Contents
• Exploration: Muhammad and the Birth of Islam
Pre-Islamic Mecca
Muhammad's Born
Muhammad Weds
The Revelations
The Next Few Years
Assent into Heaven
The Hegira
The Battle of Badr
Assualt on Mednia
The Conquest of Mecca
Muhammad Dies
Muhammad's Legacy
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In the years before Muhammad's
birth, the inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula were members of
the nomadic Bedouin tribe. They were worshippers of stones,
trees, and pieces of wood. The struggle to survive in the harsh
desert led them to value loyalty above all else. In fact, loyalty
was at the core of asabiyya, or clan spirit.
By the middle of the Sixth Century
AD, a town named Mecca had become the most prosperous and
important city in northen/central Arabia. Many factors helped
make this city important, among them:
The
city was at the crossroads of a profitable caravan
trade.
Mecca was the site of
Arabia's holiest pagan shrine, the Kaa'ba.
This powerful city was governed by
the Quraysh, a powerful tribe that had great economic
and military strength. They also assured that the city would
remain polythesitic, as they prayed to Allah, the chief diety,
and over 300 other gods. |
| Muhammad was born in Mecca around the year 570. He never knew his father, who had died a few months before his birth, and, by age six, he lost his mother and grandfather. His uncle, Abu Talib, then saw him into manhood.
As a young man, Muhammad worked hard for a living. Eventually, he came under the auspicies of a wealthy widow named Khadija. Due to her considerable business interests, his job was to travel to Syria on her behalf.
In Syria, he heard stories of Christianity, Judism, and of the importance of monothesism. While this was at odds with the polythestic up-bringing he had, he would gradualy come to accept the concept of "One God".
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| Muhammad's employer, Khadjia, ws impressed with his personality and his business manner. Thus, she offered him her hand in marriage.
Muhammad was only 25, and Khadjia was 15 years his senior. At the age of 40, she was not at all young. Nevertheless, she bore him 3 sons and 4 daughters. Unfortunately, all of the children, except his daughter Fatima, died before he did.
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