Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was born in 571 in Mecca. His mother’s name is Amine, his father’s name is Abdulmuttalib. He has no siblings. His father passed away while he was still in the womb. He lost his mother when he was 6. His uncle, Abu Talib, raised him. [1]
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) married Hatice, whom he met via business, at the age of 25. They had 6 children from this marriage that lasted for 31 years. Their names are Kasım, Zeynep, Rukiyye, Ümmü Gülsüm, Fatima and Abdullah. [2]
When Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) was 40 years old, the first verses were revealed to him in the Cave of Hira, near Mecca. He first shared the verses with his wife Hatice and Hatice became the first Muslim. Three years later he was ordered by Allah to openly invite people to the religion of Islam. Along with the open invitation, the notables of the Meccan people first used persuasion and then torture to dissuade Muslims from this path. [3] Because of these persecutions, Muhammad sought a place where Muslims could live freely. And the first emigration region was decided as Abyssinia and some of the Muslims emigrated to Abyssinia in 615. One year later the second emigration to Abyssinia took place. [4] The Muslims who stayed in Mecca decided to stay together in the Abu Talib neighborhood to avoid the increasing persecutions and tortures. However, the enemies of Islam turned this situation into an opportunity and declared that shopping with Muslims is prohibited and anyone who helps them will be excluded. Thus, the boycott which would last for 3 years began. During the boycott, some of the Muslims lost their wealth and health. During this period Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) lost his first wife, Hatice and his paternal uncle Abu Talib. [5] When the Meccan Mushriks (a mushrik is a person who rejects tawhid; an idolater, a polytheist) increased their pressure, Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) sought a new emigration. He considered Taif, where his mother’s relatives lived, in this context but he could not get the positive answer he expected from the people of Taif. [6]
A group of people from Yathrib (Medina) who came to Mecca during the pilgrimage season of 621 became Muslims after meeting with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in Aqaba. When this group returned to Yathrib, they introduced Islam and a group of people there also became Muslims this way. Prophet Mohammad who talked to these people told them that he was looking for a place where Muslims could live. They said that Muslims could come to Yathrib and they wanted Prophet Mohammad to be the leader of the state to be established there with the promises they made. As a result of these negotiations, Muslims began to emigrate to Yathrib in 622. Although the Arab people who were hostile to Islam tried to prevent this emigration, the Muslims went to Yathrib one year later and the emigration was over. Thus, the 13-year Meccan life for Muslims ended and the Medina life began. [7]
With the arrival of Muslims in Yathrib, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) changed the name of this country to Medina. Prophet Mohammad who signed an agreement with the people there showed how to live together with people of different religions, languages and races. The name of this agreement is stated in the historical sources as the Constitution of Medina. [8]
The Meccan enemies of Islam who were disturbed by the life of the Muslims in Medina organized 3 big battles to erase Islam and Muslims from history. These are the battles of Badr[9], Uhud[10] and Khandaq. [11]. The enemies of Islam could not get what they expected from these wars. At the end of these 3 battles Muslims became stronger and the enemies of Islam in Mecca lost a lot of power and prestige.
Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) ordered Muslims to begin preparations for Umrah in Mecca in 628. Muslims and Prophet Mohammad who made their preparations set out for Mecca. However, they were warned not to go any further by the Meccan enemies of Islam in Hudaybiyyah and they were stopped. Prophet Mohammad sent Osman to Mecca as an envoy to explain that they came for Umrah, not to fight. With the spread of the lie that the Meccans killed Osman among Muslims, the Muslims took an oath to Prophet Muhammad to fight with the enemies of Islam. The Meccan enemies of Islam who heard that released Osman. Then they sent Prophet Mohammad a group of 3 people as an envoy to talk to him. After the meeting, a peace treaty was signed. [12]
Thanks to the treaty in which many of the demands of the Meccan enemies of Islam were accepted, peace was established between the Muslims and Mushriks; and the Meccan enemies of Islam officially recognized the Muslim State. During this period of peace, Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) began to send letters to the surrounding rulers, particularly the Byzantine Empire and Sasanian Empire to invite to Islam. [13]
One year after the treaty signed with the Meccan enemies of Islam, the Beni Bekir tribe who were allies of the Mushriks attacked the Beni Huzaa tribe who were under the protection of the Muslims in violation of the treaty. As a result of this attack Prophet Mohammad informed the Meccan enemies of Islam that the “blood money” of the people killed in Beni Huzaa had to be paid and that their alliance with the Beni Bekir tribe had to be ended. Otherwise, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah would be broken and they would fight with them. The Meccan enemies of Islam who disregarded this warn stated that they would prepare for the battle. After a short period of time the Meccan enemies of Islam, who regretted their choice, sent an envoy to Prophet Mohammad. There was no change in the decision of the Muslims to fight during the negotiations. Due to the breach of the treaty the Muslims conquered Mecca in 630 without the need for a battle and in a bloodless way. Prophet Muhammad stated that a general amnesty was declared and ordered the idols in the Kaaba to be demolished. [14]
The biggest enemies of the Muslims after the Meccan enemies of Islam were the tribes of Sakif and Hevazin. These tribes, who learned that the idols were demolished with the conquest of Mecca, began to prepare for an attack fearing that their own idols would also be demolished. Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) who heard that ordered Muslims to prepare for a battle. 16 days after the conquest of Mecca these two armies were positioned for a battle in Hunayn. The Muslims won the battle. The Muslims fought with the people from Hevazin who fled again in the places where they fled and the Muslims were victorious there as well. [15]
Hz. Mohammad (pbuh) and Gabriel used to come together to recite the Holy Quran every year in Ramadan. This mutual reading was done twice in the year that Prophet Mohammad passed away. [16]
In 632 Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) feels that his duty of prophethood came to an end with Islam spreading widely and the fact that Muslims could practice their religion freely. He wanted to declare and remind Muslims about the social, legal and moral rules brought by Islam for the last time. For this reason, Prophet Mohammad declared to all Muslims that they would go on for a pilgrimage. In the 10th year of the emigration, he completed his pilgrimage in Mecca with the Muslims and delivered his Farewell (Final) Khutbah [17] on the 4th day of the Eid. Prophet Muhammad passed away 82 days after the farewell khutbah. [18]
It should also be noted that the total number of people who died in all the conflicts and battles between the Muslims and non-Muslims in the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is known to be around 500. In addition, the military activities only covered one and a half years during the 23-year prophetic period of Prophet Mohammad. The rest of the time was spent in peace carrying out activities for inviting people to Islam. The reason for attaching importance to the battles when discussing the life of Prophet Mohammad is not that his whole life consists of battles but that these battles are some of the important moments in Prophet Mohammad’s life.
[1] Mahmûd Paşa el-Felekî, et-Taḳvîmü’l-ʿArabî ḳable’l-İslâm, s. 33-44.
[2] İbn İshak, es-Sîre, s. 59.
[3] İbn Hişâm, es-Sîre, I, s. 244.
[4] İbn İshak, es-Sîre, s. 210.
[5] Ahmed b. Muhammed el-Kastallânî, el-Mevâhibü’l-Ledünniyye, I, s. 266.
[6] İbn Sa‘d, eṭ-Ṭabaḳât, I, s. 212.
[7] Yâkut, Muʿcemü’l-Büldân, IV, s. 134.
[8] Vâkıdî, el-Meġāzî, I, s. 176.
[9] İbn Sa‘d, eṭ-Ṭabaḳât, II, 11-27.
[10] Vâkıdî, el-Meġâzî, I, s. 199-334.
[11] İbn Sa‘d, eṭ-Ṭabaḳât, II, s. 65-74.
[12] İbn Hişâm, es-Sîre, II, s. 308-322.
[13] İbn Sa‘d, es-Sîre, I, s. 260.
[14] İbn Hişâm, es-Sîre, IV, s. 49-50.
[15] İbn Sa‘d, eṭ-Ṭabaḳât, II, s. 89-90; 117; 127
[16] Buhârî, Bedʾü’l-vaḥy, s. 5; Menâḳıb, s. 25.
[17]The khutbahs that Prophet Mohammad delievered in the Final Pilgrimage (a khutbah is a speech addressed to a community during the perfomance of some worships and ceremonies)
[18] İbn Sa‘d, eṭ-Ṭabaḳât, II, s. 172-189.