Muhammad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh (Arabic: محمد[2] Muḥammad; also
Mohammed, Muhammed, Mahomet, and other variants)[3][4][5] (c. 570 Mecca
- June 8th 632 CE Madina),[6] was the founder of Islam and is regarded
by Muslims as the last messenger and prophet of God (Arabic: الله
Allah).[7] Muslims do not believe that he was the creator of a new
religion, but the restorer of the original, uncorrupted monotheistic
faith of Adam, Abraham and others. They see him as the last and the
greatest in a series of prophets.[8]
Sources on Muhammad’s life concur that he was born ca. 570 CE in
the city of Mecca in Arabia.[9] He was orphaned at a young age and was
brought up by his uncle, later worked mostly as a merchant, and was
married by age 26. At some point, discontented with life in Mecca, he
retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for meditation and
reflection. According to Islamic tradition, it was here at age 40, in
the month of Ramadan, where he received his first revelation from God.
Three years after this event, Muhammad started preaching these
revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete
"surrender" to Him (lit. islām)[10] is the only religion (dīn),[11]
acceptable to God, and that he was a prophet and messenger of God, in
the same vein as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and other
prophets.[12][13][14]
Muhammad gained few followers early on, and was largely met with
hostility from the tribes of Mecca; he was treated harshly and so were
his followers. To escape persecution, Muhammad and his followers
migrated to Yathrib (Medina)[15] in the year 622. This historic event,
the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. In Medina,
Muhammad managed to unite the conflicting tribes, and after eight years
of fighting with the Meccan tribes, his followers, who by then had
grown to ten thousand, conquered Mecca. In 632, on returning to Medina
from his 'Farewell pilgrimage', Muhammad fell ill and died. By the time
of his death, most of Arabia had converted to Islam.
The revelations (or Ayats, lit. Signs of God), which Muhammad reported
receiving till his death, form the verses of the Qur'an,[16] regarded
by Muslims as the “word of God”, around which the religion
is based. Besides the Qur'an, Muhammad’s life (sira) and
traditions (sunnah) are also upheld by Muslims.
Muhammad's first revelation is
the event where Muhammad said he had been visited by the angel Gabriel.
This resulted in Muhammad proclaiming himself to be a Prophet of God.
Scholars have agreed that Muhammad’s first revelation took place
within the last 10 days of Ramadan in 620 AD. The night that he had the
revelation is known as the Night of Power. Muhammad was in the cave of
Mt. Hira meditating when he heard a loud voice scream. However, he was
the only one in the cave. The voice yelled "Iqra!"(which means read in
Arabic).The voice then reapeted “Iqra” and Muhammad then
replied that he could not read. It is then believed that Muhammad was
lifted up, embraced, and let go. Once he was let go The voice then
repeated “Iqra” and Muhammad then asked “What shall I
read?” Next, the following was recited: Recite in the name of
your Lord, who created, Created mankind from clots (of blood), Recite,
and your Lord is the bountiful, Who has taught by the pen, Taught
mankind what it did not know.
The voice was said to be the Angel Gabriel who also notified Muhammad
that Muhammad was selected to be the messenger of God. Petrified,
Muhammad rushed out of the cave. This is believed to be the first
revelation to Muhammad.