Mohammed: Life of the Prophet of Islam

The mercenaries in the Meccan army did not want to take too much risk, or endanger their safety. In the meanwhile the Jewish citizens of Madinah began to foment trouble. About the time of the victory of Badr, one of their leaders, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, proceeded to Mecca to give assurance of his alliance with the pagans, and to incite them to a war of revenge. After the battle of Uhud, the tribe of the same chieftain plotted to assassinate the Prophet by throwing on him a mill-stone from above a tower, when he had gone to visit their locality.

In spite of all this, the only demand the Prophet made of the men of this tribe was to quit the Madinan region, taking with them all their properties, after selling their immovable items and recovering their debts from the Muslims. The clemency thus extended had an effect contrary to what was hoped. The exiled not only contacted the Meccans, but also the tribes of the North, South and East of Madinah, mobilized military aid, and planned from Khaibar an invasion of Madinah, with forces four times more numerous than those employed at Uhud.

• The Prophet of Islam - His Biography.
• Prophet Muhammad (570-632)!
• El hijo de Brian Jones (Alianza Literaria (Al)) (Spanish Edition).

The Muslims prepared for a siege, and dug a ditch to defend themselves against this hardest of all trials. Although the defection of the Jews still remaining inside Madinah at a later stage upset all strategy, yet with a sagacious diplomacy, the Prophet succeeded in breaking up the alliance, and the different enemy groups retired one after the other. Alcoholic drinks, gambling and games of chance were at this time declared forbidden for the Muslims.

The Prophet tried once more to reconcile the Meccans and proceeded to Mecca. The barring of the route of their Northern caravans had ruined their economy. The Prophet promised them transit security, extradition of their fugitives and the fulfillment of every condition they desired, agreeing even to return to Madinah without accomplishing the pilgrimage of the Ka'bah. Thereupon the two contracting parties promised at Hudaibiyah in the suburbs of Mecca, not only the maintenance of peace, but also the observance of neutrality in their conflicts with third parties.

Profiting by the peace, the Prophet launched an intensive program for the propagation of his religion. He addressed missionary letters to the foreign rulers of Byzantium, Iran, Abyssinia and other lands. The Byzantine autocrat priest - Daughter of the Arabs - embraced Islam, but for this, was lynched by the Christian mob; the prefect of Ma'an Palestine suffered the same fate, and was decapitated and crucified by order of the emperor. A Muslim ambassador was assassinated in Syria-Palestine; and instead of punishing the culprit, the emperor Heraclius rushed with his armies to protect him against the punitive expedition sent by the Prophet battle of Mu'tah.

The pagans of Mecca hoping to profit by the Muslim difficulties, violated the terms of their treaty. Upon this, the Prophet himself led an army, ten thousand strong, and surprised Mecca which he occupied in a bloodless manner. As a benevolent conqueror, he caused the vanquished people to assemble, reminded them of their ill deeds, their religious persecution, unjust confiscation of the evacuee property, ceaseless invasions and senseless hostilities for twenty years continuously.

This produced a great psychological change of hearts instantaneously. When a Meccan chief advanced with a fulsome heart towards the Prophet, after hearing this general amnesty, in order to declare his acceptance of Islam, the Prophet told him: The Islamization of Mecca, which was accomplished in a few hours, was complete. Immediately after the occupation of Mecca, the city of Ta'if mobilized to fight against the Prophet. With some difficulty the enemy was dispersed in the valley of Hunain, but the Muslims preferred to raise the siege of nearby Ta'if and use pacific means to break the resistance of this region.

Less than a year later, a delegation from Ta'if came to Madinah offering submission. But it requested exemption from prayer, taxes and military service, and the continuance of the liberty to adultery and fornication and alcoholic drinks. It demanded even the conservation of the temple of the idol al-Lat at Ta'if. But Islam was not a materialist immoral movement; and soon the delegation itself felt ashamed of its demands regarding prayer, adultery and wine.

The Prophet consented to concede exemption from payment of taxes and rendering of military service; and added: You need not demolish the temple with your own hands: This act of the Prophet shows what concessions could be given to new converts. The conversion of the Ta'ifites was so whole hearted that in a short while, they themselves renounced the contracted exemptions, and we find the Prophet nominating a tax collector in their locality as in other Islamic regions.

In all these "wars," extending over a period of ten years, the non-Muslims lost on the battlefield only about persons killed, and the Muslim losses were even less. With these few incisions, the whole continent of Arabia. During these ten years of disinterested struggle, all the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula and the southern regions of Iraq and Palestine had voluntarily embraced Islam. Some Christian, Jewish and Parsi groups remained attached to their creeds, and they were granted liberty of conscience as well as judicial and juridical autonomy.

In the year 10 H. He addressed to them his celebrated sermon, in which he gave a resume of his teachings: On his return to Madinah, he fell ill; and a few weeks later, when he breathed his last, he had the satisfaction that he had well accomplished the task which he had undertaken - to preach to the world the Divine message. He bequeathed to posterity, a religion of pure monotheism; he created a well-disciplined State out of the existent chaos and gave peace in place of the war of everybody against everybody else; he established a harmonious equilibrium between the spiritual and the temporal, between the mosque and the citadel; he left a new system of law, which dispensed impartial justice, in which even the head of the State was as much a subject to it as any commoner, and in which religious tolerance was so great that non-Muslim inhabitants of Muslim countries equally enjoyed complete juridical, judicial and cultural autonomy.

In the matter of the revenues of the State, the Quran fixed the principles of budgeting, and paid more thought to the poor than to anybody else. The revenues were declared to be in no wise the private property of the head of the State. Above all, the Prophet Muhammad set a noble example and fully practiced all that he taught to others. The changes are marked by pairs of brackets like around this paragraph. Related posts from similar topics: These are offered as a means for IslamiCity to stimulate dialogue and discussion in our continuing mission of being an educational organization.

The IslamiCity site may occasionally contain copyrighted material the use of which may not always have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. IslamiCity is making such material available in its effort to advance understanding of humanitarian, education, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section of the US Copyright Law.

In accordance with Title 17 U. Section , and such and all material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: Powerfully recommendable to all to recite and gain information on our Prophet P. It improved my knowledge and modified my understanding towards Islam and our Prophet P. This is kind of random but I have a question about the Sunna in general which no one can answer so far and I thought you might know.

I have just started studying Islam and I want to know. Is the Sunnah a book? Is it a set of books? Or is it religious practice? Any help would be great. I am at peace with Allah as my God the one true God. Everyone should convert to Islam if they haven't before it's too late. In the Qur'an Allah swt says that prophet Muhammad was no more than a man and a prophet like many prophets before him. Allah swt also asks Muslims if you will leave Islam once he prophet dies.

All men have shadows- since prophet Muhammad pbuh was no more than a man, he also had shadows; unless it was night when men don't have shadows. As for women praying differently, I don't know. I have seen my wife praying and have not seen any visible difference. But I could well be wrong. Alhamdulilhah, may the almighty Allah reward all the peaple who bring the possibility of this wave.

Alhamdu lillah,i have added more knowledged on islam today and my faith insha Allah has increased more reading what Rasul saw went through for Islam the only appreciation to him and Allah saw is to strictly according to my ability follow his teachings The article refers to areas-Hind and Sind,meaning India and Pakisthan. There was no pakisthan; the word Hind evolved from Sind; and so it is more appropriate to refer to the entire region as Hind; or India. This website is of great important to all muslim ummah. I have two question. Is there anybody who can answere me with proove.

The Life of Muhammad The Prophet

First one is that is it true that Hazrat Mohammad [ peace be upon him] did not have a shadow? The second one is that muslim ladies have different method of namaz than the muslim men? What a wonderful way of explanation and understanding of Islam. Strongly recommendable to all to read and gain knowledge on our Prophet S. It enriched my knowledge and corrected my understanding towards Islam and our Prophet S.

Aftr readin dis i hv enrichd my kn abt our blovd mohd s. Gud site 4 those who wnt 2 refresh their kn abt islam. We wanted the Muslims to see for themselves what we are really doing to establish this deen in this country; we were offering a place to stay, so that our guests would not have to spend in hotels. However do to time, finances and other responsibilities of the Muslims abroad, no one was able to come.

May Allah T bless those Muslims and their love ones, for helping us with books, pamphlets, a good advice and encouragements to continue with this cause, the list is too long to mention them all.

• Nutrición del Alma (Spanish Edition).
• Sobre el olvidado siglo XX (Spanish Edition)!
• Muhammad | Biography | www.newyorkethnicfood.com!
• Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet . Life of Muhammad: HTML Timeline | PBS;

However, Allah t knows who they are that helped us and will receive their blessings in this life and the hereafter, amen!!! Nevertheless like any movement this too requires finances to reach our goals and for this reason we have decided to ask you all to help us get the WORD OUT about this Dawah movement that, not only we want to reach the people of the cities, but also the villages and jungles of Bolivia inshal lah. About the finances we know that the majority of the Muslims at one time or another has bought a Muslim garment for themselves or as a gift and here is how you all can help us, that is by buying your garments from us, keep in mind that not only will you be helping in the Dawah movement, but you are also helping to give work, feed, clothe and educate many muslims here.

To lear more about this movement plz contact us at; Email: Indeed the correct way of understanding the real Islam is to refer to the Holy Quran as the basis for all knowledge and then understanding the Sunnah and Hadith in its light. Anything that cannot be linked back to the Quran cannot be declared an integral part of Islam. We must be very careful when we assume that something is or is not part of Islam.

Allah has protected the Holy Book for this very purpose that no matter how much time passes the word of Allah remains pure and provides guidance to those who truly want to submit to his will and stay on course to becoming true Muslims. The values, injunctions, and the principles enshrined in the Book form the corner stone of the Islamic polity and the limits laid down by it provide the framework within which the laws of the Islamic State may be formulated.

These principles, or limits, or framework, are immutable, but the statutes made by the State within these four corners are open to modification and change according to the needs of the times. No subsequent human opinion or pronouncement in matters of deen, therefore, can be recognized as authoritative; nor can any man-made law repugnant to the Qur'an be regarded as binding upon the Muslims. The Qur'an is a book of guidance for all mankind and transcends the barriers of time and space.

The Islamic State is an instrument for the enforcement of the Laws and Injunctions embodied in the Qur'an. Islam is the religion of peace solidarity which provide us oppertunity to stamp out various social and economic disorders from the society but it is conditional with the AMAL [ Act ] so theoriticaly we can not bring any change in our society or country we only can do so through mutal trust and solidarity. I pray to my Allah He shall creat an oppertunity which could lead us to one plateform where we can listen to each other and tolerate each other.

In your note, you requested to add 'SAW' to the name of our Prophet peace and blessing be up on him. It is not right. If we write "SAW", no one read it as we understood!!. Could you please add the three letters ' SAW' to the name of our Prophet peace and blessing be up on him. I hope we can do this and InshaAllah with GOd mercy our kids and grow up in a peaceful world. Allah never mention any of these things in the quran. I like to see some articles on the history of Islam,Christianity, Judaism and Idoltors,when did these faiths start and how they came.. I think we muslims and muslim countries must unite and do dawa and real Tableegh in the light and guidance of Quran,Hadith and Islamic history thru the Media - our own TV channels, radio stations, News bulletins, Newspapers,.

It is our duty as a muslim advocates to send the real message of Islam to other people and we will be questioned about this. I am a converted muslim and have been for 20 yrs.

Topics Menu - Always one click away

I would just like to let you know that I find your site very interesting and informative. Please keep up this good work Thanks a million for such a wonderful information which i was always wanted to know, I would like to read books also on Islam and Prophet Mohoammed. My Address is Syed Kashif P. Box Dubai U. Once again thanks and would like to receive the books and Inshallah i will share it with my frineds.

Peace be unto you, Philip. Obviously terror can be employed either by the state or by the enemies of a state. Please bear with me. I would imagine that Germany's application of Clausewitz's advice to use terror for controlling conquered populations actually cost Germany a sustainable victory in both world wars. Reflecting on your last name, I think I should also acknowledge the Holocaust. I would consider the Holocaust to have certainly been an aspect of Nazi terrorism although the crime itself seems more akin to murdering a population for profit than to attempting to intimidate them.

In regard perhaps to enemies of a state's authorities, chivalrous conduct seems less likely to bring disaster upon the chivalrous combatant's supporters. For another thing, chivalry also seems more likely to win something of the hearts and minds of the adversaries even if the battle itself was lost. Thanks for bearing with me. From my own reading of certain verses in the Qur'an which address the use of violence it seems that initiating violence could be justified if one was opposing oppression or possibly also if one was attempting to prevent anarchy.

There are of course numerous restrictions on use of violence - but I myself would personally imagine that continued violence by either a state or a state's enemies which introduces or increases oppression or possibly incites anarchy would be ill-advised. Here is a brief listing of verses in the Qur'an which describe violence in the context of oppression, the Muslim responsibility to victims, a reconciliation and limits to reconciliation with adversaries, and so on.

IslamiCity has a wonderful set of tools for researching the Qur'an. Also, the Muslims Students Association www. Philip Tobias, to me as a devout Muslim, anything that goes outside of the Holy Quran and Sunnah is extreme. So if the prophet never did it then I think that is extreme. I have never seen any incident where the prophet killed an innocent person therefore I think that is extreme.

This is an illegal war that the USA has waged, they are not terrorist or going to the extreme if they fight the American soldiers. I have been taught about Islam from the time I was 9 yrs. I know it is a wonderful religion of knowledge, peace, prosperity and culture. I once tried to ask a teacher of mine in High School, who is of Arab decent about the 'T' word commonly associated with the Islamic faith and was cut off before I could even finish. What I would like to know is are people who go to "exteme" measures condoned or condemned by the faith?

I only ask this because the Quran is continuously cited by those who submit to God and claim that their acts are in the name of the faith. As with other religions, there seems to be an area of contradiction somewhere. Is this simply just a misinterpretation or something more? And no one can describe the real position of holy prophet s. Peace be unto you, Pia Johansohn. Yes it really is amazing how much information is found in the Qoran. And peace be unto Prophet Muhammad.

Initially i did not care for Islam. But now I have been studying Islam for more than a year. A treaty is concluded between the two parties: Two months later Muhammad leads his forces against the Jewish oasis of Khaybar , north of Medina. After a siege, it submits, but the Jews are allowed to remain on condition of sending half of their date harvest to Medina. In he marches a substantial army on Mecca. The town submits, and Muhammad declares an amnesty. After his return to Medina, Muhammad receives deputations from various Arabian tribes who declare their allegiance to the Muslim polity.

Muhammad personally leads the pilgrimage to Mecca in , the so-called Farewell Pilgrimage, the precedent for all future Muslim pilgrimages. He dies in June in Medina. Since no arrangement for his succession has been made, his death provokes a major dispute over the future leadership of the community he has founded. Unsurprisingly, the figure of Muhammad plays a seminal role in Islamic thought and practice. The later tradition, however, frequently depicts him as having possessed extraordinary knowledge of commonly inaccessible matters—often said to have been mediated by the angel Gabriel —and as having performed sundry supernatural feats.

Muhammad remains an ideal character, although the ideals represented by him are strongly modernized. In striking contrast to the standard Muslim view of the Prophet as a perfect embodiment of virtue and piety, medieval Christian polemicists like the Dominican monk Riccoldo da Montecroce died condemned Muhammad as a deliberate imposter and a downright diabolical figure.

Muhammad - Wikipedia

This attitude changed only in the 18th century, when various Western scholars—for instance, the Dutch theologian and Orientalist Adriaan Reland died —began calling for a more impartial assessment of Muhammad. To call Muhammad an enthusiast was to imply that he had been genuinely convinced of the truth of his message and of his own prophetic calling, rather than having deliberately ensnared the Arabs in false doctrines in order to satisfy his craving for power.

He so fully worked himself into this idea in thought, in feeling and in action, that every event seemed to him a divine inspiration.

This is so even if older Orientalist scholarship is by no means devoid of some residues of traditional Christian polemics. We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions.

Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Nicolai Sinai William Montgomery Watt. Dec 12, See Article History. Biography according to the Islamic tradition. Learn More in these related Britannica articles: New social patterns among the Meccans and their neighbours. It was there that he died, at about age sixty, in June CE.

His humanness is also seen in passages on his mortality: Sometime after the battle of Badr a primary Medinan motif began to appear, for instance in 4: Their refuge is Gehenna [Hell], an evil homecoming! But when you are invited, then enter, and when you have finished your meal, then leave.

Do not linger for idle talk, for that would be an annoyance to the Prophet, and he would be shy to ask you [to leave]. Throughout these verses the single characteristic of his personality that predominates from the beginning to the end is his sincerity. Through periods of persecution and doubt, then reassurance, and finally complete confidence in his mission, there is no hint of deceit or dishonesty. Most other major battles in which he fought were initiated by the enemy, and the majority of the other expeditions he led did not make contact with any enemy tribe but were largely demonstrations to the neighboring bedouin tribes of his growing power.

The idea of founding a new religion or being solely a religious leader would have been totally foreign to him. He was administrator, legislator, judge, and commander in chief as well as teacher, preacher, and prayer leader. Shortly thereafter he married Sawdah, the widow of a Muslim who died in Abyssinia. These two were his only wives in Mecca before the hijrah. In Medina most of his marriages fall into two categories: He is usually said to have had fourteen wives in the proper sense, of whom nine survived him.

The role of the Prophet in modern times in the deconstruction and reconstruction of Islamic thought is central to any attempt to reform and to rethink Islam in terms of modernity, post-modernity, and globalization. Welch Updated by Ahmad S. Numerous biographies exist in all Islamic languages in prose, poetry, and recently on film. No formal editions were made of this material until much later, and there is no evidence that any of it was put in chronological order before the middle of the first Islamic century.

This requirement led to the collection of biographical data about the companions and subsequent transmitters of traditions as well as the writing of heresiographical treatises in which the reliability of individuals and groups was judged by their adherence to one religious norm or another. In spite of increased scholarly attention, or perhaps because of it, traditions of dubious authenticity entered the major collections.

These problems were also faced by the early collectors of traditions: The two terms had been used interchangeably but now came to designate separate functions for the sacred biography within the Islamic communities. As a result it became the basis for the Muslim views of history. In this form, it matched Jewish and Christian hagiographic and apocalyptic works with which it shared many features. The Islamic use of sacred biography as a model goes beyond that found in Christianity or Judaism.

Even the legendary stories regarded with skepticism by pious Muslim scholars served a didactic function in the popular imagination and hence were preserved, embellished, and fixed in the biographical traditions. In South Asian Islamic communities some of the celebrations incorporate characteristics of the local culture. This bias is so pervasive that the reader must be cautioned about finding it in much material available in Western languages written before the mid-twentieth century.

They provide spiritual models for the individual Muslim and paradigms for community formation among emerging Islamic republics. Interest in the West has increased to include popular as well as scholarly biographies. For the scholars of Islamic law, the Prophet was the legislator-jurist who defined the limits and possibilities of ritual observance; for the mystic, he was the ideal seeker on a journey to spiritual perfection; and for the philosopher and the statesman, he was the role model of a resolute conqueror and a just ruler.

For most ordinary Muslims, the Prophet was a beautiful model, a source of God's grace and salvation. Most ordinary Muslims, however, have learned about the Prophet as a part of religious observances rather than through scholarly writings. Muslim conceptions of the Prophet have also been challenged by the rise of historicocritical scholarship in the West. At the same time, however, he is now viewed from an array of critical, often reductionist, perspectives; instead of being a Christian impostor, he became a psychopath or a mere product of the material forces of seventh-century Arabia.

These developments in modern scholarship have influenced the new images constructed within the Muslim community by Muslims at the crossroads between the West and traditional Islam. There are at least three identifiable images in modern Islamic thought: In their hands, he becomes the ideal personality manifesting the values of modern civilization.

Although not all Muslims have felt the need to rebut the European image of the Prophet, there has been a general caution in approaching traditional Muslim sources. This universalistic view was incorporated in the second image of the Prophet as a model for sociopolitical development which received greater attention by Muslims during the period of nation-building, ranging from the struggles for independence to the call for an Islamic state.

This image de-emphasizes the apologetic of the early modernists, but results in a dispute over which particular ideology the Prophet championed. Islamic modernism focused on the comprehensiveness of Islam and its validity as a complete life system that contains the components of progress and its compatibility with reason, science, and modernity. The discourses of Islamic renaissance tried to distinguish between two methods, one divine and another human. The renaissance ideologues thought that the reading of Islamic heritage from a liberal perspective would lead to the rise of a democratic national revolution under the umbrella of Islam itself.

The Arab renaissance, for instance, grounded its most important doctrines in natural reason. Thus the modernist Islamic thinkers adopt and adapt into Islam the principles of Western Enlightenment, including the distinction between state and society; the need for civil government; the necessity of a social contract that can be dissolved; the centrality of civil society; popular will; standing law or constitution; a limited government; and political representation. At the same time, however, he speaks of the ummah Muslim community inheriting the function and responsibility of the Prophet.

This sociopolitical image reached its climax in the work of Zakaria Bashier. The universal and sociopolitical images of the Prophet are accompanied by the suppression of his spiritual significance. Under the modern reformulations the Prophet loses his central spiritual station. Earlier modernists did in fact emphasize a hazy moral and spiritual legacy of the Prophet in the service of their secularist project.