ISLAM - a living religious system
Muhammad - principal life events
1. Read the material “Muhammad’s life” in your Cambridge Studies of Religion text
p.234-235. As you read, enter the correct dates into the left hand column of each piece of
information provided below.
Mecca broke the treaty two years after it was signed. Muhammad leds a 10000 strong
army against Mecca. The Prophet declares a general amnesty towards all Meccans
despite years of persecution. The Meccans feared a bloody revenge, but rather he rode
into the Ka’ba and smashed the idols placed here by the people. From this point on, the
Ka’ba would only be used to worship the one God, Allah. The people of Mecca converted
to Islam.
But above all, we can learn from Muhammad how to make peace. His whole career
shows that the first priority must be to extirpate greed, hatred and contempt from our
own hearts and to reform our own society. Only then is it possible to build a safe, stable
world, where people can live together in harmony, and respect each other’s differences.”
— Karen Armstrong, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet
Muhammad continued to receive more revelations and slowly began to teach those
closest to him: the truth of the One God (monotheism) and the importance of piety and
good works. Muhammad encouraged people to; Reject idols, Give charity to the poor,
Free slaves, Embrace equality and justice. He continued to receive revelations
throughout his life.
2 years after the first revelation the Angel Gabriel appears to Muhammad again, urging
him to go into the world and preach Allah’s teachings. Muhammad began to teach the
people of Mecca. Initially few would listen. Muhammad’s message condemned
polytheism and idol worship. This caused tribal leaders to see him as a threat and they
began to oppose him.
➢ The community at the time was mainly polytheistic.
➢ There were many merchant traders who relied on the profit from making
and selling of idols.
An economic and social boycott was placed on Muslims. Leading figures of Mecca
began to oppose him, persecuting and killing his followers and making life in general
very difficult. If Muhammad had not had the protection of his clan, he might have been
killed.
First and most important of major conflicts between Muslims and the people of Mecca
at Badr. The people of Mecca were unhappy that Muhammad’s growing number of
followers now had a safe refuge and were in a position to block the northern trade route.
Several more conflicts ensued.
Muhammad died at the age of 63.Not long before his death, Muhammad received
revelations that stressed that Allah’s message to humanity had been completed and the
Qu’ran was the final message of Allah to all of humanity. Muhammad completed one last
pilgrimage to Mecca before his death, it became known as the Farewell Pilgrimage.
Muhammad was born in or around this year in the town of Mecca into the Quraysh tribe.
This was the main tribe in Mecca at the time and responsible for the upkeep of Ka’ba.
Muhammad’s father died just before he was born. His mother died when he was six.
Muhammad was cared for by his grandfather and later by his uncle. As soon as he was
old enough, he began to earn a living. He did not read or write, as this was not common
at the time. In his early life Muhammad worked in a camel caravan. Working for his
uncle, he gained experience in commercial trade traveling to Syria and eventually from
the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean. He gained a reputation very early in life for
being scrupulously honest and a settler of disputes.
In his late thirties, Muhammad became increasingly spiritual and often withdrew himself
to meditation and solitude on a mountain-top cave. He was dissatisfied with the low
moral standards that existed in Mecca. At age 40, Muhammad was meditating in a cave
at Mt Hira when he had an encounter with the angel Gabriel. Muslims believe that this
angel was Gabriel and that the angel commanded him to read three times. Muhammad
replied each time, “I do not know what to read”. The angel recited the first five verses to
be revealed to Muhammad. The Angel Gabriel announced that Muhammad would be
Allah’s messenger. Muhammad was frightened, thinking that he was going mad.
Khadijah reassured him of God’s good intentions.Muhammad would only share this
revelation with his family for the first two years after it happened.
Khadijah died. Muhammad went on to marry a number of women, some for love, some
to care for those who did not have any other means of support and others to develop
connections with powerful families in order to protect his growing community.
At age 25 Muhammad married Khadijah, a wealthy widow of about 40 years of age, who
had been impressed with his honesty, and so asked him to marry her. During their
marriage, Muhammad had no other wives and they had six children. Khadija was a
well-respected, educated, wealthy tradeswoman. She played a vital role in Muhammad’s
propagation of Allah’s word.
The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was a significant peace agreement made between the
Prophet Muhammad and the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. It is named after the place where
the treaty was negotiated, Hudaybiyyah, which is located near Mecca. Both parties
agreed to a ten-year truce during which there would be no fighting between them.
The truce allowed Muhammad and his followers to make a pilgrimage to the Ka’ba each
year (called Umrah). This was a major turning point for Islam, because conversions could
then take place in an atmosphere of peace.
As the threats and attacks against Muhammad and his followers increased, they were
forced to migrate from Mecca to Medina. Muhammad was the last to leave in an epic
escape. This event marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. Muhammad fled Mecca
and found sanctuary in Yathrib, a town 400 kilometers north of Mecca. Even before
moving here permanently, the people of the town had sought his assistance in making
peace and arbitrating disputes. Many accepted his teachings and became Muslims.
Eventually, an agreement was made with the Muslims of Yathrib and Muhammad asked
his followers to resettle with him in Yathrib. Islam rapidly spread there. Its inhabitants
invited the Prophet to be their peacemaker and leader. An official system of charity was
established. Yathrib is now called Medina.
2. Cut up the strips and paste them onto the timeline in order. As you paste them into
your book, give each one a heading from the list below:
● Prophet continues to receive revelations
● Truce with Meccans
● Return to Mecca
● Early life and caravans
● Teachings in Mecca
● Hijra
● Revelation of Qu’ran
● Death of Khadijah
● Battles between Medinans and Meccans
● Death
Homework
- View the clip below
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