It was in the year 570, after Jesus, that Muhammad was born in Makkah, in what is now Saudi Arabia. Arabia, by all accounts, is the cradle of the human race.
Hemmed in by red, black and brown volcanic hills about 80 kilometers
to the east of the Red Sea, stands the city of Makkah. It was then a
small merchant town on the ancient ‘incense’ route through which passed
the great trade caravans between the south and north.
However, Makkah was, and remains, important for an altogether
different reason. For here lies the Ka’bah, the ‘first House’ ever set
up for mankind to worship their only God.
More than 1,000 years before the Prophet Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, his ancestor, the Prophet Ishmael,
raised its walls on very ancient foundations. Close by the Ka’bah lies
the well called Zam Zam. Its origin, too, goes back to the Prophet
Abraham’s time. It was this well which sprang up miraculously to save
the life of the infant Ishmael. In the words of the Bible: And God heard
the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of
heaven, and said to her: ‘What ails you, Hagar? Fear Not, for God has
heard the voice of the boy where he is. Arise, lift up the boy, and hold
him in your hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened
her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and gave the boy a drink. And God
was with the boy; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became
an archer. (Genesis 21:17 – 20)
Or, as the Psalmist sings: As they pass through the dry Valley of
Baca, it becomes a place of springs; the early rain fills it with
pools. (Psalms 84:6)
Makkah never
had, nor does it have now, any worldly inducement to offer for
settlement. It is a barren, desolate place, where even grass does not
grow! There were springs and wells of abundant water nearby in Taif, and
a short distance away in Madinah. But it was the first House of God,
architecturally an unremarkable cube, but spiritually and
civilizationally the most remarkable foundation and spring of life –
which made it supremely important, a place of attraction for people from
all over the world. Forever, therefore, Makkah has been a great center
of pilgrimage.
By the time Muhammad was born, the Ka`bah’s latest guardians, the tribe of Quraysh,
had more than 300 idols installed in and around the Ka’bah to be
worshipped as lords, gods and intercessors besides the One God. Muhammad
was a direct descendent of the Prophet Abraham through the Prophet
Ishmael. He belonged to the financially poor but politically strong and
noble clan of Banu Hashim from the tribe of Quraysh. As guardians of the
Ka’bah, the House of God and the center of pilgrimage for all Arabia,
the Quraysh ranked higher in dignity and power than any other tribe.
Hashim held the high office of levying taxes and providing the pilgrims
with food and water.
Muhammad was born an orphan. His father, Abdullah, died before he was
born. His mother, Aminah, too, passed away when he was only six years
old. Doubly an orphan, his grandfather, `Abdul‐Muttalib, took him into
his care. Only two years later, however, the orphaned boy was bereaved
of his grandfather as well, leaving him in the care of his uncle, Abu
Talib.
After his birth, the infant child was sent to the desert to be
suckled and weaned and to spend part of his childhood among one of the
Bedouin tribes, Bani Sa`d ibn Bakr, who live in the southeast of Makkah.
This was the usual custom of all the great families in Makkah.
As Muhammad grew
up, to earn his livelihood he pastured sheep, and goats, as have done
most Prophets. His uncle and guardian, Abu Talib, also took him along
with him on his travels with the trade caravans to greater Syria. He,
thus, grained experience in trading. Because of his great honesty and
diligence and the business acumen he showed in trading, he was soon
being sought after to take charge of other people’s merchandise, i.e.
for those who could not travel themselves, and to trade on their behalf.
At the age of 25, Muhammad married a lady named Khadijah. A widow,
Khadijah was 15 years older than Muhammad. She was a rich merchant of
Makkah, and Muhammad had managed some of her trade affairs. It was she
who proposed marriage. Khadijah remained Muhammad’s wife and his closest
friend and companion all her life till her life till her death 25 years
later. She bore him six children, of whom four daughters survived.
Until he was 40, Muhammad led a very uneventful life. What set him
apart from his compatriots were his absolute truthfulness,
trustworthiness and integrity, his sense of justice and compassion for
the poor, oppressed and downtrodden, as well as his total refusal to
worship any idol or do anything immoral. He was popularly acclaimed for
these qualities. Al‐Amin, the Trustworthy, the Honest, al‐Sadiq, the Truthful, were the titles on everybody’s lips for Muhammad, which itself means the Praised One.
At a very young age, Muhammad enthusiastically
joined a pact of chivalry for the establishment of justice and the
protection of the weak and the oppressed made by certain chiefs of the
Quraysh. He took part in the oath when they all vowed that henceforth
they would stand together as one man on the side of the oppressed
against the oppressor until justice was done, whether the oppressed were
a man of the Quraysh or one who had come from abroad.
In later years, at Madinah, Muhammad used to say: ‘I was present in
the house of `Abdullah Ibn Jud`an at so excellent a pact that I would
not exchange my part in it for a herd of red camels, and if now, in
Islam, I were summoned to a similar pact, I would gladly respond.’
A testimony to Muhammad’s character was given by his wife Khadijah as
she comforted him at the time when the first revelation came to him. He
said later: ‘I fear for my life.’ She replied: ‘By no means! I swear by
God that God will never lose you. You join ties of relationship, you
speak the truth, you bear people’s burdens, you earn for the poor, you
entertain guests, and you help against the vicissitudes, which affect
people’s rights.
Muhammad’s wisdom was also acknowledged by all. Once, while repairing the Ka`bah, various clans of the Quraysh disputed
violently as to who should have the honor of placing the Black Stone in
its place. As they were about to unsheathe their swords and go to war,
they made the Prophet their arbitrator and he brought them peace. He
placed the Black Stone on his cloak and asked all the clan chiefs to
hold its edges and raise it, and then he placed the Black Stone in its
appointed spot with his own hands.
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