The Return to Mecca, Muhammad and the Beginnings of Islam Essay Example
Muhammad, whose full name was Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn
'Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, was born in Mecca around 570 AD after the death of his father, 'Abd Allah. Muhammad was at first under the care of his paternal grandfather, 'Abd al-Muttalib. Because the climate of
Mecca was considered to be unhealthful, he was given as an infant to a wet nurse from a nomadic tribe and spent some time in the desert. At six, he lost his mother, Aminah of the clan of Zuhra, and at eight his grandfather. Though his grandfather had been head of the prestigious
Hashem clan and was prominent in Mecca politics, he was probably not the leading man in Mecca as some sources suggest. Muhammad came under the care of the new head of the clan, his uncle Abu Talib, and is reputed to have accompanied him on trading journeys to Syria. About 595, on such a journey, he was in charge of the merchandise of a rich woman, Khadijah of the clan of Asad, and so impressed her that she offered marriage.
She is said to have been about 40, but she bore Muhammad at least two sons, who died young, and four daughters. The best known daughter was
Fatimah, the wife of Muhammad's cousin 'Ali who is regarded as
Muhammad's divinely ordained successor by the Shi'ah branch of Islam.
Until Khadijah's death in 619, Muhammad took no other wife. The marriage was a turning point in Muhammad's life. By Arab custom, minors did not inherit, and therefore Muhammad had no share in the property of his father or grandfather. However, by his marriage he obtained sufficient capital to engage in mercantile activity on a scale commensurate with his abilities.
Muhammad appears to have been of a reflective turn of mind and is said to have adopted the habit of occasionally spending nights in a hill cave near Mecca. The poverty and misfortunes of his early life doubtless made him aware of tensions in Meccan society. Mecca, inhabited by the tribe of Quraysh to which the Hashim clan
'Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, was born in Mecca around 570 AD after the death of his father, 'Abd Allah. Muhammad was at first under the care of his paternal grandfather, 'Abd al-Muttalib. Because the climate of
Mecca was considered to be unhealthful, he was given as an infant to a wet nurse from a nomadic tribe and spent some time in the desert. At six, he lost his mother, Aminah of the clan of Zuhra, and at eight his grandfather. Though his grandfather had been head of the prestigious
Hashem clan and was prominent in Mecca politics, he was probably not the leading man in Mecca as some sources suggest. Muhammad came under the care of the new head of the clan, his uncle Abu Talib, and is reputed to have accompanied him on trading journeys to Syria. About 595, on such a journey, he was in charge of the merchandise of a rich woman, Khadijah of the clan of Asad, and so impressed her that she offered marriage.
She is said to have been about 40, but she bore Muhammad at least two sons, who died young, and four daughters. The best known daughter was
Fatimah, the wife of Muhammad's cousin 'Ali who is regarded as
Muhammad's divinely ordained successor by the Shi'ah branch of Islam.
Until Khadijah's death in 619, Muhammad took no other wife. The marriage was a turning point in Muhammad's life. By Arab custom, minors did not inherit, and therefore Muhammad had no share in the property of his father or grandfather. However, by his marriage he obtained sufficient capital to engage in mercantile activity on a scale commensurate with his abilities.
Muhammad appears to have been of a reflective turn of mind and is said to have adopted the habit of occasionally spending nights in a hill cave near Mecca. The poverty and misfortunes of his early life doubtless made him aware of tensions in Meccan society. Mecca, inhabited by the tribe of Quraysh to which the Hashim clan