Transcript The Life of the Prophet Muhammad

The Life of the Prophet Muhammad
Periodization of the Prophet’s Life
1.
2.
3.
4.
Preparation for Prophecy:
1.
2.
Childhood: preparation for prophecy
Merchant career and marriage:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Early revelations in Mecca
Building up early network of followers
Persecution by Meccans
Isra’ and Mi’raj (‫)اإلسراء و المعراج‬
1.
2.
Building Medinan community, political ruler
War with Meccans, their allies, conflict with Medinan Jews
1.
2.
3.
Conquest of Mecca in 8/630 CE
Receiving submission of Arabian tribes
Conquest of Arabian peninsula
Meccan Revelations and Persecution:
Emigration and War:
After the Conquest:
Preparation for Prophecy
Born around 570CE in the prominent
clan of Banu Hashim of the
Quraysh tribe – soon he is
orphaned.
He is raised by foster parents in the
desert as a shepherd, where his
heart is cleansed by angels
Adopted into the home of his uncle
Abu Talib, he becomes known as
al-Amin – the trustworthy one
Preparation for Prophecy - 2
With his uncle, he goes on merchant
caravans north to Syria – where he is
recognized by the Christian monk
Buhayra
At 25, the 40-year-old widow Khadija
offers him marriage and control of her
business – they have 4 daughters (one
is Fatema)
As a manager, he has more time and
begins meditating in the desert and the
mountain cave of Hira
And in 610 CE….
Meccan Revelations
At first, preaches to family and friends:
Khadija, Abu Bakr and ‘Ali immediately
believe
Slowly begins preaching to the Quraysh, who
meet him with serious opposition and
mockery
Soon his preaching threatens the tranquility of
the annual hajj, and Muhammad is smeared as
a “sorcerer who splits people from their
families.”
Torture, killing of Muhammad’s followers –
psychological torture of Muhammad
Flight of some followers to Ethiopia for refuge
with the Christian king
Meccan Revelations 2
Boycott of Banu Hashim: no intermarriage or
trade for two years
Conversion of ‘Umar – newfound strength
Year of Sadness 9/619: new protector? Abu
Talib dies, Khadija dies, Abu Lahab new head
of Quraysh
Prophet seeks protection in Ta’if – when he
fails, Mut’im b. ‘Adi protects him.
The Night Journey and Ascension: Muhammad
finds his place among prophets, Jerusalem is
direction of prayer
Muhammad’ s Arguments
1. The People of the Book know:
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•
2.
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•
Previous revelations have predicted
Muhammad
The message is the same
To the Polytheist Arabs:
Muhammad is al-Amin
He is not asking anything from you
He has no knowledge of this except
from God – he is ‘illiterate’
Rebuttals of the Unbelievers
1. He has a ‘teacher’ who tells
him this Quran
2. He is a ‘sorcerer’ or madman
3. He is breaking with tradition
4. His followers are the poor
and miserable
Prominent Meccan Opponents of Islam:
Abu Lahab (Muhammad’s uncle), Abu Jahl, Abu Sufyan (father of Mu’awiya, first Umayyad Caliph)
Emigration to Medina and War
Deal worked out with Yathrib, and
many Muslims emigrate –
eventually only Muhammad, Abu
Bakr and ‘Ali remain
When Mut’im dies, Muhammad’s
murder is planned…
622, the tenth year of revelation,
Muhammad and Abu Bakr move to
Yathrib… the City of the
Messenger of God
Medina and War with Mecca
• Battle of Badr (624 / 2): miraculous Muslim victory,
major Quraysh leaders killed – Islam now a power to
be reckoned with.
• Battle of Uhud (625 / 3): almost ends in defeat for
the Muslims
• Battle of Khandaq (627 / 5): Meccans and their allies
besiege Medina, Muslims drive them away.
• Treaty of Hudaybiyya (628 / 6): peace established,
Muslims can visit Mecca for hajj
• Conquest of Mecca (630 / 8): after conflict breaks
out between Mecca’s allies and the Prophet’s allies,
Muhammad declares peace broken and moves to
occupy Mecca. Scales have shifted so far towards
Muslims that the conquest is peaceful. Abu Sufyan
and Meccan opponents of Islam convert to Islam.
Establishing Control in
Medina and Arabia
The Jewish Tribes of Medina:
• ‘Constitution of Medina’: Jews and
Muslims one community (umma)
• Jewish tribes gradually fall into conflict
with Muhammad, are expelled or
executed
Marriage: the Prophet marries 11 women
after Khadija, mostly daughters of close
Companions or of prominent tribes
‘The Year of Delegations’ 631/10: the
Prophet accepts loyalty of Arab tribes
Muhammad in Context
• ‘Haram’: the sacred precincts of Arabia.
Muhammad: Medina is my haram.
• Leader of Super-Tribal Alliance and at
the center of kinship/marriage network
• World full of the supernatural: jinn,
kahin and sorcerer
• Late Antique Near Eastern Holy Man?
– Desert meditation
– Seen as arbitrator in communal disputes
– Person becomes center of cult
Historiographical Issues
• How do we know about Muhammad’s life
(and the origins of Islam)?
• Skepticism about sacred narratives
– Principle of Analogy
– Principle of Dissimilarity
• Outright skepticism (Revisionist School)?
– Response:
• Who orchestrates this conspiracy?
• Early epigraphic and non-Muslim sources
Muhammad as Jesus and Moses
• The story of the Prophet’s life is put
together in the mid 8th century in
Medina and Baghdad (the most famous
is by Ibn Ishaq (d. 767) – in the midst
of Jewish and Christian lore
• Stories of Muhammad’s miracles:
– He makes a sheep’s empty udder flow with
milk
– He makes a small pool of water suffice for
all his followers
– Ascension to Heaven is a Jewish trope