MUHAMMAD: BIOGRAPHY, REVELATIONS, DATA, DEATH - ARTE - 2025

Muhammad (c. 570 - 632) was an Arab leader who made great changes in the political, religious and social dynamics of his time. The transformations that came from his influence continue to have an impact in today's society, since he is considered the founder of Islam.

He is seen as the last prophet by the followers of the Islamic faith, who also think that he was the "Messenger of God" (rasul Allah). The objective he had to face was to guide humanity, starting with the Arabs.

Portrait of Muhammad in the Histoire générale de la religion des turcs (Paris, 1625), by Michel Baudier, via Wikimedia Commons

He was in charge of unifying Arabia, something he achieved to a certain extent by applying war strategies, but with greater intensity through what was stated in the Koran to his followers. Those teachings came together in what became the Islamic religion.

One of the limitations faced by scholars engaged in the historical study of Islam is the spurious data that has been introduced into the traditional narratives of the religion, which hinders a clear reconstruction of the facts.

Mohammed's modern biographers support much of his work on the Qur'an, that is, the holy scriptures of the followers of Islam. They contain the records of the preaching of the main Muslim prophet during his last 20 years of life.

The problem is that the Qur'an does not present a chronological record of its content, but different segments of its life are narratively intertwined, so it is hard work to subtract data from that text without knowing the matter in depth.

Important data

What is most accepted by modern historians is that Muhammad was born around 570 in Mecca. He lost both parents at an early age, so his training was left to his grandfather and, later, his uncle.

Not many details have been known about the years of Muhammad's youth. When he was already a middle-aged man, the angel Gabriel revealed his destiny on earth. After that he began to profess the message of submission before God and showed himself to be a prophet.

The nobel preacher gained a following in his early years. Despite not being a large community, they found barriers to overcome and were persecuted for what they had placed their faith in.

This caused them to divide and one of the parties resulting from that separation decided to leave the city of Mecca.

Some of Muhammad's followers set out for Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) and others for Yathrib, which later became Medina, "the city of light." That migration is known as the Hijra and marked the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

Later, Muhammad was in charge of making the Constitution of Medina, with which eight original tribes from the area joined the migrant Muslims, to create a kind of state. They also regulated the duties and rights of the different tribes.

In about 629, 10,000 Muslims marched on Mecca and conquered it without problems. Three years later Muhammad died, already when the majority of the Arabian peninsula professed Islam.

Sources

The life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad has a broad base provided both with historical data, as well as interpretations of passages and, even, with legends that were forged with the passage of time around him.

Among the four most prominent sources in the reconstruction of Muhammad's life, the Koran has a leading role, since it is considered by Muslims as his sacred text since it contains the revelations that were made to the prophet.

Likewise, there are the sirah, or sirat, a biographical genre that originated as a compendium of facts about the path traveled by Muhammad throughout his life.

Then there are the hadiths, narratives made by people close to the prophet of Islam, or later scholars, who shed light on the way he behaved.

Finally, there are the stories that other sages were able to compile and that in the same way contribute to the reconstruction of the life of Muhammad.

Taking as a starting point the information provided by these sources, modern historians have been able to create an accurate description of the events related to Muhammad.

The quran

In the same way as the Bible, the Qur'an can be considered a compilation of books in which the teachings and principles shown by Muhammad to his followers are narrated.

Muslims consider this text, which was delivered to them by their prophet, as the holy scriptures of their religion.

It is divided into "suras" or chapters, which are not written in chronological order, but rather mix periods of Muhammad's life to give meaning to the teaching that each part of the text tries to show.

The Quran has 114 suras that are divided into two types:

- The Meccans, that is, from Mecca, from the time when Muhammad was still in his hometown.

- The medinenses, written during their stay in Medina.

The conflict that historians encounter when analyzing the Qur'an in search of fragments that provide a guide to the life history of Muhammad, is that time jumps can only be discerned by experts in the field.

In these texts the figure of Muhammad is posed as a man in every sense of the word: an individual who has faults, as well as virtues; possessor of bravery and courage, as well as fear and anguish.

The sirah

Sira, seera, sirat, sirah are some of the spellings with which the biographical genre is called that took on special relevance with the figure of the prophet Muhammad. In this type of narration, the life of the founder of Islam is usually shown chronologically.

The word sīra, or sīrat, derives from sāra, which can be translated into Spanish as “crossing”. This journey, being a particular individual, is about the path traveled from birth to death.

The Miraj was a tour that according to the traditions of Islam made Muhammad and that led him to see hell and know heaven.

In the heights it is supposed that he was able to meet with the predecessors who served as prophets, for example, Abraham, Moses or Jesus and many others.

One of the most widespread anecdotes about the Miraj is when Muhammad meets God and he tells him that his followers must pray 50 times a day, then Moses told him that it was a lot and recommended that he return to God to ask for less.

Muhammad paid attention, spoke nine times with God and Moses until he felt content with the obligation to pray 5 times a day and did not want to continue asking for less.

Before the Hegira

619 was baptized as the "year of pain", since in a short period two people died who were extremely important in the life of Muhammad. The losses of both his wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib were heavy blows to the prophet of Islam.

It has been said that Khadija was Muhammad's most beloved wife. She is also considered the mother of Islam, not only because she was the first person to convert after Muhammad's revelations, but because her daughters married the main Caliphs.

Muhammad was deeply affected by Khadija's death and several colleagues of his time, as well as biographers, have stated that he continued to remember her for the rest of his days and that he always kept "the love that God had sown among them" in his memory.

Abu Talib was the leader of the clan to which Muhammad belonged, in addition to being the one who provided protection within Mecca, despite the sabotage that the other great families in the area had implemented.

After the death of Muhammad's protector, the clan passed into the hands of Abu Lahab, who considered, like the rest of the Coraichites, that the ideas of the Muslims should be stopped soon.

Persecution in Mecca

After Abu Lahab and Banu Hashim withdrew their support for Muhammad in 620, the prophet's followers and himself began to be harassed within the city by the rest of the Arabs.

Muhammad tried to seek protection in Ta'if, a nearby city, but his journey was in vain, so he had to return to Mecca without support. However, the people of Yathrib were familiar with monotheism and Islam began to permeate its people.

Many Arabs migrated to the Kaaba annually and in 620 some travelers from Yathrib met with Muhammad and decided to convert to Islam. This is how the Muslim community rapidly expanded in that city.

In 622, 75 Muslims from Yathrib met with Muhammad and offered both Muhammad and his Meccans shelter in their city. The Coraichita tribe did not agree to let the Meccans Muslims move.

Following the so-called "war promise" made by the Muslims of Yathrib, Muhammad decided that he and his believers should move to the neighboring city where they could exercise their religious freedom.

Hegira

The migration made by Muslims from Mecca to Yathrib in 622 is known as the Hijra and is one of the most important landmarks of Islam. The city that welcomed them quickly became known as Medina.

In 622, before Muhammad left Mecca, a plan had been hatched to assassinate him. However, the Muslim prophet managed to escape intact from the clutches of his enemies along with Abu Bakr.

Muhammad took refuge in a cave where he spent several days in hiding. The Coraichites put a reward for whoever found the Muslim, dead or alive, and delivered him to the city of Mecca.

Thus began a hunt against him, but could not be captured by any of his pursuers. In June 622 he arrived near Yathrib. Before entering the city, he stopped at Quba 'and created a mosque there.

The first migration of Muslims had occurred in 613 or 615, but the destination on that occasion was the kingdom of Abyssinia, where the Christian religion was professed. In spite of everything Muhammad had remained in Mecca then.

Constitution of Medina

In Yathrid several tribes of different religions coexisted, some were Jewish and two of them were Arab and practiced polytheistic customs. However, their brush with Judaism had given them a basic understanding of monotheistic beliefs.

The Arab tribes had to face frequent clashes with each other. In fact, a recent war had dwindled the population and the economy had no better luck, so Muhammad assumed the role of mediator upon arrival.

In the same 622, the Muslim prophet created a document known as the Constitution of Medina. In the writing the foundations of a kind of Islamic confederation that welcomed different religions among its inhabitants were laid.

The founding members of Medina were eight Jewish tribes and Muslims, including the Coraichite migrants and the city's native converts: the Banu Aws and the Banu Khazraj.

From then on, Arab society began to implement an organization in Medina that ceased to be tribal and was configured as a religious state. Likewise, they declared Medina as a holy land, so there could be no internal wars.

Non muslims

The Jews who inhabited the area also received the directives of their duties and rights as members of the Medina community as long as they abided by the designs of the followers of Islam. In the first place they enjoyed equal security to Muslims.

Then they could have the same political and cultural rights that those who professed Islam held, among those was freedom of belief.

Jews were to participate in armed conflicts against foreign peoples alike, both in men and in army financing expenses. Internal disputes were forbidden from then on.

However, they made an exception for the Jews: they did not have the obligation to participate in the wars of faith, or holy wars, of the Muslims for not sharing their religion.

Wars

After the Hegira, Muhammad was welcomed in Medina as a new prophet. Both the leaderless clans and some of the city's Jewish communities gave their support to Islam.

Although the causes of this acceptance are diverse, the conversion of Sad Ibn Muhad, leader of one of the great clans of the city composed mainly of polytheists, was of great importance.

- Battle of Badr

In Mecca the properties of the Muslims who had left the city were seized, which caused Muhammad, who had the support of the new confederation of Medina, to decide to charge against a caravan that was heading to his hometown in March 624. This caravan belonged to the Meccano leader Abu Sufyan, one of the Prophet's detractors.

Commanding three hundred soldiers, Muhammad prepared an ambush for the caravan near Badr. However, the merchant lookouts saw the danger and diverted the caravan while sending a message to Mecca that they were being stalked.

About a thousand men were dispatched to counter Muhammad's forces and on March 13, 624, they found themselves face to face at Badr. However, with the caravan already safe, Abu Sufyan did not want a confrontation, but Abu Jahl wanted to crush the Muslims.

Some clans returned to Mecca, like the Banu Hashim to which Muhammad had belonged. Abu Sufyan and his men also left the battle to continue with the caravan towards the city.

The combat that followed was traditional, with the champions of both sides facing each other first, followed by the fighting of the armies of both sides, although casualties remained small.

Results

In the end, there were between 14 and 18 dead on the Muslim side. In contrast, about seven dozen deaths on the Mecano side and the same number of captured.

The prisoners, except for two, were released after their families paid ransom; In the event that their families had not paid, they were taken into families in Medina and many of them later converted to Islam.

This battle was momentous in the events that occurred in the Arabian peninsula. Muhammad managed to impose his leadership in Medina and consolidate himself as the head of the Muslims, whose strength also consolidated in the region.

In Mecca, and after the death of Ibn Hashim and other leaders in Badr, Abu Sufyan became the head of the Coraichita tribe, the most important in the city and to which the Banu Hashim clan belonged.

- Battle of Uhud

For the remainder of the year 624, there were minor squabbles between Medina, now mostly Muslim, and Mecca.

The Mohammedans attacked the tribes allied with the Meccans and looted the caravans that went to and from the city. Abu Sufyan's men would ambush the men of Medina when they could.

In December, Abu Sufyan assembled an army of 3,000 men to march on Medina. In Badr the honor of Mecca had been sullied and that was bad for the influx of pilgrims who left so much money in the city.

When the Medinese found out, they met in council and decided to face Abu Sufyan's army on Mount Uhud. About 700 Muslims would face the army of 3,000 Meccans.

On March 26, 625, both sides met and, although they were numerically disadvantaged, the battle seemed favorable to those of Medina. Then, the lack of discipline of some men led to their defeat and the prophet was seriously injured.

Results

It is unknown how many victims there were on the Mecca side, but 75 deaths were counted on the Medina side.

Abu Sufyan's men withdrew from the battlefield claiming to be victorious; however, the counts indicate that both factions had similar losses.

The defeat demoralized the Muslims, who viewed Badr's victory as a favor from Allah. Mohamed told them that Allah was with them, but that this defeat was a test of their steadfastness and faith and that they had been punished for their disobedience.

- Battle of the Trench

The months that followed the confrontation in Uhud served Abu Sufyan in planning a major attack on Medina. He convinced some northern and eastern tribes to join him and gathered about 10,000 soldiers.

This amount may have been even higher, but Muhammad adopted the strategy of attacking with force the tribes that joined the Mecan cause.

In the first months of 627, Muhammad learned of the impending march against Medina and prepared the defense of the city. Apart from having about 3000 men and having a reinforced wall, Muhammad had trenches dug, unknown in the Arabian peninsula until that moment.

These trenches protected the passes where Medina was vulnerable to cavalry attacks and, together with the natural defenses that the city possessed, the Medines hoped to neutralize a large part of the attacking forces.

Abu Sufyan's forces laid siege to the city while negotiating with the Banu Qurayza Jewish tribe, whose settlement was on the outskirts of the city but within the trenches, to decide when to attack.

However, Muhammad managed to sabotage the negotiations and the Meccano army lifted the siege after three weeks.

Then, those of Medina mounted siege to the Jewish settlement and after 25 days the Banu Qurayza tribe surrendered.

Results

Most of the men were executed, and the women and children were enslaved, following the rabbinic laws of the Banu Qurayza. All his possessions were taken by Medina in the name of Allah.

Mecca used the economic and diplomatic power at its disposal to eliminate Muhammad. Failing to do so, the city lost its prestige and its main trade routes, especially that of Syria.

Conquest of Mecca

After the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, celebrated in March 628, the calm between the Meccans and the Medina confederation lasted about two years. At the end of 629 the members of the Banu Khuza'a clan, supporters of Muhammad, were attacked by the Banu Bakr, an ally of Mecca.

Muhammad sent the Meccans 3 options to follow up on the attack carried out on Banu Khuza'a: the first was to pay "blood money", that is, a fine for their military actions that violated the peace treaty.

Muhammad And His Followers Depart For Mecca.- Miniature Of The Siyer-i Nabi. Istanbul, second half of the 16th century,, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Islamic religion prohibits depicting the face of Muhammad, so they have erased his face from all portraits.

He also offered to disengage from their friendly ties with the Banu Bakr or simply dissolve the Hudaybiyyah treaty. The leaders of Mecca favored the last option, although they later repented and tried to consolidate the peace again.

However, Muhammad had made a decision: he marched with more than 10,000 men on Mecca. The plan was hidden from the eyes and ears, even, of those generals close to the prophet of Islam.

Muhammad did not wish to shed blood so there was only a confrontation on one flank that was attacked first by the Meccans. After having controlled the city, Muhammad granted general pardons to the inhabitants, most of whom converted to Islam.

Upon entering Mecca, the followers of Islam quickly destroyed the idols that were housed in the Kaaba.

Conquest of Arabia

Seeing that Muhammad had already made himself strong in Mecca and that he would soon control the entire region, some Bedouin tribes, among which were the Hawazin in conjunction with the Banu Thaqif, began to assemble an army that doubled the Muslim numbers.

In 630 the battle of Hunayn took place, which was won by Muhammad, although at the dawn of the confrontation the situation was not in favor of the Muslim side.

This is how the followers of Islam took great wealth that was the product of looting enemies.

Later, Muhammad marched north to take control of the area, managing to gather a force of more than 30,000 men. But those soldiers did not see a battle, because the Arab leaders surrendered to the Muslims without resistance and even converted to Islam.

Eventually, the remaining Bedouins agreed to adopt the Islamic religion. Despite this, they were able to maintain their ancestral customs to a large extent and stayed outside of Muslim demands.

Farewell pilgrimage

In 632, Muhammad participated in the pilgrimage to Mecca. The name given in Arabic to this trip is "Hajj" and this was the only one in which the prophet was able to go in its entirety, since on previous occasions he had had to suspend it to take other directions.

Muslims took the opportunity to observe all the acts of the prophet of Islam. In this way, they were able to lay the foundations of their rites and customs in accordance with what was done at that time by Muhammad.

In those days, the prophet gave his Farewell Sermon, a speech where he made several recommendations to Muslims, such as not to return to the old pagan ways.

He also recommended leaving behind the racism that was common in pre-Islamic Arab society and explained that black and white were the same. In the same way, he exalted the importance of providing proper treatment to wives.

Death

Muhammad died in Medina on June 8, 632. A few months after the farewell pilgrimage, the prophet fell ill with a fever, headache and general weakness. Days later he died.

The war for Muhammad's position began quickly, especially since there were no surviving male children.

He did not make clear in a will who would be his successor as leader of the Muslim people, thus leading to confusion and clashes between factions who considered they had the right to be his heirs.

When Muhammad's death occurred, Abu Bakr was named as the first caliph, because he had been one of the prophet's closest collaborators during his lifetime. The Sunni people descend from this branch.

Later, others considered that the one who should take command after the prophet's death was his son-in-law and nephew, who had also been a staunch follower of Muhammad: Ali ibn Abi Talib. Followers of this particular are known as Shiites.

Disputes over the succession of the Muslim leader and internal clashes between both groups, Sunnis and Shiites, continue to this day, after more than 1,300 years have passed.

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Muhammad. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
2. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Muhammad - Biography. Available at: britannica.com.
3. Oxfordislamicstudies.com. (2019). Muḥammad - Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Available at: oxfordislamicstudies.com.
4. Glubb, John Bagot (2002). The Life and Times of Muhammad. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-8154-1176-5.
5. Rodinson, Maxime (2002). Muhammad: Prophet of Islam. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. ISBN 978-1-86064-827-4.