A SHORT LIFE SKETCH OF MOHAMMED
Mohammed was born in the year 570 A.D. His father had
died a few months before his birth. He lost his mother when
he was about six years of age. Mohammed was brought up by
his uncle.
Financially Mohammed was very poor. Some say that
Mohammed was illiterate but opinions differ on this
Education or no education, Mohammed was very intelligent
and wise. He was thoughtful and meditative.
It is said that Mohammed was of medium build and not
too tall or short. Since no formal pictures of Mohammed are
available, one has to go by descriptions of Mohammed written
by his followers. Mohammed was handsome, had a large head
with black thick hair, wide forehead, heavy eyebrows and large
black eyes with slight redness on the sides and long eyelashes.
He had a fine nose, well spaced teeth and a thick beard, wide
chest and shoulders, light colored skin and thick palms and
feet.
Mohammed was married by Khadija Bibi, his employer
and 15 years his senior. At the time, Mohammed was twenty-
five years old. Mohammed was Khadija Bibi's third husband;
the lady was a widow when she married Mohammed.
Khadija Bibi was wealthy and after marriage with her,
Mohammed lived in comparative luxury, for the first time in
his life. They had several children, both boys and girls. The
boys did not live long and the girls were given away In
marriage. They adopted a son named Zayed after their sons
died.
Khadija Bibi died when Mohammed was about 49 years
old. Between the ages of 49 and 63, after Khadija died, the
prophet married thirteen wives. The names of eleven ate
given below. At the age of 54 Mohammed married Ayesha, a
girl of six (some say nine) years of age. Ayesha was the
daughter of Abu Bakr, a close disciple of Mohammed. Ayesha,
according to many was Mohammed's most favorite wife.
Mohammed's Wives:
1 Khadija Bibi
2 Sauda Bibi
3 Ayesha Bibi
4 Hafsa Bibi
5 Umme-Habiba Bibi
6 Umme-Salma Bibi
7 Safia Bibi
8 Moyomuna Bibi
9 Zainab bint Jahsh Bibi
10 Zainab bint Khuzaymah Bibi
11 Juwairya (Zudia) Bibi
Zainab, daughter of Jahsh was initially married to his
adopted son Zayed. Put one day the prophet 'beheld in a loose
undress, the beauty of Zainab, and burst forth into an ejacula-
tion of devotion and desire. The servile, or grateful, freeman
understood the hint, and yielded without hesitation to the love
of the benefactor'. Zayed divorced Zainab so that Mohammed
could marry her.
Among Mohammed's concubines were Rehana and Mary
(also known as Mariam). Mary was a Christian slave girl
presented to Mohammed whereas Juwairya and Rehana both
were Jewish girls captured in battles with the Jews. Juwairya
eventually married the prophet and gave up her Jewish faith.
Rehana did not agree to give up her Jewish faith and would
rather live as a concubine against her own will, than marry the
prophet. both Juwairya and Rehana had lost their men folk in
the battles with the Moslem followers of Mohammed.
Among the many battles that the prophet of Islam fought
with his enemies, the kafirs, the more wellknown are the
following:
Battle of Badr: the Qurayza were defeated. (624 A.D.)
Battle of Uhud: the Moslems were defeated. (625 A.D.)
War of the ditch: Meccans attack the Moslems and the
attackers are driven off. (627 A.D.)
Battle of Khaybar: the Jews are defeated. (629 A.D.)
In the year 627 A.l). the Jewish tribe of Qurayza was
raided by Mohammed. Some 700 men were beheaded. Edward
Gibbon writes in his famous book, 'The Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire': " ... seven hundred Jews ere dragged in chains
to the market-place of the city; they descended alive into the
grave prepared for their execution and burial; and the apostle
beheld with an inflexible eye the slaughter of his helpless
enemies. Their sheep and camels were inherited by the
Musulmans: three hundred cuirasses, five hundred pikes, a
thousand lances, composed the most useful portion of the
spoil."
All the Jews that survived the battle of Khaybar were
also put to the sword in 629 A.D.
It was in 630 A.D. that Mecca was taken by Mohammed.
The entire population was converted to Islam and the Kaaba
established as the religious center of Islam. All kafirs were
forbidden entry into Mecca.
The Moslem year starts from 622 A.D. This is the year
of HIJRA or flight of Mohammed and his followers to Medina.
Mohammed believed that he was poisoned by a Jewish
woman as revenge after the battle of Khaybar. During the
last four years of his life, his health declined, epileptic fits
became more frequent, his other infirmities increased. He
died in the year 632 A.D., June 8.
During the twenty-four years of his marriage with
Khadija Bibi, the youthful prophet abstained from the right of
polygamy and just before his impending death he liberated his
slaves: seventeen men and eleven women. Till the third day
before his death he regularly performed the function of public
prayer. Gibbon says in his book: "In spite of his polygamy
Mohammed left no heir. In 655 or 656 A.D. his son in law, Ali,
became Commander of the Faithful, but his descendants did
not retain power".