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I. INTRODUCTION
Muhammad (prophet) (570?-632), founder of Islam, whose prophetic teachings, encompassing political
and social as well as religious principles, became the basis of Islamic civilization and have had a
vast influence on world history.
Muhammad was born in Mecca. He belonged to the clan of Hashim, a poor but respected branch of the prestigious and
influential tribe of Quraysh. His father died before he was born, and after his mother's death when he was six,
he was brought up by his uncle Abu Talib. Pensive and withdrawn in temperament, he displayed an acute moral sensitivity
at an early age, and he was known as al-Amin ("the trusted one"). Like his fellow tribesmen, he became a trader
and made several journeys to Syria, where he may have met and conversed with Christians. He then began to manage the
business of a rich widow, Khadija; she was greatly impressed by both his honesty and ability, and she shortly
offered
him marriage, which he accepted at the age of 25.
III. TEACHINGS
Muhammad's earliest teachings emphasized his
belief in one transcendent but personal God, the Last Judgment, and social and economic justice.
God, he asserted, had sent prophets to other nations throughout history, but, having failed to
reform, those nations had been destroyed. Muhammad proclaimed his own message, the Qur'an, to be
the last revealed Book and himself to be the last of the prophets, consummating and superseding
the earlier ones.
IV. OPPOSITION
Insisting on the necessity of social reform,
Muhammad advocated improving the lot of slaves, orphans, women, and the poor and replacing tribal
loyalties with the fellowship of Islamic faith. This egalitarian and reformist tendency quickly
aroused the enmity of the rich merchants who dominated Mecca. They persecuted some of Muhammad's
weaker followers, and in 615 he ordered 83 families to take refuge in Ethiopia. When both his beloved
wife Khadija and his uncle and protector Abu Talib died in 619, he despaired of his position in
Mecca. After an unsuccessful effort to convert the nearby town of AtTa'if, he was approached by a
delegation from Yathrib (later Medina), a city about 300 km (about 186 mi) to the north that was
divided by tribal feuds. They asked him to arbitrate the feuds, offering him considerable authority. After
careful negotiations, Muhammad accepted and asked his followers to emigrate from Mecca to Medina.
V. THE HEGIRA
Muhammad escaped Mecca just as his enemies were preparing to murder him, and he arrived in Medina
eight days
later. His flight became known as the Hegira (Arabic hijrah) and marks the beginning of the Islamic
calendar.
Muhammad was soon given supreme authority in Medina, and he began to establish the ritual practices of Islam and to
carry out
social reforms. He promulgated a charter that specified the rights and relationships of the Muslims, Jews, and other
groups of the city. The Meccans, meanwhile, persisted in their hostility, demanding the extradition of Muhammad
and his Meccan followers. They were supported in Medina by a group, referred to in the Qur'an as the Hypocrites,
who had submitted to Islam but were secretly working against it. This group in turn was aided by the three Jewish
tribes that were residing in Medina.
VI. WAR WITH MECCA
Muhammad's strategy in the developing conflict
with Mecca was to attack Meccan trade caravans returning from Syria and thus economically weaken
the city. In 624, the first major battle occurred, in which the Muslims, despite their inferiority
in numbers and weapons, soundly defeated the Meccans. In the next major battle, the following year,
the Meccans had the advantage but were unable to achieve a decisive victory. A Meccan army of 10,000
besieged Medina in 627 but failed to take the city. Muhammad meanwhile eliminated his enemies
within
Medina. After each of the first two battles he expelled a Jewish tribe, and after the third major
battle
he had the males of the remaining tribe massacred for collaborating with his opponents.
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