Life Of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)

Introduction:

About 570 CE, the prophet Muhammad, the last prophet in Islam ,was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Over the course of 23 years, the angel Gabriel sent revelations from Allah to him; these revelations became the Quran, the sacred scripture of Islam. His teachings place a strong emphasis on social equality, justice, compassion, and monotheism. Muslims can learn from Muhammad’s life about humility, kindness, and loyalty to Allah. He is an inspiration to Muslims in all matters of faith, morality, and day-to-day living. He left a lasting legacy that continues to influence millions of adherents around the globe when he founded the Islamic community (ummah) on the principles of social justice, solidarity, and religion.

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Birth of Prophet Muhammad:

Abdul Muttalib’s favourite son was Abdullah, married Amina, a well-born woman from Yathrib, a city north of Makkah, when he was seventeen years old. Unfortunately he passed away just seven months after being married.

Muhammad (PBUH) was a posthumous infant who would later become an apostle of Allah.(Islamic history professor Shaikh Muhammad al-Khidhri Buck). On June 8, 570, which is the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal in the Year of the Elephant, Muhammad ibn Abdullah was born at the home of his uncle Abu Talib in Makkah’s “quarter” of Banu Hashim.

Gave Name:

His grandfather ,Abdul Muttalib, was notified by his mother, Amina, of the fortunate delivery. Abdul Muttalib arrived, embraced the boy, and gave him the name Muhammad”.

 

Prophet Muhammad in the custody of Hazrat Halima Sadia:

There was a custom in Arabs, where they sent their children to other cities for their better development and education. Hazrat Abu Mutlib sent their grandson (Hazrat Muhammad) to the custody of Hazrat Halima Sadia, who took care of him like a mother.

Marriage:

 

Youth is the length of the blooming of instincts and the emergence of one’s sexual capabilities. When youngsters, each male and female, are of -mature age, they may be interested in the alternative sex, and a hearth-place of ardour begins off evolved flaming of their hearts with the intention to now no longer be extinguished except they shape a union of marriage. It is most effective in this manner that they’ll discover peace of mind.

 

Therefore, to make the right use of such potentials and to save you the numerous deviations that overflowing sexual instincts might also additionally create in human societies, Islam has emphatically ordered that the children ought to marry as quickly as viable and now no longer shun the command of marriage at the pretext that they’ll be not able to assist their own circle of relatives later on.

Hazrat Muhammad at the age of 25 Hazrat Khadija who was 40 at that time.

 

Hazrat Khadija’s Business Proposal:

Hazrat Khadija, daughter of Khuwailid, a very successful merchant and was the richest woman of Arab. She used to place her wealth on the disposal of others who traded for her and obtained wages in return for his or her services.

Muhammad (S.A.W)’s reputation for honesty, distinctive features and trustworthiness famous all through Arabia and reached Khadija, she commenced in search of his cooperation. Then she made this suggestion to him: ‘I will position at your disposal a few belongings plus a servant, Masara, and pay you greater than others’.

She started taking an interest in Prophet Muhammad.

Prophet’s Journey To Damascus:

When the trading caravan of the Quraish was ready to start its journey to Damascus and prophet joined this caravan. Hazrat Khadija ordered her servant Masara to follow him to Damascus and to be  ready at all times to serve him.

This journey brought  many blessings and much happiness, such as huge profits in business, the manifestation of Prophet (S.A.W)’s personality to the people in the caravan,  meeting a Christian monk, predicting his prophecy.  When the business was ended, the caravan returned back from Damascus. The servant of Hazrat Khadija noticed all the activities and business deals of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and he told all these details to Hazrat Khadija.

Hazrat Khadija’s Proposal Of Marriage:

Hazrat Khadija sent a marriage proposal to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) after being impressed by Muhammad (PBUH)’s

He said, `How is it possible? She has rejected the proposals of many of the Quraysh aristocrats and rich men. Would she marry me?’ Nafisa said, ‘This union is possible and I will arrange it’.

 

When he became quite sure of Khadija’s inclination towards marriage with him, the Prophet talked to his uncles about the matter. They were very pleased with this good news, and they  arranged the marriage for their blessed nephew. And finally this auspicious marriage was celebrated with special ceremonies.

 

The Prophet spent 25 years of his life with Khadija, who was not only a loving wife for him, but also his best and most helpful friend. This period is considered to be the best period of his married life.

 

Khadija, peace be upon her, was the first woman who believed in the Prophet’s divine prophecy. She put all her wealth at his disposal to propagate and promote Islam. Six children were born of his marriage: two sons named Qasim and Tahir who passed away as infants in Makkah and four daughters named Ruqyah, Zaynab, Umm Kulsum, and Fatima, who was the most  honoured of them all.

 

Hazrat Khadija was so devoted to her husband and showed such great love and self-sacrifice for him and for Islam. Each time he remembered her, his blessed heart filled with sorrow and he wept for her loss. Khadija’s brilliant sun of life set at the age of 65, ten years after the prophetic mission of the Prophet.

First Revelation:

In his middle age, Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ embarked on a spiritual journey of finding the purpose of existence on earth and  the true God. He used to visit a small cave of Hira present on the Peak of Jabal al Nur (Mountain of Light). At the age of 40, He (PBUH) finally received the first Revelation from Allah Almighty sent through His Angel, Gabriel (Jibrael A.S) on 27th of Ramadan. Muslims all over the globe worship the Allah Almighty  in the last Ashra (last 10 days of the Holy Month of Ramadan) in order to find Lailatul Qadr, which could be any of the last odd days in the last Ashra, as it’s considered to be the day in which the first ‘Holy Scripture’ was revealed.

The account of the first Revelation that Rasulullah ﷺ received in Ghar (Cave) e Hira narrated as follows:

 

“The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied ‘I do not know how to read’.

The Prophet added, ‘The angel caught me (forcibly) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more.

He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied,

“I do not know how to read”.

Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read, but again I replied,

“I do not know how to read”

(or what shall I read?). Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said:

 

“Read, in the name of Your Lord, who created, created man from a clot. Read! And Your Lord is the most bountiful” … (Bukhari)

 

In the previously stated recounting of the original happening, it can be deduced that the Messenger ﷺ Allah upon receiving the First Heavenly Exposure, was in a state of great surprise. Jibrael (A.S) repeatedly told him to read by The Name of The Creator. It shows that Allah has blessed the entire world population through educating the Holy Prophet ﷺ first, who then became the source of ultimate enlightenment for his followers till the ‘end of the world’.

 

Surah Al-`Alaq is no doubt the very first Chapter to have been revealed to the Holy Prophetﷺ, it’s the 96th surah in the Holy Quran. It contains 19 Verses in total. It is a short yet highly comprehensive surah of Quran containing the most important instruction of getting knowledge and knowing about the Creator of the world.

 

Preaching of Islam:

In the beginning, the Prophet ﷺ used to preach secretly. He started preaching the message of Islam to his near and dear ones. He went door to door to convince them about the oneness of Allah,  the prophets and the ‘akhirah’. He did not hesitate to convey the message to  the heads of tribes. He used to be polite and wise in preaching, approaching people individually and as per the need he, used to give collective Dawah as well.

 

Waqiya E Taif:

 

More than ten years had passed since Muhammad(S.A.W), had first begun to preach Islam. His success in these ten years had been rather modest, limited as it was to the conversion of fewer than 170 men and women in Makkah. But after the death of his wife, Khadija, and his uncle, Abu Talib, it appeared that the Quraysh would wrest even that limited success from his hands.

 

Makkah had proved inhospitable to Islam and it occurred to the Prophet that he ought, perhaps to try to preach the correct faith in some other city. The nearest city was Ta’if, 70 miles in the south-east of Makkah, and he went there in late 619 AD. Zayd bin Haritha went with him.

 

In Ta’if, Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah , called on the three chiefs of the local tribes, and invited them to abandon their gross idolatry, to acknowledge the Oneness of Allah, to repudiate man-made distinctions of high and low, and to believe in the equality and brotherhood of all men.

 

The chiefs of Ta’if were a conceited and arrogant crew, and they did not want even to listen to Muhammad (S.A.W). They greeted him with mockery and ridiculed and set upon him the idlers and the louts of the city. They pelted him and Zayd with clods and rocks. Wounded and covered with blood, Muhammad staggered out of Ta’if.

 

Once he was outside the city walls, he almost collapsed but a certain gardener took him into his hut, dressed his wounds, and let him rest and recuperate until he felt strong enough to resume his journey across the rough terrain between Ta’if and Makkah.

 

But when Muhammad arrived in the environs of Makkah, he sensed that he could not

re-enter his native city now that his uncle, Abu Talib, was not there to protect him. Pagan hostility toward him had reached the flash point. He realized that if he entered Makkah, he would be killed.

 

Muhammad could not enter his home-town, and there was no other place to go to. What was he supposed to do?

 

In this extremity, Muhammad sent word to three nobles in the other cities asking each of them to take him under his protection. Two of them refused but the third one – the gallant Mutim ibn Adiy – responded to his signal of distress. It was the same Mutim who had, earlier, flouted the chiefs of Quraysh by tearing into pieces their covenant to boycott the Banu Hashim, and had brought the two clans of Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib from the Sh’ib Abu Talib back into the city.

 

Mutim ordered his sons, nephews and other young men of his clan to put on their battle-dress. He then marched, in full panoply of war, at their head, out of the city. He brought Muhammad Mustafa with him, first into the precincts of the Kaaba where the latter made the customary seven circuits, and then escorted him to his home.

 

Next morning, he, his sons and nephews went fully armed to the public square of the Kaaba, and announced that Mohammed was under their protection. The protection of Mutim ibn Adi enabled the Prophet to return to Mecca.

 

The application of Muhammad(S.A.W), the messenger of Allah, seek protection to enter Makkah, from Mutim ibn Adiy, a non-Muslim raises once again, a disagreeable question, in a most pointed manner, on the attitude and conduct of the Muslims.

 

Why didn’t the Prophet ask any of the said to have been rich and influential to take him under his protection and some others were touted to have been the terror of the pagans? Why is it that the Prophet sought the protection of a non-Muslim but didn’t condescend even to inform the Muslims that he wanted to re-enter Makkah and was in need of protection?

 

Or another question! Why didn’t the Muslims themselves go to the city gate and escort their Prophet to his home? Here they had a splendid opportunity to demonstrate to him that they were worthy of his trust even if he had considered them unworthy, but they missed the opportunity and didn’t do anything that would show that they had concern for his personal safety.

 

Pagan Arabia, however, was not devoid of its share of chivalry and heroism. These qualities were personified in Mutim ibn Adiy, Abul Bukhtari and a few others. They were the knights of Arabia, and it was their goal to make their country famous in later centuries. Pagan Arabia never produced nobler figures than these. Even Muslims ought to acknowledge their debt of gratitude to them.

 

After all it were they who dared the Quraysh in some of the most critical moments of the life of the Prophet of Islam. In doing so, they were inspired only by their own ideals of chivalry. They considered it their duty to defend the defence-less.

 

The failure at Ta’if was utterly heart-breaking for the Prophet, and he knew that but for the heroic intervention of Mutim ibn Adiy, he might not have been able to enter Makkah at all. To a casual observer it might appear that the Prophet had reached the limits of human endurance and patience. The progress of Islam had come to a standstill, and the outlook for the future could not look slimmer.

 

But did Muhammad (PBUH) give way to despair in the face of persistent failures and in the face of violent confrontations with the polytheists? It would only be natural if he did, but he did not. He never despaired of Allah’s boundless mercy. He knew that he was doing God’s work, and he had no doubt at all that He would lead him out of the wilderness of hopelessness and helplessness to the destination of success and felicity.

 

 

Life in Madina:

The first Qiblah became the Al- Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in the starting years of his reign at Yathrib the Prophet made a solemn treaty with the Jewish tribes, when they discovered that they couldn’t use the Prophet for his or her personal ends.  In the Madinah’s surahs there’s a common point out of those Jews and Hypocrites. ‘The Qiblah till then the Qiblah’ (the location closer to which the Muslims flip their face in prayer) were Jerusalem . The Jews imagined that the selection implied a leaning closer to Judaism and that he acquired command of the Qiblah from Jerusalem to the Kaaba at Makkah.

The Prophet’s first problem as ruler became to set up public worship and lay down the charter of the State:

“ However he no longer neglected that Quraysh had sworn to make a stop of his religion, nor that he had acquired command to combat in opposition to them until they ceased persecution.” numerous small expeditions went out, led both by the Prophet himself or a few other ‘fugitive’ muslim from Makkah for the reason of reconnoitring and of dissuading different tribes from siding with Quraysh. These are commonly represented as warlike however, thinking about their weak spot and the truth that simplest fugitives from Makkah had been employed, by no means natives of Yathrib; the cause being (if we take delivery of Ibn Khaldun’s theory, and there’s no different explanation) that the command to salary battle were discovered to the Prophet at Makkah after the Yathrib guys had sworn their oath of allegiance at al-‘Aqabah, and of their absence. Their oath foresaw combating in mere defence now no longer combating the field. Blood became shed and booty taken in simplest one of these early expeditions, after which it became in opposition to the Prophet’s orders. One reason for these expeditions can also be to accustom the Makkah Muslims to going out in battle-like trim. For 13 years they were strict pacifists, and it’s miles clear, from numerous passages of the Qur’an, that lots of them, including,  the Prophet himself, hated the concept of combat even in self-defence and the need to injured.

Campaign of Badr:

In the Second year of the Hijrah the Makkan merchants’ caravan was returning from Syria as usual by a road which passed not far from Yathrib. As its leader Abu Sufyan approached the territory of Yathrib, and heard that the Prophet is planning to capture the caravan, so he arrived in a worn-out state and shouted frantically from the valley to the Quraysh to hasten to the rescue unless they wished to lose both wealth and honour.

“less, it would seem, with the hope of saving the caravan than with the idea of punishing the raiders, since the Prophet might have taken the caravan before the relief force started from Makkah.”

In Ibn Hisham, in the account of the Tabuk expedition, it is stated that the Prophet on that one occasion did not hide his real objective. The caravan was the pretext in the campaign of Badr; the real objective was the Makkan army. He had received command to fight his persecutors, and with the promise of victory, he was prepared to venture against any odds, as was well seen at Badr. However the Muslims, ill-equipped for war, would have despaired if they had known from the first that they were to face a well-armed force three times their number. The army of Quraysh had advanced more than half-way to Yathrib before the Prophet set out. All three parties, the army of Quraysh, the Muslim army and the caravan were heading for the water of Badr. Abu Sufyan, the leader of the caravan, heard from one of his scouts that the Muslims were near the water, and turned back to the coast-plain. The Muslims met the army of Quraysh by the water of Badr. Before the battle the Prophet was prepared, still further to increase the odds against him, he gave leave to all the Ansar (natives of Yathrib) to return to their homes reproach, since their oath did not include the duty of fighting in the field; but the Ansar were only hurt by the suggestion that they could possibly desert him at a time of danger. The battle went at first against the Muslims, but ended in a victory for them. The victory of Badr gave the Prophet new prestige among the Arab tribes; but thenceforth there was the feud of blood between Quraysh and the Islamic State in addition to the old religious hatred. Those passages of the Qur’an which refer to the battle of Badr give warning of much greater struggles yet to come. In fact in the following year, an army of three thousand came from Makkah to destroy Yathrib. The Prophet’s first idea was merely to defend the city, a plan of which Abdullah ibn Ubeyy, the leader of “the Hypocrites” (or lukewarm Muslims), strongly approved. But the men who had fought at Badr and believed that Allah would help them against any odds thought it a shame that they should linger behind walls.

 

The Battle on Mountain Uhud:

The Prophet, approving of their faith and zeal, gave way to them, and set out with an army of one thousand men toward Mountain Uhud , where the enemy were encamped. Abdullah ibn Ubeyy was much offended by the change of plan. He thought it unlikely that the Prophet really meant to give battle in conditions so adverse to the Muslims, and was unwilling to take part in a mere demonstration designed to flatter the fanatical extremists, so he withdrew with his men. Despite the heavy odds, the battle on Mt. Uhud would have been an even greater victory than that at Badr for the Muslims but for the disobedience of a band of fifty archers whom the Prophet set to guard a pass against the enemy cavalry. Seeing their comrades victorious, these men left their post, fearing to lose their share of the spoils. The cavalry of Quraysh rode through the gap and fell on the exultant Muslims. The Prophet himself was wounded and the cry arose that he was slain, till someone recognized him and shouted that he was still living a shout to which the Muslims rallied. Gathering around the Prophet, they retreated, leaving many dead on the hillside. On the following day the Prophet again sallied forth with what remained of the army, that Quraysh might hear that he was in the field and so might perhaps be deterred from attacking the city. The stratagem succeeded, thanks to the behaviour of a friendly Bedouin, who met the Muslims and conversed with them and afterwards met the army of Quraysh. Questioned by Abu Sufyan, he said that Muhammad was in the field, stronger than ever, and thirsting for revenge for yesterday’s affair. On that information, Abu Sufyan decided to return to Makkah. Massacre of Muslims the reverse which they had suffered on Mountain Uhud lowered the prestige of the Muslims with the Arab tribes and also with the Jews of Yathrib. Tribes which had inclined toward the Muslims now inclined toward Quraysh. The Prophet’s followers were attacked and murdered when they went abroad in little companies.

Khubayb, one of his envoys, was captured by a desert tribe and sold to Quraysh, who tortured him to death in Makkah publicly. Expulsion of Bani Nadhir and the Jews, despite their treaty, now hardly concealed their hostility. They even went so far in flattery of Quraysh as to declare the religion of the pagan Arabs superior to Islam. The Prophet was obliged to take punitive action against some of them. The tribe of Bani Nadhir were besieged in their strong towers, subdued and forced to emigrate. The Hypocrites had sympathised with the Jews and secretly egged them on.

 The War of the Trench :

The trench the Muslims dug was the first of its kind in Arab the fifth year of the Hijrah the idolaters made a great effort to destroy Islam in the War of the Clans or War of the Trench, as it is  called; when Quraysh with all their clans and the great desert tribe of Ghatafan with all their clans, an army of ten thousand men rode against Al-Madinah (Yathrib). The Prophet (by the advice of Salman the Persian, it is said) caused a deep trench to be dug before the city, and himself led the work of digging it. The army of the clans  stopped by the trench, a novelty in Arab warfare. It seemed impassable for cavalry, which formed their strength. They camped in sight of it and daily showered their arrows on its defenders. While the Muslims were waiting the assault, news came that Bani Qurayzah, a Jewish tribe of Yatrib, had gone over to the enemy. The case seemed desperate.The delay caused by the trench had dampened the ardour of the clans, and one who was secretly a Muslim managed to sow distrust between Quraysh and their Jewish allies, so that both hesitated to act. Then came a bitter wind from the sea, which blew for three days and nights so terribly that not a single tent could be kept standing, not a fire lighted, not a pot boiled. The tribesmen were in utter misery. At length, one night the leader of Quraysh decided that the torment could be borne no longer and gave the order to retire.When Ghatafan awoke next morning they found Quraysh had gone and they too retreated. Punishment of Bani Quraizah on the day of the return from the trench the Prophet ordered war on the treacherous Bani Qurayzah, who, conscious of their guilt, had already taken to their towers of refuge. After a siege of nearly a month they had to surrender unconditionally. They only begged that they might be judged by a member of the Arab tribe of which they were adherents. The Prophet granted their request. But the judge, upon whose favour they had counted, condemned their fighting men to death, their women and children to slavery. Early in the sixth year of the Hijrah the Prophet led a campaign against the Bani al-Mustaliq, a tribe who were preparing to attack the Muslims.

Al-Hudaybiyah:

Al-Hudaybiyah In the same year the Prophet had a vision in which he found himself entering the holy place at Makkah unopposed, therefore he was determined to attempt the pilgrimage. Besides a number of Muslims from Yathrib (which we shall henceforth call Al-Madinah) he called upon the friendly Arabs, whose numbers had increased since the miraculous (as it was considered) discomfiture of the clans to accompany him, but most of them did not respond. Attired as pilgrims, and taking with them the customary offerings, a company of fourteen hundred men journeyed to Makkah. As they drew near the holy valley they were met by a friend from the city, who warned the Prophet that Quraysh had put on their leopard-skins (the badge of valour) and had sworn to prevent his entering the sanctuary; their cavalry was on the road before him. On that, the Prophet ordered a detour through mountain gorges and the Muslims were tired out when they came down at last into the valley of Makkah and encamped at a spot called Al-Hudaybiyah; from thence he tried to open negotiations with Quraysh, to explain that he came only as a pilgrim. “Never have I seen a man honoured as Muhammad is honoured by his comrades.” The first messenger he sent towards the city was maltreated and his camel hamstrung. He returned without delivering his message. Quraysh on their side sent an envoy which was threatening in tone, and very arrogant. Another of their envoys was too familiar and had to be reminded: sternly of the respect due to the Prophet. It was he who, on his return to the city, said:

 

“I have seen Caesar and Chosroes in their pomp, but never have I seen a man as honoured as Muhammad is by his comrades.”

The Prophet sought some messenger who would impose respect. Othman was finally chosen because of his kinship with the powerful Umayyad family. While the Muslims were awaiting his return the news came that he had been murdered. It was then that the Prophet, sitting under a tree in Al-Hudaybiyah, took an oath from all his comrades that they would stand or fall together. After a while, however, it became known that Othman had not been murdered. A troop which came out from the city to molest the Muslims in their camp was captured before they could do any hurt and brought before the Prophet, who forgave them on their promise to renounce hostility. The Truce of Al-Hudaybiyah the Surah entitled “Victory” or “An-Nasr” was revealed during the return journey from Al-Hudaybiyah Then proper envoys came from Quraysh. After some negotiation, the truce of

Al-Hudaybiyah was signed. For ten years there were to be no hostilities between the parties. The Prophet was to return to Al-Madinah without visiting the Ka‘bah, but in the following year he might perform the pilgrimage with his comrades, Quraysh promising to evacuate Makkah for three days to allow for his doing so. Deserters from Quraysh to the Muslims during the period of the truce were to be returned; not so deserters from the Muslims to Quraysh. Any tribe or clan who wished to share in the treaty as allies of the Prophet might do so, and any tribe or clan who wished to share in the treaty as allies of Quraysh might do so. There was dismay among the Muslims at these terms. They asked one another:

“Where is the victory that we were promised?”

It was during the return journey from Al-Hudaybiyah that the Surah entitled “Victory” was revealed. This truce proved, in fact, to be the greatest victory that the Muslims had till then achieved. War had been a barrier between them and the idolaters, but now both parties met and talked together. In the two years which elapsed between the signing of the truce and the fall of Makkah the number of converts was greater than the total number of all previous converts. The Prophet travelled to Al-Hudaybiyah with 1400 men. Two years later, when the Makkans broke the truce, he marched against them with an army of 10,000.

The Campaign of Khaybar :

One of the forts of Khaybar, which is over 100 kms outside Madinah In the seventh year of the Hijrah the Prophet led a campaign against Khaybar, the stronghold of the Jewish tribes in North Arabia , which had become a hornets’ nest of his enemies. The forts of Khaybar were reduced one by one, and the Jews of Khaybar became thenceforth tenants of the Muslims until the expulsion of the Jews from Arabia in the ‘Caliphate of Omar.’ On the day when the last fort surrendered Ja`far son of Abu Talib, the Prophet’s first cousin, arrived with all who remained of the Muslims who had fled to Abyssinia to escape from persecution in the early days. They had been absent from Arabia for fifteen years. It was at Khaybar that a Jewess prepared for the Prophet poisoned meat, of which he only tasted a morsel without swallowing it, and then warned his comrades that it was poisoned. One Muslim, who had already swallowed a mouthful, died immediately, and the Prophet himself, from the mere taste of it, derived the illness which eventually caused his death. The woman who had cooked the meat was brought before him. When she said that she had done it on account of the humiliation of her people, he forgave her. Pilgrimage to Makkah in the same year the Prophet’s vision was fulfilled: he visited the holy place at Makkah unopposed. In accordance with the terms of the truce the idolaters evacuated the city, and from the surrounding heights watched the procedure of the Muslims. At the end of the stipulated three days the chiefs of Quraysh sent to remind the Prophet that the time was up. He then withdrew, and the idolaters reoccupied the city. In the eighth year of the Hijrah, hearing that the Byzantine emperor was gathering a force in Syria for the destruction of Islam, the Prophet sent three thousand men to Syria under the command of his freedman Zayd. The campaign was unsuccessful except that it impressed the Syrians with a notion of the reckless valour of the Muslims. The three thousand did not hesitate to join the battle with a hundred thousand. When all the three leaders appointed by the Prophet had been killed, the survivors obeyed Khalid ibn al-Walid, who by his strategy and courage, managed to preserve a remnant and return with them to Al-Madinah. The Arabs attacking a tribe that was in alliance with the Prophet and massacring them even in the sanctuary at Makkah, afterwards they were afraid because of what they had done. They sent Abu Sufyan to Al-Madinah to ask for the existing treaty to be renewed and its term prolonged. They hoped that he would arrive before the tidings of the massacre, but a messenger from the injured tribe had been before him. All the Muslims capable of bearing arms marched to Makkah, making the Quraysh overawed. Their cavalry put up a show of defence before the town, but were routed without bloodshed; and the Prophet entered his native city as conqueror. The inhabitants expected vengeance for their past misdeeds. The Prophet proclaimed a general amnesty. Only a few known criminals were proscribed, and most of those were in the end forgiven. In their relief and surprise, the whole population of Makkah hastened to swear allegiance. The Prophet caused all the idols which were in the sanctuary to be destroyed, saying:

 

“Truth hath come; darkness hath vanished away;”

 

The Muslim call to prayer was heard in Makkah.

In The Battle of Hunayn, in the same year there was an angry gathering of pagan tribes eager to regain the Ka‘bah. The Prophet led twelve thousand men against them at Hunayn, in a deep ravine, his troops were ambushed by the enemy and almost put to flight. It was with difficulty that they were rallied to the Prophet and his bodyguard of faithful comrades who alone stood firm. However the victory, when it came, was complete and the booty enormous, for many of the hostile tribes had brought out with them everything that they possessed. Conquest of Ta’if The “Declaration of Immunity” marks the end of idol-worship in Arabia The tribe of Thaqif was among the enemy at Hunayn. After that victory, their city of Ta’if was besieged by the Muslims, and finally reduced. Then the Prophet appointed a governor of Makkah, and himself returned to Al-Madinah to the boundless joy of the Ansar, who had feared lest, now that he had regained his native city, he might forsake them and make Makkah the capital. In the ninth year of the Hijrah, hearing that an army was again being mustered in Syria, the Prophet called on all the Muslims to support him in a great campaign. The far distance, the hot season, the fact that it was harvest time and the prestige of the enemy caused many to excuse themselves and many more to stay behind without excuse (those defaulters are denounced in the Qur’an), But the campaign ended peacefully. The army advanced to Tabuk, on the confines of Syria, whereas the enemy had not yet gathered. Although Makkah had been conquered and its people were now Muslims, the official order of the pilgrimage had not been changed; the pagan Arabs performed it in their manner, and the Muslims in their own. It was only after the pilgrims’ caravan had left Al-Madinah in the ninth year of the Hijrah, when Islam was dominant in North Arabia , that the Declaration of Immunity, as it is called, was revealed. The Prophet sent a copy of it by a messenger to Abu Bakr, leader of the pilgrimage, with the instruction that Ali was to read it to the multitudes at Makkah. Its purpose was that after that year Muslims only were to make the pilgrimage, exception being made for such of the idolaters as had a treaty with the Muslims and had never broken their treaty nor supported anyone against them. Such were to enjoy the privileges of their treaty for the term thereof, but when their treaty expired they would be as other idolaters. That proclamation marks the end of idol-worship in Arabia .The ninth year of the Hijra is called the ‘Year of Deputations’, because from all parts of Arabia, deputations came to Al-Madinah to swear allegiance to the Prophet and to hear the Qur’an. The Prophet had become, in fact, the emperor of Arabia , but his way of life remained as simple as before. The number of the campaigns which he led in person during the last ten years of his life is twenty-seven in nine of which there was hard fighting. The number of the expeditions which he planned and sent out under other leaders is thirty-eight. He personally controlled every detail of the organisation, judged every case and was accessible to every suppliant. In those ten years he destroyed idolatry in Arabia; raised women from the status of a cattle to legal equity with men; effectually stopped the drunkenness and immorality which had till then disgraced the Arabs; made men in love with faith, sincerity and honest dealing; transformed tribes who had been content with ignorance for centuries, into people with the greatest thirst for knowledge; and for the first time in history made universal human brotherhood a fact and principle of common law, and his support and guide in all that work was the Qur’an.

 Children of Prophet Muhammad:

“It was narrated from Ibn `Abbas that “

Ruqayyah was the oldest of the three and Umm Kulthum was the youngest.

Then ‘Abd-Allah was born to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). There is some dispute as to whether he was born after the Prophet’s Prophethood began or before. Some scholars said that he was born after his Prophethood began. There is also some dispute as to whether he was al-Tayyib or al-Tahir, ; the correct view is that these were nicknames given to him; and Allah knows best.

These children were all born from Khadijah and he had no children from any other wife.

Then Ibrahim was born to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from his concubine Mariyah al-Qibtiyyah in 8 AH. (Zaad al-Ma’ad, 1/103)

 

So the sons and daughters of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were all born to him from his wife Umm al-Mu’minin Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), apart from Ibrahim, who was born from the Prophet’s concubine Mariyah (may Allah be pleased with her), who was given to him as a gift by al-Muqawqis.

According to the most correct opinion, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had seven children, three boys and four girls. The boys were:

Sons of Prophet(S.A.W):

Al-Qasim

‘Abd-Allah

Ibrahim

Daughters Of Prophet (S.A.W):

 

Zaynab

Ruqayyah

Umm Kulthum

Fatimah

All of Prophet Muhammad’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) children died during his lifetime, apart from Fatimah who died after him (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

Wives of Prophet Muhammad:

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid:

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (may Allah be pleased with her) was the first of the Prophet’s wives. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married her when he was twenty-five years old, and he did not take another wife until after she died. All his children were born to her, except Ibrahim.

 

Al-Bukhari entitled a chapter in his Sahih: The marriage of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), and her virtues

in which he narrated a hadith from ‘Aishah who said: “I never felt jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as I did of Khadijah, although she died before he married me, because of what I heard him say about her.” Narrated by al-Bukhari, 3815.

 

 Sawdah bint Zam’ah ibn Qays:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married Sawdah bint Zam’ah ibn Qays (may Allah be pleased with her) in the tenth year of his Prophethood. Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d, narrating from al-Waqidi, 8/52-53; Ibn Kathir in al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, 3/149

 

Aishah bint Abi Bakr al-Siddiq:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married ‘Aishah bint Abi Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with her) in Shawwal of the tenth year of the Prophethood. Ibn Sa’d, 8/58-59. She herself said:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married me when I was six years old, and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine.Narrated by al-Bukhari, 3894; Muslim, 1422.

 

 Hafsah bint ‘Umar:

She is the daughter of Hazrat Umer. It was narrated from ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that Hafsah’s husband Khunays ibn Hudhafah, who was one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had been present at Badr, died in Madinah.

Umar ibn al-Khattab said: ‘I met Uthman ibn ‘Affan and offered Hafsah to him in marriage.

I said: “If you wish, I will marry Hafsah bint ‘Umar to you.”

He said: “I will think about it.” Several nights passed, then he said: “I think that I do not want to get married at this time.” ‘Umar said: Then I met Abu Bakr and I said: “If you wish, I will marry Hafsah bint ‘Umar to you.” Abu Bakr kept quiet and did not give me any response. I was more upset about him than about ‘Uthman. Several nights passed, then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) proposed to her and I married her to him. Then Abu Bakr met me and said: “Perhaps you felt upset when you offered Hafsah in marriage to me and I did not reply?”

I said: “Yes.”

He said: “Nothing prevented me from responding to your offer but the fact that I knew that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had mentioned her, and I did not want to disclose the secret of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). If he had decided not to marry her, I would have accepted your offer.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, 4005).

 

 Zaynab bint Khuzaymah:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married Zaynab bint Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with her) in Ramadan, thirty-one months after the Hijrah. Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d, 8/115

 

Umm Salamah bint Abi Umayyah:

Muslim (918) narrated that Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:  I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: “There is no person who is faced with a calamity and says Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’oon, Allahumma  fi musibati wa  li   (Truly, to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return; O Allah, reward me in this calamity and compensate me with something better than it) but Allah will reward him in his calamity and will compensate him with something better than that.” She said: When Abu Salamah died, I said what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had commanded me, and Allah compensate me with someone better than him: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

According to another report: when Abu Salamah died, I said: Who is better than Abu Salamah, the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)? But Allah decreed that I should say it. Then I got married to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

 

Juwayriyah bint al-Harith:

Juwayriyah bint al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with her) fell prisoner to the Muslims during the battle of Banu Al-Mustaliq, and she came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to ask him to help her to manumit herself and buy her freedom. He offered to buy her freedom and marry her, and she accepted. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married her and made her manumission her dowry. When the people came to know of that, they set free their own prisoners, so as to honour the in-laws of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). No woman brought a greater blessing to her people than she did. Narrated by Ibn Ishaq with a hasan isnad. Sirat Ibn Hisham, 3/408-409.

 

Zaynab bint Jahsh:

Concerning Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) Allah revealed the words (interpretation of the meaning):

 

“So when Zayd had accomplished his desire from her (i.e. divorced her), We gave her to you in marriage, so that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the believers in respect of (the marriage of) the wives of their adopted sons when the latter have no desire to keep them (i.e. they have divorced them)” [al-Ahzab 33:37]

 

She used to boast about this to the other wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), saying: “Your families arranged your marriages but Allah arranged my marriage from above the seven heavens.” Narrated by al-Bukhari, 7420.

Umm Habibah bint Abi Sufyan:

Abu Dawud (2107) narrated from “Urwah from Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she was married to ‘Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh, who died in Abyssinia. Then the Negus married her to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and gave her a mahr of four thousand on his behalf, and sent her to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with Shurahbil ibn Hasanah.

 

Maymunah bint al-Harith :

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married Maymunah when he was in ihram. Narrated by al-Bukhari, 1832; Muslim, 1410.

 

The words “when he was in ihram” are a mistake. In fact the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married her after he exited ihram following ‘Umrat al-Qada’. (See Zad al-Ma’ad, 1/113; Fath al-Bari, hadith no. 5114)

 

Safiyyah bint Huyayy ibn Akhtab:

Safiyyah bint Huyayy ibn Akhtab (may Allah be pleased with her) married the Prophet (S.A.W)after the battle of Khaybar. Narrated by al-Bukhari, 371.

 

These are the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with whom he consummated marriage. Two of them died during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), namely Khadijah and Zaynab bint Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with them both). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) left behind nine wives when he died; there is no difference of scholarly opinion on this matter. (See Zad al-Ma’ad, 1/105-114)

 

It was said that Rayhanah bint ‘Amr al-Nadariyyah (or al-Quraziyyah) was also one of his wives. She was taken prisoner during the battle of Bani Qurayzah, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) chose her for himself and married her, then he divorced her then took her back. (Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d , narrating from al-Waqidi, 8/130)

 

And it was said that she was a concubine. This was regarded as more likely by Ibn al-Qayyim in Zad al-Ma’ad.

Death and Burial of Prophet (S.A.W):

In Sahih Muslim, there is a famous tradition narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas saying:

 

Three days before the Prophet’s death, ‘Umar ibn al­Khattab and other companions were present by his side. The Prophet said,

“Now let me write something for you whereby you shall not go astray after me.” ‘Umar said,

“The Prophet is overcome by illness; you have the Qur’an, the Book of Allah, which is sufficient for us.”

‘Umar’s statement caused a furor among those present. Some were saying that the Prophet’s command should be obeyed so that he might write whatever he desired to write for their guidance. Others sided with Umar. When the tension and uproar intensified, the Prophet said,

“Get away from me!” Therefore, Ibn ‘Abbas used to say, ”

It was a miserable, absolutely miserable, occurrence that the conflict of opinion and noise made by the people came in the way of the Prophet’s writing a will and, because of it, the Prophet could not leave behind what he wanted to put on paper.”

 

Sa’eed ibn Jubayr’s narrative is thus recorded in Sahih Bukhari:

 

Ibn ‘Abbas said,

“What a miserable day it was that Thursday!,”

and he wept so bitterly that the pebbles lying there became wet with his tears. Then he continued, When on a Thursday, the Prophet’s sickness intensified, he said, ‘Get me the things to write with so that I may write something by which you may never be misguided after me.’ People differed and quarrelled over the matter, although quarrelling in the presence of the Prophet was unseemly. People said that the Prophet was talking in delirium. The Prophet cried out, ‘Go away from me! I am more sound than you are.”‘

 

It is stated in Rawdatul-ahbab that the Prophet said to Fatimah,

“Bring your sons to me.”

Fatimah brought Hasan and Husain to the Prophet. Both of them greeted the Prophet, sat by his side and wept at witnessing the agony of the Prophet in such a manner that the people who saw them weeping could not hold their tears. Hasan rested his face upon the Prophet’s face and Husain rested his head upon the Prophet’s chest.

The Prophet opened his eyes and kissed his grandsons lovingly, enjoining the people to love and respect them. In another tradition, it is stated that the companions who were present there, having seen Hasan and Husain weep, wept so loudly that the Prophet himself could not hold his tears at their grief.

Then he said,

“Call my beloved brother ‘Ali’ to me.” ‘Ali came in and sat near the head of the Prophet. When the Prophet lifted his head, ‘Ali moved to the side and, holding the Prophet’s head, he rested it, on his own lap.

The Prophet then said:

“O ‘Ali! I have taken a certain amount from so and so Jew for the expenditure on Usamah’s army. See that you repay it. And, O ‘Ali! You will be the first person to reach me at the heavenly reservoir of al-Kawthar. You will also be given a lot of trouble after my death. You should bear it patiently and when you see that the people prefer the lust of this world, you should prefer the hereafter.”

 

The following is quoted in Khasa’ is of Nasa’ i from Ummu Salamah:

“By Allah, the closest person [to the Prophet] at the time of the Prophet’s death was ‘Ali. Early on the morning of the day when he was going to die, the Prophet called ‘Ali who had been sent out on some errand. He asked for ‘Ali three times before his return. However, ‘Ali came before sunrise. So, thinking that the Prophet needed some privacy with ‘Ali, we came out. I was the last to be out; therefore, I sat closer to the door than the other women. I saw that ‘Ali lowered his head towards the Prophet and the Prophet kept whispering into his ears (for sometime). Therefore, ‘Ali is the only person who was near the Prophet till the end.”

 

Al-Hakim, moreover, remarks in his Mustadrak that:

 

“the Prophet kept confiding in ‘Ali till the time of his death. Then he breathed his last.”

Ibn al-Wardi points out that the persons who were responsible for giving the Prophet his funeral bath were:

“Ali, Abbas, Fadhl Qutham, Usamah and Shaqran. Abbas, Fadhl and Qutham turned the body. Usamah and Shaqran poured water, and Ali washed the body.”

 

Tarikh al-Khamis adds the following:

“Abbas, Fadhl and Qutham turned the body from one side to the other as Usamah and Shaqran poured water over it. All of them were blind-folded.”

 

Ibn Sa’d narrates the following in his Tabaqat:

“Ali narrated that the Prophet had so enjoined that if anyone except himself (Ali) had given him the funeral bath, he would have gone blind.”

 

‘Abdul-Barr, in his book Al-Isti’ab, quotes ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas as saying:

“Ali had four such exceptional honours to his credit as none of us had:

 

. Of all the Arabs and non-Arabs, he was the first to have the distinction of saying prayers with the Prophet.

 

  • In all the battles in which he participated, he alone held the Prophet’s banner in his hand.

 

  • When people fled from the battle-fields leaving the Prophet alone, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib stood firmly by the Prophet’s side.

 

  • Ali is the only person who gave the Prophet his funeral bath and lowered him in his grave.”

 

 

Both Abul-Fida’ and Ibn al-Wardi indicate that the Prophet died on Monday and was buried the next day, i.e. Tuesday. And in one tradition, it is said that he was buried in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. This appears to be more factual. But according to some others, he was not buried for three days after his death.

 

In Tarikh-al-Khamis, however, it is mentioned that Muhammad  Ishaq stated the following:

 

“The Prophet died on Monday and was buried on the night of Wednesday.”

 

Estimating his age, Abul-Fida’ writes:

 

“Although there is a difference of opinion about the Prophet’s age, calculated from famous traditions, he appears to have lived for 63 years.”

 

as a witness and a bringer of glad tidings, a warner and a summoner unto Allah by His permission, and a lamp that gives light (Qur’an, 33:45-46)

 

the one who was sent as a mercy and blessing to mankind (Qur’an, 21:10)

 

He left the temporal world, but the message he brought to mankind is eternal.

 

Now has come unto you light from Allah and a clear book whereby Allah guides him who seeks His pleasure unto the paths of peace. He brings them out of the darkness into the light by His decree and guides them onto a straight path. (Qur’an, 5:16)

 

A Book which We have revealed to you (O Muhammad!) so that you may thereby bring forth mankind from darkness unto the light, by the permission of their Lord, unto the path of Him, the Exalted in power, the One worthy of all praise. (Qur’an, 14:2)

 

O people! There has come to you an admonition from your Lord which is a healing for what is in the breasts, and a guidance and mercy for the believers. (Qur’an, 10:57)

 

Accept what the Messenger gives you and stay away from whatever he forbids you. (Qur’an, 59:7)

 

Conclusion:

The lifestyles of a prophet, frequently characterised with the aid of using religious guidance, ethical teachings, and a dedication to conveying divine messages, varies throughout non secular traditions. Prophets are believed to have been selected with the aid of using a better strength to man their communities, frequently dealing with adversity and demanding situations of their efforts to unfold their messages. Their lives are normally marked with the aid of using events, teachings, and examples of faith, compassion, and willpower to their beliefs, serving as inspirations for his or her believes throughout generations.

FAQs:

Finally! Here are a few regularly requested questions on the existence of Prophet Muhammad:

 

Q.When and in which Prophet Muhammad born?

  1. Prophet Muhammad became born in Mecca, present-day Saudi Arabia, the 12 months 570 AD.

 

Q.What became the adolescence of Prophet Muhammad like?

  1. He became orphaned at a younger age and raised through his grandfather and later his uncle. He became acknowledged for his honesty and became a hit merchant.

 

Q.What is the importance of the occasion referred to as the ‘Night of Ascension’ or ‘Isra and Mi’raj’?

A.It refers back to the wonderful night time adventure whilst the Prophet travelled from Mecca to Jerusalem and ascended through the heavens, assembling with numerous prophets and receiving revelations from God.

 

Q.What is the Qur’an, and the way it was found out to Prophet Muhammad?

A.The Qur’an is the holy book of Islam, believed to be the literal phrase of God as found out to Prophet Muhammad over a duration of around 23 years through angel Jibriel (Gabriel).

 

Q.What are a few key occasions in the existence of Prophet Muhammad?

  1. His migration (Hijrah) from Mecca to Medina, the established order of the primary Islamic community, battles protecting Islam, and the conquest of Mecca are a few pivotal occasions.

 

Q.What are a number of Prophet Muhammad’s teachings and characteristics?

A.His teachings emphasised monotheism, compassion, justice, equality, kindness, and charity. He is frequently defined as a functional version for Muslims in behaviour and religion.

 

 

 

Q.What is the importance of Prophet Muhammad for Muslims?

  1. Muslims regard him as the very last prophet and messenger of God, whose existence and teachings shape the idea in their religion and function as a version for residing a righteous existence.

 

These questions touch on key elements of Prophet Muhammad’s existence, teachings, and importance in Islam.