1

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

Who isMuhammad

Khurram Murad

The Islamic Foundation

Peace Be Upon Him

2

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

Published by

The Islamic Foundation,Markfield Dawah Centre,Ratby Lane, Markfield,Leicester LE67 9SY, UK

Quran House, PO Box 30611, Nairobi, Kenya

PMB 3193, Kano, Nigeria

© The Islamic Foundation 1998/1419 H.

First published 1998

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, elec-tronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior per-mission of the copyright owner.

ISBN 0 86037 290 1

British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA Catalogue card for this book is available from the British Library

Typeset in Baskerville

3

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

ForewordKhurram Murad has been a source of guidance and

inspiration to thousands of people the world over. His deathin December 1996 has deprived the Ummah of one of its greatsons – a thinker, a prolific writer, a teacher, a guide and aleader of the Islamic movement. During the last months of hislife he planned to write a trio on the Qur’an and the life andmessage of Prophet Muhammad sallallaho [alaih wassallam,particularly directed towards the Muslim youth in the English-speaking world. These small tracts were meant to reach thehearts and souls of our youth, yearning for guidance, seekingideals to live by. The Qur’anic Treasures and Gifts from Muhammadwere proof-read by him on his death bed. Who is Muhammad wasstill in the form of a first draft when he breathed his last. Now weare able to present this last work of Brother Khurram. We aregrateful to Br. Abdur Rashid Siddiqui who has workedmeticulously to edit and prepare this tract for publication. Ihave gone through the manuscript and made minor editorialmodifications, keeping in view the purpose and style of Br.Khurram. I hope this small booklet will be of immenseassistance to all those who want to understand Muhammad,sallallaho [alaih wassallam, the man and his mission.

Leicester Khurshid Ahmad11 April 1998

4

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

1

The Prophet MuhammadToday

One in every five persons on this earth firmlybelieves that the Prophet Muhammad is the lastMessenger of God. He was a Muslim and there aremore than 1.3 billion such Muslims today.

Not only individuals but entire countries takepride in declaring their allegiance to him. Thereare 54 such Muslim states today, ranging from thoseas large as Indonesia and Bangladesh, withpopulations of 200 and 125 million respectively, tothose as tiny as the Maldives or Brunei withpopulations of 230,000 and 260,000. Even in non-Muslim countries, large Muslim populations

5

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

constitute significant minorities; as much as 120million in India and 20 million in China. Indeed,within the last half century, Islam, the religionbrought by the Prophet Muhammad, has becomethe second largest religion in most Europeancountries, as also in America and Canada.

Black and white, red and yellow, followers of theProphet Muhammad come from all human races.Whether in Asia or Europe, Africa or America, inevery nook and cranny of this globe, you are sureto find Muslims. They live in the most advanced,sprawling megalopolis as well as in the mostprimitive nomadic tent, village, hamlet, and evenin the bush.

As now so always, down the centuries, across theplanet, from end to end, billions and billions of menand women have lived all their lives, loving theProphet and trying to follow in his footsteps, as noone else has been so loved and followed. They havelived and died, believed and acted, married andraised families, worshipped and ruled, made warand peace, even eaten and dressed, walked andslept, just as he did or taught them to do.

6

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

Indeed, never in history has a man influencedmankind, even beyond his death, so deeply and sopervasively as he has. He brings light and peace tocountless hearts and lives. They love him moredearly than their own selves. In him they find theirgreatest source of inspiration and guidance. He isthe ultimate norm and the perfect example forthem. Faith in him is their mainstay, and he is theirchief source of support and comfort in all personalvicissitudes and tribulations. To him they also lookto lead them through social and political turmoil.He has always inspired them to greater and greaterheights of spiritual and moral upliftment andcivilizational achievements. And still does.

In short, they believe that through him, a humanlike themselves, God has spoken to them, andguided him to live amongst them, setting anexample and a model for all times to come. Eventoday he motivates and induces whole populationsto yearn and strive to shape their private lives,politics and policies according to his teachings.

Who, then, is this man Muhammad?

7

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

2

Early Life in Makkah

It was in the year 570, after Jesus, thatMuhammad was born in Makkah, in what is nowSaudi Arabia. Arabia, by all accounts, is the cradleof the human race. All the oldest human remainsso far found come from the area of its location.

Hemmed in by red, black and brown volcanichills about 80 kilometres to the east of the Red Sea,stands the city of Makkah. It was then a smallmerchant town on the ancient ‘incense’ routethrough which passed the great trade caravansbetween the south and north.

However, Makkah was, and remains, importantfor an altogether different reason. For here lies theKa[bah, the ‘first House’ ever set up for mankind

8

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

to worship their only God. More than 1,000 yearsbefore the Prophet Solomon built the temple inJerusalem, his ancestor, the Prophet Abraham,aided by his elder son the Prophet Ishmael, raisedits walls on very ancient foundations.

Close by the Ka[bah lies the well called ZamZam. Its origin, too, goes back to the ProphetAbraham’s time. It was this well which sprang upmiraculously to save the life of the infant Ishmael.In the words of the Bible:

And God heard the voice of the boy; and theangel of God called to Hagar out of heaven,and said to her: ‘What ails you, Hagar? Fearnot, for God has heard the voice of the boywhere he is. Arise, lift up the boy, and holdhim in your hand; for I will make him a greatnation. And God opened her eyes, and she sawa well of water; and she went, and filled thebottle with water, and gave the boy a drink.And God was with the boy; and he grew anddwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.(Genesis 21: 17–20 )

9

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

Or, as the Psalmist sings:

As they pass through the dry Valley of Baca,it becomes a place of springs;the early rain fills it with pools.(Psalms 84: 6)

Makkah never had, nor does it have now, anyworldly inducement to offer for settlement. It is abarren, desolate place, where even grass does notgrow! There were springs and wells of abundantwater nearby in Taif, and a short distance away inMadinah. But it was the first House of God,architecturally an unremarkable cube, butspiritually and civilizationally the most remarkablefountain and spring of life – which made itsupremely important, a place of attraction forpeople from all over the world. Forever, therefore,Makkah has been a great centre of pilgrimage.

By the time Muhammad was born, the Ka[bah’slatest guardians, the tribe of Quraysh, had morethan 300 idols installed in and around the Ka[bahto be worshipped as lords, gods and intercessorsbesides the One God. Muhammad was a direct

10

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

descendant of the Prophet Abraham through theProphet Ishmael. He belonged to the financiallypoor but politically strong and noble clan of BanuHashim from the tribe of Quraysh. As guardiansof the Ka[bah, the House of God and the centre ofpilgrimage for all Arabia, the Quraysh rankedhigher in dignity and power than any other tribe.Hashim held the high office of levying taxes andproviding the pilgrims with food and water.

Muhammad was born an orphan. His father,Abdullah, died before he was born. His mother,Aminah, too, passed away when he was only sixyears old. Doubly an orphan, his grandfather, Abdal-Muttalib, took him into his care. Only two yearslater, however, the orphaned boy was bereaved ofhis grandfather as well, leaving him in the care ofhis uncle, Abu Talib.

After his birth, the infant child was sent to thedesert to be suckled and weaned and to spend partof his childhood among one of the Bedouin tribes,Bani Sa[d ibn Bakr, who live in the southeast ofMakkah. This was the usual custom of all the greatfamilies in Makkah.

11

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

As Muhammad grew up, to earn his livelihoodhe pastured sheep and goats, as have done mostprophets. His uncle and guardian, Abu Talib, alsotook him along with him on his travels with thetrade caravans to greater Syria. He, thus, gainedexperience in trading. Because of his great honestyand diligence and the business acumen he showedin trading, he was soon being sought after to takecharge of other people’s merchandise, i.e. for thosewho could not travel themselves, and to trade ontheir behalf.

At the age of 25, Muhammad married a ladynamed Khadijah. A widow, Khadijah was 15 yearsolder than Muhammad. She was a rich merchantof Makkah, and Muhammad had managed someof her trade affairs. It was she who proposedmarriage. Khadijah remained Muhammad’s wifeand his closest friend and companion all her life tillher death 25 years later. She bore him six children,of whom four daughters survived.

Until he was 40, Muhammad led a veryuneventful life, showing no signs of the Prophet inthe making that he was suddenly to be. What set

12

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

him apart from his compatriots was his absolutetruthfulness, trustworthiness and integrity, his senseof justice and compassion for the poor, oppressedand downtrodden, as well as his total refusal toworship any idol or do anything immoral. He waspopularly acclaimed for these qualities. Al-Amin, theTrustworthy, the Honest, al-Sadiq, the Truthful, werethe titles on everybody’s lips for Muhammad, whichitself means the Praised One.

At a very young age, Muhammad enthusiasticallyjoined a pact of chivalry for the establishment ofjustice and the protection of the weak and theoppressed made by certain chiefs of the Quraysh.He took part in the Oath when they all vowed ‘thathenceforth they would stand together as one manon the side of the oppressed against the oppressoruntil justice was done, whether the oppressed werea man of the Quraysh or one who had come fromabroad.’

In later years, at Madinah, Muhammad used tosay: ‘I was present in the house of Abd Allah ibnJud’an at so excellent a pact that I would notexchange my part in it for a herd of red camels,

13

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

and if now, in Islam, I were summoned to a similarpact, I would gladly respond.’

A testimony to Muhammad’s character was givenby his wife Khadijah as she comforted him at thetime when the first Revelation came to him. He saidlater: ‘I fear for my life.’ She replied: ‘By no means!I swear by God that God will never lose you. Youjoin ties of relationship, you speak the truth, youbear people’s burdens, you earn for the poor, youentertain guests, and you help against thevicissitudes which affect people’s rights.’

Muhammad’s wisdom was also acknowledged byall. Once, while repairing the Ka[bah, various clansof the Quraysh disputed violently as to who shouldhave the honour of placing the Black Stone in itsplace. As they were about to unsheathe their swordsand go to war, they made the Prophet theirarbitrator and he brought them peace. He placedthe Black Stone on his cloak and asked all the clanchiefs to hold its edges and raise it, and then heplaced the Black Stone in its appointed spot withhis own hands.

14

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

3

The Prophet at Makkah

Muhammad was not only a wise, just,compassionate, honoured and respected man, butalso a profoundly contemplative and spiritualperson. As he approached the age of 40,increasingly he came to spend more and more ofhis time in retreat, in contemplation, worship,prayer, in the Cave of Hira in Jabal al-Nur,sometimes for several days at a time.

It was here that one night before dawn, in thelast part of the month of Ramadan, the holy monthof fasting for Muslims, the Angel Gabriel appearedbefore him in the form of a man, and said to him:‘Read’, and the Prophet said: ‘I am not a reader.’Thereupon, as he himself told it, ‘the Angel Jibrail

15

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

overwhelmed me in his embrace until I reachedthe limit of my endurance. Then he returned meand said: ‘Read.’ Again I said: ‘I am not a reader.’Thrice the same thing happened. The third time,after releasing me from his embrace, the Angelfinally said:

Read in the name of your Lord Who hascreated. He has created man from a clot ofblood. Read, and your Lord is the MostBountiful: He who has taught by the pen, taughtman what he knew not. (al-[Alaq 96: 1–5)

He recited these words after the Angel. And,then, the Angel said to him: ‘You are the Messengerof God.’

Overawed by the unique experience of theDivine and overwhelmed by the huge burden oftruth and message, he came out of the cave, hisbody trembling and his heart quaking. The Prophetreturned home. ‘Cover me! Cover me!’, he said tohis wife Khadijah. She quickly covered him with acloak. Wrapped in the cloak, he told her what had

16

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

happened in the Cave of Hira, how he had cometo be appointed as God’s Messenger.

The event in Hira, as narrated by Muhammad,was the supreme and most crucial event of his life.All that happened later has been happening overthe centuries, and all the positions that he enjoys inthe eyes of his followers, or his detractors, hingeson the veracity, truthfulness, authenticity and natureof this event in Hira.

Yet the only thing to support his claim in thisrespect was and remains his own word. Was he trulya Messenger of God? Was what he saw real andtrue? Or, was it an hallucination? Was he a manpossessed? Did he just compose in words as poetsdo, the ideas he found in his heart?

These questions are raised today, as they wereraised by his compatriots then. Of these his wife of15 years was to be the first judge. She knew himtoo well to doubt even for a moment that he couldsay anything but the truth. She also knew hischaracter. So, she believed in him without amoment’s hesitation.

As with his wife Khadijah, so his closest friend

17

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

Abu Bakr, his adopted son Zayd, his cousin Aliwho lived with him, in short all who knew theProphet most intimately, believed in histruthfulness most spontaneously.

Khadijah took the Prophet to her cousinWaraqah, who had converted to Christianity, andacquired great learning in Christian Scriptures.Both the Jews and Christians had been expectingthe coming of the last Prophet as foretold in theirScriptures. Had not Moses, just before he died, beentold: ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like youfrom among their brethren; and I will put my wordsin his mouth’ (Deuteronomy 18: 18)? Who could bethe brethren of the sons of Israel except the sons ofIshmael?

Who could be the mysterious Shiloh but theProphet Muhammad, about whom Jacob prophesiedimmediately before his death, that to him would betransferred the Divine mission in ‘the latter days’:‘And Jacob called his sons and said, gather yourselvestogether, that I may tell you that which shall befallyou in the last days . . . The sceptre shall not departfrom Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet,

18

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

until Shiloh come; and unto him the gathering ofthe people be.’ (Genesis 49: 1, 10)

And, whom did Jesus mean other thanMuhammad when he said: ‘If I do not go away, theHelper will not come to you . . . he will not speakon his own authority, but whatever he hears he willspeak’ (John 16: 7–14)?

Waraqah therefore had no doubts that the lastProphet had come; so, he, too, believed in him.

But most of the people of Makkah who hadacclaimed him as the Trustworthy (Al-Amin) and theTruthful (Al-Sadiq) could not bring themselves tobelieve in him. Nor could the Jews and Christianswho had for so long been living in expectation ofhis arrival. Not that they doubted his truthfulnessor integrity. But they were not prepared to turn theirwhole established way of life upside down bysubmitting to his simple but radical message:

When I recite the Qur’an, I find the followingclear instructions: God is He who has created you,and the heavens and the earth, He is your only Lordand Master. Surrender your beings and your lives

19

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

totally to Him alone, and worship and serve noone but Him. Let God be the only God.

The words I speak, He places in my mouth, Ispeak on His authority. Obey me and forsake allfalse claimants to human obedience. Everything inthe heavens and on earth belongs to God; no manhas a right to be master of another man, to spreadoppression and corruption on earth. An eternal lifebeyond awaits you; where you will meet God faceto face, and your life will be judged; for that youmust prepare.

This simple message shook the very foundationsof the Makkan society as well as the seventh-centuryworld. That world, as today, lived under the yokeof many false gods: kings and emperors, priests andmonks, feudal lords and rich businessmen,soothsayers and spell-binders who claimed to knowwhat others knew not – all lorded over man. Notonly that: man-made gods of their own desires, theirtribal loyalties, their ancestors, and the powers ofnature, like the nations, cultures, science andtechnology today all lorded over man.

20

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

The Prophet’s message challenged them all,exposed them all, threatened them all. Hisimmediate opponents in Makkah could do no betterthan brand him unconvincingly as a liar, a poet, asoothsayer, a man possessed. But how could he whowas illiterate, he who had never composed a singleverse, he who had shown no inclination to lead men,suddenly, have words flowing from his lips, so fullof wisdom and light, morally so uplifting,specifically so enlivening, so beautiful and powerful,that they began to change the hearts and minds andlives of the hearers? His detractors and opponentshad no answer. When challenged to produceanything even remotely similar to the wordsMuhammad claimed he was receiving from God,they could not match God’s words.

First privately, then publicly, the Prophetcontinued to proclaim his Message. He himself hadan intense, living relationship with God, totallycommitted to the Message and mission entrusted tohim. Slowly and gradually, people came forwardand embraced Islam. They came from all walks of

21

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

life – chiefs and slaves, businessmen and artisans,men and women – most of them young.

Some simply heard the Qur’an, and that wasenough to transform them. Some saw the Prophet,and were immediately captivated by the light ofmercy, generosity and humanity that was visible inhis manners and morals, in his words and works,and in his face too.

So also the opposition continued to harden andsharpen. It grew furious and ferocious. Those whojoined the Prophet as also the Prophet himself weretortured in innumerable ways: they were mocked,abused, beaten, flogged, imprisoned, and boycotted.Some were subjected to much more inhumantortures: made to lie on burning coal fires until themelting body fat extinguished them, or weredragged over burning sand and rocks. Yet such wasthe strength of their faith that none of them gave itup in the face of such trials and tribulations.

However, as the persecutions became unbearable,the Prophet said to them: ‘If you go to Abyssinia,you will find there a king, a Christian, under whomno one suffers wrong.’ About 80 of his followers,

22

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

therefore, forsook their homes and emigrated toAbyssinia, where the Christian king gave them fullprotection despite the pleadings and machinationsof the emissaries sent by the Quraysh chiefs. Thiswas the first emigration of Islam.

All the while, the Prophet and his Companionscontinued to nourish their souls and intellects andstrengthen their character and resolve for the greattask that lay ahead. They met regularly, especiallyat a house near the Ka[bah called Dar al-Arqam, toread and study the Qur’an, to worship and pray,and to forge the ties of brotherhood.

Ten years passed, but the people of Makkahwould not give their allegiance to the Prophet’sMessage nor showed any signs of mitigating theirpersecution. At the same time, the Prophet lost hisclosest Companions and his wife Khadijah, as alsohis uncle Abu Talib, his chief protector in the tribalworld of Makkah.

The Prophet now decided to carry his Messageto the people of the nearby town of Taif, known forits wealth. In Taif, too, the tribal leaders mockedand ridiculed him and rejected his Message. They

23

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

also stirred up their slaves and the street urchinsto insult him, mock him, and throw stones at him.Thus, he was stoned until he bled and was drivenout of Taif. And yet when his Companion, Zayd,requested him to curse the people of Taif, and whenGod placed at his command the Angel ofMountains to crush the valley of Taif if he sowished, he only prayed for their being guided. Suchwas the mercy and compassion of the one who isthe ‘mercy for all the worlds’.

The Taif episode was the hardest moment in theProphet’s life. It signalled the advent of a new erafor him, when his mission was to find a secure base,and was to ascend higher and higher in the comingdays until the end of time.

To mark that, one night the Prophet wasawakened and taken, in the company of the AngelGabriel, first to Jerusalem. There he was met by allthe Prophets, who gathered together behind him ashe prayed on the rock in the centre of the site of theTemple, the spot where the Dome of the Rockstands today. From the rock, led by the Archangel,he ascended through the seven heavens and beyond.

24

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

Thus he saw whatever God made him see, theheavenly worlds which no human eye can see, andwhich were the focus of his Message and mission.

During this journey, the five daily Prayers wereordained for his people. Furthermore, it was thenthat the Prophet was given the charter for the newsociety and state soon to be born, which, too, wasprophesied and which is described in Surah al-Isra’

(Chapter 17) of the Qur’an.

d

25

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

4

The Prophet at Madinah

The Message that Makkah and Taif rejected,found responsive hearts in Yathrib, a small oasisabout 400 kilometres to the north of Makkah. Nowknown as Madinatun Nabi, the city of the Prophet,or Madinah Munawwara, the radiant city, it wasdestined to be the centre of the Divine light thatwas to spread to all parts of the world for all timesto come.

In quick succession, the Prophet suffered theterrible loss of Khadijah, his intimate and belovedcompanion for 25 years, and of Abu Talib, hisguardian and protector against the bloodthirstyMakkan foes, and encountered the worst everrejection, humiliation and persecution at nearby

26

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

Taif. As the Prophet reached the lowest point inhis vocation, God brought him comfort andsolace. On the one hand, spiritually, He took himduring the Night of the Ascension to the highestof highs, realities and divinities, face to face withthe Unseen. And on the other, materially, heopened the hearts of the people of Yathrib to theMessage and mission of Muhammad.

Soon after Muhammad’s return from Taif andthe Night Journey, at the time of the Pilgrimage,six men from Yathrib embraced Islam. Theydelivered the Message of Islam to as many as theycould, and at the time of the next Pilgrimage in theyear 621 CE, 12 persons came. They pledgedthemselves to the Prophet, that they would make nogod beside God, that they would neither steal norcommit fornication, nor slay their infants, nor utterslanders, nor disobey him in that which is right. TheProphet said: ‘If you fulfil this pledge, then Paradiseis yours.’ This time the Prophet sent Mus[ab ibn[Umayr with them to teach them the Qur’an andIslam and to spread the Message of Islam.

27

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

More and more people over the course of ayear – tribal leaders, men and women – in Yathribbecame Muslims. At the time of the nextPilgrimage, they decided to send a delegation tothe Prophet, make a pledge to him, and invite himand all Muslims in Makkah to Yathrib as asanctuary and as a base for spreading the DivineMessage of Islam.

In all 73 men and two women came. They metthe Prophet at [Aqabah. They pledged to protectthe Prophet as they would protect their own womenand children, and to fight against all men, red andblack, even if their nobles were killed and theysuffered the loss of all their possessions. When askedwhat would be theirs if they fulfilled their pledge,the Prophet said: ‘Paradise’. Thus, the beginningwas made, the foundations of the Islamic society,state and civilization were set.

The road was now open for the persecuted andtortured followers of the Prophet to come to theHouse of Islam, that was to be Madinah. He,therefore, instructed them to emigrate, andgradually most of them found their way to Yathrib.

28

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

Their Makkan foes could not bear to see theMuslims living in peace. They knew the power ofthe Prophet’s Message, they knew the strength ofthose dedicated believers who cared nothing for theage-old Arab customs and ties of kinship, and whoif they had to would fight for their faith. TheMakkans sensed the danger that the Muslims’presence in Madinah posed for their northern tradecaravan routes. They saw no other way to stop allthis but to kill the Prophet.

Hence they hatched a conspiracy: one strong andwell-connected young man was to be nominated byeach clan, and all of them were to pounce uponand kill the Prophet one morning as he came out ofhis house, so that his blood would be on all the clans’hands. Thus, the Prophet’s clan would have toaccept blood-money in place of revenge.

Informed of the plot by the Angel Gabriel, andinstructed to leave Makkah for Madinah, theProphet went to Abu Bakr’s house to finalize thetravel arrangements. Abu Bakr was overjoyed athaving been chosen for the honour and blessing ofbeing the Prophet’s Companion on this blessed and

29

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

momentous, sacred and epoch-making journey.He offered his she-camel to the Prophet, but theProphet insisted on paying its price.

On the fateful night, as darkness fell, the youthsselected by the Quraysh leaders to kill the Prophetsurrounded his house. They decided to pounce onhim when he came out of his house for the dawnPrayers.

Meanwhile, the Prophet handed over all themoney left by the Makkans with him for safekeeping to Ali. Ali offered to lie in the Prophet’sbed. The Prophet slipped out of his house, threw alittle dust in their direction, and walked past hisenemies, whose eyes were still on the house.

He met Abu Bakr at his house, and they bothtravelled to a nearby cave, the Jabal Thur. Whenthe Quraysh realized that the Prophet had evadedthem, they were furious. They looked for himeverywhere and on all roads; they also offered areward of 100 she-camels for anybody who wouldbring them the Prophet, dead or alive.

A tribal chief, Suraqa, sighted the Prophet andfollowed him, hoping to earn the reward. The

30

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

Prophet, with bloodthirsty foes in pursuit and anuncertain future ahead of him in Madinah, toldSuraqa: ‘A day will soon come when Kisra’s goldenhand bracelet will be in Suraqa’s hands.’Thereafter, Suraqa retreated, and the Prophetproceeded towards Madinah.

This was Hijrah, the emigration – a small distancein space, a mighty leap in history, an event that wasto become a threshold in the shaping of the IslamicUmmah. This is why the Muslims date their calendarfrom Hijrah, and not from Hira or from the birth ofthe Prophet.

In Qubah, 10 kilometres outside Madinah, theProphet made his first sojourn. Here he built thefirst mosque. Here he also made his first publicaddress: ‘Spread peace among yourselves, giveaway food to the needy, pray while people sleep –and you enter Paradise, the house of peace.’

Three days later, the Prophet entered Madinah.Men, women, children, the entire populace cameout on the streets and jubilantly welcomed him.Never was there a day of greater rejoicing and

31

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

happiness. ‘Come is the Prophet! Come is theProphet!’, sang the little children.

The first thing the Prophet did after arriving inMadinah was to weld the Emigrants (calledMuhajirs) and the hosts, called the Helpers (or Ansar)into one brotherhood. Still today this brotherhoodremains the hallmark of the Muslims. One personfrom the Emigrants was made the brother of onefrom amongst the Helpers. The Helpers offered toshare equally all that they possessed with theEmigrants.

So the Muslims were forged into a close-knitcommunity of faith and brotherhood, and thestructure of their society and polity was being built.The first structure was also raised. This was theMosque, or Masjid, the building consecrated to theworship of One God – called Masjid al-Nabawi, theProphet’s Mosque. Since then the Masjid has alsoremained the hallmark of the Muslims’ collectiveand social life, the convenient space for theintegration of the religious and political dimensionsof Islam, a source of identification, a witness toMuslim existence.

32

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

At the same time, steps were taken and therequired institutions built to integrate the entiresocial life around the centre and pivot of theworship of One God. For this purpose, five dailyPrayers in congregation were established.

Ramadan, fasting every day from dawn to sunsetfor an entire month, was also prescribed. Similarly,to establish ‘giving’ as the way of life, zakat, apercentage of one’s wealth to be given in the wayof God, was made obligatory.

As long as there was no different instruction fromGod, the Muslims followed the practices observedby the Jews and Christians. Hence, they used to praywith their faces turned towards Jerusalem. But soonthis direction to which the Muslims faced in Prayerwas changed from Jerusalem to Makkah. Thishistoric episode signalled the formation of a newMuslim community, charged with Divine trust andthe mission of God’s guidance, replacing the earlierJews and Christians, and following the most ancientmessage of Abraham, turning towards the mostancient House of God, built by him.

33

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

5

Attacks by the Makkans

The Prophet, after arriving in Madinah, firstformed an alliance with the Jews. Next, heapproached all the nearby tribes and tried to persuadethem to make an alliance or at least enter into a no-war pact. Many did. Thus the small group evictedfrom Makkah assumed strategic importance.

The Makkans who had earlier planned to kill theProphet, were now determined to annihilate thisnascent community of Islam. Having failed in all otherways they decided on a military solution.

A heavily armed Makkan force marched towardsMadinah in the second year after Hijrah, on the pretextof protecting their trade caravan. The Prophet,despite his community’s small number and lack of

34

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

arms, decided to face their threat boldly. On the 17thof Ramadan, at Badr, the two forces met and foughta battle in which 313 Muslims defeated the 1,000-strong Makkan army.

Seventy of the Makkan chiefs who had been mostactive and vehement in persecuting the Muslimswere killed; many others were taken prisoner, laterto be released for ransom. For the first time,prisoners of war were treated humanely and kindly;they were fed and housed in the same way as theircaptors ate and lived.

In the third year after Hijrah, a 3,000-strong Makkanforce again marched on Madinah, both to avenge thedefeat at Badr and to make another attempt to defeatthe Muslims; 700 of them were mailed and 200mounted. The Muslims numbered only 700. The twosides met just outside Madinah near the UhudMountain. The initial Muslim victory was, however,reversed; the Muslim contingent posted to protect therear, violated the Prophet’s instructions and abandonedits position. The Quraysh attacked from behind, andvictory was turned into defeat, resulting in the deathsof about 65 Muslims. The Makkans, however, failed topursue their advantage and clinch victory.

35

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

The Makkans now planned to make a final assaulton Madinah to settle the matter once and for all. AllBedouin tribes, Jews, and hypocrites within Madinahjoined forces with them. In the fifth year after Hijrah,24,000 of them advanced on Madinah. It wasimpossible to fight them on the open battlefield, ordefend Madinah which was without walls. TheMuslims therefore defended themselves by diggingditches all round Madinah. After laying siege toMadinah for 25 days, due to inner dissension, lack ofsupplies, cold weather and high winds, the Makkanarmy was forced to withdraw. This was the turningpoint in the history of confrontation with theMakkans. Madinah was never to be attacked again.

From the beginning, the Jews were given full rightsof citizenship, yet they still committed acts of treasonand treachery. Some had to be expelled; some werekilled as a result of judgements given by an arbitratorappointed by them. However, subsequent generationsof Jews were never held responsible for the misdeedsof the Jews of Madinah, as they were in Christendomfor 2,000 years, for the crucifixion of Jesus. Instead,the Muslims always treated them justly and kindly.

36

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

The next year, the sixth after Hijrah, the Prophet and1,400 Companions journeyed to Makkah toperform umrah, the lesser Pilgrimage, in accordancewith several traditions of the time. They wereunarmed. The Quraysh chiefs, against allestablished and accepted traditions, refused themadmission. However, the Quraysh were now so lowin morale and strength that they had to sign a peacetreaty with the Prophet, the Hudaybiyah Treaty.

Though the terms appeared highly unfavourable,even humiliating, for the Muslims, they madetremendous gains by virtue of this Treaty. They, whowere driven out of Makkah and attacked thrice, werenow recognized as an equal force, to be treatedrespectfully, taken seriously. Peace provided anopportunity for the wavering and the neutral, eventhe hostile, to witness Islam at first hand, and manysensed the imminent victory of Islam. The result wasthat many Makkans and Arab tribes either embracedIslam or made peace with the Prophet.

As soon as the Hudaybiyah Treaty was signed,the Prophet sent letters to various neighbouringArab and non-Arab rulers, including Chosroes ofIran and Heraclitus of the Byzantine Empire. He

37

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

invited them to Islam, and assured them that hedid not covet their kingdoms or riches. They couldretain both, but only if they surrendered themselves toserve and worship the One God.

The Quraysh, however, soon broke the Treaty ofHudaybiyah. It was, thus, time to deal with theircontinuing hostility. The Prophet marched to Makkah,and captured the town. The fall of Makkah witnessedunparalleled acts of mercy, forgiveness and generosity.Not a single drop of blood was shed. Everybody whoremained indoors was granted security of life andproperty. The Prophet forgave all who had been hisbitterest foes all his life, who had persecuted him andplanned to kill him, who had driven him out ofMakkah, and who had marched thrice to Madinah todefeat the Muslims.

The neighbouring Byzantine Empire now preparedto attack and destroy the Muslim community inMadinah. However, when the Prophet marched toTabuk on the northern border, his determination,courage and timely response made the enemy loseheart and withdraw.

38

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

6

Society Building

Throughout those years, when the Prophet wassurrounded by hostile forces and ultimatelytriumphed over them, he continued to purify thesouls and uplift the morals of his followers andlay the foundations of a just and compassionatefamily, society and state. His mission was nowcomplete: he had created a new man, andchanged the lives of multitudes of men andwomen by bringing them in total surrender to theirCreator. He had created a new society: one basedon justice. In his own life example, and in theQur’an, mankind was given the light and way ofa godly life.

39

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

It is remarkable that this entire epoch-makingrevolution which transformed not only Arabia butall of mankind for all time to come and whichheralded the birth of the most brilliant civilizationin the world cost no more than 750 lives, mostlyopponents, in the various battles. Yet the Prophetis sometimes maligned as a man of violence bythose who have exterminated thousands ofpeople in pursuit of their civilizational ideals.

The Prophet performed his only Hajj in thetenth year after migration to Madinah. In the Plainof Arafat, he gave a sermon of unsurpassablebeauty and lasting value: ‘No man has any rightto lord over other men; all men are equal,whatever their origin, colour or nationality.’

A few months later, in the eleventh year afterHijrah, the Prophet Muhammad died. He wasburied in the house in which he had lived inMadinah.

The Prophet possessed a character of exquisitebeauty and charm. He was merciful, kind andcompassionate. He loved children and taught

40

WHO IS MUHAMMAD

kindness to animals. He spoke softly, neverabused anyone, forgave even his worst enemies.He lived a very simple life. He repaired his ownshoes and clothes. He lived frugally, sometimesfor days no food was cooked in his household.

Such is Muhammad. According to everystandard by which human greatness can bemeasured he was matchless; no man was evergreater!

q