20/10/2021
Muhammad ibn Abdullah (SAW)(Arabic: مُحَمَّد بنِ عَبْد ٱللَّٰه, romanized: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh Classical Arabic pronunciation: [muˈħammad]; c. 570 CE – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of the world religion of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet, divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets.He is believed to be the final prophet of God in all the main branches of Islam, though some modern denominations diverge from this belief.[n 2] Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis of Islamic religious belief.
Muhammad was born approximately 570 CE (Year of the Elephant) in Mecca. He was the son of Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Amina bint Wahb. His father was the son of Quraysh tribal leader Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, and Abdullah died a few months before Muhammad's birth. His mother Amina died when he was six, leaving Muhammad an orphan.[6] He was raised under the care of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, and paternal uncle, Abu Talib.[7] In later years, he would periodically seclude himself in a mountain cave named Hira for several nights of prayer. When he was 40, Muhammad reported being visited by Gabriel in the cave[8][9] and receiving his first revelation from God. In 613,[10] Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly,[11] proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "submission" (islām) to God[12] is the right way of life (dīn),[13] and that he was a prophet and messenger of God, similar to the other prophets in Islam.[14][15][16]
Muhammad's followers were initially few in number, and experienced hostility from Meccan polytheists for 13 years. To escape ongoing persecution, he sent some of his followers to Abyssinia in 615, before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina (then known as Yathrib) later in 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, also known as the Hijri Calendar. In Medina, Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina. In December 629, after eight years of intermittent fighting with Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts and marched on the city of Mecca. The conquest went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed. In 632, a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, he fell ill and died. By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam.[17][18]
The revelations (each known as Ayah – literally, "Sign [of God]") that Muhammad reported receiving until his death form the verses of the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the verbatim "Word of God" on which the religion is based. Besides the Quran, Muhammad's teachings and practices (sunnah), found in the Hadith and sira (biography) literature, are also upheld and used as sources of Islamic law (see Sharia).
The Arabian Peninsula was, and still is, largely arid with volcanic soil, making agriculture difficult except near oases or springs. Towns and cities dotted the landscape; two of the most prominent being Mecca and Medina. Medina was a large flourishing agricultural settlement, while Mecca was an important financial center for many surrounding tribes.[36] Communal life was essential for survival in the desert conditions, supporting indigenous tribes against the harsh environment and lifestyle. Tribal affiliation, whether based on kinship or alliances, was an important source of social cohesion.[37] Indigenous Arabs were either nomadic or sedentary. Nomadic groups constantly traveled seeking water and pasture for their flocks, while the sedentary settled and focused on trade and agriculture. Nomadic survival also depended on raiding caravans or oases; nomads did not view this as a crime.[38][39]
In pre-Islamic Arabia, gods or goddesses were viewed as protectors of individual tribes, their spirits being associated with sacred trees, stones, springs and wells. As well as being the site of an annual pilgrimage, the Kaaba shrine in Mecca housed 360 idols of tribal patron deities. Three goddesses were worshipped, in some places as daughters of Allah: Allāt, Manāt and al-'Uzzá. Monotheistic communities existed in Arabia, including Christians and Jews.[40] Hanifs – native pre-Islamic Arabs who "professed a rigid monotheism"[41] – are also sometimes listed alongside Jews and Christians in pre-Islamic Arabia, although their historicity is disputed among scholars.[42][43] According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad himself was a Hanif and one of the descendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham.[44] After a century of exhaustive archaeological investigation, no evidence has been found for a historical Abraham or Ishmael.[45]
The second half of the sixth century was a period of political disorder in Arabia and communication routes were no longer secure.[46] Religious divisions were an important cause of the crisis.[47] Judaism became the dominant religion in Yemen while Christianity took root in the Persian Gulf area.[47] In line with broader trends of the ancient world, the region witnessed a decline in the practice of polytheistic cults and a growing interest in a more spiritual form of religion.[47] While many were reluctant to convert to a foreign faith, those faiths provided intellectual and spiritual reference points.[47]
During the early years of Muhammad's life, the Quraysh tribe to which he belonged became a dominant force in western Arabia.[48] They formed the cult association of hums, which tied members of many tribes in western Arabia to the Kaaba and reinforced the prestige of the Meccan sanctuary.[49] To counter the effects of anarchy, Quraysh upheld the institution of sacred months during which all violence was forbidden, and it was possible to participate in pilgrimages and fairs without danger.[49] Thus, although the association of hums was primarily religious, it also had important economic consequences for the city.[49]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad
