The Prophet Muhammad

The Prophet Muhammad

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The Prophet Muhammad The Prophet Muhammad is the founder of Islam. He is known as the Messenger of God to people of the Islamic faith. Muhammad lived a rough life but he also changed people’s lives. His religion has had an effect on millions of people. There are no pictures of Muhammad’s face; he made a point that the religion was to not be about him, but about Allah. In 570 C. E in Mecca, Arabia a baby boy, a descendant of Abraham named Muhammad, whose name means “highly praised”, was born. Muhammad’s father, Abdullah, died before he was born and his mother, Amina died when he was only six years old.

After the death of his mom, he became an orphan. He was taken in by a woman named Halmiah, who became his foster mother. In 595 C. E., Muhammad was contacted by one of his wealthy widowed cousins, Khadijah, who needed him to sell some goods for her. Many of Muhammad’s cousins lived in Mecca, so it was not uncommon that Khadijah had contacted him. He was known for being a very good merchant. Muhammad and Khadijah met several times to discuss the selling of goods. Khadijah began to become interested in him on a personal level, even though she was fifteen years older than Muhammad.

Khadijah asked Nufaysah (known as the matchmaker) to ask Muhammad if he was interested in marrying Khadijah. Muhammad and Khadijah were soon engaged and married. Polygamy was common during this time but, Muhammad married nobody else while he was married to Khadijah. They had six children together. They had two sons and four girls, their two sons died. Muhammad and Khadijah were known to be very generous. “These were not arbitrary acts of generosity but part of a determined pursuit of a responsible moral life that stood side by side with the prayers that Muhammad addressed to the High God of Mecca. Islam before Muhammad was also known as the pre-Islamic view of God. People in Islam believed in spiritual cosmos, which meant they were not atheist or agnostic. The pre- Islamic Arabs believed there were multiple gods. Allah was still considered the highest God or supreme God. Many of the deities/gods represented particular tribes. The Kaaba temple was surrounded by about 360 idols from the different tribes. These idols were brought by the pilgrims during the pilgrimage, in Mecca. Religion in Mecca became their business, because pilgrims also traded when they came to worship.

When Muhammad came and proclaimed monotheism, the Arabs didn’t want to give up their multiple deities. They knew abandoning pilgrimage would be a huge loss in their business affairs in Mecca. When Muhammad was thirty-five years old, the Quraysh decided to re-build the Kaaba. While the clans of Quraysh were re-building they began to argue over which clan would put the last black stone in the Kaaba. The oldest member of Quraysh, Abu Umayya ibn al-Mughira said “Men of Quraysh, make the first man who comes in at the door of this mosque the arbiter of your difference so that he may judge on the

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matter. The first man to walk in the door was the Messenger of God, and when they saw him they said “This is the trustworthy one which whom we are satisfied. This is Muhammad. ” Muhammad was told what the Quraysh had discussed. They gave him a cloak and he had each clan grab the cloak. He took the stone once everyone had grabbed on and he put the stone where it belonged. Quraysh used to call the Messenger of God the “trustworthy one. ” Around the time Muhammad was forty years old, he took a trip to Mount Hira, a group of hills in Mecca, on the seventeenth day of Ramadan.

During the season of pilgramige, Muhammad and his family liked to decamp in a cave in Mount Hira. During this he prayed, fasted, gave to the poor, and followed the path of righteousness. “All his life he had searched after God. What he was not prepared for now was that God had searched through him and had now come to take possession. ” His first night in the cave on the seventeenth day of Ramadan he woke up in a panic, he felt like his whole inner and outer body was being grabbed and it wasn’t going to let go.

Muhammad later explained it as “it was as if an angel had gripped him in a terrifying embrace that threatened to squeeze the life and breath out of him…he heard the commandment, ‘recite! ’…the angel closed in on him again with such force he thought he would burst. ” The angel continued to force Muhammad to say ‘Recite! ’, and when he finally said it the angel released him. This is known as the first revelation and his known as the ‘recitation’. Muhammad did not believe in what was happening at first, he thought he was being possessed by a spirit.

He had seen a lot spirit possession and was not fond of the idea. He wondered if he had this revelation because this is what his piety(reverence for God) had led him, where meditation took a man, or his reward for fasting and praying. Muhammad sat in the cave and began having thoughts of suicide. An angel, Archangel Gabriel took over his vision, Muhammad staggered back into the cave and asked his wife to protect him. His wife Khadijah left the cave and asked her spiritual advisor after Muhammad had fallen asleep, later she returned to the cave and said that Muhammad was a prophet of God.

This is known as his second birth into the world of spirit. For the next two years Muhammad had no revelations, he went through that possession of the spirit as he likes to call it and than it just left him. He went into depression and he felt forsaken. Muhammad’s a second revelation than followed, it is named ‘daylight’. It was not as frightening as the first revelation he had, but still as unpredictable. Muhammad said, “Never once did I receive revelation without thinking my soul had been torn away from me. ” After his revelations, he often felt physically exhausted.

His

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revelations were not always clear sometimes he had to put the pieces together himself and figure out what they meant. About three years after Muhammad’s first revelation, he began public preaching. In the beginning it was just to his direct family and relatives. The first person to “submit” was Muhammad’s cousin Ali. In the beginning Muhammad had very few converts. The Quraysh did not like the fact that Muhammad was preaching. Muhammad decided to warn them that they needed to change their lives because they were going on a path to hell.

In the Quran, Muhammad would have been known as the “Warner” because he warned other people. Muhammad’s religious views slowly evolved in Mecca over time. During this time, Muhammad switched gods several times, finally deciding on Allah. Muhammad’s teachings had one main theme “man had to be grateful for God’s providential direction and guidance. ” Muhammad was greatly persecuted by the Quraysh, causing them to not get a long and they eventually went to war. After the wars between Muhammad and the Quraysh were finished, Muhammads followers began making their way to Medina. The Hijra was about to begin.

Muhammad told his followers to go Medina, because this is what he was told to tell them. Muhammad stayed behind to make sure that his followers who said they were going still went. The Prophet Muhammad migration, the Hijra is considered a major event in the making of this religion. Some say the Hijra was caused by Mohammud finding out that he had followers in the city of Yathrib. While in Medina, he was the only religious leader in his community. His followers the Emigrants worked for helpers and Jews as laborers. Muhammad could not work for money because he was a prophet.

When Muhammad was not invited for meals, he and his family suffered. Soon his wife Khadijah died, of old age. After she died, Muhammad married Sawda, a nine year old girl, who is the daughter of Abu Baker one of his followers. If he wanted his religion to last, Muhammad was going to have structure and organization in his religion. He would have to become strengthened, have stronger relationships with the other clans, and to clarify why he was in Medina. Muhammad, with his new goals began shaping his religion beginning with prayer five times a day. The call to prayer was established.

The call of prayer is called an adhan and the person making the call is called a mu’adhdin. Muhammad was open to visit and talk with any of his followers, exemplifying that he had manners and cared about his followers. He was very humble and even helped the servants with their duties. He even put the animals before him, making sure they were fed before him. It became a tradition in the religion for Muhammad to choose stuff in fives. He usually ate only one meal a day,but sometimes he would fast for a few days. Many of his followers began to fast. The war with Mecca helped this religion grow.

Muhammad was now settled in Medina

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but wanted to fight for his home city, Mecca. The battle went on for years. The Muslims won the first battle against Mecca, in 624. In this battle Muhammad was wounded. A few years later in 627, Mecca attacked Medina again, Medina won. In 630 Muhammad and his troops went to Mecca, defeated them and took their home back. Muhammad dedicated the Kaaba to Allah, after he returned to Mecca. In 632, Muhammad died. After Muhammad’s death, his religion spread more than when he was alive. His death devastated his followers but also encouraged them to share their aith. Two years after his death his successor Abu Baker dies. Since, Muhammad and Abu Baker were dead the Khalifs in Medina had to figure out how to spread the Islamic faith. Muhammad’s followers fought many wars after his death and through these wars the religion spread. Muhammad was known as one of the most influential men in history. He founded his own religion and changed many people’s lives. His people live by rules and guidelines set up by him. He lived a rough life, starting with being orphaned at a young age to going to war to get his homeland back.

Muhammad was a very compassionate man who put everyone before himself. He was very devoted to what he believed in and his people. Muhammad was a daily faster and prayer. He created the religion we have today and it has grown immensely. They have gone through many wars but stand firm on their belief. Muhammad was the a Messenger of God and a prophet. Works Citied: Inamdar, Subhash C. Muhammad and the Rise of Islam. Psychosocial Press,2001. Jaffer,Mehru. The Book of Muhammad. London:Penguin Books,2003. “Life of the Prophet Muhammad. ” Religion Facts. 0 October 2011 <http:/www. Religionfacts. com/islam/history/prophets. html> “Prophet Muhammad al-Mustafa. “The Seal of the Prophets. 10 October 2011 < http:/ www. Shia. org/ProphetMuhammad. html > Rogerson,Barnaby. The Prophet Muhammad. Mahwah:HiddenSpring,2003. Safi, Omid. Memories of Muhammad. New York:Harper One,2009. Spencer,Robert. The Truth about Muhammad. Washington: Regnery Publishing Inc.,2007. “What did he do?. ”Prophet of Islam. 10 October 2011 < http:/prophetofislam. com/what_did_he_do. php > – 1 ]. Barnaby Rogerson. The Prophet Muhammad. (Mahwah:HiddenSpring,2003)74. [ 2 ]. Subhash C. Inamdar. Muhammad and the Rise of Islam. (Psychosocial Press,2001)108. [ 3 ]. Subhash C. Inamdar. Muhammad and the Rise of Islam. (Psychosocial Press,2001)108. [ 4 ]. Barnaby Rogerson. The Prophet Muhammad. (Mahwah:HiddenSpring,2003)88. [ 5 ]. Barnaby Rogerson. The Prophet Muhammad. (Mahwah:HiddenSpring,2003)89. [ 6 ]. Barnaby Rogerson. The Prophet Muhammad. (Mahwah:HiddenSpring,2003)92. [ 7 ]. Subhash C. Inamdar. Muhammad and the Rise of Islam. (Psychosocial Press,2001)116.

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