at
the age of twenty-five, to Khadijah, a widow whom he
had assisted in business. Thenceforth, he became an
important and trusted citizen of Makkah. Historians
describe him as calm and meditative.
Muhammad
(pbuh) never felt fully content to be part of a
society whose values he considered to be devoid of
true religious significance. It became his habit to
retreat from time to time to the cave of Hira', to
meditate near the summit of Jabal al-Nur, the
"Mountain of Light", near Makkah.
At
the age of 40, while engaged in one such meditative
retreat, Muhammad (pbuh) received his first revelation
from God through the Angel Gabriel. This revelation,
which continued for twenty-three years, is known as
the Qur'an, the faithful recording of the entire
revelation of God. The first revelation read:
"Recite:
In the name of your Lord Who created man from a clot
(of blood). Recite: Your Lord is Most Noble, Who
taught by the pen, taught man what he did not
know." [96:1-5]
It
was this reality that he gradually and steadily came
to learn and believe, until he fully realized that it
is the truth.
His first convert was Khadijah, whose support and
companionship provided necessary reassurance and
strength. He also won the support of some of his
relatives and friends. Three basic themes of the early
message were the majesty of the one, unique God, the
futility of idol worship, the threat of judgment, and
the necessity of faith, compassion and morality in
human affairs. All these themes represented an attack
on the crass materialism and idolatry prevalent in
Makkah at the time. So when he began to proclaim the
message to others the Makkans rejected him. He and his
small group of followers suffered bitter persecution,
which grew so fierce that in the year 622 C.E., God
gave them the command to emigrate. This event, the
Hijrah (migration), in which they left Makkah for the
city of Madinah, some 260 miles to the north, marked
the beginning of a new era and thus the beginning of
the Muslim calendar. During his suffering, Muhammad (pbuh)
drew comfort from the knowledge revealed to him about
other prophets, such as Abraham, Joseph, and Moses,
each of whom had also been persecuted and tested.
After
several years and some significant battles, the
Prophet and his followers were able to return to
Makkah, where they forgave their enemies and
established Islam definitively. By the time the
Prophet died, at the age of 63, the greater part of
Arabia had accepted Islam, and within a century of his
death, Islam had spread as far west as Spain and as
far east as China. It was clear that the message was
not limited to Arabs; it was for the whole of
humanity.
The
Prophet's sayings (Hadith), are also believed to be
revelation. The number of sayings collected by his
followers and scholars is about 10,000. Some typical
examples of his sayings are as follows:
"To
pursue knowledge is obligatory on every believing (man
and woman)."
[Ibn Majah]
"Removing a harmful thing from the road is
charity." [Bukhari, Muslim]
"Those who do not show tenderness and love cannot
expect to have tenderness shown to them." [Bukhari]
"Adore
Allah (God) as though you see Him; even if you do not
see Him, He nonetheless sees you." [Bukhari,
Muslim]
Although
Muhammad is deeply loved, revered and emulated by
Muslims as God's final messenger, he is not an object
of worship.
