Hazrat Mohammed

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Hazrat Mohammed (c. 570 CE – 8 June 632 CE) was the founder of Islam religion.[1] He is known as the "Holy Prophet" to Muslims, almost all of whom consider him to be the last prophet sent by God to mankind.[2] to restore Islam, believed by Muslims to be the unaltered original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets.[3][4] Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings, practices, and the Quran, formed the basis of Islamic religious belief.

Early life

Born approximately 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, Muhammad was orphaned at an early age; he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad lived in Mecca for roughly the first 52 years of his life (c. 570–622). This period is generally divided into two phases, before and after declaring his prophetic visions.

Muhammad's birthday is believed to be in the month of Rabi' al-awwal.[5] He belonged to the Banu Hashim clan, part of the Quraysh tribe, and was one of Mecca's prominent families.[6] Tradition places the year of Muhammad's birth as corresponding with the Year of the Elephant, which is named after the failed destruction of Mecca that year by the Abraha, Yemen's king, who supplemented his army with elephants.[7][8]

Muhammad's father, Abdullah, died almost six months before he was born.[9] According to Islamic tradition, soon after birth he was sent to live with a Bedouin family in the desert, as desert life was considered healthier for infants; some western scholars reject this tradition's historicity.[10]

Muhammad stayed with his foster-mother, Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, and her husband until he was two years old.[11] At the age of six, Muhammad lost his biological mother Amina to illness and became an orphan.[12] For the next two years, until he was eight years old, Muhammad was under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, of the Banu Hashim clan until his death. He then came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of the Banu Hashim.[13] According to Islamic historian William Montgomery Watt there was a general disregard by guardians in taking care of weaker members of the tribes in Mecca during the 6th century, "Muhammad's guardians saw that he did not starve to death, but it was hard for them to do more for him, especially as the fortunes of the clan of Hashim seem to have been declining at that time."[14]

In his teens, Muhammad accompanied his uncle on Syrian trading journeys to gain experience in commercial trade.[15][16] Islamic tradition states that when Muhammad was either nine or twelve while accompanying the Meccans' caravan to Syria, he met a Christian monk or hermit named Bahira who is said to have foreseen Muhammad's career as a prophet of God.[17]

Little is known of Muhammad during his later youth, available information is fragmented, causing difficulty to separate history from legend.[18][19] It is known that he became a merchant and "was involved in trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea."[59] Due to his upright character he acquired the nickname "al-Amin", meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and "al-Sadiq" meaning "truthful"[20] and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator.[21] His reputation attracted a proposal in 595 from Khadijah, a 40-year-old widow. Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one.[22]

Several years later, according to a narration collected by historian Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad was involved with a well-known story about setting the Black Stone in place in the wall of the Kaaba in 605 CE. The Black Stone, a sacred object, was removed during renovations to the Kaaba. The Meccan leaders could not agree which clan should return the Black Stone to its place. They decided to ask the next man who comes through the gate to make that decision; that man was the 35-year-old Muhammad. This event happened five years before the first revelation by Gabriel to him. He asked for a cloth and laid the Black Stone in its center. The clan leaders held the corners of the cloth and together carried the Black Stone to the right spot, then Muhammad laid the stone, satisfying the honour of all.[23]

Isra and Mi'raj

Periodically, he would seclude himself in a mountain cave named Hira for several nights of prayer; later, at age 40, he reported being visited by Gabriel in the cave,[24] where he stated he received his first revelation from God. Three years later, in 610,[25] Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" (lit. islām) to him is the only way (dīn) acceptable to God, and that he was a prophet and messenger of God, similar to the other prophets in Islam.[26][27]

Islamic tradition states that in 620, Muhammad experienced the Isra and Mi'raj, a miraculous night-long journey said to have occurred with the angel Gabriel. At the journey's beginning, the Isra, he is said to have travelled from Mecca on a winged steed (Buraq) to "the farthest mosque" (in Arabic: masjid al-aqsa). Later, during the Mi'raj, Muhammad is said to have toured heaven and hell, and spoke with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.[28] Ibn Ishaq, author of the first biography of Muhammad, presents the event as a spiritual experience; later historians, such as Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir, present it as a physical journey.[29]

Hijra

Muhammad gained few early followers, and met hostility from some Meccan tribes. To escape persecution, Muhammad sent some followers to Abyssinia before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina (then known as Yathrib) in the year 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, also known as the Hijri Calendar. The Hijra is the migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. In June 622, warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly slipped out of Mecca and moved his followers to Medina,[30] 450 kilometres (280 miles) north of Mecca.


In Medina, Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina. In December 629, after eight years of intermittent conflict with Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts and marched on the city of Mecca. The attack went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed.

Quran

The revelations (each known as Ayah, lit. "Sign [of God]"), which Muhammad reported receiving until his death, form the verses of the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the "Word of God" and around which the religion is based. Besides the Quran, Muhammad's teachings and practices (sunnah), found in the Hadith and sira literature, are also upheld by Muslims and used as sources of Islamic law (see Sharia).

Death and tomb

In 632, a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and died. Before his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam.[31] He died on Monday, 8 June 632, in Medina, at the age of 62 or 63, in the house of his wife Aisha.[32]

He was buried where he died in Aisha's house.[33][34] During the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I, al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the Mosque of the Prophet) was expanded to include the site of Muhammad's tomb.[35] The Green Dome above the tomb was built by the Mamluk sultan Al Mansur Qalawun in the 13th century, although the green color was added in the 16th century, under the reign of Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.[36]

The advent of Islam in India

Ram Sarup Joon[37] writes that ...The advent, of Islam in Arabia began in 610 A.D. during the rule of Raja Harsh Vardhan.

The founder of Islam, Prophet Hazrat Mohammed, proclaimed himself as the son of God when he was 40 years of Age. He claimed that he had 'Ilham' (Divine message) the preaching of which is called 'Islam'. He preached that idol worship was sin and there is only one God. He stressed on equality and fraternity amongst all human beings and condemned discrimination. Islam implicitly forbids drinking wine and outraging the modesty of women.

Partly due to the effective preaching of Prophet Hazrat Mohammed, and partly by force, Islam spread rapidly in Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan and Baluchistan etc. But its advance got stemmed towards the boundaries of India. There were two main reasons for this. Firstly the countries in which Islam succeeded were engaged in internal wars, and secondly the Gujars, who became a power in India after the death of Harsh Vardhana did not allow the Muslim invaders to penetrate in this country. The sheet anchor of Gujar force was the Pratihars and Parmars. The Solanki Kings had also joined them. They had driven away the Kauls? From Lath (Gujarat) territory.

History of the Jats, End of Page-143

The creation of the Agni Kul Rajputs and the advent of the Puranic Mat sowed the seeds of dissension amongst the Indians.

The Kings of one Gotra considered it a disgrace to have matrimonial relations with other gotras. Bhats were persuaded to change the dynastic histories to claim comparative superiority. Kings reveled in listening to the concocted glory from these bards. Every King lived in an imaginary world of glory, considered himself invincible and supreme within his own territory and looked upon alliance unnecessary and below dignity. The ruling Rajputs looked down upon others as inferior beings and thus alienated them. Drinking became the fashion of the day. Morals descended.

Idol worship became popular and heaps of wealth were accumulated in the temples. India was called 'Bhuri Gae' (Brown cow) or 'Sone Ki Chirya' (Golden sparrow). Muslim merchants and travellers exposed this social and political weakness of this country to Muslim rulers who turned their covetous eyes towards India. Aggression met a disunited India. Mahmood, a daring young ruler of Ghazni, on appreciating this condition swarmed towards the Indian frontiers and unhinged the Indian gates. He invaded this country 17 times with the purpose of looting the wealth of the temples and to spread Islam by terrorizing Indian population. He ransacked the whole of India, plundered all the wealth from temples and raised these to the ground- The Rajput Kingdoms due to mutual jealousy were not in a position to rally under banner to check the advance of the Muslim invaders. Individually none of them was strong enough for the task. Once this state of affairs was exposed, further invasions followed. Muhamad Gauri invaded India after Mohammad Ghazni.

India was in a state of religious instability. It was certainly not difficult to spread Islam with its belief in Oneness of God, which appealed to the people.

History of the Jats, End of Page-144

It would have spread even faster but for certain shortcomings which were not acceptable to the Hindus e.g. cow slaughter, marriage amongst first cousins and lack of hygiene in Muslim household. One thing, which helped Islam, was the inflexible attitude of Hindu priests. The slightest breach of the prevalent Hindu religious customs was unpardonable. If a chop of Beef touched the lips of a Hindu accidentally or even forcibly, it was sufficient cause for his degradation from Hinduism. Such outcasts naturally became an easy prey to Islam. They longed for generations to conjoin with their Hindu brethren, but alas, the adamant Pandits never relaxed the rigid social order and never allowed those outcasts to fulfil their dreams.

The Jats living in Northern India have always been the corner stone of Jat arch. The Rajputs could never subdue them. Nor did they provide recruitment to the army of Rajputs. As the Jat territory was a corridor through which every invader passed, some Jats did get converted to Islam. Still most of them never bowed and continued giving resistance and trouble to the oppressors.

The significant role played by Jats at the time of Mahmood Ghazni's and Mohammed Gauri's invasions is described in detail in this chapter.

References

  1. ↑ Morgan, Diane (2009). Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-313-36025-1.
  2. ↑ Quran 33:40
  3. ↑ Esposito (1998), p. 12.
  4. ↑ Esposito (2002b), pp. 4–5.
  5. ↑ Esposito, John L. (ed.) (2003). The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-19-512558-
  6. ↑ Buhl, F.; Welch, A. T. (1993). "Muḥammad". Encyclopaedia of Islam. 7 (2nd ed.). Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 360–376.
  7. ↑ The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity; edited by Scott Fitzgerald Johnson; p. 287
  8. ↑ Muhammad and the Origins of Islam; by Francis E. Peters; p. 88
  9. ↑ Meri, Josef W. (2004). Medieval Islamic civilization. 1. Routledge. p. 525. ISBN 978-0-415-96690-0.
  10. ↑ Watt, "Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb", Encyclopaedia of Islam.
  11. ↑ An Introduction to the Quran (1895), p. 182
  12. ↑ An Introduction to the Quran (1895), p. 182
  13. ↑ An Introduction to the Quran (1895), p. 182
  14. ↑ An Introduction to the Quran (1895), p. 182
  15. ↑ An Introduction to the Quran (1895), p. 182
  16. ↑ Watt (1974), p. 8.
  17. ↑ Armand Abel, Bahira, Encyclopaedia of Islam
  18. ↑ An Introduction to the Quran (1895), p. 182
  19. ↑ Watt (1974), p. 8.
  20. ↑ Khan, Majid Ali (1998). Muhammad the final messenger (1998 ed.). India: Islamic Book Service. p. 332. ISBN 81-85738-25-4.
  21. ↑ Esposito (1998), p. 6
  22. ↑ Esposito (1998), p. 6
  23. ↑ Dairesi, Hırka-i Saadet; Aydın, Hilmi (2004). Uğurluel, Talha; Doğru, Ahmet, eds. The sacred trusts: Pavilion of the Sacred Relics, Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul. Tughra Books. ISBN 978-1-932099-72-0.
  24. ↑ Encyclopedia of World History (1998), p. 452
  25. ↑ Howarth, Stephen. Knights Templar. 1985. ISBN 9780826480347 p. 199
  26. ↑ F. E. Peters (2003), p. 9.
  27. ↑ Esposito (1998), p. 12; (1999) p. 25; (2002) pp. 4–5
  28. ↑ An Introduction to the Quran (1895), p. 186
  29. ↑ Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (2003), p. 482
  30. ↑ An Introduction to the Quran (1895), p. 187
  31. ↑ "Muhammad", Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim world
  32. ↑ The Last Prophet, p. 3. By Lewis Lord of U.S. News & World Report. 7 April 2008.
  33. ↑ Leila Ahmed (1986), 665–91 (686)
  34. ↑ F. E. Peters(2003), p. 90
  35. ↑ F. E. Peters(2003), p. 90
  36. ↑ "Prophet's Mosque". Archnet.org. 2 May 2005.
  37. ↑ Ram Sarup Joon: History of the Jats/Chapter IX,p. 143-145
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