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Introductory notes to Islam
(other articles will be
introduced from time to time)
1 An introduction to Muhammad and
the Qur'an
2 Islamic understanding of
Christianity
3 Islamic intolerance
An
Introduction to Muhammad and the Qur'an
Muhammad was born at Mecca in 570 CE after his father died; his
inheritance included a slave-girl. He was raised in the desert away
from the city by a wet nurse for two years. When Muhammad was six, his
mother died as they were returning from Medina. His grandfather died
two years later in Mecca, and Muhammad joined the family of his uncle
Abu Talib. Young Muhammad pastured sheep and goats, and he fought in a
local war at the age of twenty. Muhammad began travelling for merchants
and gained a reputation as honest and trustworthy. He helped the
wealthy widow Khadija double her money; she was 40 and he 25 when they
married. On his wedding day Muhammad freed his slave-girl so that she
could marry, and he adopted the slave-boy Khadija gave him as his son.
During a famine Muhammad adopted Abu Talib's son 'Ali when he was about
five. When he was about 35, Muhammad successfully mediated a dispute
between tribes at the Ka'ba shrine in Mecca.
Muhammad prayed in seclusion every year during the month of Ramadan. In
610 he began to have visions during his spiritual retreat, and in a
cave a voice told him three times to recite. As he was walking down the
mountain, the voice identified itself as the angel Gabriel. These
recitations were later written down as the Qur'an (Koran) The first to
accept the new religion of Islam were his wife and two sons, and they
were called Muslims, which means those who submit to God. Muhammad
shared his revelations with those present. He was ordered to pray and
established the regular times for prayer. The Quraysh tribe tried to
stop his growing following with persecution and boycotts. A group of 82
Muslims migrated to Abyssinia. Muhammad's wife Khadija died in 619.
Then when Abu Talib died, the prophet's clan lost some of their
protection; Muhammad himself even had to take refuge in an orchard. In
spirit Muhammad travelled at night from Mecca to Jerusalem, and Moses
urged them to pray fifty times a day; but Muhammad got it reduced to
five times a day. Muslims began migrating to Medina. In 622 Muhammad
was warned of an assassination plot; he hid and then migrated to Medina.
Muhammad respected the Jews for believing in one God; so they were
tolerated, and some became Muslims. Muhammad encouraged the Muslims of
Mecca and of Medina to embrace each other as brothers. He proved to the
Jews that he accepted the law of stoning adulterers. Muhammad himself
had more than one wife and married 'A'isha when she was only nine. In
Medina he changed the practice of facing Jerusalem in prayer to facing
Mecca. From Medina Muhammad began leading raids himself; as the prophet
he received a fifth of the spoils, which he distributed to the poor as
needed. Muhammad promised his warriors who died fighting the Quraysh
that they would enter paradise, and they charged shouting, "God's
victors kill." Conflicts with Jews developed, and Muhammad authorized
the killing of Jews.
Twice assassins were sent to Muhammad, but he was able to convert both
of them. In a battle between the Muslims of Medina and the Quraysh army
from Mecca, Muhammad was wounded. He was angry after the defeat, but a
revelation warned him to ban mutilation of prisoners. Some of
Muhammad's wives died, and he received a revelation that the prophet
was allowed to have more than four wives. Other than 'A'isha, all the
women he married were widows. Jews joined the anti-Muslim alliance, and
the Muslims were besieged at Medina; but the prophet authorized the use
of deception in war, keeping the Qurayza out of the alliance. Then the
prophet ordered the Muslims to besiege the Qurayza for breaking their
treaty.
Muhammad was able to make an unarmed pilgrimage to Mecca in 628 as he
gained a truce for ten years, enabling the Muslim community to more
than double in the next two years. Muhammad sent messages to the
Persian emperor Khusrau, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius and the
patriarch at Alexandria. The Persian viceroy Badhan in Yemen was
converted when the prophet's messengers correctly informed him that
Khusrau had been killed. Muhammad marched against the Khaybar Jews;
though outnumbered, the Muslims were able to overcome the Jews a few at
a time. The Jews of Khaybar had to surrender half their crops to the
Muslims. After a minor infraction of the truce by two Quraysh, a Muslim
army of 10,000 attacked Mecca and took over the city as the idols and
icons were destroyed. Other towns were attacked by the large Muslim
army, and Muhammad announced that slaves who joined the Muslims would
be freed. In 630 he sent a Muslim army of 30,000 that included 10,000
cavalry to attack Byzantine Syria, but he made peace treaties with
Christian and Jewish communities along the Gulf of 'Aqabah coast.
Muhammad sent officials to collect taxes to support the poor. On his
last pilgrimage to Mecca the prophet banned pagans from participating.
Muhammad married eleven times and died of illness on June 8, 632.
Qur'an means recital and is the sacred book of Islam. Its literary
quality is considered especially remarkable since Muhammad himself was
probably illiterate. He recited the verses, and then they were
memorized and written down by others. Usually God is speaking to
humanity, though occasionally the messengers Gabriel and Muhammad
speak. In the longest chapter "The Cow" believers are reminded to pray
facing Mecca, give charity to the poor, and fast until sunset during
the month of Ramadan. After two of the six Muslims, who had memorized
the entire Qur'an, were killed, Muhammad's successor Abu Bakr (r.
632-634) ordered the written and oral revelations collected together.
Qur'an reciters were sent out to teach Islam. The caliph 'Uthman (r.
644-656) had been a secretary of Muhammad, and during his reign the
Qur'an was edited into its final form. The 114 chapters are ordered
mostly by decreasing length. These selections
are placed in their approximate chronological order.
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