The 25 Prophets: (22) Muhammad (SAW)

MUHAMMAD (SAW)

He is Muhammad bin Abdil Laah bin Abdil Muttalib bin Haashim bin Abdi Manaaf (SAW) and some scholars take his lineage up to the twentieth ancestry. He is the last in the line of Prophets, and was sent to all the nations of the world. His mother is Aamnah bint Wahab, a descendent of Zahrat bin Kilaab from the Quraishy clan.

Abdil Laah was one of the most beloved children of his father, Abdil Muttalib; he married Aamnah when she was eighteen years old. She was one of the most respectable ladies among the Quraishies. Soon after their marriage, she conceived and her husband died two months later in Madina, in the house of his maternal uncles the Bani Aday when he was on his way back from his business trip in Shaam; and was buried there.

Muhammad (SAW) was born on twelfth Rabii L-Awal (the third Arabic month) in the year of the elephant*.*[The year of the elephant is known as the year when Abraha the king of Yemen wanted to destroy the Holy Kaaba with his army and his elephant. According to calculations the date falls on 20 April Year 571 After Christ]. He was born in the house of Abi Taalib in the village of Bani Haashim, and was delivered by Ashafaa’ bint Umar the mother of Abdul Rahman bin Awf. Immediately after he was born, his mother sent someone to his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, with the news of his birth, and Abdul Muttalib received the good news with great joy and gave him the name of Muhammad. This name was not common among the Arabs, but that is how God wanted it to be, to prove what came in the Tawraat and Injil where it was mentioned that a Prophet by the name of Ahmed (short for Muhammad) would come. Therefore Abdul Muttalib unknowingly out of his own heart felt this name was suitable for his grandson.

Muhammad’s Breast Feeding

Muhammad (SAW) was first suckled by his mother for few days, and then suckled by Thuwaiba L-Aslamiya. It was a habit among the Arabs to give their children to the Bedouin women to be suckled and brought up in the desert. Thus these Bedouin women would come to the urban areas to collect the children from the rich people so as to get better pay for their work. Muhammad (SAW) had no father and was not among the rich family, a woman called Halima bint Dhuayb As-Saadiya took him to her home. She carried him home not realizing that he was a blessed child. Her husband (Abu Khabsha) L—Harithy bin Abdul Aziz and his household who submitted to God in Islam, were blessed for this.

Something very miraculous happened to Muhammad (SAW) when he was three years old, while he was playing with his mate (brother) who suckled together with him from Halima. The (brother) came running to Halima and said to her: “Two men wearing white robes took my Quraishy brother, lay him down and cut open his stomach.”

When Halima heard this she quickly went out with her husband to look for the boy and found him pale with fear. They asked him what was the matter. He said: “There were two men wearing white robes, one of them said, ‘Is he the one?’ then the second one said, ‘Yes he is the one.’ So they took me and lay me down then cut open my tummy and took something out, I do not know what it was, after that they went away.” So, Halima got scared and decided to take him back to his mother.

The two were Angels who came to take the influence of Satan from his heart and to cleanse him. They took his heart out washed it with water from Zamzam then put it back again. The same incident took place when he was forty years old.

When Halima took him back to his mother and told her the story, Muhammad’s (SAW) mother said: “Really this child has a lot of strange things. When I was pregnant I saw a very bright light which flooded all the palaces of Busra in Shaam. I also did not feel any heaviness during the pregnancy, and when he was born he kept his hands down as if in prostration and also raised his head looking up to the sky.”

After he was returned to his mother, she took him to visit his father’s maternal uncles in Madina. On their way back his mother died in a town called Abha which is between Mecca and Madina and was buried there. He was six years then. After the death of his mother, a lady by the name of Um Ayman, brought him up and his grandfather was the one who was looking after him. When he was eight years old, his grandfather also died, and was taken by his paternal Uncle Abu Taalib to be brought up in his house. Abu Taalib was not among the rich people, but God gave him enough to live on.

Muhammad (SAW) was different from the children of his age in that none of the daily things or games that would normally keep children of his age busy, bothered him. Whenever he sat down to eat with his cousins, he would sit far back and his hand would not reach for the food in greediness; and whatever he got,  satisfied him.

When he reached the age of twelve years, his uncle took him on a business trip to Shaam. This was his first trip, and they did not prolong the trip. When they reached Busra near Syria, a town where there were Jews from the people of Taimaa, they stopped. One learned man of the Christian faith by the name of Bahyra who was there in the town, asked the people who were with the caravan of Abu Taalib if there came a Prophet among the Arabs as mentioned in the Tawraat and Injil. They said that to their knowledge no one had come as yet.

Bahyra made a big feast and invited the Quraishy, thus all the people attended except Muhammad (SAW), as he was considered too young to mix with the elders. When Bahyra missed him in his party, he requested that he be brought to him. He looked at him and noticed that the boy had all the signs that he knew from his researches regarding the Prophet who is to come. He took a look at his back and there he found two scars-like marks on his shoulder blades. Bahyra told Abu Taalib and advised him to take the boy home as quickly as possible and to be careful with the Jews, and said: “Your nephew is very elite and very holy, take very good care of him.”

Thus Abu Taalib took him back to Mecca.

When Muhammad (SAW) reached the age of twenty-five, he again went on a business trip to Shaam. The word got around     about his honesty in his dealings (people used to call him L-Amin, the honest). There was a lady by the name of Khadija bint Khuwaylid Ssadiyah (RAA)* *[RAA—Radhiya Allahu Anhu God is pleased with him/her], who was among the most respectable ladies of the Quraishy. She was a very clever business lady who used to hire people and give them goods to take to Shaam and sell for her. When she came to know about this man who was very honest, she sent for him and asked him if he would work for her. Muhammad (SAW) agreed, and he traveled with one of Khadija’s servants by the name of Maysara, to Shaam, sold the goods and returned.

After their return, Maysara told her lady about the good qualities of this man and how he dealt with the business. When Khadija (RAA) saw the amount of profit that she had received from him, she sent for him. When he came to her, she asked him to marry her. It is not a usual custom among the Arabs for a lady to ask a man to marry her; in this case Khadija (RAA) felt that it would be nice to have an honest man to look after her business. The man would better be a husband who would protect her and look after her interests.

Khadija (RAA) was forty years old, fifteen years older than him, and was divorced. Muhammad (SAW) told his uncle about this. Abi Taalib then went to Khadija’s uncle, Amru bin Asad and officially asked him for his niece’s hand in marriage to Muhammad (SAW). He married her and had from her two boys, Al-Qasim and Abdulla and four girls, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Um Kulthum and Fatma (RAA). The two boys did not survive.

Muhammad (AS) was an orphan and poor. When he was in the desert at Halima’s house, as a boy, he was a shepherd. He also worked as shepherd after his return to Mecca from Halima’s house. This is really God’s wisdom; if you look closely you will see that most of the Prophets [e.g. Ibrahim, Yusuf, Musa and Issa (AS)] were all shepherds before becoming Prophets. Had they been from the rich families, they would have been bothered by the worldly affairs and would not have been able to concentrate with their mission.

Muhammad (SAW) was well mannered; honest with no bad habits that made people sin. His people used to call him Asaadiq L-Amin, meaning the truthful the honest. God had protected him from his childhood from any bad habits that corrupt. One day he was explaining what had happened to him and said: “I asked my colleague to look after my heard, Ithen went to Mecca and entered one of the entertainment houses where there was dancing and singing, so that I could enjoy myself. I stayed for a while, but God wanted to protect me from corruption, so before I realized it Islept throughout the night and when I woke the sun was up and the place closed.”

Rebuilding of Kaaba

When Muhammad (SAW) reached the age of thirty, heavy rains came down in Mecca and the walls of Kaaba fell and it was destroyed. The Quraishy wanted to rebuild and renovate it, thus all the chiefs of the different clans of Quraishy got together to discuss the affair, and decided to rebuild it and put a new roof. They thus started the work, and among the people who were working on the site was Muhammad (SAW) himself.

It was rebuilt, but it could not be completed as there were no enough funds. Thus they left part of it not completed, and built a short wall to show the position of the Kaaba, and that area is known as Maqaam Ismail. They raised the walls to a height of about forty feet, more than what it was before and raised the door in such a way that one could only enter it by climbing up the steps.

Then came the time to put back the holy Black Stone (Hajar L-Aswad), here the different clans argued as to who would do that work. They argued and nearly fought a war, and remained in this situation for four days without coming to an agreement. One of the Quraishy elders by the name of Abu Umayyah bin L-Mughyra L-Makhzumy, the uncle of Khalid bin Waleed, said: “O my people! Do not fight, instead find a solution to your problem which would satisfy all of you.”

They said: “We shall allow the first person who walks through that door to judgment us and solve our problem.”

As they were saying this, Muhammad (SAW) walked in. When they saw him they said: “Here is L-Amin, we have agreed he will judge us.”

They explained to him the problem. Muhammad (SAW) took off his robe and lay it on the ground, then put the stone on it and said: “Let one person from each clan hold my robe and then lift it up, together.”

So they lifted it all together to the position where the stone was to be laid, and Muhammad (SAW) placed it in its place with his hands and they were all happy and satisfied. The argument ended in peace, by God’s wisdom, Abu Umayyah had the brains to think quickly and guided his people, and Muhammad (SAW) had the ability to judge and put them in the right direction that led to a peaceful solution.

Muhammad (SAW) is Made Prophet

Before Muhammad (SAW) became a Prophet, he used to get very upset seeing his people lost in sins and he did not know the way to guide them on the right track. He thus took to the mountains near Mecca, where he spent days praying and worshiping, asking God to show him the right track and beg Him for mercy.

He was made Prophet when he was forty years old, on 17^th day of Ramadhan, thirteen years before L-Hijra the year he emigrated to Madina which marks the beginning of the Islamic year. This was on the beginning of July of the year 610 After Christ. When Muhammad (SAW) was in his meditation in the cave called Hiraa near Mecca, the Angel Jibril came and said to him: “O Muhammad the Prophet of all beings, Read!”

Muhammad had not received formal education, so he said: “I am not able to read.”

Jibril said to him again: “Read!”

Muhammad again said: “I am not able to read.”

Jibril said to him:

Proclaim! (or Read!) In the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created — *Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: *Proclaim! And thy true Lord is Most Bountiful, -- *He Who taught (the use of) the Pen, *Taught man that which he knew not.* (Iqraa (xcvi) 1-5)

After this episode, Muhammad (SAW) returned home to his wife Khadija (RAA) trembling in a fit of fear by seeing Jibril for the first time and from what he heard from him. He said to his wife: “Cover me! Cover me!”

Later on after he cooled off from the fear, he explained to his wife what had happened to him, and she said: “By God! He would not do anything to you but for the better, and I give you the good tidings that you are truly the Prophet of God.”

From then on Muhammad (SAW) became the Prophet, and the first words of the Holy Book (The Quraan) to be recorded were those of Surat Alaq (Iqraa).

Muhammad (SAW) then started preaching to his people, advising them not to worship idols but turn to the one God (Allah) who deserves to be worshiped. He told them to stop doing bad things and not to sin. However, it was not easy for him as he had a lot of resistance and torture from his people. At the beginning only a few people believed, his wife being the first. Among them were his cousin Ali bin Abi Taalib (RAA), who was very young at that time, Zaid bin Haarith (RAA) and the family of Abu Bakr Ssiddiq (RAA).

At the beginning Muhammad (SAW) started preaching in secrecy and did not publicly tell the people of him being a Prophet. He continued like this for three years. The few who submitted to Islam could not show themselves publicly and could not pray in public for the fear of the Quraishis who were the ones very much against Muhammad (SAW) right from the beginning. Therefore whenever his people wanted to pray, they went to the villages of Mecca where there were no Quraishis and worshipped in secret. It was also necessary for them to be in one group with Prophet Muhammad (SAW) so that he could teach and guide them. Hence they used to amass together in the house of L-Arqam bin L-Arqam, one of those who submitted to Islam.

After this, God sent him an inspiration that he should no longer keep it a secret, he should publicly tell the people the truth of him being the Prophet of God. Therefore one day he stood on top of the Safaa hillock in Mecca and shouted at the top of his voice: “O people of Adul Muttalib! O people of Fahar! O people of Kaabl If I told you that there were horses on top of this hillock that were about to jump and attack you, would you believe me?”

They all said: “Yes we would believe you.”

He then said: “I am therefore warning you of a severe punishment from God if you do not follow me.”

Abu Lahab shouted and said: “Hell with you! You are calling us here only to tell us this rubbish.”

Here Surat Lahab (the Father) of Flame was sent down:

Perish the hands of the Father of Flame! Perish he! *(Lahab cxi)

Abu Lahab “Father of Flame” was the nickname of an uncle of the holy Prophet. He was called so for his fiery hot temper and his reddish complexion. He was one of the most constant enemies of early Islam.

Muhammad (SAW) continued preaching and calling his people to the true religion, but he still met with a lot of resistance from his own people. These people said to him: “O Muhammad! If you want to be the king we will make you king, and if you want wealth we will give all the wealth you want.”

He said to them: “I do not need your wealth nor do I want to be king. I am but a Prophet of God to you, calling you to leave the worship of idols that do not hear or help you in anything. O my people! Listen to me, worship the one God who created you and who cherishes you.”

A delegation from the Quraishy went to his uncle and said to him: “O Abu Taalib! Your nephew has insulted us and defamed our gods, we ask you to tell him to call off what he is doing. This is a. big shame to us all.”

Abu Taalib replied them with nice words so as not to upset them, then he called Muhammad (SAW) and said to him: “O the son of my brother! The elders have come to complain to me about what you are doing, therefore please do not put a burden on my head that I can not carry.”

He said: “O my uncle! By the name of God! Even if they had kept the sun on my right and the moon on my left so that I leave what I am doing, I will not do that until my Lord commands me to do so, or I die.”

Abu Taalib said: “O my nephew! Go your way and say anything you want, I will never hand you over to the Quraishy.”

The Quraishy started torturing those who believed and followed Muhammad (SAW); they used all sorts of tortures so as to break down their faith. They surrounded the village where Muhammad (SAW) and his people lived, and told the people not to sell anything to them or buy from them until they die from hunger. One day as Muhammad (SAW) was in his prayers; these people came and slaughtered a camel near him. They then took out its bowels and poured over his head as he was bowing down.

A group of those who submitted to Islam ran away from these people and went to Ethiopia leaving Muhammad (SAW) with a handful of his people in Mecca. However, after three months they returned, as they could not live away from home, also because they had no force as they were just few. When they returned some of them could not re-enter Mecca as the Quraishy had made a rule that no one was allowed to enter Makka unless he or she had a sponsor. For example a man would only be allowed to bring in his wife, or his son and so on.

Again another group consisting of eighty-three men and eighteen women immigrated to Ethiopia. This time when the Quraishy saw this happening, they sent Amru bin L-Aas and Umara bin L-Waleed (before they became Muslims) to Nnajashiy, the king of Ethiopia. They took with them presents for the king, and requested him to evict the followers of Muhammad (SAW) and send them back to their country. But the delegation went back without success, and the Muslims lived in Ethiopia in peace until the time when Muhammad (SAW) emigrated to Madina.

Three years before Muhammad (SAW) emigrated to Madina, his beloved wife, Khadija (RAA) died; he mourned her death and he became very sad. After her death he married Sawdah bint Zaama L-Amriyah L-Qurashiya (RAA), who was also a widow. One month later he married Aisha (RAA) the daughter of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (RAA) who was seven years old and a virgin, but only slept with her after they moved to Madina.

One month after the death of his wife Khadija (RAA), his uncle, Abu Taalib who was the only one who protected him from the Quraishy, died. Although Abu Taalib never objected whatever his nephew said and believed him in everything, he never submitted to Islam. Muhammad (SAW) loved his uncle dearly, and naturally wanted him to die in the new faith, but the pagan Quraishy leaders persuaded him to remain true to the faith of his fathers. This was an incident of disappointment and grief to him, thus the following verse of the Holy Quraan was sent to tell Muhammad (SAW):

It is true thou wilt not be able to guide everyone whom thou lovest; but God Guides those whom He will. And He knows best those who receive guidance.*(Al-Qasas (xxviii) 56)

Muhammad (SAW) called the year when his wife and uncle died, the ‘Year of Grief.’ And after the death of his uncle, the Quraishy became stronger and went on troubling Muhammad (SAW) even more. They used to tell him: “You want to make all the gods as one God? You must be crazy!”

Some of Muhammad’s (SAW) Miracles

One of his miracles was the splitting of the moon into two. This happened when the pagans of Mecca wanted Muhammad (SAW) to show them the signs of his prophetic powers. Here God made the moon split in two; each piece lay on top of a separate mountain. This is related in Surat L-Qamar (The Moon) (liv) verse 1:

The Hour (of Judgement) is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder. *(Al-Qasas (xxviii) 56)

Among some of his miracles was that he dripped water between his fingers. One of the incidences narrated about this was that one day people had no water to perform ablution for prayers. Here Muhammad (SAW) put his hand in a bucket and water dripped out, and there was enough water for everyone.

One of his other miracles was that if he prayed on the food, it became ample and could feed a lot of people. For example one day he fed almost seventy to eighty people on a small piece of bread, which was cut into small pieces and then prayed on it, thus all the people ate to their satisfaction.

His mosque in Madina was constructed using trunks of palm trees that formed the columns, and the roof was out of palm tree fronds. He used to stand at one of these columns whenever he preached, and when a rostrum was built for him he stopped standing at that column. People in the mosque started hearing wailing sound coming from the column, and so Muhammad (SAW) instructed the column to be buried under the rostrum.

He also used to cure the sick and those hurt in the war by rubbing and praying on their wounds. His invocations were never returned unheeded by God, whatever he prayed and asked for from his Lord it was always granted. His dreams always came true.

Al-lsraa and Al-Miraaj

God gifted Muhammad (SAW) with the Israa and Miraaj. Al-Israa is when he went from Mecca to Baitil-Maqdis and back in one night, and Al-Miraaj is when he climbed to the seventh firmament and back. Al-lsraa is mentioned in verse 1 of Sura (xvii), Bani Israiyl or L-Israa as is sometimes known, thus:

Glory to (God) who did take His servant for a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque,  whose precincts We did bless, -- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is One Who heareth and seeth (all things).*

The sacred mosque refers to the Kaaba at Mecca; it had not yet been cleared of its idols and rededicated exclusively to the One True God. It was symbolical of the new Message, which was been given to mankind. The Farthest Mosque (Al-Aqsaa Mosque) refers to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem on the hill of Moriah, at or near where the Dome of the Rock stands.

The Miraaj is mentioned in Surat Nnajm (liii), verses 1-18. For this miraculous trip, he was sent a Buraaq, an animal that resembles a horse, on which he rode and (flew) to Baitil-Maqdis. There he went inside the temple and prayed. After that, the Angel Jibril came and took him on a trip to the seventh firmament. When he reached the first firmament he met Adam (AS), at the second, he met Issa and Yahya (AS). When he reached the third he met Yusuf (AS), at the fourth, he met Idris (AS), the fifth he met Harun (AS), the sixth he met Musa (AS) and the seventh he met Ibrahim (AS).

When he reached the seventh firmament he was taken to the tree of Sidratil-Muntahaa (Lote tree) where God gave him some of the Divine Inspirations and also ordained for his people prayers fifty times per day and night. When he reached the sixth firmament on his way back down to earth, Musa (AS) asked him: “What has the Lord ordained to you for your people?”

He said: “Prayers fifty times a day and night.”

Musa (AS) said: “Your people will not be able to cope with this. I myself could not get my people perform simple prayers, so go back to your Lord and ask Him to ease on you.”

Muhammad (SAW) went back and asked his Lord to ease on him the burden, they were then made five times in a day and night. When he went back to Musa (AS), he asked him if the prayers had been reduced, and Muhammad (SAW) said: “They have been reduced to five times in a day and night.”

Musa (AS) told him: “That is still too much, go back and appeal to your Lord to reduce further.”

Therefore he was shuttling back and forth, until in the end God said to him: “O Muhammad! Those five prayers in a day and night adorned to you for your people, each one of them is equivalent to ten that is a total of fifty prayers.”

The next morning after his return to Mecca that night, he went to the chiefs of the Quraishy and told them what had happened. Some of them jeered at him and some were stunned to hear this strange story. The only person who believed in him was Abu Bakr (RAA) who was later nicknamed As-Siddiq (he who believed), from then on he was known as Abu Bakr As-Siddiq.

The pagans wanted to test Muhammad (SAW) to see if he was really telling the truth, thus they told him to explain to them what he saw in Baitil-Maqdis. There were some of them who knew what the temple looked like. He therefore gave them a detailed overview of the temple. They said to him: “Tell us about our caravan that is on the way coming.” He told them in details, how many camels were there, how the people in it were and when they were due to arrive in Mecca. After all this they were still stubborn and refused to believe in him.

That morning after his return, the Angel Jibril came to teach him how to pray and gave him the timings of these five prayers. He was told to bow (kneel) two times at dawn just at the first twilight; kneel four times at noon immediately after the sun had gone over to the West, four times after the shadow became double the size of the object, three times immediately after sunset, and four times after the evening twilight had disappeared. Before this, Muhammad (SAW) used to kneel two times in the morning and two times in the evening.

In the month of Shaaban (the eighth month), of the second year of the Islamic calendar God ordained to the Muslims the fasting of the month of Ramadhan (the ninth month). Before that Muhammad (SAW) used to fast three days in each month. This is the fourth pillar out of the five pillars of Islam. It was also ordained in the same year the giving of Zakaat, the giving of alms to the poor or the cleansing of one’s wealth; and is the third pillar. Islam is based on five pillars viz.:

1.  Testify that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad (SAW) is His Apostle.

2. Performing of prayers.

3. Giving of Zakaat.

4. Fasting the month of Ramadhan.

5.  Going for pilgrimage to Makka for those who can.

When the annoyance of the unbelievers became intolerable and got beyond control, Muhammad (SAW) ordered his follower to emigrate to Madina. Groups of them thus left and went to Madina, leaving behind Muhammad (SAW) with only a few people, among them were Abu Bakr Ssiddiq, Ali bin Abi Taalib, Suhaib and Zeyd bin Haaritha (RAA).

The Quraishy got together to discuss what to do with Muhammad (SAW). One of them said: “Banish him from Makka and you will be in peace.” This suggestion was refused because if Muhammad (SAW) went out of Mecca his followers would join him and would become stronger. Another suggestion was to throw him into the gallows; this was also refused, as his followers would try to free him and that they might start a war.

Abu Jahal (the Ignorant) his people called him Abu Lhakam (the Wise), said: “Let us kill him. We should get a strong youth from each of our clans, and let them wait for him outside his home at night and when he comes out they all attack him together. In this way his blood would be in the hands of all the Quraishy, and the Abd Manaaf would not be able to fight all of us.” They therefore agreed on this plan, but by God’s miracles Muhammad (SAW) came to know of the plan and his Lord commanded him to leave and go where he would get respect and be able to spread the religion freely and well.

In Surat Nnajm (The Star) (liii) God defends Muhammad (SAW) against three kinds of charges that the unbelievers brought against him:

1.  That he was going astray, either through defect of intelligence or through carelessness.

2. That he was being misled or deceived by evil spirits.

3. That he spoke of a whim or impulse, or from a selfish desire to impress his own personality.

None of these charges was true; on the contrary he had direct inspiration from God.

Emigration of Muhammad (SAW)

When Muhammad (SAW) came to know of the assassination plot made by the Quraishy, he went to his best friend Abu Bakr (RAA) and told him what he had heard and what his Lord had commanded him to do. He requested Abu Bakr (RAA) to go with him and he agreed; so they made arrangements for their departure. They agreed to meet outside the perimeters of Mecca that night; and the Quraishy for that fact had set for his assassination on the same night. When the time came for his departure, he asked his cousin Ali bin Abi Taalib (RAA) to sleep in his bed so that they would be assassins would not suspect anything. He went out that night and was reciting:

And We have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them, and further, We have covered them up; so that they can not see. *(Ya-Sin (xxxvi) 9)

Here by God’s miracles the assassins fell asleep and did not hear anything, and Muhammad (SAW) came out of his house, passed by them and left them like dead logs. He went to where he had agreed to meet Abu Bakr (RAA) and left the same night. They went until they reached a cave known as Ghaar Thawr (Bull’s Cave) and went inside to hide. Immediately after they had got into the cave, miraculously there came a dove, made a nest, laid eggs and sat in it. Moreover, the whole entrance of the cave was covered with cobwebs.

When the Quraishy woke up in the morning and realized that their plot had failed, they were very upset. They sent scouts in every direction to look for Muhammad (SAW) and promised a good reward for anyone who would bring the news of his whereabouts. They looked everywhere, searched high and low without success. They followed the footprints until they reached the cave but they said that it was not possible for anyone to be inside it. Had they only looked closely they would have seen them; that was God’s miracle they were blinded. While inside the cave Muhammad (SAW) said to his companion: “Have no fear, for god is with us.”

They stayed in there for three days. In the daytime a youth by the name of Amir bin Fahyrat used to pass by with his sheep, which he milked them and gave the milk to Muhammad (SAW) and Abu Bakr (RAA). In the evening Abdulla bin Abu Bakr brought them news of any movements in town. When the matter was forgotten they came out and headed towards Madina.

When the people of Madina came to know that Muhammad (SAW) was coming, every day they used to go outside the town waiting for his arrival, until one day they heard someone shouting: “Muhammad is approaching!” Here all the people went out to meet them with joy and dancing. When he arrived he stayed for few days at the home of Amru bin Awf, and they built the first mosque at a place called Qubaa. After this he left with his camel going towards the town of Madina and the people along the way welcomed him in great joy. Everyone wanted him to be his guest but he answered: “The camel has been ordered (by God), anywhere it stops that would be my abode.”

The camel was let loose and went until it reached at the place of Abi Ayyub L-Ansary and stopped there, and Muhammad (SAW) said: “This is where my home shall be by God’s will.” There he built his mosque which exists until today, but has been expanded.

It is said that Muhammad (SAW) arrived in Qubaa on 2 Rabii L- Awal (the third month), which falls on 20 September 622 After Christ. That was thirteen years from the beginning of Islam and from then on the new Islamic year Al-Hijra started commemorating the immigration of Muhammad (SAW) to Madina. When Umar bin L-Khattab (RAA) came to power the people agreed that the beginning of the year should start from Muharram, and that is the first month in the Islamic calendar used until now.

Muhammad (SAW) called those who came from Mecca as Muhajirin (who migrated), and those people of Madina who submitted to Islam as Ansaar (the protectors of religion).

The Building of the Prophet’s Mosque

The Prophet then ordered for a mosque to be built near the vicinity of the village of Bani Malik bin Nnajaar and the land proposed belonged to two orphans. Muhammad (SAW) called them and asked them if the land could be given for the purpose, they said to him: “O Apostle of God! We have donated to you this our land without payment, for our payment will come from our Lord.”

However, Muhammad (SAW) refused and said: “O the people of Nnajaar! Put a value for this here land.”

They said: “We are asking no value for it, God shall pay us.”

Thus the land was leveled and prepared for the construction of the mosque. Two columns for the door were constructed from stones, and then the remaining columns were made from trunks of the date palm and the roof was made from palm fronds. Muhammad (SAW) himself was among those who worked and supervised the construction. The Mihraab where the Imam (leader) of the prayers, should stand was kept on the north side towards the grand mosque at Baitil Maqdis. The floor had only pebbles spread on the bare ground and nothing else was laid on it. This was to become the Grand Mosque of Madina that we know now standing majestically.

Later on Muhammad (SAW) built two rooms adjoining the mosque, one room for his wife Sawdah (RAA) and the other for his wife Aisha (RAA). More rooms were later added to become nine, where each wife had a room of her own, as Muhammad (SAW) kept all his wives within one compound of his house.

Changing the Direction of Qibla

Qibla is the direction where one faces (in prayers). When Muhammad (SAW) was in Mecca, during his prayers he used to stand in front of the Kaaba facing towards the south. In this way he faced towards Baitil Maqdis in Palestine, as this was the direction supposed to be facing to, and at the same time he faced the Kaaba which was in front of him. He did this until he moved to Madina. In Madina he was not able to face Baitil Maqdis and at the same time face towards Kaaba in Mecca, since Madina lies in the middle between the two. Thus he faced

Baitil Maqdis during his prayers, and continued this for sixteen months although he wanted very much to be facing towards the

Kaaba, and was always praying to his Lord for the change of direction. One day when he was in the middle of his prayers came the Divine inspiration commanding him to change his direction towards the Holly Kaaba, and he together with those who were praying with him at that instant changed the direction. This, until now, is where all Muslims throughout the globe face, during their prayers. There is a mosque outside Madina called Masjid Qiblatayn (Mosque of the two Qiblas) where the incidence took place. Until a few years back one could see these two Qiblas in the old mosque.

The Divine inspiration is mentioned in Surat Al-Baqara (ii) verse 144 thus:

We see the turning of thy face (for guidance) to the heavens: now shall We turn thee to a Qibla that shall please thee. Turn then thy face in the direction of the sacred Mosque: wherever ye are, turn your faces in that direction. ….

Muhammad (SAW) continued preaching to the people to submit to Islam, and sent envoys to different people far away and to different countries to tell them of the religion. Despite this there was a lot of resistance from many of them, and for this many wars were fought. Among these wars to mention but a few, was ‘The War of Badr’ on 17 Ramadhan year 2 Hijra, ‘The War of Uhud’ during Shawwaal year 3 Hijra. Many a times the unbelievers sent assassins to assassinate Muhammad (SAW) but God always protected him.

The Hudaybiya Pact

Six years after Muhammad (SAW) had moved to Madina, he dreamt that he was entering the sacred mosque of Mecca. He told his companions what he had dreamt and that he had decided to go to Mecca to perform Umra (minor pilgrimage). He, together with one thousand four hundred of his companions, therefore left for Mecca for the intention of performing Umra. When the Quraishy came to know that a large group of Muslims with Muhammad (SAW) were approaching Mecca, they thought that they were coming to fight a war, therefore they sent people to meet them before they entered Mecca. When the envoy arrived, Muhammad (SAW) told them that he and his people had come in peace and only wanted to enter Mecca to perform Umra. They went on until they reached a place called L- Hudaybiya outside Mecca and put up camp there.

The Quraishy stopped them from entering Mecca, and envoys were shuttling back and forth to find a solution that would satisfy both the parties. After a prolonged discussion and argument, they agreed on the following points:

1.     Stop the wars between the Muslims and the Quraishy for a period of ten years.

2.    Anyone from the Quraishy who would go to Muhammad (SAW) with the intention of submitting to Islam, without the consent of his/her guardian must be returned to his/her people.

3.    Anyone from the Quraishy who had submitted to Islam and later wanted to return to paganism should be accepted back by the Quraishy.

4.    Anyone who wished to join Muhammad (SAW) was to be allowed, and anyone who wanted to join the Quraishy was also to be allowed.

5.    The Prophet and his companion who came this year to perform Umra should go back to Madina without being allowed to enter Mecca. However, they would be allowed to return the following year if they were coming with the intention of performing Umra.

Both the parties agreed on the points and they signed an official pact. Muhammad (SAW) and his companions slaughtered their sacrifices at that place and cut their hair as if they had performed the Umra and retumed to Madina without entering Mecca.

The Opening of Mecca

Because of the pact signed, Muhammad (SAW) could not fight and enter Mecca so as to spread the Islamic religion; the Quraishis, however, did not keep to their word. Therefore Muhammad (SAW) decided to attack Mecca, and he went out with his army, attacked and entered Mecca. He then went inside the holly Kaaba and shattered all the idols that were there and kept it clean. He then made the Tawaaf (circling round the Kaaba).

When Muhammad (SAW) entered Mecca he had with him twelve thousand Muslims, and four hundred of the Quraishy submitted to Islam after that. He stayed there for nineteen days and then returned to Madina. The opening of Mecca was during Ramadhan fourth year of Hijra which fell in January of the year 630 After Christ.

The Farewell Pilgrimage

In the tenth year of Hijra, Muhammad (SAW) went to Mecca to perform pilgrimage. This was his first and his last pilgrimage. He performed pilgrimage only that one time. He left Madina and with him nearly ninety thousand Muslims, travelling to Makka on camel backs. When he arrived he first performed the Umra, which is the usual practice done now by the Muslim when they go for pilgrimage. On the eighth of Dhul Qaada (the eleventh month) he went to Mina and spent the night there, and the next morning he went to Arafaat and at noon he gave a sermon to the public and said:

”O my people! Listen to what l am going to say to you, l do not think I shall see you again after this year and at (this) same place of this here gathering.”

He went on explaining to them the basis and foundation of the Islamic religion and advised them to keep together as one nation, which was the only way to success.

Therefore the following verse was revealed at the time when he was preaching to his people, marking the approaching end of

Muhammad’s ministry in his early life:

… This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. But if any is forced by hunger, with no inclination to transgression, God is indeed oft forgiving, Most Merciful. *(Al-Maida (v) 3)

’Perfected your religion for you.’ The religion of worshiping the one God, the religion preached by all the Prophets all along from Adam (AS) to Muhammad (SAW).

This of course was his last and farewell speech to his people, since he did not last long after his return to Madina. He died soon after that. The Haj or pilgrimage was thus made the fifth pillar of Islam.

The Death of Muhammad (SAW)

Muhammad (SAW) returned home to Madina after his completion of the pilgrimage. In the month of Safar (the second month) in the eleventh year of Hijra he got ill, and was nursed in the house of his wife Aisha (RAA). When he felt that he was no longer able to go to the mosque, he instructed Abu Bakr (RAA) to lead the congregation in the prayers. Three days later he managed to drag himself and went to the mosque, where he told his people: “O my people! I have been told that you are afraid that your Prophet would die, was there anyone of the Apostles who lived forever? I shall go back to my Lord, and all of you as well shall follow. I am advising those Muhajirin among you to stick together with the Ansaar in doing righteous deeds, for God says”:

By (the Token of) time (through the Ages), * Verily Man is in loss, * Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy. * (Surat Asr (ciii) 1-3)

He advised the Muslims in general to be together, love each other without any segregation. This was his last sermon, for he was on and off, a little better but was not able to get out of his bed after that. Muhammad (SAW) died On Monday the 13^th of Rabii Awal (the third month) year 11 Hijra, which was the 8^th of June year 633 After Christ, at the age of exactly sixty-three. According to the Gregorian calendar he was sixty-one years and eighty one days old.

Abu Bakr (RAA) was not present at the time of Muhammad’s (SAW) death, but immediately when he got the news he came and entered the house of Aisha (RAA) where his body was lying. When he saw his body he wept and then said: “O people! Those who worshiped Muhammad, he is now dead. But those who worship the one God He is there alive and ever remaining!”

God says in Sura Aal-Imraan (iii) verse 144:

Muhammad is no more than an Apostle: many were the Apostles that passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will ye then turn back on your heels? If any did turn back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to God; but God (on the other hand) will swiftly reward those who (serve him) with gratitude.

The Prophet’s body lay there for two days, until the Muslims agreed on a successor (Caliph). They had agreed to make Abu Bakr (RAA), as a successor to Muhammad (SAW) to continue with his work, but not as a Prophet as Muhammad (SAW) was the last of the Prophets. After this they started the arrangements for the funeral. Therefore the body was washed, shrouded and laid on his bed. Here people started coming into the room and pay their last respect, by praying individually without the Imam.

Then they had to decide where to bury him, and some suggested that he be buried together with his companions at the graveyard known as L-Baqiy near his mosque. However, Abu Bakr (RAA) said: “I heard the Prophet say, ‘No prophet who died before had been buried anywhere except where his soul was taken’. Therefore his resting place would be where he had died.” He was therefore buried in the room of his wife Aisha (RAA).

Muhammad (SAW) died and left behind for his followers the God’s Book, the Holy Quraan that has collected the teachings of everything what anyone would require in his/her daily life, if followed as required. He left behind for his people the true religion of worshipping the one God and no one would go astray if he/ she followed. We therefore pray to God the Almighty to put us on that straight path of the true believers so as to accomplish what Muhammad (SAW) had brought to us. We also pray to our Lord to let us be with those lucky ones of being together with him in the hereafter, Amin.

Reference: The Twenty five Prophets (The Parable of the Apostles Mentioned in the Holy Quraan)", by Nassir ibn Issa ibn Said Al-Kindy. (p 161-189) 

Finally!!