Muhammad was born around 570 AD to a widowed mother who died
just six years later. He grew up poor and orphaned on the margins of
society, which was controlled by tribal chiefs and trading merchants. He
worked for his uncle, Abu Talib, as a camel herder. Although his uncle
had some standing in the community, Muhammad himself did not rise above his
lowly station until he was 25, when he met and married a wealthy widow,
Khadija, who was 15 years older.
His wife's trading business not only nurtured Muhammad's
natural talents of persuasion, but it also gave the successful salesman an opportunity
to travel and acquire knowledge that was not as accessible to the local
population.
Having attained a comfortable lifestyle and the idle time
that wealth affords, Muhammad would wander off occasionally for periods of
meditation and contemplation. It is quite likely that he was experiencing
the symptoms of a midlife crisis, including a desire for personal
accomplishment and meaning.
One day, at the age of 40, he told his wife that he had been
visited by the angel Gabriel in a dream. Thus began a series of
"revelations" which lasted almost until his death 23 years
later. The Qur’an is a collection of words that Muhammad
attributed to Allah. The Hadith is a collection of narrations
of the life and deeds of Muhammad. The Sira is his recorded
biography. The Sunnah is said to be Muhammad's way of life, on
which Islamic law (Sharia) is based.
With his wife’s influence and support, Muhammad proclaimed
himself a prophet in same "lineage" as that of Abraham and Jesus, and
began trying to convert those around him to his new religion. He narrated
the Quran to those who believed him, telling them that it was the word of Allah
(heard only by himself, of course).
Muhammad's Quran did not contain a single original moral
value and it contributed only one new idea to world religion - that Muhammad is
Allah's prophet.
In the beginning, Muhammad did his best to compromise his
teachings with the predominant beliefs of the community’s elders, such as
combining all 300 of their idols under the name “Allah.” He also used his "revelations from Allah" to repeatedly
affirm his own position.
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