The Encyclopedia of World Religions

304 S Muhammad

to Medina, a town roughly 300 miles to the north. There they allied with the previous inhabitants, who agreed to recognize Muhammad’s prophet hood. This emigration, known as the hijra (also spelled hegira ), marks the beginning of the Islamic community. Accordingly, Muslims date events A . H ., “in the year of the hijra” ( anno Hegirae ). From the Meccan point of view, Muhammad’s alliance with Medina was an act of treason. In turn, the Medinas raided Meccan caravans, and war ensued. The fortunes of battle were uneven, but the Medinas won a major victory at the battle of Badr in 624. By 628 the warring parties had estab lished a truce. In 630 the Meccans violated the truce, and in that year Muhammad finally entered Mecca in victory. He proclaimed a general amnesty, purified the K AABA (the central shrine in Mecca) of the many idols that it contained, declared Mecca off-limits to all but Muslims, and established PIL GRIMAGE to Mecca as a major Islamic RITUAL . Muhammad died in the year 632 shortly after making a final pilgrimage to Mecca. He was buried in Medina. At the time of his death, the Islamic community was already beginning to expand by establishing relations with peoples in other parts of the Arabian Peninsula. TEACHINGS Muslims call the time before the prophet Muham mad al-Jahiliya, “the times of ignorance.” During that period Mecca society was characterized by POLYTHEISM and social disorder. The disorder was due to the disruption of traditional patterns of life, which were more suited to desert herding than to a thriving mercantile city. The messages revealed to Muhammad and preserved in the Qur’an had as their bedrock an insistence upon the absolute oneness of God (Ara bic, tawhid ). As one reads in the Qur’an: “Say: He, Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all depend. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And none is like Him.” (Qur’an 112, Muhammed Shakir). Verses such as these rejected more than polytheism. In insisting on the absolute unity of God, Muhammad rejected any notion that implies plurality, like the Christian notion of God as a TRINITY . In insisting

In the 20th century many modern commu nities replaced their muezzins with amplified recordings.

Muhammad (570–632) the prophet who, accord ing to Muslims, received G OD ’s revelation in the Q UR ’ AN and established I SLAM His importance for Muslims is emphasized by the central Islamic profession of FAITH : “There is no god but God [Arabic, A LLAH ], and Muhammad is his Messenger [Arabic, Rasul].” LIFE Muhammad was born in the year 570 in a clan of the Quraysh tribe in M ECCA (today in western Saudi Arabia). His father died before he was born and his mother soon afterward, so he was raised first by his grandfather and then his uncle, Abu Talib. Tradition reports that as a young man he developed a reputation for honesty and virtue. He earned his living managing caravans, and at the age of 25 he married his employer, a wealthy widow named Khadija. Only one of their children, a daughter, Fatima, survived to adulthood. Muhammad was in the habit of retiring to the desert for reflection and MEDITATION . On one such occasion in the year 611, the ANGEL Gabriel appeared to him with a message from God. This event is venerated within Islam as the Night of Power. According to a widespread tradition, the first words that God spoke to the prophet were these: “Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen, taught man that he knew not” (A. J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted ). The revelations that Muhammad received implied a radical reorganization of society. They envisioned a community based on faith rather than family relationships, and they emphasized justice and concern for others rather than profit and self interest. As a result, they evoked considerable opposition from the powerful members of Meccan society. After the death of Abu Talib in 619, the opposition to Muhammad became outspoken and menacing. In the year 622, Muhammad and his followers were forced to flee secretly from Mecca