THE RISE

OF

ISLAM: FROM THE LIFE

TO A.D. 750
BY

OF

MUHAMMAD

J. LUIS DIZON

Muhammad was born in 570 in Mecca. He was a member of the Quraysh

tribe. His father died before he was born, and he was taken in by his
grandfather, Abdul Muttalib. When he was eight, his grandfather died,
and he was taken in by his uncle, Abdul Talib. As a merchant, he was
involved in a lot of trade, and it was in his travels that he first
encountered Jews and Christians. By the age of 25, he married a rich
widow named Khadija.1
Muhammad was dissatisfied with the polytheistic paganism that
pervaded Mecca then. He often retreated to a cave outside Mecca to
meditate. One day, in 610, he came home claiming that he received a
revelation from the angel Gabriel. 2 This revelation became known as
surat Al-Alaq, the earliest surah of the Quran:
Read! In the name of your Lord and Cherisher, Who created;
Created man out of a clot of congealed blood; Read! And your
Lord is most bountiful, He who taught (the use of) the pen;
taught man that which he did not know (Quran 96:1-5).
Initially, Muhammad was not sure whether his revelations were really
from God or a jinn. It was Khadija who convinced him that they were
from God.3 This was different from biblical prophets, who always knew
for certain when God was speaking to them. The information Muhammad
recited reflected a mixture of pre-Islamic legend, inaccurate and
incomplete biblical narrative, fanciful tales, and repetitive recitation
regarding the nature of a god labelled Allah. 4 The nature of these
revelations also changed gradually. Early on in his career, he attempted
to show continuity with Jewish and Christian thought (whom he referred
to as ahl al-kitab; the people of the book). However, when he realized
1 Abdullah Al Araby, "Background into Islam: The Messenger and the Message," Islam Review,
http://www.islamreview.com/articles/background.shtml
2 Abdullah Al Araby, "Background into Islam: The Messenger and the Message," Islam Review.
3 Diane Coleman and Anees Zaka, The Truth About Islam: The Noble Qur'an's Teachings in Light of the
Holy Bible (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2004), 34.
4 Ibid., 36.
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that he wasnt winning them over, he became more critical of them and
regarded them as infidels.5
Muhammad was persecuted by the pagan Meccans, who felt that his new
religion was a threat to their old lifestyle. The persecution was so severe
that at one point, he briefly compromised with them and said it was
acceptable to worship their pagan gods. To this day, this still exists in the
Quran as the satanic verses in surah 53:19,20. 6 He also commanded
some of his followers to seek protection from the Christian king of
Ethiopia (even though the Quran later forbids this, cf. 3:28 and 5:51). 7
Eventually, he moves to the city of Yathrib (later renamed Medina), in an
event that Muslims today refer to as the Hijra.
This was when Muhammads demeanor began to change and
become more militaristic. He started raiding caravans, which prompted
the Meccans to attack Medina. In the battle of Badr, 314 Muslim
warriors defeated 1,000 Meccans. Also, although he initially respected
the Jews in Medina (even adopting their prayer practices), he eventually
became hostile to them and even had all the men of the Jewish Bani
Qurayza tribe beheaded and the women enslaved for rebelling against
Muhammads rule in 627. As Robert Payne comments:
No one knows why Muhammad changed so abruptly from a
benevolent despot, the devoted servant of the Merciful and
Compassionate God, into a ruthless conqueror. Perhaps power
corrupted him; perhaps he knew the faith would never survive
without unsheathing the sword. What is certain is that his
character changed.8
Eventually, Muhammad amassed an army of 10,000 and proceeded to
march towards Mecca. He briefly makes a peace treaty with them, but
when this treaty expires, he takes Mecca. The initial takeover was
without bloodshed, but this changes when surat at-tauba is revealed and
commands the slaying of the pagans (cf. 9:5) and the subjugation of Jews
and Christians (cf. 9:29). Sometime later, a Jewish woman attempts to
kill him by serving him a poisoned lamb leg. Although the poison fails to
kill him initially, he continues to feel during the remainder of his years.
5 Ibid., 39.
6 Ernest Hahn, "The Satanic Verses," Answering Islam, http://www.answeringislam.org/Hahn/satanicverses.htm
7 Robert Payne, The History of Islam, 20.
8 Ibid., 32.
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In his final days, he is reported as telling Aisha, I still feel the pain
caused by the food I ate at Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as if my aorta
is being cut from that poison (Sahih Al-Bukhari 5:59:713). Finally, in
632, Muhammad succumbs to the effects of the poison and dies.
The Islamic expansion does not end there, however. The Islamic
empire comes under the ruler of the caliphs. The first caliph was Abu
Bakr, who becomes caliph in 632, consolidates power and conquers
Syria. He is succeeded by Umar in 634, then Uthman in 644, and then Ali
in 656.9 After this, disputes over the succession of Islamic leadership
caused the split between the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam, which
still exist to this day.
During this time, there were many battles that took place. During
Abu Bakrs reign, he had to wage war against apostates. Many Christians
were martyred during this time because they initially converted to Islam
but found the new religion to be spiritually dissatisfying and returned to
Christianity. Another important conflict was the battle of Yamama against
forces of the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah. in which many of the
men who were charged with memorizing the Quran were killed. Ibn AbiDawud in Kitab Al-Masahif writes,
Many (passages) of the Quran that were sent down were known
by those who died on the day of Yamama... but they were not
known (by those who) survived them, nor were they written
down, nor had Abu Bakr, Umar or Uthman collected the Quran,
nor were they found with even one (person) after them. 10
According to Sahih Al-Bukhari, caliph Umar appointed Zaid Ibn Thabit
(one of Muhammads scribes) to gathered whatever was left of the
Quran, since they were afraid that a large part of the Quran may be
lost. Ibn Thabit narrates:
I started looking for the Qur'an and collecting it from palmed
stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by
heart, till I found the last verse of Surat at-Tauba with Abi
Khuza`ima Al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other
than him (Sahih Al-Bukhari 6:61:509).
However, these surahs were not compiled into one book until the reign of
Uthman. In a hadith narrated by Anas bin Malik. He states that Uthman
felt the need to compile it because of differences in the recitation of the
9 Patrick Sookhdeo, A Christian's Pocket Guide to Islam (Christian Focus, 2004), 13.
10 Quoted in David Wood, "Has the Qur'an Been Perfectly Preserved?," 4Truth.Net,
http://www.4truth.net/fourtruthpbworld.aspx?pageid=8589953021 (accessed December 10, 2010).
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Quran. So, he called for all the surviving manuscripts to be collated into
one book. He states:
Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they
had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur'anic materials,
whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be
burnt (Sahih Al-Bukhari 6:61:510).
Not all accepted this, however. Muhammads secretary, Abdullah Ibn
Masud, deemed this version to be a monstrous falsification, 11 and
advocated an alternate canon. However, Uthmans Quran prevailed, and
his 114 sura canon remains the standard canon used by Muslims today.
At this time, Islam was expanding rapidly. By 656, the caliphate had
spread to Afghanistan to the east, Libya to the west and the Caucasus
mountains to the north. Afterwards, Islam continued spreading west,
conquering North Africa and heading north through Spain into France
before finally being halted in 732 in the battle of Tours. 12 Christians in
these conquered lands were accorded dhimmi status under Sharia law,
which means they were forced to pay the Jizya tax in submission (cf.
Quran 9:29) and disallowed from repairing churches, bearing arms,
bearing testimony against Muslims, gathering publicly, reciting prayers
out loud (in case Muslims might hear them), share their faith or prevent
the spread of Islam in any way. Violations of these rules meant death.
This is to be the standard state of affairs for centuries to come. 13

11 Robert Payne, The History of Islam, 108.

12 Patrick Sookhdeo, A Christian's Pocket Guide to Islam, 13
13 Samuel Shahid, "Rights of Non-Muslims in an Islamic State," Answering Islam, http://www.answeringislam.org/NonMuslims/rights.htm (accessed December 10, 2010).

APPENDIX: A TIMELINE

OF

MUHAMMADS LIFE14

570 (or 571) Birth of Muhammad

595 Muhammads first marriage to Khadija (which lasts until her

death in 619)

609 (or 610) Muhammad receives his first revelation; begins his
career as a prophet

619 The Satanic Verses incident

620 Muhammad has vision of night journey to Jerusalem and up to

Heaven

21 June - 2 July 622 Muhammad migrates from Mecca to Yathrib

(Medina), marking the beginning of the Islamic calendar

624 The Battle of Badr; 314 Muslims defeat 1,000 pagan Meccans

625 The Battle of Uhud; Pagans defeat Muslims

627 The Battle of the Trench; Muslims defeat Pagans after a 2week long siege against Medina

630 Muslim Army conquers Mecca

8 June 632 Muhammad dies

14 The Timeline of Muhammad, WikiIslam: The Online Resource on Islam,

http://wikiislam.net/wiki/The_Timeline_of_Muhammad
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