Abu l-Qasim Muhammad ibn
‘Abd Allāh al-Hashimi al-Qurashi
Muḥammad; (Mohammed, Muhammed, Mahomet) (c. 570 Mecca – June 8,
632 Medina) was the founder of the world religion of Islam and is
regarded by Muslims as the last messenger and prophet of God Muslims
consider him the restorer of the original, uncorrupted monotheistic
faith (islām) of Adam, Abraham and others. They see him as the last and
the greatest in a series of prophets of Islam.[8][9][10] Muhammad is
also regarded as a prophet by the Druze and as a manifestation of God
by the Bahá'í Faith. He was also active as a
diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, general and
reformer.]
The principal and most credible source of information for the life of
Muhammad is the Qur'an Next in importance are the historical works by
writers of third and fourth century of the Muslim era Sources on
Muhammad’s life concur that he was born ca. 570 CE in the city of Mecca
in Arabia He was orphaned at a young age and was brought up by his
uncle, later worked mostly as a merchant, and was married by age 26. At
some point, discontented with life in Mecca, he retreated to a cave in
the surrounding mountains for meditation and reflection. According to
Islamic tradition, it was here at age 40, in the month of Ramadan,
where he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this
event, Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly,
proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit.
islām)[16] is the only way (dīn) acceptable to God, and that he was a
prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, David, Jesus, and other prophets.
Muhammad gained few followers early on, and was largely met with
hostility from the tribes of Mecca; he was treated harshly and so were
his followers. To escape persecution, Muhammad and his followers
migrated to Medina. in the year 622. This historic event, the Hijra,
marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. In Medina, Muhammad
managed to unite the conflicting tribes, and after eight years of
fighting with the Meccan tribes, his followers, who by then had grown
to ten thousand, conquered Mecca. In 632, a few months after returning
to Medina from his 'Farewell pilgrimage', Muhammad fell ill and died.
By the time of his death, most of Arabia had converted to Islam.
The revelations (or Ayats, lit. Signs of God), which Muhammad reported
receiving until his death, form the verses of the Qur'an. regarded by
Muslims as the “word of God”, around which the religion is based.
Besides the Qur'an, Muhammad’s life (sira) and traditions (sunnah) are
also upheld by Muslims.
Figurative depictions of Muhammad were a significant part of late
medieval Islamic art; however, such depictions were generally limited
to secular con****s and to the elite classes who could afford fine art.
The taboo on depictions of Muhammad was less stringent during the
Ottoman Empire, although his face was often left blank.
Sources for Muhammad's life
Main articles: Historiography of early Islam and Historicity of
Muhammad From a scholarly point of view, the most credible source
providing information on events in Muhammad's life is the Qur'an. The
Qur'an has some, though very few, casual allusions to Muhammad's life.
The Qur'an, however, responds "constantly and often candidly to
Muhammad's changing historical circumstances and contains a wealth of
hidden data that are relevant to the task of the quest for the
historical Muhammad. All or most of the Qur'an was apparently written
down by Muhammad's followers while he was alive, but it was, then as
now, primarily an orally related ********, and the written compilation
of the whole Qur'an in its definite form was completed early after the
death of Muhammad. The Qur'an in its actual form is generally
considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad
because the search for variants in Western academia has not yielded any
differences of great significance.]
Next in importance are the historical works by writers of third and
fourth century of the Muslim era. These include the traditional Muslim
biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him (the sira and
hadith literature), which provide further information on Muhammad's
life. The earliest surviving written sira (biographies of Muhammad and
quotes attributed to him) is Ibn Ishaq's Sirah Rasul Allah (Life of
God's Messenger). Although the original work is lost, portions of it
survive in the recensions of Ibn Hisham (Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Life of
the prophet) and Al-Tabari. According to Ibn Hisham, Ibn Ishaq wrote
his biography some 120 to 130 years after Muhammad's death.[29] Another
early source is the history of Muhammad's campaigns by al-Waqidi (death
207 of Muslim era), Maghazi al-Waqidi, and the work of his secretary
Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi (death 230 of Muslim era) Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd The
biographical dictionaries of Ali ibn al-Athir and Ibn Hajar provide
much detail about the contemporaries of Muhammad but add little to our
information about Muhammad himself. Lastly, the hadith collections,
accounts of the verbal and physical traditions of Muhammad, date from
several generations after the death of Muhammad. Western academics view
the hadith collections with caution as accurate historical sources
Many, but not all, scholars accept the accuracy of these biographies,
though their accuracy is unascertainable. Studies by J. Schacht and
Goldziher has led scholars to distinguish between the traditions
touching legal matters and the purely historical ones. According to
William Montgomery Watt, in the legal sphere it would seem that sheer
invention could have very well happened. In the historical sphere
however, aside from exceptional cases, the material may have been
subject to "tendential shaping" rather than being made out of whole
cloth.
There are a few non-Muslim sources which, according to S. A. Nigosian,
confirm the existence of Muhammad. The earliest of these sources date
to shortly after 634, and the most interesting of them date to some
decades later. These sources are valuable for corroboration of the
Qur'anic and Muslim tradition statements]
The Arabian Con
Economic basis
The Arabian Peninsula was dominated by volcanic steppes and desert
wastes. It was therefore not suitable for agriculture except where the
feasibility of irrigation existed (such as in oasis and at certain
spots high in the mountains).[37][38] Thus the Arabian landscape was
dotted with towns and cities, two prominent of which were Mecca and
Medina.[39] People of Arabia were either nomadic or sedentary. The
latter were the descendants of nomads and had preserved many of the
desert-born habits of their ancestors. The nomadic life was based on
stock-breeding traveling from one place to another seeking water and
pasture for their flocks. Their survival was also to some extent
dependent on raiding on caravans or on oases; thus no crime in the eyes
of Bedouin.[38] Agriculture and trade were two important occupations of
the sedentary Arabs. Medina (then known as Yathrib) was a large
flourishing agricultural settlement.[38] Mecca, another important city
in Arabia, on the other hand was an important financial center in which
operations of considerable complexity were carried out and had created
a financial net involving Meccans and many of the surrounding tribes.
The Meccan leaders were "skillful in manipulation of credits, shrewed
in their experience and interested in lucrative investments from Aden
to Gaza or Damascus". Islam was thus born in an atmosphere of high
finance.
Social factors
Communal life is essential for survival in desert conditions. Men need
help of each other against the forces of nature and against other human
rivals. The tribal grouping was thus enhanced by the need to act as a
unit This unity was based on the bond of kinship by blood. The
accumulation of capital and the commercial life of Mecca had however
fostered individualism and had created a growing awareness of the
existence of individual in separateness from the tribe. This tendency
had in turn produced a greater interest in pursuing the problem of
cessation of man's individual existence at death: Was death the end?
According to William Montgomery Watt,
In the rise of Mecca to wealth and power we have a movement from
nomadic economy to a mercantile and capitalist economy. By the time of
Muhammad, however, there had been no readjustment of the social, moral,
intellectual, and religious attitudes of the community. These were
still the attitudes appropriate to a nomadic community, for the most
part. The tension felt by Muhammad and some of his contemporaries was
doubtless due ultimately to this contrast between men's conscious
attitude and the economic basis of their life.
Muslim scholar Muhammad Mohar Ali however argues, among other things,
that the above view is a simplistic one since commercialism and
nomadism existed side by side each other long before Muhammad, so did
exist certain forms of individualism; and that the early Muslims were
not inspired by a commercial and self-interest form of individualism
Miracles in the Muslim biographies
Main article: Islamic view of miracles
According to historian Denis Gril, the Qur'an does not overtly describe
Muhammad performing miracles, and the supreme miracle of Muhammad is
finally identified with the Qur’an itself.[181] However, Muslim
tradition credits Muhammad with several supernatural events.[182] For
example, many Muslim commentators and some western scholars have
interpreted the Surah 54:1-2 to refer to Muhammad splitting the Moon in
view of the Quraysh when they had begun to persecute his
followers.[181][183] This tradition has inspired many Muslim poets,
especially in India.[12
Muhammad
Main article: Medieval Christian view of Muhammad
While Muslim writers have tended to speak highly of Muhammad, Western tradition has at times been critical of him.[191][192]
Popular image of Muhammad in medieval times
In the 12th century, chanson de geste that mentioned Muhammad presented
him as an idol to whom Muslims prayed for aid in battle.[12][193] Some
medieval Christians said he had died in 666, alluding to the number of
the beast, instead of 632;[194] others changed his name from Muhammad
to Mahound, the "devil incarnate".[195] Bernard Lewis writes "The
development of the concept of Mahound started with considering Muhammad
as a kind of demon or false god worshipped with Apollyon and Termagant
in an unholy trinity."[196] To discredit Islam, Muhammad was
represented as an idol or one of the heathen gods during the first and
second Crusade.[12]
موضوع: Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh 
الخميس يوليو 30, 2009 9:54 am
