Author: Will Durant
Excerpt from The Age of Faith (1950, pp. 239-245)
Muhammad was born in 569 CE into a distinguished yet modest family. His father, Abdullah, left him five camels, a flock of goats, a house, and a slave who cared for him in infancy. His name, meaning “highly praised,” resonated with certain Biblical passages, which he later interpreted as foretelling his prophetic role. His mother passed away when he was six, leaving him in the care of his grandfather, then aged seventy-six, and later his uncle, Abu Talib, who provided affection and care.
Reading and writing were not valued skills among the Arabs of the time; only seventeen men of the Quraish tribe in Mecca were known to be literate. Muhammad himself never learned to write, relying instead on an amanuensis to record his revelations. Despite this, he composed the Koran, widely regarded as the most eloquent book in Arabic literature, and demonstrated a profound understanding of leadership that often eludes the highly educated.
Little is known of his youth, though later traditions filled volumes with tales. At twelve, he reportedly accompanied Abu Talib on a caravan to Bostra in Syria, possibly encountering Jewish and Christian teachings. Another account places him in Bostra years later, handling trade for Khadija, a wealthy widow. At twenty-five, Muhammad married Khadija, then forty and a mother of several children. Their marriage, lasting until her death twenty-six years later, was monogamous—a rarity for a Muslim of means at the time. Khadija bore him daughters, including the renowned Fatima, and two sons who died in infancy. To console himself, Muhammad adopted Ali, the orphaned son of Abu Talib.
Khadija was a devoted wife and skilled merchant, remaining loyal through Muhammad’s spiritual journey. He later remembered her as his best wife among all others. Ali, who married Fatima, described Muhammad at forty-five as a man of medium height with a rosy-white complexion, black eyes, and thick, lustrous hair and beard. Ali noted a captivating sweetness in Muhammad’s demeanor, capable of dispelling hunger or sorrow in those around him. Despite a delicate constitution and a tendency toward melancholy, Muhammad maintained dignity, rarely laughing but controlling a keen sense of humor. In moments of anger, his facial veins would swell, yet he could quickly calm himself and forgive repentant foes.
Mecca and the broader Arabian Peninsula were home to diverse religious communities, including Christians and Jews. Muhammad formed a close bond with Waraqah ibn Nawfal, Khadija’s cousin, who was knowledgeable in Hebrew and Christian scriptures. His frequent visits to Medina, where his father had died, likely brought him into contact with the city’s significant Jewish population. The Koran reflects his admiration for Christian morals, Jewish monotheism, and the authority of their scriptures, which he believed were divinely inspired. Compared to the polytheistic idolatry, tribal conflicts, and moral laxity of Arabia, these faiths may have seemed to him more advanced.
Muhammad envisioned a new religion to unify Arabia’s factions into a strong, moral nation, grounded not in Bedouin traditions of violence and revenge but in divine commandments. Similar ideas were circulating; several “prophets” emerged in Arabia around this time. The Hanifs, an Arab sect, already rejected Kaaba idolatry, advocating for a universal God. Influenced by Jewish Messianic expectations, many Arabs anticipated a divine messenger, a longing Muhammad articulated and shaped as a preacher.
Approaching forty, Muhammad grew increasingly devoted to religion. During Ramadan, he retreated to a cave at the foot of Mount Hira, three miles from Mecca, for fasting, meditation, and prayer, sometimes with his family. In 610 CE, during one such retreat, he experienced a transformative vision. According to Muhammad ibn Ishaq, his chief biographer, Muhammad recounted that while asleep, the angel Gabriel appeared, commanding him to “Read!” Despite protesting his inability, Muhammad eventually read aloud, awakening with the words imprinted on his heart. On the mountain, a voice declared him Allah’s messenger, and he saw Gabriel spanning the sky.
Returning to Khadija, Muhammad shared his vision, which she accepted as divine, encouraging him to proclaim his mission. Subsequent visions followed, often accompanied by physical signs—convulsions, perspiration, and restlessness. He described the Koran as existing in heaven, relayed to him by Gabriel, fragment by fragment, with the angel ensuring he memorized each word. Some have speculated these episodes resembled epileptic seizures, citing the convulsions and a bell-like sound, but they lacked typical epileptic symptoms like tongue-biting or cognitive decline. Muhammad’s clarity of thought and leadership grew over time, and no orthodox Muslim accepts this diagnosis.
Over the next four years, Muhammad openly declared himself Allah’s prophet, advocating for monotheism and a new moral code. Resistance was strong in Mecca, a mercantile hub reliant on Kaaba pilgrimage revenue. While offering believers paradise over hell, he faced skepticism, with some Quraish dismissing him as unstable. His attacks on Kaaba idolatry as polytheism provoked hostility, though Abu Talib’s protection prevented violence. Converts, especially slaves, faced persecution—some were jailed or tortured—but Abu Bakr spent much of his wealth freeing them. Muhammad permitted recantation under duress and advised some converts to flee to Abyssinia, where they were welcomed by the Christian king in 615 CE.
In 616 CE, Omar ibn al-Khattab, a former opponent, converted, bringing strength and new followers to the movement. Converts began preaching publicly, prompting the Quraish to isolate Muhammad’s Hashimite clan. For over two years, Muhammad and his family lived in seclusion, protected by Abu Talib, until some Quraish relented, allowing their return. In 619 CE, both Khadija and Abu Talib died, leaving Muhammad vulnerable. Disheartened by slow progress in Mecca, he sought refuge in Taif in 620 CE, but its leaders and populace rejected him, driving him out with stones.
Back in Mecca, Muhammad married the widow Sauda and became betrothed to Aisha, Abu Bakr’s seven-year-old daughter. A vision of a miraculous journey to Jerusalem, where he ascended to heaven on the winged horse Buraq, elevated Jerusalem’s status in Islam. In 620 CE, Medinan merchants, familiar with monotheism through the city’s Jewish community, responded positively to his teachings. By 622 CE, seventy-three Medinans invited him to settle there, pledging protection in exchange for paradise if they died defending him.
Meanwhile, Abu Sufyan, a Quraish leader, intensified persecution, fearing Muhammad’s potential influence in Medina. Learning of a plot to capture or kill him, Muhammad fled with Abu Bakr to the cave of Thaur. After three days in hiding, they rode 200 miles to Medina, arriving on September 24, 622 CE. Greeted by Meccan and Medinan converts, this migration—known as the Hijra—marked a turning point. In 639 CE, Caliph Omar designated July 6, 622, as the start of the Islamic calendar.
Excerpts from Will Durant's The Age of Faith Pages 162-186 Pub. 1950
