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8.1 Introduction In Chapter 7, you learnedaboutthe geographyof theArabianPeninsula,where Muhammad was born in about570 c.r..Muhammadtaughtthe faith called lslam,oneof the greatreligionsof the world. In this chapter,you will leam about hislifeandtheearly spreadof Islam in the 600s and 700sc.r,. Muhammad's birthplace.Makkah (Mecca).was an ancientplaceof worship. According to Arab and Muslim tradition,many centuriesbefbreMuhammadwas born, it washerethatGod testedthe faith of the prophet Abrahamby commancling thatheleavehis wif'eHagarand baby son Ishmaelin a desolatevalley.As Abraharn's wifedesperately searchedlbr water,a rniracle happened. A springbubbledup at her son'sfeet. Thisspring becameknown as Zamzam.Over people time, settlednearit, andAbrahambuilt ahouse of worshipcalledthe Ka'ba.
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Bythetimeof Muhammad'sbirth, Makkah wasaprosperous city that stoodat the crossroads ofgreat traderoutes.Many peoplecameto worship attheKa'ba.But insteadof honoringthe oneGodof Abraham.the Ka'ba had becomea shrine to manytraditionalgods. Muhammad was living in Makkah when heexperienced his own call to prophethood. LikeAbraham. he proclairnedbelief in a single God. At firstthefaith he taught,Islarn.mer withresistance in Makkah.But Muhamrnad and hisfollowers. calledMuslims,
eventually tiumphed. MakkahbecameIslam'smost sacred city, andtheKa'babecamea centerof Islamic wonhrp. Inthischapter, you will exploreMuhammad's life.Youwill learnhow Islarnquickly spread throughout Arabiaand beyond.As you will see, within acenturyof Muhammad'sdeath,a great Muslim empirestretchedfrom North Afiica to entralAsia.
The ProphetMuhammad
8 . 2 Ar a b ia Du r in g M u h a m m a d ' sT im e Islam has its rootsin Arabia.whereMuhamrnadwas born.To understandIslam'sbeginnings. we first ncedto look at the world in which Muhamrlad gre\\'up.
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The town of Makkah.Muhammad'sbirthplace, was locatedin a dry. rocky valleyin u'estern Arabia.Unlike oasistowns.Makkahdid not havea-rriculture. Instead.it gainedwealthas a tradin-u city. Merchants travelingakrngcaravanroutcsstoppedat the city's marketand inns. They boughtspices.sheepskins. meat.clates.anclotherwaresfiom townspeopf e andnonrails. l was born.Makkah By the late6th centuryc.e.,when Muharnmad goodsinto Makkah was a prosperous city. McrchantfarniliesbroLrght from faraw'ayplaces.Merchantsgrew wealthythroLrglr tradewith Yernen(southern Arabia).Syria.andAliica. Over tirne.a handfulof
andtraditions
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Makkahwas alsoa religiousccnter.The Ka'ba.a cube-shaped shrine.was saidto havebeenbLriltby Abraharnfbr God centuries befirre.In Muhanrnrad's clay.nrostAlabs were polytheists (people
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Many Arabs.hor"'ever. lived in the dcsertratherthan in towns.There was no centralgovernnrent Arabspledgedloyaltyto in Arabia.Instead. tribeslaunched theirclansand larger calledtribes. Sometimes -qrollps raidsor.rothertrihcsto crptulc tcllitory.unimals.goods.watering
tribe a socialgroupthatshares a common ancestry, leadership,
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firnrilieshad conreto mle the city. Thcsefamilieswould not share theirfirrtunewith the weaker.poorerclans who lived in the city.
who believedin nranyuocls).andthc Ka'ba housedhundredsof statues Arabiacarneto Makkahto worship. of gods.Pilsrimslronrall o'u'er
families clan a groupof related polytheist a person who in morethanonegod believes
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places.anclevenwives.Whensonreone waskilled durin-qa raid.his firmily was honor-boundto aven-ge that death. werc not r.rnited AlthoLrgh Alabson the peninsula as a nation.they sharedtics of culturc.cspeciallylan-9ua-ee. Arabic poetrycelebratedthe historyof the Arab pcoplc.thc bear.rty of their land.and their way of held lif'e.Poetsand singerstl'omdifl'erenttribescompetedat -uatherings pilgrimages. markets and during at the This wasthe cultureinto which Muhanrmadwasborn.Let's turn now to thc storyof his lil'eandhow he chan-Ied his world.
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Chapter8
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' fl.u€ 3 Muhammad's Early Life kound570c.t,..a bov nar-necl Muhamntadwas born in Makkah. hammad's earlylif-ewas a hurnbleone. Few pcoplewho were not nbers of hisclau.the Hashini.notedhis birth. His fatherliad ndydied.andthe clan was poor.
The K a' bashri nei n Makkahw as surroundedby homes.In Muhammad' s ti me,peopl ecamef rom al l over A rabi ato w orshi pat Makkah.
Following custollt,Muhantmad'sllothe r senther baby to live with pmad familyin the desert.Therc the yor"rng boy lcarnedaboutArab litions. suchasbein_s kind to strangersand helpingorphans.widows. needy nieurbers ol' society. lother Muhamrnad was aboutf ive or six. he returnecl to the city fVhen They had little tirle togcther. because she soondiecl. ihismother. waslefi in the careof his srandlather'. Abclal-Muttalib. lammaO leaderof the Hashinrclan.UponAbd al-Muttalib's ply regarded p,Muhammad's uncle.Abu Talib.a respected rnerchant hirnself, charge of the orphan. AbLr Talib also becanre head of thc clan. f u rrtched hi: lartrill'slloeks ol' shcepandgoars. fsaboy.Muhrrntrttud p hewasaboutI 2 yearsold, he accornpanied his unclcon a trading jor.rrney. Muhantmad fel.TheVtraveledfar north to Syria.On this nis first exposLlfe to placesoutsideof thc Arabiancleserts. fd Muhamnracl grew up. he took olt ntore cluticsancluraclenrore !t pgjourneys. He becamea traderwho enjityeda reputation I
Makkah fbr hishonesty. People calledhinral-Anrin. which fghout fs"theTrustworthy." L
uus still lt )()unsrnunu hen he hcg.lur phammad rrlurtrginu pnsfora wiclownanredKhacli.jah, who ran a tradingbusiness. great earnecl her prol-its. Irnpressed wirh his abilitiesancl lmmad lpr'r)pr)scd py,Khadiiah rnarria-ee. Muhanrntadacceptedher ol}'er. around age2-5he marriedKhadi.;ah. Muhamrnadand Khadijah f pveral children. but only their clau-ehter Fatimahl-racl childreno1' the bloocllineof Muhamntad. !n. Shecontinued I
I
The ProphetMuharnrnacl 8-5
8.4The Call to Prophethood whoadopts convert a person newbeliefs, thoseof especially a religious faith monotheism beliefin a single 9 00
For the next l5 years,Muhammadmadehis living as a merchant. Althoughhe enjoyedsuccessin business,he also caredaboutspiritual matters.He often spenttime at prayerin the mountainsaroundMakkah ln about610 c.n.,Muhammadwent to pray in a cavein the mountains.It was therethat he receivedthe call to be a prophet.or messenger of God. whom the ArabscalledAllah. Muhammadlaterdescribedthe remarkableeventsof that night. He told that he receiveda visit from the angelGabriel.Muhammad describedhow\Gabrieltokl hirn severaltimesto "recite."Muhammad
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Recite.tTht' Lord is w'ondrouskind Who bt'the pen lrustuughtnteutkirtd
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Muhammadlefi the cave,quakingwith f'ear.But Gabrielspoketo of God." hirn again,declaring."You are the messenger
that i gods
At flrst, Muhammadf'earedthat he might be going mad. But her faith that God had TheHiraCaveis whereMuhammad KhadijahconsoledMuhammadand expressed wasfirstvisited bytheangelGabriel chosenhim as a prophetto communicatehis wordsto the people. Khadijahbecamethe flrst convert to Islam.The
to Mr teach not v
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faith of Islam is basedon monotheism, or the belief in a singlegod.This God. Muharnmadtaught.was the sameGod of Abraham,Moses.and Jesus.Through
ME S S
a liar Desl
Gabriel.God told Muhammadto teachothersabout honesty.andjustice, treatingpeoplewith compassion.
not I also
Accordingto Muslirn tradition.Gabrielcontinuedto from God over the next 22 years.At revealmessages only to his first. Muhammadconfidedthesemessages
the I
family andfriends,includinghis cousinAli and a close companion.Abu Bakr.Gradually,a small group of followersdevelopedat Makkah.They were called Muslims.which means"thosewho surrenderto God." For Muslims,Islam was a way of li1'eand the basistbr creatinga just society.
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Recite-in the name of'tht' Lrtrtl!
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askedwhat he was to recite.and Gabrielanswered:
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ThoughMuhammadapparentlycould neitherread i fiom Gabrielweref nor write. he saidthat the nressages imprintedon his rnind and heart.His followersalso
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down thesewords and collectedthernin the Qur'an (alsospelledKoran).the holy book of [slarn.The poetic beautyof this book helpedattractnew believersto Islam.
ed: inr anc hor Mr
mad's Meets with 613c.s.,Muhammadbeganto otherMakkans.He tausht that worshipone god, that all in God were equal, and that the sharetheir wealth. He ursed to takecare of orphans and the to improvethe statusof women. members of Muhammad'sclan Muslims.Peoplefrom other clans classes alsojoined him. Most however,rejectedMuhammad's Makkah'sleadersdid not want theirwealth.They also feared that grew stronger,he would power.Merchants worried stoppedworshiping therr mightstop making pilgrimages Muhammad'smonotheistic alsodisturbedArabs who did to giveup their gods. the spreadof the prophet's someArabscalled Muhammad torturedhis weaker followers. is treatment, the Muslims would uptheirfaith. Muhammad was by Abu Talib, the head of im clan.Anyone who harmed a theclan would face Abu Talib's numberof Muslims grew, the powerful clans of Makkah to make Muhammad'sfollowers give up Islam. For
rockis thought As-Akhar to bewhere Muhammad endedhisNightJourney theHashimclan suffered as Makkans refused to do business to Jerusalem andwasledto heaven. Althoughthey were threatenedwith starvation,the boycott An eight-sided, domedmonument theirwill. Thesedifficult years,however,took their toll nowmarksthe spotoverthe rock. andKhadijah.In 619, thesetrustedfamily membersdied.
theselosseswere terrible for Muhammad, that year he reportevent.The Qur'an tells the story of the Night Journey wingedhorsetook Muhammad to Jerusalem.There he met with earlierprophets,like Abraham,Moses,and Jesus.The guidedMuhammad through the seven levels of heaven,and
boycott a refusaltodo business withanorganization or group
metGod.To this day,Jerusalemis a holy city for Muslims.
The Prophet Muhammad
87
TheProphet's Mosq0ein Madinah holdsMghammad's tomb.
8.6 From the Migration to Madinah to the End of His Life with Abu Talib's death,Muhammad lost his protector.As Muslims came under more attacks,Muhammad sought a new home. Then a group of Arab pilgrims from a town called yathrib visited Makkah convertedto Islam. They askedMuhammad to move to yathrib to peacebetween feuding tribes. In return, they pledged their protection, In 622, Muhammad and his followers left Makkah on a journey known as the hijrah. Yathrib was renamedMadinah (also spelled Medina), short for the "City of the prophet." The year of M hijrah later becamethe first year in the Muslim calendar. In Madinah,Muhammaddevelopeda new Muslim community as more Arabs convertedto Islam. Muslims pledgedto be loyal and ful to each other. They emphasizedthe brotherhood of faith over the ties of family, clan, and tribe. Muhammad also askedhis followersto respectChristiansand Jews.Like Muslims, these,,peopleof the believedin one God.
siege an attempttosurround a placeandcutoffallaccess to it in orderto forcea surrender
The Makkans,however,still felt threatened.In 624, fighting out betweenthe Muslims and Makkans.The Muslims successfullv attackeda caravanon its way to Makkah. A few years later, the Makkans stageda siege of Madinah, but failed to capturethe city, Meanwhile,Muhammadconvincedother tribes to join the community.As Islam spreadacrossArabia, the Makkans madea with the Muslims. ln 628, they agreedto let Muhammad makethe grimage to their city the following year. In 630, however, they broke truce.As Muhammad's arrny marchedtoward Makkah, the city's surrenderedwithout a battle.Muhammadand his followers the idols (statuesof gods) at the Ka'ba and rededicatedthe shrine Allah. Muhammadalso forgavehis former enemies.The war had In March 632, Muhammadled his final pilgrimage.In the town his birth, he deliveredhis Last Sermon.He remindedMuslims to each other well and to be faithful to their communitv. Shortlv after return to Madinah,Muhammaddied.
88 Chapter8
TTheFour Galiphs WhenMuhammaddied, most of centraland southern wasunderMuslim control. After the prophet's hiscompanionshad to choosea new leaderto prethecommunity.They picked Abu Bakr, Muhammad's andfather-in-law. AbuBakrbecamethe first caliph, or Muslim ruler. He thetlueeleaderswho followed him cameto be known the"rightlyguided"caliphs.Thesecaliphsfollowed Qur'anandthe exampleof Muhammad.The Muslim wascalledthe caliphate. Whensometribestried to break awav.Abu Bakr used campaigns to reunitethe community.Under his ip,Muslimscompletedthe unification of Arabia. theybeganto carry the teachingsof Islam beyond
fuabian Peninsula. After AbuBakrdfid in 634c.n.,CaliphUmarexpanded
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Muslimempire.In addition to spreadingthe faith of conquest allowedMuslims to gain new lands, andgoods.
Thefourthcaliphin theMuslimgov-
643,theMuslim empire included lands in lraq, Persia,the eastMeditenanean, and North Africa. Umar set up governmentsand tax
ernment foughtagainst rebellious Muslims whochallenged hisrule.
in theseprovinces. He also let Jews and Christiansworship liked.In Egypt,treatiesallowed for freedomof worship in for thepaymentof tribute. Later, Muslims completedsimilar withtheNubians,a peoplewho lived to the southof Egypt. Umar'sdeathin 644 c.e., Uthmanbecamecaliph.Uthman amember of the Umayyadclan. He helpedunite Muslims when he adofficialeditionof the Qur'an. But he also awardedhigh posts relatives. Peoplein the provcomplained that they were
ibnAbi Talib,Muhammad's andson-in-law, reluctantly
e
h become the fourth caliph. Umayyads challengedhis inetheMuslimcommu-
to nof ffeat :r his
or an empire
unfairly. Discontentspread, killedUthmanin 656.
uce pil-
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caliph a titletakenby Muslim rulerswhoclaimed religious authority to rule province a division of a country
0 500 |,000 miles F--r--J--rJ 0 500 1,000kilomelers
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acivil war.Ali sentforces them.Whenhe endedthe tlnoughnegotiation,
hissupporters disapproved In 661.one of them
Ali.
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The ProphetMuhammad 89
8.8 The Umayyad Dynasty Soon after Ali's death,Mu'awiyah, the leader of the Umayyads, claimed the caliphate.Most Muslims, called the Sunnis,came te him. But a minority of Muslims, known as the Shi'a, or "party" of Ali, refusedto do so. They believed that only people directly related to Muhammad through his son-in-law Ali should be caliph. The split betweenthe Sunnisand Shi'a laststo this day. dynasty a lineof rulers descended fromthesamefamily garrison a placewherea group of soldiers is stationed for defensivepurposes
Mu'awiyah put down a revolt by Ali's supporters.He held on to the role of caliph. He also foundedthe Umayyad dynasty. In 661, Umayyads moved their capital to Damascus,Syria. From there, the caliphsruled the huge Muslim empire for close to 100 years.To mai tain control, they kept large armiespostedat garrison towns. Slowly, the lands of the Muslim empire took on more elementsof Arab culture. Muslims introducedthe Arabic language.Along with Islam, acceptanceof Arabic helped unite the diversepeople of the empire. In addition,Arabs took over as top officials. Peoplebought goods with new Arab coins. While the Muslims did not force people to convert to Islam, somenon-Arabswillingly becameMuslims. The Muslim empire continuedto expand.The Umayyad caliphs armiesinto centralAsia and northwesternIndia. In 711. Muslim armi begantheir conquestsof present-daySpain.However, at the Battle Tours in 732, enemyforces under the Frankish king CharlesMartel turnedthe Muslims back in west-centralFrance.This battle marked farthestextent of Muslim advancesinto Europe. Muslims held on to land in Spain,where Muslim stateslastedfor almost 800 years.Muslims in Spain built someof the greatestcities medievalEurope.Their capital city, Cordoba,becamea centerof ing. In this place of religious tolerance,Muslim, Jewish,and Christi scholarssharedideas.Through their work, Muslim Spain made ing advancesin arts,science,technology,and literature.You will more about the accomplishmentsof Islamic civilization in Chapter
Thefirsttwo caliphs, AbuBakrand UmaLareburiedon eithersideof Muhammad's tomb.
90
Chapter 8
8. 9Chap t e r S u m m a r y
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lpnr phet\.' lu h a m m u cdl e s c ri b c dh o u h e c ont inued t u rc c c i v c rc v e l a ti o n sfro tn th e angcGl abr ic l H . i s tc a c h i n g s\\' c re g a th c re d int hcQ ur ' an .th e Iro l v b o c l k o l ' l s l a rtt. \ { uhanr n rata d u g h t th a t th c rc v n a so n l 1 , oncG od.Hc a l s o ta u g h l e q L ra l i tl 'H . c to l d
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hislirllou'crsto sharc thcir r,vcalthiincl to c lr r ' lir tr hc les s fo rtu n a l ei n s o c i e tl ' .IIc pr c ac hed t olc ra n c cl i rr C h ri s ti a n sa u d J c w s . r rt c lk r uuors h i p e rso f th e o n e l ru c G o d . c ll a ut. \ lan1pc o p l ci n M a k k a h o 1 -rp o s cIs ln 6ll. N{ uh a n rmaacnl d h i s l i rl l o u ' e rsrn o vccl t o\ lldr nah Th . e re N ' l u h a n rrn aec sl ta b l i s h e da \ ' lus lim c onrn u n i ty .1 3 yth c ti rn c o l ' h i s d c ath
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in631.peop l cth ro u g h o L rt c e ' n tra l n rl s o u tl .ternArabiahrcl acceptcclthc tcachinss of Islanr anclthc Qur' an as thc' uordrof Gotl. T hec alip h su h o l i rl l o u ' c c lMu h a n rn ra dgrcatl y exl tandedthc l ands under t heirlL rl ed e s p i tes tn rg g l c so v c l l c a det' shi parrtlcven ci vi l rvar.
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