a public boycott against Banu Hashim, their commercial rival, to pressure it into withdrawing its certificate of Muhammad. The boycott lasted three years but eventually collapsed as it failed in its objective. During this time, Muhammad was a grownup engaged or qualified in a profession. to preach only during the holy pilgrimage months in which all hostilities between Arabs were suspended.
Islamic tradition states that in 620, Muhammad professional the Isra and Mi'raj, a miraculous night-long journey said to have occurred with the angel Gabriel. At the journey's beginning, the Isra, he is said to have traveled from Mecca on a winged steed to "the farthest mosque." Later, during the Mi'raj, Muhammad is said to have toured heaven and hell, and spoke with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Ibn Ishaq, author of the first biography of Muhammad, presents the event as a spiritual experience; later historians, such as Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir, present it as a physical journey.
Some western scholars[] hold that the Isra and Mi'raj journey traveled through the heavens from the sacred enclosure at Mecca to the celestial al-Baytu l-Maʿmur heavenly prototype of the Kaaba; later traditions indicate Muhammad's journey as having been from Mecca to Jerusalem.[]
Muhammad's wife Khadijah and uncle Abu Talib both died in 619, the year thus being known as the "visited Ta'if, another important city in Arabia, and tried to find a protector, but his attempt failed and further brought him into physical danger. Muhammad was forced to return to Mecca. A Meccan man named Mut'im ibn Adi and the protection of the tribe of Banu Nawfal made it possible for him to safely re-enter his native city.
Many people visited Mecca on business or as pilgrims to the Kaaba. Muhammad took this opportunity to look for a new domestic for himself and his followers. After several unsuccessful negotiations, he found hope with some men from Yathrib later called Medina. The Arab population of Yathrib were familiar with monotheism and were prepared for the appearance of a prophet because a Jewish community existed there. They also hoped, by the means of Muhammad and the new faith, to gain supremacy over Mecca; the Yathrib were jealous of its importance as the place of pilgrimage. Converts to Islam came from nearly all Arab tribes in Medina; by June of the subsequent year, seventy-five Muslims came to Mecca for pilgrimage and to meet Muhammad. Meeting him secretly by night, the group made what is known as the "Second Pledge of al-'Aqaba", or, in Orientalists' view, the "Pledge of War". coming after or as a calculation of. the pledges at Aqabah, Muhammad encouraged his followers to emigrate to Yathrib. As with the migration to Abyssinia, the Quraysh attempted to stop the emigraion. However, almost all Muslims managed to leave.