{"id":3243,"date":"2021-09-21T12:59:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T10:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/?p=3243"},"modified":"2021-09-21T13:02:50","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T11:02:50","slug":"the-life-of-the-prophet-muhammad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/?p=3243","title":{"rendered":"The Life of the Prophet Muhammad"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Life of the Prophet Muhammad<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This book can be printed or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
\nelectronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
\nincluding photocopying and recording, without permission from the publisher for the sake of spreading the True teachings of Islam.<\/p>\n

By Leila Azzam & Aisha Gouverneur<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How It All Began<\/strong>
\nNearly four thousand years ago, in the Sumerian town of Ur in the valley
\nof the river Euphrates, lived a young man named Abraham. The people of
\nUr had once worshipped Allah but as time passed they forgot the true
\nreligion and started praying to idols, statues made of wood or clay and
\nsometimes even of precious stones. Even as a small child Abraham could
\nnot understand how his people, and especially his father, could make
\nthese images with their own hands, call them gods, and then worship
\nthem. He had always refused to join his people when they paid respect to
\nthese statues. Instead he would leave the town and sit alone, thinking
\nabout the heavens and the world about him. He was sure his people were
\ndoing wrong and so alone he searched for the right way. One clear night
\nas he sat staring at the sky he saw a beautiful shining star, so beautiful
\nthat he cried out: \u201eThis must be Allah!’ He looked at it in awe for some
\ntime, until suddenly it began to fade and then it disappeared. He turned
\naway in disappointment saying: I love not things that set. (Qur’an 6.77)
\nOn another night Abraham was again looking at the sky and he saw
\nthe rising moon, so big and bright that he felt he could almost touch it. He
\nthought to himself: This is my Lord. (Qur’an 6.78) But it was not long
\nbefore the moon set as well. Then he said, Unless my Lord guide me, I
\nsurely shall become one of the folk who are astray. (Qur’an 6.78)
\nAbraham then saw the beauty and splendor of the sunrise and decided
\nthat the sun must be the biggest and most powerful thing in the universe.
\nBut for the third time he was wrong, for the sun set at the end of the day.
\nIt was then that he realized that Allah is the Most Powerful, the Creator of
\nthe stars, the moon, the sun, the earth and of all living things. Suddenly he
\nfelt himself totally at peace, because he knew that he had found the Truth.
\nWhen he said unto his father and his folk: What do you worship? They
\nsaid: We worship idols, and are ever devoted to them. He said: Do they
\nhear you when you cry? Or do they benefit or harm you? They said: Nay,
\nbut we found our fathers acting in this manner.
\nHe said: See now that which you worship, You and your forefathers!
\nLo! they are (all) an enemy to me, except the Lord of the Worlds. Who
\ncreated me, and He guides me, And Who feeds me and waters me. And
\nwhen I sicken, then He heals me. And Who causes me to die, then gives
\nme lift (again) And Who, I ardently hope, will forgive me my sin on the
\nDay of judgement. (Qur’an 26.70-82)
\n<\/p>\n

One day, while all the townspeople were out, Abraham angrily
\nsmashed all the idols with his right hand except for one which was very
\nlarge. When the people returned they were furious.
\nThey remembered the things Abraham had said about the idols. They
\nhad him brought forth before everyone and demanded, ‘Is it you who did
\nthis to our gods, 0 Abraham?’ Abraham replied, But this their chief did it.
\nAsk them, if they are able to speak.’ The people exclaimed, ‘You know
\nthey do not speak.’ ‘Do you worship what you yourselves have carved
\nwhen Allah created you and what you make?’ Abraham continued, ‘Do
\nyou worship instead of Allah that which cannot profit you at all, nor harm
\nyou?’ (Qur’an 37.95-6)(Qur’an 21.66)
\nFinally, Abraham warned them, Serve Allah, and keep your duty unto
\nHim; that is better for you if you did but know. You serve instead of
\nAllah only idols, and you only invent a lie. Lo! those whom you serve
\ninstead of Allah own no provision for you. So seek your provision from
\nAllah, and serve Him, and give thanks unto Him, (for) unto Him you will
\nbe brought back.(Qur’an 29. 16-17)
\nThe people of Ur decided to give Abraham the worst punishment they
\ncould find: he was to be burnt to death. On the chosen day all the people
\ngathered in the centre of the city and even the King of Ur was there.
\nAbraham was then placed inside a special building filled with wood. The
\nwood was lit. Soon the fire became so strong that the people were pushed
\nback by the flames. But Allah said: \u201cO fire, be coolness and peace for
\nAbraham\u201d. (Qur’an 21.69)
\nThe people waited until the fire had completely died down, and it was
\nthen that they saw Abraham still sitting there as though nothing had
\nhappened! At that moment they were utterly confused. They were not,
\nhowever, moved by the miracle that had just happened before their very
\neyes.
\nStill Abraham tried to persuade his own dear father, who was named
\nAzar, not to worship powerless, un-seeing, un-hearing statues. Abraham
\nexplained that special knowledge had come to him and implored his
\nfather, ‘So follow me and I will lead you on the right path. 0 my father!
\nDon’t serve the Devil.’ But Azar would not listen. He threatened his son
\nwith stoning if he continued to reject the gods of Ur. He ordered Abraham
\nto leave the city with these words: ‘Depart from me a long while.’
\nAbraham said, ‘Peace be upon you! I shall ask my Lord’s forgiveness for
\nyou. Surely He was ever gracious to me.\u201f (Qur’an 19.43-7)
\nImagine how terrible it must have been for him to leave his home, his
\nfamily and all that he knew, and set out across the wilderness into the
\nunknown. But at the same time, how could he have remained among
\npeople who did not believe in Allah and who worshipped statues?
\nAbraham always had a sense that Allah cared for him and he felt Allah
\nnear him as he traveled. At last, after a long hard journey, he arrived at a
\nplace by the Mediterranean Sea, not far from Egypt. There he married a
\nnoble woman by the name of Sarah and settled in the land of Palestine.
\nMany years passed but Abraham and his wife were not blessed with any
\nchildren. In the hope that there would be a child, and in keeping with
\ntradition, Sarah suggested that Abraham should marry Hagar, her
\nEgyptian handmaid. Soon after this took place, Hagar had a little boy
\nnamed Ishmael. Some time later Allah promised Abraham another son,
\nbut this time the mother of the child would be his first wife, Sarah. This
\nsecond son would be called Isaac. Allah also told Abraham that from his
\ntwo sons-Ishmael and Isaac-two nations and three religions would be
\nfounded and because of this he must take Hagar and Ishmael away from
\nPalestine to a new land. These events were an important part of Allah’s
\nplan, for the descendants of Ishmael would form a nation from which
\nwould come a great Prophet, who would guide the people in the way of
\nAllah. This was to be Muhammad (pbuh), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).
\nFrom the descendants of Sarah’s child, Isaac, would come Moses and
\nJesus.
\nSo it was that Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael left Palestine. They
\ntraveled for many days until finally they reached the arid valley of Bacca
\nlater to be called Mecca), which was on one of the great caravan routes.
\nThere was no water in the valley and although Hagar and Ishmael only
\nhad a small supply of water left, Abraham left them there knowing Allah
\nwould take care of them. Soon all the water was gone. The child began to
\ngrow weak from thirst. There were two hills nearby, one called Safa and
\nthe other Marwah. Hagar went up one hill and looked into the distance to
\nsee if she could find any water, but found none. So she went to the other
\nhill and did the same. She did this seven times. Then sadly she returned to
\nher son, and to her great surprise and joy she found a spring of water
\nbubbling out of the earth near him. This spring, near which the mother
\nand child settled, was later called Zamzam. The area around it became a
\nplace of rest for the caravans travelling across the desert and in time grew
\ninto the famous trading city of Mecca.
\nFrom time to time Abraham traveled from Palestine to visit his family
\nand he saw Ishmael grow into a strong young man. It was during one of
\nthese visits that Allah commanded them to rebuild the Ka’bah-the very
\nfirst place where people had worshipped Allah. They were told exactly<\/p>\n

where and how to build it. It was to be erected by the well of Zamzam
\nand built in the shape of a cube. In its eastern corner was to be placed a
\nblack stone that had fallen to earth from heaven. An angel brought the
\nstone to them from the nearby hill of Abu Qubays. Abraham and Ishmael
\nworked hard to rebuild the Ka’bah and as they did so they prayed to Allah
\nto send a Prophet from among their descendants. And when Abraham and
\nIshmael were raising the foundations of the House, (Abraham prayed):
\n‘Our Lord! Receive this from us; Thou, only Thou, art the All-hearing, the
\nAll-knowing; Our Lord! And make us submissive unto Thee and of our
\nseed a nation submissive unto Thee, and show us our ways of worship,
\nand turn toward us. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Relenting, the Merciful.
\nOur Lord! And raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who
\nshall recite unto them Thy revelations, and shall instruct them in the
\nScripture and in wisdom and shall make them grow. Lo! Thou, only
\nThou, art the Mighty, Wise. (Qur’an 2.127-9) When the Ka’bah was
\ncompleted, Allah commanded Abraham to call mankind to pilgrimage to
\nHis Holy House. Abraham wondered how anyone could hear his call.
\nAllah said, ‘You call and I will bring them.’ This was how the pilgrimage
\nto the Ka’bah in Mecca was established and when Muslims make the
\npilgrimage today they continue to answer the age-old call of Abraham.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Children of Ishmael<\/strong>
\nOver the years Ishmael’s children themselves had children. His
\ndescendants increased and formed tribes which spread out all over
\nArabia. One of these tribes was called Quraysh. Its people never moved
\naway from Mecca and always lived near the Ka’bah. One of the duties of
\nthe leader of Quraysh was to look after those who came on pilgrimage to
\nthe Ka’bah. The, pilgrims would come from all over Arabia and it was a
\ngreat honor to provide them with food and water.
\nAs time passed, however, the Arabs stopped worshipping Allah
\ndirectly and started bringing idols back with them from the different
\ncountries they visited. These idols were placed at the Ka’bah, which was
\nno longer regarded as the Sanctuary of Allah, as Abraham had intended it.
\nIt was, however, still respected by the Arabs. Around this time the well of
\nZamzam disappeared beneath the sand. Also at this time, Qusayy, one of
\nthe leaders of Quraysh, became ruler over Mecca. He held the keys of the
\ntemple and had the right to give water to the pilgrims, to feed them, to
\ntake charge of meetings, and to hand out war banners before battle. It was
\nalso in his house that Quraysh settled their affairs. After Qusayy’s death,
\nhis son ‘Abdu Manaf, who had become famous during his father’s
\nlifetime, took over the leadership of Quraysh. After him came his son
\nHashim. It is said that Hashim was the first to begin the two great caravan
\njourneys of Quraysh, one in the summer to Syria and the north, and one in
\nthe winter to Yemen and the south. As a result, Mecca grew rich and
\nbecame a large and important centre of trade.
\nOne summer Hashim went north to buy goods to sell in Yemen. On
\nhis way he stopped in Yathrib to trade in the market and there he saw a
\nbeautiful woman. She was Salma’, the daughter of ‘Amr ibn Zeid, who
\nwas from a much respected family. Hashim proposed marriage to her and
\nwas accepted because he was an honorable and distinguished man.
\nIn time, Salma’ gave birth to a beautiful son and as some of his hair
\nwas white they called him Shaybah, which in Arabic means grey-haired’.
\nMother and son stayed in the cooler, healthier climate of Yathrib,
\nwhile Hashim returned to Mecca, but he would visit them each time he
\ntook his caravan to the north. During one of these journeys, however,
\nHashim became ill and died. Shaybah, a handsome, intelligent boy, grew
\nup in his uncle’s house in Yathrib. He was proud of being the son of
\nHashim ibn ‘Abdi Manaf, the head of Quraysh, guardian of the Ka’bah
\nand protector of the pilgrims, even though he had not known his father,
\nwho had died while Shaybah was very young.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 8
\nAt Hashim’s death his brother al-Muttalib took over his duties and
\nresponsibilities. He traveled to Yathrib to see his nephew, Shaybah, and
\ndecided that as the boy would one day inherit his father’s place, the time
\nhad come for him to live in Mecca. It was hard for Salma’, Shaybah’s
\nmother, to let her son go with his uncle but she finally realized that it was
\nfor the best. Al-Muttalib returned to Mecca, entering the city at noon on
\nhis camel with Shaybah behind him. When the people of Mecca saw the
\nboy they thought he was a slave and, pointing at him, called out \u201eAbd alMuttalib’, ‘Abd’ being the Arabic for ‘slave’.
\nAl-Muttalib told them that Shaybah was not a slave but his nephew
\nwho had come to live with them. From that day on, however, Shaybah
\nwas always affectionately called Abd al-Muttalib. On the death of alMuttalib, who died in Yemen where he had gone to trade, ‘Abd alMuttalib took his place. He became the most respected member of his
\nfamily, loved and admired by all. He was, however, unlike those Arabs
\nwho had given up the teachings of Abraham.<\/p>\n

The Promise At Zamzam<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe well of Zamzam, which disappeared when the Arabs placed idols at
\nthe Ka’bah, remained buried under the sand. Thus, for many years the
\npeople of Quraysh had to fetch their water from far away. One day ‘Abd
\nal-Muttalib was very tired from doing this and fell asleep next to the
\nKa\u201fbah. He had a dream in which he was told to dig up Zamzam. When
\nhe woke up he was puzzled because he did not know what Zamzam was,
\nthe well having disappeared many years before he was born. The next day
\nhe had the same dream, but this time he was told where to find the well.
\n‘Abd al-Muttalib had one son at that time, and together they began to
\ndig. The work was so difficult that \u201eAbd al-Muttalib made an oath to
\nAllah that if one day he were to have ten sons to help him and stand by
\nhim, in return he would sacrifice one of them in Allah’s honor. After
\nworking for three days they finally found the well of Zamzam. Pilgrims
\nhave been drinking from it ever since. The years passed by and ‘Abd alMuttalib did have ten sons. They grew into fine, strong men and the time
\ncame for him to keep his promise to Allah. He told his sons about the
\npromise and they agreed that he had to sacrifice one of them To see
\nwhich one it would be, they decided to draw lots, which was the custom
\nof Quraysh when deciding important matters. ‘Abd al-Muttalib told each
\nson to get an arrow and write his own name upon it and then to bring it to
\nhim. This they did, after which he took them to the Ka’bah where there
\nwas a man whose special task it was to cast arrows and pick one from
\namong them. This man solemnly proceeded to do this. On the arrow he
\nchose was written the name of ‘Abd Allah, the youngest and favorite son
\nof ‘Abd al-Muttalib. Even so, the father took his son near the Ka’bah and
\nprepared to sacrifice him.
\nMany of the Quraysh leaders were present and they became very angry
\nbecause ‘Abd Allah was very young and much loved by everyone. They
\ntried to think of a way to save his life. Someone suggested that the advice
\nof a wise old woman who lived in Yathrib should be sought, and so ‘Abd
\nal-Muttalib took his son and went to see if she could decide what to do.
\nSome of the Meccans went with them and when they got there the woman
\nasked, ‘What is the price of a man’s life?’ They told her, ‘Ten camels’, for
\nat that time if one man killed another, his family would have to give ten
\ncamels to the dead man’s family in order to keep the peace among them.
\nSo the woman told them to go back to the Ka\u201fbah and draw lots between
\n‘Abd Allah and ten camels. If the camels were chosen, they were to be
\nkilled and the meat given to the poor. If ‘Abd Allah was picked then ten
\nmore camels were to be added and the lots drawn again and again until
\nthey finally fell on the camels.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201eAbd al-Muttalib returned to the Ka\u201fbah with his son and the people
\nof Mecca. There they started to draw lots between \u201eAbd Allah and the
\ncamels, starting with ten camels. \u201eAbd al-Muttalib prayed to Allah to
\nspare his son and everyone waited in silence for the result. The choice fell
\non \u201eAbd Allah, so his father added ten more camels. Again the choice fell
\non \u201eAbd Allah, so they did the same thing again and again, adding ten
\ncamels each time. Finally they reached one hundred camels, and only
\nthen did the lot fall on the camels. \u201eAbd Allah was saved and everyone
\nwas very happy. ‘Abd al-Muttalib however, wanted to make sure that this
\nwas the true result so he repeated the draw three times and each time it
\nfell on the camels. He then gave thanks to Allah that He had spared \u201eAbd
\nAllah’s life. The camels were sacrificed and there was enough food for
\nthe entire city, even the animals and birds. ‘Abd Allah grew up to be a
\nhandsome young man and his father eventually chose Aminah, the
\ndaughter of Wahb, as a wife for him. It was a good match for she was the
\nfinest of Quraysh women and ‘Abd Allah the best of the men. He spent
\nseveral months with his wife but then he had to leave her and travel with
\none of the caravans to trade with Syria. On his way back to Mecca from
\nSyria ‘Abd Allah became ill and had to stop off in Yathrib to recover. The
\ncaravan, however, continued on its way and arrived back in Mecca
\nwithout him. On hearing of ‘Abd Allah’s illness, \u201eAbd al-Muttalib sent
\nanother son, al-Hareth, to bring ‘Abd Allah back to Mecca, but he was too
\nlate.
\nWhen he arrived in Yathrib \u201eAbd Allah was dead. Aminah was heartbroken to lose her husband and the father of the child she would soon
\ngive birth to. Only Allah knew that this orphan child would one day be a
\ngreat Prophet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Elephant Refuses To Move<\/strong>
\nAbrahah, who came from Abyssinia-a country in Africa-conquered
\nYemen and was made vice-regent there. Later, he noticed that at a certain
\ntime of the year large numbers of people would travel from all over
\nYemen and the rest of Arabia to Mecca. He asked the reason for this and
\nwas told that they were going on pilgrimage to the Ka’bah. Abrahah hated
\nthe idea of Mecca being more important than his own country, so he
\ndecided to build a church of colored marble, with doors of gold and
\nornaments of silver, and ordered the people to visit it instead of the
\nKa’bah. But no one obeyed him.
\nAbrahah became angry and decided to destroy the Ka1bah. He
\nprepared a large army led by an elephant and set off towards Mecca.
\nWhen the Meccans heard that he was coming they became very
\nfrightened. Abrahah’s army was huge and they could not fight it. But how
\ncould they let him destroy the Holy Ka’bah? They went to ask the advice
\nof their leader, ‘Abd al-Muttalib. When Abrahah arrived outside Mecca,
\n‘Abd al-Muttalib went to meet him. Abrahah said, ‘What do you want?’
\nAbrahah had taken Abd al-Muttalib’s camels, which he had found grazing
\nas he entered Mecca, so \u201eAbd al-Muttalib replied, ‘I want my camels
\nback.’ Abrahah was very surprised and said, ‘I have come to destroy your
\nHoly Ka\u201fbah, the holy place of your fathers, and you ask me about some
\ncamels?’ ‘Abd al-Muttalib replied calmly, \u201eThe camels belong to me; the
\nKa\u201fbah belongs to Allah and He will protect it.’ Then he left Abrahah and
\nwent back to Quraysh and ordered them to leave Mecca and wait for their
\nenemies in the mountains.
\nIn the morning Abrahah prepared to enter the town. He put armor on
\nhis elephant and drew up his troops for battle. He intended to destroy the
\nKa’bah and then return to Yemen. At that moment, however, the elephant
\nknelt down and refused to get up, no matter how much the soldiers tried
\nto get it to move by beating it.
\nBut when they turned its face in the direction of Yemen it
\nimmediately got up and started off. In fact, it did the same in any other
\ndirection, but as soon as they pointed it towards Mecca it knelt down
\nagain. Suddenly, flocks of birds appeared from over the sea. Each bird
\ncarried three stones as small as peas and they dropped them on Abrahah1s
\narmy. The soldiers suddenly fell ill. Even Abrahah was hit by the stones
\nand fled in fear with the rest of his army back to Yemen, where he later
\ndied. On seeing their enemy flee the Arabs came down from the
\nmountains to the Ka\u201fbah and gave thanks to Allah.<\/p>\n

After this, Quraysh gained great respect and became known as ‘the
\npeople of Allah’, and the year in which these events took place, 570A.D,
\nwas named the ‘Year of the Elephant’. In that year Allah had saved the
\nKa’bah and he would soon bring forth a Prophet from among Quraysh. In
\nthe Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful: \u201cHast thou not seen how
\nthy Lord dealt with the owners of the Elephant? Did He not bring their
\nstratagem to naught, And send against them swarms of flying creatures,
\nWhich pelted them with stones of baked clay, And made them like green
\ncrops devoured (by cattle)? (Qur’an 105.1-5)<\/p>\n

The Prophet Is Born<\/span><\/strong>
\nOne day, while travelling north, one of the Arab tribes from Mecca met a
\nhermit in the desert. Some of the men stopped to speak with him. Hermits
\nwere known to be wise and the Arabs often asked their advice. The
\nhermit asked where they had come from. When they replied that they
\nwere from Mecca, he told them that Allah would soon send a prophet,
\nwho would come from their people. They asked the name of this prophet
\nand the hermit answered that his name would be Muhammad and that he
\nwould guide them to a new way of life.
\nMeanwhile in Mecca, Aminah, although saddened by the loss of her
\nhusband, felt especially well and strong as she awaited the birth of her
\nbaby. During this time she dreamt of many things. On one occasion it was
\nas if a great light were shining out of her, and on another she heard a
\nvoice telling her that she would have a boy and that his name would be
\nMuhammad. She never forgot that voice but she told no one about it.
\nOn Monday, the twelfth day of Rabi al-Awwal in the Year of the
\nElephant, Aminah gave birth to a son. Allah sends man many signs when
\none of His chosen Prophets is born and on that twelfth day of Rabi alAwwal in the year 570 A.D, many such signs were seen. Some were seen
\nby Jewish scholars who had read in their scriptures of a coming Prophet.
\nOne of these learned men in Yathrib, for instance, saw a brilliant new star
\nhe had never seen before as he studied the heavens that night. He called
\nthe people around him and, pointing the star out to them, told them a
\nProphet must have been born. That same night another Jew was passing
\nby the meeting place of the leaders of Quraysh in Mecca. He asked them
\nif a baby boy had just been born and told them that if it were true, this
\nwould be the Prophet of the Arab nation.
\nAminah sent news of the birth to her father-in-law, ‘Abd al-Muttalib, who
\nwas sitting near the Ka’bah at the time. He was very happy and began at
\nonce to think of a name for the boy. An ordinary name would not do. Six
\ndays came and went and still he had not decided. But on the seventh day,
\nas he lay asleep near the Ka\u201fbah, ‘Abd al-Muttalib dreamt that he should
\ngive the baby the unusual name of Muhammad, just as Aminah herself
\nhad dreamt. And the child was called Muhammad (pbuh), which means
\n‘the Praised One’. When ‘Abd al-Muttalib told the leaders of Quraysh
\nwhat he had named his grandson, many of them asked, ‘Why did you not<\/p>\n

choose the sort of name that is used by our people?’ At once he replied, ‘I
\nwant him to be praised by Allah in the heavens and praised by men on
\nearth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Time With Halimah<\/strong>
\nLike many other women in Mecca, Aminah decided to send her son away
\nfrom the city for his early years to the desert where it was more healthy.
\nWomen from the desert used to come to Mecca to collect the new babies
\nand they would then keep them until they developed into strong children,
\nfor which they were well paid by the parents.
\nAmong the women who traveled to Mecca to fetch a new baby at the
\ntime Aminah’s son was born, was a Bedouin woman called Halimah.
\nWith her was her husband and baby son. They had always been very poor
\nbut this year things were harder than ever because there had been famine.
\nThe donkey that earned Halimah on the journey was so weak from hunger
\nthat he often stumbled. Halimah’s own baby son cried all the time because
\nhis mother could not feed him properly. Even their she-camel did not give
\nthem one drop of milk. Halimah did not know what to do. She thought to
\nherself, ‘How can I possibly feed another baby when I haven’t got enough
\nmilk even for my own son?’
\nAt last they reached Mecca. All the other women of the tribe to which
\nHalimah belonged, the Bani Sa’d, found a child to take back with them,
\nbut not Halimah. The only baby left was Muhammad (pbuh). Usually the
\nfather paid the wet-nurse but Mohammed\u201fs father was dead. So no one
\nwanted to take him, even though he was from one of the noblest families
\nof Quraysh. Halimah did not want to take him either, but she did not want
\nto be the only woman to go back to her tribe without a baby to bring up.
\nShe asked her husband whether she should take Muhammad (pbuh) or
\nnot. He advised her to do so, adding, ‘Perhaps Allah will bless us because
\nof him.’ They started on the return journey and as soon as Halimah began
\nto feed Muhammad (pbuh) her milk suddenly increased and she had
\nenough for him as well as her baby son. When they were back home,
\neverything began to change.
\nThe land became green, and the date trees, one of their main sources
\nof food, gave lots of fruit. Even the sheep and their old she-camel began
\nto give plenty of milk.
\nHalimah and her husband knew that this good fortune had come
\nbecause they had the new baby, Muhammad (pbuh), whom they had
\ncome to love as if he were their own son.
\nWhen Muhammad (pbuh) was two years old, Halimah took him back
\nto his mother. She pleaded with Aminah, however, to let her keep him for
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 16
\na little longer, and to her great joy the mother agreed. During his time
\nwith Halimah’s family in the desert, Muhammad (pbuh) played with her
\nchildren and together they would take the sheep out to graze. At other
\ntimes, however, Halimah would often find him sitting alone. It is said that
\non one occasion, two angels came to Muhammad (pbuh) and washed his
\nheart with snow. In this way Allah made his heart pure for He intended
\nMuhammad (pbuh) to be greater than any man ever born and to become
\nthe Seal of the Prophets.
\nIn the Name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful
\n\u201cDid We not expand thy breast for thee And eased thee of thy burden
\nWhich weighed down thy back; And exalted thy fame? So truly with
\nhardship comes ease, Truly with hardship comes ease. So when thou art
\nrelieved, still toil And strive to please thy Lord. (Qur’an 94.1-8)
\nWhen Halimah finally took Muhammad (pbuh) back to Aminah, he
\nwas a healthy, strong boy. Later he would look back with joy on the time
\nhe had spent with Halimah, and he always thought of himself as one of
\nthe Bani Sa’d.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 17
\nThe Orphan’s Childhood<\/strong><\/span>
\nMuhammad (pbuh) returned to live with his mother in Mecca when he
\nwas about three years old. Three years later Aminah decided to take her
\nson to visit his uncles in Yathrib. She told her maid, Barakah, to prepare
\neverything they would need for the long journey, and then they joined
\none of the caravans going there. They stayed in Yathrib a month and
\nMuhammad (pbuh) enjoyed the visit with his cousins. The climate there
\nwas very pleasant and he learned to swim and to fly a kite. On their way
\nback to Mecca, however, Aminah became ill and died. She was buried in
\nthe village at al-Abwa not far from Yathrib. Muhammad (pbuh) returned
\nsadly to Mecca with his mother’s maid He was now six years old and had
\nlost both his father and mother. He was then adopted by his grandfather,
\n\u201eAbd al-Muttalib, who loved him dearly and kept him by his side at all
\ntimes. It was the custom of ‘Abd al-Muttalib to sit on a blanket near the
\nKa\u201fbah. There he was always surrounded by people who had come to
\nspeak to him. No one was allowed to sit on the blanket with him,
\nhowever, except his grandson Muhammad (pbuh), which shows how
\nclose they were to each other. Many times ‘Abd al-Muttalib was heard to
\nsay: ‘This boy will be very important one day.’
\nTwo years later ‘Abd al-Muttalib became ill and Muhammad (pbuh)
\nstayed by him constantly. ‘Abd al-Muttalib told his son, Abu Talib, to
\nadopt Muhammad (pbuh) after his death, which he did. Abu Talib had
\nmany children of his own, but Muhammad (pbuh) immediately became
\npart of his family and the favorite child. The time came for Quraysh to
\nprepare a caravan to go to Syria. Abu Talib was going with them and he
\ntook Muhammad (pbuh) along. It was Mohammed\u201fs first journey to the
\nnorth. After days of travel, the caravan arrived at a place near Syria where
\nthe Romans used to come to trade with the Arabs. Near this marketplace
\nlived a monk called Bahira\u201f. His cell had been used by generations of
\nmonks before him and contained ancient manuscripts.
\nBahira’ saw the caravan in the distance and was amazed to see that
\nover it was a large white cloud. It was the only cloud in a clear blue sky
\nand it appeared to be shading one of the travelers. The monk was even
\nmore surprised to see that the cloud seemed to follow the caravan but
\ndisappeared when the person it was shading sat down under a tree.
\nBahira\u201f knew from the scriptures that a prophet was expected to come
\nafter Jesus and it had been his wish to see this prophet before he died.
\nRealizing that what he had just seen was a miracle, he began to think that
\nhis wish might, after all, come true.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 18
\nThe monk sent an invitation to the Meccans to come and eat with him.
\nThe Arabs were surprised because they often passed by and Bahira\u201f had
\nnever invited them before. When the group was all together for the meal,
\nthe monk said, ‘Is this everyone?\u201f ‘No’, someone said, ‘a boy was left
\nwatching the camels.’ Bahira\u201f insisted that the boy should join them. The
\nboy was Muhammad (pbuh). When he arrived Bahira\u201f said nothing, but
\nwatched him all through the meal. He noticed many things about his
\nappearance which fitted the description in the old manuscripts. Later on
\nhe took him aside and asked Muhammad (pbuh) many questions. He soon
\nfound out how he felt about the idols in the Ka’bah. When Bahira tried to
\nmake him swear by them, as the Arabs used to do, Muhammad (pbuh)
\nsaid, ‘There is nothing in this world that I hate more’. They talked together
\nabout Allah and about Mohammed\u201fs life and family. What was said made
\nBahira certain that this was indeed the Prophet who would follow Jesus.
\nThen the monk went to Abu Talib and asked him how he was related
\nto Muhammad (pbuh). Abu Talib told him that Muhammad (pbuh) was
\nhis son. Bahira replied that this could not be so because the boy was
\ndestined to grow up an orphan, and he ordered Abu Talib to watch over
\nMuhammad (pbuh) with great care. There are many stories told about
\nMohammed\u201fs youth. Some tell of how he used to take the family’s sheep
\nto graze and was always kind to them. While they grazed he would sit
\nthinking about the mysteries of nature. Unlike those around him1 he
\nnever worshipped the idols and never swore by them.
\nHe also wondered why people were always struggling for power and
\nmoney, and this saddened him and made him feel lonely, but he kept his
\nfeelings to himself. He was a quiet, thoughtful boy, and rarely played
\nwith other boys of his age. On one occasion, however, Muhammad
\n(pbuh) went with some of the boys to a wedding in Mecca. When he
\nreached the house he heard the sounds of music and dancing but just as he
\nwas about to enter he suddenly felt tired and, sitting down, fell asleep. He
\ndidn’t wake up until late the next morning and thus missed the
\ncelebrations. In this way Allah prevented him from doing anything
\nfoolish for He was keeping Muhammad (pbuh) for something much more
\nimportant
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 19
\nThe Prophet’s Marriage
\nBy the time Muhammad (pbuh) was twenty-five he was famous for his
\nhonesty. He was respected by everyone, even the elders of Mecca. The
\npurity of his nature increased with the years. It seemed he had an inner
\nknowledge that other people did not have. He believed in one GodCreator of the world-and he worshipped Him with all his heart and with
\nall his soul. Muhammad (pbuh) was the finest of his people, the most
\nkind, truthful and reliable person in Mecca. He was known among
\nQuraysh as ‘the trustworthy’ (al-Amin) because of the good qualities
\nAllah had given him. He spent many quiet hours in a cave in Mount Hira,
\nnot far from Mecca, thinking about Allah. Among Quraysh was a
\nrespected and wealthy woman named Khadijah. She was involved in
\ntrade and on hearing of Mohammed\u201fs reputation, sent for him and asked
\nhim to take her goods and trade with them in Syria. Muhammad (pbuh)
\nagreed and left for Syria with one of Khadijah’s caravans. With him went
\nher slave, Maysarah, and they spent a great deal of time talking together.
\nMaysarah soon came to admire Muhammad (pbuh). He thought he was
\nquite different from all the other men of Quraysh.
\nTwo unusual events took place during this journey which puzzled
\nMaysarah very much. The first happened when they stopped to rest near
\nthe lonely home of a monk. Muhammad (pbuh) sat under a tree while
\nMaysarah was busy with some work. The monk came up to Maysarah
\nand asked, ‘Who is the man resting under the tree?’ ‘One of Quraysh, the
\npeople who guard the Ka\u201fbah’, said Maysarah. ‘No one but a Prophet is
\nsitting beneath this tree’, replied the monk. The second event occurred on
\nthe journey back to Mecca. It happened at noon, when the sun is at its
\nhottest. Maysarah was riding behind Muhammad (pbuh) and as the sun
\ngrew hotter he saw two angels appear above Muhammad (pbuh) and
\nshield him from the sun’s harmful rays. The trading was very successful
\nand Muhammad (pbuh) made more profit for Khadijah than she had ever
\nreceived before.
\nWhen they arrived back in Mecca Maysarah told Khadijah everything
\nabout the trip and what he had noticed about Mohammed\u201fs character and
\nbehavior.
\nKhadijah was a widow in her forties and as well as being rich and
\nhighly respected she was also very beautiful.
\nMany men wanted to marry her but none of them suited her. When
\nshe met Muhammad (pbuh), however, she thought he was very special.
\nShe sent a friend to ask Muhammad (pbuh) why he was not married.
\nMuhammad (pbuh) said that it was because he had no money, to which
\nthe friend replied: ‘Supposing a rich, beautiful and noble lady agreed to
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 20
\nmarry you?’ Muhammad (pbuh) wanted to know who that could be. The
\nfriend told him it was Khadijah. Muhammad (pbuh) was very happy,
\nbecause he greatly respected Khadijah. He went with his uncles, Abu
\nTalib and Hamzah, to Khadijah’s uncle, and asked his permission to
\nmarry her. The uncle gave his permission and soon after, Muhammad
\n(pbuh) and Khadijah were married.
\nTheir marriage was a joyful one and Muhammad (pbuh) and Khadijah
\nwere well suited. Their life together, however, was not without some
\nsadness. They were blessed with six children, two sons and four
\ndaughters. Sadly their first born, a son called Qasim, died shortly before
\nhis second birthday, and their last child, also a son, only lived for a short
\ntime. Happily, their four daughters-Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum,
\nand Fatimah-all survived.
\nFor a few years Muhammad (pbuh) lived a calm and quiet life as a
\nmerchant in Mecca. His wisdom benefited many people. One such time
\nwas when Quraysh decided to rebuild the Ka\u201fbah. It was a difficult
\ndecision for them because they had to knock it down before rebuilding it
\nand the people were afraid that Allah might be angry with them for
\nknocking down His sanctuary. At last one of the wise old men of Quraysh
\ndecided to begin, then everybody followed him. They worked until they
\nreached down to the first foundation that Abraham had built. As soon as
\nthey began to remove the stones of this foundation, however, the whole of
\nMecca began to shake.
\nThey were so afraid that they decided to leave these stones where they
\nwere and build on top of them. Each tribe brought stones and they built
\nthe Ka’bah up until they reached the place where the black stone was to
\nbe set. They then began to argue about who should have the honor of
\ncarrying the black stone and lifting it to its place in one of the corners of
\nthe Ka’bah.
\nThey almost came to blows but fortunately one of the men offered a
\nsolution. He suggested that they should be guided by the first person to
\nenter the place of worship. They all agreed and as Muhammad (pbuh)
\nwas the first to enter everyone was pleased, because they all trusted him.
\nThey told him the cause of the argument and he asked them to bring a
\nlarge cloak. They did as he asked, and after spreading the cloak on the
\nground he placed the black stone in the centre of it. Then he asked a man
\nfrom each tribe to hold one edge of the cloak and together to raise it to the
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 21
\nheight where the stone should be see. When this was done, he took the
\nstone off the cloak and put it into place himself. This story shows how all
\nQuraysh respected and trusted Muhammad (pbuh) and how, by his
\nwisdom and good sense, he was able to keep the peace.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 22
\nThe Coming of The Archangel Gabriel
\nMuhammad (pbuh) believed that there was only one Allah, Creator of
\nthe sun, the moon, the earth, the sky, and of all living things, and that all
\npeople should worship only Him. Muhammad (pbuh) would often leave
\nthe crowded city and go to the cave in Mount Hira’. He liked to be alone
\nthere, away from all thoughts of the world and daily life, eating and
\ndrinking little. In his fortieth year, Muhammad (pbuh) left Mecca to
\nspend Ramadan, the traditional month of retreat, in the cave. In the
\nsecond half of Ramadan, Allah began to reveal His message for mankind
\nthrough Muhammad (pbuh). This first Revelation occurred as follows.
\nThe Archangel Gabriel came to Muhammad (pbuh) in the cave and
\ncommanded him to ‘Read’. Muhammad (pbuh) replied ‘I cannot read.’ At
\nthis the Archangel took Muhammad (pbuh) in his arms and pressed him
\nto him until it was almost too much to bear. He then released him and
\nsaid again ‘Read.’ ‘I cannot’, replied Muhammad (pbuh), at which the
\nArchangel embraced him again. For the third time the Archangel
\ncommanded Muhammad (pbuh) to read, but still he said he could not and
\nwas again embraced. On releasing him this time, however, the Archangel
\nGabriel said:
\n\u201cRead: In the Name of thy Lord who createth, Createth man from a
\nclot. Read: And thy Lord is the Most Generous Who teacheth by the pen,
\nTeacheth man that which he knew not. (Qur’an 96.1-5) Muhammad
\n(pbuh) repeated these verses, just as the Archangel had said them. When
\nthe Archangel was sure Muhammad (pbuh) knew them by heart, he we
\naway. Now that he was alone Muhammad (pbuh) could not understand
\nwhat had happened to him. He was terribly afraid and rushed out of the
\ncave. Perhaps the cave was haunted? Perhaps the devil had taken a hold
\nof his mind? But he was stopped by a voice from heaven which said; ‘0
\nMuhammad (pbuh) you are the Messenger of Allah, and I am Gabriel.’
\nHe looked up at the sky and wherever he turned he saw the Archangel
\nGabriel.
\nIn a state of confusion he returned home to Khadijah. When his wife
\nsaw him she became very worried as he began to shiver, as though in a
\nfever. He asked her to wrap him in blankets, which she did. After a while
\nhe recovered sufficiently to tell her what had happened at Hira’. Khadijah
\nbelieved all that he told her and with great respect said: ‘Be happy, 0 son
\nof my uncle and be confident. Truly I swear by Allah who has my soul in
\nHis hands, that you will be our people’s Prophet.’ Muhammad (pbuh), the
\nMessenger of Allah, was eased by her faith in him, but after all that had
\nhappened he was exhausted and felt fast asleep.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 23
\nKhadijah left the Prophet (pbuh) sleeping and went to see her cousin,
\nWaraqah Ibn Nawfal, to ask him what he thought about all that had
\nhappened. Waraqah was a very wise man who had read many books and
\nhad become a Christian after studying the Bible. He told Khadijah that
\nMuhammad (pbuh) had been chosen by Allah to be His Messenger. Just
\nas the Archangel Gabriel had come to Moses before and had ordered him
\nto guide his people, so, too, would Muhammad (pbuh) be the Prophet of
\nhis people. But Waraqah warned that all the people would not listen to the
\nProphet and some would mistreat his followers. He must, however, be
\npatient because he had a great message for all the world. From that day
\non, the Archangel Gabriel came often to the Prophet (pbuh) and the
\nverses he taught him, the message from Allah to man, were later written
\ndown, and are known to us as the Holy Qur’an.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 24
\nThe First Muslims
\nAfter that momentous day in the month of Ramadan, Revelation came
\nagain and again to the Prophet (pbuh). He understood now what he had to
\ndo and prepared himself for what was to come. Only a strong and brave
\nman, helped by Allah, can be a true prophet because people often refuse
\nto listen to Allah’s message. Khadijah was the first to believe the Prophet
\n(pbuh) and accept as true what he brought from Allah. Through her, Allah
\nmade things easier for the Prophet (pbuh). Khadijah strengthened him,
\nhelped him spread his message, and stood up to the people who were
\nagainst him.
\nThen Revelation ceased for a time. The Prophet (pbuh) was upset and
\nunhappy, thinking that Allah had left him, or that he might have angered
\nAllah in some way so that Allah no longer thought him worthy of His
\nmessage. However, the Archangel Gabriel came back to him and brought
\nthis surah, or chapter, of the Qur’an:
\nIn the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
\n\u201cBy the morning hours, And by the night when it is stillest, Thy Lord
\nhath neither forsaken thee nor doth He hate thee, And verily the Last will
\nbe better for thee than the First. And verily thy Lord will give unto thee
\nso that thou wilt be content. Did He not find thee an orphan and protect
\nthee? Did He not find thee wandering and guide thee? Did He not find
\nthee destitute and enrich thee? Therefore the orphan oppress not,
\nTherefore the beggar drive not away, And as for thy Lord’s blessing,
\ndeclare it\u201d. (Qur’an: 93.1-11)
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) began to speak secretly of Allah’s message to
\nthose Who were close to him and whom he could trust. At that time
\nMecca was going through hard times. There was very little food to be
\nhad. Abu Talib, the Prophet’s uncle, who had taken care of him after his
\ngrandfather’s death, was finding it very difficult to feed his large family.
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) said that he and another uncle, al-‘Abbas, who
\nwas a rich man, would each bring up one of Abu Talib’s children in order
\nto help him. The Prophet (pbuh) took \u201eAli and his uncle took Ja\u201ffar.
\nOne day, when the Prophet (pbuh) was outside the city, the Archangel
\nGabriel appeared to him. The Archangel kicked the side of a hill and a
\nspring of water began to flow out. He then began to wash himself in the
\nrunning water to show the Prophet (pbuh) the ritual ablution to be made
\nbefore prayer. Then the Archangel showed him all the positions of
\nMuslim prayer-the various movements and things to be said with each
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 25
\nmovement. The Prophet (pbuh) returned home and taught all these things
\nfirst to Khadijah and then to his followers. Since then Muslims have
\ncontinued to purify themselves before prayer by performing the ritual
\nablution and have followed the same movements and prayers first
\nperformed by the Prophet (pbuh). To begin with, though, only the Prophet
\n(pbuh) and his wife knew of these things. Then one day \u201eAli entered the
\nroom and found the Prophet (pbuh) and Khadijah praying. He was
\npuzzled and asked what they were doing. The Prophet (pbuh) explained
\nto him that they were praising Allah and giving thanks to Him. That night
\n‘Ali stayed up thinking about all that the Prophet (pbuh) had said; he had
\ngreat admiration and respect for his cousin. Finally he came to a decision
\nand the next day he went to the Prophet (pbuh) and told him that he
\nwanted to follow him. Thus Khadijah was the first woman to embrace
\nIslam, the teachings which the Prophet (pbuh) brought from Allah, and
\n\u201eAli was the first young man. Shortly after they were joined by Zayd ibn
\nHarithah, a slave, freed and adopted by the Prophet (pbuh).
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) began to leave Mecca with ‘An in order to pray.
\nOne day Abu Talib happened to pass by and when he saw them he
\nstopped and asked them what they were doing. The Prophet (pbuh) told
\nhim that they were praying and following the same religion as Abraham.
\nHe explained that, like Abraham, he had been ordered to guide the people
\nto Allah’s truth. Abu Talib looked at his son, ‘Ali, and said: ‘Muhammad
\n(pbuh) would never make you do anything that was wrong. Go with him.
\nBut I cannot leave the religion I now follow and which was followed
\nby my father.’ Then he turned to the Prophet (pbuh), saying, ‘Even so, I
\npromise you, Muhammad (pbuh), that no one will hurt you as long as I
\nam alive.’ And with that Abu Talib went on his way. At about this time
\nthe news of Muhammad (pbuh) being the Prophet reached an honest,
\nwise, and respected merchant of Mecca called Abu Bakr. He knew
\nMuhammad (pbuh) well and believed he could never lie, so he went to
\nfind out for himself if the story were true. The Prophet (pbuh) told him
\nthat he had indeed been sent by Allah to teach everyone to worship the
\none true Allah. On hearing this from the Prophet’s own lips Abu Bakr
\nknew it to be the truth and became a believer instantly. Later the Prophet
\n(pbuh) was reported to have said that everyone he ever invited to accept
\nIslam showed signs of disbelief and doubt, except Abu Bakr; when he
\nwas told of it he did not hold back or hesitate. Because of his wisdom,
\nhonesty, and kindness people had always turned to Abu Bakr for advice.
\nHe was, therefore, a man of some influence and through him many people
\ncame to Islam. Among these was Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas as, the uncle of
\nAminah, the Prophet’s mother. The night before Abu Bakr came to visit
\nhim and tell him about Islam, Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas dreamt that he was
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 26
\nwalking in darkness. As he walked he saw the moon and when he looked
\nat it he saw ‘Ali, Abu Bakr, and Zayd, the Prophet’s freed slave,
\nbeckoning to him to come and join them. When Abu Bakr told him about
\nthe Prophet’s religion, he understood the meaning of his dream and went
\nat once to the Prophet (pbuh) and declared himself a Muslim. He
\nunderstood that to be a Muslim means to submit oneself to Allah’s Will
\nand to serve only Him. Another person brought to Islam by Abu Bakr was
\nBilal. One night Abu Bakr went to the house of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, one
\nof the most important men of Quraysh. Umayyah was out and Abu Bakr
\nfound only Umayyah’s slave, Bilal, at home. Abu Bakr talked to the slave
\nabout Islam and before he left, Bilal, too, had become a Muslim. The
\nnumber of people following the Prophet (pbuh) began to grow.
\nSometimes they would all go out of the city to the mountains around
\nMecca to hear him recite the Qur’an and to be taught by him. This was all
\ndone very secretly and only a very few people knew about Islam in those
\nearly days.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 27
\nThe Troubles Begin
\nThree years passed and one day the Archangel Gabriel came to the
\nProphet (pbuh) and ordered him to start preaching openly to everyone. So
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) told the people of Mecca that he had something very
\nimportant to tell them. He stood on a hillside in Mecca, called Safa, and
\nthey gathered around to hear what he had to say. He started by asking
\nthem if they would believe him were he to say that an army was about to
\nattack them. They answered that indeed they would, because he never
\nlied. He then told them that he was the Messenger of Allah, sent to show
\nthem the right way, and to warn them of terrible punishments if they did
\nnot follow him in worshipping only Allah and none other. Abu Lahab,
\none of the Prophet’s uncles who was among the listeners, suddenly stood
\nup and said, ‘May you perish! Did you call us here just to tell us this?’ At
\nthis, Allah sent to the Prophet (pbuh) the following Surah:
\nIn the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful
\n\u201cThe Power of Abu Lahab will perish, and he will perish. His wealth
\nand gains will not save him. He shall roast at a flaming fire, And his wife,
\nthe carrier of firewood Will have upon her neck a rope of palm-fibre\u201d.
\n(Qur’an 111.1-5)
\nThen the crowd dispersed and the Prophet (pbuh) was left alone. A
\nfew days later the Prophet (pbuh) tried again. A feast was prepared in his
\nhouse for all of his uncles. After the meal he spoke to them and said, ‘O
\nsons of ‘Abd al-Muttalib! I know of no Arab who has come to his people
\nwith a better message than mine. I have brought you the best news for
\nthis life and the next. Allah has ordered me to call you to Him. So which
\nof you will help me?’ All the men kept silent. Then ‘Ali, his cousin,
\njumped up and said: ‘O Prophet of Allah! I will help you.’ Then the men
\nall got up and left, laughing as they went because only one young boy had
\nagreed to help the Prophet (pbuh).
\nHis message ignored by most of the people and his uncles, the Prophet
\n(pbuh) continued to meet his friends secretly in a house near the hill of
\nSafa. There they prayed together and he taught them about the religion of
\nIslam. But even though they kept to themselves, they were sometimes
\nabused by those who would not believe. From one such incident,
\nhowever, an unexpected conversion to Islam took place. One day, when
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) was returning home, speaking with his followers, he
\nmet Abu Jahl, a leader of Quraysh, who hated the Prophet (pbuh) and his
\nteachings. Abu Jahl started to insult him and to speak spitefully of Islam,
\nbut the Prophet (pbuh) made no reply and went on his way.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 28
\nLater, Hamzah, one of the Prophet’s uncles, who was a strong and
\nbrave warrior of whom people were quite afraid, heard how his nephew
\nhad been insulted. Filled with rage, he ran straight to the Ka’bah where
\nAbu Jahl was sitting among the people and struck him a violent blow in
\nthe face with his bow. Hamzah then shouted, ‘Will you insult him when I
\nfollow his religion, and I say what he says? Hit me back if you can!’
\nSome people got up to help Abu Jahl but he stopped them saying, ‘Leave
\nHamzah alone, for by Allah, I have insulted his nephew badly. ‘From that
\nmoment on Hamzah followed the teachings of the Prophet (pbuh) and
\nwith his conversion to Islam Quraysh realized that the Prophet (pbuh) had
\na strong supporter and so for a while they stopped persecuting him. Soon,
\nhowever, the leaders of Quraysh became angry again, when they saw that
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) was going ahead with his teaching. A group of them
\nwent to his uncle, Abu Talib, who had promised to protect him. They told
\nhim to ask the Prophet (pbuh) to stop attacking their gods and their way
\nof life, and in return they would let him do as he wished with his religion.
\nAfter a time they saw that there was no change, so they went back to
\nAbu Talib and this time they told him that if he did not stop his nephew,
\nthey would fight them both. Abu Talib was very upset by this quarrel
\namong his people, but he could not break his word to his nephew. He sent
\nfor the Prophet (pbuh) and told him what had happened, saying, ‘Spare
\nme and spare yourself; do not put a greater burden on me than I can bear.’
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) thought that his uncle might abandon him and that he
\nwould no longer have his support, but nevertheless he answered, ‘0 my
\nuncle, by Allah, if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my
\nleft in return for my giving up this cause, I would not give it up until
\nAllah makes Truth victorious, or I die in His service. Abu Talib was
\ndeeply moved by this answer. He told the Prophet (pbuh) that he would
\nsupport him for as long as he lived and encouraged him to go on
\nspreading Allah’s message. From that time on, however hard the leaders
\nof Quraysh tried to convince Abu Talib to stop protecting his nephew, he
\nalways refused to listen to them. In order to get rid of the Prophet (pbuh)
\nand his followers, his enemies started persecuting those Muslims who
\nwere poor or weak, or had no powerful friends. One such person was
\nBilal, the slave of Umayyah ibn Khalaf. His master would take him out
\ninto the desert, tie him up, and leave him in the sun with a large stone on
\nhis chest. Fortunately Abu Bakr was passing by one day and saw
\nUmayyah torturing Bilal, so he bought him from his master for a large
\nsum of money and then set him free. But not all persecuted Muslims were
\nas fortunate as Bilal. Many suffered, but all of them endured it patiently,
\nknowing that they were doing the right thing and that their reward in the
\nlife to come would be greater’ than any happiness they could find on
\nearth.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 29
\nThe King Who Believed
\nAs the number of the Prophet’s followers increased so the enemies of the
\nMuslims grew more and more angry. At last some of the Muslims
\ndecided to go to another country in order to live in peace. It was only five
\nyears since the Archangel Gabriel had first come to the Prophet (pbuh)
\nand two years since the Prophet (pbuh) had spoken out in public. The
\nMuslims asked the Prophet (pbuh) to allow them to leave Mecca. He
\nagreed, saying ‘It would be better for you to go to Abyssinia. The king
\nthere is a just man and it is a friendly country. Stay there until Allah
\nmakes it possible for you to return. The Muslims prepared for the
\njourney. They decided to wait until night so that they could leave without
\nbeing seen. The first sixteen left Mecca and, after reaching the shore of
\ndie Red Sea, crossed over to Abyssinia. Another eighty-three men and
\nnineteen women followed, all hoping to be welcomed by the king and
\npeople of that country. This was the first hijrah, or migration, in Islam.
\nThe Meccans were furious when they discovered that these Muslims
\nhad secretly left the city for among them were the sons and daughters of
\nmany of the leading families of Mecca. The anger of the Meccans was
\neven greater when they found out that the Muslims had been warmly
\nwelcomed in Abyssinia. The leaders of Quraysh decided to send two men
\nto the Abyssinian king in hopes of persuading him to send the Muslims
\nback. These were ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, a very clever speaker, and \u201eAbd Allah
\nibn abi Rabi\u201fah. Before they met this king, they gave each of his advisers
\na gift, saying: ‘Some foolish men from our people have come to hide in
\nyour country. Our leaders have sent us to your ruler to persuade him to
\nsend them back, so when we speak to the king about them, do advise him
\nto give them up to us.’ The advisers agreed to do what the Meccans
\nwished.
\nAmr ibn al-‘As and ‘Abd Allah ibn abi Rabi’ah then went to the king
\nand presented him also with a gift, saying: ‘Your Highness, these people
\nhave abandoned the religion we have always followed in Mecca, but they
\nhave not even become Christians like you.’ The royal advisers, who were
\nalso present, told the king that the Meccans had spoken the truth and that
\nhe should send the Muslims back to their own people. At this, the king
\nbecame angry and said, ‘No, by God, I will not give them up. Those who
\nhave come to ask for my protection, settled in my country, and chosen me
\nrather than others, shall not be betrayed. I will summon them and ask
\nthem about what these two men have said. If the Muslims are as the
\nMeccans say, I will give them up and send them back to their own people,
\nbut if the Meccans have lied I will protect the Muslims.’ ‘Amr was very
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 30
\nupset by this for the last thing he wanted was for the king to hear what the
\nMuslims had to say. The king then sent for the Muslims. When they
\nentered, they did not kneel before him as was the custom of the
\nAbyssinians. ‘Why do you not kneel before our king?’ they were asked by
\none of the advisors. ‘We kneel only to Allah’, they replied. So the king
\nasked them to tell him about their religion.
\nJa’far ibn abi Talib, Ali’s brother and a cousin of the Prophet (pbuh),
\nwas chosen to speak for the Muslims. He replied, ‘0 King, at first we were
\namong the ignorant. We and our ancestors had turned from the faith of
\nAbraham, who, with Ishmael, rebuilt the Ka\u201fbah and worshipped only
\nAllah. We used idols in our worship of Allah; we ate meat that had not
\nbeen killed in the right way; we did not respect the rights of our
\nneighbors; the strong took advantage of the weak. We did terrible things
\nof which I dare not speak. This was our life until Allah sent a Messenger
\nfrom among us, one of our relatives, whom we have always known to be
\nhonest, innocent, and faithful. He asked us to worship only Allah, and to
\ngive up the bad customs of our forefathers. He asked us to be truthful and
\ntrustworthy, to respect and help our neighbors, to honor our families, and
\nto put a stop to our bad deeds and endless fighting. He asked us to look
\nafter orphans. He ordered us not to slander or speak evil of women or
\nmen.
\nHe ordered us to worship Allah alone and not to worship anyone or
\nanything else alongside Him. He ordered us to pray, to give alms, and to
\nfast. We believe he is right and therefore we follow him and do as he has
\ncommanded us.
\nThe Meccans began to attack us and come between us and our
\nreligion. So we had to leave our homes and we have come to you, hoping
\nto find justice.’
\nThe king, who was a Christian, was moved by these words. \u201eAmr had
\nto think quickly of a way to win the argument. Cunningly he said to the
\nking, ‘These people do not believe in Jesus in the same way as you’. The
\nking then wanted to know what the Prophet (pbuh) had said about Jesus.
\nJa’far replied by reciting a Surah from the Qur’an which tells the story of
\nJesus and his mother Mary. These are a few of the lines he recited:
\nIn the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
\n\u201cAnd make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she had
\nWithdrawn from her people to an eastern place, And had chosen
\nseclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our spirit and it assumed for
\nher the likeness of a perfect man. She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 31
\nBeneficent One from thee, if Thou fearest God. He said: I am only a
\nmessenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son. She
\nsaid: How can I have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have
\nI been unchaste? He said: ‘Even so thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And
\n(it will be) that We may make of him revelation for mankind and a mercy
\nfrom Us, and it is a thing ordained. And she conceived him, and she
\nwithdrew with him to a far place. Then she brought him to her own folk,
\ncarrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an monstrous
\nthing. Oh sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy
\nmother a harlot. Then Mary pointed to the child (Jesus); But they said,
\n‘How can we speak to one who is still in the cradle, a young child?’ He
\nsaid, ‘Lo, I am Allah’s servant; He has given me the Book, and made me a
\nProphet.
\nHe has made me Blessed, wheresoever I may be; and He has enjoined
\nme to pray, and to give alms, so long as I live, and likewise to cherish my
\nmother; he has not made me arrogant, unblest Peace be upon me, the day
\nI was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!\u201d (Qur’an
\n19:16-33) . When the king heard this, his eyes filled with tears. Turning
\nto his advisers, he said, ‘These words have surely come from God; there is
\nvery little to separate the Muslims from the Christians. What both Jesus
\nand Muhammad, the Messengers of Allah, have brought comes from the
\nsame source.
\nSo the Muslims were given the king’s permission to live peacefully in
\nhis country. ‘Amr was given back the gift he had presented to the king
\nand the two Meccans returned home, bitterly disappointed.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 32
\nThe Cruelty of Quraysh
\nThe leaders of Quraysh became increasingly worried about the way the
\npeople of Mecca were being divided by the Prophet’s teachings. Finally,
\n\u201eUmar ibn al-Khattab, one of the nobles of Mecca, decided that the only
\nway to silence the Prophet (pbuh) was to kill him. Having made up his
\nmind, he set out at once to look for him. On his way he met a man who
\nsaw at once what \u201eUmar was going to do and said: ‘Why don’t you look a
\nlittle closer to home before going to kill Muhammad? Don’t you know
\nyour own sister Fatimah is a Muslim?’ ‘Umar was shocked. He could not
\nbelieve this was true. He went at once to his sister’s house. When he
\narrived outside the house he heard Fatimah and her husband Sa\u201fid reading
\naloud surah Ta Ha, a chapter from the Qur’an. Hearing her brother’s voice
\nat the door, Fatimah quickly hid the scroll with the surah written on it
\namong the folds of her dress. \u201eUmar stormed into the room and
\ndemanded, ‘What is this nonsense I heard?’ Fatimah denied everything.
\n\u201eUmar then lost his temper and attacked Fatimah’s husband shouting,
\n‘They tell me that you have joined Muhammad in his religion!’ Fatimah
\ntried to defend her husband and \u201eUmar hit her too. Then she admitted,
\n\u201eYes, we are Muslims and we believe in Allah and His Messenger and
\nyou can do what you like!’
\nSeeing her faith and courage, \u201eUmar suddenly felt sorry for what he
\nhad done and said to his sister, ‘Let me see what I heard you reading just
\nnow so that I may understand just what it is that your Prophet has
\nbrought. Fatimah gave the scroll to him after he had washed to make
\nhimself clean and pure before touching it, and had promised to give it
\nback to her afterwards.
\nIn the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
\n\u201cTa Ha We have not revealed unto thee (Muhammad) this Qur’an For
\nthee to be distressed, but only as a reminder Unto him who fears a
\nRevelation from Him who created the earth and the high heavens; the
\nBeneficent One Who is established on the Throne; To Him belongs
\nWhatsoever is in the heavens and the earth And all that is between them,
\nand All that is underneath the soil.
\nIf Thou speakest aloud Be thou loud in thy speech, yet Surely He
\nknows the secret (thought) And that yet more hidden. Allah There is no
\ngod but He To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names\u201d. (Qur’an 20: 1-8) .
\nAs he read, ‘Umar suddenly knew that these were the most beautiful
\nwords he had ever heard and that this religion must be the true one. With
\nhis sword still in hand, he went straight to the Prophet’s house and
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 33
\nknocked loudly at the door. One of the Prophet’s closest followers looked
\nout. There stood ‘Umar who was known for his courage and strength.
\nWhen he saw ‘Umar so excited and with his sword in hand, he was afraid
\nfor the Prophet’s life. But the Prophet (pbuh) asked him to allow ‘Umar to
\ncome in and to leave them alone together. The Prophet (pbuh) asked
\n‘Umar why he had come, to which he replied: ‘I have come to swear that
\nthere is no god but Allah and that you, Muhammad, are the Messenger of
\nAllah.’ As he spoke these words, his hand still held the sword with which
\nhe had intended to kill the Prophet (pbuh). This same sword’ would now
\nbe used to defend the Prophet (pbuh) and the faith of Islam. At that time,
\nwhenever Muslims wanted to perform the ritual encircling of the Ka’bah,
\nknown as tawaf they had to do it secretly and in fear. ‘Umar, however,
\nwas very courageous. As soon as he had declared his faith, he went
\ndirectly to the Ka’bah and in broad daylight made the circling of the
\nSacred House before the astonished people of Mecca. No one dared to
\nsay anything. But now the leaders of Quraysh became even more alarmed
\nand began to see Islam as a threat to the whole life of the city of Mecca.
\nThey grew more and more furious as the numbers of Muslims increased
\nuntil finally they, too, decided as ‘Umar once had, that the Prophet (pbuh)
\nwould have to be killed.
\nOn hearing of these plans, Abu Talib, the Prophet’s uncle,
\nimmediately sent a message to all the sons of ‘Abd al-Muttalib, asking
\nthem to protect their nephew, and this they agreed to do. When Quraysh
\nrealized that they could not kill the Prophet (pbuh) because of this
\nprotection, they decided instead to avoid him and his followers
\ncompletely. A declaration to this effect was hung at the Ka\u201fbah. It stated
\nthat no one in the city was allowed to have anything to do with the
\nProphet (pbuh) and his people, or even to sell them any food or drink
\nwhatsoever.
\nAt first the Muslims found some support among the Bani Hashim, the
\nbranch of Quraysh to which the Prophet (pbuh) belonged. Some of these
\npeople were not Muslims but showed loyalty to their kinsmen by
\nsuffering along with them. However, life grew more and more difficult
\nand food was scarce. The hatred of the rest of Quraysh for the followers
\nof the Prophet (pbuh) grew so great that when his companions tried to
\nbuy supplies from a caravan passing near to Mecca, Abu Lahab, one of
\nthe Muslims’ worst enemies, offered ten times the price of the goods to
\nthe merchant. By doing this he managed to stop the Muslims, from
\nbuying what they desperately needed. During the years of this terrible
\ntreatment, a wonderful thing happened. Instead Of Islam becoming
\nweaker, it grew stronger. Allah sent more and more Revelations. It was as
\nthough the Muslims were being strengthened and cleansed by the
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 34
\nhardships they suffered and were being tested in their faith. Each year at
\nthe time of the pilgrimage to Mecca, people tame from all over Arabia.
\nThese pilgrims saw the terrible cruelty and injustice of Quraysh towards
\nthe Muslims, and many of them were sorry for the Prophet’s followers.
\nQuraysh began to feel ashamed of their harsh treatment, especially as
\nmany of the Muslims were their cousins and close relatives. Finally, at
\nthe end of three years, they were convinced that the time had come to put
\nan end to the persecution of the Muslims, and they decided to take down
\nthe notice hanging at the Ka\u201fbah. To their astonishment, the sheet of
\npaper had been completely eaten up by worms, all except the words, ‘In
\nYour Name, O Allah’, which had been written at the top of the paper.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 35
\nThe Year of Sorrow
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) and his followers went back to a normal way of life
\nbut the years of hardship had made Khadijah very weak. She became ill
\nand soon afterwards she died. Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) lost his beloved
\nwife and friend, the first person to accept Islam and support him. She had
\nbeen a refuge from all his troubles and, through her good-heartedness, the
\nbest company in his suffering. He had loved her very much. This
\nhappened in 619 A.D., the year which became known as the ‘Year of
\nSorrow’. Soon after this, the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle and protector,
\nAbu Talib, also died. Abu Talib had been one of the most respected men
\nin Mecca-one of the elders of Quraysh. Even though he had never been a
\nfollower of Islam, he had protected the Prophet (pbuh) against his
\nenemies. Not only was this a sad occasion for the Prophet (pbuh) but also
\na dangerous one. According to Arab custom anyone who is under the
\nprotection of another is safe so long as his protector lives. Now, with the
\ndeath of his uncle, the Prophet’s protection was gone.
\nThe Prophet’s enemies rejoiced to see him so sad, without a wife to
\nconsole and comfort him, and without his uncle to protect him. They
\nbegan to treat him worse than ever before. Even small children insulted
\nhim. One young man actually threw some filth on the Prophet’s head, but
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) went home without making anything of it. When one
\nof his daughters rushed, weeping, to wash it away, he comforted her
\nsaying, ‘Do not weep my little girl, for Allah will protect your father.’
\nAbu Talib had been the Prophet’s last tie with Quraysh and the Prophet
\n(pbuh) now felt that Islam could make no further progress in Mecca
\nbecause the hearts of Quraysh were closed against him. He decided,
\ntherefore, to travel to Ta’if where he hoped to find support. He walked all
\nthe way to the town, which was seventy kilometers away. There he spoke
\nin all the places where people gathered, but no one listened to him. He
\nmet the leaders of the three most important tribes but they would not
\nlisten either. Not only did they take no notice of what he said, but they
\nlaughed at him and ordered their slaves to insult him and pelt him with
\nstones.
\nSadly, the Prophet (pbuh) left the city and found a quiet place near a
\nwall on the edge of town where he could be alone. There he prayed to
\nAllah in these words: \u201c O Allah, to Thee I complain of my weakness,
\nhelplessness and lowliness before men. 0 Most Merciful, Thou art the
\nLord of the weak, and Thou art my Lord. To whom wouldst Thou leave
\nmy fate? To a stranger who insults me or to an enemy to whom Thou hast
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 36
\ngiven power over me? If Thou art not angry with me, I care not what
\nhappens to me. Thy favor alone is my objective. I take refuge in the Light
\nof Thy countenance by which the darkness is illumined and on which this
\nworld and the other depend, lest Thy anger descend upon me or Thy
\nwrath light upon me. It is for Thee to be satisfied until Thou art well
\npleased. There is no power and no might save through Thee.\u201d The wall
\nnear which the Prophet (pbuh) was sitting belonged to a garden owned by
\ntwo brothers. When they heard his prayer, they were very sorry for him
\nand sent one of their slaves to him with a dish filled with grapes. Before
\nhe began to eat, the Prophet (pbuh) said ‘Bismillah’-‘In the Name of
\nAllah.’ The servant, whose name was \u201eAddas, was very surprised at these
\nwords, which he had never heard before. ‘By Allah’, said \u201eAddas, ‘this is
\nnot the way the people of this country speak.’ ‘Then from what country do
\nyou come, ‘Addas, and what is your religion?’ asked the Prophet (pbuh). ‘I
\nam a Christian from the Assyrian town of Nineveh’, he replied. ‘From the
\ntown of that good man Jonah, son of Matta’, added the Prophet ‘How do
\nyou know about him?’ asked \u201eAddas. ‘He is my brother-he was a Prophet
\nand I am a Prophet’, answered the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). \u201eAddas
\nbent down and kissed the Prophet’s head, his hands and his feet, because
\nnow he saw that he was truly a Prophet. The Prophet (pbuh) then walked
\nback to Mecca. He was now able to put up with everything patiently for
\nhe knew that Allah would never leave him. His journey to Ta’if had not
\nbeen in vain for \u201eAddas, the Christian, had become a Muslim, and this
\nwas to he the beginning of great changes.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 37
\nThe Night Journey And The Ascent To Heaven
\nOne night as the Prophet (pbuh) lay sleeping in the same spot where ‘Abd
\nal-Muttalib used to sleep, next to the Ka\u201fbah, he was woken by the
\nArchangel Gabriel. Later the Prophet (pbuh) described what happened: ‘I
\nsat up and he took hold of my arm. I stood beside him and he brought me
\nto the door of the mosque where there was a white animal for me to ride.’
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) told of how he mounted the animal and, with the
\nArchangel Gabriel at his side, was transported from Mecca to the mosque
\ncalled al-Aqsa, in far away Jerusalem. There the Prophet (pbuh) found
\nAbraham, Moses, and Jesus among a group of Prophets. The Prophet
\nMuhammad (pbuh) acted as their leader, or imam, in prayer. Then he was
\nbrought two jugs, one containing wine and the other milk. He chose the
\nmilk and refused the wine. At this, the Archangel Gabriel said, ‘You have
\nbeen rightly guided to the fitrah, the true nature of man, and so will your
\npeople be, Muhammad. Wine is forbidden to you. The Prophet (pbuh)
\nalso related how they passed through Heaven’s gates and saw countless
\nangels. Among them was Malik, the Keeper of Hell, who never smiles.
\nMalik stepped forward and showed the Prophet (pbuh) a view of Hell and
\nthe terrible plight of those who suffer in that place. Then the Prophet
\n(pbuh) was taken up by the angels, through the seven Heavens, one by
\none Along the way he again saw Jesus, Moses, and Abraham, and the
\nProphet (pbuh) said that he had never seen a man more like himself than
\nAbraham. He also saw John, called Yahya in Arabic, Joseph or Yusef,
\nEnoch, that is Idris, and Aaron. At last he reached the Lote Tree of the
\nUttermost, the sidrat al-muntaha where no Prophet had been before. Here
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) received Revelation of what Muslims believe.
\n\u201cThe Messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him
\nfrom his Lord and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah and
\nHis Angels and His Books and His Messengers-We make no distinction
\nbetween any of His messengers-and they say: We hear, and we obey.
\nGrant us Thy forgiveness, our Lord. Unto Thee is the homecoming\u201d.
\n(Qur’an 2.285) , Then he was taken into the Light of the Divine Presence
\nof Allah, and was instructed that Muslims should pray fifty times a day.
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) recalled: \u201c On my way back I passed by Moses and
\nwhat a good friend to you he was! He asked me how many prayers had I
\nbeen ordained to perform. When I told him fifty, he said, ‘Prayer is a
\nserious matter and your people are weak, so go back to your Lord and ask
\nHim to reduce the number for you and your community.’ I did so and He
\ntook away ten. Again I passed by Moses and he said the same again; and
\nso it went on until only five prayers for the whole day and night were left.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 38
\nMoses again gave me the same advice. I replied that I had been back to
\nmy Lord and asked him to reduce the number until I was ashamed, and I
\nwould not do it again. He of you who performs the five prayers faithfully,
\nwill have the reward of fifty prayers.
\nOn the morning following these events and the Prophet’s return to
\nMecca, he told Quraysh what had happened. Most of them said, ‘By God!
\nThis is ridiculous! A caravan takes a month to go to Syria and a month to
\nreturn! Can you do that long journey in a single night?’ Even many
\nMuslims were amazed by this and wanted the Prophet (pbuh) to explain.
\nSome ran with the news to Abu Bakr who said, ‘By Allah, if Muhammad
\n(pbuh) himself has said so, then it is true. Remember, the Prophet tells us
\nthat the word of Allah comes to him directly from heaven to earth at any
\nhour by day or night, and we believe him.
\nIsn’t that a greater miracle than what you are now doubting?’ Then
\nAbu Bakr went to the mosque and listened to the Prophet’s detailed
\ndescription of Jerusalem. He commented, ‘You tell the truth, 0 Prophet of
\nAllah!’ From then on, Abu Bakr was honored with the title ‘al-Siddiq\u201f,
\nwhich means ‘he who gives his word to support the truth’. Others also
\nbegan to believe the Prophet’s story when he went on to describe two
\ncaravans he had seen on his way back to Mecca. He told the doubters
\nwhere he had seen the caravans, what they were carrying and when they
\nwould arrive in Mecca. All that the Prophet (pbuh) had said was born out
\nwhen the caravans arrived at the time he said they would, carrying all that
\nhe had described.
\n\u201cGlory be to Him, who carried His servant by night from the Holy
\nMosque to the Far distant place of worship, the Neighborhood which We
\nhave blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs, He, only He is
\nthe All-hearing, the All-seeing\u201d. (Qur’an 17:1)
\nBy the Star when it setteth, Your comrade is not astray, neither
\ndeceived, Nor does he speak of his (own) desire. This is naught but a
\nrevelation revealed, Taught him by one mighty in power, very strong; he
\nstood poised, being on the uppermost horizon, Then drew near and came
\ndown, two bows’-length away, or nearer, Then revealed to His servant
\nthat which He revealed. His heart lies not of what he saw; What, will you
\nthen dispute with him what he sees? Indeed, he saw him yet another time
\nBy the Lote- Tree of the utmost Boundary Near which is the Garden of
\nAbode When there covered the Lote- Tree that which covered; his eye
\nturne not aside, nor yet was overbold. Verily, he saw one of the greatest
\nsigns of his Lord.(Qur’an 53:1-18)
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 39
\nThe Treaty of \u2018Aqabah
\nIn Yathrib there were two main tribes, the Aws and the
\nKhazraj. Both were very powerful, they were always at war with one
\nanother, and both worshipped idols. Also in Yathrib were many Jews
\nwho, unlike the Arab at that time, knew that there was only One God, and
\nworshipped Him. They had told the Arabs many times that a Prophet
\nwould be coming to them. The time came for the pilgrimage to the
\nKa\u201fbah, and several people from Yathrib were going, among them six
\nmen from the tribe of Khazraj. They had heard about the Prophet
\nMohammed\u201fs preaching and thought that must be the Prophet the Jews
\nhad told them about. So they decided to go speak to him during their stay
\nin Mecca. They met the Prophet (pbuh) at a spot known as \u201eAqabah, near
\nMecca, and invited them to sit with him. He explained to them what
\nIslam meant recited to them from the Qur’an. When they heard the Qur’an
\nrecited touched their hearts so deeply that they became Muslims and on
\nleaving Mecca they promised to return the following year. When they
\nreached Yathrib carrying Islam in their hearts, they told their relatives and
\nfriends what they had heard from the Prophet (pbuh) and many more
\npeople became Muslims.
\nA year passed and the pilgrimage season came around again. Twelve
\nimportant men from Yathrib went to Mecca to meet the Prophet (pbuh)
\nand promised faithfully to serve him and Islam. In return, the Prophet
\n(pbuh) sent one of his friends, Mus\u201fab ibn ‘Umayr, with them to teach the
\nQur’an and instruct them in their new religion. Another year passed and
\nstill more Muslims came from Yathrib to Mecca for the pilgrimage. On
\nthis occasion a secret meeting with the Prophet (pbuh) was arranged to be
\nheld at night. Seventy-three men and one woman from Yathrib came, and
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) arrived with his uncle, al-\u201eAbbas. During this meeting
\nthe men from Yathrib offered to protect and defend the Prophet (pbuh)
\nand his followers if they would come to live in Yathrib. This promise of
\nprotection came to be known as the Treaty of \u201eAqabah.
\nThe treaty was most fortunate for even though Islam was growing in
\nYathrib, the Muslims in Mecca were still suffering. The Prophet (pbuh)
\ntherefore told his friends and followers to go to Yathrib where they would
\nbe safe, and most of them took this opportunity to leave. Despite all this
\nsuffering the Prophet (pbuh) was not allowed to fight his enemies, for
\nAllah had told him to forgive those who insulted him or would not listen
\nto his message. But the Quraysh had closed their minds so utterly to the
\nword of Allah, and grew so hard-hearted towards the Prophet (pbuh)and
\nhis followers, that Allah gave permission to the Prophet (pbuh) to fight
\nthose who tried to harm him or his companions.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 40
\n\u201cPermission is given unto those who fight because they have been
\nwronged; And Allah is surely able to give them victory; Those who have
\nbeen driven from their homes unjustly only because they said: Our Lord
\nis Allah\u201d.(Qur’an 22.39-40)
\nQuraysh began to fear the Prophet (pbuh) for they realised that he was
\nnow strong enough to fight them and had been given leave to do so by
\nAllah. They also knew that he now had the people of Yathrib to help and
\nprotect him.
\nSeeing that the Muslims were leaving the city, they decided to kill the
\nProphet (pbuh), before he, too, left Mecca to join his followers in Yathrib.
\nIn this way they hoped to put an end to Islam once and for all.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 41
\nAl-Hijrah
\nThe Breaking of All Connections with One’s Home, for the Sake of Allah
\nAlone. After his companions had left for Yathrib, the Prophet (pbuh)
\nstayed in Mecca, waiting for permission from Allah to leave the city. Abu
\nBakr and Ali stayed with him. There were also some Muslims whom
\nQuraysh had not allowed to leave. Abu Bakr kept asking the Prophet
\n(pbuh) to allow him to go to Yathrib, but the Messenger of Allah (pbuh)
\nkept saying, ‘Do not be in a hurry; it might be that Allah will give you a
\ntravelling companion.’ The leaders of Quraysh assembled in the house of
\ntheir ancestor, Qusayy, as was customary when they had an important
\ndecision to make. They had to find a way of getting rid of the Prophet
\nMuhammad (pbuh), before he was able to join his friends in Yathrib. As
\nthey were busy arguing, the Devil appeared at the door in the form of a
\nnoble and handsome old man. When they saw this elderly gentleman
\nstanding there, they asked him who he was. He said he was a Shaikh from
\nthe mountains who had heard what they meant to do and thought he
\nmight be able to help or advise them. They thought he looked like a wise
\nman, so they invited him in.
\nEach leader then started to put forward ideas about what should be
\ndone, but none of them could agree about which was best, until AbuJahl
\ntold them his plan. This was that each clan should provide a strong,
\nyoung warrior, each of whom would be given a sword. All the young
\nwarriors would then wait outside the Prophet’s house and together attack
\nhim as he came out. In this way they would be rid of him but as the blame
\nfor killing him would fall on all the clans, the Prophet’s family would not
\nbe able to seek revenge.
\nWhen he heard this, the Devil in the disguise of the old man, said,
\n‘That man is right; in my opinion it is the only thing to do!’ The leaders of
\nQuraysh then left to carry out their plan to murder the Prophet (pbuh).
\n\u201cAnd when the unbelievers plot against thee, to confine thee, or kill
\nthee, or to drive thee out, they were plotting, But Allah was (also)
\nplotting; and Allah is the best of plotters\u201d. (Qur’an 8.30)
\nBefore the night fell, on which Muhammad (pbuh) was to be killed,
\nthe Archangel Gabriel came to him and said, ‘Do not sleep tonight in your
\nown bed.’ The Prophet (pbuh) understood what was going to happen, so
\nhe told \u201eAli to lie in his bed and wrap himself in the blanket that the
\nProphet (pbuh) normally used, promising that no harm would befall
\nhim.With the coming of darkness the young men of Quraysh had gathered
\noutside the Prophet’s house, waiting for him to come out. After he had
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 42
\nmade sure that ‘Ali was safe, the Prophet (pbuh) left the house. At that
\nvery moment Allah took away the sight of the warriors so that they could
\nnot see the Prophet (pbuh), who took a handful of dust, sprinkled it on
\ntheir heads and recited these verses:
\nIn the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
\n\u201cYa Sin By the Wise Qur’an, Thou art truly among those sent On the
\nstraight path; A Revelation of the All-mighty, the All-wise, That thou
\nmay warn a people whose fathers were never warned, so they are
\nheedless. The Word has already proved true of most of them, yet they do
\nnot believe. Lo! We have put on their necks collars of iron up to the chin,
\nso that they are made stiff-necked. and We have put before them a
\nbarrier; and We have covered them so they do not see\u201d.(Qur’an 36.1-9)
\nThe young men waited the whole night and were furious when, in the
\nmorning, they saw \u201eAli instead of the Prophet (pbuh) coming out of the
\nhouse. I They realised that their plan had failed completely. In the
\nmeantime, the Prophet (pbuh) went to Abu Bakr’s house and told him,
\n‘Allah has told me that now is the time for us to leave Mecca.’ ‘Together?’
\nasked Abu Bakr. ‘Together’, the Prophet (pbuh) replied. Abu Bakr wept
\nfor joy, because now he knew that the travelling companion he had been
\npromised was the Prophet (pbuh) himself.
\nThen he said,’O Messenger of Allah, these are the two camels which I
\nhave kept ready for this.’ And so, the two of them left for a cave in
\nThawr, a mountain to the south of Mecca where they intended to hide.
\nWhen they were out of the city the Prophet (pbuh) looked back and
\nsaid, ‘Of all Allah’s earth, you are the dearest place to Allah and to me and
\nif my people had not driven me out I would never have left you.’
\nWhen Quraysh found out that the Prophet (pbuh) and his companion
\nhad gone, they set out after them, searching in every direction. Three days
\nlater they finally reached the cave where the Prophet (pbuh) and Abu
\nBakr were hiding, but a strange and wonderful thing had happened. A
\nspider had woven its web right across the entrance to the cave and a dove
\nwas nesting with her mate nearby. As the Meccans stood in front of the
\ncave, with only the spider’s web separating them from the fugitives, Abu
\nBakr began to fear for their safety. He whispered to the Prophet (pbuh),
\nthey are very close. If one of them turns we will be seen.’ But he was
\ncomforted by the Prophet’s reply: \u201cWhat do you think of two who have
\nwith them Allah as their third? ‘Grieve not, for verily Allah is with us\u201d.
\n(Qur’an 9.40) . After a few moments the search parry decided that no one
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 43
\ncould have entered the cave recently, or the spider’s web would not have
\nbeen complete and the dove would not have nested there, and so they left
\nwithout searching inside. Three days later the Prophet (pbuh) and Abu
\nBakr thought it safe to leave the cave. Abu Bakr’s son, ‘Amir, had
\narranged for three camels and a guide to help them continue their journey
\nto Yathrib. ‘Amir would ride behind his father. The leaders of Quraysh,
\nmeanwhile, returned to Mecca and offered a reward of one hundred
\ncamels to whoever captured the Prophet (pbuh). Among those who went
\nin search of him was a famous warrior. He was, in fact, the only one to
\ncatch up with him, but whenever he came close, his horse would suddenly
\nsink up to its knees in the sand. When this had happened three times, he
\nunderstood that the Prophet (pbuh) was protected by a power stronger
\nthan anything he had known, and so he went back to Mecca. On arriving
\nthere he warned everyone against continuing the search, relating what had
\nhappened to him.
\n\u201cIf you do not help him, still Allah has helped him already, When the
\nunbelievers drove him forth, (he second of two, When the two were in the
\nCave, when he said to his companion, “Grieve not; surely Allah is with
\nus.” Then Allah caused His peace and Reassurance to descend upon him,
\nAnd helped him with hosts you cannot see, And He made the word of the
\nunbelievers the lowest; While Allah’s word is the uppermost; Allah is Allmighty, All-wise\u201d. (Qur’an 9.40)
\nThe Prophet’s journey from Mecca is called the hijrah, or migration. It
\nwas really the first step towards the spread of Islam throughout the entire
\nworld, and Muslims begin their calendar from the year of the hijrah
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 44
\nArrival In Yathrib
\nWhen the people of Yathrib heard that the Prophet (pbuh) had left Mecca
\nand was on his way to their city, they anxiously awaited his arrival. Each
\nmorning they would go to the edge of the city to see if he were coming.
\nFinally, on Monday, September 27, in the year 622 A.D., someone saw
\nhim in the distance and shouted to everyone, ‘Here is Muhammad! (pbuh)
\nthe Messenger of Allah has arrived!’ All the Muslims went out to greet
\nhim, shouting, \u201cAllahu Akbar\u201d! Allah is Great! Muhammad the
\nMessenger of Allah has arrived!’ The women and children sang songs to
\nshow how glad they were to see him. The Prophet (pbuh) entered the city
\nwith his friend Abu Bakr. Most of The people there had not seen him
\nbefore and as they gathered around they did not know which of the two
\nwas the Prophet (pbuh), until Abu Bakr got up to shield him with his
\ncloak from the burning sun. Yathrib would now be Called al-Medina,
\nwhich means, The City.
\nThe Messenger of God (pbuh) stayed in Quba’, which is a place at the
\nentrance of Medina, for three days. On the first Friday after his arrival the
\nProphet led the congregation in prayer. After this many of the wealthiest
\nmen invited him to come and live with them and share their riches. But he
\nrefused and, pointing to his she-camel, Qaswa’, said, ‘Let her go her way’,
\nbecause he knew that his camel was under Allah’s command and would
\nguide him to the spot where he should stay. They let the camel go until
\nshe finally knelt down beside a house belonging to the Bani an-Najjar, the
\ntribe to whom the Prophet’s mother was related. This house was used as a
\ndrying-place for dates and belonged to two young orphan boys named
\nSahl and Suhayl. They offered to give it to the Prophet (pbuh) but he
\ninsisted on paying them for it, and so their guardian, As\u201fad the son of
\nZurarah, who was present, made the necessary arrangements.
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) ordered that a mosque and a place for him to live
\nbe built on the site. All the Muslims worked together to finish it quicklyeven the Prophet (pbuh) joined in. It was here that the Muslims would
\npray and meet to make important decisions and plans. The building was
\nquite plain and simple. The floor was beaten earth and the roof of palm
\nleaves was held up by tree trunks. Two Stones marked the direction of
\nprayer. At first worshippers faced Jerusalem, but Soon after the direction
\nof prayer was changed towards the Ka\u201fbah in Mecca.
\nAfter the building of the mosque, the Prophet (pbuh) wanted to
\nstrengthen the relationship between the people called the Muhajirah or
\nEmigrants, who had left Mecca with him, and the people of Medina, who
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 45
\nwere known as the Ansar, or Helpers. Each man from Medinah took as
\nhis brother a man from Mecca, sharing everything with him and treating
\nhim as a member of his own family. This was the beginning of the
\nIslamic brotherhood. In the early days of Islam, the times for prayer were
\nnot announced and So the Muslims would come to the mosque and wait
\nfor the prayer so as not to miss it. The Prophet (pbuh) wondered how to
\ntell the people that it was time for prayers. He discussed it with his
\nfriends, and at first two ideas were put forward; that of blowing a horn as
\nthe Jews did, and that of using a wooden clapper like the Christians.
\nThen a man called \u201eAbd Allah ibn Zayd came to the Prophet (pbuh)
\nand told him he had had a dream in which he had seen a man dressed all
\nin green, holding a wooden clapper. He had said to the man, ‘Would you
\nsell me your clapper in order to call the people to prayer?’ The man had
\nreplied, ‘A better way to call the people to prayer is to Say: “Allahu
\nAkbar, Allah is Most Great!” four times, followed by “I bear witness that
\nthere is no divinity but Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the
\nMessenger of Allah, Come to prayer, come to prayer, Come to salvation,
\ncome to salvation. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar! There is no divinity but
\nAllah!”‘
\nWhen the Prophet (pbuh) heard this, he said it was a true vision from
\nAllah. He sent for Bilal, who had a beautiful, strong voice, and ordered
\nhim to call the people to prayer in just this way. Bilal did so and soon
\nafter ‘Umar came out of his house and told the Prophet (pbuh) that he had
\nseen exactly the same vision himself.
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) replied, ‘Allah be praised for that.’ The adhan, or
\ncall to prayer, which came to ‘Abd Allah ibn Zayd in his dream and was
\nperformed by Bilal on the instruction of the Prophet (pbuh), is the one we
\nstill hear today being called from the minarets of mosques all over the
\nworld.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 46
\nThe Battle Of Badr
\nThe Muslims who had gone to Medinah, had left all their belongings
\nbehind in Mecca and these had been taken by their enemies. Thus, when
\nthe Muslims heard that Abu Sufyan, one of the leaders of Quraysh, was
\non his way back to Mecca from Syria with a large caravan of goods, they
\ndecided that the time had come for them to retrieve some of their losses.
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) gave the Muslims permission for this attack and
\neveryone began to get ready for the raid, for it had been revealed:
\n\u201cPermission to fight is given unto those who fight because they have
\nbeen wronged; and Allah is surely able to give them victory\u201d (Qur’an
\n22.39)
\n\u201cThe Revelation had mentioned that a thing most serious with Allah
\nwas to turn (men) from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in Him and in
\nthe Holy Mosque, and to drive his people from there\u2026for persecution is
\nworse than killing\u201d. (Qur’an 2.217)
\nThe retrieval of their goods, however, was not their only reason for
\nwanting to attack the caravan. The Muslims did not think they should
\nsimply remain safely in Medinah; they wanted to spread the message of
\nIslam. They thus felt that if Quraysh wanted freedom to trade in safety,
\nthen the Muslims must also have freedom to believe in Allah, to follow
\nHis Messenger (pbuh), and spread His Word. It was, therefore, thought
\nthat the best, and only way to get Quraysh to understand this was to
\nattack what was most important to them-a caravan.
\nAbu Sufyan, in the meantime, heard about the Muslims’ plan and
\nquickly sent a message to Quraysh in Mecca, telling them that the
\ncaravan was in danger and asking for help. As a result nearly all Quraysh
\ncame out to help him defend the caravan. There were a thousand men and
\ntwo hundred horses. The women also went along to cheer the men on
\nwith their singing. Unaware of this, the Prophet (pbuh) set out with his
\nfollowers. It was the month of Ramadan and the Muslims were fasting.
\nThere were only three hundred and five of them, most of them Ansar,
\nmen from Medinah. With them they had three horses and seventy camels,
\non which they rode in turns.
\nThey arrived in the area of Badr, some distance from Medinah where
\nthey made camp and waited for news of the caravan. Then they heard that
\nQuraysh had set out from Mecca with a strong army. The situation had
\nsuddenly changed. They were no longer going to make a raid on a
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 47
\ncaravan-they were going to have to fight Quraysh. The Prophet (pbuh)
\ngathered his men around him to find out what they wanted to do. First
\nAbu Bakr, and then \u201eUmar, spoke for the Muslims who had come from
\nMecca. They said they would obey the Prophet (pbuh). But the Prophet
\n(pbuh) wanted to hear the opinion of the Ansar, because he did not want
\nto force them into doing something they did not want to do. Sa\u201fd Ibn
\nMu\u201fadh, one of the leaders of the Ansar, got up and said, we believe in
\nyou and we swear before all men that what you have brought is the truth.
\nWe have given you our word and agreement to hear and obey. So go
\nwhere you wish, we are with you even if you should lead us into the sea!
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) was greatly encouraged by these words and so it
\nwas agreed to fight. Abu Sufyan learned where the Muslims were
\ncamped. He changed the course of the caravan and quickly took it out of
\ntheir reach. He then sent word to Quraysh telling them that the caravan
\nwas safe and that they should return to Mecca. But the leaders of Quraysh
\nwere proud and stubborn men. They refused to return as they had made
\nup their minds to show everyone how powerful they were by destroying
\nthe Muslims.Now there was a wadi, or valley, at Badr, with wells on the
\nside nearest Medina, and it was here that the Muslims took up position
\nfacing the valley with the wells behind them.
\nQuraysh meanwhile placed themselves on the other side of the valley.
\nThe Muslims then dug a reservoir, filled it with water from one of the
\nwells, and made a barrier around it. Then they stopped up the wells. In
\nthis way the Muslims had enough drinking water for themselves, while
\nthe Meccans would have to cross the valley and fight the Muslims in
\norder to get water. The night before the battle, while the Muslims slept
\npeacefully, a heavy rain fell.
\n\u201cWhen He made the slumber fall upon you as a reassurance from
\nHim and sent down water from the sky upon you, in order that He might
\npurify you, and remove from you the fear of Satan, and strengthen your
\nhearts and make firm (your) fret thereby\u201d. (Qur’an 8.11) On the morning
\nof Friday, the 17th of Ramadan, 2 A.H., (March 17th, AD), the two
\narmies advanced and drew closer to one another. The rain been heavier
\non the side of Quraysh, making the ground soft and difficult. On the side
\nof the Muslims, however, the rain had backed the sand down hard,
\nmaking it easy for them to march. The Prophet (pbuh) preferred the men
\nto fight in ranks. As they prepared to march he noticed someone had
\nstepped out in front of the others.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 48
\nThe Prophet (pbuh)prodded him in the side with an arrow, saying,
\n‘Stand in line!’ The man, Sawad, exclaimed, ‘You have hurt me, O
\nMessenger of Allah! Allah has sent you to be just and good.’ Prophet
\n(pbuh) lifted his shirt and said, ‘Then do the same to me. The man
\napproached and kissed him on the spot instead, saying, ‘0 Messenger of
\nAllah, you see what is before us and I may not survive the battle. If this is
\nmy last time with you, I want the last thing I do in life to be this.’Shortly
\nafter he went into battle, Sawad died a martyr. Having examined the
\nranks, the Prophet (pbuh) then went to a shelter made of palm branches
\nfrom which he could command the battle. Abu Bakr stayed with him,
\nwhile Sa\u201fd ibn Mu’adh, with several of the Ansar, stood outside guarding
\nthe hut. When the Prophet (pbuh) saw the enormous Quraysh army
\ndescending the hill into the valley, with all their banners and drums, he
\nbegan to pray for the help which Allah had promised him. These were
\nsome of his words. ‘0 Allah, here come Quraysh full of vanity and pride,
\nwho oppose Thee and call Thy Messenger a liar. O Allah, if this little
\nband (the Muslims) perishes today, there will be none left in the land to
\nworship Thee.’
\n\u201cWhen ye sought help of your Lord and He answered you (saying): I
\nwill help you with a thousand of the angels, rank on rank. Allah
\nappointed it only as good tidings, and that your hearts might thereby be at
\nease. Victory cometh only by the help of Allah. Lo! Allah is Mighty,
\nWise\u201d. (Qur’an 8. 9-10)
\nAt first the battle began in single combat when one of Quraysh swore
\nthat he would drink from the Muslims’ reservoir and then destroy it, or
\ndie in the attempt. Hamzah, the Prophet’s uncle, came forward to face him
\nand killed him. Three of the most important men of Quraysh then stepped
\nforward and gave out a challenge for single combat. The Prophet (pbuh)
\nsent out ‘Ali, Hamzah, and \u201eUbaydah ibn al-Harith, to face them. It was
\nnot long before Hamzah and \u201eAli had killed their opponents.
\nAs for ‘Ubaydah, he had wounded his enemy but was wounded
\nhimself, and so his two companions killed the wounded Meccan and
\ncarried ‘Ubaydah back to the safety of the Muslim ranks. After this, the
\ntwo armies attacked each other and fighting broke out all around. The sky
\nwas filled with arrows. The Muslim army held its ground against the
\ngreat army of Quraysh and even though the Muslims were much fewer in
\nnumber, they gained a great victory, destroying the Meccan army and
\nkilling most of its leaders. Among the leading Meccans who died were
\nAbu Jahl and Umayyah ibn Khalaf, who was killed by his former slave,
\nBilal. Seeing that their leaders were nearly all dead, the remainder of
\nQuraysh retreated. The Prophet (pbuh) sent word to Medinahto tell them
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 49
\nof the victory. He then gathered up the spoils of war and divided them
\nequally among the Muslims. Some of the Meccans had been taken
\nprisoner and the Prophet (pbuh) gave orders that they should be treated
\nwell until their relatives from among Quraysh came to fetch them.
\n\u201cYe (Muslims) did not slay them, but Allah slew them and thou
\n(Muhammad) threwest not when thou didst throw, but Allah threw, so
\nthat He might test the believers by a fair test from Him. Lo! Allah is Allhearing, All-Knowing\u201d. (Qur’an 8.17)
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 50
\nUhud-Defeat Comes From Disobedience
\nWhen the survivors of the defeated Quraysh at Badr to Mecca gathered
\nto speak with Abu Sufyan. They said, ‘Muhammad has best men, so help
\nus to fight him so that we may avenge those we have lost.’ In order to do
\nthis it was agreed that everyone who had had a share in the caravan
\nshould put his profits towards the cost of a new army, which would be
\nthree times as big as the one at Badr. Among those who joined the new
\narmy was an Abyssinian slave called Wahshi; who was known for his
\naccuracy with the spear. His master, Jubayr ibn al-Mut\u201fim, said to him,
\n‘Go with the army and if you kill Hamzah, the uncle of Muhammad, in
\nrevenge for my uncle’s death, I will set you free when Hind, Abu Sufyan’s
\nwife, heard about this she sent a Wahshi to say that she would clothe him
\nin gold and silk if he would carry out his master’s wish, for she, too,
\nwanted Hamzah dead because he had both her father and brother.
\nWhile the Meccans made their plans, the Prophet’s uncle, \u201eAbbas, one
\nthe few Muslims still living in Mecca, sent a letter of warning to the
\nProphet (pbuh) in Medina. He told him that Quraysh were setting out
\nwith a huge arm for Uhud, a place just outside Medina. On receiving this
\ntimely warning the Prophet (pbuh) gathered his companions around him
\nto discuss what they should do. He thought it would be better to wait for
\nthe enemy inside city rather than go out to meet them, because it would
\nbe easier to defend Medinahfrom inside the city walls. But the young
\nMuslims were go out and face Quraysh. They said, ‘0 Prophet of Allah,
\nlead us out against our enemies, or else they will think we are too
\ncowardly and too weak to fight them.’ One of the rulers of Medina, \u201eAbd
\nAllah ibn Ubayy, however, agreed with the Prophet (pbuh) and advised
\nhim to remain in the city, saying, ‘Whenever we have gone out to fight an
\nenemy we have met with disaster, but none has ever come in against us
\nwithout being defeated.’
\nBut when the Prophet (pbuh) saw that the majority were in favor of
\ngoing out to meet Quraysh, he decided to do so, and after the Friday
\nprayer he put on his armor.
\nThe Muslims then set out with one thousand men in the direction of
\nMount Uhud which overlooks Medina. The enemy was camped on the
\nplain below the mountain where they were laying waste the crops of the
\nMuslims.’Abd Allah ibn Ubayy was angry that the Prophet (pbuh) had not
\nfollowed his advice and after going part of the way, turned back for
\nMedina, taking one third of the entire army with him. This left the
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 51
\nProphet (pbuh) with only seven hundred men to meet the enormous
\nMeccan army, which numbered three thousand.
\nThe remainder of the Mus1ims went on until they reached the
\nmountain of Uhud. There the Prophet (pbuh) ordered them to stand in
\nranks in front of the mountain, so that they would be protected from
\nbehind. He then positioned fifty archers on top of the mountain, giving
\nthem the following order: ‘Keep the Meccan cavalry away from us with
\nyour arrows and don’t let them come against us from the rear, whether the
\nbattle goes in our favor or against us. Whatever happens keep to your
\nplaces so that we cannot be attacked from your direction, even if you see
\nus being slain or booty being taken.’ When the Muslims were in position,
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) held up his sword and said, ‘Who will use this sword
\nwith its right?’ This was a great honor and many men rose to claim it, but
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) decided to give it to Abu Dujanah, a fearless warrior.
\nThen the battle commenced. The Muslims were well organized and had
\nthe advantage, because although Quraysh had more than four times as
\nmany men, they were tired from their journey and thus not ready to fight.
\nAs a result, the Muslims were able to make a surprise attack, led by Abu
\nDujanah, who was wearing a brilliant red turban. As the fighting
\nincreased the Quraysh women, led by Hind, began to beat their drums to
\nurge their men on. They called out poems to encourage their men to be
\nbrave. ‘If you advance, we hug you, spread soft rugs beneath you; if you
\nretreat, we leave you. Leave and no more love you.’
\nAbu Dujanah said: ‘I saw someone urging the enemy on, shouting wildly,
\nand I made for him, but when I lifted my sword against him he screamed
\nand I saw that it was a woman; I respected the Apostle’s sword too much
\nto use it on a woman.’ That woman was Hind. As usual, Hamzah, the
\nProphet’s uncle, fought with great courage, but while leading the Muslims
\nin a fierce attack, which nearly defeated the Meccans, he was suddenly
\nand cruelly struck down by the slave Wahshi. Later, Wahshi told how it
\nhappened: ‘I was watching Hamzah while he was killing men with his
\nsword. I… aimed my spear until I was sure it would the mark and hurled it
\nat him. He came on towards me but collapsed and fell. I left him there
\nuntil he died, then I came and took back my spear. Then I went back to
\nthe camp because I did not want to kill anyone but him. My only aim in
\nkilling him was to gain my freedom.’
\nThe Quraysh warriors were soon scattered and forced to retreat. It
\nlooked as though they had been defeated! Seeing this, forty of the fifty
\nMuslims archers on top of the mountain ran down from their position to
\ncollect booty, for the Quraysh army had left many of their belongings
\nbehind. The archers rushed to take what they could, forgetting the
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 52
\nProphet’s orders. Khalid Ibn al-Walid, Commander of the Quraysh
\ncavalry, saw what’ happening and quickly turned his men around and
\nordered them to attack the Muslims from behind. The Muslims were
\ntaken completely by surprise. The Quraysh then began attacking from
\nboth sides at once. Many Muslims were killed and instead of winning
\nthey began to lose the battle.
\nTo add to the confusion, it was rumored that the Prophet (pbuh) had
\nkilled. When the Muslims heard this they were at a loss to know what to
\ndo. Then a man named Anas called out, ‘Brothers! If Muhammad (pbuh)
\nhas been killed what will your lives be worth without him? Don’t think
\nabout living or dying. Fight for Allah. Get up and die the way
\nMuhammad (pbuh) died!\u201f and on hearing these words the Muslims took
\ncourage.
\nThere had been several cavalry attacks on the position held by the
\nProphet (pbuh) and his companions and the Prophet’s cheek had been
\nbadly gashed. As the Meccans closed in again he called out, ‘Who will
\nsell his life for us?’ At this, five Ansar got up and fought until they were
\nkilled, one by one.
\nTheir places were soon taken, however, by a number of Muslims who
\ndrove off the attackers. Amongst the defending Muslims was Abu
\nDujanah who put his arms around the Prophet (pbuh) and made himself
\ninto a human shield. Throughout the remainder of the battle he held on to
\nthe Prophet (pbuh), but as the fighting drew to a close he suddenly let go.
\nAbu Dujanah was dead, killed by the many arrows in his back that had
\nbeen aimed at the Prophet (pbuh). With the defeat of the Muslims,
\nQuraysh were at last avenged. As they left the field of battle Abu Sufyan
\ncalled out to his men, ‘You have done well; victory in war goes by turnstoday in exchange for Badr!’ When he heard this, the Prophet (pbuh) told
\n\u201eUmar to answer him, saying, ‘Allah is Most High and Most Glorious. We
\nare not equal. Our dead are in Paradise and your dead are in Hell!’ The
\nMuslim soldiers then followed the departing Quraysh part of the way to
\nmake sure they were not going to attack Medinah.
\nAfter the enemy had left, the Prophet (pbuh) made his way around the
\nBattle-field to see the extent of the Muslim losses. Many of the most
\nfaithful Muslims had been killed. Among the dead, the Prophet (pbuh)
\nfound the body of his closest friend and uncle, Hamzah, who had been
\nkilled by the slave, Wahshi. At the sight of this, the Prophet (pbuh) said,
\n‘There will never be a moment as sad for me as this.’ Hamzah’s sister,
\nSafiyya, came to pray and ask forgiveness for her brother, saying ‘We
\nbelong to Allah and to Allah we are returning.’ After the Prophet (pbuh)
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 53
\nhad prayed over the many dead, he said, ‘I tell you that no one has been
\nwounded in Allah’s cause but Allah will remember him and on the Day of
\nResurrection will raise him from the dead. Look for the one who has
\nlearned most of the Qur’an and put him in front of his companions in the
\ngrave.’ They were buried where they had fallen as martyrs.
\nOf them Allah says:
\n\u201cDo not think that those, who were killed for Allah’s sake are dead.
\nNay, they are alive. With their Lord they have provision. Jubilant (are
\nthey) because of that which Allah hath bestowed upon them of His
\nbounty, rejoicing for the sake of those that have not yet joined them
\nbecause they have nothing to fear or grieve over\u201d.(Qur’an 3.169-170)
\nIt is said that the Prophet (pbuh) swore that no Muslim who had died
\nfor his beliefs would want to come back to life for a single hour, even if
\nhe could own the whole world, unless he could return and fight for Allah
\nand be killed a second time. The Muslims realised that their defeat had
\nbeen caused by their disobedience to the Prophet (pbuh). The Qur’an tells
\nus that the Muslims had been tested by Allah at Uhud and had failed but
\nthat Allah forgave them their weakness.
\n\u201cSome of you there are that desire this world, and some of you there
\nare that desire the next world. Then He turned you from them, that He
\nmight try you; and He has forgiven you; and Allah is bounteous to the
\nbelievers\u201d. (Qur’an 3.145)
\nPeople living nowadays should learn from the lessons learned by the
\nearly Muslims at Uhud. Disobedience to the Prophet (pbuh) and love for
\nthe things of this world caused their defeat. The same can happen to us as
\nwell. Even if we have no battle like Uhud to fight, we can still die for
\nAllah’s sake by fighting what is bad in ourselves. When the Prophet
\n(pbuh) came back from a battle he said to his men, ‘We have returned
\nfrom the lesser war to the greater war.’ He meant by this that the struggle
\nthat goes on within every human being to become a better person is the
\nmore difficult battle.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 54
\nThe Battle Of The Trench
\nWhen the Prophet (Pbuh) first arrived in Medinah, the Jews who were
\nliving there had welcomed him. The Prophet (Pbuh) had returned their
\ngreeting, as he wished to be on good terms with them. An agreement was
\nalso reached between the Muslims and the Jews, which gave the Jews the
\nfreedom to practice their religion and which also set out their rights and
\ntheir duties. Among these duties was that in the case of war with
\nQuraysh, the Jews would fight on the side of the Muslims.
\nDespite this agreement, however, some of the Jewish tribes, who
\nresented the Prophet’s presence in Medinah, soon began to cause trouble
\namongst the Muslims. They tried to set the Muslim Emigrants from
\nMecca and the Ansar against each other. The troublemakers were given
\nmany warnings but they continued to be a nuisance. In the end, the
\nMuslims had no choice but to drive them from Medinah. A new
\nagreement was offered those Jews who remained but the trouble did not
\nend there. One of the Jewish tribes, the Bani Nadir plotted to murder the
\nProphet (Pbuh) but their plan was discovered and they, too, were exiled
\nfrom the city. Knowing that they could not defeat the Muslims
\nthemselves, some of the leaders of the exiled Jews secretly went to Mecca
\nto enlist the help of Quraysh. Knowing what the Meccans would like to
\nhear, they pretended to believe in the same things. They said that they
\nthought that the old Arab tradition was better than the teachings of the
\nProphet Muhammad (Pbuh) and that they believed that the Quraysh
\nreligion of worshipping many idols was better than the Prophet’s with
\nonly one God. Then the Jews told them that if all the Arab tribes attacked
\nMedinah, the Jews inside the city would help to defeat the Prophet (Pbuh)
\nand Islam once and for all.
\nThe leaders of Quraysh were pleased to hear all this and seizing on
\nwhat seemed to them a very good opportunity, agreed to the plan and
\nbegan to gather together a formidable army. In the meantime in Medinah,
\nonly one Jewish tribe, the Bani Quraydhah, refused to betray the
\nMuslims.
\nEventually the Muslims learned of the preparations being made for
\nwar in Mecca and of the plotting of the Jews within Medinahitself. The
\nbetrayal of the Muslims by the Jews did not surprise the Prophet (Pbuh),
\nwho said of them: ‘The hearts of the Jews have become closed to the
\ntruth. They have forgotten what Muses taught them long ago that there is
\nonly one God.’
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 55
\n\u201cThe likeness of those who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yet
\napply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books. Evil is the
\nlikeness of the people who deny the revelations of Allah. And Allah
\nguideth not wrongdoing folk\u201d. (Qur’an 62.5)
\nThe Muslims wondered how they could defend Medinah. They heard
\nthat Abu Sufyan was coming to attack them with an enormous army
\nwhich included many other Arab tribes, as well as Quraysh. What were
\nthey to do with only a single week to prepare? The Prophet (Pbuh) and
\nhis men knew that it would be impossible for them to fight off all these
\ntribes! The only thing they could do was to stay inside the city and try to
\ndefend it as best they could. Now among the people of Medinah was a
\nPersian named Salman, who had to live in the city some time before the
\nProphet’s arrival there. As a convert to Christianity he had traveled to
\nMedinah after Christian sages had told him that a Prophet would be born
\nin Arabia. On arriving in he was, however, sold into slavery by the
\nmerchants with whom he had traveled. Later he became a Muslim, gained
\nhis freedom and became a member of the Prophet’s household.
\nWhen the people gathered to discuss a plan of action against the
\napproaching enemy, Salman was present and it was he who suggested
\nthat they should dig a trench around the city. The Prophet (Pbuh) thought
\nthis a good idea, so the Muslims set to work, although it was in the
\nmiddle of winter. They worked day and night, digging the trench as
\nquickly as possible. The Prophet (Pbuh) himself carried rocks and when
\nthe men were tired he gave them the will to carry on. Someone later
\nrecalled how beautiful he looked, dressed in a red cloak with dust upon
\nhis breast and his dark hair nearly reaching his shoulders. There was little
\nfood at this time and the men were often hungry as they worked.
\nOn one occasion, however, a little girl gave some dates to the Prophet
\n(Pbuh), which he spread out on a cloth. The men were then called to eat
\nand the dates kept increasing in number until everyone had been fed.
\nEven after everyone had eaten their fill, the dates continued to increase so
\nthat there were more than the cloth could hold. Similarly, there is the
\nstory of the lamb, that has come down to us from one who was there: ‘We
\nworked with the Apostle at the trench. I had a half-grown lamb and I
\nthought it would be a good thing to cook it for Allah’s Messenger. I told
\nmy wife to grind barley and make some bread for us. I killed the lamb
\nand we roasted it for the Prophet (Pbuh). When night fell and he was
\nabout to leave the trench, I told him we had prepared bread and meat and
\ninvited him to our home. I wanted him to come on his own, but when I
\nsaid this he sent someone to call all the men to come along. Everyone
\narrived and the food was served. He blessed it and invoked the Name of
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 56
\nAllah over it. Then he ate and so did all of the others. As soon as one lot
\nwere satisfied, another group came until all the diggers had eaten enough,
\nbut still there was food to spare.
\nOn March 24, 627 A.D, Abu Sufyan arrived with more than ten
\nthousand men. The Muslims numbered only three thousand. Quraysh and
\ntheir allies surrounded Medinah but between the two armies was the long,
\nwide trench.
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) and his men stayed behind this trench for nearly a
\nmonth defending the city against their more powerful enemy. Many times
\nwarriors tried to cross the trench and enter the city, but each time they
\nwere pushed back by the Muslims. The Muslims were afraid that if any
\ndid manage to cross over, the Jews inside Medinah would join forces with
\nthem and the Muslims would be beaten. The Jewish tribe of Bani
\nQuraydhah, who had stood by the, agreement with the Muslims, were
\npressed by a Jewish emissary from the enemy without, to break their
\npromise. Eventually they agreed to do so and when the news of this
\nreached the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions they were greatly
\ntroubled. Sa’d ibn Mu’adh, the leader of the tribe of Aws, was sent by the
\nProphet (pbuh) with two other men to find out if this were true. When
\nthey arrived in the part of Medinah where the Jews lived, they found were
\neven worse than they had previously thought.
\nSa’d ibn Mu’adh, whose tribe was closely allied with the Bani
\nQuraydhah, tried to persuade their leader not to break the treaty with the
\nMuslims, but he refused to listen. This meant that the Muslims could not
\nrelax their guard for one moment, for they were now threatened not only
\nby the enemy beyond the trench, but by the Bani Qurayzah, within the
\nwalls of the city.
\nThings became more difficult for the Muslims day by day. It was
\nextremely cold and food began to run out. To make matters worse, the
\nBani Qurayzah began openly and actively to join forces with the other
\nJews and cut off all supplies to the Muslims, including food. The enemies
\nof Islam then planned how to capture Medinah.
\nThe situation looked desperate and the Prophet (pbuh) prayed to Allah
\nto Allah to help the Muslims defeat their enemies. That very night a
\nsandstorm blew up which buried the tents of Quraysh. The storm
\ncontinued for three days and three nights making it impossible for the
\nenemy to light a fire to cook a meal or warm themselves by.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 57
\nOn one of these dark nights the Prophet (pbuh) asked one of his men,
\nHudhayfah Ibn al-Yaman, to go on a dangerous mission. The Prophet
\n(pbuh) told him to make his way across the trench to the enemy camp
\nwhere he should find out what they were doing. With much difficulty
\nHudhayfah crossed the trench and made his way to a circle of Quraysh
\nwarriors talking in the darkness. He sat near them, but as there was no
\nfire, no one noticed him. He then heard Abu Sufyan’s voice: ‘Let us go
\nhome!’ he said. ‘We have had enough. The horses and camels are dying,
\nthe tents keep blowing away, most of the equipment has been lost, and we
\ncan not cook our food. There is no reason to stay!’
\nShortly after hearing this Hudhayfah made his way quickly and
\nquietly back across the trench and the next morning the Muslims rejoiced
\nto find that what he had overheard had come true-Quraysh and their allies
\nhad gone away! The siege of Medinah had ended in a great victory for
\nIslam. But this was not to be the end of the difficulties, for the Archangel
\nGabriel the Prophet (pbuh) and told him that he should punish the Bani
\nQurayzah for betraying him and the Muslims.
\nOn hearing this, the Prophet (pbuh) ordered the Muslims to march
\nagainst the Bani Qurayzah as they hid in their fortress. The Muslims
\nbesieged them for twenty-five days until they finally gave in. On
\nsurrendering, they asked the Prophet (pbuh) to let someone judge their
\ncase, and he agreed. He also allowed them to choose who would give the
\nruling. The man chosen to judge the Bani Qurayzah was Sa’d ibn Mu’adh,
\nleader of the Aws, a tribe which had always protected the Qurayzah in the
\npast. Sa’d ibn Mu’adh who had himself been wounded in the battle,
\ndecided that the Jews should be tried by their own Holy Law, according
\nto which anyone who broke a treaty would be put to death. As a result all
\nthe men of the Bani Qurayzah were executed and the women and children
\nmade captive. If the Jews had succeeded in their pact, Islam would have
\nbeen destroyed. Instead from that day on, Medinah became a city where
\nonly Muslims lived.
\nVery soon after peace had been restored to Medinah, Sa’d ibn Mu’adh
\ndied of his wounds. It was said that the Archangel Gabriel came in the
\nmiddle of that night and said to the Prophet (pbuh) ‘0 Muhammad, who is
\nthis dead man? When he arrived, the doors of heaven opened and the
\nThrone of Allah shook.’ The Prophet (pbuh) got up as soon as he heard
\nthis, but found that Sa’d was already dead. Although he had been a heavy
\nman, the men who carried his body to the grave found it quite light. They
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 58
\nwere told that the angels were helping them. When he was buried, the
\nProphet (pbuh) said three times ‘Subhan Allah!’ (Glory be to Allah!), and
\n‘Allahu Akbar!’ (Allah is Most Great!). When asked why he did this, he
\nreplied, ‘The grave was tight for this good man, until Allah eased it for
\nhim.’ This is one of the rewards that Allah gives to martyrs and good
\nMuslims.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 59
\nThe Treaty Of Hudaybiyah
\nOuraysh had tried to destroy Islam but had failed. The number of
\nMuslims grew and their armies increased from three hundred at the battle
\nof Badr, seven hundred at the battle of “Uhud, to three thousand at the
\nbattle of the Trench. After the annual fast of Ramadan, the Prophet (pbuh)
\nhad a dream, which indicated that the Muslims should go to Mecca for
\nthe pilgrimage. One thousand and four hundred Muslims got ready to go
\nwith him on the Lesser Pilgrimage called ‘the `Umra’. They dressed in
\nwhite and went unarmed to show Quraysh that they had come to make the
\npilgrimage and not to fight. When Quraysh heard that the Prophet (pbuh)
\nwas on his way, they sent troops with Khalid Ibn al-Walid to stop the
\nMuslims from entering the city. To avoid meeting this small army the
\nProphet (pbuh) changed his route and led the men through rugged
\nmountain passes. When they reached easier ground he told them, ‘Say, we
\nask Allah’s forgiveness and we repent towards Him ‘At Hudaybiyah,
\nsouth of Mecca, the Prophet’s camel knelt down and refused to go any
\nfurther. The Muslims thought she was either stubborn or tired, but the
\nProphet (pbuh) said: ‘The same power that once stopped the elephant
\nfrom entering Mecca is now stopping us!’ He then ordered them to make
\ncamp, which they did, although they all hoped they would travel on to the
\nsacred Ka’bah the following day.
\nOn setting up camp, the believers were dismayed to find that the
\nsprings were almost dry. When he heard this the Messenger of Allah
\n(pbuh) instructed a man called Najiyah to take the bowl of water in which
\nhe had performed his ablutions, pour it into the hollows where the small
\namount of spring water lay, and stir it with his arrows. Najiyah did as he
\nwas told and the fresh water gushed up so suddenly that he was hardly
\nable to get out of the way in time.
\nMessengers were sent to Quraysh to tell them that the Muslims had
\ncome only for the pilgrimage, to worship Allah at the Holy Ka’bah, and
\nthat they wanted to enter the city peacefully. But Quraysh took no notice.
\nFinally, the Prophet’s son-in-law, ‘Uthman Ibn Affan, a wise and
\nrespected man, was chosen to go, and the Muslims settled down to wait
\nand see what news he would bring back. After they had waited a long
\ntime, the Muslims became very worried. At last they decided that he must
\nhave been killed. A state similar to that of Revelation then came upon the
\nProphet (pbuh). He gathered the Muslims around him under an acacia tree
\nand asked them to swear their allegiance to him, which they did. This
\npact, which is mentioned in the Qur’an, became known as the Treaty of
\nRadwan (which means Paradise). Shortly after, `Uthman Ibn Affan
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 60
\nreturned and the Muslims were relieved to see that no harm had come to
\nhim. Some Meccan warriors tried to attack the Muslim camp but were
\ncaptured and brought before the Prophet (pbuh), who forgave them when
\nthey promise to stop attacking the Muslims. Soon after this, official
\nmessengers came from Quraysh and talks began for a peaceful settlement.
\nA man called Suhayl ibn ‘Amr was sent by the Meccans to work out a
\ntreaty. When the Prophet (pbuh) asked ‘Ali to write ‘In the Name of Allah,
\nthe Most Gracious, the Most Merciful’, on the top of the page, Suhayl
\nobjected, saying ‘Write only: bismik Allahumma (in Thy name, 0 Allah).
\nI don’t know him as al-Rahman (the Most Gracious), al-Rahim (the most
\nMerciful).’ The Prophet (pbuh) agreed and dictated: ‘This is a treaty
\nbetween Muhammad the Messenger of Allah and Suhayl ibn ‘Amr.”Stop!’
\ncried Suhayl, ‘I don’t believe that you are Rasulallah (the Messenger of
\nAllah). If I thought you were Allah’s Messenger, I wouldn’t be fighting
\nagainst you, would I?’ Calmly, the Prophet (pbuh) agreed that he should
\nbe referred to in the treaty as Muhammad’, son of ‘Abd Allah. The
\nMuslims were very upset at this, and ‘Umar furiously cried out, ‘Are you
\nnot Allah’s Messenger, and are we not Muslims? How can we accept such
\ntreatment when we are right and they are wrong? This will make people
\nlaugh at our religion!’ But the Prophet (pbuh) knew what was best and the
\nTreaty of Hudaybiyah was signed.
\nIn this treaty the two sides agreed to stop fighting for a period often
\nyears. It was also agreed that the Muslims should go back to Medinah
\nimmediately but that they could return the following year for the
\npilgrimage. This pilgrimage would last three days. In addition, the treaty
\nallowed Muslims wishing to leave Islam and return to Mecca to do so.
\nIt also permitted Meccans to leave and become Muslims provided
\nthey had the permission of their guardians. The Muslims agreed to send
\nany Meccan who did not have their guardian’s permission back to Mecca.
\nSuhayl’s son had come with his father with the idea of joining the
\nProphet (pbuh) but when the treaty was signed he was, of course, forced
\nto return to Mecca. He cried bitterly. The Prophet (pbuh) said, ‘0 Abu
\nJandal, be patient and control yourself. Allah will provide relief and find
\na way out for you and others like you.’
\nThe majority of the Muslims were very disappointed when they heard
\nthe terms of the agreement and thought that it should not have been
\naccepted. They did not realize that this was in fact a great victory for the
\nProphet (pbuh), which Allah would later confirm in a Revelation. The
\nagreement made sure that the following year they would enter Mecca
\npeacefully, and in time would result in Muslims becoming stronger and
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 61
\nmore respected throughout Arabia. At the time the treaty was signed the
\nMuslims could not have foreseen that the number of people who would
\ntravel to Medinah to become Muslims in following year would be greater
\nthan in all the years before. Before the Muslims departed, they followed
\nthe Prophet’s example of making sacrifice and either shaving or cutting
\ntheir hair. Even though they were unable to visit the sacred mosque, their
\npilgrimage was accepted by Allah because it had been their true intention.
\nOn the return journey to Medinah, the ‘Victory’ chapter of the Qur’an
\nwas revealed to the Prophet (pbuh). It begins:
\nIn the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
\n\u201cSurely We have given thee (0 Muhammad) a clear victory, That
\nAllah may forgive thee of thy sin That which is past and that which is to
\ncome, And may complete His blessings upon thee, And may guide thee
\non the right path, And that Allah may help thee with mighty help\u201d.
\n(Qur’an 48.1-3)
\nNow most of those who left Mecca to join the Prophet (pbuh) without
\nthe consent of their guardians and were turned back by him as agreed,
\nDid not in fact return to Mecca, but lived instead in groups along the
\nseashore. Then they were joined by others who had left Mecca but these
\ngroups began to endanger Quraysh caravans which were passing by and
\ndisrupted their trade because of this, Quraysh told the Prophet (pbuh) that
\nif he wanted to take these new Muslims, they would not ask for them to
\nbe returned. The young men, therefore, joined the Prophet (pbuh) and the
\npeople in Mecca and Medinah grew more at ease with one another. The
\nyoung men from the seashore were shortly followed by those Muslims
\nwho were still living in Abyssinia, and soon the numbers of believers in
\nMedinah had doubled.
\nAbout this time, Khalid Ibn al-Walid, the great warrior who had
\ndefeated the Muslims at Uhud, set out from Mecca for Medinah. Along
\nthe way he met ‘Amr Ibn al-‘As, the clever speaker who had pursued the
\nMuslims when they fled to Abyssinia. ‘Amr, who had attempted to find
\nasylum in Abyssinia, had just returned from that country, the Negus
\nhaving urged him to enter Islam. He asked Khalid, ‘Where are you
\ngoing?’ Khalid replied, ‘The way has become clear. The man is certainly a
\nProphet, and by Allah, I am going to become a Muslim. How much
\nlonger should I delay?’ ‘Amr Ibn al-As answered, ‘I am travelling for the
\nsame reason. So they both traveled on to Medinah to join the
\nProphet(pbuh). The two men were, however, worried about meeting the
\nProphet (pbuh) because of having fought against the Muslims in the past.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 62
\nTherefore, ‘Amr came before Allah’s Messenger he said, ‘O Prophet,
\nwill my past faults be forgiven and no mention made of what has gone
\nbefore?’ The Prophet (pbuh) replied, ‘Amr, Islam wipes away everything
\nthat happened before, as does the hijrah.’
\nA year after the signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, the Prophet
\n(pbuh) was able to lead two thousand pilgrims on the ‘Umra. Quraysh
\nvacated Mecca and watched the rites from the hills above the city. The
\nagreed period of three days was observed, after which the Muslims
\nreturned to Medinah.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 63
\nThe Invitation
\nThe peace which the Treaty of Hudaybiyah guaranteed for ten years
\nmeant people could travel from all over Arabia to visit the Prophet (pbuh)
\nand a great many came to declare their Islam. Also, during this period the
\nProphet (pbuh) decided that the time had come for his message to be
\ntaken to other countries, so he sent trusted companions with letters,
\ntelling of his message, to the leaders of the most powerful nations of the
\nday. It is recorded that he said, Allah has sent me as a mercy to all men,
\nso take the message from me that Allah has mercy on you.\u201f It is also
\nrecorded that some time before, when the Prophet (pbuh) was digging
\nbefore the Battle of the Trench, three flashes of lightning had blared forth
\nfrom a rock he had been striving to remove. These flashes had shown him
\nthe fortresses of the civilizations to the South, East, and West which were
\nsoon to come into Islam.
\nNow at the time the Prophet (pbuh) sent out his message. Abu Sufyan
\nand some other members of Quraysh were trading in Syria, a province of
\nthe Eastern Roman Empire (later to be called Byzantium). Also, at about
\nthis time the Emperor Heraclius, ruler of this Empire, had a dream, and
\nsadly told visitors to his court in Syria: \u201eI saw our Empire fall and victory
\ngo to a people who do not follow our religion.’ At first he thought this
\nmust refer to the Jews and he even had it in mind to kill all the Jews
\nliving under his rule fit then an envoy from the governor of Basra arrived
\nwith a message for the Emperor: 0 Emperor Heraclius. there are some
\nArabs in the city who are speaking of wonderful happenings in their
\ncountry’, and he then told of what he had heard about the Prophet (pbuh).
\nOn hearing this Heraclius commanded his soldiers: Go and find me
\nsomeone who can tell me more about this.’ The soldiers, however, did not
\nfind those who had been talking about the Prophet (pbuh), but instead
\nfound Abu Sufyan and some of his companions and brought them before
\nthe Emperor.
\nHeraclius asked, ‘Is there anyone among you who is a close relative of
\nthe Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)?’ Abu Sufyan replied, \u201eI am.\u201f So the
\nEmperor addressed all the questions to him, thinking he would know the
\nProphet (pbuh) best. He said, ‘Tell me what is the Prophet’s position in
\nyour tribe” Abu Sufyan said, ‘he is a member of our most respected
\nfamily. Did anyone before him say the kinds of things he says?’ the
\nEmperor went on. \u201eNo.\u201f was the reply.’ And was he ever accused of lying
\nor cheating?’ \u201eNever.\u201f And then the Emperor asked: \u201eAnd what about his
\nideas and opinions, and his powers of reasoning?\u201f \u201eNo one has ever had
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 64
\ncause to doubt him or find fault with his reasoning\u201f, replied Abu Sufyan.
\n\u201eWho follows him, the proud or the humble?\u201f \u201eThe humble.\u201f \u201eDo his
\nfollowers increase or decrease?\u201f \u201eThey increase\u201f, said Abu Sufyan, \u201enone
\nof his followers leave him.\u201f The Emperor then turned to other matters and
\nasked: \u201eIf he makes a treaty, does he keep it?\u201f \u201eYes\u201f, Abu Sufyan replied.
\n\u201eDid you ever fight against him?\u201f inquired the Emperor. To which Abu
\nSufyan answered: \u201eYes. Sometimes we won, sometimes he won, but he
\nnever broke his word in any agreement.\u201f The emperor then asked: \u201eWhat
\ndoes he say people must do?\u201f \u201eTo worship one God\u201f, said Abu Sufyan.
\n\u201eHe forbids people to worship as their fathers worshipped, and says they
\nmust pray to Allah alone, give elms, keep their word, and fulfil their
\nduties and responsibilities.\u201f Abu Sufyan had spoken the truth even though
\nhe was an enemy of the prophet (pbuh), and did not become a Muslim
\nuntil the very end of his life. But he was afraid to lie before the members
\nof his caravan who were also there with him. The meeting ended with
\nthese words from the Emperor: \u201eI see from this that he is indeed a
\nprophet. You said that his followers don not leave him which proves they
\nhave true faith, for faith does not enter the heart and then go away. I knew
\nhe was coming and if what you say is true, he will surely conquer me. If I
\nwere with him now, I would wash his feet. You may leave now.\u201f
\nIt was not long after this that the messenger, Dihyah, arrived at the
\nSyrian court bearing the Prophet Mohammed\u201fs letter which said, \u201eIf you
\naccept Islam you will be safe and Allah will give you a double reward. If
\nyou do not, you will have to live with results of your decision.\u201f Heraclius
\ngrabbed the letter. He was so upset he could hardly control himself. He
\nsaid to Dihyah, \u201eI know your master is a true prophet of Allah. Our books
\ntell of his coming.
\nIf I were not afraid that the Romans would kill me, I would join Islam.
\nYou must visit Bishop Daghatir and tell him every thing. His word is
\nmore respected among the people than mine.\u201f So Dihyah related the
\nmessage to the Bishop and when he heard it, Daghatir said, \u201eYes, your
\nmaster whom we call Ahmed is mentioned in our scriptures.\u201f He then
\nchanged from his black ropes into white ones and went and spoke to the
\npeople gathered in the church. \u201fO Romans, a letter has come to us from
\nAhmed, in which he calls us to Allah. I bear witness that there is no
\nDivinity but Allah and that Ahmed is his slave and messenger.\u201f (Ahmed
\nis another name for the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).) But on hearing this
\nthe crowd grew angry and attacked Daghatir, beating him until he was
\ndead.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 65
\nHeraclius was afraid that the same thing would happen to him, so he
\nspoke to his generals from a balcony saying, \u201eO Romans! A man has
\nwritten to me calling me to his religion I believe he is truly the prophet
\nwe have been told to expect. Let us follow him so that we can be happy in
\nthis world and the next.\u201f The Romans cried out in anger when they heard
\nthis, so Heraclius quickly said, \u201eI was only pretending; I wanted to see
\nhow strong your faith was. I am pleased to see that you are true to your
\nreligion.\u201f Heraclius then suggested that they attack or give land to the
\nMuslims in order to maintain peace, but the Romans refused. Realizing
\nthat he could do no more, and knowing that one day Islam would conquer
\nSyria, Heraclius left the province and returned to Constantinople, the
\ncapital of Eastern Roman Empire.
\nAs he rode away he turned around to look back and said, \u201eGoodbye for
\nthe last time, O land of Syria!\u201f Meanwhile, another of the Prophet\u201fs
\nmessengers arrived at the palace of Chosroes, the Shah (or king) of
\nPersia, where he was told by the royal guard: \u201eWhen you see the Shah,
\nyou must bow and not lift your head until he speaks to you.\u201f To this the
\nProphet\u201fs messenger replied, `I will never do that. I bow only to Allah.\u201f
\n\u201eThen the Shah will not accept the letter you bring\u201f, they said. And when
\nthe time came for the messenger to see him, the Shah was indeed very
\nsurprised to see the man holding his head high and refusing to kneel
\nrespectfully before him like everyone else. Nonetheless, the Shah still
\nread out the letter:
\nIn the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Most Merciful
\n\u201cFrom Muhammad, Messenger of Allah to Chosroes, Shah of Persia.
\nPeace be upon those who follow the truth, who believe in Allah and His
\nProphet and who testify that there is no divinity but Allah and that
\nMuhammad is His Messenger. I ask you in the Name of Allah, because I
\nam His Messenger, to warn your people that if they do not accept His
\nMessage, they must live with the consequences. Become Muslim and you
\nwill be safe. If you refuse to tell them you will be to blame for the
\nignorance of your subjects\u201d.
\nThe Shah was furious when he read this and tore the letter into little
\npieces. When the messenger returned to Arabia and told the Prophet
\n(pbuh) what Chosroes had done, the Prophet (pbuh) said, ‘May Allah also
\ntear his kingdom into little pieces.’ And several years later it happened
\njust as the Prophet (pbuh) had said it would. As with Syria and Persia, a
\nmessenger was also sent to the Negus (or King) of Abyssinia, with the
\nfollowing letter:
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 66
\n\u201cPeace. Praise be to Allah, the King, the All-Holy, the Peacemaker,
\nthe Keeper of Faith, the Watcher. \u201cHe is Allah, there is no divinity but
\nHe, the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One, the All-peaceable, the Keeper of
\nFaith, the Guardian, the Majestic, the Compeller, the All-sublime.
\nGlorified be Allah from all that they associate with Him\u201d.(Qur’an 59.23)
\nAnd I testify that Jesus, son of Mary, is the spirit of Allah and His
\nWord which He cast to Mary the Virgin, the good, the pure, so that she
\nconceived Jesus. Allah created him from His Spirit and His Breath as He
\ncreated Adam by His Hand and His Breath. I call you to Allah, the
\nUnique, without partner, to His obedience, and to follow me and to
\nbelieve in that which came to me, for I am the Messenger of Allah. Peace
\nbe upon all those who follow true guidance.
\nThe King of Abyssinia was a very wise man, and was thought by the
\nworld to be a good Christian. He had, of course, already heard of the
\nProphet (pbuh) and his religion from the Muslims who had sought refuge
\nin his country years before. He was deeply moved by the letter and when
\nhe came down from his throne it was not just to show his respect but also
\nto declare that he was already a Muslim. He answered the Prophet’s letter
\nwith one of his own. \u201cTo Muhammad the Prophet of Allah from the
\nNegus al-Asham, King of Abyssinia. Assalamu aleikum 0 Prophet of
\nAllah wa rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu.
\nThere is none like Him who has guided me to Islam. I received your
\nletter, O Messenger of Allah. Some of your followers, as well as your
\ncousin Ja’far, still live here. I believe you arc truly the Messenger of God
\nand reaffirm the pledge of allegiance I made to you some time ago before
\nyour cousin Ja\u201ffar, at whose hand I joined Islam and surrendered to the
\nLord of the Worlds.
\nA fourth messenger had, in the meantime, traveled by boat to
\nAlexandria to meet the Muqawqis, the ruler of Egypt, who was a Coptic
\nChristian. In his letter, the Prophet (pbuh) invited the Muqawqis to accept
\nIslam, because Christian who believed in the message of Jesus should
\nalso believe in him, for he had come with the same message from Allah.
\nIt read:
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 67
\nIn the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Most Merciful,
\n\u201cFrom Muhammad, son of ‘Abd Allah to the great Copt.
\nPeace he upon whoever follows the Truth. I beseech you to accept Islam.
\nBecome a Muslim. Allah will reward you twice.
\nIf you refuse, you will carry the blame for not allowing your people to
\nshare in this blessing\u201d. The Muqawqis showed respect for what the letter
\nsaid. He treated the messenger well, and sent many presents with him for
\nthe Prophet (pbuh), but he did not become a Muslim. Although only
\nAbyssinia responded to the Prophet’s call to Islam, all was not lost, for a
\nfew years later Persia, Syria and Egypt all became Muslim countries.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 68
\nEntry Into Mecca
\nDespite the improved relations between Mecca and Medinah after the
\nsigning of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, the ten-year peace was to be broken
\nby Quraysh who, with their allies, the Bani Bakr, attacked the Khuza\u201fah
\ntribe. Now Khuza\u201fah were allies of the Muslims and when the Prophet
\n(pbuh)heard of the attack he immediately ordered his men to prepare for
\nwar. When they were ready he told them that their destination was Mecca
\nand, as he did not want any fighting within the walls of the city, he told
\nthem they must move quickly and take the enemy by surprise. In this way
\nthe Meccans would not have time to prepare for war and, being
\nsurrounded would have to surrender. The Muslims would then be able to
\ntake the city without injury or loss of life to anyone.
\nWhen the Muslim army, which numbered ten thousand, set out for
\nMecca it was the month of Ramadan in the eighth year of the Hijrah.
\nMany of the men kept the fast, even though they were not obliged to
\nbecause they were travelling. Everyone was jubilant because they were
\ngoing to Mecca, especially as some of them had not seen their homes in
\nthe city for eight long years. In the meantime, the Prophet’s uncle, al-
\n‘Abbas, had decided that the time had come for him and his wife to leave
\nMecca and join the Prophet (pbuh) in Medinah. They did not, however,
\nhave to go far as after a distance of only twenty-five kilometers they
\ncame across the Muslim camp. When the Prophet (pbuh) saw them he
\nsaid, ‘Uncle, your emigration is the last emigration. My prophecy is the
\nlast prophecy.’ Al-‘Abbas then joined the army and his wife went on to
\nthe safety of Medinah.
\nNight fell and the Muslims made fires to light their camp. The
\nMeccans, looking out of the city, were amazed to see the many fires, and
\nAbu Sufyan went all over Mecca trying to find out whose camp it was.
\nSuddenly he saw al-\u201eAbbas riding towards him from the direction of the
\nfires. He was returning as a messenger of peace from the Prophet (pbuh)
\nand said to Abu Sufyan, ‘The Muslims have come with a large army.
\nThey do not wish to fight, only to enter the city. It would be better to
\nsurrender and not fight. Come under my protection and meet the Prophet
\n(pbuh).’ Abu Sufyan agreed, and got up behind al-Abbas, who was riding
\nthe Prophet\u201fs white mule. It was still night as they entered the Muslim
\ncamp. Each time they passed a fire, someone would call out, ‘Who goes
\nthere?’ None of them recognized the stranger as the leader of their enemy
\nbut all knew al-\u201eAbbas and so let them through. As they passed by ‘Umar,
\nhowever, he immediately recognized Abu Sufyan and yelled out, ‘Abu
\nSufyan! The enemy of Allah!’ He ran after them intending to kill his
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 69
\nenemy but al-\u201eAbbas made the mule go faster. They reached the Prophet’s
\ntent just before \u201eUmar who rushed in after them quite out of breath.
\n‘Umar begged the Prophet (pbuh), ‘0 Messenger of Allah, let me end the
\nlife of Abu Sufyan, this enemy of Islam, who has led the Quraysh armies
\nin their attacks on us!’ Al-\u201eAbbas interrupted, saying, ‘I have sworn to
\nprotect him during his time here whereupon the Prophet (pbuh) told his
\nuncle to take Abu Sufyan to his tent for the night.
\nIn the morning Abu Sufyan was taken to the Prophet (pbuh) who said,
\n‘Abu Sufyan! Have you not yet realized that there is no divinity but
\nAllah?’ To this Abu Sufyan replied, ‘If there had been another he surely
\nwould Have helped me by now.\u201f \u201eShame on you, Abu Sufyan’, responded
\nthe Prophet (pbuh), ‘it is time you realize that I am truly Allah’s
\nMessenger.’ After a moment or two, Abu Sufyan, who remembered how
\n\u201eUmar had not been allowed to kill him, replied: ‘I can see you are a
\ngenerous and forgiving man but I still cannot be sure of that.’ At this, al-
\n\u201eAbbas, who had been standing nearby turned to him and said: \u201eBelieve
\nas I do now.’ Abu Sufyan stood quietly for a moment, then in a calm,
\nclear voice swore in front of everyone, there is no divinity but Allah, and
\nMuhammad is the messenger of Allah.’
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) then told Abu Sufyan to go back to Mecca and
\ntell the people that the Muslims would enter the city the next morning.
\nBefore he left, however, al-‘Abbas suggested to the Prophet (pbuh) that as
\nAbu Sufyan was a proud man, it would be good to give him an honorable
\nposition. The Prophet (pbuh) took this advice, saying to Abu Sufyan, ‘Tell
\nthe people that when we enter, anyone seeking refuge in your house will
\nbe safe.’ This was a great honor for Abu Sufyan.
\nIn addition, the Prophet (pbuh) told him to assure the Meccans that
\nthose who remained in their own homes or at the Ka\u201fbah would also be
\nprotected.
\nAbu Sufyan returned quickly to the city. He made straight for the hill
\nHagar had climbed in her search for water and from which the Prophet
\n(pbuh) later spoke, and called upon Quraysh to come to him. Abu Sufyan
\nthen spoke to the people, ‘0 people of Mecca, the fires we saw all around
\nus were the camp fires of Muhammad and his men. He has come with a
\nstrong army and there are too many for us to fight. It is best, therefore, to
\nsurrender. Anyone who stays in my house, or in his own home, or at the
\nKa’bah will be safe.’
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 70
\nEarly next day, the Muslims entered Mecca from all sides. They had
\nbeen ordered to cause no harm unless anyone tried to stop them entering.
\nWhen the Prophet (pbuh) arrived, he got off his camel, bowed down on
\nthe ground and thanked Allah for this victory. When the unbelievers saw
\nthis, they knew that the Prophet (pbuh) had come in peace. People began
\nleaving their homes and running towards the Ka\u201fbah. When they arrived
\nthere, they found the Prophet (pbuh) performing the ritual encircling of
\nthe Ka’bah, the tawaf on his camel, surrounded by the Muslims. When he
\nhad finished, he said, ‘There no divinity except Allah and He has no
\npartner. Men and women of Quraysh be not proud for all are equal; we
\nare all the sons of Adam, and Adam was made of dust.’ Then he recited
\nthis verse to them:
\n\u201cO mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have
\nmade you nations and tribes so you may know each another. Surely the
\nnoblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is
\nAll-knowing, All-aware\u201d. (Qur’an 49.13)
\nAfter this he said to them: ‘O Quraysh, what do you think I am going
\nto do to you?’ The people thought carefully before answering because
\nthey knew that according to the laws of war they could all be taken
\nprisoner. They also knew, however, that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
\nwas generous, so they replied, \u201eYou will treat us as a kind nephew and a
\ngenerous brother would.’
\nTo this he replied with the words used by the Prophet Joseph when his
\nbrothers came to Egypt: ‘God forgives you and He is the Most Merciful of
\nthe merciful.’ Later the Prophet (pbuh) went to the hill of Safa and there
\nthe crowd followed him and surged forward, taking his hand one by one,
\nto declare themselves Muslim. He then turned to the Ka’bah and, pointing
\nhis staff at the three hundred and sixty-five idols which were placed there,
\nrecited from the Qur’an:
\n\u201c\u2026 Truth has come and falsehood has vanished away. Lo! Falsehood
\nis ever bound to vanish\u201d. (Qur’an 17.81)
\nAt this, each idol fell over onto its face. Together with his followers
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) then proceeded to purify the Ka’bah, after which he
\nordered Bilal to climb on top of it and perform the call to prayer. Since
\nthen the call to prayer has been heard five times a day in Mecca.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 71
\nThe Ka’bah, the House of Allah, has served the purpose for which it
\nwas built by Abraham thousands of years ago, as a sanctuary for the
\nworship of Allah, our Creator, and Mecca continues to be the spiritual
\ncentre of Islam.
\nOn the day Mecca was conquered, the Prophet (pbuh) addressed the
\npeople saying: ‘Allah made Mecca holy the day He created heaven and
\nearth and it is the Holy of Holies until the Resurrection Day. It is not
\nlawful for anyone who believes in Allah and the Last Day to shed blood
\ntherein, nor to cut down trees therein. It was not lawful for anyone before
\nme and it will not be lawful for anyone after me.
\nIndeed it is not lawful for me except at this time, only Allah’s anger
\nagainst his people makes it permissible. Mecca has now regained its
\nformer holiness. Let those here now go forth and tell others.’
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 72
\nThe Lesson Of Pride At The Valley Of Hunayn
\nIslam flourished in Mecca and the Muslims became stronger and
\nstronger. But south of Mecca lived a tribe of warriors called Hawazin,
\nwho had not become Muslim. They made an agreement with another tribe
\nfrom Ta’if, called Thaqif to fight the Muslims and destroy them before
\nthey could spread their religion throughout Arabia. The Thaqif, who were
\nknown for their courage, soon won the support of other tribes living
\naround the Ta’if area, especially when such tribes were told: \u201eLook what
\nhas happened! If Quraysh, the largest tribe of all, have fallen to
\nMuhammad, it is only a matter of time before the same will happen to the
\nrest of us. We should strike now before the Muslims are established in
\nMecca and have the support of Quraysh.’ The Chief of one of these tribes,
\na fearless warrior called Malik Ibn \u201eAwf, was chosen as the leader. He
\nput forward a plan: ‘You should all go out to battle accompanied by your
\nfamilies, your tents, your sheep and goats, for with all your belongings at
\nstake, none of you will dare give up the fight.’
\nEveryone agreed with Malik except an old, blind man called Dorayd.
\nHe had been a great warrior in his day and because of his experience and
\nvaluable advice still accompanied the men into battle. ‘I don’t like Malik’s
\nplan’, he insisted. ‘If a man is so cowardly as to leave a battle, then he will
\nleave his family as well. The women and children will be a great worry to
\nus and if we are defeated all our wealth will fall into enemy hands.’ But
\nMalik ignored this advice and stuck to his original plan. When the
\nProphet (pbuh) heard what the enemy tribes were planning, he found
\nhimself forced to fight and ordered his army towards Ta\u201fif. He had twelve
\nthousand men and the enemy only four thousand. The Muslims were
\nproud of their strength and as they looked around at their number, said to
\nthemselves, ‘We will never be defeated!’ On hearing this the Prophet
\n(pbuh) knew that the Muslims had become too proud and because of this
\nwould not succeed.
\nHe warned them, ‘Look to Allah and not to your own strength.\u201f
\nThe time for battle came. The Muslim army advanced along the
\nHunayn path, a narrow way in the rugged mountains, towards the valley
\nwhere the Hawazin and the other tribes were waiting. It was very early
\nmorning and not yet light. The Muslims were unaware that, under cover
\nof darkness, the Hawazin warriors had already climbed up the mountain
\nand were waiting for them. As soon as all the Muslims were trapped in
\nthe narrow passage-way below, the Hawazin ambushed them. First they
\nthrew rocks down upon them and then attacked with arrows and swords.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 73
\nIn surprise and fear, the Muslims started to retreat. The Prophet
\n(pbuh) was bitterly disappointed to see them fleeing in terror but he
\nstayed firmly in his place with Abu Bakr, ‘Ali, his uncle al-\u201eAbbas, and a
\nfew companions at his side. Al-‘Abbas then called to the Muslims to
\nreturn and not to abandon the Prophet (pbuh). Ashamed at what they had
\ndone, and seeing the Prophet (pbuh) facing the enemy almost alone, the
\nMuslims quickly returned to fight. Then Allah sent His angels-the hosts
\nye cannot see-to their aid. A fierce battle followed. The Muslim warriors
\nadvanced, attacking furiously, driving the Hawazin back from the path
\ninto the valley, where the fighting went on long and hard. At the end of
\nthe day the Muslims won but not before having learned a hard lesson
\nabout the danger of pride.
\nJust as the old man had predicted, the defeated enemy fled, leaving
\ntheir families and possessions to be captured. Later all the leaders of the
\ntribes except one came to ask for them back and to declare their
\nacceptance of Islam. The Prophet (pbuh) forgave them and returned their
\nfamilies to them, but not their belongings. The one exception was the
\nleader of Hawazin. He fled to Ta’if, where he sought protection in the
\ncastle, but the Muslims pursued him and surrounded the city, which they
\nbesieged for about three weeks.
\nThey tried to break into the castle but after losing many men in the
\nattempt the Prophet (pbuh) ordered a withdrawal. The story did not end
\nthere, however, for shortly afterwards Hawazin and most of the other
\ntribes came to Mecca and declared themselves Muslim, including Malik
\nIbn Awf, who had led them in battle and whom the Prophet (pbuh) now
\nmade their leader.
\nAfter the battle of the Hunayn Valley, the Prophet (pbuh) distributed
\nwhat goods had been taken between the people of Quraysh and the other
\nBedouin tribes. The Ansar from Medinah, who had been his only support
\nduring the long hard years before the conquest of Mecca, received
\nnothing. They felt angry about this and went to the Prophet (pbuh) to
\ncomplain. He said to them, what is this I hear of you? Do you think badly
\nof me? Did I not come to you when you did not know the truth and Allah
\nguided you; when you were poor and Allah made you rich; when you
\nwere enemies and Allah softened your hearts? Are you covetous for the
\nthings of this world that I must use to gain people’s trust so that I can then
\nlead them to Islam? Surely for you Islam is enough? Are you not satisfied
\nthat while some men take away flocks and herds you take Allah’s
\nMessenger back with you to Medinah?’ On hearing this, all the men felt
\nvery contrite and began to weep then with great humility and reverence
\ntheir spokesman said: ‘We are indeed well pleased to have Allah’s
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 74
\nMessenger as our gift in this life.\u201f Perhaps we could ask ourselves the
\nsame question. Are we not blessed to have the Prophet Muhammad
\n(pbuh) and the Book, guiding us in what really matters for ever and ever?
\nIs this not so much more important than thinking about the momentary
\npleasures of the day?
\nShortly after this the Ansar left for Medinah accompanied by the
\nProphet (pbuh). He could have stayed among his own people and lived
\nout his days in Mecca, but he returned as he had promised, to live among
\nthe people of Medinah, which was a great blessing for them.
\n\u201cAllah gave you victory on many fields and on the day of Hunayn,
\nwhen you exulted in your great numbers it was of no help to you, and the
\nearth, vast as it is, was straitened for you; then you turned back in flight;
\nThen Allah sent His peace of reassurance down upon is Messenger and
\nupon the believers, and sent down hosts you could not see, and punished
\nthose who did not believe. Such is the reward of disbelievers. Then
\nafterwards Allah will relent toward whom He will; for Allah is Forgiving,
\nMerciful\u201d. (Qur’an 9.25-27)
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 75
\nTabuk-The Test Of Faith
\nNews of the growing power of the Muslims, as more and more of Arabia
\nfollowed the Prophet (pbuh), eventually reached Heraclius, Emperor of
\nthe Eastern Roman Empire. The Romans saw the uniting of the Arabs in
\nIslam as a possible threat to their Empire and the Emperor’s advisors and
\ngenerals, therefore, decided that the best thing to do would be to attack
\nthe Muslims from the north and east at the same time and destroy Islam
\nonce and for all.
\nTwo years had passed since Heraclius had told them of the Prophet’s
\nletter asking them to submit to Islam, but just as then, they were in no
\nmood now to listen to such ideas. When the Prophet (pbuh) heard of the
\nRomans’ plans, he decided that it would be better to meet the Roman
\narmy in Tabuk, some 500 kilometers form Medinah on the route to Syria,
\nthan to await an attack on Medinah. One reason for this decision was that
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) felt that if the Muslims were defeated at Medinah, the
\ncity as well as the army would be taken, which would mean the end of
\nIslam. This was a very hard decision for him to make because not only
\nwas Tabuk a very long way away, but it was also harvest time and a
\nparticularly hot year. Added to this was the fact that the enemy had an
\nenormous army. Now at this time there were some people living in
\nMedinah who were not true believers. They were called ‘hypocrites’
\nbecause they pretended to believe but hid what was truly in their hearts.
\nWhen the Prophet (pbuh) everyone to war, these hypocrites tried to create
\nfear and doubt among the Muslims, saying ‘How can we hope to defeat
\nthe Romans whose great empire stretches over vast areas of the world?
\nAnd even if we could, we will not get the chance because the long
\njourney and the heat will defeat us first. In any case, our crops and fruits
\nare ready to be harvested; how can we leave them? We will be ruined if
\nwe do!’
\nAll that the hypocrites said severely tested the Muslims. Who would
\ncontinue to fight for his religion against such odds? Who would have the
\ncourage to give his wealth to help equip an army? This test of faith would
\nindeed show who the true Muslims were. On this question, Allah revealed
\nthe following verse:
\n\u201cO you who believe! What aileth you that when it is said unto you:
\nGo forth in the way of Allah, you are bowed down to the ground with
\nheaviness. Do you take pleasure in the life of the world rather than in the
\nHereafter? The comfort of the life of the world is but little in the
\nHereafter\u201d. (Qur’an 9.38)
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 76
\nTo form and equip an army the Prophet (pbuh) needed a great deal of
\nmoney and despite all that the hypocrites had said, many Muslims,
\nespecially the Prophet\u201fs close friends, were willing to help. ‘Uthman Ibn
\n\u201eAffan, for instance, generously provided horses and arms for ten
\nthousand soldiers and Abu Bakr gave all that he had in the world. \u201eUmar,
\ntoo, gave a great deal, and in this way the Prophet (pbuh) was able to
\nequip an army of forty thousand soldiers.
\nFinally everything was ready but just as they were about to leave,
\nseven more men came to the Prophet (pbuh) to ask if they could go with
\nhim. Unfortunately, he had to refuse because there were no animals for
\nthem to ride. The seven men were so upset that they wept as they left.
\nWith nothing more to be done, the army moved off, but just then several
\nspare camels were found. On learning of this, the Prophet (pbuh) sent for
\nthe seven men, who were overjoyed to find that they could join him in his
\nfight.
\nBy now the Romans had heard that the Muslims were coming out to
\nmeet them. They felt even more sure of victory when they heard this
\nbecause they believed that it would be quite impossible for an army to
\ncross a waterless desert in the scorching summer sun. Even if by some
\nmiracle the Muslims succeeded, they would be so exhausted that it would
\nbe easy to defeat them.
\nAs it happed the heat was so intense and the journey so difficult that
\nseveral Muslims did turn back. The Prophet (pbuh) and most of the
\nothers, however, continued until they finally ran out of water. The
\nexpedition now seemed hopeless as the men grew thirstier and thirstier.
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) prayed to Allah for help and, as he finished his
\nprayer, the first drops of rain came splashing down. The rain continued to
\nfall until all the Muslims had drunk their fill. That night they slept
\nsoundly for the first time in days, refreshed by the water and confident
\nthat Bilal would wake them as usual for the dawn prayer. But Bilal slept
\nso deeply that he did not wake up. It was the first time that the Muslims
\nhad missed a prayer and they were very upset. The Prophet (pbuh),
\nhowever, was not angry with Bilal and told the Muslims that they need
\nnot be upset because they had not intentionally missed the prayer.
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) and his army continued their trek across the desert
\nand finally arrived at the oasis of Tabuk. When they got there, however,
\nthey were surprised to find that the Roman army had retreated in fear on
\nhearing of the miraculous crossing of the desert by the Muslims. The
\nProphet (pbuh) waited at the oasis for a while but when it became
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 77
\napparent that the Romans were not going to fight, he gave the order to
\nreturn home. The enemy was not pursued because the Prophet (pbuh)
\nonly fought when attacked. The long march to Tabuk had been yet
\nanother test of faith for the Muslims. Even so, there were still some
\namong those who made that heroic journey who were hypocrites,
\npretending to be sincere while being enemies of Islam in their hearts. No
\none could have suspected that anyone who had made that journey across
\nthe desert with the Prophet (pbuh) would be an enemy of his.
\nRealizing this, several hypocrites plotted to kill the Prophet (pbuh) by
\npushing him off the top of a high, rocky passage that ran between the
\nmountains of \u201eAqabah. Before the army reached this rocky passage,
\nhowever, Allah warned the Prophet (pbuh) about this wicked plan. The
\nProphet (pbuh), therefore, ordered the entire army to travel through the
\nvalley while he and his two guards went by way of the cliff. As the
\nplotters approached, he shouted to them so that they could see that he
\nknew of their plan, whereupon they quickly ran back to the army and
\ntried to hide among the rest of the soldiers.
\nLater, the Prophet (pbuh) gathered his followers around him and told
\nthem what had happened. He picked out the men who had plotted against
\nhim and even told them the exact words they had spoken to each other.
\nSome of the Prophet’s companions said that these men should be killed,
\nbut the Prophet (pbuh) forgave them. As soon as he arrived back in
\nMedinah, the Prophet (pbuh) went to the mosque and prayed. Many of the
\nhypocrites and the lukewarm who had not gone with him to Tabuk came
\nto give their reasons for not having done so. Three men of spiritual value
\nwho had not joined the army were subjected by the Prophet (pbuh) to the
\ndiscipline of waiting for Allah’s forgiveness. For fifty days no one spoke
\nto them. Finally, Allah revealed a verse to the Prophet (pbuh) which
\ndeclared that these three men were forgiven:
\n\u201cAllah hath turned in mercy to the Prophet, and to the Muhajirin and
\nthe Ansar who followed him in the hour of hardship. After the hearts of a
\nparty of them had almost swerved aside, then He turned unto them in
\nmercy. Lo! He is full of Pity, Merciful. And to the three also (did He turn
\nin mercy) who were left behind, when the earth, vast as it is, was
\nstraitened for them, and their own souls were straitened for them till they
\nunderstood that there is no refuge from Allah save toward Him. Then He
\nturned unto them in mercy that they (too) might turn (repentant unto
\nHim). Lo! Allah! He is the Relenting, the Merciful. O you who believe!
\nBe careful of your duty to Allah, and be with tile truthful\u201d. (Qur’an 9.117-
\n119)
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 78
\nThe Farewell Pilgrimage
\nThe Prophet (pbuh) had become the most powerful leader in the whole of
\nArabia. After the idols in the Ka’bah had been smashed and Quraysh had
\nbecome Muslim, most of the other tribes of Arabia came to declare their
\nIslam. The year in which they came was later to be called the Year of
\nDeputations. As each tribe joined Islam, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
\nsent his men to teach them about their new religion. Many people also
\ncame to Medinah to question the Prophet (pbuh) himself. One tribe sent a
\nman called Dimam, who was large and strong. On arriving in Medinah,
\nhe went straight to the mosque, where the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was
\nsitting with some of his companions, and stood over the Prophet (pbuh).
\nIn a loud, rough voice he asked, ‘Which of you is the son of ‘Abd alMuttalib?’ When the Prophet (pbuh) answered him Dimam went on, ‘I am
\ngoing to ask you a hard question, so do not misunderstand me. I ask you
\nto swear by Allah, your Allah, the Allah of those before you and the
\nAllah of those who will come after you, has He sent you to us as a
\nmessenger?’ ‘Yes, He has’, replied the Prophet (pbuh). ‘Has Allah
\ninstructed you to order us to serve Him; to pray these five prayers; to pay
\nalms; to fast; to make the pilgrimage and to follow the other laws of
\nIslam)?’ continued Dimam. When the Prophet (pbuh) answered that Allah
\nhad indeed instructed him in this way, Dimam became a Muslim and, as
\nhe left, added, ‘Then I will do the things we are told to do and avoid the
\nthings we are forbidden-no more and no less.` As Dimam mounted his
\ncamel to leave, the Prophet(pbuh) told the people around him, ‘If this man
\nis sincere, he will go to Paradise.’ When Dimam reached his people they
\nall thought he had gone mad but by nightfall, after he had finished
\nspeaking, there was not among them that had not accepted Islam.
\nWhen the time came for the yearly pilgrimage, it was proclaimed that
\nthe prophet (pbuh) would be going to Mecca. The Muslims flocked to
\nMedinah from all over Arabia to join him on his journey to the Ka\u201fbah.
\nAs the tribes arrived they camped around the city until they finally
\nnumbered more than thirty thousand.<\/p>\n

The Prophet (pbuh) went out with his family and friends to
\npilgrimage, but before setting off, he led all the Muslims in prayer. After
\nthe prayers, the Prophet (pbuh) got on his camel and headed towards
\nMecca followed by the pilgrims, all of whom, for the first time in
\ncenturies, worshipped Allah, the One God. The Prophet (pbuh) and his
\ncompanions were deeply moved by the sight of the huge number of
\nMuslims accompanying them to Mecca, carrying no arms, and fearing no
\none. They could not help but remember their original flight from Mecca
\nwhen they had been so few in number and were forced to leave in order
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 79
\nto avoid the anger of Quraysh. Throughout the journey the Muslims
\nrepeated a prayer taught to them by the Prophet (pbuh) which he in turn
\nhad received from the Archangel Gabriel. This prayer, the talbiyah, has
\nbeen part of the Hajj ritual ever since. It is in answer to the call Abraham
\nwas commanded to make when he and Ishmael finished building the
\nKa\u201fbah.
\nLabaik Allahumma labaik, labaik la sharika laka labaik in alhamd wa al-ni’amatu laka wal-mulk, la sharika laka. Here I am, O Allah, at Thy service. Here I am, Thou art without partner, here I am. All
\nPraise and blessings are thine, and Dominion! Thou art without partner!
\nAfter ten days the pilgrims marched at sunset through the same pass
\nby which they had entered on the Day of Conquest of Mecca. When they
\nreached the Ka\u201fbah, the Prophet (pbuh) stood before it in prayer, then he
\nand all the Muslims walked around it seven times saying their prayer
\naloud. Next, just as Abraham had done, they went towards the Mount of
\nMercy at ‘Arafah, which the Prophet (pbuh) ascended on a camel. From
\nthe mountain he led the people in prayer and then spoke to them as they
\nstood assembled on the vast plain below.
\nWhat the Prophet (pbuh) said is known as the \u201eFarewell Sermon\u201f,
\nbecause it was the last speech the Prophet (pbuh) made before he died. He
\nsaid, ‘surely you will meet your Lord and He will question you about your
\nworks.’ He asked the Muslims to take their guidance from the Qur’an and
\nfrom his own example. This, he said, was the best way to live. He ordered
\nthem to cease living in the way they had before Islam.
\nRevenge, one of the oldest traditions in Arabia, was ended forever;
\nusury was prohibited; property was to be respected. Things which
\npreviously were forbidden during the four sacred months of the year were
\nnow forbidden at all times. He then commanded, ‘Know that every
\nMuslim is a Muslim’s brother’, which was a completely new idea to the
\ntribes who had so often quarreled in the past. He also said, ‘Allah has
\ngiven everyone his due-exactly what each one deserves. After each point
\nthe Prophet (pbuh) asked, ‘Have I explained it well? Is it perfectly clear?’
\nEveryone answered, ‘Yes.’ For these were the people who would have to
\npass on the Prophet’s message and instructions to those who were unable
\nto be present that day and to future generations. The Prophet (pbuh) said,
\n‘I have left you two things. If you hold on to them you will be saved.
\nThey are Allah’s Book and the words of your Prophet.’ He then asked,
\n‘Have I not conveyed the message?’ The multitude shouted out, ‘By Allah,
\nyes!’ The Prophet (pbuh) ended, ‘0 Allah! Bear witness to that.’
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 80
\n\u201c\u2026 This day those who disbelieve are in despair of (ever harming)
\nyour religion; so do not fear them, but fear Me! This day I have perfected
\nyour religion, for you, and I have completed My favor unto you, and have
\nchosen for you as a religion AL-ISLAM\u201d. (Qur’an 5.3) Many Muslims
\nstarted to shed tears, knowing that if the Prophet (pbuh) had completed
\nhis message, his life must be near its end.
\nAfter spending the rest of the day of \u201eArafah in prayer and
\ncontemplation, the Muslims began to complete the pilgrimage by
\nreturning to Mecca with the talbiyah prayer still on their lips. The first
\nnight of the return journey was spent at Muzdalifah. Here they gathered
\npebbles, which they carried with them the next day to Mina. There they
\nstood before a huge rock and stoned it in remembrance of Abraham’s
\nmeeting with the Devil in that very place. When Abraham received the
\norder from Allah to sacrifice his son Ishmael as a test of his faith, the
\nDevil had tried to convince him not to do it. He came to Abraham at
\nMina, as he was on his way to carry out Allah’s command, but Abraham
\ntook some stones and hurled them at the Devil to drive him away since
\nthe casting of stones at Mina on the Prophet’s ‘Farewell Pilgrimage’, this
\nhas become another ritual which Muslims perform on the annual
\npilgrimage to remind them that they, too, must continue to drive the Devil
\naway when he tries to prevent them from being obedient to Allah. After
\nthrowing the stones, the pilgrims sacrificed sheep and camels and gave
\nthe meat to the poor. In this way the great faith of Abraham was
\nremembered, for when he had been ready to sacrifice Ishmael, Allah had
\nsent a sheep in his place. The Muslims then completed the pilgrimage by
\nagain circling the Ka\u201fbah seven times. They then cut their hair and nails
\nand changed out of their white clothes to show they had returned to their
\ndaily lives. Before returning to Medinah, the Muslims spent three nights
\nin the valley at Medinah where the final preparations were made for the
\njourney home.
\nAs for the Prophet (pbuh), he made one final visit before leaving
\nMecca. This was to the grave of his devoted wife, Khadijah, who had
\nbeen the first person to believe in Allah’s Revelation through him. The
\nProphet (pbuh) knew that this would be the last time he would see the
\ngrave, or Mecca, because during the pilgrimage he had received the
\nchapter of the Qur’an called ‘Help’, form which he knew that his death
\nwas not far away.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 81
\nIn the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
\n\u201cWhen Allah’s help and triumph comes And thou seest, mankind
\nentering the religion of Allah in troops, Then hymn the praises of thy
\nLord, and seek forgiveness of Him. Lo! He is ever ready to show mercy\u201d.
\n(Qur’an 110.1-3)
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 82
\nThe Prophet\u2019s Death<\/strong><\/span>
\nOne Night, shortly after his return to Medinah, the Prophet(pbuh) woke
\nup at midnight and asked his servant\u201f Abd Allah to saddle his mule. They
\nthen left the house and went to the Baqi al-Gharqad, the burial ground of
\nthe Muslims. There the Prophet (pbuh) stood in the front of the graves
\nand, as though he could see the Muslims buried in them, spoke to them
\nand prayed over them. Later, \u201fAbd Allah reported, \u201fThe Prophet (pbuh)
\ntold me that he was ordered to pray for the dead and that I was to go with
\nhim.\u201f
\nAfter the Prophet (pbuh) had prayed he turned to \u201eAbd Allah and said,
\n\u201eI can choose between all the riches of this world, a long life and then
\nParadise, or meeting my Lord and entering Paradise now.\u201f \u201eAbd Allah
\nbegged him to choose a long, rich life, followed by Paradise, but the
\nProphet (pbuh) told him that he had already chosen to meet his Lord now
\nrather than remain in the world. The following morning the Prophet
\n(pbuh) awoke with a terrible headache, but despite this he had led the
\nprayers at the mosque. From what he said afterwards to the people
\nassembled there, they understood that his death was near. The Prophet
\n(pbuh) praised his best friend, Abu Bakr, who had begun to weep, and
\ntold everyone that he knew they would all meet again at a pool in
\nParadise. He added, however that although he was sure they would
\nalways worship Allah alone, he feared that the pleasures of the world
\nwould attract them, and they would begin to compete with one another
\nfor material possessions, forgetting spiritual things. Soon after the
\nProphet (pbuh) requested that he be moved to the room of A\u201fisha, one of
\nhis wives. As the days passed his fever grew worse, until one day he was
\nso ill that he could not even get to the mosque, which was next to where
\nA\u201fisha lived. The Prophet (pbuh) told A\u201fisha to tell the Muslims to let
\nAbu Bakr, her father, lead the prayer, which made them very sad for this
\nwas the first time anyone had taken the Prophet’s place.
\nLater, on the 12th day of Rabi al-Awal, in the 11th year of Islam (June
\n8th\u00a0 632 A.D.), the Prophet (pbuh) heard the voices of the people in prayer.
\nWith great effort he got up and looked from his door at all the Muslims
\nwho were assembled in rows behind Abu bakr; he smiled with great
\nsatisfaction. Abu Bakr saw him and stepped back to give the Prophet
\n(pbuh) his place. The Muslims were happy, thinking he was going to pray
\nwith them as before, but the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who looked
\nradiantly beautiful that day signaled to them to continue on their own. He
\nprayed in a sitting position at the right of Abu Bakr, after which he went
\nback inside and lay his head on ‘A’ishah’s lap. He was in such pain that
\nhis daughter Fatimah cried out in pity. Then the Prophet (pbuh) said,
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 83
\n‘There is no pain for your father after this day; truly, death has appeared
\nto me. We must all suffer it till the Day of Judgement.’ As he lay there,
\nA’ishah remembered that he had once said, Allah never takes a Prophet to
\nHimself without giving him the choice.’ Then she heard the Prophet
\n(pbuh) speak. His last words were, ‘Nay, rather the Exalted Communion
\nof Paradise.’
\nA\u201fishah then said to herself, ‘So, by Allah, he is not choosing us!’
\nWhen the people in the mosque heard that the Prophet (pbuh) was dead,
\nthey were filled with grief. \u201eUmar could not, and would not, believe it,
\nand exclaimed that it was not true. Abu Bakr then went out and spoke
\ngently to the people, saying ‘All praise belongs to Allah! 0 people,
\nwhoever worshipped Muhammad, Muhammad is dead. But for him who
\nworships Allah, Allah is living and never dies.’
\nHe then recited this verse from the Qur’an which had been revealed after
\nthe battle of Uhud:
\nIn the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
\n\u201cMuhammad is but a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) have
\npassed away before him. Will it be that, when he dies or is slain, you will
\nturn back on your heels? He who turns back does no hurt to Allah, and
\nAllah will reward the thankful. No soul can ever die except by Allah’s
\npermission and at a term appointed.
\nWho so desires the reward of the world, We bestow on him thereof;
\nand whosoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We bestow on him
\nthereof We shall reward the thankful\u201d. (Qur’an 3.144-145)
\nAfter this the people pledged their loyalty to Abu Bakr, whom the
\nProphet (pbuh) had chosen to lead the prayer. Abu Bakr accepted and
\nconcluded what he had to say with these words: ‘Obey me so long as I
\nobey Allah and His Messenger. But if I disobey Allah and His
\nMessenger, you owe me no obedience. Arise for your prayer, Allah have
\nmercy upon you!’ The people rose and asked him; ‘Where will the
\nProphet (pbuh) be buried?’ Abu Bakr remembered that the Prophet (pbuh)
\nhad said, ‘No Prophet dies who is not buried on the spot where he died.’
\nAnd so the Prophet (pbuh) was buried in a grave dug in the floor of
\nA’ishah’s room, in the house next to the mosque. The spot became known
\nas the Haram al-Nabawi and Muslims from all over the world go there to
\npray and to give their blessings and greetings of peace the Prophet
\nMuhammad (pbuh). And Lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. And
\nLo! thou art of a tremendous nature. (Qur’an 67. 3-4)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 84
\nGLOSSARY
\nAbd Allah Abd al-Mulib’s youngest son. Father of the
\nProphet
\nAbd Allah Ibn One of the rulers of Yathrib before the
\nUbayy Hijrah. He became a Muslim but secretly
\nplotted with the Meccans against the
\nProphet.
\nAbd Al- Son of Hashim. He took the place of his
\nMuttalib father as the head of Quraysh. He dug the
\nwell of Zamzam.
\nAbd Allah Ibn Was sent with Amr Ibn al-‘Ass to
\nAbu Rabiah Abyssinia.
\nAbdu Manaf Son of Qusayy; took over as leader of the
\nQuraysh after his father’s death.
\nAbrahah King of Yemen who came to Mecca with a
\nbig army to destroy the Kabbah.
\nAbraham The founding father of the three
\n(Ibrahtm) monotheistic (worshipping one God only)
\nreligions-Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
\nThe descendants of his son Ish maci
\n(fsma’ii) formed the tribe of Quraysh,
\nwhich is the tribe of the Prophet
\nMuhammad
\nAbo Bakr A rich and much respected merchant of
\nMecca. The first man to believe in the Prophet
\nand embrace Islam. He was the Prophet’s
\nclosest friend and companion.
\nAbu Dujanah One of the great Ansar warriors. lt was he
\nwho died Shielding the Prophet with his
\nownbody during the battle of Uhud
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 85
\nAbujahl One of the important men of Quraysh.
\nViolently opposed to
\nIslam, he did many things to harm the
\nProphet. He was killed at Badr. ABU
\nLAHAB: One of the Prophet Mohammed\u201fs
\nuncles, who was a great enemy of Islam.
\nHe is referred to in the Qur’an in Surah cxi.
\nAbu Sufyan One of the leaders of Quraysh who led the
\nunbelievers in their fight against the
\nProphet. He finally became a Muslim. His
\nwife was Hind.
\nAbo Talib The Prophet’s uncle, father of ‘Ali, one of the
\nrespected men of Quraysh He took care of the
\nProphet after his grandfather died and
\ncontinued to protect him until his own death.
\n‘Addas A Christian servant of one of the big tribes
\nof Ta’if and the only person from this town
\nto believe in the Prophet ~ at the time of
\nhis first visit there.
\nAdhan Call to prayer.
\n‘Aisah The Prophet’s wife and daughter of Abu
\nBakr.
\nAl-‘Abbas One of the uncles of the Prophet ~.
\nConverted to Islam and joined the Muslims
\njust as they were about to enter Mecca.
\nAli Son of Abu Tilib. First cousin of the
\nProphet. ‘Ali later married Fatimah, the
\nyoungest daughter of the Prophet.
\nAllahu Akar Phrase meaning ‘God Allah is Great’.
\nAlms Money, clothes or food given to the poor.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 86
\nAminah Aminah bint Wahb. The motherof the Prophet.
\n‘Amro Ibun An important and clever man from
\nAl’ass Quraysh; was sent to Abyssinia to bring
\nback the first Muslim emigrants. Later
\nbecame one of the great Warriors of Islam.
\nAnsar The inhabitants of Medinah who became
\nMuslims and asked the Prophet to come
\nand live with them.
\nApostle Person sent to teach men about God.
\nWa Aleikum Phrase used by the Muslims in greeting,
\nAssalamu meaning: ‘May the Peace, Mercy and Grace
\nRahmatullah of Allah be upon you.
\nWa Barakatuiiu
\nBah1ira A monk who lived in the desert on the
\nQuraysh caravan route to Syria.
\nBani Hashim The branch of Quraysh to
\nwhich the Prophet belonged.
\nBani Qurayzah A Jewish tribe who were living in Yathrib
\nat the time the Prophet arrived there. Several
\ntimes they betrayed their Covenant with
\nthe Prophet, forcing him to fight them.
\nBedouin Nomadic Arabs of the desert, usually shepherds.
\nBilal The Slave of Umayyah ibn Khalaf. He
\nbecame a Muslim against the will of his
\nmaster and was persecuted cruelly but
\nnever lost his faith. Later he became the
\nfirst mu’adhdhin (the person who calls the
\nadhan).
\nBismillah The phrase meaning ‘In the Name of Allah
\nthe Merciful, The Compassionate’.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 87
\nBooty Things captured from an enemy in war.
\nBuraq Animal ridden by the Prophet Muliammad ~
\non his ascent to heaven (the Isra’ and Mi’raj).
\nCaravan A group of travellers, usually merchants
\nwith their goods.
\nClan Large family or tribe.
\nCongregation Gathering of people for prayer.
\nConvert To change from one state into another,
\nusually said of religion.
\nCopt An Egyptian Christian.
\nDescendants People originating from a certain person
\n(children,
\ngrandchildren, etc.).
\nDestined Fated, already decided by God.
\nFamine Scarcity of food.
\nFast To go without food and water, e.g. the
\nmonth of Ramadan.
\nFitrah The pure original nature God gave to man.
\nGabriel (Jibril) The Archangel who conveyed the
\nRevelation of the Quran to the Prophet from
\nAllah.
\nGraze To feed on grass, as sheep do.
\nGuardian One who is responsible for someone (e.g. a
\nchild)? A place, or thing.
\nHadith An account of what the Prophet ~ said or
\ndid, or his silent approval of something said
\nor done in his presence
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 88
\nHagar Abraham’s second wife and mother of his
\n(Haajar) first son Ishmael.
\nHalimah A Bedouin woman from Bani Sa’d, who
\ncared for the Prophet during his early
\nchildhood.
\nHamzah The Prophet’s uncle; one of the bravest
\nand strongest of the Muslims. Fought at
\nBadr and was killed in Uhud.
\nHas Him Son of Abdu Manif. Organized the caravan
\njourneys of Quraysh to Syria and Yemen.
\nAs a result Mecca grew rich and became a
\nlarge and important centre of trade.
\nHeraclius Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.
\nHermit A holy man who lives far away from
\npeople.
\nHiurah The flight from Mecca to Medinah;
\nemigration
\nHind Abu Sufyin’s wife.
\nImam A man who leads the Muslims in prayer.
\nIshmael The first son of Abraham from his wife
\n(Isma’il) Hagar. Settled in Mecca where he helped
\nhis father rebuild the Kabah. From his
\ndescendants came Quraysh.
\nIslam Religion revealed to the Prophet
\nMuhammad.
\nJa’far Ibn Abu A cousin of the Prophet and brother of
\nAli,
\nTallb he was the spokesman of the Muslims who
\nemigrated to Abyssinia.
\nThe Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 89
\nKhadijah The Prophet Mohammed\u201fs first and only
\nwife until her death. She was the first to
\nbelieve in the Prophet and to accept as true
\nthe Message he brought from Allah.
\nKhalid Ibn Al- A great warrior, very skilled at warfare. He
\nWalid planned the defeat of the Muslims at Uhud,
\nbut later converted to Islam and fought
\neven more strongly for his new faith.
\nMartyr One who dies in the cause of God.
\nMaysarah Khadijah’s slave. Accompanied the Prophet
\non his journey with Khadijah’s caravans.
\nMinaret Tower from which the call to prayer is
\nmade.
\nMosque Building in which Muslims pray.
\nMuslim One who submits to God, usually referring
\nto the followers of the Prophet Muhammad.
\nOasis A small area in the desert where water and
\ntrees are to be found.
\nParadise Place to which the souls of good people go
\nafter death
\nPilgrimage Journey to a holy place, e.g. Hajj<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)   This book can be printed or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4,20],"tags":[276],"class_list":["post-3243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-topics","category-about-islam","category-prophet-muhammad","tag-prophet-muhammad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3243"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3247,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243\/revisions\/3247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}