Who was Muhammad?
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January 19, 2012 • Yu-Ying C.
Filed under Top Stories
Muhammad is widely known as the prophet who started teaching the religion of Islam. According to the teachings of Islam, in the year 610 C.E. Muhammad went to pray in a cave located in the mountains. In that cave, he was visited by the angel Gabriel who told him to “recite”, and that he was to be the messenger of God. Muhammad’s life still plays a significant part in Islamic teachings today.
Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan in the 6th century, and lived his early life in the city of Makkah. By the time he was born, his father had already died, and his mother died when he was young, leaving him an orphan. His uncle-a respected merchant, took him in which introduced him to the business of (honest) trading. Later, Muhammad met his wife Khadijah through managing caravans for her; earning her a lot of money. They eventually got married when Muhammad was 25 because she was impressed with his honesty and abilities.
Around 610 C.E., Muhammad went to a cave to pray, where he was visited by the angel Gabriel who told him to ‘recite’, and that he was to be the messenger of god. Muhammad thought that he might be going mad, but his faithful wife Khadijah assured him of her faith, and became the first to convert to Islam. After receiving messages from Gabriel for 22 years, he had a small group of followers at Makkah. Some of his followers-or “those who surrender to god” wrote down his messages in the Qur’an (the holy book of Islam).
As more Makkans converted to Islam-mostly because of what Muhammad taught (rich should share their wealth and etc.), the powerful clans of Makkah started a boycott-along with rejecting the Hashim clan. Muhammad was protected by Abu Talib-the head of the Hashim clan; however, these hard years still took their toll on Abu Talib and Khadijah, causing them to die in 619. Although these losses upset Muhammad, in that same year, he reported a Miracle-the Night Journey. According to the Qu’ran, a winged horse directed Muhammad to Jerusalem where he prayed with earlier prophets, then led him through the 7 levels of heaven, where Muhammad met god.
With the loss of their protector, the Muslims under came more attacks, and were convinced by a group of Arabs from Yathrib to move to their town (with the pledge of protection). In 622, Muhammad’s group left on a journey called the hijrah to Yathrib-which was renamed Madinah. He asked his followers to respect other “People of the Book” (Jews & Christians) because they also believed in one god. In March of 632, during his final pilgrimage, Muhammad delivered his Last Sermon to remind Muslims to be faithful and good to one another.
At first, the country of Arabia was in chaos-tribes fighting over resources and raiding other tribes. Muhammad did an awe-inspiring job of uniting Arabia within 100 years with the teaching of Islamic faiths, and his non-violent & peaceful preaching. He eventually changed the world by starting the Islamic legacy, and building a powerful, massive empire.
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