Download The Life & Death of Muhammad

The Life & Death
of Muhammad
How A Man Became a Prophet…
The Life and Death of Muhammad
The Arabian Peninsula
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The south is an area
along the coast of the
Arabian Sea that gets
regular rain (Sabaeans)
Northern Arabia is one
of the most inhospitable
places on earth (Arabs)
The Arabs of the north
(Bedouins & Sedentary)
were two culturally
opposite groups
Pre-Islamic Beliefs
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The first period begins with the decline of the Greek
Seleucids in the Middle East around 65 BC
In the second period, Arab cities were tributary states to the
Byzantine Empire in the north, the Persians in the east,
and the Sabaeans around 300 BC
Bedouin culture flourished and became a military power
during the third period around 400 AD
A Bedouin tribe called the Quraysh led a conquest of
Mecca around 500 AD
Pre-Islamic Arabs worshipped three goddesses, al-Lat,
al-Uzza, and Manat
Year of the Elephant
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Muhammad was born
into a struggling family
settled in the northern
Arabian town of Mecca
Muhammad's father
Abdullah died before his
son was born
He lost his mother
Aminah at age 6
At age 8, Muhammad
came under the care of
his uncle, leader of the
Hashim clan
Muhammad’s Young Adulthood
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Muhammad was a
reliable merchant, and
by age 25 he was
respected by most
elders of Mecca
Married one of his
employers named
Khadijah, a wealthy
and beautiful 40 year
old widow in 595
Ramadan on Mount Hira
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“In the Name of thy Lord who createth…createth man from a clot,
and thy Lord is the most generous who teacheth by the pen,
teacheth man that which he knew not” ~ from the Qu’ran
A New Direction…
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Gabriel also
passed on
instruction for the
Salah, the Islamic
prayer ritual
Muhammad
considered himself a
“Messenger of God,”
or rasul Allah
The Satanic Verses
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Revelations recited by
Muhammad were often
specifically directed
against the most
powerful clans
Muhammad tried to
reconcile his new
religion with the
traditional by
incorporating Allah’s
three daughters
From Yathrib to Medina…
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Muhammad was
dismissed from
protection of his clan
in 619 AD
His journey to Medina
in 622 AD was the
Hijra and it is from this
year that the Muslim
calendar begins
Turning Away…
Battle at Badr
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In 624 AD,
Muhammad and a
force of only 300 men
defeated a Meccan
force of 900 at Badr
In 630 AD,
Muhammad reentered Mecca as its
conqueror but was
forced to flee to
Medina
The Final Years…
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On defeating the
Hawazin, he became the
most powerful military
presence in Arabia
Non-Arabs could only
ally themselves to Islam
by being a mawali, or
“client” of a tribe
In his last year of life,
Muhammad led a great
pilgrimage or Hajj to the
Ka'aba in Mecca
Sunni vs. Shi’a
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Did command of the
Muslim community
pass to Abu Bakr or
Abi Talib?
Sunni Muslims believe
in the hadith (oral
traditions) and the
shura (consultation)
while Shi’a believe in
having a viceregent