Life of The Prophet Muhammad

by Javed Mukarram
The Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) born in city of Makkah in 570 CE. Makkah
was a city-state well connected to the caravan routes
to Syria and Egypt in the north and northwest and Yemen
in the south. He was an orphan, his father Abdullah
died few months before his birth in Yathrib (now called
Madina). At the age of six his mother Amina
passed away at 'Abwa' while she was traveling from Yathrib
to Makkah. His grandfather Abdul Mutalib took the responsibility
to take care of him. Abdul Mutalib was a prominent leader
of Arab tribe 'Quraish', he was responsible to take care
of Holy place the 'Ka'bah'. The Ka'bah is a first place
of worship to Allah on earth and rebuild by Prophet Ibrahim
(Abraham) and his son Prophet Ismail (Ishmail). After
two years when Muhammad was eight his grandfather also
died. He raised by his paternal uncle Abu Talib after
the age of eight. Muhammad
was a descendant of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) through
the lineage of his son Prophet Ismail.
When he was about nine years old, Muhammad traveled
accompanied a caravan of traders with his uncle, Abu Talib,
to Syria. There at Busra was a Christian monk named Bahira.
From the distance, he had seen the Makkan caravan approaching,
with a cloud following over it. Could it be that the expected
Prophet had at last come, and was among these travelers?
One glance at the boy's face tallied with what he had
read in his ancient manuscripts. He conversed with the
lad and asked him to remove his cloak. There on Muhammad's
back between
his shoulders was the white oval mark designating his
prophet-hood. "Take your nephew back to his country",
Bahira told Abu Talib, "and guard him against the
Jews, for if they find out about him they will contrive
evil against him. Great things are in store for this brother's
son of your."
Muhammad started
his career as a businessman and trader. He was famous
for his good character and popularly know as 'al-Ameen'.
Al-Ameen means the Honest, the Reliable and the Trustworthy
and it signified the highest standard of moral and public
life. Once a business associate asked Muhammad to
wait for him at a street corner, however he forgot the
appointment. For three days and three nights Muhammad
stood waiting
for him until something jogged his associate's memory.
Upon hearing the Muhammad's
impressive qualities, Khadijah ,
a rich merchant widow of Makkah sent Muhammad
together with a male slave Maysara on a trip to Syria.
There another monk, Nestor informed Maysara of Muhammad's
mission and,
indeed, the slave lad saw two angels shading the apostle
from the sun. These facts he told Khadijah and they made
her more determined to marry Muhammad
even though she was his employer and fifteen years his
senior. Khadijah proposed marriage to him through a relative.
He accepted the proposal. Khadijah and Muhammad
were the parents of six children, four daughters Zainab
, Ruqayyah
, Umm Kulthum
and Fatimah
, two sons
Qasim and
Abdullah .
Both sons died in their childhood. Muhammad
never married again until she died.
The Ka'bah was full with idols and people of Arab were
involved in worshipping idols and in their customs. They
forgot the message of Prophet Ibrahim to worship only
one God. Injustice, adultery, gambling and alcohol were
common problems in that society. Muhammad was
in the habit of retiring to a cave in Mount Hira, not
far from Mecca, away from this polluted environment.
On the 26-27th of Ramadan when he was in his fortieth
year and alone in the cave there came to him an angel
in the form of a man. On this first appearance, Gabriel
(as) said to Muhammad :
"Iqraa," meaning Read or Recite. Muhammad
replied, "I cannot read," as he had not received
any formal education and did not know how to read or write.
The Angel Gabriel then embraced him until he reached the
limit of his endurance and after releasing said: "Iqraa."
Muhammad's
answer was the same as before. Gabriel repeated the embrace
for the third time, asked him to repeat after him and
said:
"Recite in the name of your Lord who created! He
created man from that which clings. Recite; and thy Lord
is most Bountiful, He who has taught by the pen, taught
man what he knew not." (96.6)
The angel Jibril (Gabriel) recited what was to become
the first five verses of the Qur'an of surah 96. 6 Muhammad
recited these
words after the angel. He later said, "It was as
though the words were written on my heart." Khadijah
helped calm
her husband and went to tell her cousin, Waraqah. Waraqah
was learned scholar of Old and New Testaments. He reassured
her that Muhammad
had been called on as a Messenger but warned him, "People
will accuse him of falsehood, persecute, exile and attack
him.
Allah assigned a mission to the Prophet Muhammad ,
to restore the worship of one true God (Allah) the creator
and sustainer of the universe, as taught by all Prophets
of Allah, and to demonstrate and complete the laws of
moral, ethical, legal and social conduct and all other
matters of significance for the humanity at large.
Muhammad started
his mission from his family members. His wife Khadijah
, cousin Ali
, servant
Zayd bin Harithah
and friend Abu Bakr
were the first people who accepted his message and became
Muslim. Mission was steadily continued without any open
announcement and small group of people (men and women)
from wide range of economic and social background accepted
the Islam during first three years.
After three years prophet was directed by a revelation
to start preaching openly to every one. Then he climbed
on a hill and called the people according the custom of
Makkah City. He asked the people, O, people of Makkah,
"Can you believe if I inform you that there is army
behind this hill is ready to attack on city". People
replied, "Definitely, you are 'Al-Amin' and you never
tell a lie". At this reply, he conveyed his message.
O, people of Makkah listen there are no god but Allah.
Worship only Allah and don't associate any one with Allah.
The Quraish, leaders of Makkah opposed his message. Initially
they tried to bribe him with money and power including
an offer to make him king if he was to abandon his message.
When this did not work, they tried to convince his uncle
Abu Talib to accept the best young man of Makkah in place
of Muhammad
and to allow them to kill Muhammad .
His uncle tried to persuade the Prophet to stop preaching
but the Prophet said: "O uncle, if they were to put
the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand
to stop me from preaching Islam, I would never stop. I
will keep preaching until Allah makes Islam prevail or
I die."
The Quraish began to persecute Muslims by beating, torture
and boycott of their businesses. They tortured the weak,
poor or slaves Muslims publicly. The Prophet
was publicly ridiculed and humiliated including frequent
throwing of filth on him in street and while he prayed
in the Ka'bah. Muslims were bearing all these hardships
with patience, the message of Islam kept all Muslims firm
in their belief. The Prophet
continued preaching the message of Qur'an. After four
years, when the persecution became unbearable, the prophet
advised the Muslims to immigrate to Abyssinia. Eighty
people immigrated to Abyssinia in small groups to avoid
the detection. A Christian king Negus was the ruler of
Absyssinia (modern Ethiopia). The leaders of Quraish sent
two of their envoys to Negus to bring all of them back.
Negus investigated about the beliefs of Muslims and heard
the revelation about Jesus and Mary (peace be upon them
both), which appears in Chapter 19, entitled Mary, of
the Qur'an. Negus allowed the Muslims to stay under his
protection and allowed them worshipping freely according
their faith, Quraish failed to get them back.
The Quraish gave more hardship to Muslims left behind.
They implemented total ban on contact with the Prophet's
family (Bani
Hashim and Muttalib). The ban lasted for three years without
the desired effect. After three years, the Prophet
was contacted by the leaders of Quraish to agree to a
compromise under which they should all practice both religions
(i.e. Islam and Idolatry). The Prophet
refused this offer by reciting Surah (109) of Qur'an end
with the words: "
For you your religion and
for me mine." The ban was lifted on discovery that
document of terms of ban was eaten by worms except the
words ' In Your name, O Allah.'
His wife Khadijah
and uncle Abu Talib died very soon after lifting ban.
It was a great personal loss and sorrow for the Prophet
.
The Prophet continued
his mission, he went to Taif for preaching the message
of Allah. People of Taif refused and tortured him severely.
Their children threw stone at him. His shoes were full
with his blood. At that moment angle Gabriel (as) visited
to the Prophet and
told him that the angles are ready to destroy this city.
He asked for the Prophets order
about the people of Taif. The Prophet
forgave them and prayed for next generations of Taif to
accept Islam.
In 622 CE, the leaders of the Quraish decided to kill
the Prophet .
The Angel Gabriel informed the Prophet about the plan
and instructed him to leave Makkah and migrate toward
Madina immediately. The Prophet left
Makkah with Abu Bakr ,
they stayed three nights in a cave named Thawr to hide
themselves from Quraish. Then they resumed their travel
toward Madina 250 miles from Makkah. They reached Quba
near Madina safely with the protection of Allah (SWT).
The tribes of Aws and Khazraj who already had accepted
Islam welcomed them warmly. In Quba the Prophet
established first masjid (the Muslim's place of worship).
The Muslims in Makkah who were not physically restrained
joined them one by one in Madina.
The Prophet
proposed a treaty to establish peace, brother-hood and
equality among citizens of Madina. All citizens of Madina
including Muslims and non-Muslim accepted it. It was the
begining of Muslim state. Now the enemies of Islam started
assault from all sides. In result many wars occurred between
Muslims and non-believers of Makkah. War of Badr was first
and few other famous were Uhud and Allies (The Trench).
A large number of Muslims lost their life, women were
widowed and children orphaned. The Prophet
married several women between his age of fifty-six and
sixty to provide the shelter and to these women. Aishah,
Umm Salamah, Juwayriah and Safiyah are famous names among
the wives the Prophet .
All of the wives of the Prophet were
widows or divorced except Aishah .
The Prophet's
wives, called the "Mothers of the Believers,"[Qur'an
Surah 33, Verse 6 and the last part of Verse 53] showed
themselves as examples of proper Muslim womanhood. All
his wives, especially 'Aishah, transmitted many ahadith
(sayings, deeds, and actions) from Prophet Muhammad .
In 622, the Prophet
traveled toward Makkah with 1500 of his companion for
Hajj (annual pilgrim of Ka'bah) . When they reached at
the city of Hudaibiya. Quraish of Makkah stopped them
there and after some negotiation an agreement was signed
that they can come for Hajj next year. This agreement
facilitates the Muslims to exchange the ideas among the
people of the whole region with interference. The Prophet
sent messages
to several kings and rulers inviting them to Islam. Around
fifty of messengers killed by non-believers. Many delegations
from all over the Arabia came to the Prophet and
large number of people accepted Islam with in a couple
of years. Negus, the king of Abyssinia and the Ruler of
Bahrain accepted Islam. Hindu King of Malabar (now called
Kerala southeast coast of India) Chakrawati Farmas, accepted
Islam (by observing the miracle of splitting of moon)
without any initiative from the Prophet .
Emperor Heraclius acknowledged Muhammad's
Prophet-hood.
In 629 CE, the Treaty of Hudaybiyah ended by the violatetion
of the terms from Quraish. Quraish attacked on men of
Bani Khuza'ah who were the allied with the Prophet .
After confirming all the reports of attack, the Prophet
marched toward
Makkah with his 3,000 companions from Madina. Muslims
from other Arab communities joined him on the way. Total
of 10,000 reached at Makkah after sunset. Quraish of Makkah
were surprised to see the campfire. Abu Sufyan
the leader of Quraish came forward and accepted Islam.
The Prophet entered
in Makkah with his forces without any bloodshed. Before
entering in city he announced to citizens of Makkah that
anyone who remained in his home, or in the Abu Sufyan's
home, or
in the Ka'bah would be safe. The Prophet
went directly to the Ka'bah. He magnified Allah for the
triumphant entry in the Holy city. The Ka'bah was then
cleansed by the removal of all three hundred sixty idols,
and it was restored to worship of only One True God. The
Prophet forgave
all of his enemies in Makkah.
The people of Makkah then accepted Islam except few worst
enemies of the Prophet .
They left Makkah when the Prophet
entered in Makkah but when they heard about general forgiveness.
They returned to their homes. Gradually the message of
Islam won their hearts and they became Muslim. Almost
all Arabia became Muslim within one year. Among the Prophet's
close companions were Muslims from such diverse background
as Persia, Abyssinia, Syria and Rome. Several prominent
Jewish Rabbis, Christian bishop and clergymen accepted
Islam after discussions with the Prophet.
In 630 CE, Allah blessed the Prophet with birth of a
son name Ibrahim .
Ibrahim was
seventh child of the Prophet .
He died at the age of 10 months.
The growth of Islam alarmed the two superpowers of that
time, Byzantine and Persians. Especially governor of Byzantine
reacted with threats to attack on Madina. The Prophet
sent an army
to defend the northern borders. All major battles fought
on the northern front, in the remaining life of the Prophet.
In 632 CE, the Prophet
performed first and last Hajj of his life. One hundred
twenty thousand men and women performed Hajj with him.
The Prophet
delivered his last sermon
of Hajj. That sermon is the best charter for all human
beings to live with peace and harmony on the earth. After
couple of months the Prophet
fell ill and after eight days of illness, he passed away
on 12th Rabbi-ul-Awwal, 11th year of Hijra calendar (June
8, 632 CE).
The Prophet Muhammad
lived very simple life. He was the most
influenced man in human history. His revolution changed
the life of billions of people around the globe. He was
the mercy for whole universe. His education is spreading
light and guidance for centuries. His followers are in
every corner of world and increasing day by day. He is
alive with his mission in the heart of every Muslim. Every
Muslim love him more than his own life.
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