Biographical
Sketch:
Life
of Muhammad
Muhammad
was
born in 570 A.D in Mecca, a city in Western Saudi Arabia. He was an
orphan, having lost both parents by the age of 6. After age 8 the
young Muhammad was raised by his uncle, Abu Talib. In time he joined
the trading caravans as a merchant.
At
age 25 Muhammad married a wealthy widow by the name of Khadijah, 15
years his senior. The couple had four daughters and two sons who died
in infancy. During Muhammad’s life he had a total of eleven wives.
He was described as gentle and humble by nature. He loved children
and animals.
At
age 40, Muhammad fell into a trance in a cave on Mount Hira near
Mecca where he claimed to have heard the angel Gabriel speak to him.
Muhammad reportedly ran home crying out, “O, Kadijah! I have either
become a soothsayer or else I am possessed of the Djin [demon] and
gone mad.”
Khadijah
and her Christian cousin Waraqah consoled Muhammad, assuring him his
vision must be real, and that he was truly God’s prophet. Muhammad
had additional revelations of Gabriel speaking to him, but he still
had agonizing doubts about their reality. He was even more troubled
when the revelations ceased, becoming dejected and entertaining
suicide.
It
wasn’t until later when his revelations resumed, that Muhammad
finally began proclaiming himself as a prophet, and preaching “in
the one sovereign God, resurrection, and the last judgment, and the
practicing of charity to the poor and the orphans.”
Muhammad
was illiterate and recited his revelations orally. It wasn’t until
after his death that they were compiled and written down in the
Qur’an.
Muslims accept the Qur’an as a miracle, believing it is 100%
inspired with no human error. Much of what we know as Islam — the
lives and sayings of the Prophet — is based on texts from between
130 and 300 years after Muhammad's death.
In
the face of rampant idolatry, Muhammad became zealous for Allah.
It was his zeal that led Muhammad to take up the sword for Allah. He
would spread Islam by conquering the “infidel” (unbelieving)
peoples, including Christians and Jews.
Prior
to taking up the sword, Muhammad had co-existed peacefully with the
many Jewish inhabitants of Medina. But when he realized the Jews
rejected his prophetic calling and radical ideas, he became angry,
and began treating them cruelly. As a result, some Jews were driven
into exile by his militia, while others were executed with their
widows and children being sold as slaves.
Prior
to his death, Muhammad led several military campaigns. He proved to
be a courageous and capable military leader. By the time of his death
in 632, Muslims ruled only in Arabia. But within ten years the Arab
Muslims conquered Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and then Persia
(Iran). In one generation Muhammad and his followers had changed the
political landscape of the Eastern world. Today Muslims around the
world honor Muhammad as Allah’s one “True Prophet.”
Islam - 622 CE
