PROPHET MUHAMMAD
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) lived from 570-632 AD. Muhammad (pbuh) was born in Mecca. He belonged to the clan of Hashim, a poor but respected branch of the tribe of Quraysh. His father died before he was born, and after his mother's death when he was six, he was brought up by his uncle Abu Talib. Like his fellow tribesmen, he became a trader and made several journeys to Syria. He then began to manage the business of a rich widow, Khadija; she was greatly impressed by both his honesty and ability, and she shortly offered him marriage, which he accepted at the age of 25.
He usually withdrew to a cave outside Mecca to meditate and pray for guidance. During one of these retreats he experienced a vision of the Angel Gabriel. Who told him to read, at the third try he read. To soon find out he became a prophet of God. He was greatly astonished by the experience but was reassured by his wife. His wife and his cousin Ali became his first followers, and eventually he began to preach in public, reciting the verses of his revelation, which came to be known as the
Koran.Soon after his vision of Gabriel, people didn’t like him getting all the people and converting them into Muslims. There were murderers after him. Muhammad (pbuh) escaped Mecca just as his enemies were preparing to murder him, and he arrived in Medina eight days later. Muhammad (pbuh) was soon given supreme authority in Medina, and he began to establish the ritual practices of Islam. The Meccans, meanwhile, persisted in their hostility, demanding the extradition of Muhammad (pbuh) and his Meccan followers. They were supported in Medina by a group, referred to in the Koran as the Hypocrites. Who had submitted to Islam but were secretly working against it.
As long as Khadija lived, Muhammad (pbuh) took no other wives. After her death in 619, when he was 50. He eventually married nine women, including Aisha, the daughter of his kinsman and early follower Abu Bakr. Muhammad's (pbuh) sons all died in infancy, and the only daughter to survive him was Fatima, who married Ali, the fourth caliph. Than soon Muhammad (pbuh) died in 632 AD, at the age of 63.
10/31/98