Did He not find you an orphan, and shelter you?
Did He not find you straying, and guide you?
Did He not find you needy, and enrich you?
As for the orphan, do not oppress him,
And as for the beggar, do not drive him away,
And as for the grace of your Lord, declare it. (93:6–11)
The Qur’an portrays the greedy and stingy individual as doomed to a miserable end:
As for him who gives and is God-fearing
And affirms goodness,
We shall “ease him to the Easing.”
But as for the miser and the self-absorbed,
Who declares the Good to be a lie,
We shall “ease him to the Hardship,”
And his wealth will be of no use to him when he perishes. (92:5–11)
The pious believers, by contrast, show a concern for a relationship with both God and with the poor:
They would sleep but little at night,
And as dawn broke, they would seek forgiveness,
And they shared their belongings with the beggar and the dispossessed. (51:17–19)
Those who persist in disobedience by refusing to worship Allah and to recognize His Prophet are subject to punishment in this world and in the life to come. Muhammad asserted that at the Last Judgment the fate of the wicked will be a fiery torment. On the other hand, those who submit to God will enjoy His favor in this world and will be generously rewarded at the Last Judgment. The imagery used to describe the bliss of paradise is as vivid as that of hell. In both cases, it is calculated to resonate with populations acquainted with the desert. The hellish fire and blasts of wind are contrasted with the gardens, cool water, and pampered service by young men and women that await the righteous in paradise.
It is clear from the wording of the Qur’an that the doctrine of the physical resurrection of the dead was incomprehensible and even ludicrous to many of Muhammad’s audience, who raised many of the same objections to it as skeptics in other religious traditions have throughout the ages. Many in Mecca also objected to Muhammad’s insistence that the basis for one’s eternal fate at the Last Judgment would be merit and not status as a member of a particular tribe. That membership in a tribe with high status would not avail a person when it mattered most was inconceivable to members of the elite tribes. When skeptics challenged the doctrine of the Last Judgment and asked about the fate of revered ancestors of the current generation, Muhammad replied that, because of their polytheism, they were now in hell. Muhammad’s teachings were thus particularly galling to the aristocrats of Mecca. On the one hand, he used the traditional value of generosity against them and exposed the fact that they had betrayed those values by becoming greedy and stingy; on the other hand, he turned upside down the traditional criterion for status, which was a prominent position in a powerful tribe. According to him, individuals from undistinguished backgrounds who submitted to God and His Prophet would fare better in eternity than would the most revered tribal leader who rejected the new teaching. Given the prevailing values of the period, it is clear why his message was welcomed by some groups, detested by others, and simply not comprehended by many.
The leaders of the dominant Quraysh tribe in Mecca were bitter critics of Muhammad’s mission. Only the protection of Muhammad’s uncle, Abu Talib, prevented him and his followers from being persecuted, rather than merely harassed. In 619, however, the Prophet’s circumstances changed for the worse. In that year, both Khadija and Abu Talib died, leaving him without psychological support and social protection. The leaders of the Quraysh were free to impose an economic boycott on the small Muslim community, and individual Muslims became the target of physical beatings. With tensions growing between the leaders of the Quraysh and the Muslims, it became clear that Muhammad and his followers would have to find another setting in which to practice their faith. Muhammad investigated the possibilities at several nearby towns, but was unable to elicit any interest.
Then, unexpectedly, in 620, a group from the oasis of Yathrib, some 240 miles to the north, converted to Islam when they heard him preaching. The next year, another group from Yathrib came to Mecca and embraced Islam. Members of the group invited Muhammad to come to their oasis in order to mediate quarrels among tribal factions there. In 622 C.E., Muhammad and his followers emigrated to Yathrib, which later in Islamic history became known as The City (madina) of the Prophet, or Medina. This trek of hundreds of Muslims is known as the hijra. Years later, Muslims came to see that the Hijra was the decisive moment in Islamic history, and they accepted the year in which it occurred as the beginning of the new Islamic calendar. Year One of the Muslim era had begun.
Hijra has often been translated into English as “flight,” but doing so misses an important element of Islamic history. It is true that the account of Muhammad’s transfer to Medina points out the danger that he and his followers were exposed to, and that Muhammad left Mecca just in time to avoid an attempt on his life. On the other hand, Muslims have always seen the Hijra as a rejection of Meccan unbelief, rather than a flight to escape danger. Throughout history, many Muslims have been convinced that, should they come under non-Muslim rule, they should “perform hijra” by moving to an area ruled by pious Muslims.
Medina was not a compact city, but rather a large oasis that contained several hamlets. It was the home of thousands of Jews, some of whom were descendants of refugees from the great Jewish revolt against Rome in the second century. They formed at least three tribes. Two Arab tribes had come into the oasis later than the Jews, but had become the dominant forces there. The two Arab tribes were engaged in continual warfare with each other and had almost destroyed the community. The delegation that invited Muhammad to the oasis had done so in the hope that he could bring stability to the community. In a series of documents that have come to be called the Constitution of Medina, the inhabitants of the oasis recognized Muhammad as the community’s political leader. As such, he was able to influence more people than ever before. His undeniable talents as a negotiator and arbiter reinforced his prophetic claims, and the number of his followers began to grow rapidly.
For the next eight years, Muhammad sought to implement Islamic principles in Medina and to build up the economic and military resources of his city. His responsibilities were entirely different from what they had been in Mecca, and the revelations that continued to come to him reflect the new circumstances. Compared with the earlier revelations, these new messages are more concerned with legislative matters, rules for communal living, and challenges to his message from Jews and Christians.
A major concern of his was to provide a means of support for the Muslims who had accompanied him to Medina. Opportunities for the employment of recent immigrants were limited in the oasis economy, so Muhammad resorted to raiding caravans that carried the Meccan trade. The attacks began to wreak economic damage on the Meccan economy, and so, in 624, the Quraysh attempted to intercept and defeat Muhammad’s forces at a caravan watering hole called Badr. The Battle of Badr was a shocking loss for the Meccans and a corresponding boost to the prestige of Muhammad throughout the Hijaz. The next year, the Meccans attacked Medina itself, and this time, the Quraysh won a decisive victory at the Battle of Uhud. Inexplicably, they failed to follow up on their victory, allowing the Muslim community an opportunity to recover.
The subsequent period of self-doubt and reflection led to the emergence of a maturity and seriousness of purpose that the Muslims had not before possessed. The results were manifested when, in 627, Mecca launched the largest attack yet. Greatly outnumbering the Muslim forces, the Meccans and their allies were confident of victory, but Muhammad had anticipated the attack and inspired the Medinans to work hard to prepare their city’s defenses. Hills and large boulders presented obstacles to any attack on three sides of the city. The northern approach was the only one that was level and unobstructed. There, the Medinans dug a large moat, or ditch, which rendered the Meccan cavalry useless. After several days of f
rustration, the attackers were forced to retreat. The “Battle of the Ditch” convinced Muhammad’s followers that their cause was poised for imminent victory.
The battle was, in fact, a turning point in Muhammad’s career. Throughout the five years of struggle with Mecca, Muhammad had already developed a reputation throughout the Hijaz as a leader who had to be taken seriously. He had sent out emissaries to oases and nomadic tribes, attempting to gain allies. Several communities agreed to help him in the event of clashes with Mecca, and some of them accepted his religious teachings—he did not force his allies to become Muslims. Other communities, however, feared his growing power and allied with Mecca instead.
In the year following the Battle of the Ditch, Muhammad felt strong enough to begin testing the military power of his new community. In 628, he captured at least two oases in the northern Hijaz, and then he led a group of followers toward Mecca, declaring that the Muslims wished to perform the rites of pilgrimage at the city. Although his group was deliberately not heavily armed, the Meccan leaders asked to negotiate. Muhammad, realizing that they had lost their nerve and would no longer be a serious threat to him, agreed to do so. The two groups signed a treaty that postponed the pilgrimage for one year. Although some of the Muslims thought the concession was a humiliation, Muhammad realized that the Meccans had recognized him as a legitimate and equal power and had conceded his right to enter their city.
During the next two years, Muhammad’s military forces captured several oases in the northern tier of the peninsula and made an unsuccessful raid into Byzantine territory in southern Syria. In 630, he forced the issue of supremacy with Mecca by leading an army against the city. The Quraysh capitulated with almost no resistance. Muhammad entered Mecca, cleansed the Ka‘ba, and dedicated it solely to Allah. Most Meccans made their submission to Muhammad’s cause, and Muhammad immediately named several of the most talented of them to be high-level administrators and advisors. Some of his longtime followers, who had been persecuted by these same people, were bewildered and angered by the appointments, but Muhammad continued to reveal his keen political instincts and his astute assessment of personalities by co-opting the talent and ultimate loyalty of his former enemies.
From his base in Medina, Muhammad ordered a campaign to the far north of the peninsula that resulted in the capture of the oasis of Tabuk and three Byzantine towns near the Gulf of Aqaba. Numerous tribes in the peninsula now began sending delegations to Muhammad, seeking terms of understanding with this formidable new ruler. Muhammad was content to make alliances with some of the more powerful ones; with others, he secured agreements to submit to Islam and to pay a tax. By 632, he dominated western Arabia, and Muslim communities could be found from the Persian Gulf to Yemen. In March of that year, Muhammad’s health began to fail. His condition deteriorated rapidly into June, when he died.
A Framework for a New Community
Muhammad’s sudden death in 632 was a shock to those who had been caught up in the dramatic developments of the previous decade. The course of events after the Battle of the Ditch had been particularly riveting and had seemed to be the prelude to a new order in the region. With the Prophet’s death, however, what would become of his religiomoral movement and the nascent state that he headed? Few were aware of it at the time, but Muhammad had transformed the Hijaz irrevocably, and his career has become one of the turning points of world history.
Confronting the Death of the Prophet
The Prophet died in the arms of his favorite wife, the young ‘A’isha. The passage that follows, which comes from the earliest extant biography of Muhammad, captures the shock of the community in Medina when the news of his death spread. It also emphasizes the centrality of the tenet of strict monotheism in Islam. The two major figures mentioned here, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, were among the first converts to Islam, were fathers-in-law of the Prophet (Abu Bakr was ‘A’isha’s father), and became the first two leaders of the Muslim community after the Prophet’s death.
When the apostle was dead ‘Umar got up and said: “Some of the disaffected will allege that the apostle is dead, but by God he is not dead: he has gone to his Lord as Moses b. ‘Imran went and was hidden from his people for forty days, returning to them after it was said that he had died. By God, the apostle will return as Moses returned and will cut off the hands and feet of men who allege that the apostle is dead.” When Abu Bakr heard what was happening he came to the door of the mosque as ‘Umar was speaking to the people. He paid no attention but went in to ‘A’isha’s house to the apostle, who was lying covered by a mantle of Yamani cloth. He went and uncovered his face and kissed him, saying, “You are dearer than my father and mother. You have tasted the death which God had decreed: a second death will never overtake you.” Then he replaced the mantle on the apostle’s face and went out. ‘Umar was still speaking and he said, “Gently, ‘Umar, be quiet.” But ‘Umar went on talking, and when Abu Bakr saw that he would not be silent he went forward to the people who, when they heard his words, came to him and left ‘Umar. Giving thanks and praise to God he said: “O men, if anyone worships Muhammad, Muhammad is dead: if anyone worships God, God is alive, immortal.” Then he recited this verse (3:138): “Muhammad is nothing but an apostle. Apostles have passed away before him. Can it be that if he were to die or be killed you would turn back on your heels? He who turns back does no harm to God and God will reward the grateful.” By God, it was as though the people did not know that this verse …. had come down until Abu Bakr recited it that day. The people took it from him and it was (constantly) in their mouths. ‘Umar said, “By God, when I heard Abu Bakr recite these words I was dumbfounded so that my legs would not bear me and I fell to the ground knowing that the apostle was indeed dead.”
SOURCE: Ibn Ishaq. The Life of Muhammad. A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated with introduction and notes by A. Guillaume. Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan Branch: Oxford University Press, 1967, 682–683.
Muhammad lived in Arabia at a time when the inhabitants of the towns there seem to have been experiencing a crisis of faith similar to that of the citizens of the Roman Empire in the second century, when the so-called mystery religions began to challenge the traditional state-sponsored pantheon of Roman gods and goddesses. For reasons not clear to us in either case, the old gods and goddesses began to lose their ability to hold the faith of the masses, and many individuals went in quest of a more substantial religion. We do know that Judaism and Christianity were the dominant religions of Syria and Iraq to the north of Arabia and were also well established in the northern and southern extremes of the peninsula. As religions of settled communities and of a literate, cultured tradition, they were respected by the polytheistic Arabs. At first, Muhammad seems to have thought of Jews and Christians as natural allies in the struggle against polytheism. As we have seen, he taught that his message was the same as that preached by the Jewish prophets, including Jesus. Following the Jewish example, Muhammad initially ordered his followers to face towards Jerusalem while performing their prayers, and while in Mecca, he seems to have followed the Jewish example in several other points of ritual and doctrine.
No later than the early period in Medina, however, it became clear that Islam would have to define itself apart from each of these other two religions. After the Hijra, Muhammad’s relations with the Jews deteriorated rapidly. The Qur’an suggests that certain Jews in Medina challenged the Prophet’s versions of several narratives because they did not conform to the biblical renderings. Muhammad also had reason to suspect certain Jews of complicity with the enemy during the three battles with Mecca. After each of the first two battles, he exiled a Jewish tribe, and after the Battle of the Ditch, he executed the adult males of the remaining Jewish tribe, a number that amounted to several hundred individuals. He then sold the women and children into slavery.
It also seems to be the Medinan period when criticisms of Christians became more commonplace. Christians claimed to follow the teachings of Jesus, bu
t the Jesus of the Qur’an is quite different from the one whom the Christians worshiped. According to the Qur’an, Jesus was indeed born of a virgin named Mary (although the birth took place at the base of a palm tree instead of in a stable), performed miracles, and brought a message from God. Contrary to the account in the Bible, however, the Qur’an teaches that the plans to crucify Jesus were thwarted and that God delivered him from execution. More important, the Qur’an denies that Jesus is the incarnation of God, as the Christians claimed. In one passage (5:116–120) it portrays a conversation between God and Jesus in which God asks Jesus if he ever claimed that he and Mary were divinities worthy of worship. Jesus emphatically denies having done so, reinforcing a passage earlier in the chapter that rejects the concept of the Trinity and emphasizes Jesus’s status as a mortal prophet (5:72–75).
Because of the clashes between Muhammad on the one hand and Jews and Christians on the other, certain passages in the Qur’an are highly critical of those two religious groups. Chapter 5 is particularly harsh, calling Christians “unbelievers” whose fate is the fire of hell because of their concept of the Trinity (5:72–73); Jews are linked with the polytheists in their hostility to Islam (5:82); and Muslims are warned not to take Jews or Christians as friends because of their mockery of Islam and their unfaithfulness (5:51, 57). On the other hand, the Qur’an more often refers to Jews and Christians as “People of the Book”—that is, as having a version (albeit distorted) of the revelation from God. In some passages (2:62, among others), the Qur’an seems to state explicitly that Jews and Christians should be recognized as spiritual kinsmen to Muslims. Many of them, it points out, are clearly God-fearing and righteous. Despite the political tensions and the doctrinal differences separating Jews and Christians from Muslims, the Qur’an’s overall evaluation of the Jews and Christians was that, as People of the Book, they deserved to be allowed to practice their religion. As we shall see in subsequent chapters, the Muslims who conquered the vast areas from the Atlantic to the Indus River would regard the People of the Book as protected peoples.
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