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148-412: According to the traditional Islamic view, the tradition of the hadith sciences has succeeded in the use of isnads to distinguish between authentic and inauthentic traditions going back to Muhammad and his companions . The contemporary view in modern hadith studies , however, is that isnads were commonly susceptible to forgery and so had to be scrutinized before being used to guarantee the transmission of

296-459: A hadith may have drifted from its original telling to when it was finally written down, even if the chain of transmission is authentic. Overall, some Western academics have cautiously viewed the hadith collections as accurate historical sources, while the "dominant paradigm" in Western scholarship is to consider their reliability suspect. Scholars such as Wilferd Madelung do not reject

444-470: A jinn , which made him no longer want to live. In desperation, Muhammad fled from the cave and began climbing up towards the top of the mountain to jump to his death. But when he reached the summit, he experienced another vision , this time seeing a mighty being that engulfed the horizon and stared back at Muhammad even when he turned to face a different direction. This was the spirit of revelation ( rūḥ ), which Muhammad later referred to as Gabriel ; it

592-453: A "traditionalist", a member of a movement of hadith scholars who considered the Quran and authentic hadith to be the only authority in matters of law and creed. As in any Islamic discipline, there is a rich history of literature describing the principles and fine points of hadith sciences. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani provides a summation of this development with the following: “Works authored in

740-564: A Companion is acceptable. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi , stating likewise, cited various evidences for this, from them, the Quranic verse, “And you were the best nation brought about to mankind.” The fitnah referred to is the conflicting ideologies of the Kharijites and the Ghulat that had emerged at the time of the third Caliph Uthman ibn Affan , his assassination and the social unrest of

888-467: A Prophet; otherwise, he would be a liar. When they returned to Mecca and asked Muhammad the questions, he told them he would provide the answers the next day. However, 15 days passed without a response from his God, leading to gossip among the Meccans and causing Muhammad distress. At some point later, the angel Gabriel came to Muhammad and provided him with the answers. In response to the first query,

1036-496: A careful examination of the chain of transmission ( sanad سند , also isnād اسناد , or silsila سِلْسِلَة ), relaying each hadith from the Prophet to the person who compiles the hadith. The isnād and the commentary are distinct from the matn ( متن ), which is the main body, or text, of the hadith, These two terms are the primary components of every hadith. According to the person most responsible for elevation of

1184-457: A cloak and tucked him in her arms until his fears dissipated. She had absolutely no doubts about his revelation; she insisted it was real and not a jinn. Muhammad was also reassured by Khadija's Christian cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal , who jubilantly exclaimed "Holy! Holy! If you have spoken the truth to me, O Khadijah, there has come to him the great divinity who came to Moses aforetime, and lo, he

1332-491: A collection, now known as Sahih Bukhari , commonly accepted by Sunni scholars to be the most authentic collection of hadith, followed by that of his student Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj . Al-Bukhari's methods of testing hadiths and isnads are seen as exemplary of the developing methodology of hadith scholarship. An elaborate system was developed by scholars of hadith to determine the authenticity of traditions based on "two premises": A basic element of hadith sciences consist of

1480-543: A few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage , he fell ill and died. By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam . The revelations ( waḥy ) that Muhammad reported receiving until his death form the verses ( āyah ) of the Quran, upon which Islam is based, are regarded by Muslims as the verbatim word of God and his final revelation. Besides

1628-425: A greater emphasis on the hadith instead of the biographical literature, since hadith maintain a traditional chain of transmission ( isnad ); the lack of such a chain for the biographical literature makes it unverifiable in their eyes. The hadiths generally present an idealized view of Muhammad. Western scholars have expressed skepticism regarding the verifiability of these chains of transmission. It

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1776-473: A heightened level of scrutiny, and virtually all authorities believe that isnads have been afflicted with higher levels of partial or complete forgery than had been commonly presumed. Complete forgeries would constitute a wholesale invention of an isnad, whereas partial forgery typically involves fabricating a list of early transmitters of a tradition to connect it with a figure of higher prestige, such as Muhammad himself or one of his reputable followers . One of

1924-455: A job leading caravans on the northern segment of the route to Syria. The historical record of Mecca during Muhammad's early life is limited and fragmentary, making it difficult to distinguish between fact and legend. Several Islamic narratives relate that Muhammad, as a child, went on a trading trip to Syria with his uncle Abu Talib and met a monk named Bahira , who is said to have then foretold his prophethood. There are multiple versions of

2072-456: A major role in Muhammad sending them there. According to W. Montgomery Watt , the episodes were more complex than the traditional accounts suggest; he proposes that there were divisions within the embryonic Muslim community, and that they likely went there to trade in competition with the prominent merchant families of Mecca. In Urwa 's letter preserved by Tabari, these emigrants returned after

2220-532: A message to Akhnas ibn Shariq , a member of his mother's clan, requesting his protection so that he could enter in safety. But Akhnas declined, saying that he was only a confederate of the house of Quraysh . Muhammad then sent a message to Suhayl ibn Amir , who similarly declined on the basis of tribal principle. Finally, Muhammad dispatched someone to ask Mut'im ibn 'Adiy , the chief of the Banu Nawfal . Mut'im agreed, and after equipping himself, he rode out in

2368-504: A message, rather than to strictly and accurately record history. Other important sources include the hadith collections, accounts of verbal and physical teachings and traditions attributed to Muhammad. Hadiths were compiled several generations after his death by Muslims including Muhammad al-Bukhari , Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj , Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi , Abd ar-Rahman al-Nasai , Abu Dawood , Ibn Majah , Malik ibn Anas , al-Daraqutni . Muslim scholars have typically placed

2516-527: A more illustrious suitor. When Muhammad was 25, his fortunes turned around; his business reputation caught the attention of his 40-year-old distant relative Khadija , a wealthy businesswoman who had staked out a successful career as a merchant in the caravan trade industry. She asked him to take one of her caravans into Syria, after which she was so impressed by his competence in the expedition that she proposed marriage to him; Muhammad accepted her offer and remained monogamous with her until her death. In 605,

2664-413: A mountain cave named Hira for several nights of prayer. When he was 40, c.  610 , Muhammad reported being visited by Gabriel in the cave and receiving his first revelation from God. In 613, Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that 'God is One', that complete 'submission' ( Islām ) to God ( Allāh ) is the right way of life ( dīn ), and that he

2812-743: A penny to his name despite being very wealthy in his life. No one is aware of how this occurred. Zaynab Bint al-Kamal (646-740CE) Zaynab Bint al-Kamal started her career at the age of one in Damascus. It is thought that the credit for that goes to her uncle rather than her father, as seen with other muhaddithats, who took her to prominent scholars at a very young age. Damascus was prospering during her life which gave her career extra stability. She never married, which could have contributed to her extensive education as she had more time to devote to it. Her students went on to become very prominent scholars with their impressive isnads thanks to her. As mentioned with

2960-513: A place for the poor to gather to receive alms, food, and care. Christians and Jews were also allowed to participate in community worship at the mosque. Initially, Muhammad's religion had no organized way to call the community to prayer in a coordinated manner. To resolve this, Muhammad had considered using a ram's horn ( shofar ) like the Jews or a wooden clapper like the Christians, but one of

3108-629: A plan of his to renew the moral fiber of the Muslim community. He supported teachers of fiqh, sent educators to Bedouin tribes, ordered weekly hadith lectures in the Hejaz , and sent out scholars of hadith to Egypt and North Africa , (according to Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi). Umar also ordered the great scholar of Madinah , Abu Bakr ibn Hazm to write down all the hadiths of Muhammad and Umar ibn al-Khattab, particularly those narrated by Aisha . He had these hadiths collected in books which were circulated around

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3256-640: A record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Islamic prophet Muhammad as transmitted through chains of narrators. Hadith sciences scholars have aim to determine which of these records are authentic, and which may be fabricated. For most Muslims, determining authenticity of hadith is enormously important in Islam because along with the Quran , the Sunnah of the Islamic prophet—his words, actions, and

3404-422: A significant clandestine meeting was convened, again at Aqaba. In this gathering, seventy-five individuals from Medina (then Yathrib) attended, including two women, representing all the converts of the oases. Muhammad asked them to protect him as they would protect their wives and children. They concurred and gave him their oath, commonly referred to as the second pledge at al-Aqabah or the pledge of war. Paradise

3552-480: A tradition. Chains of transmission are found in many religious texts as an oral guarantor for the preservation of tradition (by contrast, written transmission was perceived to be unreliable). These include sources from rabbinic , Christian (including Papias , Ephrem , and the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies ), and Manichaean backgrounds. Joseph Horowitz proposed that the Islamic version of

3700-539: A very small part of the ḥadith can be regarded as an actual record of Islam during the time of Mohammed and his immediate followers." In his Mohammedan Studies , Goldziher states: "it is not surprising that, among the hotly debated controversial issues of Islam, whether political or doctrinal, there is not one in which the champions of the various views are unable to cite a number of traditions, all equipped with imposing isnads ". Patricia Crone noted that early traditionalists were still developing conventions of examining

3848-476: A violent man. The next day, a number of Quraysh approached him, asking if he had said what they had heard from their companions. He answered yes, and one of them seized him by his cloak. Abu Bakr intervened, tearfully saying, "Would you kill a man for saying God is my Lord?" And they left him. The Quraysh attempted to entice Muhammad to quit preaching by giving him admission to the merchants' inner circle as well as an advantageous marriage, but he refused both of

3996-449: Is biographical evaluation, the study of transmitters of hadith, ʿilm al-rijāl , (literally "science of men") mentioned above. These are the narrators who make up the sanad . Ilm ar-rijal is based on certain verses of the Quran . Transmitters are studied and rated for their "general capacity" ( ḍābit ; itqān ) and their moral character ( ʿadāla ). Not all transmitters were evaluated for these characteristics and rated. Companions of

4144-471: Is Judaism, as in “Rabbi Zeriqa said: Rabbi Ammi said: Rabbi Simeon ben Laqish said:...” What was different was that once adopted in Islam the practice was developed much more systematically and applied to a much wider range of material. One Jewish chain of transmission is reiterated in the Quran (5:44). A number of propositions have been made concerning the time that isnads began to be used in conjunction with

4292-505: Is defined by the Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic as "knowledge, learning, lore; cognizance, acquaintance; information; cognition, intellection, perception, knowledge". ʻilm is also used in many phrases pertaining to fields that employ the scientific method , for example ʻilm al-ḥayawān (zoology), علم الجراثيم (bacteriology), but also other fields of learning, such as علم الحساب (arithmetic). In

4440-409: Is expert in the relatively new field of matn criticism. Whereas traditional criticism has focused on verifying the trustworthiness of the people transmitting the hadith, matn criticism studies the contents of the hadith and compares this with the contents of other hadiths and any other available historical evidence with the aim of arriving at an objective historical reality of the event described by

4588-574: Is generally associated with Jerusalem. Over time, these different traditions merged to present the journey as one that began in Mecca, passed through Jerusalem, and then ascended to heaven. The dating of the events also differs from account to account. Ibn Sa'd recorded that Muhammad's Mi'raj took place first, from near the Kaaba to the heavens, on the 27th of Ramadan , 18 months before the Hijrah , while

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4736-641: Is referred to as Muhammad in a number of verses. The Quranic text also describes the settlement of his followers in Yathrib after their expulsion by the Quraysh, and briefly mentions military encounters such as the Muslim victory at Badr . The Quran, however, provides minimal assistance for Muhammad's chronological biography; most Quranic verses do not provide significant historical context and timeline. Almost none of Muhammad's companions are mentioned by name in

4884-449: Is the prophet of his people." Khadija instructed Muhammad to let her know if Gabriel returned. When he appeared during their private time, Khadija conducted tests by having Muhammad sit on her left thigh, right thigh, and lap, inquiring Muhammad if the being was still present each time. After Khadija removed her clothes with Muhammad on her lap, he reported that Gabriel left at that moment. Khadija thus told him to rejoice as she concluded it

5032-410: Is widely accepted as the starting point, but there is disagreement among Islamic traditions as to what constitutes "the farthest place of worship". Some modern scholars maintain that the earliest tradition saw this faraway site as a celestial twin of the Kaaba, so that Muhammad's journey took him directly from Mecca through the heavens. A later tradition, however, refers to it as Bayt al-Maqdis , which

5180-400: Is widely believed by Western scholars that there was widespread fabrication of hadith during the early centuries of Islam to support certain theological and legal positions, and it has been suggested that it is "very likely that a considerable number of hadiths that can be found in the hadith collections did not actually originate with the Prophet". In addition, the meaning of

5328-525: The Hijrah , maintains that Muhammad penned the text and divulges its assumed content without supplying any isnad or corroboration. The appellation is generally deemed imprecise, as the text neither established a state nor enacted Quranic statutes, but rather addressed tribal matters. While scholars from both the West and the Muslim world agree on the text's authenticity, disagreements persist on whether it

5476-570: The hadith which have been compiled in later periods, but judge them in their historical context. Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim was born in Mecca c.  570 , and his birthday is believed to be in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal . He belonged to the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe, which was a dominant force in western Arabia. While his clan was one of

5624-433: The sahih , authentic, from other than it. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani said the preferred definition is: knowledge of the principles by which the condition of the narrator and the narrated are determined. Some of the disciplines in the science of hadith, according to scholar İsmail Lütfi Çakan, include: After the death of Muhammad, his sayings were transmitted orally. According to Islamic tradition, Umar ibn al-Khattab ,

5772-508: The Black Stone and performing the ritual tawaf . As Muhammad passed by them, they reportedly said hurtful things to him. The same happened when he passed by them a second time. On his third pass, Muhammad stopped and said, "Will you listen to me, O Quraysh? By Him (God), who holds my life in His hand, I bring you slaughter." They fell silent and told him to go home, saying that he was not

5920-469: The Quran . But Muhammad asserted that the Quran, in the form he conveyed it, was already an extraordinary proof. According to Amr ibn al-As , several of the Quraysh gathered at Hijr and discussed how they had never faced such serious problems as they were facing from Muhammad. They said that he had derided their culture, denigrated their ancestors, scorned their faith, shattered their community, and cursed their gods. Sometime later, Muhammad came, kissing

6068-650: The Sunnah would have their hadith accepted and the people of innovation would not.” Those who were not given to require a sanad were, in the stronger of two opinions, the Companions of the Prophet, while others, such as al-Qurtubi , include the older of the Followers as well. This is due to the Companions all being considered upright, trustworthy transmitters of hadith, such that a mursal hadith narrated by

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6216-601: The Year of the Elephant , when Abraha , the Aksumite viceroy in the former Himyarite Kingdom , unsuccessfully attempted to conquer Mecca. Recent studies, however, challenge this notion, as other evidence suggests that the expedition, if it had occurred, would have transpired substantially before Muhammad's birth. Later Muslim scholars presumably linked Abraha's renowned name to the narrative of Muhammad's birth to elucidate

6364-399: The hadith sciences developed and increasingly prioritized complete Prophetic isnads (without any missing links and going back to Muhammad) in the post-150 AH period, there was a growing incentive to modify or forge isnads to meet these criteria. Isnads recorded in this era but do not meet this criteria are therefore more likely to be real, as they had not been furnished and shaped according to

6512-428: The isnād . When the fitna (civil war) broke out, they said, "name to us your informants ( rijāl ), so that we can recognize the people of [orthodox] tradition and accept their ḥadīth, and recognize the people of [heretical] innovation and accept not their ḥadīth." According to this tradition, the use of isnads begins with the era of the fitna . However, this term is ambiguous, and so much scholarly debate has concerned

6660-549: The terminology of the people of hadith have become plentiful from the Imaams both old and contemporary: The science of hadith has not been without critics. According to Muhammad Husayn Haykal , "despite the great care and precision of the Hadith scholars, much of what they regarded as true was later proved to be spurious." He goes on to quote Al-Nawawi (1233–1277), who stated that "a number of scholars discovered many hadiths" in

6808-500: The "mythology of the pristine early community". As the criteria for judging authenticity grew into the six major collections of ṣaḥīḥ (sound) hadith ( Kutub al-Sittah ) in the third century, the science of hadith was described as having become a "mature system", or to have entered its "final stage". The classification of Hadith into was utilized early in hadith scholarship by Ali ibn al-Madini (161–234 AH). Later, al-Madini's student Muhammad al-Bukhari (810–870) authored

6956-464: The 2nd and 3rd centuries of the Hijri era (mostly overlapping with the 8th and 9th centuries CE respectively). These include traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad, which provide additional information about his life. The earliest written sira (biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him) is Ibn Ishaq 's Life of God's Messenger written c.  767 (150 AH). Although

7104-660: The Abyssinian Kingdom of Aksum and found a small colony under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian emperor Aṣḥama ibn Abjar . Among those who departed were Umm Habiba , the daughter of one of the Quraysh chiefs, Abu Sufyan , and her husband. The Quraysh then sent two men to retrieve them. Because leatherwork at the time was highly prized in Abyssinia, they gathered a lot of skins and transported them there so they could distribute some to each of

7252-548: The Aws, who had been at odds for so long—accept Islam and adopt Muhammad as their leader, unity could be achieved between them. The next year, five of the earlier converts revisited Muhammad, bringing with them seven newcomers, three of whom were from the Banu Aws. At Aqaba, near Mecca, they pledged their loyalty to him. Muhammad then entrusted Mus'ab ibn Umayr to join them on their return to Medina to promote Islam. Come June 622,

7400-548: The Banu Khazraj. These men had a history of raiding Jews in their locality, who in turn would warn them that a prophet would be sent to punish them. On hearing Muhammad's religious message, they said to each other, "This is the very prophet of whom the Jews warned us. Don't let them get to him before us!" Upon embracing Islam, they returned to Medina and shared their encounter, hoping that by having their people—the Khazraj and

7548-405: The Islamic edifice that look like specific borrowings from Judaism ... the chain of transmitters that accompanies an oral account, known on the Muslim side as the isnād, as in "Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf informed us from Sufyān from Abū ʾl-Zinād from Mūsā ibn Abī ʿUthmān from his father from Abū Hurayra from the Prophet who said..." The only other religious culture in which we find such a style of attribution

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7696-598: The Islamic tradition in the late first Islamic century. This occurred during the beginnings of efforts to offer systematic support for collected traditions. In this early stage, however, isnads were still not systematically invoked. The pivotal figure in the emergence of traditions concerning the Prophetic biography, Urwa ibn al-Zubayr , used isnads, but not consistently. Later on, as the hadith sciences emerged and were formalized, they were documented more rigidly. In contemporary hadith studies , isnads have been subjected to

7844-553: The Isra' from Mecca to Bayt al-Maqdis took place on the 17th night of the Last Rabi’ul before the Hijrah . As is well known, these two stories were later combined into one. In Ibn Hisham 's account, the Isra' came first and then the Mi'raj, and he put these stories before the deaths of Khadija and Abu Talib. In contrast, al-Tabari included only the story of Muhammad's ascension from

7992-466: The Kharijites in opposition to the succeeding rulers, Ali and Muawiyah . The death of Uthman was in the year 35 after the migration. According to scholar Daniel Brown, in traditional hadith sciences, "the possibility" of criticizing the matn as well as the isnad "was recognized in theory, but the option was seldom systematically exercised". Syrian hadith scholar Dr. Salah al-Din al-Idlibi

8140-428: The Meccans, but he was met with a response: "If you are truly a prophet, what need do you have of our help? If God sent you as his messenger, why doesn't He protect you? And if Allah wished to send a prophet, couldn't He have found a better person than you, a weak and fatherless orphan?" Realizing his efforts were in vain, Muhammad asked the people of Ta'if to keep the matter a secret, fearing that this would embolden

8288-511: The Muslim scholastic community and remains unique to it. Ibn Hazm said that the connected, continuous sanad is particular to the religion of Islam : the sanad was also used by the Jewish community , but they had a break of more than 30 generations between them and Moses , and the Christians limited their use of the sanad to the prohibition of divorce. Ibn Taymiyyah also said that

8436-458: The Muslims in the community had a dream where a man in a green cloak told him that someone with a loud booming voice should announce the service by crying out " allahu akbar " ('God is greater') to remind Muslims of their top priority; when Muhammad heard about this dream, he agreed with the idea and selected Bilal , a former Abyssinian slave known for his loud voice. The Constitution of Medina

8584-434: The Prophet is not the words and deeds of the Prophet, but apocryphal material" dating from later. Henry Preserved Smith and Ignác Goldziher also challenged the reliability of the hadith , Smith stating that "forgery or invention of traditions began very early" and "many traditions, even if well authenticated to external appearance, bear internal evidence of forgery." Goldziher writes that "European critics hold that only

8732-532: The Quran tells a story about a group of men sleeping in a cave (Quran 18:9–25), which scholars generally link to the legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. For the second query, the Quran speaks of Dhu al-Qarnayn , literally 'he of the two horns' (Quran 18:93–99), a tale that academics widely associate with the Alexander Romance . As for the third query, concerning the nature of the spirit,

8880-413: The Quran, Muhammad's teachings and practices, found in transmitted reports, known as hadith , and in his biography ( sīrah ), are also upheld and used as sources of Islamic law . The Quran is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe it represents the words of God revealed by the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad. The Quran is mainly addressed to a single "Messenger of God" who

9028-461: The Quran, hence not providing sufficient information for a concise biography. The Quran is considered to be contemporary with Muhammad, and the Birmingham manuscript has been radiocarbon dated to his lifetime, its discovery largely disproving Western revisionist theories about the Quran's origins. Important sources regarding Muhammad's life may be found in the historic works by writers of

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9176-546: The Quranic revelation asserted that it was beyond human comprehension. Neither the Jews who devised the questions nor the Quraysh who posed them to Muhammad converted to Islam upon receiving the answers. Nadr and Uqba were later executed on Muhammad's orders after the Battle of Badr , while other captives were held for ransom. As Uqba pleaded, "But who will take care of my children, Muhammad?" Muhammad responded, "Hell!" In 615, Muhammad sent some of his followers to emigrate to

9324-476: The Quraysh decided to roof the Kaaba , which had previously consisted only of walls. A complete rebuild was needed to accommodate the new weight. Amid concerns about upsetting the deities, a man stepped forth with a pickaxe and exclaimed, "O goddess! Fear not! Our intentions are only for the best." With that, he began demolishing it. The anxious Meccans awaited divine retribution overnight, but his unharmed continuation

9472-504: The Quraysh sent Nadr ibn al-Harith and Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt to Yathrib to seek the opinions of the Jewish rabbis regarding Muhammad. The rabbis advised them to ask Muhammad three questions: recount the tale of young men who ventured forth in the first age; narrate the story of a traveler who reached both the eastern and western ends of the earth; and provide details about the spirit. If Muhammad answered correctly, they stated, he would be

9620-544: The Umayyad Empire. Although these books are lost today, commentaries on them by Ibn al-Nadim reveals that they are organized like books of fiqh , such as the Muwatta of Imam Malik , the first large compilation of hadiths. Imam Malik himself probably followed the general plan of the early books of hadith ordered by Umar. Hadith sciences developed in part because forgery "took place on a massive scale", with perhaps

9768-449: The above muhaddithats, since Zaynab started so young, she had hadiths from scholars who had died when she was teaching which made her highly sought after. People were willing to travel great distances to meet her. She died in her late 90s which is an impressive age for her time period. A’isha Bint Muhammad (723-816CE) A’isha Bint Muhammad came from a very prominent religious family. She started her career at four years old while Damascus

9916-456: The attack but changed their minds upon hearing the voices of Sawdah and some of Muhammad's daughters, since it was considered shameful to kill a man in front of the women in his family. They instead chose to wait until Muhammad left the house the next morning; one of the men peeked into a window and saw what he believed to be Muhammad (but was actually Ali dressed in Muhammad's cloak), though unbeknownst to them, Muhammad had previously escaped from

10064-430: The authority of the hadiths, viewing them as un-Quranic; some further claim that most hadiths are fabrications ( pseudepigrapha ) created in the 8th and 9th century AD, and which are falsely attributed to Muhammad. Many Western scholars consider that few or no hadith can be confidently considered to be the authentic words of Muhammad, and that traditional attempts to determine the authenticity of hadith are flawed due to

10212-511: The back of the residence. When Ali went outside to go for a walk the following morning, the men realized they had been fooled, and the Quraysh consequently offered a 100-camel bounty for the return of Muhammad's body, dead or alive. After staying hidden for three days, Muhammad subsequently departed with Abu Bakr for Medina, which at the time was still named Yathrib; the two men arrived in Medina on 4 September 622. The Meccan Muslims who undertook

10360-521: The basis for Islamic religious belief. Muhammad was born c.  570 CE in Mecca . He was the son of Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Amina bint Wahb . His father, Abdullah, the son of Quraysh tribal leader Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim , died around the time Muhammad was born. His mother Amina died when he was six, leaving Muhammad an orphan. He was raised under the care of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, and paternal uncle, Abu Talib . In later years, he would periodically seclude himself in

10508-583: The beginning of the Islamic calendar , also known as the Hijri calendar. In Medina, Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina . In December 629, after eight years of intermittent fighting with Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts and marched on the city of Mecca . The conquest went largely uncontested, and Muhammad seized the city with minimal casualties. In 632,

10656-407: The command. As Muhammad reiterated his inability to read, Gabriel choked him again in a similar manner. This sequence took place once more before Gabriel finally recited the verses, allowing Muhammad to memorize them. These verses later constituted Quran 96:1-5 . When Muhammad came to his senses, he felt scared; he started to think that after all of this spiritual struggle, he had been visited by

10804-407: The conversion to Islam of a number of individuals in positions such as Hamza and Umar . Along with many others, Tabari recorded that Muhammad was desperate, hoping for an accommodation with his tribe. So, while he was in the presence of a number of Quraysh, after delivering verses mentioning three of their favorite deities (Quran 53:19–20), Satan put upon his tongue two short verses: "These are

10952-410: The correct forms of salutations, and the importance of benevolence to slaves. Thus the "great bulk" of the rules of Islamic law are derived from hadith, along with the Quran as a primary source. There are three primary ways to determine the authenticity ( sihha ) of a hadith: by attempting to determine whether there are "other identical reports from other transmitters"; determining the reliability of

11100-442: The divine origin of his revelations. Some historians posit that the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition in these instances are likely genuine, as they are improbable to have been concocted by later Muslims. Shortly after Waraqa's death, the revelations ceased for a period, causing Muhammad great distress and thoughts of suicide. On one occasion, he reportedly climbed a mountain intending to jump off. However, upon reaching

11248-462: The earliest sources most commonly associate the use of this word in isolation with the Second Fitna, it has become increasingly accepted that the tradition in question localizes the beginnings of the use of isnads to the era of the Second Fitna. Furthermore, Juynboll's assessment has alleviated the skepticism towards the question of whether Ibn Sirin made this claim. Therefore, isnads emerged in

11396-407: The early community has been reevaluated. By the 20th century, Muslim scholars unanimously rejected this incident. On the other hand, most European biographers of Muhammad recognize the veracity of this incident of satanic verses on the basis of the criterion of embarrassment . Historian Alfred T. Welch proposes that the period of Muhammad's turning away from strict monotheism was likely far longer but

11544-630: The emerging editorial standards of hadith scholars ( muhaddithin ). This view has materialized in Schacht's oft-quoted maxim: "the more perfect the isnad, the later the tradition". Today, isnads are thought to have entered usage three-quarters of a century after Muhammad's death, before which hadith were transmitted haphazardly and anonymously. Once they began to be used, the names of authorities, popular figures, and sometimes even fictitious figures would be supplied. Over time, isnads would be polished to meet stricter standards. Additional concerns are raised by

11692-463: The end of the encounter, Addas felt overwhelmed and kissed Muhammad's head, hands, and feet in recognition of his prophethood. On Muhammad's return journey to Mecca, news of the events in Ta'if had reached the ears of Abu Jahl , and he said, "They did not allow him to enter Ta'if, so let us deny him entry to Mecca as well." Knowing the gravity of the situation, Muhammad asked a passing horseman to deliver

11840-516: The end, there were no Muslims left in Mecca. Islamic tradition recounts that in light of the unfolding events, Abu Jahl proposed a joint assassination of Muhammad by representatives of each clan. Having been informed about this by the angel Gabriel, Muhammad asked his cousin Ali to lie in his bed covered with his green hadrami mantle, assuring that it would safeguard him. That night , the group of planned assassins approached Muhammad's home to carry out

11988-417: The end. Muhammad's other uncle, Abu Lahab , who succeeded the Banu Hashim clan leadership, was initially willing to provide Muhammad with protection. However, upon hearing from Muhammad that Abu Talib and Abd al-Muttalib were destined for hell due to not believing in Islam, he withdrew his support. Muhammad then went to Ta'if to try to establish himself in the city and gain aid and protection against

12136-453: The famous Isra' and Mi'raj. Nowadays, Isra' is believed by Muslims to be the journey of Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem , while Mi'raj is from Jerusalem to the heavens. There is considered no substantial basis for the Mi'raj in the Quran, as the Quran does not address it directly. Verse 17:1 of the Quran recounts Muhammad's night journey from a revered place of prayer to the most distant place of worship. The Kaaba , holy enclosure in Mecca,

12284-501: The field. She began her education at the age of eight when her father began introducing her to some of the most prominent and sought after muhaddiths and scholars of their time. Her husband also gave her access to the upper class of Baghdad. She gained fame later in her career and was known to be the last living link between prominent scholars and the younger generations. This made her isnad a particularly sought after one. Fatimah Bint Sa’d al-Khayr (525-600CE) Fatimah Bint Sa’d al-Khayr

12432-695: The generation following them, the "Followers" ( Tabi‘un ), received it and then conveyed it to those after them, and so on. Thus, the Companion would say, “I heard the Prophet say such and such.” The Follower would say, “I heard a Companion say, ‘I heard the Prophet say’” The one after the Follower would say, “I heard a Follower say, ‘I heard a Companion say, ‘I heard the Prophet say’” and so on. To be ' ṣaḥīḥ ("sound") hadith, an isolated hadith ( Mutawatir hadith were exempt from these tests) "must pass five tests": An important discipline within hadith sciences

12580-611: The genre's status as a primary source of Islamic law motivated the creation of fraudulent hadith. Modern Western scholars in particular have "seriously questioned the historicity and authenticity of the hadith ", according to John Esposito , maintaining that "the bulk of traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad were actually written much later." According to Esposito, Schacht "found no evidence of legal traditions before 722," from which Schacht concluded that "the Sunna of

12728-453: The hadith. Both men and women can serve as muhaddithin (traditionists). The requirements for a muhaddith are the same requirements that apply to the reception and transmission of reports (riwayah) in the Islamic tradition more generally: truthfulness, integrity, a competent and accurate memory, being free of prejudice or compulsion that might be presumed to distort the reporting. There are numerous women who have served as muhaddithat in

12876-559: The high flying ones / whose intercession is to be hoped for." This led to a general reconciliation between Muhammad and the Meccans, and the Muslims in Abyssinia began to return home. However, the next day, Muhammad retracted these verses at the behest of Gabriel , claiming that they had been cast by Satan to his tongue and God had abrogated them. Instead, verses that revile those goddesses were then revealed. The returning Muslims thus had to make arrangements for clan protection before they could re-enter Mecca. This Satanic verses incident

13024-477: The history of Islam. Nadwi counts more than 8000 based on the biographical dictionaries of the classical and medieval period. Shuhda al-Katiba (482-574CE) Shuhda al-Katiba was born in Baghdad during a time of turmoil. There were refugees fleeing and the city was being attacked. Despite this, Shuhda was able to find success. Her father played a big role in her education and she has credited him to her success in

13172-585: The hostility of the Quraysh against him. However, instead of accepting his request, they pelted him with stones, injuring his limbs. He eventually evaded this chaos and persecution by escaping to the garden of Utbah ibn Rabi'ah , a Meccan chief with a summer residence in Ta'if. Muhammad felt despair due to the unexpected rejection and hostility he received in the city; at this point, he realized he had no security or protection except from God , so he began praying. Shortly thereafter, Utbah's Christian slave Addas stopped by and offered grapes, which Muhammad accepted. By

13320-545: The imminent final judgment and the threat of hellfire for skeptics. Due to the complexity of the experience, Muhammad was initially very reluctant to tell others about his revelations; at first, he confided in only a few select family members and friends. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad's wife Khadija was the first to believe he was a prophet. She was followed by Muhammad's ten-year-old cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib , close friend Abu Bakr , and adopted son Zayd . As word of Muhammad's revelations continued to spread throughout

13468-566: The importance of hadith in Islamic law, Imam Al-Shafi‘i , "In most cases the truthfulness or lack of truthfulness of a tradition can only be known through the truthfulness or lack of truthfulness of the transmitter, except in a few special cases when he relates what cannot possibly be the case, or what is contradicted by better-authenticated information." The first people who received hadith were Muhammad's "Companions" ( Sahaba ), who are believed to have understood and preserved it. They conveyed it to those after them as they were commanded; then

13616-409: The importance of the sanad . For example, according to an early Quranic exegete, Matr al-Warraq , the verse from the Quran , “Or a remnant of knowledge,” refers to the isnad of a hadith. In addition, Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak said, “The isnad is from the religion; were it not for the isnad anyone could say anything they wanted.” According to Ibn al-Salah , the sanad originated within

13764-528: The inhabitants of Mecca , who were indifferent to his proselytizing activities, but when he started to attack their beliefs, tensions arose. The Quraysh challenged him to perform miracles , such as bringing forth springs of water, yet he declined, reasoning that the regularities of nature already served as sufficient proof of God's majesty. Some satirized his lack of success by wondering why God had not bestowed treasure upon him. Others called on him to visit Paradise and return with tangible parchment scrolls of

13912-469: The kingdom's generals. But the king firmly rejected their request. While Tabari and Ibn Hisham mentioned only one migration to Abyssinia, there were two sets according to Ibn Sa'd . Of these two, the majority of the first group returned to Mecca before the event of Hijrah , while the majority of the second group remained in Abyssinia at the time and went directly to Medina after the event of Hijrah . These accounts agree that persecution played

14060-408: The knowledge of isnad is particular to the followers of Prophet Muhammad . The practice of paying particular attention to the sanad can be traced to the generation following that of the Companions, based upon the statement of Muhammad Ibn Sirin : “They did not previously inquire about the sanad . However, after the turmoil occurred they would say, ‘Name for us your narrators.’ So the people of

14208-419: The legal group, traditions could have been subject to invention while historic events, aside from exceptional cases, may have been subject only to "tendential shaping". Other scholars have criticized the reliability of this method, suggesting that one cannot neatly divide traditions into purely legal and historical categories. Western historians describe the purpose of these early biographies as largely to convey

14356-434: The literate ones recorded it in writing. Muhammad also introduced rituals to his group which included prayer ( salat ) with physical postures that embodied complete surrender ( islam ) to God , and almsgiving ( zakat ) as a requirement of the Muslim community ( ummah ). By this point, Muhammad's religious movement was known as tazakka ('purification'). Initially, he had no serious opposition from

14504-584: The meaning of fitna in this passage, as it could be taken as a reference to the First Fitna (656–616 AD) (the view of Muhammad Mustafa Azmi ), the Second Fitna (680–692) (the view of G.H.A. Juynboll ), or the Third Fitna (744–750) (the view of Joseph Schacht , only possible if the tradition has been misattributed to, and therefore post-dates, Ibn Sirin). Since Juynboll, who has observed that

14652-590: The migration were then called the Muhajirun , while the Medinan Muslims were dubbed the Ansar . A few days after settling in Medina, Muhammad negotiated for the purchase of a piece of land; upon this plot, the Muslims began constructing a building that would become Muhammad's residence as well as a community gathering place ( masjid ) for prayer ( salat ). Tree trunks were used as pillars to hold up

14800-462: The more distinguished in the tribe, it seems to have experienced a lack of prosperity during his early years. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad was a hanif , someone who professed monotheism in pre-Islamic Arabia . He is also claimed to have been a descendant of Ishmael , son of Abraham . The name Muhammad means "praiseworthy" in Arabic and it appears four times in the Quran . He

14948-445: The morning with his sons and nephews to accompany Muhammad to the city. When Abu Jahl saw him, he asked if Mut'im was simply giving him protection or if he had already converted to his religion. Mut'im replied, "Granting him protection, of course." Then Abu Jahl said, "We will protect whomever you protect." It is at this low point in Muhammad's life that the accounts in the Sīrah lay out

15096-494: The most famous collector of hadith and practitioner of ʻilm al-ḥadīth — Muhammad al-Bukhari —sifting through nearly 600,000, over 16 years before eliminating all but approximately 7400 hadith. Traditional accounts describe "the systematic study of hadith" as being motivated by the altruism of "pious scholars" seeking to correct this problem. Some scholars ( Daniel W. Brown , A. Kevin Reinhart) shed doubt on this. Brown believes

15244-466: The most skeptical instances of modern views on isnads comes from the influential writings of Joseph Schacht (d. 1969), who, in his Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (1950), argued that isnads were sweepingly fabricated towards the end of the second Islamic century . For Schacht, isnads "grew backwards", meaning that over time, the tradition was attributed to earlier and earlier authorities until they reached back to Muhammad. According to this view, as

15392-479: The next day was seen as a sign of heavenly approval. According to a narrative collected by Ibn Ishaq , when it was time to reattach the Black Stone , a dispute arose over which clan should have the privilege. It was determined that the first person to step into the Kaaba's court would arbitrate. Muhammad took on this role, asking for a cloak. He placed the stone on it, guiding clan representatives to jointly elevate it to its position. He then personally secured it within

15540-520: The next two years, until he was eight years old, Muhammad was under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib , until the latter's death. He then came under the care of his uncle, Abu Talib , the new leader of the Banu Hashim. Abu Talib's brothers assisted with Muhammad's learning – Hamza , the youngest, trained Muhammad in archery , swordsmanship , and martial arts . Another uncle, Abbas , provided Muhammad with

15688-595: The offers. A delegation of them then, led by the leader of the Makhzum clan, known by the Muslims as Abu Jahl , went to Muhammad's uncle Abu Talib , head of the Hashim clan and Muhammad's caretaker, giving him an ultimatum to disown Muhammad: "By God, we can no longer endure this vilification of our forefathers, this derision of our traditional values, this abuse of our gods. Either you stop Muhammad yourself, Abu Talib, or you must let us stop him. Since you yourself take

15836-405: The original version of a hadith that existed prior to the accrual of variants among different transmitters may be reconstructed. In addition, Motzki believed that a comparative study of the differences between reports could enable the identification of particular manipulations and other alterations. Put another way, ICMA seeks to date and trace the evolution of hadith by identifying how variation in

15984-418: The original work was lost, this sira survives as extensive excerpts in works by Ibn Hisham and to a lesser extent by Al-Tabari . However, Ibn Hisham wrote in the preface to his biography of Muhammad that he omitted matters from Ibn Ishaq's biography that "would distress certain people". Another early historical source is the history of Muhammad's campaigns by al-Waqidi ( d.  207  AH), and

16132-518: The passing on of tradition in the Islamic world. One of the most common pieces of evidence considered in these discussions is in a statement that has been attributed to the Basran scholar Ibn Sirin (d. 110/728 AD), which states: Lam yakūnū yas’alūna ‘an al-isnād. Fa-lammā waqa‘at al-fitna qālū: "Sammū la-nā rijāla-kum fa-yunẓaru ilā ahl al-sunna fa-yu’khadhu ḥadīthu-hum wa-yunẓaru ilā ahl al-bida‘ fa-lā yu’khadhu ḥadīthu-hum." They were not asking about

16280-704: The peak, Gabriel appeared to him, affirming his status as the true Messenger of God. This encounter soothed Muhammad, and he returned home. Later, when there was another long break between revelations, he repeated this action, but Gabriel intervened similarly, calming him and causing him to return home. Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages. The early Quranic revelations utilized approaches of cautioning non-believers with divine punishment, while promising rewards to believers. They conveyed potential consequences like famine and killing for those who rejected Muhammad's God and alluded to past and future calamities. The verses also stressed

16428-488: The people of Mecca and the Muslims. Muhammad delivered Quranic verses permitting Muslims to fight the Meccans. According to the traditional account, on 11 February 624, while praying in the Masjid al-Qiblatayn in Medina, Muhammad received revelations from God that he should be facing Mecca rather than Jerusalem during prayer. Muhammad adjusted to the new direction, and his companions praying with him followed his lead, beginning

16576-449: The plural form, ulūm علوم’ , it is translated simply as "science". The science of hadith has been described by one hadith specialist, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 A.H/ 1505 C.E), as the science of the principles by which the conditions of both the sanad (the chain of narration), and the matn (the text of the hadith), are known. This science is concerned with the sanad and the matn with its objective being distinguishing

16724-503: The potential for the chain of narrators (particularly the earliest parts) to have been fabricated. ʻilm al-ḥadīth or "science of hadith" is one of a number of Islamic sciences , among them ʿIlm al-fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence ), ʿIlm al-kalām (speculative theology), ʿIlm al-tafsīr (interpretation of the Qur'an ), ʻilm al-'akhlaq ( Islamic ethics ). The arabic word ʻilm , translated as "science" in ʻilm al-ḥadīth ,

16872-399: The practice of combining a tradition or saying with a chain of transmitters going back to an original authority stems from the instance of this tradition in rabbinic literature from whence it got adopted into the nascent hadith sciences , before it underwent a much more elaborate native systematization in the Islamic tradition. According to Michael Cook : We can then go on to find elements in

17020-421: The prioritization of isnads over other criteria like the presence of anachronisms in a hadith which might have an isnad that passes traditional standards of verification. In the 1990s, hadith historians developed a method known as isnad-cum-matn analysis (ICMA) as an alternative approach compared with traditional hadith sciences towards identifying the origins and developmental stages of hadith traditions. ICMA

17168-402: The prophet ( ṣaḥāba ) were traditionally considered to possess collective moral turpitude or taʿdīl , by virtue of their exposure to the Prophet, so that they all possessed ʿadāla without needing to be evaluated. (This quality was similar to that of Prophetic infallibility ( ʿiṣma ) but of course lower in level.) The second criteria after judging the general ability and moral probity of

17316-508: The rest of his family, they became increasingly divided on the matter, with the youth and women generally believing in him, while most of the men in the elder generations were staunchly opposed. Around 613, Muhammad began to preach to the public; many of his first followers were women, freedmen , servants, slaves, and other members of the lower social class . These converts keenly awaited each new revelation from Muhammad; when he recited it, they all would repeat after him and memorize it, and

17464-472: The roof, and there was no fancy pulpit; instead, Muhammad stood on top of a small stool to speak to the congregation. The structure was completed after about seven months in April 623, becoming the first Muslim building and mosque; its northern wall had a stone marking the direction of prayer ( qibla ) which was Jerusalem at that time. Muhammad used the building to host public and political meetings, as well as

17612-570: The same position as we do, in opposition to what he’s saying, we will rid you of him." Abu Talib politely dismissed them at first, thinking it was just a heated talk. But as Muhammad grew more vocal, Abu Talib requested Muhammad to not burden him beyond what he could bear, to which Muhammad wept and replied that he would not stop even if they put the sun in his right hand and the moon in his left. When he turned around, Abu Talib called him and said, "Come back nephew, say what you please, for by God I will never give you up on any account." The leaders of

17760-551: The sanctuary in Mecca to "the earthly heaven". Tabari placed this story at the beginning of Muhammad's public ministry, between his account of Khadija becoming "the first to believe in the Messenger of God" and his account of "the first male to believe in the Messenger of God". As resistance to his proselytism in Mecca grew, Muhammad began to limit his efforts to non-Meccans who attended fairs or made pilgrimages. During this period, Muhammad had an encounter with six individuals from

17908-410: The second caliph , started the process of collecting all the hadiths together into one unified volume, but gave up the endeavor "for fear the Quran would be neglected by the Muslims" (according to Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi). The Umayyad caliph, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (aka Umar II, who reigned from 717-720 CE) also started an effort to collect all the hadiths. Teaching and collecting hadiths was part of

18056-415: The silent approval—are considered the explanation of the divine revelation ( wahy ), and the record of them (i.e. hadith) provides the basis of Islamic law ( Sharia ). In addition, while the number of verses pertaining to law in the Quran is relatively few, hadith, for many, give direction on everything from details of religious obligations (such as Ghusl or Wudu , ablutions for salat prayer), to

18204-438: The story with details that contradict each other. All accounts of Bahira and his meeting with Muhammad have been considered fictitious by modern historians as well as by some medieval Muslim scholars such as al-Dhahabi . Sometime later in his life, Muhammad proposed marriage to his cousin and first love, Fakhitah bint Abi Talib . But likely owing to his poverty, his proposal was rejected by her father, Abu Talib, who chose

18352-567: The streets and engage in public debates without being physically harmed. At a later point, a faction within Quraysh, sympathizing with Banu Hashim, initiated efforts to end the sanctions, resulting in a general consensus in 619 to lift the ban. In 619, Muhammad faced a period of sorrow. His wife, Khadija , a crucial source of his financial and emotional support, died. In the same year, his uncle and guardian, Abu Talib , also died. Despite Muhammad's persuasions to Abu Talib to embrace Islam on his deathbed, he clung to his polytheistic beliefs until

18500-411: The substantial percentages of hadith that traditional critics are reported to have dismissed and difficulties in parsing out historical hadith from the vast pool of ahistorical ones. This perspective casts doubt on traditional methods of hadith verification, given their presupposition that the isnad of a report offers a sufficiently accurate history of its transmission to be able to verify or nullify it and

18648-416: The text or content ( matn ) of a hadith correlates with the variation in the listed chain of transmitters ( isnād ) across multiple versions of the same report. Muhammad Muhammad ( / m oʊ ˈ h ɑː m ə d / ; Arabic : مُحَمَّد , romanized :  Muḥammad , lit.   'praiseworthy'; [mʊˈħæm.mæd] ; c.  570  – 8 June 632 CE)

18796-764: The theory "fails" to adequately account "for the atmosphere of conflict" of at least early hadith criticism. The "method of choice" of partisans seeking to discredit opposing schools of Islamic law was to discredit the authorities (transmitters) of their opponent's hadith—to "tear apart" their isnads". (To do this required developing biographical evaluations of hadith transmitters— ʿilm al-rijāl and ilm jarh wa ta’dil ). Reinhart finds descriptions of famous companions of Muhammad in Ibn Sa'd 's Kitāb aṭ-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr "recording hadith and transmitting it, asking each other about precedents, and reproaching those who disregarded this authentic religious knowledge" in suspicious conformity to

18944-543: The tradition of facing Mecca during prayer. Hadith sciences Hadith sciences ( Arabic : علم الحديث ʻilm al-ḥadīth " science of hadith ", also hadith criticism ) consists of several religious scholarly disciplines used by Muslim scholars in the study and evaluation of the hadith . ("Science" is used in the sense of a field of study, not to be confused with following the principles of observation and experiment, developing falsifiable hypotheses, etc. of modern science.) The hadith are what most Muslims believe to be

19092-414: The transmitters of the report; and "the continuity of the chain of transmission" of the hadith. Traditional hadith sciences has been praised by some as "unrivaled, the ultimate in historical criticism", and heavily criticized for failing to filter out a massive amount of hadith "which cannot possibly be authentic". However, both Muslims and western scholars have criticised the hadith . Quranists reject

19240-475: The transmitters, is the "continuity" of the chain of transmission of the hadith. The transmitters must be shown to have received the accounts of the prophet " in an acceptable manner from the preceding authority in the chain". Transmitters must have lived during the same period, they must have had the opportunity to meet, and they must have reached sufficient age at the time of transmission to guarantee their capacity to transmit. Early religious scholars stressed

19388-483: The two most authentic hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim "which do not fulfill the conditions of verification assumed by these men" (i.e. by the hadith collectors Muhammad al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj ). Among the criticisms made (of non-sahih as well as sahih hadith) of is that there was a suspiciously large growth in their number with each generation in the early years of Islam; that large numbers of hadith contradicted each other; and that

19536-466: The unclear passage about "the men of elephants" in Quran 105:1–5. The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity deems the tale of Abraha's war elephant expedition as a myth. Muhammad's father, Abdullah , died almost six months before he was born. Muhammad then stayed with his foster mother, Halima bint Abi Dhu'ayb , and her husband until he was two years old. At the age of six, Muhammad lost his biological mother Amina to illness and became an orphan. For

19684-487: The wall. The financial security Muhammad enjoyed from Khadija , his wealthy wife, gave him plenty of free time to spend in solitude in the cave of Hira . According to Islamic tradition, in 610, when he was 40 years old, the angel Gabriel appeared to him during his visit to the cave. The angel showed him a cloth with Quranic verses on it and instructed him to read. When Muhammad confessed his illiteracy, Gabriel choked him forcefully, nearly suffocating him, and repeated

19832-562: The work of Waqidi's secretary Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi ( d.  230  AH). Due to these early biographical efforts, more is known about Muhammad than almost any other founder of a major religion. Narratives of Islamic Origins Many scholars accept these early biographies as authentic. However, Waqidi's biography has been widely criticized by Islamic scholars for his methods, in particular his decision to omit his sources. Recent studies have led scholars to distinguish between traditions touching legal matters and purely historical events. In

19980-600: Was Muhammad's promise to them in exchange for their loyalty. Subsequently, Muhammad called upon the Meccan Muslims to relocate to Medina. This event is known as the Hijrah , literally meaning 'severing of kinship ties'. The departures spanned approximately three months. To avoid arriving in Medina by himself with his followers remaining in Mecca, Muhammad chose not to go ahead and instead stayed back to watch over them and persuade those who were reluctant. Some were held back by their families from leaving, but in

20128-493: Was a legal covenant written by Muhammad. In the constitution, Medina's Arab and Jewish tribes promised to live peacefully alongside the Muslims and to refrain from making a separate treaty with Mecca. It also guaranteed the Jews freedom of religion. In the agreement, everyone under its jurisdiction was required to defend and protect the oasis if attacked. Politically, the agreement helped Muhammad better understand which people were on his side. Ibn Ishaq , following his narration of

20276-422: Was a prophet and messenger of God, similar to the other prophets in Islam . Muhammad's followers were initially few in number, and experienced persecution by Meccan polytheists for 13 years. To escape ongoing persecution, he sent some of his followers to Abyssinia in 615, before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina (then known as Yathrib) later in 622. This event, the Hijrah , marks

20424-464: Was a treaty or a unilateral proclamation by Muhammad, the number of documents it comprised, the primary parties, the specific timing of its creation (or that of its constituent parts), whether it was drafted before or after Muhammad's removal of the three leading Jewish tribes of Medina, and the proper approach to translating it. Following the emigration, the people of Mecca seized property of Muslim emigrants to Medina. War would later break out between

20572-480: Was also known as "al-Amin" ( lit.   ' faithful ' ) when he was young; however, historians differ as to whether it was given by people as a reflection of his nature or was simply a given name from his parents, i.e., a masculine form of his mother's name "Amina". Muhammad acquired the kunya of Abu al-Qasim later in his life after the birth of his son Qasim, who died two years afterwards. Islamic tradition states that Muhammad's birth year coincided with

20720-535: Was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam . According to Islam , he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam , Noah , Abraham , Moses , Jesus , and other prophets . He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets and last Ulu al-ʿAzm Prophet in Islam along with the Quran , his teachings and normative examples form

20868-531: Was born in China but later dwelled in Isfahan and Baghdad. Her father was a scholar who felt it was very important for his children to be immersed in religious sciences, particularly Hadith sciences. He had traveled to many places in pursuit of this knowledge and even taught some of his children himself. Fatimah was brought up fully immersed in Hadith sciences. Her sister also became a prominent muhaddithat. Her husband

21016-481: Was invented twice independently in two publications that came out in 1996, one by Harald Motzki and the other by Schoeler. The primary advocate of ICMA in the initial stages of the development and application of the method was Motkzi; Motzki believed that the oral transmission of hadith would result in a progressive divergence of multiple versions of the same original report along different lines of transmitters. By comparing them to pinpoint shared wording, motifs and plots,

21164-402: Was later encapsulated in a story that made it much shorter and implicated Satan as the culprit. In 616, an agreement was established whereby all other Quraysh clans were to enforce a ban on the Banu Hashim , prohibiting trade and marriage with them. Nevertheless, Banu Hashim members could still move around the town freely. Despite facing increasing verbal abuse, Muhammad continued to navigate

21312-484: Was not Satan but an angel visiting him. Muhammad's demeanor during his moments of inspiration frequently led to allegations from his contemporaries that he was under the influence of a jinn, a soothsayer, or a magician, suggesting that his experiences during these events bore resemblance to those associated with such figures widely recognized in ancient Arabia. Nonetheless, these enigmatic seizure events might have served as persuasive evidence for his followers regarding

21460-422: Was not a naturalistic angel , but rather a transcendent presence that resisted the ordinary limits of humanity and space. Frightened and unable to understand the experience, Muhammad hurriedly staggered down the mountain to his wife Khadija. By the time he got to her, he was already crawling on his hands and knees, shaking wildly and crying "Cover me!", as he thrust himself onto her lap. Khadija wrapped him in

21608-452: Was reported en masse and documented by nearly all of the major biographers of Muhammad in Islam's first two centuries, which according to them corresponds to Quran 22:52. But since the rise of the hadith movement and systematic theology with its new doctrines, including the Ismah , which claimed that Muhammad was infallible and thus could not be fooled by Satan, the historical memory of

21756-449: Was still prospering. Similar to the scholars mentioned above, she was the last link to many muhaddithats who had died which made her the last living link. Her students became prominent scholars as well. She died at the age of 93. By the time of her death, she had the reputation of a very highly regarded muhadditha. A muḥaddith or "traditionist" is not the same as one of the Ahl al-Hadith or

21904-455: Was very wealthy, held a high position in society, and a scholar himself, though not at the same level as Fatimah. She lived in Damascus with him for some time then moved to Cairo. Fatimah’s career prospered in these two cities towards the end of her life. She had many students who traveled far and wide to recite to her and learn from her. She died when she was 78 years old. There is some mystery surrounding her life. When her husband died, he had not

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