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 days after The Assent, times were not good for Muhammad. His beloved wife and his magnaminous uncle had both died, leaving him bereft of direct family, save his daughter Fatima. The sitiuation in Mecca, already rather precarious, had soured (the Quraysh, or the ruling tribe of Mecca, were subjecting the Muslims to stonings and beatings, as shown in the picture to the left), and he was forced to consider leaving. At this point, fate came knocking. |
A group of pilgrims from the town of Yathrib had reccently come to Mecca. They were impressed by Muhammad's speeches and asked him to come to their city to arbitrate over a bloody feud. Hence, in 622 AD, he started on the Hegira, or migration. This date served as the begining of the Islamic era.
The city of Yathrib served as a good point for Muhammad to preach his new religion, and he did in earnest. Soon he gathered a large following and the city was renamed Medina, or "the city of the Prophet". Muhammad now became a political leader as well as a religious authority. His growing power was noted, in nearby Mecca, by the Quarysh.
| While Muhammad and his followers were able to make it to Medina, they faced problems there. They were not farmers; on the contrary, they were much better fighters. Thus, Muhammad stipulated that "raiding" would be acceptable from this point on. A raid, or theft of another caravan's goods, was planned by Muhammad for a richly laden Meccan caravan that was passing by in 624.
Word of the attack reached the caravan's leader. He promptly changed the route and contacted Mecca, requesting reinforcements. While the Muslims were unable to find the caravan, they did run into the reinforcements, who numbered close to 1000 -- far more than Muhammad's force of 300. Shockingly, Muhammad's small band layed a crushing defeat upon the proud Meccan's, who were not expecting a difficult battle. This victory became known as the Battle of Badr, named for a nearby town.
Muhammad's victory had many important consequences. First, Muslims everywhere saw the victory as a sure sign of Allah's favor of the new religion. Second, the Muslims who fought at the battle recieved a generous portion of the booty. This helped convince nearby tribes to join Islam in its battles -- if they won, riches on earth were to be had. Otherwise, Muhammad promised, they would go to heaven and be eternally rewarded.
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| The Quraysh, still angry over their recent humiliation, had a plan to defeat the Muslims once and for all. The plan came to fruition in 627, when they mounted a full scale attack on Medina, launching over 10,000 troops, including a formidable vanguard of 600 horsemen. They also opened negotiations with the only non-Islamic tribe within the city, a Jewish clan.
Muhammad, on the advice of a Persian convert (also an expert in fortifications), order his troops to construct a dry moat around the city. The attackers were confused and their prized cavalry was rendered usless. The Meccans, not willing to surrender, changed strategy by laying seige to the city. However, the weather took a turn for the worse as it grew surprisingly cold. After 40 days, the Meccans, in dire need of supplies, were forced to retreat.
After the victory, Muhammad was left to deal with the Jews. He ordered that all of the men be killed and that all of the women and children be enslaved. By this dramatic act, Muhammad showed that enemies of Islam, now or in the future, would not be tolerated. Only loyalty to Islam was now recognized.
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