Muhamad And The Spread Of Islam Essay

, Research Paper

Muhammad is the greatest prophet to all in the Muslim world. He grew up in poverty without any parents to become the founder of the Islam religion. He faced terrible and good times through his spreading of the new monotheistic religion but left the world successful with many followers.

Muhammad or Mohomet, the founder of Islam, is believed to have been born in 571. This date is not known to be accurate but came about from the knowledge the prophet was born during the reign of Khusro Ano Sharwan and is most commonly accepted.

Muhammad was born in the great city of trade and religion, Mecca, also called Makkah. At the time of his birth, Mecca was a great trade center where caravans of merchants and pilgrims flocked. Many came to worship the ka’ba along with its idols of the several Meccan deities and the black stone which they believed was given to Adam by the Archangel Gabriel. Others traveled to the valley to trade animal products for weapons, dates, grain, spices, jewels, ivory, silk, and perfumes.

Muhammad was born an only child, into the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe through his father, Abdallah. Abdallah chose Muhammad’s mother, Amina, after being rejected by another woman. He died shortly after his son’s birth while on a business trip to Medina on his way home from Gaza.

There in not much else known about Muhammad’s childhood. Many records are simply legends and stories. Others are part of a record made one hundred twenty five years after his death. The stories tell how he was raised and brought up-in poverty.

The nurse Halima of the Banu sa’d clan and his mother, Amina, until she died raised the prophet. The legend of the nurse’s origin with Muhammad is that she came into his tent when he was young and he mistook her for his mother. He laid out his cloak for her and she sat down on it.

After the death of Amina, Muhammad’s grandfather, ‘Abd al-Muttalib (80 years old at the time), took him in. However, he died two years later. His uncle, Abu Talib, took him in. Abu Talib was a travelling merchant and the brother of Muhammad’s father

Muhammad traveled in caravans with his uncle, being exposed greatly to Judaism and Christianity. He saw many cathedrals, churches, and homes of bishops and priests.

One of Muhammad’s greatest influences of Christianity is believed to be a monk named Bahira. He met the monk in the Christian town of Bostra. Bahira was greatly skilled and knew much about Christianity. He welcomed the merchants of the caravan in, fed them, and held a party. Before they left, Bahira told Muhammad’s uncle to keep him away from the Jew’s, a statement Muhammad would remember and be inspired by all of his life.

Muhammad remained unmarried for a while. He once asked his uncle for permission to marry his cousin, Umm tani, was granted it for marriage among cousins was common, but was rejected. Eventually, Muhammad was in charge of the business affairs of a woman named Khadija bint Khuwaylid, a wealthy owner of several caravans. When Muhammad was twenty-five, the forty-year-old Khadija proposed marriage to him. With the persuasion of a friend, Nafisa bint Munya, Khadija earned his acceptance of the proposal:

“Kadija sent me to Muhammad to sound out his feelings after he came back from Syria with his caravan. I said to him: ‘Muhammad, is there any reason why you should not marry.’ He told me: ‘I possess nothing to marry on.’ I answered him: And suppose there was someone with enough for two. And suppose you were summoned to beauty, wealth, and to a position of honour and ease, would you not accept.’ ‘Who is the woman.’ ‘Khadija.’ ‘What must I do.’ ‘I will attend to all.’ ‘And I too will do my part.’ ”

In addition to the difference in age, she was a widow: married twice, and had children. Before Khadija’s death in 619, they had several children. “She bore him three sons, all of whom died in childhood, and four daughters.” Muhammad remarried soon after Khadija’s death, as was custom to most men, to a widow named Sawda. Sawda was also not a young woman and was getting fat when Muhammad married her, but she was a good housewife and took care of the children well. This is the reason why Muhammad married her.

From the exposure to Christianity and Judaism on his travels with the caravans, Muhammad knew much about the two monotheistic religions and began to have visions and hear voices of God and angels.

“One day, he heard Allah say to him:

Your Lord has not taken leave of you, nor despised you.

Did he not find you an orphan and give [you] shelter.

He found you erring and guided you.

He found you poor and enriched you.”

One day Khadija gave Muhammad a slave who was bought in Syria and was part of the tribe Kalb (strong Christian believers) as a present. As a reaction to the revelations, Muhammad showed mercy toward the slave. He freed him and adopted him as a son.

Muhammad began to retreat to a cave in the hill of Hira to think about the revelations and other things he heard about Allah from Christians. During these periods, which sometimes lasted several nights, he read scriptures and prayed to God.

Muhammad’s first actual message came in a clear voice in a vision of what is identified through Muslim belief to be the archangel Gabriel:

“The voice said three words i

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