Islamic history of the life of Muhammad through the Sira. This section traces his birth, early childhood in Mecca, marriage to Khadijah, his early visions, and his first converts, including Khadijah, Ali, Abu Bakr, Umar, Hamza and others. The conflict with the Quraysh tribe over idolatry culminated in leaving first for Ethiopia, and then the Hijra to Medina (Yahthrib)

1. Islam – Life of Muhammad I
Birth - Hijira
MI 396
Dr. Robert Patton

2. Evaluation of Muhammad
 Prophet, politician, powerful warrior
 Not divine, but the model for all Muslims
 Deeply loved and respected

3. The ka’aba
 Building with many idols; tradition said that
Abraham built it
 There was a well called Zam Zam; drink from it
 Throw stones at pillars – at the devil
 Ritual prayers, circling the Ka’aba while praying all
preceded Islam
 Black stone was key – probably a meteorite

4. Ka’aba rebuilt
 They decided to place a roof to prevent theft
 They were afraid to demolish the walls, but one
man did without problem. A Greek ship had run
aground nearby and they used the timber for
the roof.
 The black stone was installed by the clan
members lifting up a cloth with the stone inside

5. Beginnings
 No nation in Arabia – everyone was in a clan,
and blood ties were important
 Your value came from your tribe
 Quraysh were leaders in Mecca for 5
generations, and also the priestly group
 Mecca small – ¼ mile x 1/8 mile

6. Early life
 Abdullah died while his wife was pregnant
 His mother died when he was 5 years old
 His grandfather raised him, but died. He had
called him Muhammed (Praised One) at birth
 Finally, his uncle Abu Talib raised him, who was
chief of the Quraysh
 All from the Quraysh clan

7. Tradition
 His mother claimed that light from her womb
lighted Syrian palaces
 Abbysinian Christians wanted to have the
infant, and claimed he would be great

8. Tradition
 Traveled to Syria as a young boy on caravan.
 Young Muhammad was bonded with a Christian
monk Bahira, who invoked the goddesses al-Lat
and al-Uzza, but Muhammad would have none
of it. He was warned to look out for the Jews

9. Tradition
 Bahira told Abu Talib to guard him; the
Jews will be jealous of him
 Another saw a mole and fainted. He said
that the prophethood had left the Jews
and he will kill their scholars
 There is no historical record to support
these contentions about a tradition of an
Arabian prophet

10. Early life
 Supposedly conception, birth, pregnancy and
early life were miraculous
 Supposedly Jews and Christians as well as
others knew Muhammad was coming
 Raised by Abu Talib age 8. Taken to Syria, very
sophisticated with writing (Arabic only for
business), many Christians there

11. Marriage
 Hired by distant cousin, a wealthy widow
called Khadija, as her trading agent.
 He was known for good character and
business sense
 Tradition: a slave boy going with him saw
2 angels shielding Muhammad and told
Khadija, who saw that he had doubled
her fortune.

12. Marriage
 She proposed to him; apparently beautiful still
as well as wealthy.
 She was 40; he was 25.
 They had 6 children; two sons died in
childhood, and of 4 daughters, only Fatima
outlived her father.

13. Marriage
 Khadija had a Christian cousin, Waraqa, a
convert from Judaism, who believed that a
prophet would arise from this people.
 Waraqa was not an orthodox believing
Christian
 The Qur’an said that the Jews rejected the
prophecied messiah.

14. Monotheism
 The Jews were strong monotheists – and of
course killed Jesus for shirk – claiming to be
one with God
 Christians were unorthodox – believed in a
trinity of God, Jesus, and Mary
 People of the book – the Scriptures,
 Arabians were polytheists with oral traditions

15. Monotheism in Mecca
 Hanifs were intelligent and dissatisfied with
polytheism
 Muhammed may have met with them
 He began to walk 3 miles to Mt. Hira for
meditation

16. Monotheism in Mecca
 Very few Christians in Mecca
 Zayd was a precursor, a monotheist fusing their
religion with tribal gods, praying to the Ka’aba,
and taught on heaven and hell

17. Muhammad’s visions
 Muhammad would have month long retreats, and
circle the Kaaba in prayer
 He would go into the wilderness to pray – starting
about age 40
 Not uncommon to do so
 He had visions, trances, and convulsions – called
demon-possessed, a poet, a soothsayer, madman

18. Muhammad’s visions
 About 40, he was confronted with a vision and
commanded to read, and then to recite while in the
cave Hira.
 He complained that he could not read. The angel
pressed on him 3 times and finally Gabriel recited
the first verse of the Qur’an 96:1-5
 He was going to kill himself, but Gabriel revealed
himself and called him a prophet of God

19. Muhammad called a prophet
 He told Khadija, as he was afraid of being crazy or
a poet,
 She told her Christian cousin, who met him, and
pronounced that he was a prophet for his people.
 Waraqa warned Muhammad that his people would
reject him, probably after Waraqa’s death
 Khadija became the first convert

20. One mark described
 One tradition states that Khadijah asked
Muhammad to look and he saw the angel when
sitting on her left thigh, right thigh, and lap –
but no more when she removed her veil
 Some Muslims contend that even angels cannot
look on an unveiled woman – too sinful

21. Repeated visions over years distress
 He would sweat, fall to the ground, hear a
bell, foam at the mouth – dreams, visions
and thoughts in his mind; even spoke to the
dead
 Muhammad became suicidal on several
occasions when the angel did not reappear
for some time.
 Many were skeptical of the source of his
revelations

22. Sources of inspiration
 There are many references to the prophets in
Islam.
 At first, Muhammad respected the Jews and
sought their approval.
 He felt that he was the seal of the prophets, and
that he was sent to the Arabs as Moses was to the
Jews.
 Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus had incomplete
revelation – his was complete & ultimately for
everyone

23. Extra-biblical sources of inspiration
 Some Biblical materials came from the
Talmud
 the killing of Abel is that of a whole people
 God saved Abraham from being burned when
they threw him into a fire for burning their gods

24. Muhammad & others
 But especially the Jews recognized that
Muhammad did not meet Biblical criteria as
their prophet
 Muhammad becomes furious at those who
reject him..
 Tradition states that a man questioning his
authority could not be buried – the ground
rejected his dead body repeatedly

25. Muhammad & others
 The Qur’an is in Arabic, and not in Hebrew or
Persian from another source.
 Muhammad can ask the people of the Book if
his prophecies are true.

26. Other sources for the Qur’an
 There was a Arabic Infancy Gospel that taught
that Jesus spoke from the cradle, and made clay
animals and gave them life.
 The parents told the children not to play with
Jesus, because he was a wizard.
 The Qur’an refers to this: 5:110

27. Gnostic views also influential
 Gnostics believe that the physical matter is evil,
and that Jesus did not have a physical body and
could not have been crucified.
 Muslims are not worried about this, as the
Qur’an was supposed to correct earlier errors,
so influence would be expected.

28. Zoroastrian beliefs make a contribution
 Many of the descriptions of heaven, including
the houris (virgins), and the delights of the
food, drink, and weather are similar

29. First prayers
 He learned that he should prostrate himself
four times when at home, twice traveling
 Gabriel showed him about ritual cleansing

30. Convert #2 - Ali
 Abu Talib fell on hard times, and Muhammad
took Ali to raise;
 He became the second convert after Khadijah

31. Private preaching, conflict with his clan
 Worship only Allah and not al-Lat and al-’Uzza, the
daughters of Allah
 Opposed by his uncle Abu Lahab – who either
Muhammad or Allah said was doomed
 The tribe asked for a miracle, or for Gabriel to speak
to them
 Once some interrupted their prayers, and one hit a
polytheist with a camel jawbone, drawing blood

32. Public preaching
 After 3 years, he preached to about 40
publically, and a small group, including Uthman,
joined
 They were mocked by the Quraysh tribe (his
own tribe).
 This became much more severe when he
preached against idols, and especially the
daughers of Allah.

33. Public preaching
 .The tribe’s finances was built on idols, and
made money from visits to the Ka’ba.
 A fight came during prayers, and one of the clan
injured an Islam man.
 The tribe offered Abu Talib to give him a man in
exchange for killing Muhammad.

34. Preaching at the fair
 The Quraysh tried to warn others that he was a
sorcerer, especially at a yearly fair
 This only made others curious, and a number of
men from Medina were attracted to his
preaching
 Medina had many Jews, and were used to
hearing about monotheism

35. Fight with Quraysh
 More opposition – about 12 converts, and some
from another tribe
 Muhammad suggested going to Ethiopia or
Medina. Fifteen families fled there
 Allah gives permission for defensive war. They
will then establish a poor tax and Islamic law

36. New support from Hamza
 Muhammad could have religion, but they
wanted tolerance and they threatened him.
 Hamza, the strongest man in Mecca, supported
Muhammad
 One offered him money or power, but he
refused, and recited the Qur’an

37. Many arguments at Mecca
 There were many arguments then
 The Meccans demanded a sign or miracle from
Muhammad, who said that Allah sent him as a
messenger, not a miracle-worker.

38. Many arguments at Mecca
 Men from Medina were giving 3 questions for
Muhammad to answer.
 His answers, given in places in the Qur’an, were also
followed by many others

39. Abu Bakr saves Bilal
 Some of the Quraysh tried to make a slave renounce
Islam, but he refused and they tortured him.
 Eventually Abu Bakr freed him by offering a strong
black slave in his place; he did the same with 6 other
Muslim slaves
 Later this becomes a common practice

40. Muslims go to Ethiopia during this time
 A number of Muslims left for Ethiopia
 One man actually shifted to Islam

41. Umar
 A very strong man, originally hassled
Muhammad and everyone feared him
 His brother-in-law and sister had converted
 He read some of the Qur’an and was impressed
and converted to Islam

42. Boycott food & intermarriage
 For 2-3 years, the Quraysh boycotted the
Muslims – no selling food or intermarriage
 Several strong verses in the Qur’an came
against the opponents.
 The Quraysh ridiculed and offered to switch
worship to see which worship was the best.

43. Satanic verses
 Muhammad compromises briefly
 Muhammad decided just to hold three of the
gods of the Quraysh tribe along with Allah.
 These were idols, the “daughters of Allah.
 The tribe was happy and everyone worshipped
together with Muhammad leading.

44. Satanic verses – Muhammad tested
 Gabriel showed Muhammad that he was wrong, and
Muhammad realized that the suggestion was from Satan.
 No more worshiip of al-Lat, al-’Uzza and Manat, the
“daughters of Allah.”
 Allah showed that there was no way that the Muslims
would have sons and he only have daughters. He
nullified Satan’s attempt

45. Satanic verses
 A
 His conscience bothered him, and Muhammad
realized that this was an attack from Satan.
 This is spoken in the Qur’an as a deceit from
Satan, and Muhammad retracted
 His relationship with his tribe deteriorated
further

46. Satanic verses debated
 Many Muslims deny this ever happened
 However, the Qur’an does mention one occasion
when both believers and unbelievers prayed
together

47. Muhammad and a Christian slave
 Muhammad showed interest in a Christian
slave.
 His tribe ridiculed him and said that this was
the source of his inspiration

48. Two difficult deaths
 Abu Talib, who had raised him and protected him,
died;
 He did not accept Islam though Muhammad asked
him to do so
 Khadija, who was a great support, died age 65.
Muhammad is now age 50

49. The Night Journey
 Muhammed was awakened 3 times at night by
Gabriel
 The third time he was placed on a beast –
Burraq, a winged animal between a donkey and
a mule, and brought to Jerusalem.

50. The Night Journey
 He was taken to the first heaven, and greeted by
Adam.
 Later he went to other levels, and met others,
including Moses and Abraham
 He was to choose between drinking a bowl of milk
and wine, and chose milk, the correct choice.

51. The Night Journey
 He was told to have Muslims pray 50 times a day
but Moses said it was too much.
 It was gradually reduced to 5, the Muhammad
refused to ask for more reduction
 He was ridiculed by his tribe

52. The night journey
 This is outlined considerable detail in the Sira from
Ishaq.
 He describes many who were tortured to go to hell,
the fire of hell, and how the angels greeted
Muhammad with a smile.
 He also saw a beautiful woman there, who was the
wife of his adopted son Zaid

53. A time of trouble
 Muhammad sought help from 3 brothers in the
town of Taif, but they rejected him
 A visiting tribe came to the fair, but wanted to
be boss of Muhammad if he protected him

54. Medina comes to the fair
 Tension between rich Jews, who were getting weaker,
and Arabs in Medina
 The Jews predicted that a prophet would come and lead
them to victory
 One Arab tribe the Khazraj, decided to join Muhammad
before the Jews – he was probably the predicted
prophet, and made the oath (first) at Aqaba

55. Medina interested in Muhammad blood
oath
 The first visit and oath was not a blood oath
 A year later, they did make a blood oath to
protect Muhammad to the death – second oath
at Aqaba. – about 70 men
 12 men asked Muhammad to come to Medina as
ruler (10 were Jews)

56. Medina blood oath
 When they went back to Medina, the city was split.
 The Muslims continued Islam; the rest of the Arabs
continued with their animism.
 The Muslims desecrated some of their animism totem
items.

57. Tensions increased at Mecca
 Thus far there had been insults between
Muhammad and his tribe.
 They had thrown dust on him.
 One threw shoes at the other, and the Muslim
kept the shoes as a token of war
 The Medinans returned; the Quraysh were not
looking for a war

58. An attempt to kill Muhammad
 The Muslims left Mecca except Muhammad, Abu Bakr,
and Ali
 The tribe decided that every clan would work
together to kill Muhammad together.
 Tradition: Muhammad had Ali sleep in his bed,
confronted a group, they were blinded and he threw
dust on their heads and departed

59. Leaving for Medina - Hijra
 Muhammad and Abu Bakr left for Medina;
 Ali stayed behind to finish up business.
 They hid for three days and then made a 10 day
trip
 This is the beginning of the Muslim calendar
 Hijra

60. An attempt to kill Muhammad culminates
in the Hijra – flight to Medina 622 AD
 Abu Bakr & Muhammad went 280 miles to
Yathrib (Medina) on camel
 622 – called the Hijra
 There was religious freedom, but with
Muhammad settling all disputes