1 Early Life

(If you think this book has been written to promote a sinister agenda or somehow encourage harm to Muslims, then please go to the end and read the appendix first.)

Mohammed was born in 570AD, in a town called Mecca in what is now Saudi Arabia. At that time Arabia was not a country, but an area inhabited by a collection of tribes. It was, and remains, a hot, dry and inhospitable landscape where people survived herding sheep and goats with some dates being cultivated in the North. Blood feuds were not uncommon and were generally resolved on the principle of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Occasionally blood money would be paid to resolve a killing.

Mecca was a holy town and a religious centre for all different kinds of religions. There was a building named the Kabah, which held a sacred stone, believed to have been a meteorite. There was also a well, whose water was believed to be holy and to have medicinal powers. Tribes from all around Arabia would come to Mecca to worship their various deities. There were even a few Christians and Jews living there, it was very multicultural. Mohammed came from the nobility of Mecca who were known as the Quraysh, and his clan was known as the Hashim. The main God of the Quraysh was Allah, the Moon God, (which is why every Mosque has a crescent moon on top) although many other Gods were worshipped. Because it was a holy place, fighting was not allowed in Mecca and disputes had to be settled outside of the town.

Mohammed's father died before he was born, and his mother died when he was Five. He was then raised by his grandfather, until he too died and his uncle, Abu Talib, took over his care. Abu Talib was a powerful member of the Quraysh. He seems to have been a kindly figure who, while he was alive, protected Mohammed and treated him well.

The main business of the Quraysh was religion, though they also made money from trading. When he grew up, Mohammed was hired by a wealthy widow named Khadija who traded with Syria. Mohammed managed the caravans and did the deals with the Syrians. Syria was a Christian country at that time, and far more sophisticated and cosmopolitan than Arabia. It was in fact at that time, far more sophisticated and cosmopolitan than most of Europe. The Arabs took their alphabet from the Syrian Christians, although writing was restricted to business transactions only. There were no books written in Arabic at that time. Religious traditions were passed down by word-of-mouth, and the Christians and Jews were known as the people of the book because they possessed written Scriptures. Mohammed did well as a trader and made a good profit for Khadija. After a while Khadija proposed marriage to him, and they had four daughters and two sons[4].

Because of his background, Mohammed was familiar with many different religions. He was of course very familiar with the rituals of his own clan, the pagan Arabs of Mecca, many of whose rituals were later incorporated into Islam. There were also some Jews in Mecca, and his wife's cousin was a Christian. Since most religions were not written down, it was not uncommon for people to have different versions of each religion, or even to start their own type of worship.

Important Facts:

To be a Muslim means to accept that Mohammed was the perfect Human Being. His life is the example for all Muslims to follow in every way possible. Of course not all Muslims are very successful in this endeavour but the level of devoutness of a Muslim is judged by how closely he follows Mohammed’s example and teachings. This fact is not disputed in Islam, which is why it is so important to know this story. There is even a word to describe Mohammed’s behaviour, which is “Sunnah”

Note:

Some people will feel that they shouldn’t read this book on moral grounds, so before I go much further I’d like to make something clear. I’m a huge fan of religious freedom. Feel free to believe what you want and worship in any way you see fit. If a group of Christians wants to worship in a weird or unusual way it doesn’t bother me one bit.

If, however that group forms together as a political organization and starts trying to influence the way their society is run then I will likely take an interest. If I don’t agree with their political agenda or methods, I assert my right to criticize these activities. This is not a religious criticism, this is a political criticism.

I am not an expert in the religious side of Islam and won’t be commenting much on its religious beliefs, or practices except where they have a political aspect. What I will be commenting on are the political objectives, political agenda, and political methods which are clearly laid down in Islamic Doctrine. How Muslims interact with each other, or interact with their chosen Deity, is a religious matter and doesn’t interest me at all. How they interact with non-Muslims, (who they refer to as Kaffirs) is a political matter and does concern me. As this story unfolds you will soon see why.

Bibliography

The original source of most of this material is a book called Sirat Rasul Allah (The story of the Prophet of Allah) or just The Sira by Ibn Ishaq, who is the most revered and trusted Muslim scholar of all time. This work was completed around 100 yrs after Mohammed’s death, (making it the oldest surviving biography of Mohammed) and is the absolute definitive biographical account of Mohammed’s life for students of Islam.

It was translated into English in 1955 by Professor of Arabic, A. Guillaume, under the title The Life of Mohammed with the help of a number of Arab professors. This is still the most widely used English translation for both Muslims and non-Muslims.

This direct translation has been superbly simplified and rearranged, by an organization called the Centre for the Study of Political Islam. They have also included some material from other well trusted sources that gives clarity and context to a story, which previously took enormous amounts of painstaking study to understand. The title of their book is Mohammed and the Unbelievers. Most of the quotes used will come from this book (which is referenced back to The Sira by a system of margin numbers contained in the original text).