Mahomet

prophète islamique Mahomet
??
"Muhammad le Messager de Dieu" inscrit sur les portes de la Mosquée du Prophète à Médine
Née	c.  570 La Mecque , Hedjaz , Arabie
Décédés	8 juin 632 (632-06-08)(61-62 ans) Médine, Hedjaz, Arabie
Lieu de repos	Dôme vert à al-Masjid an-Nabawi , Médine, Arabie 24°28′03″N 39°36′41″E / 24.46750°N 39.61139°E / 24.46750; 39.61139 (Green Dome)
Autres noms	Abu al-Qasim ( surnom ) Rasūl Allah (Messager de Dieu) (voir Noms et titres de Mahomet )
Années actives	583-609 CE en tant que marchand 610-632 CE en tant que chef religieux
Travaux notables	Constitution de Médine
Successeur	Voir Succession de Mahomet
Adversaire(s)	Quraysh
Conjoint(s)	Voir les femmes de Mahomet
Enfants	Voir les enfants de Mahomet
Parents)	Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib (père) Amina bint Wahb (mère)
Les proches	Arbre généalogique de Muhammad , Ahl al-Bayt   ("Famille de la maison")
nom arabe
Personnel ( Isme )	Mahomet
Patronymique ( Nasab )	Muḥammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn Abd Manaf ibn Qusai ibn Kilab
Teknonymic ( Kunya )	Abou al-Qasim
Épithète ( Laqab )	Khātam an-Nâbîyīn (Sceau des prophètes)
Signature
Sceau de Mahomet

Muhammad ibn Abdullah ^{[n 1]} ( Arabe : مُحَمَّد بنِ عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ‎, romanisé :  Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh Prononciation de l'arabe classique : [muˈħammad] ; c. 570 CE - 8 juin 632 CE) ^[1] était unleader arabe religieux, social et politique et le fondateur de la religion mondiale de l' Islam . ^[2] Selon la doctrine islamique , il était un prophète , divinement inspiré pour prêcher et confirmer lesenseignements monothéistes d' Adam , d' Abraham , de Moïse , de Jésus et d'autres prophètes . ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} Il est considéré comme le dernier prophète de Dieudans toutes les branches principales de l'Islam , bien que certaines dénominations modernes divergent de cette croyance. ^{[n 2]} Muhammad a uni l' Arabie en un seul régime musulman , avec le Coran ainsi que ses enseignements et ses pratiques formant la base de la croyance religieuse islamique.

Muhammad est né vers 570  EC ( Année de l' éléphant ) à La Mecque . Il était le fils d' Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib et d' Amina bint Wahb . Son père était le fils du chef de tribu Quraysh Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim , et Abdullah est mort quelques mois avant la naissance de Muhammad. Sa mère Amina est morte quand il avait six ans, laissant Muhammad orphelin. ^[6] Il a été élevé sous la garde de son grand-père, Abd al-Muttalib, et de son oncle paternel, Abu Talib . ^[7] Au cours des dernières années, il s'isolait périodiquement dans une grotte de montagne nommée Hirapour plusieurs nuits de prière. Quand il avait 40 ans, Muhammad a déclaré avoir été visité par Gabriel dans la grotte ^{[8] [9]} et avoir reçu sa première révélation de Dieu. En 613, ^[10] Muhammad a commencé à prêcher ces révélations publiquement, ^[11] proclamant que « Dieu est Un », que la « soumission » complète ( islam ) à Dieu ^[12] est le bon mode de vie ( dīn ), ^[13] et qu'il était un prophète et messager de Dieu, semblable aux autres prophètes de l'Islam . ^{[14] [15] [16]}

Les disciples de Mahomet étaient initialement peu nombreux et ont connu l' hostilité des polythéistes mecquois pendant 13 ans. Pour échapper aux persécutions en cours, il a envoyé certains de ses disciples en Abyssinie en 615, avant que lui et ses partisans ne migrent de La Mecque à Médine (alors connue sous le nom de Yathrib) plus tard en 622. Cet événement, la Hijra , marque le début du calendrier islamique , également connu sous le nom de calendrier Hijri. A Médine, Mahomet a uni les tribus sous la Constitution de Médine . En décembre 629, après huit ans de combats intermittents avec les tribus mecquoises, Mahomet rassembla une armée de 10 000 musulmans convertis etmarche sur la ville de La Mecque . La conquête est restée largement incontestée et Mahomet s'est emparé de la ville avec peu d'effusion de sang. En 632, quelques mois après son retour du pèlerinage d'adieu , il tomba malade et mourut. Au moment de sa mort, la majeure partie de la péninsule arabique s'était convertie à l'islam . ^{[17] [18]}

Les révélations (chacune connue sous le nom d' Ayah  – littéralement, « Signe [de Dieu] ») que Muhammad a déclaré avoir reçu jusqu'à sa mort forment les versets du Coran, considérés par les musulmans comme la « Parole de Dieu » verbatim sur laquelle la religion est basée. Outre le Coran, les enseignements et les pratiques de Mahomet ( sunna ), trouvés dans la littérature Hadith et sira (biographie), sont également confirmés et utilisés comme sources de la loi islamique (voir la charia ).

Noms et appellations coraniques

« Muhammad » écrit en thuluth , une variété de script de calligraphie islamique

Le nom Muhammad ( / m ʊ h æ m ə d , - h de la m ə d / ) ^[19] signifie "louable" et apparaît quatre fois dans le Coran. ^[20] Le Coran s'adresse également à Muhammad à la deuxième personne par diverses appellations ; prophète , messager , serviteur de Dieu (' abd ), annonceur ( bashir ), ^{[ Coran  2:119 ]} témoin ( shahid ), ^{[ Coran 33:45 ]} porteur de bonnes nouvelles ( mubashshir ), avertisseur ( nathir ), ^{[ Coran  11:2 ]} rappel ( mudhakkir ), ^{[ Coran  88:21 ]} celui qui appelle [à Dieu] ( dā'ī ), ^{[ Coran  12 :108 ] la} lumière personnifiée ( noor ), ^{[ Coran  05:15 ]} et la lampe lumineuse ( siraj munir ). ^{[ Coran  33:46 ]}

Sources d'informations biographiques

Coran

Un in-folio d'un Coran ancien , écrit en caractères coufiques ( période abbasside , VIIIe-IXe siècles)

Le Coran est le texte religieux central de l' Islam . Les musulmans croient qu'il représente les paroles de Dieu révélées par l'archange Gabriel à Mahomet. ^{[21] [22] [23]} Le Coran, cependant, fournit une assistance minimale pour la biographie chronologique de Muhammad; la plupart des versets coraniques ne fournissent pas de contexte historique significatif. ^{[24] [25]}

Biographies anciennes

Des sources importantes concernant la vie de Mahomet peuvent être trouvées dans les œuvres historiques d'écrivains des IIe et IIIe siècles de l'ère musulmane (AH - VIIIe et IXe siècle de notre ère). ^[26] Ceux-ci incluent les biographies musulmanes traditionnelles de Mahomet, qui fournissent des informations supplémentaires sur la vie de Mahomet. ^[27]

La première sira écrite (biographies de Mahomet et citations qui lui sont attribuées) est la Vie du Messager de Dieu d' Ibn Ishaq écrite c. 767 EC (150 AH). Bien que l'œuvre originale ait été perdue, cette sira survit sous forme d'extraits étendus dans les œuvres d' Ibn Hisham et, dans une moindre mesure, d' Al-Tabari . ^{[28] [29]} Cependant, Ibn Hisham admet dans la préface de sa biographie de Mahomet qu'il a omis des sujets de la biographie d'Ibn Ishaq qui « affligeraient certaines personnes ». ^[30] Une autre source d'histoire ancienne est l'histoire des campagnes de Mahomet par al-Waqidi (mort 207 de l'ère musulmane), et le travaildu secrétaire de Waqidi Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi (mort en 230 de l'ère musulmane). ^[26]

De nombreux érudits acceptent ces premières biographies comme authentiques, bien que leur exactitude soit incertaine. ^[28] Des études récentes ont conduit les chercheurs à distinguer entre les traditions touchant aux questions juridiques et les événements purement historiques. Dans le groupe juridique, les traditions auraient pu faire l'objet d'inventions tandis que les événements historiques, en dehors de cas exceptionnels, pouvaient n'avoir été soumis qu'à une « mise en forme tendancielle ». ^[31]

Hadith

D'autres sources importantes incluent les collections de hadiths , les récits des enseignements verbaux et physiques et les traditions de Mahomet. Les hadiths ont été compilés plusieurs générations après sa mort par des disciples dont Muhammad al-Bukhari , Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj , Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi , Abd ar-Rahman al-Nasai , Abu Dawood , Ibn Majah , Malik ibn Anas , al-Daraqutni . ^{[32] [33]}

Certains universitaires occidentaux considèrent avec prudence les collections de hadiths comme des sources historiques précises. ^[32] Des érudits comme Madelung ne rejettent pas les récits qui ont été compilés dans les périodes ultérieures, mais les jugent dans le contexte de l'histoire et sur la base de leur compatibilité avec les événements et les chiffres. ^[34] Les érudits musulmans, d'autre part, mettent généralement davantage l'accent sur la littérature des hadiths plutôt que sur la littérature biographique, puisque les hadiths maintiennent une chaîne de transmission vérifiable ( isnad ) ; l'absence d'une telle chaîne pour la littérature biographique la rend moins vérifiable à leurs yeux. ^[35]

Arabie préislamique

Principales tribus et colonies d'Arabie du vivant de Mahomet

La péninsule arabique était, et est toujours, en grande partie aride avec un sol volcanique, ce qui rend l'agriculture difficile sauf près des oasis ou des sources. Des villes et des cités parsemaient le paysage ; deux des plus importants étant La Mecque et Médine . Médine était une grande colonie agricole florissante, tandis que La Mecque était un centre financier important pour de nombreuses tribus environnantes. ^[36] La vie communautaire était essentielle à la survie dans les conditions du désert , soutenant les tribus indigènes contre l'environnement et le mode de vie difficiles. L'affiliation tribale, qu'elle soit fondée sur la parenté ou sur des alliances, était une source importante de cohésion sociale. ^[37] Les Arabes autochtones étaient soit nomades, soitsédentaire . Les groupes nomades voyageaient constamment à la recherche d'eau et de pâturages pour leurs troupeaux, tandis que les sédentaires s'installaient et se concentraient sur le commerce et l'agriculture. La survie des nomades dépendait aussi des pillages des caravanes ou des oasis ; les nomades ne considéraient pas cela comme un crime. ^{[38] [39]}

Dans l'Arabie préislamique, les dieux ou les déesses étaient considérés comme des protecteurs de tribus individuelles, leurs esprits étant associés à des arbres sacrés, des pierres , des sources et des puits. En plus d'être le site d'un pèlerinage annuel, le sanctuaire de la Kaaba à La Mecque abritait 360 idoles de divinités patronales tribales. Trois déesses étaient vénérées, dans certains endroits comme filles d'Allah : Allāt , Manāt et al-'Uzzá . Des communautés monothéistes existaient en Arabie, y compris des chrétiens et des juifs . ^[40] Hanifs  - Arabes préislamiques indigènes qui « professaient un monothéisme rigide » ^[41] – sont aussi parfois répertoriés aux côtés des juifs et des chrétiens en Arabie préislamique, bien que leur historicité soit contestée parmi les savants. ^{[42] [43]} Selon la tradition musulmane, Muhammad lui-même était un Hanif et l'un des descendants d' Ismaël , fils d' Abraham . ^[44] Après un siècle d'investigation archéologique exhaustive, aucune preuve n'a été trouvée pour un Abraham ou un Ismaël historiques. ^[45]

La seconde moitié du VIe siècle fut une période de désordre politique en Arabie et les voies de communication n'étaient plus sécurisées. ^[46] Les divisions religieuses ont été une cause importante de la crise. ^{[47] Le} judaïsme est devenu la religion dominante au Yémen tandis que le christianisme s'est enraciné dans la région du golfe Persique. ^[47] Conformément aux tendances plus larges du monde antique, la région a connu un déclin de la pratique des cultes polythéistes et un intérêt croissant pour une forme de religion plus spirituelle. ^[47] Alors que beaucoup étaient réticents à se convertir à une foi étrangère, ces confessions ont fourni des points de référence intellectuels et spirituels. ^[47]

Au cours des premières années de la vie de Mahomet, la tribu Quraysh à laquelle il appartenait est devenue une force dominante dans l'ouest de l'Arabie. ^[48] Ils formèrent l'association cultuelle des hums , qui liait les membres de nombreuses tribus de l'Arabie occidentale à la Kaaba et renforçait le prestige du sanctuaire mecquois. ^[49] Pour contrer les effets de l'anarchie, Quraysh a maintenu l'institution de mois sacrés pendant lesquels toute violence était interdite, et il était possible de participer aux pèlerinages et aux foires sans danger. ^[49] Ainsi, bien que l'association des hums soit avant tout religieuse, elle a aussi des conséquences économiques importantes pour la ville. ^[49]

La vie

Enfance et jeunesse

Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim ^[50] est né à La Mecque ^[51] vers l'an 570 ^[8] et son anniversaire serait au mois de Rabi' al-awwal . ^[52] Il appartenait au clan Banu Hashim , une partie de la tribu Quraysh , qui était l'une des familles les plus importantes de La Mecque , bien qu'il semble moins prospère au début de la vie de Mahomet. ^{[16] [53]} La tradition place l'année de la naissance de Mahomet comme correspondant à l' année de l'éléphant , qui porte le nom de la destruction ratée de la Mecque cette année-là par leAbraha , le roi du Yémen, qui a complété son armée avec des éléphants. ^{[54] [55] [56]} Alternativement, certains érudits du 20ème siècle ont suggéré des années différentes, telles que 568 ou 569. ^[7]

Miniature de Rashid al-Din est Jami al-Tawarikh , c.  1315 , illustrant l'histoire du rôle de Mahomet dans la remise en place de la Pierre Noire en 605. ( Période Ilkhanate ) ^[57]

Le père de Muhammad, Abdullah , est mort près de six mois avant sa naissance. ^[58] Selon la tradition islamique, peu de temps après sa naissance, il fut envoyé vivre avec une famille bédouine dans le désert, car la vie dans le désert était considérée comme plus saine pour les nourrissons ; certains savants occidentaux rejettent l'historicité de cette tradition. ^[59] Muhammad est resté avec sa mère adoptive, Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb , et son mari jusqu'à l'âge de deux ans. À l'âge de six ans, Muhammad a perdu sa mère biologique Amina à cause de la maladie et est devenu orphelin. ^{[59] [60]} Pendant les deux années suivantes, jusqu'à l'âge de huit ans, Mahomet était sous la tutelle de son grand-père paternelAbd al-Muttalib , du clan Banu Hashim jusqu'à sa mort. Il passa alors sous la garde de son oncle Abu Talib , le nouveau chef des Banu Hashim. ^[7] Selon l'historien islamique William Montgomery Watt, il y avait un mépris général de la part des gardiens pour s'occuper des membres les plus faibles des tribus de La Mecque au cours du 6ème siècle, « les gardiens de Mohammed ont vu qu'il n'était pas mort de faim, mais qu'ils fassent plus pour lui, d'autant plus que la fortune du clan de Hashim semble avoir décliné à cette époque. » ^[61]

Dans son adolescence, Muhammad a accompagné son oncle lors de voyages commerciaux syriens pour acquérir de l'expérience dans le commerce. ^[61] La tradition islamique déclare que lorsque Muhammad avait neuf ou douze ans tout en accompagnant la caravane des Mecquois en Syrie, il a rencontré un moine chrétien ou un ermite nommé Bahira qui aurait prévu la carrière de Muhammad en tant que prophète de Dieu. ^[62]

On sait peu de choses sur Mahomet au cours de sa dernière jeunesse, car les informations disponibles sont fragmentées, ce qui rend difficile de séparer l'histoire de la légende. ^[61] On sait qu'il est devenu marchand et qu'il « a été impliqué dans le commerce entre l' océan Indien et la mer Méditerranée ». ^[63] En raison de son caractère droit, il a acquis le surnom « al-Amin » (arabe : الامين), signifiant « fidèle, digne de confiance » et « al-Sadiq » signifiant « véridique » ^[64] et a été recherché comme arbitre impartial . ^{[9] [16] [65]} Sa réputation a attiré une proposition en 595 de Khadijah, une femme d'affaires prospère. Muhammad a consenti au mariage, qui, de l'avis de tous, était heureux. ^[63]

Plusieurs années plus tard, selon un récit recueilli par l'historien Ibn Ishaq , Mahomet était impliqué dans une histoire bien connue sur la mise en place de la pierre noire dans le mur de la Kaaba en 605 de notre ère. La Pierre Noire, un objet sacré, a été retirée lors des rénovations de la Kaaba. Les chefs mecquois n'arrivaient pas à se mettre d'accord sur le clan qui devait remettre la pierre noire à sa place. Ils ont décidé de demander au prochain homme qui franchirait la porte de prendre cette décision ; cet homme était Muhammad, 35 ans. Cet événement s'est produit cinq ans avant la première révélation de Gabriel à lui. Il demanda un chiffon et déposa la Pierre Noire en son centre. Les chefs de clan tenaient les coins du tissu et portaient ensemble la pierre noire au bon endroit, puis Muhammad posa la pierre, satisfaisant l'honneur de tous.^{[66] [67]}

Les débuts du Coran

Muhammad a commencé à prier seul dans une grotte nommée Hira sur le mont Jabal al-Nour , près de La Mecque pendant plusieurs semaines chaque année. ^{[68] [69]} La tradition islamique soutient que lors d'une de ses visites dans cette grotte, en l'an 610, l'ange Gabriel lui est apparu et a ordonné à Muhammad de réciter des versets qui seraient inclus dans le Coran. ^{[70] Il} existe un consensus sur le fait que les premiers mots coraniques révélés étaient le début du Coran 96:1 . ^[71] Muhammad a été profondément affligé en recevant ses premières révélations. Après son retour chez lui, Muhammad a été consolé et rassuré par Khadijah et son cousin chrétien, Waraka ibn Nawfal . ^[72]Il craignait également que d'autres rejettent ses allégations comme étant possédé. ^{[39] La} tradition chiite déclare que Muhammad n'a pas été surpris ou effrayé par l'apparence de Gabriel; il a plutôt accueilli l'ange, comme s'il était attendu. ^[73] La révélation initiale a été suivie d'une pause de trois ans (une période connue sous le nom de fatra ) au cours de laquelle Muhammad s'est senti déprimé et s'est ensuite livré à des prières et à des pratiques spirituelles . ^[71] Lorsque les révélations reprirent, il fut rassuré et reçut l'ordre de commencer à prêcher : « Ton Gardien-Seigneur ne t'a pas abandonné, et il n'est pas mécontent. ^{[74] [75] [76]}

La grotte Hira dans la montagne Jabal al-Nour où, selon la croyance musulmane, Mahomet a reçu sa première révélation

Muhammad recevant sa première révélation de Gabriel à Jami' al-tawarikh par Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb (1307)

Sahih Bukhari raconte Muhammad décrivant ses révélations comme « parfois c'est (révélée) comme la sonnerie d'une cloche ». Aisha a rapporté : « J'ai vu le Prophète être divinement inspiré par une journée très froide et j'ai remarqué la sueur qui coulait de son front (alors que l'Inspiration était terminée) ». ^[77] Selon Welch, ces descriptions peuvent être considérées comme authentiques, car il est peu probable qu'elles aient été forgées par des musulmans ultérieurs. ^[16] Muhammad était convaincu qu'il pouvait distinguer ses propres pensées de ces messages. ^[78] Selon le Coran, l'un des rôles principaux de Mahomet est d'avertir les incroyants de leur punition eschatologique ( Coran 38:70 ,^[79] Coran 6:19 ). ^[80] Parfois, le Coran ne faisait pas explicitement référence au jour du Jugement, mais fournissait des exemples de l'histoire de communautés éteintes et mettait en garde les contemporains de Mahomet contre des calamités similaires (Coran 41 :13-16 ). ^[81] Muhammad n'a pas seulement mis en garde ceux qui rejetaient la révélation de Dieu, mais il a également donné une bonne nouvelle à ceux qui ont abandonné le mal, écoutant les paroles divines et servant Dieu. ^[82] La mission de Muhammad implique également de prêcher le monothéisme : Le Coran ordonne à Muhammad de proclamer et de louer le nom de son Seigneur et lui ordonne de ne pas adorer des idoles ou d'associer d'autres divinités à Dieu. ^[81]

Les thèmes clés des premiers versets coraniques comprenaient la responsabilité de l'homme envers son créateur ; la résurrection des morts, le jugement final de Dieu suivi de descriptions vivantes des tortures en enfer et des plaisirs au paradis, et les signes de Dieu dans tous les aspects de la vie. Les devoirs religieux exigés des croyants à cette époque étaient peu nombreux : croire en Dieu, demander le pardon des péchés, offrir des prières fréquentes, aider les autres en particulier ceux qui sont dans le besoin, rejeter la tricherie et l'amour de la richesse (considéré comme important dans la vie commerciale des La Mecque), être chaste et ne pas commettre d' infanticide féminin . ^[16]

Opposition

Le dernier verset d' An-Najm : "Alors prosternez-vous devant Allah et adorez." Le message de monothéisme de Mahomet a défié l'ordre traditionnel

Selon la tradition musulmane, l'épouse de Mahomet, Khadija, a été la première à croire qu'il était un prophète. ^[83] Elle a été suivie par le cousin de dix ans de Muhammad Ali ibn Abi Talib , l'ami proche Abu Bakr et le fils adoptif Zaid . ^[83] Vers 613, Muhammad a commencé à prêcher au public (Coran 26:214 ). ^{[11] [84]} La plupart des Mecquois l'ont ignoré et se sont moqués de lui, bien que quelques-uns soient devenus ses disciples. Il y avait trois groupes principaux de premiers convertis à l'Islam : les jeunes frères et les fils de grands marchands ; les gens qui étaient tombés du premier rang dans leur tribu ou qui n'ont pas réussi à l'atteindre ; et les étrangers faibles, pour la plupart non protégés. ^[85]

Selon Ibn Saad, l'opposition à La Mecque a commencé lorsque Mahomet a prononcé des versets condamnant le culte des idoles et le polythéisme pratiqué par les ancêtres de la Mecque. ^[86] Cependant, l'exégèse coranique soutient qu'elle a commencé lorsque Mahomet a commencé à prêcher en public. ^[87] Au fur et à mesure que le nombre de ses partisans augmentait, Mahomet est devenu une menace pour les tribus locales et les dirigeants de la ville, dont la richesse reposait sur la Ka'aba, le point central de la vie religieuse mecquoise que Mahomet a menacé de renverser. La dénonciation par Muhammad de la religion traditionnelle mecquoise était particulièrement offensante pour sa propre tribu, les Quraysh , car ils étaient les gardiens de la Ka'aba. ^[85]De puissants marchands tentèrent de convaincre Mahomet d'abandonner sa prédication ; on lui offrit l'admission dans le cercle restreint des marchands, ainsi qu'un mariage avantageux. Il a refusé ces deux offres. ^[85]

La tradition rapporte longuement la persécution et les mauvais traitements envers Mahomet et ses disciples. ^[16] Sumayyah bint Khayyat , esclave d'un éminent chef mecquois Abu Jahl , est célèbre comme le premier martyr de l'Islam ; tué avec une lance par son maître quand elle a refusé d'abandonner sa foi. Bilal , un autre esclave musulman, a été torturé par Umayyah ibn Khalaf qui a placé une lourde pierre sur sa poitrine pour forcer sa conversion. ^{[88] [89]}

En 615, certains des disciples de Mahomet émigrèrent dans le royaume éthiopien d'Axoum et fondèrent une petite colonie sous la protection de l'empereur chrétien éthiopien Aṣḥama ibn Abjar . ^[16] Ibn Sa'ad mentionne deux migrations distinctes. Selon lui, la plupart des musulmans sont retournés à La Mecque avant Hijra , tandis qu'un deuxième groupe les a rejoints à Médine. Ibn Hisham et Tabari ne parlent cependant que d'une seule migration vers l'Éthiopie. Ces récits s'accordent sur le fait que la persécution mecquoise a joué un rôle majeur dans la décision de Mahomet de suggérer qu'un certain nombre de ses disciples cherchent refuge parmi les chrétiens d'Abyssinie. D'après la célèbre lettre de ʿUrwapréservés à al-Tabari, la majorité des musulmans sont retournés dans leur ville natale à mesure que l'islam gagnait en force et que les Mecquois de haut rang, comme Umar et Hamzah, se convertissaient. ^[90]

Cependant, il y a une histoire complètement différente sur la raison pour laquelle les musulmans sont revenus d'Éthiopie à La Mecque. D'après ce récit — initialement mentionné par Al-Waqidi puis remanié par Ibn Sa'ad et Tabari , mais pas par Ibn Hisham et non par Ibn Ishaq ^{[91] —} Muhammad, espérant désespérément un accord avec sa tribu, prononça un verset reconnaissant l'existence de trois déesses mecquoises considérées comme les filles d'Allah. Muhammad a rétracté les versets le lendemain à la demande de Gabriel, affirmant que les versets avaient été murmurés par le diable lui-même. Au lieu de cela, un ridicule de ces dieux a été offert. ^{[92] [n 3] [n 4]}Cet épisode, connu sous le nom de « L'histoire des grues », est également connu sous le nom de « Versets sataniques ». Selon l'histoire, cela a conduit à une réconciliation générale entre Mahomet et les Mecquois, et les musulmans d'Abyssinie ont commencé à rentrer chez eux. Quand ils sont arrivés, Gabriel avait informé Mahomet que les deux versets ne faisaient pas partie de la révélation, mais avaient été insérés par Satan. Des érudits notables de l'époque se sont opposés à l'authenticité historique de ces versets et de l'histoire elle-même pour divers motifs. ^{[93] [94] [n 5]} Al-Waqidi a été sévèrement critiqué par des érudits islamiques tels que Malik ibn Anas , al-Shafi'i , Ahmad ibn Hanbal , Al-Nasa'i , al-Bukhari ,Abu Dawood , Al-Nawawi et d'autres comme menteur et faussaire. ^{[95] [96] [97] [98]} Plus tard, l'incident a reçu une certaine acceptation parmi certains groupes, bien que de fortes objections à cela se soient poursuivies au-delà du dixième siècle. Les objections ont continué jusqu'au rejet de ces versets et l'histoire elle-même est finalement devenue la seule position musulmane orthodoxe acceptable. ^[99]

En 616 (ou 617), les dirigeants de Makhzoum et Banu Abd-Shams , deux importants clans Quraysh, ont déclaré un boycott public contre Banu Hashim , leur rival commercial, pour faire pression sur lui pour qu'il retire sa protection de Mahomet. Le boycott a duré trois ans mais s'est finalement effondré car il n'a pas atteint son objectif. ^{[100] [101]} Pendant ce temps, Muhammad n'a pu prêcher que pendant les mois de pèlerinage sacrés au cours desquels toutes les hostilités entre Arabes ont été suspendues.

Isra et Mi'raj

La mosquée Al-Aqsa , qui fait partie du complexe al-Haram ash-Sharif à Jérusalem et construite en 705, a été nommée la "mosquée la plus éloignée" pour honorer l'emplacement possible vers lequel Muhammad s'est rendu lors de son voyage nocturne. ^[102]

La tradition islamique déclare qu'en 620, Mahomet a connu l' Isra et le Mi'raj , un voyage miraculeux d'une nuit qui aurait eu lieu avec l'ange Gabriel . Au début du voyage, l' Isra , il aurait voyagé de La Mecque sur un destrier ailé jusqu'à « la mosquée la plus éloignée ». Plus tard, pendant le Mi'raj , on dit que Muhammad a visité le ciel et l' enfer , et a parlé avec des prophètes antérieurs, tels qu'Abraham , Moïse et Jésus . ^[103] Ibn Ishaq , auteur de la première biographie de Mahomet, présente l'événement comme une expérience spirituelle; des historiens ultérieurs, comme Al-Tabari et Ibn Kathir , le présentent comme un voyage physique. ^[103]

Certains savants occidentaux ^{[ qui ? ]} soutiennent que le voyage d'Isra et de Mi'raj a traversé les cieux depuis l'enceinte sacrée de La Mecque jusqu'au céleste al-Baytu l-Maʿmur (prototype céleste de la Kaaba); des traditions ultérieures indiquent que le voyage de Mahomet a été de La Mecque à Jérusalem. ^{[104] [ page nécessaire ]}

Les dernières années avant Hijra

Inscriptions coraniques sur le Dôme du Rocher . Il marque l'endroit où Mahomet est considéré par les musulmans comme étant monté au ciel . ^[105]

L'épouse de Muhammad Khadijah et l'oncle Abu Talib moururent tous deux en 619, l'année étant ainsi connue sous le nom de « Année de la douleur ». Avec la mort d'Abu Talib, la direction du clan Banu Hashim passa à Abu Lahab , un ennemi tenace de Mahomet. Peu de temps après, Abu Lahab a retiré la protection du clan sur Muhammad. Cela a mis Muhammad en danger; le retrait de la protection du clan impliquait que la vengeance du sang pour son meurtre ne serait pas exigée. Muhammad a ensuite visité Ta'if , une autre ville importante en Arabie, et a essayé de trouver un protecteur, mais ses efforts ont échoué et l'ont mis en danger physique. ^{[16] [101]} Muhammad a été forcé de retourner à La Mecque. Un Mecquois nommé Mut'im ibn Adi (et la protection de la tribu deBanu Nawfal ) lui a permis de rentrer en toute sécurité dans sa ville natale. ^{[16] [101]}

Beaucoup de gens ont visité La Mecque pour affaires ou en tant que pèlerins à la Kaaba . Muhammad a saisi cette opportunité pour chercher un nouveau foyer pour lui-même et ses disciples. Après plusieurs négociations infructueuses, il retrouve l'espoir auprès de quelques hommes de Yathrib (appelé plus tard Médine). ^[16] La population arabe de Yathrib était familière avec le monothéisme et était préparée à l'apparition d'un prophète car une communauté juive y existait. ^[16]Ils espéraient également, par le biais de Mahomet et de la nouvelle foi, acquérir la suprématie sur la Mecque ; les Yathrib étaient jaloux de son importance comme lieu de pèlerinage. Les convertis à l'islam venaient de presque toutes les tribus arabes de Médine ; en juin de l'année suivante, soixante-quinze musulmans sont venus à La Mecque pour un pèlerinage et pour rencontrer Mahomet. Le rencontrant secrètement de nuit, le groupe fit ce qu'on appelle le " Second Serment d'al-'Aqaba ", ou, du point de vue des orientalistes, le " Serment de guerre ". ^[106] Suite aux engagements à Aqabah, Muhammad a encouragé ses disciples à émigrer à Yathrib . Comme pour la migration vers l'Abyssinie, les Quraysh ont tenté d'arrêter l'émigration. Cependant, presque tous les musulmans ont réussi à partir. ^[107]

Hijra

The Hijra is the migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. In June 622, warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly slipped out of Mecca and moved his followers to Medina,^[108] 450 kilometres (280 miles) north of Mecca.^[109]

Migration to Medina

A delegation, consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans of Medina, invited Muhammad to serve as chief arbitrator for the entire community; due to his status as a neutral outsider.^[110][111] There was fighting in Yathrib: primarily the dispute involved its Arab and Jewish inhabitants, and was estimated to have lasted for around a hundred years before 620.^[110] The recurring slaughters and disagreements over the resulting claims, especially after the Battle of Bu'ath in which all clans were involved, made it obvious to them that the tribal concept of blood-feud and an eye for an eye were no longer workable unless there was one man with authority to adjudicate in disputed cases.^[110] The delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow-citizens to accept Muhammad into their community and physically protect him as one of themselves.^[16]

Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina, until nearly all his followers left Mecca. Being alarmed at the departure, according to tradition, the Meccans plotted to assassinate Muhammad. With the help of Ali, Muhammad fooled the Meccans watching him, and secretly slipped away from the town with Abu Bakr.^[112] By 622, Muhammad emigrated to Medina, a large agricultural oasis. Those who migrated from Mecca along with Muhammad became known as muhajirun (emigrants).^[16]

Establishment of a new polity

Among the first things Muhammad did to ease the longstanding grievances among the tribes of Medina was to draft a document known as the Constitution of Medina, "establishing a kind of alliance or federation" among the eight Medinan tribes and Muslim emigrants from Mecca; this specified rights and duties of all citizens, and the relationship of the different communities in Medina (including the Muslim community to other communities, specifically the Jews and other "Peoples of the Book").^[110][111] The community defined in the Constitution of Medina, Ummah, had a religious outlook, also shaped by practical considerations and substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes.^[16]

The first group of converts to Islam in Medina were the clans without great leaders; these clans had been subjugated by hostile leaders from outside.^[113] This was followed by the general acceptance of Islam by the pagan population of Medina, with some exceptions. According to Ibn Ishaq, this was influenced by the conversion of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (a prominent Medinan leader) to Islam.^[114] Medinans who converted to Islam and helped the Muslim emigrants find shelter became known as the ansar (supporters).^[16] Then Muhammad instituted brotherhood between the emigrants and the supporters and he chose Ali as his own brother.^[115]

Beginning of armed conflict

Following the emigration, the people of Mecca seized property of Muslim emigrants to Medina.^[116] War would later break out between the people of Mecca and the Muslims. Muhammad delivered Quranic verses permitting Muslims to fight the Meccans (see sura Al-Hajj, Quran 22:39–40).^[117] According to the traditional account, on 11 February 624, while praying in the Masjid al-Qiblatayn in Medina, Muhammad received revelations from God that he should be facing Mecca rather than Jerusalem during prayer. Muhammad adjusted to the new direction, and his companions praying with him followed his lead, beginning the tradition of facing Mecca during prayer.^[118]

Muhammad ordered a number of raids to capture Meccan caravans, but only the 8th of them, the Raid of Nakhla, resulted in actual fighting and capture of booty and prisoners.^[119] In March 624, Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Muslims set an ambush for the caravan at Badr.^[120] Aware of the plan, the Meccan caravan eluded the Muslims. A Meccan force was sent to protect the caravan and went on to confront the Muslims upon receiving word that the caravan was safe. The Battle of Badr commenced.^[121] Though outnumbered more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, killing at least forty-five Meccans with fourteen Muslims dead. They also succeeded in killing many Meccan leaders, including Abu Jahl.^[122] Seventy prisoners had been acquired, many of whom were ransomed.^{[123][124][125]} Muhammad and his followers saw the victory as confirmation of their faith^[16] and Muhammad ascribed the victory to the assistance of an invisible host of angels. The Quranic verses of this period, unlike the Meccan verses, dealt with practical problems of government and issues like the distribution of spoils.^[126]

The victory strengthened Muhammad's position in Medina and dispelled earlier doubts among his followers.^[127] As a result, the opposition to him became less vocal. Pagans who had not yet converted were very bitter about the advance of Islam. Two pagans, Asma bint Marwan of the Aws Manat tribe and Abu 'Afak of the 'Amr b. 'Awf tribe, had composed verses taunting and insulting the Muslims.^[128] They were killed by people belonging to their own or related clans, and Muhammad did not disapprove of the killings.^[128] This report, however, is considered by some to be a fabrication.^[129] Most members of those tribes converted to Islam, and little pagan opposition remained.^[130]

Muhammad expelled from Medina the Banu Qaynuqa, one of three main Jewish tribes,^[16] but some historians contend that the expulsion happened after Muhammad's death.^[131] According to al-Waqidi, after Abd-Allah ibn Ubaiy spoke for them, Muhammad refrained from executing them and commanded that they be exiled from Medina.^[132] Following the Battle of Badr, Muhammad also made mutual-aid alliances with a number of Bedouin tribes to protect his community from attacks from the northern part of Hejaz.^[16]

Conflict with Mecca

"The Prophet Muhammad and the Muslim Army at the Battle of Uhud", from a 1595 edition of the Mamluk-Turkic Siyer-i Nebi

The Meccans were eager to avenge their defeat. To maintain economic prosperity, the Meccans needed to restore their prestige, which had been reduced at Badr.^[133] In the ensuing months, the Meccans sent ambush parties to Medina while Muhammad led expeditions against tribes allied with Mecca and sent raiders onto a Meccan caravan.^[134] Abu Sufyan gathered an army of 3000 men and set out for an attack on Medina.^[135]

A scout alerted Muhammad of the Meccan army's presence and numbers a day later. The next morning, at the Muslim conference of war, a dispute arose over how best to repel the Meccans. Muhammad and many senior figures suggested it would be safer to fight within Medina and take advantage of the heavily fortified strongholds. Younger Muslims argued that the Meccans were destroying crops, and huddling in the strongholds would destroy Muslim prestige. Muhammad eventually conceded to the younger Muslims and readied the Muslim force for battle. Muhammad led his force outside to the mountain of Uhud (the location of the Meccan camp) and fought the Battle of Uhud on 23 March 625.^[136][137] Although the Muslim army had the advantage in early encounters, lack of discipline on the part of strategically placed archers led to a Muslim defeat; 75 Muslims were killed, including Hamza, Muhammad's uncle who became one of the best known martyrs in the Muslim tradition. The Meccans did not pursue the Muslims; instead, they marched back to Mecca declaring victory. The announcement is probably because Muhammad was wounded and thought dead. When they discovered that Muhammad lived, the Meccans did not return due to false information about new forces coming to his aid. The attack had failed to achieve their aim of completely destroying the Muslims.^[138][139] The Muslims buried the dead and returned to Medina that evening. Questions accumulated about the reasons for the loss; Muhammad delivered Quranic verses 3:152 indicating that the defeat was twofold: partly a punishment for disobedience, partly a test for steadfastness.^[140]

Abu Sufyan directed his effort towards another attack on Medina. He gained support from the nomadic tribes to the north and east of Medina; using propaganda about Muhammad's weakness, promises of booty, memories of Quraysh prestige and through bribery.^[141] Muhammad's new policy was to prevent alliances against him. Whenever alliances against Medina were formed, he sent out expeditions to break them up.^[141] Muhammad heard of men massing with hostile intentions against Medina, and reacted in a severe manner.^[142] One example is the assassination of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, a chieftain of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir. Al-Ashraf went to Mecca and wrote poems that roused the Meccans' grief, anger and desire for revenge after the Battle of Badr.^[143][144] Around a year later, Muhammad expelled the Banu Nadir from Medina^[145] forcing their emigration to Syria; he allowed them to take some possessions, as he was unable to subdue the Banu Nadir in their strongholds. The rest of their property was claimed by Muhammad in the name of God as it was not gained with bloodshed. Muhammad surprised various Arab tribes, individually, with overwhelming force, causing his enemies to unite to annihilate him. Muhammad's attempts to prevent a confederation against him were unsuccessful, though he was able to increase his own forces and stopped many potential tribes from joining his enemies.^[146]

Siege of Medina

The Masjid al-Qiblatayn, where Muhammad established the new Qibla, or direction of prayer

With the help of the exiled Banu Nadir, the Quraysh military leader Abu Sufyan mustered a force of 10,000 men. Muhammad prepared a force of about 3,000 men and adopted a form of defense unknown in Arabia at that time; the Muslims dug a trench wherever Medina lay open to cavalry attack. The idea is credited to a Persian convert to Islam, Salman the Persian. The siege of Medina began on 31 March 627 and lasted two weeks.^[147] Abu Sufyan's troops were unprepared for the fortifications, and after an ineffectual siege, the coalition decided to return home.^[148] The Quran discusses this battle in sura Al-Ahzab, in verses 33:9–27.^[87] During the battle, the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza, located to the south of Medina, entered into negotiations with Meccan forces to revolt against Muhammad. Although the Meccan forces were swayed by suggestions that Muhammad was sure to be overwhelmed, they desired reassurance in case the confederacy was unable to destroy him. No agreement was reached after prolonged negotiations, partly due to sabotage attempts by Muhammad's scouts.^[149] After the coalition's retreat, the Muslims accused the Banu Qurayza of treachery and besieged them in their forts for 25 days. The Banu Qurayza eventually surrendered; according to Ibn Ishaq, all the men apart from a few converts to Islam were beheaded, while the women and children were enslaved.^[150][151] Walid N. Arafat and Barakat Ahmad have disputed the accuracy of Ibn Ishaq's narrative.^[152] Arafat believes that Ibn Ishaq's Jewish sources, speaking over 100 years after the event, conflated this account with memories of earlier massacres in Jewish history; he notes that Ibn Ishaq was considered an unreliable historian by his contemporary Malik ibn Anas, and a transmitter of "odd tales" by the later Ibn Hajar.^[153] Ahmad argues that only some of the tribe were killed, while some of the fighters were merely enslaved.^[154][155] Watt finds Arafat's arguments "not entirely convincing", while Meir J. Kister has contradicted^{[clarification needed]} the arguments of Arafat and Ahmad.^[156]

In the siege of Medina, the Meccans exerted the available strength to destroy the Muslim community. The failure resulted in a significant loss of prestige; their trade with Syria vanished.^[157] Following the Battle of the Trench, Muhammad made two expeditions to the north, both ended without any fighting.^[16] While returning from one of these journeys (or some years earlier according to other early accounts), an accusation of adultery was made against Aisha, Muhammad's wife. Aisha was exonerated from accusations when Muhammad announced he had received a revelation confirming Aisha's innocence and directing that charges of adultery be supported by four eyewitnesses (sura 24, An-Nur).^[158]

Truce of Hudaybiyyah

Although Muhammad had delivered Quranic verses commanding the Hajj,^[160] the Muslims had not performed it due to Quraysh enmity. In the month of Shawwal 628, Muhammad ordered his followers to obtain sacrificial animals and to prepare for a pilgrimage (umrah) to Mecca, saying that God had promised him the fulfillment of this goal in a vision when he was shaving his head after completion of the Hajj.^[161] Upon hearing of the approaching 1,400 Muslims, the Quraysh dispatched 200 cavalry to halt them. Muhammad evaded them by taking a more difficult route, enabling his followers to reach al-Hudaybiyya just outside Mecca.^[162] According to Watt, although Muhammad's decision to make the pilgrimage was based on his dream, he was also demonstrating to the pagan Meccans that Islam did not threaten the prestige of the sanctuaries, that Islam was an Arabian religion.^[162]

The Kaaba in Mecca long held a major economic and religious role for the area. Seventeen months after Muhammad's arrival in Medina, it became the Muslim Qibla, or direction for prayer (salat). The Kaaba has been rebuilt several times; the present structure, built in 1629, is a reconstruction of an earlier building dating to 683.^[163]

Negotiations commenced with emissaries traveling to and from Mecca. While these continued, rumors spread that one of the Muslim negotiators, Uthman bin al-Affan, had been killed by the Quraysh. Muhammad called upon the pilgrims to make a pledge not to flee (or to stick with Muhammad, whatever decision he made) if the situation descended into war with Mecca. This pledge became known as the "Pledge of Acceptance" or the "Pledge under the Tree". News of Uthman's safety allowed for negotiations to continue, and a treaty scheduled to last ten years was eventually signed between the Muslims and Quraysh.^[162][164] The main points of the treaty included: cessation of hostilities, the deferral of Muhammad's pilgrimage to the following year, and agreement to send back any Meccan who emigrated to Medina without permission from their protector.^[162]

Many Muslims were not satisfied with the treaty. However, the Quranic sura "Al-Fath" (The Victory) (Quran 48:1–29) assured them that the expedition must be considered a victorious one.^[165] It was later that Muhammad's followers realized the benefit behind the treaty. These benefits included the requirement of the Meccans to identify Muhammad as an equal, cessation of military activity allowing Medina to gain strength, and the admiration of Meccans who were impressed by the pilgrimage rituals.^[16]

After signing the truce, Muhammad assembled an expedition against the Jewish oasis of Khaybar, known as the Battle of Khaybar. This was possibly due to housing the Banu Nadir who were inciting hostilities against Muhammad, or to regain prestige from what appeared as the inconclusive result of the truce of Hudaybiyya.^[135][166] According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad also sent letters to many rulers, asking them to convert to Islam (the exact date is given variously in the sources).^{[16][167][168]} He sent messengers (with letters) to Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire (the eastern Roman Empire), Khosrau of Persia, the chief of Yemen and to some others.^[167][168] In the years following the truce of Hudaybiyya, Muhammad directed his forces against the Arabs on Transjordanian Byzantine soil in the Battle of Mu'tah.^[169]

Final years

Conquest of Mecca

A depiction of Muhammad (with veiled face) advancing on Mecca from Siyer-i Nebi, a 16th-century Ottoman manuscript. The angels Gabriel, Michael, Israfil and Azrail, are also shown.

The truce of Hudaybiyyah was enforced for two years.^[170][171] The tribe of Banu Khuza'a had good relations with Muhammad, whereas their enemies, the Banu Bakr, had allied with the Meccans.^[170][171] A clan of the Bakr made a night raid against the Khuza'a, killing a few of them.^[170][171] The Meccans helped the Banu Bakr with weapons and, according to some sources, a few Meccans also took part in the fighting.^[170] After this event, Muhammad sent a message to Mecca with three conditions, asking them to accept one of them. These were: either the Meccans would pay blood money for the slain among the Khuza'ah tribe, they disavow themselves of the Banu Bakr, or they should declare the truce of Hudaybiyyah null.^[172]

The Meccans replied that they accepted the last condition.^[172] Soon they realized their mistake and sent Abu Sufyan to renew the Hudaybiyyah treaty, a request that was declined by Muhammad.

Muhammad began to prepare for a campaign.^[173] In 630, Muhammad marched on Mecca with 10,000 Muslim converts. With minimal casualties, Muhammad seized control of Mecca.^[174] He declared an amnesty for past offences, except for ten men and women who were "guilty of murder or other offences or had sparked off the war and disrupted the peace".^[175] Some of these were later pardoned.^[176] Most Meccans converted to Islam and Muhammad proceeded to destroy all the statues of Arabian gods in and around the Kaaba.^[177][178] According to reports collected by Ibn Ishaq and al-Azraqi, Muhammad personally spared paintings or frescos of Mary and Jesus, but other traditions suggest that all pictures were erased.^[179] The Quran discusses the conquest of Mecca.^[87][180]

Conquest of Arabia

Conquests of Muhammad (green lines) and the Rashidun caliphs (black lines). Shown: Byzantine empire (North and West) & Sassanid-Persian empire (Northeast).

Following the conquest of Mecca, Muhammad was alarmed by a military threat from the confederate tribes of Hawazin who were raising an army double the size of Muhammad's. The Banu Hawazin were old enemies of the Meccans. They were joined by the Banu Thaqif (inhabiting the city of Ta'if) who adopted an anti-Meccan policy due to the decline of the prestige of Meccans.^[181] Muhammad defeated the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes in the Battle of Hunayn.^[16]

In the same year, Muhammad organized an attack against northern Arabia because of their previous defeat at the Battle of Mu'tah and reports of hostility adopted against Muslims. With great difficulty he assembled 30,000 men; half of whom on the second day returned with Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, untroubled by the damning verses which Muhammad hurled at them. Although Muhammad did not engage with hostile forces at Tabuk, he received the submission of some local chiefs of the region.^[16][182]

He also ordered the destruction of any remaining pagan idols in Eastern Arabia. The last city to hold out against the Muslims in Western Arabia was Taif. Muhammad refused to accept the city's surrender until they agreed to convert to Islam and allowed men to destroy the statue of their goddess Al-Lat.^{[119][183][184]}

A year after the Battle of Tabuk, the Banu Thaqif sent emissaries to surrender to Muhammad and adopt Islam. Many bedouins submitted to Muhammad to safeguard against his attacks and to benefit from the spoils of war.^[16] However, the bedouins were alien to the system of Islam and wanted to maintain independence: namely their code of virtue and ancestral traditions. Muhammad required a military and political agreement according to which they "acknowledge the suzerainty of Medina, to refrain from attack on the Muslims and their allies, and to pay the Zakat, the Muslim religious levy."^[185]

Farewell pilgrimage

Anonymous illustration of al-Bīrūnī's The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries, depicting Muhammad prohibiting Nasī’ during the Farewell Pilgrimage, 17th-century Ottoman copy of a 14th-century (Ilkhanate) manuscript (Edinburgh codex).

In 632, at the end of the tenth year after migration to Medina, Muhammad completed his first true Islamic pilgrimage, setting precedent for the annual Great Pilgrimage, known as Hajj.^[16] On the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah Muhammad delivered his Farewell Sermon, at Mount Arafat east of Mecca. In this sermon, Muhammad advised his followers not to follow certain pre-Islamic customs. For instance, he said a white has no superiority over a black, nor a black any superiority over a white except by piety and good action.^[186] He abolished old blood feuds and disputes based on the former tribal system and asked for old pledges to be returned as implications of the creation of the new Islamic community. Commenting on the vulnerability of women in his society, Muhammad asked his male followers to "be good to women, for they are powerless captives (awan) in your households. You took them in God's trust, and legitimated your sexual relations with the Word of God, so come to your senses people, and hear my words ..." He told them that they were entitled to discipline their wives but should do so with kindness. He addressed the issue of inheritance by forbidding false claims of paternity or of a client relationship to the deceased and forbade his followers to leave their wealth to a testamentary heir. He also upheld the sacredness of four lunar months in each year.^[187][188] According to Sunni tafsir, the following Quranic verse was delivered during this event: "Today I have perfected your religion, and completed my favours for you and chosen Islam as a religion for you" (Quran 5:3).^[16] According to Shia tafsir, it refers to the appointment of Ali ibn Abi Talib at the pond of Khumm as Muhammad's successor, this occurring a few days later when Muslims were returning from Mecca to Medina.^[189]

Death and tomb

A few months after the farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and suffered for several days with fever, head pain, and weakness. He died on Monday, 8 June 632, in Medina, at the age of 62 or 63, in the house of his wife Aisha.^[190] With his head resting on Aisha's lap, he asked her to dispose of his last worldly goods (seven coins), then spoke his final words:

O Allah, to Ar-Rafiq Al-A'la (exalted friend, highest Friend or the uppermost, highest Friend in heaven).^{[191][192][193]}

— Muhammad

According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Muhammad's death may be presumed to have been caused by Medinan fever exacerbated by physical and mental fatigue.^[194] Academics Reşit Haylamaz and Fatih Harpci say that Ar-Rafiq Al-A'la is referring to God.^[195]

Muhammad was buried where he died in Aisha's house.^{[16][196][197]} During the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I, al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the Mosque of the Prophet) was expanded to include the site of Muhammad's tomb.^[198] The Green Dome above the tomb was built by the Mamluk sultan Al Mansur Qalawun in the 13th century, although the green color was added in the 16th century, under the reign of Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.^[199] Among tombs adjacent to that of Muhammad are those of his companions (Sahabah), the first two Muslim caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar, and an empty one that Muslims believe awaits Jesus.^{[197][200][201]}

When Saud bin Abdul-Aziz took Medina in 1805, Muhammad's tomb was stripped of its gold and jewel ornamentation.^[202] Adherents to Wahhabism, Saud's followers, destroyed nearly every tomb dome in Medina in order to prevent their veneration,^[202] and the one of Muhammad is reported to have narrowly escaped.^[203] Similar events took place in 1925, when the Saudi militias retook—and this time managed to keep—the city.^{[204][205][206]} In the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, burial is to take place in unmarked graves.^[203] Although the practice is frowned upon by the Saudis, many pilgrims continue to practice a ziyarat—a ritual visit—to the tomb.^[207][208]

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi ("the Prophet's mosque") in Medina, Saudi Arabia, with the Green Dome built over Muhammad's tomb in the center

After Muhammad

Expansion of the caliphate, 622–750 CE.

   Muhammad, 622–632 CE.

   Rashidun caliphate, 632–661 CE.

   Umayyad caliphate, 661–750 CE.

Muhammad united several of the tribes of Arabia into a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the last years of his life. With Muhammad's death, disagreement broke out over who his successor would be.^[18] Umar ibn al-Khattab, a prominent companion of Muhammad, nominated Abu Bakr, Muhammad's friend and collaborator. With additional support Abu Bakr was confirmed as the first caliph. This choice was disputed by some of Muhammad's companions, who held that Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law, had been designated the successor by Muhammad at Ghadir Khumm. Abu Bakr immediately moved to strike against the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire) forces because of the previous defeat, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an event that Muslim historians later referred to as the Ridda wars, or "Wars of Apostasy".^[209]

The pre-Islamic Middle East was dominated by the Byzantine and Sassanian empires. The Roman–Persian Wars between the two had devastated the region, making the empires unpopular amongst local tribes. Furthermore, in the lands that would be conquered by Muslims many Christians (Nestorians, Monophysites, Jacobites and Copts) were disaffected from the Eastern Orthodox Church which deemed them heretics. Within a decade Muslims conquered Mesopotamia, Byzantine Syria, Byzantine Egypt,^[210] large parts of Persia, and established the Rashidun Caliphate.

Islamic social reforms

According to William Montgomery Watt, religion for Muhammad was not a private and individual matter but "the total response of his personality to the total situation in which he found himself. He was responding [not only]... to the religious and intellectual aspects of the situation but also to the economic, social, and political pressures to which contemporary Mecca was subject."^[211] Bernard Lewis says there are two important political traditions in Islam—Muhammad as a statesman in Medina, and Muhammad as a rebel in Mecca. In his view, Islam is a great change, akin to a revolution, when introduced to new societies.^[212]

Historians generally agree that Islamic social changes in areas such as social security, family structure, slavery and the rights of women and children improved on the status quo of Arab society.^[212][213] For example, according to Lewis, Islam "from the first denounced aristocratic privilege, rejected hierarchy, and adopted a formula of the career open to the talents".^{[which?][212]} Muhammad's message transformed society and moral orders of life in the Arabian Peninsula; society focused on the changes to perceived identity, world view, and the hierarchy of values.^{[214][page needed]} Economic reforms addressed the plight of the poor, which was becoming an issue in pre-Islamic Mecca.^[215] The Quran requires payment of an alms tax (zakat) for the benefit of the poor; as Muhammad's power grew he demanded that tribes who wished to ally with him implement the zakat in particular.^[216][217]

Appearance

A hilya containing a description of Muhammad, by Ottoman calligrapher Hâfiz Osman (1642–1698)

In Muhammad al-Bukhari's book Sahih al-Bukhari, in Chapter 61, Hadith 57 & Hadith 60,^[218][219] Muhammad is depicted by two of his companions thus:

God's Messenger was neither very tall nor short, neither absolutely white nor deep brown. His hair was neither curly nor lank. God sent him (as a Messenger) when he was forty years old. Afterwards he resided in Mecca for ten years and in Medina for ten more years. When God took him unto Him, there was scarcely twenty white hairs in his head and beard.

— Anas

The Prophet was of moderate height having broad shoulders (long) hair reaching his ear-lobes. Once I saw him in a red cloak and I had never seen anyone more handsome than him.

— Al-Bara

The description given in Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi's book Shama'il al-Mustafa, attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib and Hind ibn Abi Hala is as follows:^{[220][221][222]}

Muhammad was middle-sized, did not have lank or crisp hair, was not fat, had a white circular face, wide black eyes, and long eye-lashes. When he walked, he walked as though he went down a declivity. He had the "seal of prophecy" between his shoulder blades ... He was bulky. His face shone like the moon. He was taller than middling stature but shorter than conspicuous tallness. He had thick, curly hair. The plaits of his hair were parted. His hair reached beyond the lobe of his ear. His complexion was azhar [bright, luminous]. Muhammad had a wide forehead, and fine, long, arched eyebrows which did not meet. Between his eyebrows there was a vein which distended when he was angry. The upper part of his nose was hooked; he was thick bearded, had smooth cheeks, a strong mouth, and his teeth were set apart. He had thin hair on his chest. His neck was like the neck of an ivory statue, with the purity of silver. Muhammad was proportionate, stout, firm-gripped, even of belly and chest, broad-chested and broad-shouldered.

The "seal of prophecy" between Muhammad's shoulders is generally described as having been a type of raised mole the size of a pigeon's egg.^[221] Another description of Muhammad was provided by Umm Ma'bad, a woman he met on his journey to Medina:^[223][224]

I saw a man, pure and clean, with a handsome face and a fine figure. He was not marred by a skinny body, nor was he overly small in the head and neck. He was graceful and elegant, with intensely black eyes and thick eyelashes. There was a huskiness in his voice, and his neck was long. His beard was thick, and his eyebrows were finely arched and joined together. When silent, he was grave and dignified, and when he spoke, glory rose up and overcame him. He was from afar the most beautiful of men and the most glorious, and close up he was the sweetest and the loveliest. He was sweet of speech and articulate, but not petty or trifling. His speech was a string of cascading pearls, measured so that none despaired of its length, and no eye challenged him because of brevity. In company he is like a branch between two other branches, but he is the most flourishing of the three in appearance, and the loveliest in power. He has friends surrounding him, who listen to his words. If he commands, they obey implicitly, with eagerness and haste, without frown or complaint.

Descriptions like these were often reproduced in calligraphic panels (Turkish: hilye), which in the 17th century developed into an art form of their own in the Ottoman Empire.^[223]

Household

The tomb of Muhammad is located in the quarters of his third wife, Aisha. (Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, Medina)

Muhammad's life is traditionally defined into two periods: pre-hijra (emigration) in Mecca (from 570 to 622), and post-hijra in Medina (from 622 until 632). Muhammad is said to have had thirteen wives in total (although two have ambiguous accounts, Rayhana bint Zayd and Maria al-Qibtiyya, as wife or concubine^[225][226]). Eleven of the thirteen marriages occurred after the migration to Medina.

At the age of 25, Muhammad married the wealthy Khadijah bint Khuwaylid who was 40 years old.^[227] The marriage lasted for 25 years and was a happy one.^[228] Muhammad did not enter into marriage with another woman during this marriage.^[229][230] After Khadijah's death, Khawla bint Hakim suggested to Muhammad that he should marry Sawda bint Zama, a Muslim widow, or Aisha, daughter of Um Ruman and Abu Bakr of Mecca. Muhammad is said to have asked for arrangements to marry both.^[158] Muhammad's marriages after the death of Khadijah were contracted mostly for political or humanitarian reasons. The women were either widows of Muslims killed in battle and had been left without a protector, or belonged to important families or clans with whom it was necessary to honor and strengthen alliances.^[231]

According to traditional sources Aisha was six or seven years old when betrothed to Muhammad,^{[158][232][233]} with the marriage not being consummated until she had reached puberty at the age of nine or ten years old.^[241] She was therefore a virgin at marriage.^[232] Modern Muslim authors who calculate Aisha's age based on other sources of information, such as a hadith about the age difference between Aisha and her sister Asma, estimate that she was over thirteen and perhaps in her late teens at the time of her marriage.^[247]

After migration to Medina, Muhammad, who was then in his fifties, married several more women.

Muhammad performed household chores such as preparing food, sewing clothes, and repairing shoes. He is also said to have had accustomed his wives to dialogue; he listened to their advice, and the wives debated and even argued with him.^{[248][249][250]}

Khadijah is said to have had four daughters with Muhammad (Ruqayyah bint Muhammad, Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, Zainab bint Muhammad, Fatimah Zahra) and two sons (Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad and Qasim ibn Muhammad, who both died in childhood). All but one of his daughters, Fatimah, died before him.^[251] Some Shi'a scholars contend that Fatimah was Muhammad's only daughter.^[252] Maria al-Qibtiyya bore him a son named Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, but the child died when he was two years old.^[251]

Nine of Muhammad's wives survived him.^[226] Aisha, who became known as Muhammad's favourite wife in Sunni tradition, survived him by decades and was instrumental in helping assemble the scattered sayings of Muhammad that form the Hadith literature for the Sunni branch of Islam.^[158]

Muhammad's descendants through Fatimah are known as sharifs, syeds or sayyids. These are honorific titles in Arabic, sharif meaning 'noble' and sayed or sayyid meaning 'lord' or 'sir'. As Muhammad's only descendants, they are respected by both Sunni and Shi'a, though the Shi'a place much more emphasis and value on their distinction.^[253]

Zayd ibn Haritha was a slave that Muhammad bought, freed, and then adopted as his son. He also had a wetnurse.^[254] According to a BBC summary, "the Prophet Muhammad did not try to abolish slavery, and bought, sold, captured, and owned slaves himself. But he insisted that slave owners treat their slaves well and stressed the virtue of freeing slaves. Muhammad treated slaves as human beings and clearly held some in the highest esteem".^[255]

Legacy

Islamic tradition

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Following the attestation to the oneness of God, the belief in Muhammad's prophethood is the main aspect of the Islamic faith. Every Muslim proclaims in Shahadah: "I testify that there is no god but God, and I testify that Muhammad is a Messenger of God." The Shahadah is the basic creed or tenet of Islam. Islamic belief is that ideally the Shahadah is the first words a newborn will hear; children are taught it immediately and it will be recited upon death. Muslims repeat the shahadah in the call to prayer (adhan) and the prayer itself. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the creed.^[256]

In Islamic belief, Muhammad is regarded as the last prophet sent by God.^[257][258] Quran 10:37 states that "...it (the Quran) is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book—wherein there is no doubt—from The Lord of the Worlds." Similarly, Quran 46:12 states "...And before this was the book of Moses, as a guide and a mercy. And this Book confirms (it)...", while 2:136 commands the believers of Islam to "Say: we believe in God and that which is revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered."

The Muslim profession of faith, the Shahadah, illustrates the Muslim conception of the role of Muhammad: "There is no god except the God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God." in Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Turkey

Muslim tradition credits Muhammad with several miracles or supernatural events.^[259] For example, many Muslim commentators and some Western scholars have interpreted the Surah 54:1–2 as referring to Muhammad splitting the Moon in view of the Quraysh when they began persecuting his followers.^[260][261] Western historian of Islam Denis Gril believes the Quran does not overtly describe Muhammad performing miracles, and the supreme miracle of Muhammad is identified with the Quran itself.^[260]

According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad was attacked by the people of Ta'if and was badly injured. The tradition also describes an angel appearing to him and offering retribution against the assailants. It is said that Muhammad rejected the offer and prayed for the guidance of the people of Ta'if.^[262]

Calligraphic rendering of "may God honor him and grant him peace", customarily added after Muhammad's name, encoded as a ligature at Unicode code point U+FDFA.^[263] ﷺ‎.

The Sunnah represents actions and sayings of Muhammad (preserved in reports known as Hadith) and covers a broad array of activities and beliefs ranging from religious rituals, personal hygiene, and burial of the dead to the mystical questions involving the love between humans and God. The Sunnah is considered a model of emulation for pious Muslims and has to a great degree influenced the Muslim culture. The greeting that Muhammad taught Muslims to offer each other, "may peace be upon you" (Arabic: as-salamu 'alaykum) is used by Muslims throughout the world. Many details of major Islamic rituals such as daily prayers, the fasting and the annual pilgrimage are only found in the Sunnah and not the Quran.^[264]

Muslims have traditionally expressed love and veneration for Muhammad. Stories of Muhammad's life, his intercession and of his miracles have permeated popular Muslim thought and poetry. Among Arabic odes to Muhammad, Qasidat al-Burda ("Poem of the Mantle") by the Egyptian Sufi al-Busiri (1211–1294) is particularly well-known, and widely held to possess a healing, spiritual power.^[265] The Quran refers to Muhammad as "a mercy (rahmat) to the worlds" (Quran 21:107).^[16] The association of rain with mercy in Oriental countries has led to imagining Muhammad as a rain cloud dispensing blessings and stretching over lands, reviving the dead hearts, just as rain revives the seemingly dead earth (see, for example, the Sindhi poem of Shah ʿAbd al-Latif).^[16] Muhammad's birthday is celebrated as a major feast throughout the Islamic world, excluding Wahhabi-dominated Saudi Arabia where these public celebrations are discouraged.^[266] When Muslims say or write the name of Muhammad, they usually follow it with the Arabic phrase ṣallā llahu ʿalayhi wa-sallam (may God honor him and grant him peace) or the English phrase peace be upon him.^[267] In casual writing, the abbreviations SAW (for the Arabic phrase) or PBUH (for the English phrase) are sometimes used; in printed matter, a small calligraphic rendition is commonly used (ﷺ).

Sufism

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The Sunnah contributed much to the development of Islamic law, particularly from the end of the first Islamic century.^[268] Muslim mystics, known as sufis, who were seeking for the inner meaning of the Quran and the inner nature of Muhammad, viewed the prophet of Islam not only as a prophet but also as a perfect human being. All Sufi orders trace their chain of spiritual descent back to Muhammad.^[269]

Depictions

In line with the hadith's prohibition against creating images of sentient living beings, which is particularly strictly observed with respect to God and Muhammad, Islamic religious art is focused on the word.^[270][271] Muslims generally avoid depictions of Muhammad, and mosques are decorated with calligraphy and Quranic inscriptions or geometrical designs, not images or sculptures.^[270][272] Today, the interdiction against images of Muhammad—designed to prevent worship of Muhammad, rather than God—is much more strictly observed in Sunni Islam (85%–90% of Muslims) and Ahmadiyya Islam (1%) than among Shias (10%–15%).^[273] While both Sunnis and Shias have created images of Muhammad in the past,^[274] Islamic depictions of Muhammad are rare.^[270] They have mostly been limited to the private and elite medium of the miniature, and since about 1500 most depictions show Muhammad with his face veiled, or symbolically represent him as a flame.^[272][275]

Muhammad's entry into Mecca and the destruction of idols. Muhammad is shown as a flame in this manuscript. Found in Bazil's Hamla-i Haydari, Jammu and Kashmir, India, 1808.

The earliest extant depictions come from 13th century Anatolian Seljuk and Ilkhanid Persian miniatures, typically in literary genres describing the life and deeds of Muhammad.^[275][276] During the Ilkhanid period, when Persia's Mongol rulers converted to Islam, competing Sunni and Shi'a groups used visual imagery, including images of Muhammad, to promote their particular interpretation of Islam's key events.^[277] Influenced by the Buddhist tradition of representational religious art predating the Mongol elite's conversion, this innovation was unprecedented in the Islamic world, and accompanied by a "broader shift in Islamic artistic culture away from abstraction toward representation" in "mosques, on tapestries, silks, ceramics, and in glass and metalwork" besides books.^[278] In the Persian lands, this tradition of realistic depictions lasted through the Timurid dynasty until the Safavids took power in the early 16th century.^[277] The Safavaids, who made Shi'i Islam the state religion, initiated a departure from the traditional Ilkhanid and Timurid artistic style by covering Muhammad's face with a veil to obscure his features and at the same time represent his luminous essence.^[279] Concomitantly, some of the unveiled images from earlier periods were defaced.^{[277][280][281]} Later images were produced in Ottoman Turkey and elsewhere, but mosques were never decorated with images of Muhammad.^[274] Illustrated accounts of the night journey (mi'raj) were particularly popular from the Ilkhanid period through the Safavid era.^[282] During the 19th century, Iran saw a boom of printed and illustrated mi'raj books, with Muhammad's face veiled, aimed in particular at illiterates and children in the manner of graphic novels. Reproduced through lithography, these were essentially "printed manuscripts".^[282] Today, millions of historical reproductions and modern images are available in some Muslim-majority countries, especially Turkey and Iran, on posters, postcards, and even in coffee-table books, but are unknown in most other parts of the Islamic world, and when encountered by Muslims from other countries, they can cause considerable consternation and offense.^[274][275]

Medieval Christians

The earliest documented Christian knowledge of Muhammad stems from Byzantine sources. They indicate that both Jews and Christians saw Muhammad as a false prophet.^[283] Another Greek source for Muhammad is Theophanes the Confessor, a 9th-century writer. The earliest Syriac source is the 7th-century writer John bar Penkaye.^[284]

According to Hossein Nasr, the earliest European literature often refers to Muhammad unfavorably. A few learned circles of Middle Ages Europe – primarily Latin-literate scholars – had access to fairly extensive biographical material about Muhammad. They interpreted the biography through a Christian religious filter, one that viewed Muhammad as a person who seduced the Saracens into his submission under religious guise.^[16] Popular European literature of the time portrayed Muhammad as though he were worshipped by Muslims, similar to an idol or a heathen god.^[16]

In later ages, Muhammad came to be seen as a schismatic: Brunetto Latini's 13th century Li livres dou tresor represents him as a former monk and cardinal,^[16] and Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Canto 28), written in the early 1300s, puts Muhammad and his son-in-law, Ali, in Hell "among the sowers of discord and the schismatics, being lacerated by devils again and again."^[16]

European appreciation

Muhammad in La vie de Mahomet by M. Prideaux (1699). He holds a sword and a crescent while trampling on a globe, a cross, and the Ten Commandments.

After the Reformation, Muhammad was often portrayed in a similar way.^[16][285] Guillaume Postel was among the first to present a more positive view of Muhammad when he argued that Muhammad should be esteemed by Christians as a valid prophet.^[16][286] Gottfried Leibniz praised Muhammad because "he did not deviate from the natural religion".^[16] Henri de Boulainvilliers, in his Vie de Mahomed which was published posthumously in 1730, described Muhammad as a gifted political leader and a just lawmaker.^[16] He presents him as a divinely inspired messenger whom God employed to confound the bickering Oriental Christians, to liberate the Orient from the despotic rule of the Romans and Persians, and to spread the knowledge of the unity of God from India to Spain.^[287] Voltaire had a somewhat mixed opinion on Muhammad: in his play Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le Prophète he vilifies Muhammad as a symbol of fanaticism, and in a published essay in 1748 he calls him "a sublime and hearty charlatan", but in his historical survey Essai sur les mœurs, he presents him as legislator and a conqueror and calls him an "enthusiast."^[287] Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his Social Contract (1762), "brushing aside hostile legends of Muhammad as a trickster and impostor, presents him as a sage legislator who wisely fused religious and political powers."^[287] Emmanuel Pastoret published in 1787 his Zoroaster, Confucius and Muhammad, in which he presents the lives of these three "great men", "the greatest legislators of the universe", and compares their careers as religious reformers and lawgivers. He rejects the common view that Muhammad is an impostor and argues that the Quran proffers "the most sublime truths of cult and morals"; it defines the unity of God with an "admirable concision." Pastoret writes that the common accusations of his immorality are unfounded: on the contrary, his law enjoins sobriety, generosity, and compassion on his followers: the "legislator of Arabia" was "a great man."^[287] Napoleon Bonaparte admired Muhammad and Islam,^[288] and described him as a model lawmaker and a great man.^[289][290] Thomas Carlyle in his book Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in History (1840) describes Muhammad as "[a] silent great soul; [...] one of those who cannot but be in earnest".^[291] Carlyle's interpretation has been widely cited by Muslim scholars as a demonstration that Western scholarship validates Muhammad's status as a great man in history.^[292]

Ian Almond says that German Romantic writers generally held positive views of Muhammad: "Goethe’s 'extraordinary' poet-prophet, Herder’s nation builder (...) Schlegel’s admiration for Islam as an aesthetic product, enviably authentic, radiantly holistic, played such a central role in his view of Mohammed as an exemplary world-fashioner that he even used it as a scale of judgement for the classical (the dithyramb, we are told, has to radiate pure beauty if it is to resemble 'a Koran of poetry')."^[293] After quoting Heinrich Heine, who said in a letter to some friend that "I must admit that you, great prophet of Mecca, are the greatest poet and that your Quran... will not easily escape my memory", John Tolan goes on to show how Jews in Europe in particular held more nuanced views about Muhammad and Islam, being an ethnoreligious minority feeling discriminated, they specifically lauded Al-Andalus, and thus, "writing about Islam was for Jews a way of indulging in a fantasy world, far from the persecution and pogroms of nineteenth-century Europe, where Jews could live in harmony with their non-Jewish neighbors."^[294]

Modern historians

Recent writers such as William Montgomery Watt and Richard Bell dismiss the idea that Muhammad deliberately deceived his followers, arguing that Muhammad "was absolutely sincere and acted in complete good faith"^[295] and Muhammad's readiness to endure hardship for his cause, with what seemed to be no rational basis for hope, shows his sincerity.^[296] Watt, however, says that sincerity does not directly imply correctness: in contemporary terms, Muhammad might have mistaken his subconscious for divine revelation.^[297] Watt and Bernard Lewis argue that viewing Muhammad as a self-seeking impostor makes it impossible to understand Islam's development.^[298][299] Alford T. Welch holds that Muhammad was able to be so influential and successful because of his firm belief in his vocation.^[16]

Other religions

Followers of the Baháʼí Faith venerate Muhammad as one of a number of prophets or "Manifestations of God". He is thought to be the final manifestation, or seal of the Adamic cycle, but consider his teachings to have been superseded by those of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí faith, and the first Manifestation of the current cycle.^[300][301]

Criticism

Criticism of Muhammad has existed since the 7th century, when Muhammad was decried by his non-Muslim Arab contemporaries for preaching monotheism, and by the Jewish tribes of Arabia for his unwarranted appropriation of Biblical narratives and figures,^[302] vituperation of the Jewish faith,^[302] and proclaiming himself as "the last prophet" without performing any miracle nor showing any personal requirement demanded in the Hebrew Bible to distinguish a true prophet chosen by the God of Israel from a false claimant; for these reasons, they gave him the derogatory nickname ha-Meshuggah (Hebrew: מְשֻׁגָּע‬‎, "the Madman" or "the Possessed").^{[303][304][305]} During the Middle Ages various^{[306][307][308][309]} Western and Byzantine Christian thinkers considered Muhammad to be a perverted,^[306][308] deplorable man,^[306][308] a false prophet,^{[306][307][308]} and even the Antichrist,^[306][307] as he was frequently seen in Christendom as a heretic^{[310][306][307][308]} or possessed by demons.^[310][308] Some of them, like Thomas Aquinas, criticized Muhammad's promises of carnal pleasure in the afterlife.^[308]

Modern religious^{[306][311][312]} and secular^{[313][314][315][316]} criticism of Islam^{[311][312][313][314][315][316]} has concerned Muhammad's sincerity in claiming to be a prophet, his morality, his ownership of slaves,^[317][318] his treatment of enemies, his marriages,^[319] his treatment of doctrinal matters, and his psychological condition. Muhammad has been accused of sadism and mercilessness— including the invasion of the Banu Qurayza tribe in Medina^{[320][321][322][323][324][325]}—sexual relationships with slaves, and his marriage to Aisha when she was six years old,^[319] which according to most estimates was consummated when she was nine.^[326]

See also

Notes

References