Midterm Project by Nick McGeveran

1. First Revelation of the Prophet Muhammad

nemt2022 — 2023-10-30 06:29:14 UTC

Arguably, the birth of the Prophet Muhammad happened in Hira, where the angel Jibril purportedly revealed the beginning of the Qur'an to Muhammad. While the context of Muhammad's early life is certainly important to his prophethood, the moment that began his life as a religious figure happened in 610 CE. However, the transition into prophethood was not immediate. As Donner explains, "The revelations came to him as intense sounds and visions that so overcame him that he could only lie on the ground, shaking and perspiring, until they were over, after which the words that had been revealed to him were burned indelibly into his memory." His experiences were deep and intense, and he did not initially take up the mantle that was thrust on him — the initial revelations were received by Muhammad without public dissemination. However, the experiences were absolutely essential, forming the basis of the Qur'an—the literal word of God—that would go on to form the entire foundation of Islam.

2. Conversion of Family

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Following the first revelations, Muhammad spoke to his family. He did not present them with the fully articulated belief system that would develop later, but it was enough for some of them. These first conversions form the foundation of the umma, and provided Muhammad with the support to begin the task of public preaching. Donner writes, "he was also com-

forted by his wife Khadija, who accepted the veracity of his experiences and so became the first person to believe in his prophetic calling." As the first convert, Khadija's conversion is an important symbolic moment in the life of Islam, because it is the moment where the infantile Believer's moment spreads outside the person of Muhammad. While it remained a tiny group, belief was now a group activity. Ali was another extremely important early convert. He is described as "the first male to believe in the Messenger, to pray with him and to believe in his divine message, when he was a boy of ten." Ali is a foundational figure in Islam, and his conversion not only represents the further expansion of the community, but the establishment of the all-important group of Muhammad's early companions.

Bibliography

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Donner, Fred M. "Muhammad and the Believer's Movement." In Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2010. 40.
a. Donner, Fred M. "Muhammad and the Believer's Movement." In Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2010. 41.
b. Ibn Ishaq."The Conversion of Ali." In The Life and Work of the Prophet. 55.
Ibn Ishaq. "The Opposition of the Quraysh." In The Life and Work of the Prophet. 59.
Donner, Fred M. "Muhammad and the Believer's Movement." In Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2010. 43.
a. Ibn Ishaq. "The Battle at the Badr Wells." In The Life and Work of the Prophet. 77.
b. Ferguson, Heather. "Week 3 Powerpoint—Muhammad in Mecca and Medina."
"The Medina Document." In Muhammad and the Believer's Movement: At the Origins of Islam.
Ibn Ishaq. "The Banu Qurayza." In The Life and Work of the Prophet. 83.
Ibn Ishaq. "The Submission of the Idolators." In The Life and Work of the Prophet. 91.
Momen, Moojan. "The Question of the Succession to Muhammad." In An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. 11.
The History of al-Tabari: The First Civil War. Translated by G.R. Hawting. 225

3. Qurayshi Opposition

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Outside of Muhammad's family, he began preaching publicly, gaining a following within Mecca. However, as he ascended, he began criticizing the beliefs of the polytheistic tribes of the Quraysh that he belonged to, who were the economically and culturally dominant force in Mecca. This brought the Believers into conflict with Mecca's elite, generating tensions that would come to define Islam's early years. Ibn Ishaq writes, "when the Messenger openly displayed Islam as God ordered him, his people did not withdraw or turn against him, so far as I have heard, until he spoke disparagingly of their gods. When he did that they took great offense and resolved unanimously to treat him as an enemy." The decision to criticize the Qurayshi beliefs, while probably necessary for the development of the Believers as a distinct group, brought enmity between Muhammad and the Quraysh. While it had not yet turned into violence, the dynamic between the groups would quickly result in spilled blood. Furthermore, the relationship between Muhammad and the Quraysh, as it came to be defined in this time, would prompt some of the later major decisions, such as the hijra and the later return to Mecca and the Kaaba.

4. Hijrah

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The hijrah—the migration from of Muhammad and the Believers from Mecca to Medina (or Yathrib)— was a seminal event in the development of Islam as a distinct movement. Following increased tensions with the Quraysh of Mecca, Muhammad was invited by the tribes of Medina to relocate and build his movement from there. This was a moment that very clearly articulated some boundaries around the Muhammad's movement. Those who moved with him to Medina were obviously included within the fold, and the expectations and behaviors that that implied were becoming clearer. The importance of the hijrah to the development of Islam is clear from its use as a date marker. Donner writes, "Muhammad’s hijra to Medina, because it came to be considered the inception of a politically independent community of Believers, was adopted within a few years of Muhammad’s death as marking the beginning of the

Islamic calendar (AH 1)." Although this tradition began after Muhammad's death, it was in recognition of its importance. The hijrah was a full split from the place that birthed Muhammad as the prophet, and symbolized the beginning of a totally new phase in his career as a religious figure.

5. The Battle of Badr

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The Battle of Badr, in 624 CE, represents the first major military exchange between Muhammad's movement and the Meccan Quraysh. There had been skirmishing prior to this point, but it was a pivotal engagement that heralded a shift to more planned and targeted military campaigns. The battle was not immediately successful for the Believers, who were outnumbered. However, "the Messenger went forth to the people and incited them, saying "By God in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no man will be slain this day by fighting against them (the Quraysh) with steadfast courage, advancing and not retreating, but God will cause him to enter paradise." In the end, Muhammad prevailed, beating the Quraysh in battle. Aside from introducing organized violence to the dynamic between the Quraysh and the Believers, the Battle of Badr gave some additional legitimacy to Muhammad. As promised, God had delivered the Muslims from defeat, so long as they courageously and without wavering defended their faith, which introduced the new vocabulary of the ansar (supporters), munafiqun (waverers), and musharikun (hypocrites). This development indicates the increasingly hard boundaries of the umma, and the expectation of full-hearted belief that participation in Muhammad's movement required.

6. The Medina Document

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In the Medina Document, the Prophet Muhammad is visible in his role as a political leader. Following the Hijrah, he was no longer only a religious figure. He was also the head of a growing organized body, which needed its own rules and regulations. While still rooted in Qur'anic revelation, it shows the workings of the community outside of a strictly religious context. The text of the document deals both with the behavior of Muhammad's followers, and the Jews and Quraysh who they coexisted with in Medina, signifying an increasingly organized and self-conscious community. Throughout the document, the line "the righteous person guards against treachery" appears multiple times, and the general theme of loyalty many more. This is indicative of a political and religious need to enforce group cohesion and retain its members. The landscape of the early Believer's movement was not particularly hospitable to Muslims, and it was at the risk of collapsing if too many of its members were not sufficiently devoted. Therefore, the Medina document is a good representation of the embryonic political organization of Islam, and the motives of its early members.

8. Return to Mecca

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After 10 years of absence, Muhammad and his followers finally returned to Mecca. This was not their first time back, as the Treaty of Hudaybiya two years prior had temporarily ended the violence between Muhammad and the Meccans, allowing the Believers to participate in the hajj. However, in 630, Muhammad broke the treaty, attacking Mecca. Before even reaching the city, the Quraysh leader, Abu Sufyan, was captured, which was a massive hit to Meccan morale. Muhammad and his followers prevailed, taking the city. The symbolic importance of this is clear in Ibn Ishaq, who writes "the Messenger entered Mecca on the day of the conquest and it contained 360 idols which Iblis had strengthened with lead. The Messenger was standing by them with a stick in his hand, saying 'the truth has come and falsehood has passed away. '" The return to Mecca was a completion of the phase that had begun when the Believers left for Medina—the final victory over the polytheists that had plagued the beginning of the movement. As Muhammad announces that "falsehood has passed away", he is acknowledging both the physical and cultural victory that Islam had won. Furthermore, it represents the Islamicization of the Kaaba—another symbolic victory of Allah over the polytheists.

9. Ascension of Abu Bakr

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In 632, following his final hajj, the Prophet Muhammad passed away. His death signified the end of the revelation of Islam—both the direct revelation of the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet (hadith) which guided Muslim thought and belief. Furthermore, it left a gaping hole at the head of the umma, as Muhammad had fulfilled both the primary political and religious roles. Following his death, "an ad hoc assemblage of a number of the notables in Islam elected, by general consensus, Abu Bakr to be the caliph or successor to Muhammad...a conspicious absentee at this meeting of election was Ali, the prophet's cousin and son-in-law." The election of Abu Bakr, particularly without Ali there, set in motion the next major problem Islam would have to face: the identity of its leadership without Muhammad. It was this problem that generated the Sunni/Shi'a schism—which continues to affect the nature of Muslim belief to this day.

7. Massacre of the Banu Qurayza

nemt2022 — 2023-10-30 08:21:05 UTC

Despite the obligations laid out in the Medina Document, Muhammad and the Jewish Banu Qurayza were destined to come into violent contact. According to the Believers, they had violated the terms of the document by assisting the enemies of Muhammad, disrespecting the all-important calls against treachery. In return, the men of their tribe were killed, and the women and children taken into captivity. This incident, while violent, demonstrated the power that Muhammad increasingly held. According to Ibn Ishaq, "the Messenger went out into the market of Medina—which is still the market today—and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for them and struck of their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches." As a leader, he had equal access to violence and diplomacy, and he made use of both techniques. The massacre of the Banu Qurayza was an extreme manifestation of Muhammad's sway, and the consequences of disobeying the progressively more clarified political situation of the umma.

10. Assassination of Ali

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However, the arc of early Islam did not end with the death of Muhammad, or even the ascension of his successor. Arguably, it ended about 30 years later, with the assassination of Ali. The rule of the three preceding caliphs was not without event—the Rashidun caliphate had already begun the process of territorial consolidation that would spread Islam from its birthplace across the southern Mediterranean, deep into the heartland of Asia, and beyond. Nevertheless, they were building on the early foundations laid by Muhammad. However, Ali's assassination in 661 at the hands of ibn Muljam rocked the political foundations of early Islam, paving the way for the foundation of the Umayyad caliphate by Mu'awiyah. Ali was a beloved figure—upon his death, al-Muradi wrote, "you have killed the best of us who ride mounts/and put the saddle upon them, the best of those who sail the seas; the best of those who wear sandals and make them..." The murder was shocking to the core of the community, generating a civil war and ending the developmental period of Islam that had begun with the first revelation. The dynamics that this created, not just in the form of the Sunni/Shi'a split, but through the general preoccupation with relation to the family of the prophet, persist to today.

Narrative Arc

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This version of early Islam begins with Muhammad's first revelation. This is the moment in which Islam is birthed as an idea—there is no religion without revelation to inform it. The years and events that followed it create a story of gradual definition and redefinition. At the beginning, the revelation was confined to Muhammad and his family. However, upon its publicization, Muhammad came into conflict with the Quraysh that would come to define his role as the leader of a community of believers. It forced the community to build clear lines around their members, enforcing a depth and sincerity of belief that would allow them to survive. It also became increasingly violent—both to protect the community for its own survival and to triumph in the name of God. In some senses, the "hero's journey" of Muhammad ends when he returns to Mecca with his followers. After 10 years of exile, gathering strength and identity, he returns triumphant to cast down the idols of his polytheist enemies. While there was substantial religious and political significance to this victory, it did not end the development of the Muslim political body. For this reason, the origin story of early Islam does not end when Muhammad returns to Mecca, or even when he dies. When leadership could no longer be vested in his corporeal person, the umma faced the dilemma of carrying on his legacy as a leader. The next "phase" of Islam would come to be defined by these debates, and it is necessary to include the ascension of Abu Bakr and the assassination of Ali as the bookends to Islam's first chapter, as they introduce what was to come.