The Prophet Muhammad

 
        And the life of Muhammad is not the life of a God, but of a man ; from first to last it is intensely human-Lane-Poole.

 
        THERE are no historic doubts about the existence of Muhammad; throughout his active career every detail of his life is known. Muhammad was born in Mecca on the 12th Rabi `I, 20th August in the year 570 of the Christian era. His father, Abdullah, son of Abdul-Muttalib of the clan of Bani Hashim of the tribe of Quraish, died before his birth. According to the custom of the nobility of the Quraish, the child when only eight days old was handed to a Bedouin nurse called Haleema from the tribe of Bani Sa'd, to be brought up by her in the healthy atmosphere of the desert. At the age of five, Muhammad returned to the care of his mother, Amina, the daughter of Wahb, the Chief of the clan of Bani Zuhra, but she died a year later. His grandfather, Abdul-Muttalib, the Chief of Bani Hashim and the leader of the Meccans, in whose loving care he was, died when he was eight and Muhammad was brought up by his uncle Abu Talib, who was to prove his shield and protector when some thirty years later his preaching brought upon him the enmity of the Meccans. Abu Talib was a merchant of modest means, and when Muhammad grew up he assisted his uncle in his business. At the age of 12, he accompanied his uncle in a merchant's caravan to Syria. To the young, vigorous and fresh mind of Muhammad, who had no school learning, the glimpses into the contrasts and similarities of the beliefs, customs and civilisations of diverse countries and peoples, must have opened up glorious vistas and left lasting impressions. Later, Abu Talib's business began to dwindle and Muhammad earned his living as a shepherd. Thoughtful by nature, this occupation gave him full scope to contemplate the universe and commune with the creation. Arabia at this time was in a state of religious chaos and political dissolution. The Arabs were steeped in ignorance and perpetually at war with one another; they were mostly nomadic except for those tribes living in the few cities scattered through the land, the Holy City of Mecca being inhabited by the different clans of the tribe of Quraish. Apart from a few Jewish settlements in the north-west, a few Christian tribes on the Syrian border and in the extreme south-west, and a few individuals known as Haneefs who held a monotheistic faith, the whole population of Arabia worshipped idols, stars, stones and fetishes. The idolatry of his people, their immorality, and the terrible treatment of the poor and the weak set Muhammad's mind and soul a flame with intense horror and righteous disgust. In the solitude of the desert and hills where he tended his sheep Muhammad reflected on all these questions. He had now reached the age of twenty-one, and had conducted himself with such rectitude and nobility of character that he was called `Al-Ameen' or the Trusty. The war of the Fijar, which was started by the murder of a member of the Hawazin tribe, and lasted for four years, made the leaders of the Meccans reflect on the dire results which lawlessness had brought upon them. Muhammad and the other leading members of his clan Bani Hashim and their relations Bani Al-Muttalib and the leaders of the clans of Bani Zuhra and Bani Taym formed themselves into a league pledged to defend the weak and champion the oppressed, freeman and slave alike, and to vindicate their rights against tyranny and aggression. This league, known as Hilf Al-Fudhood, exercised such efficient protection that for a long time the mere threat of its intervention was sufficient to repress lawlessness and afford redress to the helpless. Muhammad was very proud of his membership of this chivalrous league, and used to say: "I would not have the riches of the earth in exchange for my membership of it.".

        Muhammad was content with his lot as a shepherd, but his uncle, Abu Talib, desired something better for him, and obtained him employment with a rich widow, Khadija, the daughter of Khuweilid, son of Asad, and thus Muhammad found himself at the age of 25 in charge of a caravan conveying merchandise to Syria. On Muhammad's return, Khadija was so pleased with his successful management of her business, and was so attracted by his nobility of character, reports about which she heard from her old servant who had accompanied him, that she sent her sister to offer the young man her hand. Muhammad had felt drawn to Khadija, and so matters were soon arranged and, though Khadija was by fifteen years his senior, their twenty-six years of married life were singularly happy. Muhammad continued to work as a merchant, and his fair-dealings further enhanced his reputation as Al-Ameen the Trusty. In the year 605 of the Christian era, a dispute arose during the reconstruction of the Ka'aba which threatened to plunge the different clans of the Quraish into war, but the sagacious arbitration of Muhammad saved the situation and settled the dispute to everyone's satisfaction. He continued to take an ever-increasing interest in public affairs and to exert himself in the service of the poor, the helpless and the weak. Many were the slaves who owed their freedom to Muhammad, and many were the widows and orphans who lived on his generosity. When Khadija made a gift to him of a slave called Zaid, who had been presented to her by her nephew, he immediately set the slave lad free. Though he was now a free man, Zaid insisted on remaining in Muhammad's household as his personal servant, and Muhammad rewarded his devotion by adopting him as his son.

        Whenever the iniquities of his people oppressed him, Muhammad retired to the solitude of a cave in Mount Hira outside Mecca. There his soul, `soaring aloft, tired to peer into the mysteries of creation, of life and death, of good and evil, to find order out of chaos.' Solitude became a passion with him, and every year he would retire to the cave in Mount Hira for the whole month of Ramadan, to meditate and commune with the Invisible Power which fills the Universe. It was on one of these occasions, when he was forty years of age, that Muhammad received the call. Professor Max Muller says: `The Father of Truth chooses His own prophets, and He speaks to them in a voice stronger than the voice of thunder.' One night, in the solitude of the cave, whilst lying absorbed in his thoughts, Muhammad was commanded by a mighty Voice to go forth and preach. Twice the Voice called and twice he ignored the call. "Preach," called the Voice for the third time, and an answer was wrung out of Muhammad's heart and he said. "What shall I preach?" "Preach in the name of thy Lord!" replied the Voice. This, the first revelation, is contained in the short 96th Sura of the Kur'an: `When the Voice had ceased to speak, telling him how from the minutest beginnings man had been called into existence and lifted up by understanding and knowledge of the Lord, who is most beneficent, and who by the pen revealed that which men did not know, Muhammad woke from his trance and felt as if the words spoken to his soul had been written on his heart.'

        Alarmed by his experience, Muhammad rose trembling, and hastened home to seek rest and solace for his troubled mind and tortured soul in Khadija's tender care, and she calmed and comforted him. When he had recovered sufficiently, he sought the solitude of the hills to soothe his anguish of mind when the Angel of God appeared to him and recalled him to his duty to mankind. Awe-stricken, he hurried back into his house and asked to be wrapped in warm garments. Khadija did her best to reassure him, saying that his conduct through life had been such that God would not let a harmful spirit come to him. She consulted her kinsman, Waraqa son of Naufal, an old man of over 90 years who knew the Scriptures of the Jews and the Christians, and he declared that the heavenly meswhich came to Moses of old had come to Muhammad, and that he was chosen as a Prophet of God. The very thought of being chosen out of all mankind with such a Mission profoundly disturbed Muhammad's humble and devout mind. Khadija his wife was the first to accept the truth of his Mission, and he then communicated his experiences to his cousin Ali  his adopted son Zaid, and his intimate friend Abu Bakr; these persons, who knew him best and had lived and worked with him and noted all his movements, and the sincerity of his character, became his first converts. For a year or two Muhammad preached among his immediate friends and relatives, and made several converts, but the Meccans as a whole regarded him with indifference as one who had become a little mad. Struggling in his mind with doubts as to the divinity of his Mission, and in a state of great depression, Muhammad was lying covered up in blankets when he heard the Divine Voice calling upon him to arise and preach. "O thou wrapped up in thy mantle, arise and warn!"(Kur'an lxxiv.). Conviction now replaced doubt, and Muhammad arose and girded himself for the work to which he had been called. Standing alone, he proclaimed the glory of God, publicly denounced the idolatry of his people and their evil ways, and called them to God and the better life (Kur'an lxxxi. 19-28).

       The Quraish were the guardians of the Ka'aba, the holy place to which all Arabia made pilgrimage, and it was a source of great prestige and profit to their city, Mecca. They were therefore seriously alarmed and assumed active hostility towards Muhammad, who was now publicly preaching against the worship of the idols in the Ka'aba, which ranked first among their vested interests. At the season of the pilgrimage, men were posted on all the roads to warn the tribes against the madman who was preaching against their gods. The early converts of Muhammad, who were mostly humble folk, were subjected to great oppression, and in spite of his rank, Muhammad himself would have been killed if the Quraish had not been deterred by the fear of blood vengeance from his powerful clan, the Bani Hashim. The Meccans' persecution waxed higher as Muhammad's converts increased in number and influence. They tried a compromise, offering to accept Muhammad's religion if he would agree to their idols being worshipped as intercessors to the God of Muhammad. When this negotiation failed, a deputation was sent to Muhammad's uncle, Abu Talib, offering Muhammad riches and power as an inducement to stop preaching, and threatening that unless he did so Abu Talib would bear the consequences with him. Muhammad was informed of what had happened, and his uncle begged him to cease his attempts to convert the Meccans, and thus put an end to constant trouble. Muhammad said: "Though they gave me the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left to turn me back from my undertaking, yet will I not pause till the Lord carry His cause to victory, or till I die for it." Muhammad turned away to leave, but his uncle said to him, "Go in peace, son of my brother, and say what thou wilt, for I will on no condition abandon thee." This attempt having failed, the Meccans sent `Otba Ibn Rabi'a to Muhammad direct. "Dear kinsman" said `Otba, " thou art distinguished by thy qualities and thy descent. But now thou has sown division among our people and created dissension in our families; thou denouncest our gods and goddesses, thou dost tax our ancestors with impiety. We have a proposition to make to thee. Think well before refusing it. If thou wishest to acquire riches by this affair, we will collect for thee a fortune larger than is possessed by any of us; if thou desirest honour and dignity, we shall make thee our Chief and we shall not do a thing without thee; if thou desirest dominion we shall make thee our King." Muhammad recited a portion from the Kur'an proclaiming the glory of God, denouncing the wickedness of idolatry and calling on mankind to worship God alone and lead a good life. Then he said to `Otba: "Thou hast heard."

        The Meccans' fury now knew no bounds. Muhammad, the respected citizen of rank and high descent, the Al-Ameen of his people, was henceforth subjected to insults, to personal violence, and to the bitterest persecution, and his converts were most relentlessly oppressed. Feeling deeply grieved at the sad plight of his followers, Muhammad advised them in the fifth year of his Mission (615 of the Christian era) to leave the country and seek refuge from the persecution of the idolaters among the Christian people of Abyssinia. Muhammad and a few stalwart followers remained in Mecca and suffered untold misery and oppression, but still their number continued to increase. The Quraish, in their exasperation, outlawed Muhammad, and asked his clan to forgo their right of avenging his blood. Though unbelievers, and participators in the persecution, the proud clansmen refused to give up this right at the bidding of the Meccans, who thereupon boycotted them. Muhammad, the small band of his followers, and Bani Hashim and Bani Al-Muttalib, suffered such terrible hardships that the better minds among the Meccans grew weary of the social ostracism of old friends and neighbours, and, after three years, towards the end of 619 of the Christian era, the ban was lifted. The Bani Hashim and Bani Al-Muttalib were now free to follow their vocations, but opposition to Muhammad became ever more implacable.
 

        A year later, Muhammad lost his uncle and protector, the noble Abu Talib, and his beloved wife, the good Khadija, in whose love and devotion he had found comfort, solace and encouragement. The death of Abu Talib removed the last check on the Meccans' violence. Defenceless, in continual peril of his life, more than once it seemed all over with Muhammad, more than once his life turned on a straw. Persecution grew fiercer and fiercer, and Muhammad, seeking refuge in the neighbouring city of Tail, met with great hostility and barely escaped with his life. But a turning point in his career was at hand.
In a party of pilgrims from the prosperous city of Yathrib, Muhammad made several converts. After the Pilgrimage, the men of Yathrib returned to their city with a Muslim teacher, and in the following year, at the time of pilgrimage seventy-three Muslims from Yathrib came to Mecca to vow allegiance to the Prophet and invited him to go to their city. Muhammad took council with his Meccan followers, and it was decided that they should emigrate to Yathrib. They left gradually and unobtrusively, Muhammad remaining to the last. Their departure was soon discovered by the Quraish, who decided to slay Muhammad before he too could escape; for although they hated the idea of Muhammad preaching in their midst, they dreaded still more the spread of his influence if he escaped from Mecca. The Meccans therefore cast lots, and chose forty men, one from each clan; who took a solemn vow to kill Muhammad; they were to strike simultaneously so that the murder could not be avenged by blood feud on any one clan; but on the night they were to kill him, Muhammad, with Abu Bakr, left Mecca and, eluding his pursuers over 200 miles of desert and rocks, he reached Yathrib on Friday the 4th of Rabi'I, the 2nd July, 622. This event is called the Hijra (Hegira) or emigration. It marks the greatest crisis in the history of Muhammad's Mission, and the Muslim calendar is named after it (vide Glossary, page 137).

        Muhammad was now free to preach, and his followers increased rapidly; but the Meccans, who had sent an embassy to distant Abyssinia demanding the extradition of the Muslims who had sought refuge there, were not going to allow Muhammad's movement to take root in Yathrib, henceforth to be known as Medina (short for Medinat-ul-Nabi, the City of the Prophet). They organised three great expeditions against the city, but all were beaten back. It was not until the year after the Hijra that the Muslims were able to put an end to this war by gaining a bloodless victory over Mecca. The Meccans, who had relentlessly oppressed Muhammad and his followers for twenty-one years, expected dire vengeance, but in the hour of their defeat they were treated with the greatest magnanimity. "Go, you are free!" were the words in which Muhammad gave them general amnesty. The Prophet removed all the idols which were in the Ka'aba, saying, "Truth hath come, darkness hath vanished away (Kur'an xvii. 81), and the Muslim call to Prayer was heard in this ancient sanctuary. The surrender of Mecca was followed by the submission of the surrounding tribes, and the acknowledgement of Muhammad's spiritual and temporal leadership over the whole of Arabia.

        During the 9th year of the Hijra, deputations came from all parts of Arabia to swear allegiance to the Prophet, and to hear the Kur'an. Islam now spread by leaps and bounds, and the conversion of the Arabs Was complete. In the 10th year, Muhammad went to Mecca as a pilgrim, and he felt it was for the last time because of the Revelations which he received (cx. and v.4). On his return to Medina , he fell ill of a mortal fever. It lasted for fifteen days, but he continued to lead the prayers until three days before his death; when he deputised Abu Bakr. At early dawn on the last day of his earthly life, Muhammad came out from his room beside the mosque and joined the public prayers, but later in the day he died. The end came peacefully; murmuring of pardon and the company of the righteous in Paradise, the preacher of Islam breathed his last, at the age of 63 on Wednesday the 12th Rabi `I in the 11th year after the Hijra (633 of the Christian era).
 

        Non-Muslim writers have paid the following tributes to the character of Muhammad: `His moral teachings sprang from a pure and exalted mind aflame with religious enthusiasm. From being a persecuted preacher exiled to Medina, he rose to political power. This he enjoyed only in the last few years of his life, and this he used for the spiritual and material welfare of Muslims.

        `Such indeed was the munificence of his good works that he died in debt, some of his belongings in pawn with a Jew -among them his only shield for which he obtained three measures of meal.

        `He lived in great humility, performing the most menial tasks with his own hands; he kindled the fire, swept the floor, milked the ewes, patched his own garments and cobbled his own shoes.

        `He laboured for the amelioration of the slaves' lot, liberating any that were presented to him.'- BERTRAM THOMAS.

        `He who, standing alone, braved for years the hatred of his people is the same who was never the first to withdraw his hand from another's clasp; the beloved of children, who never passed a group of little ones without a smile from his wonderful eyes and a kind word for them, sounding all the kinder in that sweet-toned voice.... He was one of those happy few who have attained the supreme joy of making one great truth their very life-spring. He was the messenger of the one God; and never to his life's end did he forget who he was, or the message which was the marrow of his being. He brought his tidings to his people with a grand dignity sprung from the consciousness of his high office, together with a most sweet humility whose roots lay in the knowledge of his own weakness.'- STANLEY LANE-POOLE.

        `His humanity extended itself to the lower creation. He forbade the employment of living birds as targets for marksmen and remonstrated with those who ill-treated their camels... Foolish acts of cruelty which were connected with old superstitions were swept away by him.... No more was a dead man's camel to be tied to his tomb to perish of thirst and hunger. No more was the evil eye to be propitiated by the bleeding of a certain proportion of the herd. No more was the rain to be conjured by tying burning torches to the tails of oxen... . The manes and tails of horses were not to be cut.. nor were asses to be branded.'-D. S. MARGOLIOUTH.

        `Sleeping one day under a plam-tree, Muhammad awoke suddenly to find an enemy named Du'thur standing over him with drawn sword. "O Muhammad, who is there now to save thee?" cried the man. "God!" answered Muhammad. Du'thur, while trying to strike, stumbled and dropped his sword. Muhammad seized it and cried in turn: "O Du'thur, who is there now to save thee?" "No one," replied Du'thur. "Then learn to be merciful," said Muhammad, and handed him back his weapon. Du'thur became one of his firmest friends.'-GORHAM's Ethics of the Great Religions.