Mohammed, the founder of modern day Islam, was the son of Abdullah, and member of a Meccan family of Hashem. He lost his mother when he was six-year-old, and as an orphan was cared for by a grandfather, Abd al-Mutalib, and later by his paternal uncle, Abu Talib. His family suffered serious declines in fortune, and its influence declined. He was then entrusted to a Bedouin nurse, Halima. He lived in poverty as a shepherd in the mountainous areas near Mecca. Later, he accompanied some of the caravans with his uncle. At age 25, Mohammed married Kadija, a widow, many years older than him. She was the first convert to Islam. Until 40, he lived a peaceful life.
In the year 610 A.D., Mohammed developed the habit of meditating and praying in the mountains near Mecca. One night on Mt. Hira, he had an overwhelming spiritual experience. The word of God was revealed to him by the archangel Gabriel. Mohammed later related that he heard an imperious voice and a luminous being grasped him by the throat, and commanded him to repeat the sacred words. First, he tried to escape. Then, came a time of inner emptiness "and the revelation was silent." His distress was even greater after this. He then again was seized by the conviction that he had a message to convey. The hesitation ceased around 613 A.D., and he began his preaching. The sacred words were a reiteration of the all-powerfulness of the one God, creator of the universe, who would summon all his creatures into his presence for judgment on the day of resurrection. However, this God of justice was a God of mercy, too. The earth was filled with signs of his glory and grace. Every man was morally responsible to him for the conduct of their own life. Every man must respond to the divine blessings by faith, prayer and charity. According to Mohammed, this was not a new message, because God had declared himself as one through Abraham, Moses and Jesus in earlier times, and now the reminders and warnings were being repeated.
During the first few years, he received no opposition, and spoke only to a few friends and family. Opposition arose when he began to preach to larger groups of people, due largely to economic demands. Opposition first took the form of mockery and polemics. In 615 A.D. the persecution arose so bad that he advised the most vulnerable of his followers to take refuge in the Christian land of Ethiopia. In 619 A.D., the "Year of the Mourning" both his wife and his paternal uncle died. He then began to seek refuge outside Mecca, and help came from city of Father, which was later renamed Medina. In Yatherib, an oasis, two hostile tribes, the Aws and the Khazraj, were vying for power. The rest of the population included three Jewish tribes. Mohammed, head of the community, arbitrated the conflict between the two tribes. The first negotiations, conducted in secret began in 622 A.D., ended with an agreement known as the Pact of Aqaba. Small groups of Muslims became to settle in the city of Yatherib. The Meccans alarmed decided to strike at the leader, plotting to assassinate Mohammed, in Mecca where he was almost alone. He managed to escape during the night and after hiding for some time on Mt. Thaur reached Yatherib on September 24. This is called the Hegira, or immigration. The Muslims reckon their era starting from this period of July 16, 622 A.D.
Mohammed then turned his life from being a preached to a politician, and later a military leader, as well. Mohammed set himself to win over the Jews, assuring them the right to practice their religion, and even including certain of their rights in Islam. In return, the Jews would accept the newest civil authority and give to military expenses. This provided irritation and was irksome to the Jews who had their own God and followed their own Biblical teaching. They also refused to acknowledge Mohammed as a prophet and opposed him to their own Biblical writings. Relations then became strained. In less than two years after the Hegira, Mecca took the place of Jerusalem, as the place to pray.
Slowly the Meccans, who were controlling the trade of Arabia, began to bring economic pressure against Mohammed's camps. Mohammed's emigre's had lost all property and were beginning to fell poverty. The war first began in a bedoiun manner of fighting such as raids and skirmishes. The first considerable victory won by the Muslims was in the Spring of 624 A.D. at Badr. The Meccans bent on revenge of their dead, a year after Badr, raised an army of 3,000 men and advanced upon Medina. The Muslims were defeated at Ohod, and Mohammed himself was wounded. However, later the Meccans could not follow up their victory. Not until March 627 A.D. when by persuasion they had a number of tribes join their cause. And, they once again marched on Medina. After Mohammed used different tactics, the besieging force broke up and went home.
This was called the "Battle of the Ditch." He used this victory as a means of negotiation. Opposing forces were now equally matched, and Meccans were tired of war damaging their trade. Mohammed soon secured a truce to enable himself and everyone with him to make a pilgrimage. They sat out on a peaceful march, but were barred by an armed group near the city. They camped at Hudaibiya. There they made an agreement known as the Pact of Hudaibiya. This pact gave Mohammed time to establish his position at Medina once and for all, and it also provided for a time of neutrality. Shortly before January 630 A.D., the Meccans interceded in a quarrel between two tribes and the pact of neutrality was broken. At the same time the Muslims were ordered to advance on Mecca. The city gave up and all the inhabitants and accepted Islam. Mohammed then entered the temple and ordered all pagan idols to be overturned, as well convert the pagan shrine to a Muslim sanctuary. But, in the end besides this one area he didn't try to offend anyone and made extra added attempt to make peace with his neighbors and enemies.
Around 630-631 A.D his authority had been established and the unification of the Arabian Peninsula began. This time period was also a great time of military expansion for his empire. However the most signifcant changes were in society. So with the empire expanding and his rule established he then set about reorganizing his current government. New changes in society were made as well such as, paganism being outlawed,almsgiving now was a tax at fixed rates, as well as a system of clans and tribes of religious sects had been established. The Muslim community had changed religiously, as well. It was now entirely governed by the koranic law, these came from the Koran their holy scripture. A interesting fact is that the old laws were very unfavorable to women and treated them harshly. When Mohammed came to power the laws were changed, giving women new rights,such as owning property and inheriting it. Also the legal number of wives was reduced to four. A lot of things hapened in just a short period of time. Before and up to 631 A.D Mohammed would send Abu Bakr to preside over the pilgrammage ceremonies. The following year Mohammed, led the pilgramage.This one time leading of the people in the pilgramage ceremonies would be known as the "farewell pilgramage" for it would be one of the last things Mohammed would do. His last sermon he preached he asked for them not split after he died but stay together in unity, to watch over the rights of the women, and to abolish blood fueds and usery. he then retreated to Medina and died June 6, 632 A.D. Abu Bakr then rose to power of Caliph Succesor thus permantly ending Mohammed's reign.
