Even if it

1
The Life of the Prophet Muhammad
2
Periodization of the Prophets Life

1. Preparation for Prophecy
2. Childhood preparation for prophecy
3. Merchant career and marriage
4. Meccan Revelations and Persecution
5. Early revelations in Mecca
6. Building up early network of followers
7. Persecution by Meccans
8. Isra and Miraj (??????? ? ???????)
9. Emigration and War
10. Building Medinan community, political ruler
11. War with Meccans, their allies, conflict with
    Medinan Jews
12. After the Conquest
13. Conquest of Mecca in 8/630 CE
14. Receiving submission of Arabian tribes
15. Conquest of Arabian peninsula

3
Preparation for Prophecy

• Born around 570CE in the prominent clan of Banu
  Hashim of the Quraysh tribe soon he is
  orphaned.
• He is raised by foster parents in the desert as a
  shepherd, where his heart is cleansed by angels
• Adopted into the home of his uncle Abu Talib, he
  becomes known as al-Amin the trustworthy one

4
Preparation for Prophecy - 2

• With his uncle, he goes on merchant caravans
  north to Syria where he is recognized by the
  Christian monk Buhayra
• At 25, the 40-year-old widow Khadija offers him
  marriage and control of her business they have
  4 daughters (one is Fatema)
• As a manager, he has more time and begins
  meditating in the desert and the mountain cave of
  Hira
• And in 610 CE.

5
Meccan Revelations

• At first, preaches to family and friends
  Khadija, Abu Bakr and Ali immediately believe
• Slowly begins preaching to the Quraysh, who meet
  him with serious opposition and mockery
• Soon his preaching threatens the tranquility of
  the annual hajj, and Muhammad is smeared as a
  sorcerer who splits people from their families.
• Torture, killing of Muhammads followers
  psychological torture of Muhammad
• Flight of some followers to Ethiopia for refuge
  with the Christian king

6
Meccan Revelations 2

• Boycott of Banu Hashim no intermarriage or trade
  for two years
• Conversion of Umar newfound strength
• Year of Sadness 9/619 new protector? Abu Talib
  dies, Khadija dies, Abu Lahab new head of Quraysh
• Prophet seeks protection in Taif when he
  fails, Mutim b. Adi protects him.
• The Night Journey and Ascension Muhammad finds
  his place among prophets, Jerusalem is direction
  of prayer

7
Muhammad s Arguments

• The People of the Book know
• Previous revelations have predicted Muhammad
• The message is the same
• 2. To the Polytheist Arabs
• Muhammad is al-Amin
• He is not asking anything from you
• He has no knowledge of this except from God he
  is illiterate

8
Rebuttals of the Unbelievers

1. He has a teacher who tells him this Quran
2. He is a sorcerer or madman
3. He is breaking with tradition
4. His followers are the poor and miserable

Prominent Meccan Opponents of Islam Abu Lahab
(Muhammads uncle), Abu Jahl, Abu Sufyan (father
of Muawiya, first Umayyad Caliph)
9
Emigration to Medina and War

• Deal worked out with Yathrib, and many Muslims
  emigrate eventually only Muhammad, Abu Bakr and
  Ali remain
• When Mutim dies, Muhammads murder is planned
• 622, the tenth year of revelation, Muhammad and
  Abu Bakr move to Yathrib the City of the
  Messenger of God

10
Medina and War with Mecca

• Battle of Badr (624 / 2) miraculous Muslim
  victory, major Quraysh leaders killed Islam now
  a power to be reckoned with.
• Battle of Uhud (625 / 3) almost ends in defeat
  for the Muslims
• Battle of Khandaq (627 / 5) Meccans and their
  allies besiege Medina, Muslims drive them away.
• Treaty of Hudaybiyya (628 / 6) peace
  established, Muslims can visit Mecca for hajj
• Conquest of Mecca (630 / 8) after conflict
  breaks out between Meccas allies and the
  Prophets allies, Muhammad declares peace broken
  and moves to occupy Mecca. Scales have shifted
  so far towards Muslims that the conquest is
  peaceful. Abu Sufyan and Meccan opponents of
  Islam convert to Islam.

11
Establishing Control in Medina and Arabia

• The Jewish Tribes of Medina
• Constitution of Medina Jews and Muslims one
  community (umma)
• Jewish tribes gradually fall into conflict with
  Muhammad, are expelled or executed
• Marriage the Prophet marries 11 women after
  Khadija, mostly daughters of close Companions or
  of prominent tribes
• The Year of Delegations 631/10 the Prophet
  accepts loyalty of Arab tribes

12
Muhammad in Context

• Haram the sacred precincts of Arabia.
  Muhammad Medina is my haram.
• Leader of Super-Tribal Alliance and at the center
  of kinship/marriage network
• World full of the supernatural jinn, kahin and
  sorcerer
• Late Antique Near Eastern Holy Man?
• Desert meditation
• Seen as arbitrator in communal disputes
• Person becomes center of cult

13
Historiographical Issues

• How do we know about Muhammads life (and the
  origins of Islam)?
• Skepticism about sacred narratives
• Principle of Analogy
• Principle of Dissimilarity
• Outright skepticism (Revisionist School)?
• Response
• Who orchestrates this conspiracy?
• Early epigraphic and non-Muslim sources

14
Muhammad as Jesus and Moses

• The story of the Prophets life is put together
  in the mid 8th century in Medina and Baghdad (the
  most famous is by Ibn Ishaq (d. 767) in the
  midst of Jewish and Christian lore
• Stories of Muhammads miracles
• He makes a sheeps empty udder flow with milk
• He makes a small pool of water suffice for all
  his followers
• Ascension to Heaven is a Jewish trope