Finally, I need to thank a number of people. Firstly, I am grateful to Professor Dr. Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Beg, FRAS, who is a distinguished Islamic historian and a prolific writer, for thoroughly reading a draft version of this book and making numerous corrections and suggestions for improvement. I am indebted to Mawlana Mohammed Mushfiqur Rahman (who specialised in hadith literature at al-Azhar University) and Hafiz Abdullah Muhammad (a writer and Islamic researcher) for reading a draft version of this book and providing valuable feedback. Likewise, I am grateful to Ahmed J.Versi, the editor of The Muslim News (a leading British Muslim newspaper), for not only reading this book and making some useful and interesting comments, but also for encouraging me to write regularly for his esteemed newspaper. Rod Bushell agreed to thoroughly check the whole manuscript and, in the process, he raised numerous queries and questions which enabled me to clarify many issues and further improve and enhance the book.
My wife has been a source of blessing since our marriage nearly nine years ago. Without her support, encouragement and tolerance, this book could not have been written. At times I studied for more than twelve hours a day, but she accepted and tolerated my excesses and absent-mindedness; may the Almighty reward her most abundantly. As for my two young sons, Muhtadi aged six and Mustafa aged four, they kept-on asking when the book would be completed. To them, I say, it is now complete. Likewise, my sister Sabia helped produce the chronology, and Motin and Shelina assisted in so many other ways. My mother was keen for me to finish the book so I could take some rest. I am also grateful to Yahya Birt, Commissioning Editor, and all his colleagues at Kube Publishing for their constructive criticism, suggestions and contributions.
Ultimately, however, my success in my task can only come from Him; the One and Only (al-Ahad). Blessed is His Name and salutation (salawat) upon His most beloved, the light by whom others are guided to the Light (al-Nur), and to Him is our final return.
HE WAS BORN an orphan and was brought up in the Arabian village of Ta’if. He was subsequently raised in the town of Makkah by his extended family. He worked as a shepherd and a merchant, and never set a foot inside a school or college and was known to have been ummi, or an unlettered man. He came to be known to his fellow countrymen for his absolute honesty, impeccable character and strong sense of justice and fair play – so much so that they fondly called him al-amin (the trustworthy) and al-sadiq (the truthful). He led a hitherto uneventful life without in any way showing the signs of the great man that he was to be. Arabia was not necessarily known for rearing men of universal appeal and renown. His birth put an end to that drought and, for the first time in their history, the Arab descendants of the great patriarch, Abraham (Ibrahim), had something they could truly celebrate: the birth of the most influential man ever to walk on the earth. His name means the ‘praiseworthy one’.
To some Arabs, history actually began in 570, the year in which their greatest son was born into the noble Makkan tribe of Quraysh (in present-day Saudi Arabia). A direct descendant of Ishmael (Ismail), the father of the Semitic Arab race, he single-handedly dragged the Arab people from being a footnote of human history to be the founders of one of history’s greatest civilisations. More importantly, he accomplished such an unprecedented feat without any wherewithal. Caesar had the pomp and power of Rome; Alexander had a mighty army; Heraclius had immense wealth and resources, while Napoleon was trained at a military academy; but he had none of these things. He started with nothing, but ended up with the whole world. That was the greatness of the man called Muhammad, history’s most incomparable religious-cum-political genius.
Living in seventh century Arabia, Muhammad became increasingly detached from the superstitious beliefs and practices of his people. He began to explore, and take a closer interest in, spiritual matters by secluding himself on the Mount of Light (jabal al-nur), situated on the outskirts of the Arabian town of Makkah, for meditation and spiritual renewal. As political corruption, social inequality, economic disparity between the poor and rich, and religious superstition and tribal conflict increasingly became the order of the day in Makkah and across Arabia, Muhammad began to search for serious answers to his society’s maladies. As he approached his fortieth birthday, his meditation and retreat on the Mount of Light intensified and reached its climax during one night in the month of Ramadan, which resulted in a direct visitation from archangel Gabriel (jibrail), conveying to him the first of a series of Divine revelations, which he continued to receive until his death in 632. The angel confirmed that he, Muhammad, was God’s last and final Prophet (nabi) to humanity and the Qur’an, consisting of one hundred and fourteen chapters (suwar) of variable length, was God’s last and final revelation (wahy) to mankind. This Divine intervention in history marked the beginning of Muhammad’s Prophetic mission. The result was that Islam – meaning submission to the Will of One God (Allah in Arabic) – completely transformed Muhammad, and he went out to invite his fellow countrymen to the worship of One God. From that day on, the promulgation and propagation of Islam became his main preoccupation in life.
As soon as the Prophet publicly announced the message of Islam some, especially those who had suffered hardship under the oppressive rule of the Makkan oligarchy, responded positively to his call. However, the ruling Makkan elites became very hostile and abusive towards Muhammad as soon as the implication of his new message became clear to them. In a fiercely feudalistic, tribally entrenched and paternalistic Makkan society, the message of Islam advocated the need for a different approach to politics, social justice, economics and human spirituality. Indeed, in a grossly unjust and unfair Makkah (and Arabian society as a whole), the Prophet’s message of freedom, equality, justice, fair play and brotherhood was nothing short of a breath of fresh air. Not surprisingly, the status quo maintained and perpetuated by a handful of tribal chieftains in order to protect their own politico-economic interests soon came under direct threat from Islam. Thus the Prophet and his message became the main target of their hostility and enmity. Undaunted by the severity of the hardship and hostility directed towards him and his small band of followers, Muhammad continued to proclaim the message of Islam in and around Makkah for more than a decade.
In 622, the Prophet was invited by a delegation from the nearby oasis of Yathrib to move to their city. The Prophet accepted their offer and moved to Yathrib, which later became known as madinat al-nabi (or the ‘city of the Prophet’). The Prophet’s migration to Madinah (hijrah) thus became a momentous event in Islamic history. The Islamic calendar, known as the hijri calendar, is dated back to the day the Prophet left his native Makkah for Madinah. In this beautiful Arabian oasis, the Prophet received a hero’s welcome, as its inhabitants came out in their droves and pledged allegiance to him by embracing Islam. From that day on, Madinah became a very special place for all Muslims; and it also became the hub of Islamic learning, culture and civilisation for all times to come.
When the Makkan chiefs were informed about the Prophet’s success in Madinah, they became very shocked and alarmed. Having tried to undermine him and his mission in Makkah and failed most miserably, they now conspired to create unrest in Madinah by setting factions of hypocrites, rival tribes of pagans, Jews and the new immigrants (muhajirun) from Makkah against each other. But, thanks to the Prophet’s polished diplomatic skills, their strategies came to nothing. Undeterred, the Makkan chieftains then marched to Madinah with a large contingent in order to obliterate the nascent Muslim community. The Prophet and his small band of followers met the advancing Makkan army at the plain of Badr, located on the outskirts of Madinah. More than one thousand strong, the well-equipped Makkah army fought just over three hundred ill-equipped and unprepared Muslims. Miraculously, the Prophet and his followers inflicted a crushing defeat on their Makkan foes. The Muslims returned to Madinah in elation, while the Makkan army returned home in total disarray. Determined to avenge their humiliation, the unrelenting Makkan chiefs attempted to obliterate the Muslims on a few other occasions, but they failed to breach the stiff defence put up by the Muslims. Demoralised by their failure to wipe out the Muslims, the Makkans were