Historians can know just as much about the life of the Prophet Muhammad as any other historical figure with the aid of documents, anthropology, and oral history. The basis of history resonates from many elements of research: oral history, anthropology, visual documents, primary documents, and secondary documents. This holds true for any aspect of history be it life or otherwise. The words written in a book during someone’s lifetime can hold just as much truth, or falsehood for that matter, than that of a statement or document made or written after one’s lifetime. The general way historians gain insight on their subjects is to analyze available documents and information in order to find some common thread and assess what seems likely to hold true and what is dismissible. The analysis is not going to be the same for each historian but in the end, the receivers of the information get to know about a historical person in a broad sense.
General information is available about the Prophet Muhammad’s childhood and family life through secondary sources. Many believe he was born in 570, which is the year of the elephant (Goldschmidt and Davidson 2010). The Prophet Muhammad was from the clan of Hashim, a poor tribe that branched from the ruling Quarysh tribe. Muhammad was orphaned at an early age and raised by his uncle Abu-Talib. The Prophet was a keen merchant who caught the eye of a wealthy older woman he worked for named Khadija. Khadija proposed to Muhammad and they later married and had six children together. Khadija and Abu-Talib died in 619 and went on to marry several other women (Goldschmidt and Davidson 2010). Muhammad died June 8, 632 in Medina (Goldschmidt and Davidson 2010). The Prophet Muhammad’s child and family life is dis...
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...e time of which the Prophet Muhammad lived.
There are two primary resources whereby information about the life of the Prophet Muhammad can be drawn. The remaining resources used to obtain information surrounding and of the Prophet Muhammad’s life consist of oral dictation that was later documented. Readers come to know information about the Prophet Muhammad’s childhood, marriages, family, religion, and a glimpse into what was the socio-political system of his day through this documentation. This is more than one can know about many historical figures and certainly does not make for a sparse filler of the life of the Prophet Muhammad.
Works Cited
"Aisha, Ayesha." BELIEVE. http://mb-soft.com/believe/txh/aisha.htm (accessed January 24, 2012).
Goldschmidt, Arthur Jr, and Lawrence Davidson. A Concise History of the Middle East. Philadelphia: Westview Press, 2010.
Muhammad was born in Mecca, in around 570 C.E. Mecca was a great city for trading, and most of Muhammad’s relatives were traders and business people. He belonged to the Banu Hashim clan, a prominent familiy of Mecca, but the clan was not prosperous during Muhammad's early life. He became an orphan at the age of 6 as his father, Abdullah, died before Muhammad was born, and his mother, Amina, died of illness. His grandfather and uncle looked after him during his early years. He later worked as a merchant or a shepherd, and married at the age of 25. Muhammad married a widow named Khadijah and joined her in business. He started off very poor, but then he became a very skilled trader and manager.
Cleveland, William L. A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2000.
In today’s world of chaos and war, many people are turning to religion. People look to organized religion not only for solace but on the contrary, they also look to attribute cause for the world’s woes. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th has many people looking to the religion of Islam for a culprit, as the men who flew the planes were Israeli suicide missionaries. These men thought themselves to be on a mission from God (Allah). This implies that they were acting on the words of a prophet, or thought themselves prophets. In response to this, I decided to research the major religions in today’s world that rely on modern day prophets for guidance. By doing so, I am attempting to prove the religion of Islam innocent by comparing it to many other religions that have similar structure but no terrorist intentions.
Since Muhammed was orphaned at a very young age, he was constantly humbled and learned different lessons about life from many different family members. One important family member that influenced Muhammed in his childhood
Yapp, Malcolm. The Near East since the First World War: A History to 1995. London: Longman, 1996. Print.
Muhammad was the last profit from god and was the only profit that knew what god said exactly. He told another person (Muhammad himself was illiterate) who wrote it down in a book called the Qur’an (Which is like the Bible for Muslims). He is linked to Risalah because he was a prophet and his was contacted by an angle called Gabriel.
At age 40, Muhammad had a sudden revelation from God. In 613 CE, Muhammad began his preaching.
The three most influential books in human history, the holy books of the three main Abrahamic religions, share a common though checkered history. With a string of familiar figures and incidents, each book builds upon its predecessor, sometimes retaining the exact nature of the story and sometimes giving it a new version. Each book seems to have been influenced by its specific purpose and the circumstances of the time it was revealed, with the stories meeting the demands of the day. I believe that the Quranic treatment of Jesus was to establish a firm monotheistic belief.
Memories of Muhammad: Why the prophet Matters is a book by scholar and author Omid Safi. Omid Safi focuses primarily on the life of the Prophet Muhammad and how he created a religion that has lasted since its creation in approximately the 7th century. In addition, what the book does extremely well is giving an in depth look at not only who Muhammad was according to Muslims, but the historical person as well. In light of this, by doing so we are able to see who the Prophet Muhammad was, his ideologies and beliefs, his travels and encounters with different religions and cultures that helped him create Islam. Furthermore, because the creation of Islam and Muhammad must go hand in hand, by focusing on the prophet Muhammad’s life we are able to
Mohammed’s life, ministry and death started when the Prophet of Islam was born in the year 570 B.C. Born into an affluent family he would lose both of his parents by the age of six. Mohammed became a camel driver traveling between Syria and Arabia, later he would become a caravan manager for wealthy merchants, which lead him to meet his wife Khadija, 15 years his senior, and she was his only wife until her death 24 years later.
In Washington D. C. 2002, the city was terrorized by a serial killer. His name was John Allen Muhammad with his accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo. This disturbance went on for three weeks in September to October. Why did these two serial killers decide to kill people? That has been the question people have been asking for years now.
But irrespective of the different manifestations and different practices, finally all streams of Islam find their mission and identity in their beloved prophet, religious history and sacred texts As it is such sources that will finally define and guide Islam of the future as it goes on spreading around the world, we must consider them as seriously as a serious Muslim does (Wilson). We should understand what is there in Islamic texts and instances and life of their prophet for understanding the growth and nature of Islam. On such historical-theological foundation, then we can best understand and contrast the objectives and state of Islam in today’s world for its true mandates and motivations.
Gerner, Deborah J., and Philip A. Schrodt. "Middle Eastern Politics." Understanding the contemporary Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008. 85 -136. Print.
The author first summarizes the historical life of Muhammad. This begins with his birth and life before he was given his mission. Next comes his struggle to spread his religion. Since the days of Abraham, people had fallen back to worshipping many Gods. Muhammad’s task was to restore monotheism that Abraham had established. To do this, he had to move to Medina for protection. This whole period is referred to as the Hijra. Thousands of followers made this journey with Muhammad, and it is here that Muhammad would struggle to convert his world back to a monotheistic one. The author does a good job explaining the world in which Muhammad was born into. The book does not go into any depth about his life before his prophecy, but this is probably because there isn’t much information on the subject.
This proves that Muhammad was successful in all aspects of life, both as a prophet and a statesman, and has achieved many things that allowed him to successfully spread the message of God, which has reached Muslims up until today, and has created the second largest religion in the world.