Islam and the Prophet Muhammad Term Paper

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Life of Muhammad and Islam History: Medina and the Emergence as the Prophet of Allah

Muhammad, the prophet of Allah, is considered the Muslims' direct link to the god of Islam. Born from the Quraysh tribe of Mecca and orphaned at an early age, Muhammad lived a life of comfort for the first 40 years of his life. However, at the age 40, it was indoctrinated that Muhammad had "experienced" Islam when angel Gabriel informed him that he was Allah's "chosen messenger" (Dallal, 2002). Indeed, with this new revelation sent to him, Muhammad had started preaching the news of Allah and Islam, spreading the new religion to lands and nations that will become the cradle of Islam nations (the present Middle Eastern Islamic nations).

One of the earliest followers of Muhammad to spread the new religion of Islam was his wife, Khadija, who was 15 years Muhammad's senior. However, Muhammad's task is not a simple feat. Muhammad can be likened to Jesus Christ's ordeals in the Christian doctrine, wherein he was either adored, detested, or both by Christians. Muhammad, as he introduces the religious philosophy of Islam, encountered criticisms from other people; eventually, he received acceptance in the city of Yathrib, where Islam flourished and became established as a new religion. The city of Yathrib gradually became known as the "city of the Prophet," or Medina (Dallal, 2002).

It is evident that much of Islam's origins and history stem from one important location: Medina. Considered the place where Islam truly became a religion for the Muslims, Medina plays an essential part in illustrating not only the history of Islam as a religion, but the life and times of Muhammad as the "chosen messenger" of Allah.
This paper discusses significant events that occurred in Muhammad's life that concerns the history of Islam in Medina. This paper posits that as a predominantly Islam polity, Medina helped in the development of Islam as a religion and emergence of Muhammad as Allah's prophet in the modern teachings and doctrine of the religion.

According to Tabari's (1997) analysis and discussion of the history of Islam and the emergence of Muhammad as a prophet, it is in Medina that Muhammad became "the king of hijaz" (xi). Criticisms and disputes in Mecca over Muhammad's prophethood spurred conflicts within the city, resulting to "attacks" against Medina (when Muhammad transferred to the city after Mecca failed to accept his prophethood). However, over time, Medina emerged as the center of Islamism: "the position of Muhammad and of the community acknowledging his prophethood and following the religion embodied in the Qur'an changed dramatically... By the end of the period Mecca itself had capitulated, and most of its influential leaders had become at least nominal Muslims. Medina itself had become a purely Muslim polity" (xi).

This passage from Tabari's analysis is illustrated in Qur'anic texts that illustrate Muhammad as, indeed, the prophet of Allah and leader of the Islam religion. Establishing a geographic territory in Medina promoted and spurred the development of Islam, mainly because Muslims became….....

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