Download Muhammed

Life of the Prophet of Islam
 Born in 570 AD in
Mecca
 Orphaned by age 6 –
brought up by his uncle
Abu Talib
 Trained to lead trading
caravans – traveled
throughout the Middle
East
 As a young man, he
gained a reputation for
honesty and
trustworthiness – “Al
Amin”
Birth of Muhammed
Mecca
 Center of trade in the Arabian Peninsula
 Dominated by the Quraysh tribe, who controlled
the Ka’aba
 People were mostly pagan – primarily worshipped
three goddesses – but there were over 350
statues in the Ka’aba!
 Minority of Jews and Christians
The Ka’aba
 Shrine believed to be
built by Abraham and
Ishmael to Yahweh
 Held images of pagan
deities and even some
Christian icons
 Black Stone – believed to
have been given to
Abraham by Gabriel
 Under the control of the
Quraysh tribe – who
became wealthy because
of pilgrimages to the
shrine
Marriage to Khadijah
 Khadijah bint Khuwaylid – a
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wealthy widow who owned a
trading company
Hired Muhammed to operate
her caravans to Syria
Proposed to him a few years
later – she was several years
older than he was
Their marriage as extremely
happy
She was his greatest
supporter
He married no one else while
she was still alive
Night of Power and Excellence
 Often went to a cave on
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Mt. Hira to pray and
meditate
Vision of Gabriel (Jibril)
“Recite” – the first
words of the Qur’an
Muhammed thought he
was going insane
Khadijah reassured him
that his vision was real
Muhammed's revelations
will continue for the rest
of his life – sometimes
on Mt. Hira but also at
other times and places
Muhammed began
preaching in Mecca
His first disciples were
his wife Khadijah and his
uncle Abu Talib
The Qur’an
 Muhammed’s
revelations would be
memorized by his
followers
 After his death, they
were written down
 Muslims believe that
the Qur’an is the
Word of God dictated
to Muhammed
Preaching in Mecca
 Muhammed begins
preaching the belief in
One God = Allah
 Opposition from
Quraysh tribe who
control the Ka’aba
 Muhammed’s followers
begin to be persecuted,
but Muhammed is
protected by his uncle
who is head of the
Hashem Tribe
“Year of Sorrows” (619)
 Khadijah dies
 Abu Talib dies
 The new leader of Muhammed's tribe
(the Abu Hashem) does not believe in
Muhammed's Revelations
 Muhammed and his followers begin to be
persecuted in Mecca
The Isra and Mi’raj
 Mohammed's
supernatural journey
to heaven and hell
 In a vision, he is taken
to Jerusalem
 Ascends to heaven
from the Temple
Mount
 Visions of Abraham,
Moses and Jesus
The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
Built on the Temple Mount on the site
where Muhammed is believed to have
ascended into heaven
The Hijra
 By 622, persecution of
Muhammed's followers
increased in Mecca
 Many Muslims flee to
Yathrib, where they are
welcomed
 After an assassination
attempt, Muhammed also
flees
 Hijra becomes year one
in the Muslim calendar
 Muhammed welcomed in Yathrib (later
renamed Medina)
 As a neutral person, he is often asked to
arbitrate disputes between various
tribes
 Muhammed eventually becomes the ruler
of Medina and most people there
become his followers
Battles Between Muhammed and
the Quraysh of Mecca
 Battle of Badr
 Battle of Urhud
 Battle of the Trench
 Battle for Mecca
Muhammed Conquers Mecca
 Marches on Mecca
with an army of 10,000
 Meccan troops refuse
to fight
 Muhammed takes the
Ka’aba and “purifies” it
by emptying it of
pagan idols and
dedicating it to Allah
Muhammed’s Family
 Six children by his first
wife, Khadijah
 Two sons, both died young
 Daughter Fatima was his
favorite
 She married Muhammed’s
cousin, Ali
Wives
 After Khadijah’s
death, Muhammed
married 11 other
women
 Most were widows of
his followers who had
been killed in battle
 His favorite was Aisha,
the daughter of one of
his first followers,
Abu Bakr
Unification of the Arabian
Peninsula
By the time Muhammed
died, his followers had
unified the entire
Arabian Peninsula either
through preaching or
through conquest.
It was the first time the
Bedouin tribes of the
peninsula had ever been
united.
The Farewell Sermon (632)
 Lays out the basic
beliefs of Islam
 Muhammed's last
sermon (although he
didn’t know it at the
time)
Muhammed’s Death
 Fell ill in the house of his favorite wife, Aisha
 Died and was buried in Medina
 The “Mosque of the Prophet” was later built over
his grave
Mosque of
the Prophet
Medina
The green dome marks the
place where the Prophet is
buried
Accomplishments
 The Qur’an
 Introduced monotheism to the pagan Arab tribes
 Ethical laws
 Raised the status of women
 United the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula for the
first time
Some felt that Muhammed’s son-in-law
and cousin Ali should succeed as leader
of the Muslims
Most Muslim leaders
preferred to follow
Muhammad's fatherin-law and one of his
earliest followers, Abu
Bakr
Abu Bakr becomes the
first of the “Rightly
Guided Caliphs”
The Four “Rightly Guided
Caliphs” with Muhammad