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It would be quite simply impossible to describe the Islamic faith without referring to Muhammad. He can, however, be described in various ways : as a historical figure, rooted in his epoch and his social milieu, whose actions remain influential to this day; or as the messenger of the ultimate revealed religion. Belief in the second version (which is not in itself incompatible with the first) is the very essence of being a Muslim.. In the Islamic tradition, Muhammad was a mortal man, but an altogether exceptional one. He is identified as :
Muhammad was not the first of the anbiya' (prophets, plural of nabi), of which tradition has it that there were no fewer than 124,000, nor the first witness of the godhead, God having sent such witnesses to each people in each epoch. In Islam, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and Jesus are all held to be prophets. But he was the first to have all three of the qualities mentioned above. His role was to transmit the word of God, and in so doing he closed the cycle of prophecy. He is the embodiment of the privelege of a perfect and authentic relationship with God's law. Islamic tradition further holds Muhammad's life to have been exemplary, and for this reason it has been the subject of numerous and lengthy glorifying commentaries. From a purely historical point of view, however, few details of his life are known with any certainty. As for his appearance, the hostility of Islam (and Sunni Islam in particular) to idolatry has frequently been translated into a ban on all depictions of animate beings, with the result that there are no portraits of Muhammad. Even though this all-out ban was later relaxed somewhat, it continued to apply to the Prophet and his companions. What we do have, however, is the following text, taken from the Universal History written by Al-Tabari (d. 923), which recounts the physical description of Muhammad as given by his son-in-law Ali : "Ali was asked about the details of the Prophet's outward appearance. Ali said : He was of medium height, neither very tall nor very short. His complexion was pinkish white, his eyes were black, his hair thick, glossy and beautiful. His beard, which framed his face, was thick. The hair of his head, which was black and long, hung down to his shoulders [...]. He walked with so forceful a step that one had the impression that he was about to take off [...] and yet he was at the same time so light-footed that each footfall scarcely seemed to touch the ground. But he did not carry himself proudly, as the princes do. His face was so gentle that once you had been in his presence you could never leave him ; if you were hungry, you would be satiated just by looking at him, and would think no more of food. The grief-stricken would forget their woes in his presence, charmed by the gentleness of his face and his words. All those who ever saw him agreed that they had never met, before or since, a man who spoke so charmingly. His nose was straight, and there were gaps between his teeth. Sometimes he would let his hair hang naturally, and sometimes he would gather it together in three or four bunches. At the age of sixty-three, the years had whitened just fifteen of the hairs on his head." Meanwhile, there are various sources of information about Muhammad's life. The Koran provides a few hints, often far from explicit and sometimes quite enigmatic, and with no indication of chronological order. Then there are the earliest written sources, but even the oldest of these date from more than a century after Muhammad's death. The hadith (the 'traditions of the Prophet', i.e. accounts of the sayings and actions of the Prophet and his companions) derive, it is claimed, from oral sources and scrupulously reported testimony, of which only the truth is supposed to have been preserved. Finally, there are also various legends (sirat), composed as of the 8th century and drawing more controversial anecdotes as well as the Koran and the Hadith as sources for biographies of the Prophet. The deeds and sayings of the Prophet were so morally charged and their interpretation so crucial to the interests of this or that family or clan that they were inevitably subject to manipulation and even invention. Thus, the 'tradition' was constructed progressively, and during this process was subject to fearsome horsetrading. Out of this process came a hierarchy of sources for the life of Muhammad and his small group of early followers, in which the Koran is considered the most reliable, followed by the Hadith, followed in turn by the Sirat. Throughout history, these sources have been consulted by Muslims to find answers to problems of morality, politics and everyday life. What is more, Islam - because it came into the world amidst upheavals and crises, because Muhammad himself was very much a man of action, and because writing was little practiced in his day - has ever since been a belief which has sought its own truth and its place in the contemporary world in history, and in a particular representation of history. |
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Childhood and youth Even Muhammad's date of birth is uncertain. He was born in Mecca, into the Quraysh clan, in approximately the year 571 AD, sometimes referred to as 'the year of the elephant'. The orphan child of a relatively poor family, Muhammad was brought up by his grandfather and, subsequently, by one of his uncles. During this period, he does not seem to have received much in the way of education. One legend has it that he travelled as a child with his uncle to the great Christian city of Bosra in Syria, where a monk recognised in him the signs of prophethood. Travelling, as he certainly did, north out of Arabia, he would been in a position to appreciate the prestige of the Chritians (Rum) and of their Holy Land, the land of the revelations of Moses and Jesus.
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Khadija, the prophet's first wife Khadija, a rich widow of about forty noticed Muhammad's qualities and hired him to run her caravan business. He was around 25 years old at the time, and his new responsibilities enabled him to make other journeys and other encounters. Although their subsequent union may seem to be a marriage of convenience, all existing accounts converge in describing Muhammad's deep respect and affection for his wife - feelings which he conserved even after her death, to the point of irritating his later, and younger wives.. This first marriage was monogamous, and Khadija, by supporting her husband, made an important contribution to the success of the new revealed religion. After Khadija's death, the Prophet married again several times, sometimes out of love, sometimes out of convenience. His marriages enabled him to build alliances. The closest to him belonged to the families of his early followers.
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Revelation and doubt By the time he was in his mid-thirties, Muhammad was a prosperous man, widely respected for his modest life-style, but nonetheless dissatisfied. With increasing frequency, he would go alone into the desert at night to pray and meditate beneath the stars in the rocky landscape. This was not a common practice in Mecca at the time, being the custom only of Jews, Christians and a handful of second-rate soothsayers. One early morning in around 610, as he was sleeping in the dawn after a night spent in solitary contemplation, a mysterious being appeared to him holding a scroll of cloth covered in symbols and ordered him to recite. "But what should I read ?" he objected. The being, identified as Jibril (the Archangel Gabriel), wrapped the cloth around his neck and commanded : "Read ! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created, This is how the first revelation of the divine word in the heart of the Prophet, is recorded in the Koran itself (Sura 96). It is the first moment of the Book, for Muhammad felt that a book had entered him. But he was greatly disturbed by the experience, which he related to Khadija. Assailed by doubt, he feared that a demon might have been playing tricks on him. Only his own household and a few of his closest friends were let into the secret at first. But the Archangel reassured him about his mission, and continued to deliver this "heavy" message which for three years was not made public. Khadija was the first to believe in Muhammad's mission, and the first convert from outside the Prophet's own family was a highly respected local merchant named Abu Bakr (who later went on to become the first Caliph).
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Preaching and persecution When Muhammad began to preach his message in public, he immediately clashed with his own Quraysh tribe. Besides being very much attached to their idols, the Qurayshites also feared for Mecca's prosperity. The Prophet of Islam met with increasingly violent reactions. He and his small group of converts were subject to ever more insults and vexations, until their very survival in Mecca became untenable and they were compelled to consider going into exile. Muhammad advised the weakest to seek refuge in Abyssinia, where they would be able to place themselves under the protection of the Christian king or Negus. Around a hundred Muslims crossed the Red Sea, and met with a warm welcome - proof that empathy between the two religions is possible, as well as being a sign of the will to go beyond traditional, tribal forms of solidarity. In Mecca, meanwhile, Muhammad was accused of plagiarism, imposture and sorcery. Further revelations came to him that countered these accusations and underlined both the divine nature of Muhammad's message and the continuity between him and the prophets who had gone before him. . The pressure on Muhammad nonetheless continued to grow, and after Khadija and his last protectors had passed away it became obvious he and his supporters were at risk. It was increasingly clear that Mecca would not be the first centre of the new religion. Consequently, Muhammad turned to the Beduin tribes and the town of Ta'if, but with no more success. Muslim tradition, it was during this period that Muhammad made his nocturnal visit to Jerusalem and his ascension to heaven (the Mi'raj).
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The Hejira The opening needed by Muhammad and his followers came from the north, from the oasis of Yathrib, which was later to become Medina, literally 'the city' of the Prophet. Since the situation in Mecca was no longer tenable, the young Muslim community opted for emigration (hijra). It is from this event (which began on or around September 20, 622 AD) that the Muslim calendar begins. In small groups, pursued by the Qurayshites, Muhammad and his followers made the seven-day journey through sand dunes and rocky mountains to Yathrib. It was very much a political act: the Muslims' challenge to the Meccan authorities led to a war, and shaped the social organisation of the Medinan community. The city state (or rather 'village state') of Yathrib, which opened its doors to the exiles, was situated off the main caravan routes. Like the other oases of Arabia, it lived off its palm groves, where subsistance agriculture was practiced. It was inhabited by three Jewish tribes and three pagan Arab tribes, and was subject to internal struggles. Muhammad, bearer of a new faith that had been rejected by his own people, arrived there following a war, under the terms of a formal alliance with one of the Arab tribes of Medina, to which he was related on his father's side.
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Muhammad as military leader The emigrants' economic situation was somewhat precarious. Following Beduin custom, they resorted to ghazws, or raids, in order to survive, but presented them as a holy war against the polytheists. Their military successes strengthened the Prophet's position, even if the details were not always entirely honourable ; on the other hand, their defeats put his authority to the test. Those battles against the Qurayshites that were lost were blamed on the insubordination and the hypocrisy of lukewarm allies. To make up for the defeats, Muhammad organised expeditions against the Beduin and against the Jewish tribes which, to his disappointment, had not rallied to the new faith and whose property was subsequently seized. The break with the Jews was symbolised by a decision to pray facing Mecca, rather than Jerusalem, as the Muslims had done up until then. The solidarity of the young community of Islam with the Christians lasted scarcely any longer. But Muhammad, as a skillful political operator, knew how to patch up or put off disputes when success was not assured.
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Muhammad as legislator During the Medinan period, Muhammad took on another status, that of leader of a community that still had to be built, organised, structured. A whole series of revelations and prophetic actions laid down the rules of the public and private life of the Muslims. In a town made up of Jews and Muslims, divided into clans and having their own laws, Muhammad became not only a builder (ordering the construction of the first mosque) but also a law-maker, imposing himself as an arbiter in conflicts and established the outlines of an Islamic social organisation.
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The conquest of Mecca With time, and on the strength of their successes, Muhammad's troops grew until, in 630 AD, ten thousand armed Muslims marched on Mecca. There was almost no battle. The victorious Prophet accepted the capitulation of his enemies, prayed at Khadija's grave, and had the pagan idols destroyed. With the surrender of Mecca, the town of his birth, in the eighth year after the Hejira (8 AH), and with the defeat shortly afterwards of the last great nomadic tribe which had opposed him, Muhammad became the master of western Arabia. It was only from this point on that the prophetic figure emerged with particular clarity in the political struggles of the day. Hence, for example, the alliances with Medina were renewed at the end of the year 9 AH on the basis of a condition that had never before been posed - that the Medinans should convert to Islam. Similarly, a year later, pilgrimage to Mecca was forbidden to non-Muslims. In this first year after the fall of Mecca, Muhammad fought the polytheists, established the rules for pilgrimage, laid down laws (banning usury, for example) and exhorted the Muslims to remain united behind him. On his return to Medina, he fell ill, and died in the year 632 AD. Islam had, by then, consolidated its position on the Arabian peninsula and was ready to sweep through the lands lying to the west of the Jordan. After the death of Muhammad, the prophetic side of his nature gradually eclipsed the admirable tribal chief that he had also been during the Medinan period. From that point on, history gave way to glorification.
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The word of God By the manifest Book, For Muslims, both the Bible and the Gospels contain authentic revelations, but these revelations are either incomplete or have been tampered with. The Koran, on the other hand, is held to contain the revelation in its entirety. It is the transcription into Arabic of God's thought. It is God's own word, the message of which predates Creation and is complete, inimitable and valid until the end of the world. It is the only realiable fountainhead of knowledge. The perfection of the Koran therefore renders earlier revelations superfluous. It also prohibits any additions or distortions. Once this premise has been accepted, it is clear that any 'translation' of the Koran can only be an imperfect attempt to approach the inimitable, even the most scrupulous of translators inevitably running up against the sacred nature of the text. Muslim scholars hold a translation in the true sense of the term to be impossible, but nonetheless accept that one may attempt to render a version, a commentary or a certain interpretation of the Koran in another language. It is precisely the text's divine nature which explains its central role in the life of Muslims. Acquiring a knowledge of the Koran, respecting one's duty to read and re-read it, memorising part of all it scrupulously at an early age, reciting it - all are central to the daily life of millions of Muslims, and demonstrate a certain intimacy with and attachment to its beautiful and "perfect" language. The sound of Koranic verses being chanted ritually, be it live or recorded, is very much part of the soundtrack of everyday life in the Muslim world of today. Indeed, since the advent of what might be called the age of the "transistor", it has been quite commonplace in most Muslim countries to hear the Koran recited in the bus in the morning, in the market during the daytime, and again in the evening at funeral ceremonies or countless other events.
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Allah, Islam, Umma In his day, Muhammad's message was a veritable provocation, clashing with the customs, values and vested interests of his milieu. On at least three points of not inconsiderable importance, Muhammad introduced profound reforms. To begin with, he imposed belief in one God. In a land where soothsayers, sorcerers, priests and other holy men were legion, this was inevitably a major disruption of hitherto existing beliefs. Armed with boundless and irreversible faith in a single deity, the believer could henceforth speak directly to his Creator, with no need for an intercessor of any kind. Allah is God's name. It has a literal meaning - quite simply 'the God' (al-Lah) - but it had entered use as a proper noun before the revelation of the Koran ; indeed the Prophet's own father was called 'Abd Allah ('slave of God'). Even today, the word is not the exclusive preserve of Muslims, since Arabic-speaking Christians also refer to God as Allah. By proclaiming the oneness of God, Muhammad directly challenged the religious pluralism which then reigned in Mecca and all the advantages that came with it (trade between religious communities, revenue from pagan pilgrimages etc.). At a time when Jews and Christians were still divided into various hazily defined sects, Muhammad claimed for himself the originality and exclusivity of monotheism: not only was there only one God, but only the God of Islam was the true God, excluding all other beliefs. There are ninety-nine 'Most Beautiful Names' of God (al-asma' al-husna), which express His essence and attributes : the One, the Sublime, the Real, the Light, the Truth, the Best of Judges, the All-Mighty, the Kind, the Generous, and so on. The term 'Islam' goes to the very heart of the relationship between Man and this jealous God. It has been translated, perhaps rashly, as 'submission' (to the divine will). In fact, the root of the word, S-L-M, is also found in words such as salam ('peace' or 'quietude') and expresses the idea of being or becoming safe and sound ; in this sense, Islam is the act of giving oneself up to God to obtain His mercy and forgiveness, and thereby purety. The notion by no means excludes individual responsibility or free will. But it does point to a direct relationship between God and Man that is based on the forgiveness of the former and the freedom of the latter. Islam is (voluntary) subjection to Allah, a state which leads to the continuous revelation of the unformulated mystery of His ineffability, about which the believer is required to think and meditate. The order and wondrous harmony of the cosmos as it exists before us constitute an invitation to bow down before its Creator and Destroyer (two more of the Most Beautiful Names). Men will be judged by their actions, but actions have no value without faith. Every good Muslim's desire is that his good actions should outweigh the bad in the scales of judgement. The one irremissible sin, indeed the only truly mortal sin according to most Muslim theologians, is shirk, i.e. the act of associating God with other divinities. Becoming a Muslim means joining a new community, the Umma or community of believers. It also means accepting a whole range of rights and duties which surpass the old tribal or ethnic solidarity. The idea of an Islamic community which was indifferent to blood ties, socio-economic status and, in principle, to states and borders, was little short of revolutionary. The conditions in which Islam emerged set it against tribally based power structures from the outset. At the same time, the concept of the Umma expressed Islam's universalist ambitions and, perhaps, an inherent temptation towards conquest.
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Islam is too often represented as a religion of constraint and forbiddance. True, it does prohibit various practices - but, on comparison, no more so than other monotheistic religions. In fact, just 3% of the Koran is concerned with rules or punishments. Rather, it is the collective and communitarian dimensions of Islam which make these rules more visible than in many other religions - all the more so in Arab societies, where social control (that is, the fact that each individual is subject to the scrutiny of everyone else) and a sense of honour are very strong.. But of course, any rule or law, once it has been laid down, also has to be applied, and this opens the door, to a greater or lesser extent, to interpretation and case-by-case negotiation, the influence of public opinion and the impact of private and individual attitudes. The Koran suggests that membership in the community of Muslims means subscribing to - and putting into practice - five essential principles (known as the arkan, or 'pillars'). Some of these constitute obligations in day-to-day life, while others are required only periodically or even once in a lifetime.
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The profession of faith (shahada) According to Islamic tradition, a child is a Muslim at birth and it is only because of his or her surroundings that he or she may later subscribe to another religion. To assert his or her faith as a Muslim, the believer must repeat alound, consciously, sincerely and (in the case of a conversion) before two witnesses, the famous Shahada : "I bear witness that there is no God but God, and Muhammad is His messenger." By saying this formula, the believer signals his or her acceptance of :
The profession of faith is an all-inclusive and irreversible act.
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Prayer (salat) Prayer is one of the cornerstones of Islam, a reaffirmation of one's status as a Muslim, made either collectively or individually. It also expresses a constant link with the devine, in other words an ability to break with one's material preoccupations.. Five times a day - at dawn, at midday, in the middle of the afternoon, at sunset and at the beginning of the night - believers follow a precise ritual (which nonetheless varies slightly from region to region). After purifying themselves by performing ritual ablutions, they then bow down facing Mecca in an expression of their devotion to God and restate their profession of faith and call on others to join them. The prayer may be accompanied by the recitation of other verses of the Koran. The call to prayer of the muezzins underlines the importance of collective prayer. Friday midday prayers are greatest expression of shared faith. When believers pray together, rich and poor alike are bound to observe the same rites, even if social hierarchies can still be observed. In addition to the five prescribed daily prayers, other supererogatory prayers may also be accomplished - for example, nighttime prayers, which are thought particularly favourable for asking God to grant specific wishes.
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Giving alms (zakat) Alms-giving is in fact a rather poor translation of the word zakat or zaka. It is an obligatory tax (legally regulated since the 8th century AD) which is supposed to be a manifestation of the solidarity of the richest members of the community of believers with the poorest, and thereby the divine origin of all wealth. Zaka, a word which is derived from a Syriac root referring to the idea of purification, is a tax which purifies, or exonerates, the person who pays it. Zaka is a contribution, in kind or in cash, paid by a Muslim to a communal aid fund or charity, or even a financial contribution to certain types of expenditure in the public interest. Since it is paid by Muslims, the zaka is supposed to be spent only on other, needy Muslims, or on non-Muslims who are invited to join the community of believers.. In many countries, spontaneous individual payments are replaced by a formal tax. Only fervent believers still consider themselves bound to make individual donations. On the occasion of the religious festival which marks the end of Ramadan, however, believers are expected to make private donations - which in this case may go to non-Muslims - in order to help those less fortunate than oneself to celebrate the end of the period of fasting. Historically, zaka played an important role in the cohesion of the Muslim community. Since the 1950s, its existence has been used by some as an argument in favour of the socialistic nature of Islam, while Islamic associations demand its restoration. Zaka is raised not only as a percentage of income, but also on certain categories of capital.
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Fasting (sawm) Prayer is time given to God. Similarly, throughout the lunar month of Ramadan (29 or 30 days), the community of believers comes together and devotes itself to the faith. During this test of will-power, the believer must not drink, eat, smoke or have sexual relations from sunrise to sunset. Such abstince (which is by no means peculiar to Islam) is only demanded of adults who are in good health. The sick and the disabled, travellers and combattants, pregnant and nursing women are excused from fasting during Ramadan, although they may be expected to complete the fast at a later date, or make up for it by making gifts to the poor. The month of Ramadan is a moment of expiation, a change in life-style which encourages reconciliation and restates the solidarity of the Umma, of the family and of friendships.. The meal at which the fast is broken in the evening (the iftar) and the long evenings of singing and dancing contrast strongly with the calm that prevails during the day. Ramadan sets reflection against concentration, and economic production against human contact.
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Pilgrimage (hajj) The pilgrimage to Mecca, Muhammad's birthplace and the chief religious pole of Islam, evokes an episode in the life of the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham): the construction of the first temple, now identified with the Kaaba, a 15 metre by 12 metre stone cube, draped in black brocaded cloth. In the south-east corner of the Kaaba is lodged a black stone, which is held to have been blackened by the sins of mankind. The pilgrimage, or hajj, is performed in the tenth month of the Muslim year, called Dhu Al-Hijja (meaning, roughly, 'the month of pilgrimage'). Every adult Muslim who is sound of mind is expected to complete the hajj at least once in his or her life, if it is within his or her material means. A supererogatory pilgrimage may also be performed outside the month of Dhu Al-Hijja, in which case it is referred to not as the hajj but as the 'umra, or minor pilgrimage. The pilgrimage actually begins in Medina. Having purified their bodies ritually and exchanged their clothing for a simple white cloth with no stiching, the pilgrims visit the tomb of the Prophet before moving on to Mecca, where they walk seven times around the Kaaba. Then, again seven times over, they run along the path followed by Abraham's concubine Hagar and their son Isma'il (Ishmael) when they were desperately looking for water in the desert, to the spring of Zamzam, which God first caused to flow for Hagar and Isma'il. Next comes the lapidation of three stone pillars which mark the places where the devil appeared to Abraham in an attempt to turn him away from God's order to sacrifice his son. The pilgrimage culminates with the sacrifice of sheep or goats in the valley of Mina, near Mecca, on the 10th of Dhu Al-Hijja (the festival of 'Id Al-Adha, or Al-'Id Al-Kabir). These are the main stages on an itinerary which lasts between ten days and three weeks, after which the pilgrim returns home with a feeling of total purity and bearing the prestigious title of Hajj. Despite the fact that performing the pilgrimage is a particularly costly duty, the number of pilgrims continues to rise, not least because the total number of Muslims in the world is rising. This has made the logistics of organising the event increasingly complex, and has forced the authorities to impose annual quotas of pilgrims for each nationality. |
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| copyright © 2002 Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris. |
