Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) was an illiterate but wise and well-respected man who was born
in Makkah in the year 570 C.E., at a time when Christianity was not yet
fully established in Europe. His first years were marked by the deaths
of his parents. Since his father died before his birth, his uncle, Abu
Talib, from the respected tribe of Quraysh, raised him. As Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him) grew up, he became known for his
truthfulness, generosity and sincerity, so that he was sought after for
his ability to arbitrate in disputes. His reputation and personal
qualities also led to his marriage, at the age of twenty-five, to
Khadijah, a widow whom he had assisted in business. Thenceforth, he
became an important and trusted citizen of Makkah. Historians describe
him as calm and meditative.
Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) never felt fully content to be part of a society whose values
he considered to be devoid of true religious significance. It became his
habit to retreat from time to time to the cave of Hira', to meditate
near the summit of Jabal al-Nur, the "Mountain of Light", near Makkah.
At the age of 40, while engaged in one such meditative retreat,
Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) received his first revelation
from God through the Angel Gabriel. This revelation, which continued
for twenty-three years, is known as the Qur'an, the faithful recording
of the entire revelation of God. The first revelation read:
"Recite: In the name of your Lord Who created man from a clot (of
blood). Recite: Your Lord is Most Noble, Who taught by the pen, taught
man what he did not know."
[Holy Quran 96:1-5]
It was this reality that he gradually and steadily came to learn and believe, until he fully realized that it is the truth.
His first convert was Khadijah, whose support and companionship
provided necessary reassurance and strength. He also won the support of
some of his relatives and friends. Three basic themes of the early
message were the majesty of the one, unique God, the futility of idol
worship, the threat of judgment, and the necessity of faith, compassion
and morality in human affairs. All these themes represented an attack on
the crass materialism and idolatry prevalent in Makkah at the time. So
when he began to proclaim the message to others the Makkans rejected
him. He and his small group of followers suffered bitter persecution,
which grew so fierce that in the year 622 C.E., God gave them the
command to emigrate. This event, the Hijrah (migration), in which they
left Makkah for the city of Madinah, some 260 miles to the north, marked
the beginning of a new era and thus the beginning of the Muslim
calendar. During his suffering, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon
him) drew comfort from the knowledge revealed to him about other
prophets, such as Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, each of whom had also been
persecuted and tested.
After several years and some significant
battles, the Prophet and his followers were able to return to Makkah,
where they forgave their enemies and established Islam definitively. By
the time the Prophet died, at the age of 63, the greater part of Arabia
had accepted Islam, and within a century of his death, Islam had spread
as far west as Spain and as far east as China. It was clear that the
message was not limited to Arabs; it was for the whole of humanity.
The Prophet's sayings (Hadith), are revelation. The number of sayings
collected by his followers and scholars is close to 10,000 in total.
Some typical examples of his sayings are as follows:
"To pursue knowledge is obligatory on every believing (man and woman)."
[Ibn Majah]
"Removing a harmful thing from the road is charity." [Bukhari, Muslim]
"Those who do not show tenderness and love cannot expect to have
tenderness shown to them."
[Bukhari]
"Adore Allah (God) as though you see Him; even if you do not see Him, He nonetheless sees you."
[Bukhari, Muslim]
Although Muhammad is deeply loved, revered and emulated by Muslims as God's final messenger, he is not an object of worship.
