Why I Left

Historical Muhammad: The Good, Bad, Downright Ugly

I. A BRIEF HISTORY OF MUHAMMAD

A. Prior to the Call

Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 AD. His father died before he was born, and his mother died when he was about six years old. We don't know much about Muhammad prior to the time he started receiving his revelations. Muslim tradition tells us that he was known as al-ameen, "the trustworthy," so he may have had a reputation for honesty in his dealings with others. Apparently, he was handsome as well. One day a rich widow named Khadija (Muhammad's employer) asked him to marry her, and Muhammad accepted. Khadija was around fifteen years older than Muhammad, who was twenty-five at the time, but by all accounts, it was a happy marriage.

B. The Meccan Period

In the year 610, Muhammad was in a cave on a religious retreat, and something interesting happened.

When it was the night on which God honoured him with his mission and showed mercy on His servants thereby, Gabriel brought him the command of God. "He came to me," said the apostle of God, "while I was asleep, with a coverlet of brocade whereon was some writing, and said, 'Read!' I said, 'What shall I read?' He pressed me with it so tightly that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said, 'Read!' I said, 'What shall I read?' He pressed me with it again so that I thought it was death; then he let me go and said 'Read!' I said, 'What shall I read?' He pressed me with it the third time so that I thought it was death and said 'Read!' I said, 'What then shall I read?'—and this I said only to deliver myself from him, lest he should do the same to me again. He said:

'Read in the name of thy Lord who created,

Who created man of blood coagulated.

Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent,

Who taught by the pen,

Taught that which they knew not unto men.'

So I read it, and he departed from me. And I awoke from my sleep, and it was as though these words were written on my heart."i

Muhammad was terrified by what happened to him. He believed that he had encountered a demon, and he became suicidal. His wife Khadija and her cousin Waraqah, however, convinced him that he was a prophet of God, and that he had met the angel Gabriel in the cave.

Muhammad spent the next twelve years preaching in Mecca, first only in private, then in public. During these early years, Muhammad preached a peaceful message. He called for religious tolerance, but he told people that they needed to turn to Allah. In general, the polytheistic Meccans hated him. The persecution eventually got so bad that Muhammad accepted an invitation to move to another city.

C. The Medinan Period

In 622, Muhammad and most of his followers moved nearly 300 miles north to what is now Medina. It's difficult to overestimate the importance of the move of the Muslims from Mecca to Medina. It was in Medina that the Muslim community became a political entity, which is central to Islam.

From his base in Medina, Muhammad began a series of raids against the Meccan caravans. While the first six raids failed, the seventh raid—the "Nakhla raid"—was a success. The problem was that the Muslims attacked during a holy month in which everyone had agreed not to fight. An innocent man was even killed during the raid. This eventually led to war between the Muslims and Mecca.

Understandably, the people of Mecca sent around 1000 guards to protect their next caravan. The Muslims attacked with a much smaller force, and they won what came to be known as the Battle of Badr. For the next ten years until Muhammad's death in 632 AD, the Muslims never stopped fighting. Muhammad fought several more key battles against Mecca (the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Trench), finally taking the city in 630.