Around 570 CE, Muhammad was born on the Arabian Peninsula in the city of Mecca. Like many religious figures, the earliest accounts of Muhammad’s life come from oral tradition, so we are not even sure of his actual birth date. According to tradition, Muhammad was orphaned at a young age and was raised by his uncle. His uncle, Abu Thalib, was the leader of the Hashimite Clan and an important member of the Quraysh Tribe. These early privations influenced Muhammad’s later desire to take care of those who could not care for themselves.
In his youth, Muhammad found employment in the regional caravan trade as a dependable herder and driver of camels. During this period, he cultivated a reputation of an empathetic and honest man, one who earned the respect of many Meccans. His upright character soon attracted the attention of a wealthy merchant known as Khadija who hired Muhammad to manage her caravans. Once Muhammad proved his reliability, Khadija, who was fifteen years older than Muhammad, proposed to him, and they married. This marriage afforded Muhammad a financial security that allowed him to begin meditating on religion in the abstract.
Muhammad had been concerned about the direction society had recently been taking and that the concepts defined by muruwah were no longer being upheld. He believed that some of the most influential members of society, namely the merchant elite of the Quraysh Tribe, were no longer respecting their traditional responsibilities to the weaker members of society because of their own greed. He thought that the People of the Book, specifically, Christians and Jews, might have a better answer for the ills afflicting Meccan society. Muhammad had contact with the Christians and Jews of the peninsula and even traveled to Christian Syria while working in the caravan trade. In this context, the Angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad at a cave nearby to Mecca in 610, during the holy month of Ramadan. The Angel Gabriel instructed him to “recite,” and then he spoke the divine word of God. His revelations became the Qur’an.
At first, Muhammad displayed the very human reactions of fear and distrust to the apparition of the Angel Gabriel. He also expressed embarrassment because he did not want to be associated with the pagan diviners of the region. Fortunately, his wife Khadija had a cousin who was a hanif, someone who was neither a Christian nor a Jew, but who believed in a vague concept of a monotheistic god. Her cousin trusted the veracity of Muhammad’s revelations. So with trepidation, Muhammad eventually accepted his role as God’s vehicle. His wife became the first convert to Islam, with Abu Thalib’s son, Ali converting soon afterwards.
The Prophet Muhammad
Around 570 CE, Muhammad was born on the Arabian Peninsula in the city of Mecca. Like many religious
figures, the earliest accounts of Muhammad’s life come from oral tradition, so we are not even sure of
his actual birth date. According to tradition, Muhamm
ad was orphaned at a young age and was raised by
his uncle. His uncle, Abu Thalib, was the leader of the Hashimite Clan and an important member of the
Quraysh Tribe.
These early privations influenced Muhammad’s later desire to take care of those who
could
not care for themselves.
In his youth, Muhammad found employment in the regional caravan trade as a dependable herder and
driver of camels. During this period, he cultivated a reputation of an empathetic and honest man, one
who earned the respect of many
Meccans. His upright character soon attracted the attention of a
wealthy merchant known as Khadija who hired Muhammad to manage her caravans. Once Muhammad
proved his reliability, Khadija, who was fifteen years older than Muhammad, proposed to him, and the
y
married. This marriage afforded Muhammad a financial security that allowed him to begin meditating
on religion in the abstract.
Muhammad had been concerned about the direction society had recently been taking and that the
concepts defined by
muruwah
were
no longer being upheld. He believed that some of the most
influential members of society, namely the merchant elite of the Quraysh Tribe, were no longer
respecting their traditional responsibilities to the weaker members of society because of their own
gr
eed. He thought that the People of the Book, specifically, Christians and Jews, might have a better
answer for the ills afflicting Meccan society. Muhammad had contact with the Christians and Jews of the
peninsula and even traveled to Christian Syria while
working in the caravan trade. In this context, the
Angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad at a cave nearby to Mecca in 610, during the holy month of
Ramadan. The Angel Gabriel instructed him to “recite,” and then he spoke the divine word of God. His
revelatio
ns became the Qur’an.
The Prophet Muhammad
Around 570 CE, Muhammad was born on the Arabian Peninsula in the city of Mecca. Like many religious
figures, the earliest accounts of Muhammad’s life come from oral tradition, so we are not even sure of
his actual birth date. According to tradition, Muhammad was orphaned at a young age and was raised by
his uncle. His uncle, Abu Thalib, was the leader of the Hashimite Clan and an important member of the
Quraysh Tribe. These early privations influenced Muhammad’s later desire to take care of those who
could not care for themselves.
In his youth, Muhammad found employment in the regional caravan trade as a dependable herder and
driver of camels. During this period, he cultivated a reputation of an empathetic and honest man, one
who earned the respect of many Meccans. His upright character soon attracted the attention of a
wealthy merchant known as Khadija who hired Muhammad to manage her caravans. Once Muhammad
proved his reliability, Khadija, who was fifteen years older than Muhammad, proposed to him, and they
married. This marriage afforded Muhammad a financial security that allowed him to begin meditating
on religion in the abstract.
Muhammad had been concerned about the direction society had recently been taking and that the
concepts defined by muruwah were no longer being upheld. He believed that some of the most
influential members of society, namely the merchant elite of the Quraysh Tribe, were no longer
respecting their traditional responsibilities to the weaker members of society because of their own
greed. He thought that the People of the Book, specifically, Christians and Jews, might have a better
answer for the ills afflicting Meccan society. Muhammad had contact with the Christians and Jews of the
peninsula and even traveled to Christian Syria while working in the caravan trade. In this context, the
Angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad at a cave nearby to Mecca in 610, during the holy month of
Ramadan. The Angel Gabriel instructed him to “recite,” and then he spoke the divine word of God. His
revelations became the Qur’an.