The Life of the Prophet Muhammad

Periodization of the Prophet’s Life
1. Preparation for Prophecy:
1. Childhood: preparation for prophecy
2. Merchant career and marriage:
2. Meccan Revelations and Persecution:
1. Early revelations in Mecca
2. Building up early network of followers
3. Persecution by Meccans
4. Isra ’ and Mi’raj ( جارعملا و ءارسلإا )
3. Emigration and War:
1. Building Medinan community, political ruler
2. War with Meccans, their allies, conflict with
Medinan Jews
4. After the Conquest:
1. Conquest of Mecca in 8/630 CE
2. Receiving submission of Arabian tribes
3. Conquest of Arabian peninsula

Born around 570CE in the prominent clan of Banu Hashim of the
Quraysh tribe – soon he is orphaned.
He is raised by foster parents in the desert as a shepherd, where his heart is cleansed by angels
Adopted into the home of his uncle
Abu Talib, he becomes known as
the trustworthy one

With his uncle, he goes on merchant caravans north to Syria – where he is recognized by the Christian monk
Buhayra
At 25, the 40-year-old widow Khadija offers him marriage and control of her business – they have 4 daughters (one is Fatema)
As a manager, he has more time and begins meditating in the desert and the mountain cave of Hira
And in 610 CE….

At first, preaches to family and friends: Khadija,
Abu Bakr and ‘Ali immediately believe
Slowly begins preaching to the Quraysh, who meet him with serious opposition and mockery
Soon his preaching threatens the tranquility of the annual hajj , and Muhammad is smeared as a “sorcerer who splits people from their families.”
Torture, killing of Muhammad’s followers – psychological torture of Muhammad
Flight of some followers to Ethiopia for refuge with the Christian king

Boycott of Banu Hashim: no intermarriage or trade for two years
Conversion of ‘Umar – newfound strength
Year of Sadness 9/619: new protector? Abu Talib dies, Khadija dies, Abu Lahab new head of
Quraysh
Prophet seeks protection in Ta’if – when he fails,
Mut’im b. ‘Adi protects him.
The Night Journey and Ascension: Muhammad finds his place among prophets, Jerusalem is direction of prayer

1. The People of the Book know:
• Previous revelations have predicted
Muhammad
• The message is the same
2. To the Polytheist Arabs:
• Muhammad is al-Amin
• He is not asking anything from you
• He has no knowledge of this except from God – he is ‘illiterate’

Prominent Meccan Opponents of Islam:
Abu Lahab (Muhammad’s uncle), Abu Jahl, Abu Sufyan (father of
Mu’awiya, first Umayyad Caliph)

Deal worked out with Yathrib, and many Muslims emigrate – eventually only Muhammad, Abu Bakr and ‘Ali remain
When Mut’im dies, Muhammad’s murder is planned…
622, the tenth year of revelation,
Muhammad and Abu Bakr
move to
Yathrib… the City of the Messenger of God

• Battle of Badr (624 / 2): miraculous Muslim victory, major Quraysh leaders killed – Islam now a power to be reckoned with.
• Battle of Uhud (625 / 3): almost ends in defeat for the
Muslims
• Battle of Khandaq (627 / 5): Meccans and their allies besiege Medina, Muslims drive them away.
• Treaty of Hudaybiyya (628 / 6): peace established,
Muslims can visit Mecca for hajj
• Conquest of Mecca (630 / 8): after conflict breaks out between Mecca’s allies and the Prophet’s allies,
Muhammad declares peace broken and moves to occupy Mecca. Scales have shifted so far towards
Muslims that the conquest is peaceful. Abu Sufyan and Meccan opponents of Islam convert to Islam.

The Jewish Tribes of Medina:
• ‘Constitution of Medina’: Jews and
Muslims one community ( umma )
• Jewish tribes gradually fall into conflict with Muhammad, are expelled or executed
Marriage: the Prophet marries 11 women after Khadija, mostly daughters of close
Companions or of prominent tribes
‘The Year of Delegations’ 631/10: the
Prophet accepts loyalty of Arab tribes

• ‘ Haram ’: the sacred precincts of Arabia.
Muhammad: Medina is my haram .
• Leader of Super-Tribal Alliance and at the center of kinship/marriage network
• World full of the supernatural: jinn , kahin and sorcerer
• Late Antique Near Eastern Holy Man?
– Desert meditation
– Seen as arbitrator in communal disputes
– Person becomes center of cult

Historiographical Issues
• How do we know about Muhammad’s life
(and the origins of Islam)?
• Skepticism about sacred narratives
– Principle of Analogy
– Principle of Dissimilarity
• Outright skepticism (Revisionist School)?
– Response:
• Who orchestrates this conspiracy?
• Early epigraphic and non-Muslim sources

• The story of the Prophet’s life is put together in the mid 8 th century in
Medina and Baghdad (the most famous is by Ibn Ishaq (d. 767) – in the midst of
Jewish and Christian lore
• Stories of Muhammad’s miracles:
– He makes a sheep’s empty udder flow with milk
– He makes a small pool of water suffice for all his followers
– Ascension to Heaven is a Jewish trope