Historical introduction

Chapter Three

Islam

A Historical Introduction

Before speaking about Islam, it is fitting that we acquaint ourselves briefly with the environment in which the star of Islam rose.

Before Islam, the Arabian Peninsula, the cradle of the message, had no civilisational or economic weight, except for its importance as a trade route between East and West and its position between the two greatest powers of the time: the Persians to the east and the Byzantines to the west.

The Arabian Peninsula is a vast region in the south-west of Asia, surrounded by water on three sides: the Red Sea to the west, the Indian Ocean to the south, and the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman to the east. To the north it is bounded by the Syrian desert.

It has no rivers that flow all year round, only valleys in which water runs at times and dries up at others. Its centre is a vast desert with few wells and springs, and its fertile places are like islands scattered far apart in a sea of sand. Travel across it is hard and difficult because of its rugged terrain. Most of its inhabitants were nomadic Bedouin who depended for their living on their livestock, chief among them the camel, and their livestock lived on the pasture that grew from the scant winter rains. Hence rain had a great effect on their social and political life: no sooner did the rain lessen and the land become barren of pasture than hardship and anxiety pressed hard upon them and they were driven to plunder and pillage. The strong tribes would raid the weak, then the strong would raid one another, and matters might end with the clans of a single tribe fighting one another in a deadly struggle for life. Of this their poet says:

And at times we fall upon Bakr, our own brother, when we find none to raid but our brother.

This harsh nature left its mark on settlement, politics and civilisation. As for settlement, it was sparse, concentrated on the edges of the peninsula: in Yemen to the south, and in its borderlands adjoining the Persians to the east and the Byzantines to the west, together with a few villages scattered in its interior, the most important of which were

Mecca, Ta'if and Yathrib, which was later named al-Madina. This contributed to the absence of political unity among its inhabitants, for the tribe was the foundation on which their social and political order rested. The Bedouin's patriotism was tribal, not geographical: he believed in and adhered to nothing but the heritage, traditions and beliefs of his tribe; his highest ideal was zealous partisanship for his tribe and boasting of its glories. Since the tribes were in constant conflict and war, and since they did not settle in one place, this social form did not allow them to establish political unity or build a civilisation. It also affected scholarly and cultural activity, for illiteracy was the prevailing feature of the population. It is enough to know that when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent, there were no more than seventeen people in Mecca, the greatest literary and commercial centre in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula, who knew how to read and write. As for religion, idolatry prevailed in the interior of the peninsula. Judaism and Christianity were confined to its fringes, and in its interior there was only a Jewish colony in Yathrib, established by Jews fleeing the oppression of the Romans. Since the Jews kept to themselves and looked down on the Arabs, as the Qur'an tells us in their own words:

"We are under no obligation regarding the unlettered." (1)

this insularity and sense of superiority prevented Judaism from spreading among the Arabs. Christianity, for its part, was divided against itself into warring sects, each declaring the others unbelievers, and the Arabs were not eager to enter it, because it was complicated and unintelligible to the Arab, who inclined to simplicity and freedom.

Christianity at that time, with the complexities it contained, with its doctrine of the Trinity and what is bound up with it of a crucified Lord, held little attraction and was far from moving the Arab soul. And so Christianity found no favour in the hearts of the Arabs, except for a few of them on the edges of the Arabian Peninsula.

It remains to point to the relationship of the Arabs with the neighbouring nations of the Persians and the Byzantines. We find that neither state had any ambition towards that barren peninsula; their only concern was to secure their borders against the raids of plunder and pillage launched by the Bedouin. So the Persians and the Byzantines

(1) Al Imran: 75.

set about helping some of the tribes adjoining their borders to settle, so that they might serve as a shield for them against the Bedouin raids. Thus the principality of al-Hira was formed on the Euphrates, owing loyalty and obedience to the Persians; its people were influenced by the creed and civilisation of the Persians. And in Syria, on the Byzantine frontier, the principality of the Ghassanids was formed; they too were influenced by the civilisation and beliefs of the Byzantines. The relationship between al-Hira and Ghassan was a reflection of the relationship of enmity and continual warfare between the Persians and the Byzantines.

These, in brief, are the features of the general picture of the Arabs before the appearance of Islam. Our purpose in drawing it was to draw attention to the effect that Islam produced on the Arabs and on the whole world.

The meaning of Islam:

Linguistically, Islam means obedience and submission;

In conventional usage it has been reserved for the religion sent down to Muhammad son of Abd Allah son of Abd al-Muttalib son of Hashim, the Messenger of God and the Seal of His messengers and prophets, to convey it to all people. Its Book is the Qur'an, and it is the last of the religions. The Exalted says:

This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and approved Islam for you as religion. (2)

Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him. (3)

A brief account of the Messenger of Islam

As for its Messenger, he is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), who belonged to an old and distinguished family in Mecca the Honoured, of the tribe of Quraysh, which held sovereignty and honour among the tribes of the Arabs because the Noble Ka'ba, the sacred house of the Arabs in both the Jahiliyya and Islam, lay in its care and keeping. The clan of Quraysh to which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) belonged was the branch of Banu Hashim, which

(2) Al-Ma'ida: 3.

(3) Al Imran: 85.

stood out among the clans of Quraysh for its high moral standing, owing to the privilege it held of serving and caring for the Ka'ba. The lineage of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) goes back to Ishmael son of Abraham, upon them all be blessings and peace.

The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was born on a Monday in the second week of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, in the year in which Abraha, the ruler of Yemen, made his failed assault on the Noble Ka'ba, which is called the Year of the Elephant. It is mentioned in the Noble Qur'an in the words of the Exalted:

Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the people of the Elephant? Did He not make their scheme go astray? And He sent against them birds in flocks, pelting them with stones of baked clay, and so He made them like chewed-up straw. (4)

According to the most reliable accounts, this year corresponds to 571 CE. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) grew up an orphan and poor. His father, Abd Allah, died seven months before his birth and left him nothing worth mentioning. Of this upbringing the Qur'an says:

Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? (5)

He spent his early childhood, from his birth until the age of four, in the care of a wet-nurse named Halima al-Sa'diyya, of the tribe of Banu Sa'd, in the desert outside Mecca, following the custom of the Arab nobility in raising their children. Then his mother took over his care, but he did not enjoy a mother's tenderness for long, for his mother died when he was six years old. His grandfather Abd al-Muttalib then took charge of him, but he too died soon after, when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was not yet past eight years of age. So he moved to the house of his uncle Abd Manaf, known as Abu Talib, who held him as dear as the dearest of his own sons.

History tells us that the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) first journey outside Mecca was in the company of his uncle Abu Talib on his trading journey to Syria in 582 CE, when he was not yet twelve years

(4) Al-Fil, the whole sura.

(5) Al-Duha: 6.

old. On that journey occurred the famous incident that contained the first prophecy about the future of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). A Christian ascetic named Bahira saw him and found in him the marks set down in the sacred scriptures as belonging to a prophet who would be sent at the end of time. For this reason many ascetics and monks, Jews and Christians alike, were watching for his appearance, since the Torah and the Gospel had given tidings of him (peace and blessings be upon him). Of this the Qur'an says:

And before that they used to pray for victory over those who disbelieved; then, when there came to them that which they recognised, they disbelieved in it. So the curse of God is upon the disbelievers. (6)

When Bahira was certain that this was the awaited prophet, he asked Abu Talib to take his nephew back quickly whence he had come, and warned him against delay, saying to him: This boy will play a great role in the whole world and will be of great consequence, and what consequence! So take him back in haste and watch over him against the Jews, who might harm him if they learned of him what I know. Abu Talib soon took the monk's advice and set off home with his nephew, fearing for him and anxious for his safety.

History does not relate any other journeys of the Messenger outside Mecca until shortly before his marriage to the Lady Khadija (may God be pleased with her). He spent that period working as a shepherd and helping his uncle with his livelihood, for his uncle was not well off because of his many dependants.

Among what is related of the life of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) before his mission is that he had lofty personal and moral qualities that made him a youth distinct among his peers, the young men of Quraysh. He did not plunge into what they plunged into of amusement and dissipation, trading insults over titles and pedigrees, and other such conduct that characterised the class and social make-up of Mecca. Rather, he was distinguished by special qualities and manners that endeared him to people and made him an object of esteem and respect for everyone in Mecca, so that they called him al-Amin (the Trustworthy). There is an incident related by the historians that indicates the standing of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in the eyes of the nobles and chiefs of Mecca. When the Messenger reached the age of thirty-five, Quraysh rebuilt the Ka'ba. Since the Ka'ba was the sacred temple of all the Arabs, the tribes were eager for the honour of taking part in its restoration. When the work reached the point of putting the Black Stone back in its place, a dispute broke out among them, each tribe wanting to keep this

(6) Al-Baqara: 89.

honour for itself. The elders took the matter in hand before blood could flow in rivers, and agreed to make the first person to enter through the Gate of Shayba, now known as the Gate of Peace, their arbiter. Fate willed that it should be Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). No sooner did the disputants see him than they all cried out in joy and contentment: "Al-Amin! Al-Amin! We accept him as arbiter." And he truly was the trustworthy and wise one, for he quickly spread out his cloak, placed the Black Stone on it with his own noble hand, then asked the chiefs of the tribes each to hold an edge of the cloth and lift it together to the required height. When they had brought the stone to the place assigned to it, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) took the stone and set it in its place. Thus, by his acumen and good judgement, Muhammad spared people's blood and brought peace among the tribes, and his judgement won the approval and acceptance of all, which confirms for us Muhammad's worth and standing among Quraysh before his mission (peace be upon him).

Also significant in this regard is the Messenger's (peace and blessings be upon him) marriage to the Lady Khadija, one of the noblest women of Quraysh, when he was twenty-five years old. Khadija remained his only wife throughout her life. By her he had two sons, al-Qasim and Abd Allah, and four daughters, Zaynab, Ruqayya, Umm Kulthum and Fatima. All of them died in his lifetime except Fatima, who died some months after him. The Messenger had no other children besides them except Ibrahim, by Maria the Copt, whom al-Muqawqis, the chief of the Copts in Egypt, presented to him after the emigration to Medina. Ibrahim died young in the Messenger's lifetime.

Before his mission the Messenger showed a reluctance to immerse himself in social life and an inclination towards quiet and contemplation. He also drew attention through the truthfulness of his dreams: he never told anyone of a dream he had seen in his sleep but that it came true exactly as he had told it, in precision and clarity, as though in his sleep he were reading the pages of the unseen. Shortly before his mission, an inclination appeared in him to withdraw from the clamour and preoccupations of life and to seclude himself. He chose a place on Mount Hira, north of Mecca, where he would spend hours or days. On a cold night, still with the stillness of the desert that surrounds Mecca, when the Messenger had reached forty years of age, while he was in the cave of Hira turning his thoughts over the page of the universe, his first contact with what lies beyond the universe took place. The first revelation he received from heaven was "Read ..." (7). This experience had a powerful impact on Muhammad and shook his being violently. As soon as the revelation had left him, he hurried back in alarm to his wife, who was so frightened by his agitation that she thought him ill, and she wrapped him up in bed as he asked. When his fear had subsided, he related

(7) Al-Alaq: 1.

to her what had happened, voicing his fear that this might be a touch of the jinn or of Satan. Khadija said to him, calming and consoling him: "No, by God, God will never disgrace you. You keep ties of kinship, you bear the burden of the weak, you earn for the destitute, you honour the guest, and you help against the calamities of fate." This, from Khadija, is a concentrated summary of the qualities for which the Prophet was known before his mission; therefore the soul of the Prophet could not be one that would accept the temptation and whispering of Satan. But the strangeness of the matter led her to take the Messenger to her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, who practised devotion according to the Christian religion, in the hope that he might have something to explain to them what had happened. When he heard the account from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: "O Muhammad, this is the Namus (the angel of revelation) that came down to Moses. Would that I were a young man in it! Would that I might be alive when your people drive you out!"

The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Will they really drive me out?!"

He said: "Yes. No man has ever come with the like of what you have brought without being treated with enmity. If your day reaches me, I will support you with a mighty support."

Al-Bukhari has documented for us this period of the Messenger's spiritual and intellectual life just before his mission. He relates from A'isha, Mother of the Believers (may God be pleased with her), that she said:

The first of revelation with which the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) began was the true dream in sleep; he would see no dream but that it came like the breaking of dawn. Then seclusion was made dear to him, and he used to go into seclusion in the cave of Hira and devote himself to worship there (tahannuth), that is, worship for a number of nights, before returning to his family and taking provisions for that; then he would return to Khadija and take provisions for the like of it, until the truth came to him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and said: "Read." He said: "I am not one who reads." He said: "He took hold of me and pressed me a second time until I was exhausted, then released me and said: Read. I said: I am not one who reads. He took hold of me and pressed me a third time, then released me and said: Read in the name of your Lord who created, created man from a clinging clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous."

The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) returned with it, his heart trembling, and went in to Khadija daughter of Khuwaylid (may God be pleased with her) and said: "Wrap me up! Wrap me up!" They wrapped him up until the fear left him. Then he spoke to Khadija and told her what had happened: "I feared for myself." Khadija said: "No, by God, God will never disgrace you. You keep ties of kinship, you bear the burden of the weak, you earn for the destitute, you honour the guest, and you help against the calamities that befall in the cause of right."

Then Khadija set off with him until she brought him to Waraqa ibn Nawfal ibn Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza, Khadija's cousin. He was a man who had become a Christian in the Jahiliyya ... and he was a very old man who had gone blind. Khadija said to him: "Cousin, listen to your nephew." Waraqa said to him: "Nephew, what do you see?" The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) told him what he had seen. Waraqa said to him: "This is the Namus that God sent down to Moses. Would that I were a young man in it! Would that I might be alive when your people drive you out!" The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Will they really drive me out?!" He said: "Yes. No man has ever come with the like of what you have brought without being treated with enmity. If your day reaches me, I will support you with a mighty support." Then, not long after, Waraqa died, and the revelation paused. (8)

After this momentous event the revelation paused for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), until sorrow and despair took hold of him and doubt and anxiety entered him. In this state of mind, which brought the Prophet to the point of trying to throw himself from the summit of Hira, the second dose came to him, which was nothing but a call to him to prepare to receive the great tidings. Verses came down to him one after another:

You are not, by the grace of your Lord, a madman. (9)

Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased. (10)

O you wrapped in garments! Stand in prayer through the night, except a little: half of it, or a little less than that, (11)

or a little more; and recite the Qur'an in measured recitation. We shall cast upon you a weighty word. (11)

And the Messenger prepared himself, as he was commanded, in expectation of the weighty word, until the final charge to call people came to him when he was approaching his forty-fourth year, in 612 CE, when the command to proclaim came to him in the words of the Exalted:

O you enveloped in your cloak! Arise and warn! And your Lord, magnify! (12)

(8) Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 1, pp. 6-7, chapter "How the Revelation Began".

(9) Al-Qalam: 2.

(11) Al-Muzzammil: 1-5.

(12) Al-Muddaththir: 1-2.

(10) Al-Duha: 3.

Thus began the Messenger's call to Islam as a universal religion for all people until the Day of Judgement. In this connection, here is another example of the Messenger's standing among the people of Mecca and of the noble character for which he was known among them, so that they called him al-Sadiq al-Amin (the Truthful, the Trustworthy), a title that gathers every quality of goodness and honour. It is related that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was commanded to make his call public, after it had remained secret for three years, he called the clans of Quraysh from the top of Mount al-Safa on the outskirts of Mecca. When they had gathered before him he said: "O Banu so-and-so, O Banu so-and-so, O Banu Abd al-Muttalib, O Banu Abd Manaf ... Tell me, if I told you that there were horsemen in the valley intending to raid you, would you believe me?" They said: "Yes! We have never known you to lie." He said: "Then I am a warner to you before a severe punishment."

This date, 612 CE, is regarded as the starting point of Islam, and the date of the Hijra, 622 CE, divides the time from the command to proclaim into two roughly equal parts: ten years in Mecca and the same in Medina, where the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) died on the 12th or 13th of Rabi' al-Awwal AH 11, the 7th or 8th of June 632 CE, aged sixty-three lunar years, or a little more than sixty-one solar years if the difference between the lunar and the solar year, about eleven days, is taken into account (12).

This is a brief glimpse of the life of the Messenger, the Seal of the messengers and prophets and the Messenger of Islam, the last of the religions and messages: Muhammad son of Abd Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

(12) See Ibn al-Athir, vol. 2, p. 23; Sirat Ibn Hisham (The Biography of the Prophet by Ibn Hisham), Dar al-Nafa'is; and Al-Madkhal ila al-Qur'an al-Karim (Introduction to the Noble Qur'an), pp. 21-33, Muhammad Abd Allah Draz, Dar al-Qalam, Kuwait, 1971.