Islam: Muhammud's life

Question 1

describe his early life as an ordinary person

Answer 1

• born Mecca 570 CE
• part of Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe.
• gains reputation for trustworthiness.
  People called him (called “al-amin” - the trustworthy)
• 25: Khadijah - first wife - wealthy widow, had six children, only four survived to adulthood.
• remarry 10 times, remained devoted to wife: often referred to by Muslims as “Mother of the Believers”
• increasingly withdrew to meditate in cave Mount Hira

Question 2

describe first revelation

Answer 2

610 CE
- pray in cave, recieved personal vision commanded to recite.
- confused and frightened, wife and friends said he recieved a revelation from God delivered by angel jibril
- Night of this revelation: known as Laylat-ul-Qadr (the Night of Power).
- became convinced God wanted him to be a vehicle to dictate the final revelation to build upon and revise all
previous revelations found in Judaism and Christianity.
“I but follow what is revealed to me from my Lord”, [Surah Al-Araf, verse 203]

Question 3

what did god tell Muhammud?

Answer 3

-the laws human beings were to live by
-the service they were to give to God and
-the values they were to aspire to.

Question 4

Describe opposition in mecca

Answer 4

• began attracting followers and teach monotheistic beliefs
• teachings were threat to wealthy meccas - potential end of pilgimage trade
• defended the rights of the poor and the oppressed
• insisted that all true believers belonged to the umma (a single universal community) that went beyond tribal bonds.
• faced persecution after the deaths of his protective uncle and wife in 619.
• refuged in Yathrib(medina) had gained followers.
• The city’s leaders invited Muhammad to lead them in exchange for their devotion and protection.

Question 5

describe his flight to medina

Answer 5

• journey to medina, 622 CE, known as the Hijra or migration.
• marks year 1 in the Islamic calendar - marks the creation of the umma, the Islamic community.

Question 6

what happened when he arrived to medina?

Answer 6

• introduced laws that were fair, ensured stability in the city.
• allowed Islam to transform into powerful religious force.
• Medina became the first Muslim city and remained the model for all subsequent Islamic governments.
  -first time people in Arabia were not bound together by tribe and clan ties, but by the unifying factor of their shared belief in one God.

Question 7

describe what happened when he went back to mecca

Answer 7

• number of battles took place

Battle of Bakr: victory carried important message to Makkans - that Muslims were different from other people, because they were so strengthened by belief in Oneness of God.

• prophet calls for a peace treaty.
  
  • 10 year peace treaty is signed.
  • signed even though terms are
    disadvantageous to Muslims in order to establish peace.
• major turning point for Islam: thousands convert to Islam under peaceful atmosphere.
  -630CE:treaty broke
• Muhammad finally took control of Mecca + declared it a permanent sanctuary for Islam.

Question 8

what happend to th ka’ba

Answer 8

• Idols removed, became
  the central focus of a monotheistic Islamic pilgrimage (Hajj)
• brought idol worship to an end.

Question 9

quote on muhammud

Answer 9

“His whole career shows that the first priority must be to extirpate greed, hatred and contempt from our own hearts and to reform our own society” - Karen Armstrong, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet

Question 10

describe final years

Answer 10

dies 632 CE
- before, farewell sermon in mecca to abt 100,000 pilgrims