Muhammad
Muhammad (about 570-632 A.D.), also spelled "Mohammed", prophet of Islam and unifier of Arabia. The first of the Five Pillars of Islam, the Shahadah, consists of sincere recitation of the creed:
- "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger."
Muslims believe that Muhammad is the final prophet sent to humankind, the "seal of prophets", an illiterate man who nonetheless delivered the miracle of the Qur'an. Muhammad was a native of Mecca, one of the few cities in Arabia, and a member of the Quraysh, the tribe that dominanted Mecca at that time. He was orphaned at an early age and raised by his uncle Abu Talib. He married the widow Khadija, whose caravan business he managed.
It is told that the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad in a cave outside Mecca and commanded him to "Read!" three times. Each time Muhammad said that he cannot read (see Qur'an 96:1-5). This event happened around 610 A.D., and marks the period until his death in 632 A.D. in which he received various revelations from Allah. Muhammad taught these to his followers and many commited them to memory; some did so exhaustively. These revelations started to be written down sometime after Muhammad's death: most agree that this was in the 650s between 650 and 656 AD.
Muhammad and his followers withdrew from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D. after severe persecution. This hegira - or withdrawal - is used as the initial date of the Muslim era, Annus Hegirae (abbreviated A.H.). Muhammad returned triumphantly to Mecca in 629 and proceeded to unite the Arabian tribes as Muslims. Within 20 years of Muhammad's death, these Muslims would go on to conquer large parts of the world.
Beside the Qur'an, much information about Muhammad's life is transmitted in the hadith, or the "traditions of the Prophet". Muhammad's daily habits, responses to questions, and reactions to events were repeated by his followers and eventually recorded.