Muhammad’s early life

Mecca fact file

Mecca is the holiest city in Islam. Before the

life of Muhammad, Muslims say that the

prophet Ibrahim and his son built a building

there called the Kaaba. The Kaaba is a black

cube. After Ibrahim died, Arabian polytheists

came and put statues of their Gods in the

Kaaba. Christians and many different tribes

would travel to the Kaaba to worship.

Key words

Arabia

Mecca

Gods

Kaaba

Key People

Muhammad—The prophet

of Islam and the main

character of our story.

Abu Talib—Muhammad’s

Uncle

Khadija — Muhammad’s first

wife

Muhammad was born in a city called Makkah (what is now known as Saudi Arabia). He was born in the

year 570CE. Muhammad had a very hard childhood. His Father died just before he was born. His moth-

er died when he was six years old. He was brought up by his Grandfather and then his Uncle. When he

grew up, Muhammad helped his Uncle in his work as a Merchant

As a young man, Muhammad was already well known for his honesty and goodness. He worked in Mak-

kah for a wealthy woman called Khadijah. She was a trader. When Muhammad was 25, he and Khadijah

were married. They were rich and respected, their marriage was happy- it seemed that Muhammad had

everything which he could possibly want.

The Revelation of the Quran

Key

words

Quran

Prophet

Allah

Key People

The Angel Gabriel —

A messenger of God

who Muslims believe

communicated the

Quran to Muhammad

Quran fact file

Muhammad visited the cave outside Mecca

many times. The Quran is the Muslim Holy

book, and Muslims believe it contains

everything that Allah told Muhammad when

he visited the cave.

The Quran is divided into chapters called Su-

rahs. Surah 96 is the first thing the angel Gabri-

el told Muhammad and it starts “Recite in the

name of your lord”

Muhammad become more worried about the things which he saw, such as the rich mer-

chants cheating the poor, and people smoking, drinking and fighting.

Muslims believe that there have been many people in history who God has spoken to, and they

call these people ‘prophets’. Muslims believe that Muhammad was also a prophet, and that Mu-

hammad was the last prophet. Muhammad often meditated. One night the Angel Gabriel told Mu-

hammad that he would have to go into Mecca and tell people about what God, who Muslims

call ‘Allah’, had told him. This made Muhammad feel nervous.

Exile from Mecca

Medina fact file

Muslims have a word for the time when

Muhammad and the first Muslims departed to

Medina. They call it ‘hijrah’.

Hijrah means ‘departure’. Muslims think that

this is very important, because it was the be-

ginning of the success of Islam. The Muslim

calendar begins from this date, and years are

numbered AH: year of Hijrah.

Key words

Preaching

Medina

Hijra

Three years after the angel Gabriel visited Muhammad, Muhammad started preach-

ing in Mecca. Preaching means when you tell people about your religious beliefs.

Muhammad’s uncle and wife converted to Islam, and some of the people in Mecca

Key People

Muhammad—The prophet

of Islam and the main

character of our story.

Abu Talib—Muhammad’s

Uncle

Khardija — Muhammad’s

first wife

converted as well. Unfortunately,

Muhammad’s preaching made the leaders

of Mecca angry, some wanted him dead.

in the year 622, Muhammad moved to Me-

dina.

The First Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage Fact File

The word ‘hajj’ means ‘pilgrimage’. Pilgrimage is

just as important to Muslims today as it was to Mu-

hammad. Muslims will travel thousands of miles to

go on hajj. At hajj, everyone wears white clothes so

that everyone looks the same, no matter if they are

rich or poor, old or young. This shows that every-

one is equal before Allah.

At hajj, Muslims will also throw stones at three pil-

lars that represent evil and temptation, and they

will also sacrifice an animal to feed the poor.

Key words

Hajj

Medina

Mecca

Badr

treaty

Key People

Muhammad (pbuh)—The

prophet of Islam and the

main

character of our story.

Muhammad and the people living in Medina were at war with the people living in Mecca.

They had many battles. The most important of these was the battle of Badr in 624, where

Muhammad won a great victory. In 627, the Meccan army surrounded Medina, but the

Muslims in Medina survived the attack for forty days before defeating the Meccan army.

During this war, Muhammad and Mecca agreed that they would stop fighting for a short

time so that Muhammad and the Muslims could visit Mecca for a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage is

a journey to a religious place.

Muhammad Conquers Mecca Key words

Hajj

Conquer

Polytheism

Hadith

Key People

Muhammad—The prophet

of Islam and the main

character of our story.

Hadith Fact File The Quran tells us a lot about what

Muhammad says the Angel Gabriel told

him about God, but it doesn’t tell us

about Muhammad’s life. We get some

information of Muhammad’s life from

eyewitness accounts who have told

people what they saw, eventually

these were written down. These are

called the ‘Hadith’.

In the year 630 Muhammad defeated Mecca and took control of the city. He

smashed all the statues of the Gods in the Kaaba so that it was clear that they

should only worship Allah. Muhammad spent the last two years of his life in

Mecca before he died. Muslims view Muhammad conquering Mecca as evidence that

God was helping him. Now that Muhammad had conquered Mecca, his job was

complete. It was clear that to be a Muslim you had to believe in one God (‘Allah’), you

couldn’t believe in the polytheistic Gods, and you had to believe what Muhammad

said.