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Word List Timeline Abu’l-Qasim c. 570 Birth of Muhammad ibn Muhammad ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, of the clan of Hashim, of the tribe of Quraysh a.k.a. “al-Amin” (the trustworthy) Amina Abu Talib Khadija Mt. Hira’ Word List hanifs Qur’an/Koran ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib Zayd ibn Haritha Timeline 610 Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Power, 27th Ramadan) 611 Muhammad starts preaching in Mecca. Abu Bakr ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab Qur’an 96: 1-5: 1. Read in the name of thy Lord who created. 2. Created man from a blood-clot. 3. Read, for thy Lord is the Most Generous, 4. Who taught by the pen, 5. Taught man that which he knew not. Meccan Objections to Muhammad 1. Muslim community as threat to tribal solidarity 2. Allah as challenge to Ka‘ba and idols. Threatening prosperity of Mecca 3. Fear for fate of dead relatives 4. Muhammad’s prophet-hood as threat to position of tribal leaders incl. Abu Lahab Timeline 615 Some Muslims emigrate to Abyssinia (Axum/Ethiopia). 619 Deaths of Abu Talib and Khadija. Abu Lahab head of Hashim. Muhammad rebuffed by Ta’if and Bedouin. 620 Muhammad approached by representatives from Yathrib. Map Link: The Middle East in the 6th Century: <http://www.princeton.edu/~humcomp/me6thc.gif> Word List ‘Aws vs. Khazraj Banu Qurayza Banu’l-Nadir Banu Qaynuqa‘ Timeline 622 Muhammad makes agreement with Yathribis. 16/7/622 Start of hijra and Muslim calendar 24/9/622 Muhammad arrives in Yathrib. Word List al-Madina (the city/Medina) Madinat al-Nabi (the city of the Prophet) muhajirun (migrants) ansar (helpers) Issues in the Biographies of Muhammad 1. Sources written long after Muhammad’s death 2. Biographies as contextualisation and defence of Qur’an and Islam 3. Muhammad as ideal figure and exemplar Ibn Ishaq (b. Medina c. 704, d. Baghdad 767) Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar ibn Khiyar Scholar from family of story-transmitters Studied in Alexandria and Medina. Got into quarrel with Malik ibn Anas (d. 795) and had to leave. Eventually settled in Baghdad. Scholars during life and after divided on his reliability. Ibn Ishaq (b. Medina c. 704, d. Baghdad 767) Works: Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (biography of the Prophet) Kitab al-Khulafa’ (book on the caliphs) Sunan (book of hadith [stories] of Prophet and companions, guide for life) Sunan lost. Others survive through other writers’ works. Sira preserved in version edited by Ibn Hisham (d. 828 or 833) and in other works, including history of al-Tabari Al-Tabari (b. Amul 839, d. Baghdad 923) Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Jarir ibn Yazid al-Tabari Son of prosperous landowner. Child prodigy. Left home at 12 to seek scholars to learn from. Travelled widely. Settled in Baghdad. Wrote on history, Qur’anic interpretation, jurisprudence. Taught, but never in official position. Al-Tabari (b. Amul 839, d. Baghdad 923) Comprehensive user of sources, but also uses own judgment. Works: many, including: Mukhtasar Ta’rikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk wa’l-Khulafa’ (universal history from creation to 915. 12.5 vols; original was ten times that!) Jami‘ al-Bayan ‘an Ta’wil al-Qur’an (commentary on Qur’an, finished 896-903) isnad = chain of transmitters qara’a = to read/to recite mi‘raj (miraculous night journey)