7:00:04 > 7:00:11.
7:00:19 > 7:00:261,400 years ago a man born here, in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia,
7:00:26 > 7:00:28changed the course of world history.
7:00:28 > 7:00:32If you had to rate the top people in the history of the world,
7:00:32 > 7:00:33as leaders,
7:00:33 > 7:00:36the name of Muhammad would be in the top three.
7:00:37 > 7:00:39Here we have a man who began a mission.
7:00:39 > 7:00:41He gave light to the world.
7:00:41 > 7:00:46For one and a half billion Muslims, he is the last and greatest
7:00:46 > 7:00:50of that long line of prophets who have brought the word of God to humanity.
7:00:50 > 7:00:55He was not just a spiritual genius, but he also had political gifts of a very high order.
7:00:55 > 7:00:59He laid the foundations for a religion, Islam,
7:00:59 > 7:01:04that after his death developed a culture and civilization that spread around the world
7:01:04 > 7:01:07and inspired some of the most beautiful architecture.
7:01:08 > 7:01:13But today, Islam is at the very heart of the conflict that defines our world
7:01:13 > 7:01:18and Muhammad's name is associated with some of the most appalling acts
7:01:18 > 7:01:20of terrorism the world has ever seen.
7:01:20 > 7:01:25Osama bin Laden and others who have committed acts of Jihad terrorism
7:01:25 > 7:01:31consistently invoke the Qur'an and Muhammad's example, to justify what they are doing.
7:01:31 > 7:01:35Obedience to one true God, Allah, and follow in the footsteps
7:01:35 > 7:01:37for the final prophet and messenger...
7:01:37 > 7:01:41Outside of the Islamic world, almost nothing is known about Muhammad,
7:01:41 > 7:01:46whereas for Muslims, he is the ultimate role model and his life is known in every detail.
7:01:46 > 7:01:49So who was he? What was his message?
7:01:49 > 7:01:53And why are so many people, Muslims and non-Muslims, divided over his legacy?
7:01:55 > 7:02:00In this groundbreaking series, I will explore the many complexities of his life story,
7:02:00 > 7:02:05about the Revelations he is said to have received from God, about his many wives,
7:02:05 > 7:02:11about his relations with the Jews of Arabia, about his use of war and peace
7:02:11 > 7:02:14and about the laws that he enacted when he set up his own state.
7:02:15 > 7:02:21I want to examine his life and times and understand how they still affect
7:02:21 > 7:02:25today's world and whether they are a force for good or evil.
7:02:25 > 7:02:29I want to uncover the real Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam.
7:02:29 > 7:02:30Peace be upon him.
7:02:43 > 7:02:50When Muslims come on a pilgrimage to Mecca they put on two simple pieces of white cloth.
7:02:52 > 7:02:56They discard their everyday clothes, in favour of these simple cloths,
7:02:56 > 7:02:59which symbolises purity and make everyone equal,
7:02:59 > 7:03:05a tradition dating back to Muhammad's time, more than 1,400 years ago.
7:03:10 > 7:03:16Just after I was born, the very first words whispered into my ear were those of the Shahada,
7:03:16 > 7:03:22the simple statement of faith. "There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is God's messenger."
7:03:22 > 7:03:27Words that link me to this holy place and to the founder of Islam.
7:03:28 > 7:03:35Like most Muslims, the first human name I heard was not that of my mother or father, but of Muhammad.
7:03:37 > 7:03:42I first came to Mecca over 30 years ago, as a child
7:03:42 > 7:03:47of just five years, with my family, on Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage.
7:03:47 > 7:03:50As pilgrims, we came to the Grand Mosque,
7:03:50 > 7:03:53to the Kaaba, the most familiar symbol of Islam.
7:03:57 > 7:04:02It is the place to which Muslims face, everyday, wherever they may be, in prayer.
7:04:10 > 7:04:16When Muslims circle the Kaaba, they walk in the footsteps of their Prophet, Muhammad,
7:04:16 > 7:04:18in devotion to God.
7:04:18 > 7:04:21People come from the four corners of the world, but what unites
7:04:21 > 7:04:26everyone here is a desire to emulate the life of the Prophet Muhammad...
7:04:28 > 7:04:31..a man as important to Muslims as Jesus is to Christians.
7:04:31 > 7:04:34A man defines who they are.
7:04:41 > 7:04:44But unlike Jesus, Muhammad was not the Son of God.
7:04:44 > 7:04:52For him, there was no miraculous birth, no healing miracles and no resurrection after death.
7:04:52 > 7:04:55He was just a man.
7:05:02 > 7:05:08Muhammad was born 1,400 years ago in one of the world's most inhospitable regions.
7:05:08 > 7:05:15It was a stark, harsh environment of mountain, desert and searing heat, one-third the size of Europe.
7:05:16 > 7:05:22The vast emptiness of Arabia was sandwiched between two of the ancient world's great powers.
7:05:22 > 7:05:24To the north was Christian Byzantium,
7:05:24 > 7:05:30the last remnant of the Roman Empire, with its capital in Constantinople.
7:05:30 > 7:05:36To the east was another ancient civilisation, the Sassanids, the remains of the Great Persian Empire.
7:05:36 > 7:05:40In between, were hundreds of Arab tribes and clans,
7:05:40 > 7:05:45constantly competing in a battle for supremacy and survival.
7:05:45 > 7:05:51There were very few cities. One of them was Mecca, the city where Muhammad was born.
7:05:51 > 7:05:53Muhammad is believed to have been born
7:05:53 > 7:05:57on a spot close to here, in the year 570.
7:05:57 > 7:06:00His father Abdullah died before he was born
7:06:00 > 7:06:03and his mother, Aminah, was very poor.
7:06:03 > 7:06:07And what's really interesting is, at the time, there was no sense of the coming of a messiah,
7:06:07 > 7:06:12no stars in the sky and wise men didn't travel from afar in order to worship him.
7:06:12 > 7:06:16In fact, at the time, barely anyone noticed and no-one really cared.
7:06:16 > 7:06:21And yet today there isn't anything to mark where Muhammad was born.
7:06:21 > 7:06:26No shrine, no museum, not even a plaque on a wall.
7:06:27 > 7:06:31Most Muslims make a clear distinction between the messenger and the message.
7:06:31 > 7:06:36Muhammad may be held in high esteem, but to worship HIM
7:06:36 > 7:06:40is considered "shirq", a heinous and unforgivable corruption of Islam.
7:06:40 > 7:06:45So, over the years many sites connected with Muhammad and his life
7:06:45 > 7:06:50have been removed, to ensure there is no worship of anyone other than God.
7:06:51 > 7:06:55The same goes for visual depictions of Muhammad.
7:06:55 > 7:06:59Unlike in Christian Churches, with their myriad images of Jesus
7:06:59 > 7:07:06on the cross and the Virgin Mary, mosques have no images of Muhammad or any other person at all.
7:07:06 > 7:07:09What is very important in the Islamic tradition
7:07:09 > 7:07:14is to understand the very essence of monotheism, what we call "tawhid"
7:07:14 > 7:07:18in Arabic, the oneness of God. He is beyond everything and we don't represent God,
7:07:18 > 7:07:23but in order to be quite clear in this relationship with God, we never represent or have an
7:07:23 > 7:07:27image of any of the prophets. It's not only the last prophet, Muhammad,
7:07:27 > 7:07:35it's all the prophets - Abraham, Moses, Jesus are not seen and drawn or anything like this in Islam.
7:07:35 > 7:07:42It's out of respect towards this oneness of God and following the messenger, never worshipping him.
7:07:43 > 7:07:48In the past, some Ottoman and Persian miniature paintings have depicted Muhammad,
7:07:48 > 7:07:51but his face was always hidden behind a veil.
7:07:51 > 7:07:56But in the West there is a long history of depicting Muhammad in drawings and paintings.
7:07:59 > 7:08:04Most recently a Danish cartoon portrayed him as a terrorist, with a bomb in his turban.
7:08:04 > 7:08:09This led to an explosion of anger and protest right across the Muslim world,
7:08:09 > 7:08:15not just because it was showing Muhammad's face, but also because it was ridiculing him, too.
7:08:21 > 7:08:27Despite the lack of visual imagery, the written sources for Muhammad's life are extensive.
7:08:27 > 7:08:33The first is the Qur'an itself, Islam's holy book, but there is also a rich library of stories
7:08:33 > 7:08:41and sayings connected to Muhammad preserved and written down after his death, and known as the Hadith.
7:08:41 > 7:08:45Muslim scholars had to sift through thousands of sayings and stories
7:08:45 > 7:08:48about Muhammad, to check their validity.
7:08:49 > 7:08:54Muslim scholars themselves were terribly worried to try and verify whether
7:08:54 > 7:08:57the Hadith they were collecting were true,
7:08:57 > 7:08:58whether they were false,
7:08:58 > 7:09:00whether they were fabricated.
7:09:02 > 7:09:06The problem that scholars have with it is,
7:09:06 > 7:09:10one, it's only set down in writing at a much later time.
7:09:10 > 7:09:14The actual earliest physical text that we can hold are actually only
7:09:14 > 7:09:19from the 820s, and Muhammad dies in 632, so that's a long period.
7:09:19 > 7:09:22Obviously yes, of course they've been transmitted over time,
7:09:22 > 7:09:25but with transmission orally over time, problems can come in.
7:09:27 > 7:09:31The Arabs relied on their memory throughout history,
7:09:31 > 7:09:38their history and their genealogy was all retained by memory and Muhammad
7:09:38 > 7:09:40was a very important man.
7:09:40 > 7:09:46By the time he died, he had hundreds of thousands of people following him
7:09:46 > 7:09:53or some opposing him. And they all said and preserved
7:09:53 > 7:09:59all this and that is a source which cannot be ignored
7:09:59 > 7:10:03simply because some people say, "No, this is an just an invention"
7:10:03 > 7:10:06or that it was written later. It wasn't.
7:10:07 > 7:10:13While the veracity of the Hadiths is still debated and argued over,
7:10:13 > 7:10:17there are, remarkably, accounts of Muhammad's existence from non-Muslim sources.
7:10:19 > 7:10:26Non-Muslim evidence for Muhammad is not copious, it exists.
7:10:26 > 7:10:30The name Muhammad is attested in Greek,
7:10:30 > 7:10:38Syriac and Armenian writings from, say, the first 30 years after the death of Muhammad.
7:10:38 > 7:10:43Which 30 years after Muhammad's death is, I suppose, pretty good.
7:10:45 > 7:10:51The Armenian historian, Sebeos, wrote about Muhammad just 24 years after his death.
7:10:54 > 7:10:56The particular interest
7:10:56 > 7:11:01here is, that for the first time, in Armenian, someone talks about
7:11:01 > 7:11:03Muhammad and mentions him
7:11:03 > 7:11:08by name and says a little bit about what he did.
7:11:08 > 7:11:15Sebeos himself was talking about the events around the year 630,
7:11:15 > 7:11:18which was before Muhammad had actually died.
7:11:18 > 7:11:23Sebeos gives a surprisingly accurate account of Muhammad's background and teachings.
7:11:23 > 7:11:25Translating from the Armenian...
7:11:25 > 7:11:30"At that time, a certain man, whose name was Mehmet" -
7:11:30 > 7:11:36which is the usual name for Muhammad in Armenian - "a merchant,
7:11:36 > 7:11:41"as if by the command of God, appeared to them as a preacher."
7:11:43 > 7:11:47"Now, Muhammad gave them laws,
7:11:47 > 7:11:54"namely, not to eat carrion, not to drink wine,
7:11:54 > 7:12:00"not to speak falsehood and not to engage in fornication."
7:12:04 > 7:12:08Sebeos and other non-Muslim historians write about
7:12:08 > 7:12:12the existence of Muhammad in roughly the same timeframe as Muslim accounts.
7:12:13 > 7:12:15Together, with the Hadiths and the Qur'an,
7:12:15 > 7:12:20we have a large body of detailed facts about the life of Muhammad.
7:12:20 > 7:12:23We know he was born into the tribe that ruled the town of Mecca,
7:12:23 > 7:12:26the Quraysh, and that his family was poor.
7:12:28 > 7:12:33His father had died before he was born and left his mother, Aminah, little to live on.
7:12:33 > 7:12:39When he was just a few months old, she handed him over to a Bedouin tribe living on the outskirts
7:12:39 > 7:12:43of the town - a tradition among the Arabs of the time.
7:12:43 > 7:12:48Muhammad had a Bedouin wet nurse and lived a nomadic life for the first four years of his life.
7:12:53 > 7:12:57Arabia at the time of Muhammad's birth was a cruel place to live.
7:12:57 > 7:13:01There was no law, no state and very little peace.
7:13:01 > 7:13:05Tribal loyalty and customs were the only sources of protection.
7:13:05 > 7:13:10Justice was harsh, arbitrary, and it was swift and the punishments were brutal.
7:13:10 > 7:13:13A man, for example, caught stealing a loaf of bread would be killed,
7:13:13 > 7:13:19and it meant that the daily struggle for survival left very little room for compassion.
7:13:19 > 7:13:24For most people, there was very little chance of a better existence.
7:13:25 > 7:13:30Muslims have a special word to describe this era,
7:13:30 > 7:13:33the Jahiliyah, or The Age of Ignorance.
7:13:39 > 7:13:44This was a society that had its structures, a belief system,
7:13:44 > 7:13:47but not as we would understand an organised religion today.
7:13:49 > 7:13:51The peoples of Arabia
7:13:51 > 7:13:56were polytheistic. They venerated a number of different gods.
7:13:56 > 7:14:01In general, each tribe had their own patron god and that was the case throughout Arabia.
7:14:01 > 7:14:05And Mecca, Muhammad's birthplace, is believed to have been the most
7:14:05 > 7:14:10important centre of this polytheistic worship.
7:14:10 > 7:14:15There was a long established Arabian paganism, as we'd call it today,
7:14:15 > 7:14:21that took virtually the same form in most of the cities and settled regions.
7:14:21 > 7:14:24There would be a, sort of, square shrine in the middle,
7:14:24 > 7:14:28circumambulation around it and various gods.
7:14:28 > 7:14:33There was Allah, the high god, and there were goddesses,
7:14:33 > 7:14:35but most of the Arabs
7:14:35 > 7:14:39were not particularly religious, in that sense.
7:14:39 > 7:14:43This was something more for the settled areas - the towns, the agricultural settlements.
7:14:45 > 7:14:51Orthodox Muslims believe the Kaaba was built by God in the time of Adam,
7:14:51 > 7:14:56but there is no archaeological or historical evidence to confirm its exact origins.
7:14:56 > 7:15:01By the time of Muhammad's birth, it had long been a shrine,
7:15:01 > 7:15:06drawing people to the town of Mecca, the centre of pagan cults for the peoples of Arabia.
7:15:07 > 7:15:11Muslim sources acknowledge that the Kaaba is a central
7:15:11 > 7:15:16temple for the worship of god, which has existed from time immemorial,
7:15:16 > 7:15:19so there's a sense in which
7:15:19 > 7:15:22the first founder of this particular sanctuary for god was Adam
7:15:22 > 7:15:29and then the various prophets after kept it up, then it was eroded away,
7:15:29 > 7:15:31as people moved away from the worship of the one god
7:15:31 > 7:15:39and then it was rebuilt by Abraham and his son Ishmael and then again people forgot what its reason was.
7:15:41 > 7:15:47There are no non-Muslim sources which connect Abraham to Mecca, but by Muhammad's birth,
7:15:47 > 7:15:53the Kaaba contained the idols of over 360 different gods, each one venerated in its own right.
7:15:53 > 7:15:58There was a special time of truce declared every year, when all the
7:15:58 > 7:16:05hostile tribes could come to Mecca to circle the Kaaba and worship their Gods without fear of conflict.
7:16:07 > 7:16:14This regular pilgrimage brought many people to Mecca and that meant trade and wealth.
7:16:14 > 7:16:19The tribe Muhammad was born into, the Quraysh, controlled the running of the Kaaba
7:16:19 > 7:16:25and so were rich and powerful, although Muhammad's immediate family were not part of the ruling elite.
7:16:26 > 7:16:32At the age of five, Muhammad returned to his mother, Aminah, and lived in Mecca.
7:16:32 > 7:16:34But she was in poor health.
7:16:34 > 7:16:41She decided to visit some of her family in Yathrib, a town about 300km north of Mecca.
7:16:41 > 7:16:46But as the camel caravan made its way through the desert, Aminah's illness got worse.
7:16:47 > 7:16:54The caravan stopped here, in the small oasis of Abwa, in order to drop off Muhammad and his mother,
7:16:54 > 7:16:58in the hope that she would recover her strength. But it was not to be.
7:16:58 > 7:17:01After just a few days, Aminah died.
7:17:03 > 7:17:11With both his parents now dead, Muhammad was all alone in the world, an orphan at the tender age of six.
7:17:11 > 7:17:17These searing events would have a profound impact on his outlook and his personality.
7:17:21 > 7:17:24Muhammad's virtually alone at this resting place,
7:17:24 > 7:17:26watching his mother die
7:17:26 > 7:17:28and it's only when the next caravan
7:17:28 > 7:17:30comes on this well-established journey
7:17:30 > 7:17:32that he gets re-integrated into society.
7:17:32 > 7:17:35It must have been terrifying, deeply poignant and disturbing.
7:17:38 > 7:17:42The young Muhammad was to learn even more about loss and sorrow.
7:17:42 > 7:17:48He was taken in by his paternal grandfather, who died just two years later,
7:17:48 > 7:17:54before coming under the protection of his uncle, Abu Talib, a powerful figure among the Meccan elite.
7:17:54 > 7:18:01Abu Talib was a trader, taking caravans to Syria, part of a business which from
7:18:01 > 7:18:04ancient times connected Arabia to the populous centres
7:18:04 > 7:18:07and civilizations of the Middle East and beyond.
7:18:07 > 7:18:09Mecca was a link in that chain.
7:18:09 > 7:18:13I imagine trading caravans picking up the spices
7:18:13 > 7:18:15in Yemen, or the silver or the leather,
7:18:15 > 7:18:18bringing them to Mecca and a quite separate group of traders
7:18:18 > 7:18:23picking them up and taking them to Syria, to Gaza, to Egypt, to Palestine.
7:18:23 > 7:18:29And all around the holy sanctuary you'd have had the bustle of trading and of camels being gathered.
7:18:29 > 7:18:33For Muslims, Mecca is seen as a major trading centre at the time
7:18:33 > 7:18:36and a fitting place for the birth of their Prophet.
7:18:36 > 7:18:41But some historians dispute its historical importance.
7:18:41 > 7:18:43The Muslim tradition gives us a portrait of Mecca
7:18:43 > 7:18:46as this great trading city,
7:18:46 > 7:18:50this great pagan cult centre and the problem is that
7:18:50 > 7:18:55the archaeology and the records of the time do not back this up.
7:18:55 > 7:18:59Mecca, if it existed, was way off any trading routes
7:18:59 > 7:19:03and we have no mention of it, at all, before the Islamic era.
7:19:04 > 7:19:06This is easily explained
7:19:06 > 7:19:10by the fact that Mecca was in the middle of the desert
7:19:10 > 7:19:15and we know that these foreigners, historians,
7:19:15 > 7:19:20would not cross such a hostile terrain
7:19:20 > 7:19:24as the Arabian desert to get to Mecca, they kept
7:19:24 > 7:19:32to the sea or to the coast and if they haven't talked about it, this is understandable.
7:19:32 > 7:19:35I mean, people here didn't talk about Timbuktu
7:19:35 > 7:19:39the 18th century or before. It didn't mean they didn't exist.
7:19:42 > 7:19:46The charge by some historians is that, after Muhammad's death,
7:19:46 > 7:19:50Muslim historians deliberately exaggerated the importance of Mecca.
7:19:50 > 7:19:57This was done, they claim, in order to show that Muhammad was born in a rich and important city with its
7:19:57 > 7:20:02own religious history, independent of any Jewish and Christian influences.
7:20:04 > 7:20:07I am not saying that there was no place called Mecca.
7:20:07 > 7:20:12There must have been somewhere called Mecca before Islam, it's just not very well attested.
7:20:12 > 7:20:17But its importance for Islam, I would imagine,
7:20:17 > 7:20:20is something that
7:20:20 > 7:20:23is discovered by the early Muslim community, as it develops.
7:20:23 > 7:20:30By the early Muslim community I'm not thinking of the Prophet and his followers, but rather Islam
7:20:30 > 7:20:34as it begins to develop, following the Arab conquest of the Middle East.
7:20:35 > 7:20:39Whatever the importance of Mecca, Muhammad's involvement
7:20:39 > 7:20:42in the caravan trade was an extraordinary opportunity.
7:20:42 > 7:20:49Not only did it lift him out of poverty, but it also brought him into contact with the outside world.
7:20:51 > 7:20:54The pace of travel was slow - through deserts and oasis,
7:20:54 > 7:20:59through Arabian towns and past the ruins of ancient civilizations,
7:20:59 > 7:21:07such as Petra, the capital of the Nabatean Arab civilization, brought to ruin by a massive earthquake.
7:21:09 > 7:21:12In his travels, Muhammad would have heard stories about these
7:21:12 > 7:21:17other peoples with their alien cultures and different faiths.
7:21:19 > 7:21:24When I talk to extremely pious Muslims, they don't want any influences at all.
7:21:24 > 7:21:28They just want the Prophet like a white sheet of paper to be written on by the words of God.
7:21:28 > 7:21:32One can still allow that image, but absolutely, for me, the caravans are vital.
7:21:32 > 7:21:37The experience of knowing the tribes, of dealing in marketplaces,
7:21:37 > 7:21:43seeing what people wanted from the world, seeing the difficulties of the world, experiencing the ruins
7:21:43 > 7:21:49of great Arabic civilizations, passing by the ruins of Petra, looking at the glories of Damascus.
7:21:49 > 7:21:56That experience of the world, he knew about the realities of what the Arab world was about.
7:22:06 > 7:22:11According to Muslim tradition, by the time he was 21,
7:22:11 > 7:22:17Muhammad had gained a reputation for integrity and was known as 'al-Amin' and 'al-Sadiq',
7:22:17 > 7:22:18the honest and truthful one.
7:22:30 > 7:22:35So what did Muhammad, a man entering his prime, actually look like?
7:22:35 > 7:22:41Although Muslim tradition prohibits any portraits of him, we do have a detailed written account
7:22:41 > 7:22:44from one of the earliest biographies, that describes him as
7:22:44 > 7:22:46"a little above average height.
7:22:46 > 7:22:50"He had a sturdy build with long muscular limbs and tapering fingers.
7:22:50 > 7:22:53"His hair was long, thick and wavy.
7:22:53 > 7:22:58"His eyes were large and black, with a touch of brown. His beard was thick.
7:22:58 > 7:23:02"He was of fair complexion and now ready to get married."
7:23:05 > 7:23:10Muhammad's first attempt to find a wife ended in humiliating failure.
7:23:10 > 7:23:12When he asked his uncle for the hand of his daughter,
7:23:12 > 7:23:17he was refused because of his lowly status as an orphan.
7:23:17 > 7:23:20But then, his luck changed dramatically.
7:23:20 > 7:23:25He was asked by a rich older woman called Khadija to do some business for her in Syria.
7:23:25 > 7:23:29When Muhammad fulfilled his promise and brought her a good profit,
7:23:29 > 7:23:34she did a very unusual thing. She asked him to marry her.
7:23:34 > 7:23:38His marriage to Syedna Khadija was most unusual.
7:23:38 > 7:23:41She was most unusual to start off with, being, you know,
7:23:41 > 7:23:44a little bit older than him and also being so successful
7:23:44 > 7:23:46in her own right as a businesswoman,
7:23:46 > 7:23:50but I think it could actually be quite unusual, even by today's time.
7:23:50 > 7:23:56I mean many men - Western men, Muslim/non-Muslim - are intimidated by successful women,
7:23:56 > 7:24:00so I think it shows great strength of character, confidence and respect
7:24:00 > 7:24:06for women in the Prophet himself that he entered into this marriage back then and anyone who would do
7:24:06 > 7:24:09so now would have to have those qualities, as well.
7:24:12 > 7:24:18Even in today's Islamic world, it would be unusual for an older woman to marry a younger man.
7:24:18 > 7:24:22But in Muhammad's day, it was almost unheard of.
7:24:24 > 7:24:29In most of Arabia, women before the coming of Islam
7:24:29 > 7:24:34were treated as little better than animals and had few human rights,
7:24:34 > 7:24:39but city life, merchant life, often gives women opportunities.
7:24:40 > 7:24:44They quite often took an important part in cottage industries and trading
7:24:44 > 7:24:52and Khadija seems to have been one of these women. She was widowed and her husband had probably left
7:24:52 > 7:24:59her a sort of a business and it was a good business, powerful business, and she was able to manage it.
7:24:59 > 7:25:03Muhammad's marriage to Khadija lasted 24 years.
7:25:03 > 7:25:09Despite polygamy being the norm, while Khadija was still alive, Muhammad never took another wife.
7:25:09 > 7:25:14And by all accounts, Muhammad never stopped Khadija from carrying on her business, an independent
7:25:14 > 7:25:19status most Muslim societies still struggle to offer to women today.
7:25:24 > 7:25:27An older woman marrying a younger man today is still stigmatised.
7:25:27 > 7:25:32The idea of women in business, in politics,
7:25:32 > 7:25:35is also difficult in Muslim societies.
7:25:36 > 7:25:42In the case of Khadija, she is proof that women are an equal partner
7:25:42 > 7:25:46in creating a Muslim society.
7:25:55 > 7:26:00Muhammad's marriage to Khadija brought him personal happiness,
7:26:00 > 7:26:06but it did not mean that he was content with his life or the ways of the world in which he lived.
7:26:06 > 7:26:10He, from age 25 to 40, should have been the prime of his life.
7:26:10 > 7:26:14He'd got Khadija, a wealthy, beautiful, Arab woman who trusted him.
7:26:14 > 7:26:19He'd got four beautiful daughters and had two sons born of him which didn't survive.
7:26:19 > 7:26:26He'd become a man of respect. He was from a respectful clan anyway, but now he had the family to back him.
7:26:26 > 7:26:32And in a funny way, he'd risen to the top of his society and had become sort of sickened
7:26:32 > 7:26:39at what that meant, with the sort of violence of clan society and the way that wealth could buy you anything.
7:26:39 > 7:26:42The fact was that Muhammad was not happy.
7:26:42 > 7:26:47He himself had experienced the extremes of Arab tribal society,
7:26:47 > 7:26:52and the iniquities of tribal life disturbed him and made him uneasy.
7:26:52 > 7:26:56By all accounts, he'd reached a moment of personal crisis.
7:26:56 > 7:27:01He was really upset by
7:27:01 > 7:27:03the bad treatment of the poor
7:27:03 > 7:27:07and the weak and the down-trodden people in society.
7:27:08 > 7:27:14There's definitely this great ontological anxiety he had
7:27:14 > 7:27:17about, you know, the big questions - why we are here?
7:27:17 > 7:27:21What's the purpose of life? How do we make sense of the world around us?
7:27:21 > 7:27:26I believe he was looking for a connection, just like Abraham was looking when he was young,
7:27:26 > 7:27:30just like Moses was looking when he was wandering the valleys, just like
7:27:30 > 7:27:33all the other prophets of the Old and New Testament were looking.
7:27:33 > 7:27:39Probably at the heart of it also is the most rooted issue for many who begin to question
7:27:39 > 7:27:42their society and even question, if you will,
7:27:42 > 7:27:45the morality of the society and the religious values
7:27:45 > 7:27:48they were raised with, which get down to the nature of God.
7:27:48 > 7:27:55According to Muslim tradition, at this time, Muhammad, had begun to make regular spiritual retreats.
7:27:55 > 7:27:59Throughout the year he would take Khadija and his family
7:27:59 > 7:28:04up into the mountains above Mecca to seek peace and quiet, and pray.
7:28:04 > 7:28:07What was Muhammad after?
7:28:07 > 7:28:10What was he seeking and what was he doing?
7:28:10 > 7:28:15He was certainly troubled and he was seeking some kind of spiritual truth.
7:28:16 > 7:28:22Muhammad's spiritual retreats were becoming more intense and ever more frequent
7:28:22 > 7:28:27and they were devoted to really intense personal reflection and meditation.
7:28:27 > 7:28:32And he chose this spot, Jebil Nur, which is a hill far up
7:28:32 > 7:28:36and a really challenging climb up from the city down below.
7:28:36 > 7:28:39He would climb all the way to the very top, to a cave,
7:28:39 > 7:28:44known as Gar Hira, and it was there that he would spend hours,
7:28:44 > 7:28:49in fact, whole days and nights, in ever more intense and fervent meditation.
7:28:51 > 7:28:57Until one day, in the year 610 something happened that would
7:28:57 > 7:29:01transform not just his life, but the entire history of the world.
7:29:07 > 7:29:14According to Muslim tradition Muhammad was meditating, as usual, and he fell asleep.
7:29:14 > 7:29:21But then suddenly he awoke in abject terror, his body was shaking uncontrollably.
7:29:21 > 7:29:25He later described the experience as if an angel had him in such
7:29:25 > 7:29:31a tight, suffocating embrace that he felt that his life was being squeezed out of him.
7:29:34 > 7:29:41As he lay there, completely shattered, Muhammad heard one voice
7:29:41 > 7:29:46and it commanded him with one word, "Iqra!" - "Read!"
7:29:46 > 7:29:51But Muhammad replied, "I can't. I'm not one of those who read."
7:29:51 > 7:29:56The voice returned for a second time, "Read."
7:29:56 > 7:30:01Muhammad replied, "I'm not one of those who read."
7:30:01 > 7:30:05Then the voice returned for a third time, "Read."
7:30:05 > 7:30:12On this third command Muhammad replied. "What shall I read?"
7:30:40 > 7:30:45He was able to hear the divine message.
7:30:45 > 7:30:48And it's quite clear that revelation -
7:30:48 > 7:30:52some of the prophets of Israel had this experience, too - is devastating.
7:30:54 > 7:30:57Not a nice peaceful experience,
7:30:57 > 7:31:01but something that racks them in every limb.
7:31:01 > 7:31:03Prophet Jeremiah cried aloud,
7:31:03 > 7:31:06"Ah, God, God. I can't speak, I'm a child.
7:31:06 > 7:31:10"Your revelation hurts me in every limb."
7:31:10 > 7:31:14Isaiah when he saw his vision of God in the temple said,
7:31:14 > 7:31:18"I am dead, I have looked on the Lord of Hosts."
7:31:18 > 7:31:23This is a lethal power, because the impact of what's coming through is shattering.
7:31:23 > 7:31:28Your world goes, the world, as it was before, goes.
7:31:30 > 7:31:32You have an essence
7:31:32 > 7:31:34of the divine power, which you have to articulate,
7:31:34 > 7:31:37that's the role of prophets, into the language of your time,
7:31:37 > 7:31:41into the metaphors of your time, so that people around you can understand
7:31:41 > 7:31:44this completely unworldly experience you have.
7:31:44 > 7:31:51For me, the prophet has got that sort of terrifying brief access to divine power
7:31:51 > 7:31:57and he's using that consciousness that sort of flooded into his body and creating the words.
7:32:01 > 7:32:05This is the defining moment in Muhammad's life.
7:32:05 > 7:32:12And today, for the one and a half billion people all around the world who follow him, completely accepting
7:32:12 > 7:32:16his revelation defines what it means to be a Muslim.
7:32:16 > 7:32:20And yet, at the time of the first revelation at the Cave of Hira,
7:32:20 > 7:32:23Muhammad's reaction was very different.
7:32:25 > 7:32:31Muhammad ran to his beloved wife. "Khadija, oh, Khadija," he said. "Cover me, cover me.
7:32:31 > 7:32:34"What has happened to me? I fear for myself."
7:32:34 > 7:32:41Khadija took her cloak and covered his exhausted body and then, with all of his doubts,
7:32:41 > 7:32:44she was the one who reassured him about his experience.
7:32:44 > 7:32:47Khadija's words not only calmed Muhammad,
7:32:47 > 7:32:52but they also helped him reconcile himself with what had happened.
7:32:52 > 7:32:56The seeker had finally found what he was looking for.
7:32:58 > 7:33:01But then, nothing.
7:33:07 > 7:33:14Muhammad's first blinding revelation was followed by a long silence that threw him into complete crisis.
7:33:14 > 7:33:17Had he been deluded after all?
7:33:17 > 7:33:20Was the Revelation just meaningless hysteria?
7:33:20 > 7:33:24Had Muhammad the Seeker been abandoned by God?
7:33:24 > 7:33:26He was absolutely in despair.
7:33:26 > 7:33:32One of the sources says he was so despairing, he almost flung himself off the top of the mountain.
7:33:32 > 7:33:36Days of silence became weeks, then months.
7:33:36 > 7:33:42All the while, Muhammad lived in turmoil, doubting what he had experienced, doubting himself.
7:33:42 > 7:33:49Then one morning, after several months, the long silence ended and the revelations began again.
7:34:20 > 7:34:26Muhammad now began to understand that he had a special responsibility. He had a message.
7:34:26 > 7:34:28Like the other prophets before him,
7:34:28 > 7:34:31he believed God had given him a vision.
7:34:31 > 7:34:35His duty was to share this message, to pass it on to the people
7:34:35 > 7:34:38around him, to help them change their lives for the better.
7:34:47 > 7:34:50Muhammad's Revelations would become the sacred text of Islam
7:34:50 > 7:34:55and what is now known as the Qur'an, literally "the recitation".
7:35:00 > 7:35:03The Orthodox Muslim position is that it is God himself
7:35:03 > 7:35:07who is the author of the Qur'an and Muhammad was just the person
7:35:07 > 7:35:09just the person to whom it was first revealed.
7:35:13 > 7:35:17The Qur'an is considered by most Muslims to be God's miracle.
7:35:17 > 7:35:24Throughout Muhammad's life, he steadfastly denied he had any miraculous powers,
7:35:24 > 7:35:29he insisted no extraordinary signs and wonders were associated with him,
7:35:29 > 7:35:34except for the words. He was just a man, the Qur'an,
7:35:34 > 7:35:37the message, was the only miracle that mattered,
7:35:37 > 7:35:41the spiritual power of the message is in the words themselves.
7:35:42 > 7:35:50QU'RAN RECITAL
7:36:05 > 7:36:10Almost all Muslims believe that Muhammad was unable to read or write.
7:36:10 > 7:36:17His illiteracy has become essential to their faith. It is important because some critics of Islam have
7:36:17 > 7:36:21often claimed that Muhammad in his travels must have read Christian
7:36:21 > 7:36:22and Jewish scriptures,
7:36:22 > 7:36:28and so borrowed religious ideas from them which he then rehashed as his own message.
7:36:28 > 7:36:31But if he could not read or write then he was,
7:36:31 > 7:36:35the Muslim argument goes, pure and free of any such influences,
7:36:35 > 7:36:43and the revelations that form the basis of the new religion of Islam came direct from God.
7:36:43 > 7:36:46It is very important for Muslims to believe that the Qur'an
7:36:46 > 7:36:49is the unmediated word of God.
7:36:49 > 7:36:51That Muhammad did not obtain it
7:36:51 > 7:36:54from Christian or Jewish or Samaritans.
7:36:54 > 7:36:59That is why, despite the Qur'an actually saying the opposite,
7:36:59 > 7:37:01tradition says that he was illiterate.
7:37:01 > 7:37:04That is also why he is put in the middle of a desert,
7:37:04 > 7:37:09because in the middle of a desert he is hundreds and hundreds of miles away from the melting pot
7:37:09 > 7:37:13of the Near East, the place where all these extraordinary religious traditions
7:37:13 > 7:37:15are bubbling and welling up.
7:37:15 > 7:37:18To present the argument that the Qur'an
7:37:18 > 7:37:22is influenced by Judaism and Christianity is quite absurd.
7:37:22 > 7:37:25Clearly Islam sees itself
7:37:25 > 7:37:28as continuation of the monotheistic tradition.
7:37:28 > 7:37:29We are a continuation of Judaism
7:37:29 > 7:37:33and Christianity. So of course we are influenced by these religions.
7:37:33 > 7:37:38The Qur'an clearly says that the Prophet Muhammad could not write with his right hand.
7:37:38 > 7:37:42It is very clearly mentioned in the Qur'an. And although the term
7:37:42 > 7:37:46Umi doesn't mean illiterate, it means not versed,
7:37:46 > 7:37:49not learned, it means a person who has not studied
7:37:49 > 7:37:52and learned scripture, but it has the implication of
7:37:52 > 7:37:56also being someone who is illiterate.
7:37:56 > 7:38:02But the point also is that when the Angel Gabriel comes to the Prophet Muhammad
7:38:02 > 7:38:07in the cave and tells him, "Read", the Prophet says, "I can't read."
7:38:09 > 7:38:14The Qur'an is as sacred to Muslims as the person of Jesus is to Christians.
7:38:14 > 7:38:20Whereas for Christians Jesus is the word of God, the logos, and for him to remain divine and pure
7:38:20 > 7:38:27his conception has to be unsullied by man, for Muslims it is the Qur'an that is the word of God
7:38:27 > 7:38:33and so for it to remain divine it has to be untarnished by any human interference too.
7:38:37 > 7:38:41So dishonouring the Qur'an is profoundly shocking to Muslims
7:38:41 > 7:38:47as it is an attack not only on Muhammad but also on God himself.
7:38:47 > 7:38:52In recent years there have been numerous instances where the Qur'an has been burnt or desecrated.
7:38:52 > 7:38:55Sometimes to humiliate Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo Bay,
7:38:55 > 7:38:59sometimes as a reaction to a terrorist attack.
7:39:04 > 7:39:07Initially, Muhammad took his message to those closest to him.
7:39:07 > 7:39:14The first convert was his wife Khadija, followed by family members like his teenage cousin, Ali,
7:39:14 > 7:39:16who would eventually marry Muhammad's daughter.
7:39:16 > 7:39:19And then there were good friends, like the prominent local
7:39:19 > 7:39:26businessman like Abu Bakr, who would eventually succeed Muhammad as the first Caliph of Islam.
7:39:27 > 7:39:32It's often said that the earliest Muslims were a mixture of young men
7:39:32 > 7:39:35from aristocratic families,
7:39:35 > 7:39:38as well as those who were very much in the margins of society.
7:39:38 > 7:39:44So there's the idea that Islam was a revolutionary message.
7:39:44 > 7:39:47Revolutionary in the sense that it actually wanted to
7:39:47 > 7:39:51overturn the social order, the cosmic order of society at the time.
7:39:51 > 7:39:56The process of conversion was as straightforward as it is today.
7:39:56 > 7:40:00All it requires is the simple statement of faith in front of two witnesses.
7:40:00 > 7:40:04The key requirement is that conversion
7:40:04 > 7:40:10must be the exercise of free and informed personal choice.
7:40:10 > 7:40:16In fact, one of the most important people in Muhammad's life, Abu Talib, who was his uncle
7:40:16 > 7:40:20and the head of his clan, who protected him throughout all his troubles in Mecca,
7:40:20 > 7:40:26never converted, despite Muhammad's best efforts to persuade him,
7:40:26 > 7:40:29and there was nothing he could do about it.
7:40:29 > 7:40:33The most direct, the most unequivocal statement in the
7:40:33 > 7:40:39Qur'an is "There is no compulsion in religion." No ifs, ands or buts.
7:40:39 > 7:40:44That is the essence. Unless you make a free choice,
7:40:44 > 7:40:49a free, willing choice for faith, you cannot be held accountable
7:40:49 > 7:40:56for your actions thereafter, that's the essence of what Islam is about.
7:40:56 > 7:40:59The Qur'an itself is quite clear.
7:40:59 > 7:41:03There is an oft-quoted example from the Qur'an itself,
7:41:03 > 7:41:07there should be no compulsion in religious matters,
7:41:07 > 7:41:12and the Prophet said even vis a vis the pagan Arabs,
7:41:12 > 7:41:17"To you your religion and to me mine."
7:41:17 > 7:41:22And that seems a very good way of promoting tolerance.
7:41:22 > 7:41:28But of course, throughout history we have seen that that kind of attitude has not been respected.
7:41:39 > 7:41:46The divine revelation that Muhammad was preaching would later become known as Islam,
7:41:46 > 7:41:48which literally means "surrender".
7:41:50 > 7:41:54So a believer, a Muslim, is one who surrenders to God.
7:41:58 > 7:42:02The origin of the word is from "salaam", meaning peace.
7:42:09 > 7:42:15At first, when Muhammad began his mission to the people of Mecca, he kept referring back to the
7:42:15 > 7:42:19Abrahamic message of the Christian and Jewish prophets, that he was only
7:42:19 > 7:42:23preaching what they had preached - the message of the one true God.
7:42:23 > 7:42:31And he repeatedly warns against oppression and the injustices of Meccan society.
7:42:33 > 7:42:40He becomes, and is, in many ways the heart of what a prophet is.
7:42:40 > 7:42:45A prophet is one who yes, brings and declares God's message
7:42:45 > 7:42:48but a prophet at heart is a warner,
7:42:48 > 7:42:50because he is a reformer, the reformer is warning the
7:42:50 > 7:42:56society and saying this is a society that has departed from the straight path.
7:42:59 > 7:43:02Muhammad's message was not always welcome.
7:43:02 > 7:43:07The rulers of Mecca, the Quraysh, disliked what he preached about equality for all.
7:43:07 > 7:43:12The more he preached, the more incensed the Quraysh became.
7:43:12 > 7:43:18So they tried to make him change his mind by offering him money, power, anything that he wanted.
7:43:22 > 7:43:25To all their proposals, Muhammad gave the same answer -
7:43:25 > 7:43:30"I haven't come here to accumulate wealth, or to be your leader or to be your king.
7:43:30 > 7:43:37"I've only come here for one purpose and that is to be the Messenger of God and to convey his word.
7:43:37 > 7:43:40"And, if you accept, it will be beneficial for you.
7:43:40 > 7:43:44"But if you don't I'll simply wait and await God's judgement."
7:43:44 > 7:43:48Now, clearly, for the Meccan authorities, gentle persuasion
7:43:48 > 7:43:50was not going to work.
7:43:50 > 7:43:54They were going to have to try something else, something a little bit more aggressive.
7:44:00 > 7:44:03Gentle persuasion was now replaced by violent persecution.
7:44:03 > 7:44:10Muhammad's followers, especially those with no clan or tribal protection,
7:44:10 > 7:44:15such as slaves, women and orphans, were now subjected to brute force.
7:44:15 > 7:44:18According to Muslim tradition some were thrown on burning coals,
7:44:18 > 7:44:24others cruelly beaten and tortured and some women were even stabbed to death.
7:44:27 > 7:44:29Now, this is because
7:44:29 > 7:44:37Muhammad is challenging the Quraysh where it hurts, in their purse,
7:44:37 > 7:44:43because the old cult is very much bound up with the business of Mecca.
7:44:43 > 7:44:50People come to the Kaaba and they come to worship in the Kaaba and this will be really bad for trade.
7:44:50 > 7:44:55They are very, very angry. They feel it is a profound threat.
7:44:55 > 7:45:00Muhammad and his small band of followers faced a very difficult situation.
7:45:00 > 7:45:03They were attacked in public, both verbally and physically.
7:45:03 > 7:45:06And in private they had nowhere they could meet and pray.
7:45:06 > 7:45:11A million miles away from the freedom of worship that Muslims enjoy today.
7:45:13 > 7:45:19This five-storey mosque and Islamic centre is being built here in North West London
7:45:19 > 7:45:23and similar things are being done almost everywhere where Muslims live
7:45:23 > 7:45:28in the West. And although we take this kind of opportunity for granted today,
7:45:28 > 7:45:31the Prophet faced a completely different
7:45:31 > 7:45:38experience when he first tried to gather his own Muslim community among his own people in Mecca.
7:45:41 > 7:45:45What's amazing standing here with you now is that the building of
7:45:45 > 7:45:50this community centre is so different from the experiences that the Prophet
7:45:50 > 7:45:55had in establishing his own first community where he didn't have any of the opportunity or freedom.
7:45:55 > 7:45:59Well, yes, I mean those were the very difficult times,
7:45:59 > 7:46:02obviously Islam started and they
7:46:02 > 7:46:06had to work very hard. They're not allowed to pray, not allowed to
7:46:06 > 7:46:12do anything they had to do, and even if they are going for praying they had to endure a lot of problems...
7:46:12 > 7:46:14- Humiliation...- Humiliation.
7:46:14 > 7:46:17But nowadays things are different.
7:46:21 > 7:46:25Instead of trying to resist the Quraysh's persecution with force,
7:46:25 > 7:46:29the Prophet looked for another way to safeguard his followers.
7:46:29 > 7:46:31In many ways, a far more radical step.
7:46:31 > 7:46:36He got them to leave Mecca, to abandon their homes and seek refuge
7:46:36 > 7:46:44on the other side of the Red Sea in the African Kingdom Of Aksum, ruled by King Negus, a Christian.
7:46:48 > 7:46:53In 615 AD, a group of Muslims secretly left Mecca with their families
7:46:53 > 7:46:57and settled in a refugee camp in what is now modern day Ethiopia.
7:47:00 > 7:47:03The Quraysh were incensed by this exodus.
7:47:03 > 7:47:07They immediately sent a delegation to Negus, the king of Abyssinia,
7:47:07 > 7:47:11in order to persuade him to send the exiles back home.
7:47:12 > 7:47:18Negus, the king, summoned the leader of the Muslims, in order to explain and after telling the king that
7:47:18 > 7:47:23Muhammad was in fact the Prophet of the One True God,
7:47:23 > 7:47:27he famously began to recite a verse from the Qur'an.
7:47:27 > 7:47:35The verses he read described the virgin birth of Jesus and described him to be a prophet of God.
7:47:35 > 7:47:41The words worked their miracle, and Negus, the King of Abyssinia, was moved to tears
7:47:41 > 7:47:44and allowed the Muslims to stay.
7:47:47 > 7:47:53Back in Mecca, the Quraysh began to turn the heat up on Muhammad and his remaining followers.
7:47:53 > 7:47:56They instituted a city-wide ban, which basically prevented
7:47:56 > 7:48:01anyone from having anything to do with Muhammad and his entire clan.
7:48:01 > 7:48:04They weren't allowed to intermarry, they weren't allowed to trade,
7:48:04 > 7:48:08they weren't even allowed to buy food from the local markets.
7:48:08 > 7:48:13In Mecca, Muhammad and his followers were now public enemy number one.
7:48:17 > 7:48:21There was now immense pressure on Muhammad and his remaining followers
7:48:21 > 7:48:27to compromise their message of believing in one God only, and to give in to the Quraysh
7:48:27 > 7:48:31or to at least accept some of the other gods worshipped by them.
7:48:35 > 7:48:41It was at this moment that an event is supposed to have taken place that would lead to a fundamental
7:48:41 > 7:48:46clash of values, an event that still defines Islam's relationship with the rest of the world.
7:48:50 > 7:48:54Most Muslims deny that this event ever actually happened.
7:48:54 > 7:49:00But it has been used by Islam's enemies to condemn both Muhammad and the Qur'an as bogus.
7:49:03 > 7:49:08There are different accounts of this story. But the main version goes something like this.
7:49:08 > 7:49:11One day Muhammad was sitting somewhere in the Kaaba
7:49:11 > 7:49:16when he received a new revelation, one which suggested that he could strike a compromise deal with
7:49:16 > 7:49:21the Quraysh that would allow them to continue to worship their old gods.
7:49:21 > 7:49:23Well, when the Quraysh heard this they were overjoyed.
7:49:23 > 7:49:29At last, they thought, Muhammad was coming back to their way of thinking.
7:49:29 > 7:49:32But now comes the key part of the story,
7:49:32 > 7:49:36which is that Muhammad is then supposed to have received another
7:49:36 > 7:49:41revelation that told him his apparent acceptance of the old gods
7:49:41 > 7:49:44had actually been inspired by Satan.
7:49:44 > 7:49:49Hence why these verses were later called The Satanic Verses.
7:49:49 > 7:49:52If true, it seems to suggest that Muhammad was able
7:49:52 > 7:49:55to alter the divine word of God at will
7:49:55 > 7:50:00and that in consequence, both Muhammad and the Qur'an were fake.
7:50:03 > 7:50:06Now of course Muslims say this incident did not happen
7:50:06 > 7:50:09and was manufactured by haters of Islam.
7:50:09 > 7:50:12It then becomes very hard for them to explain, however,
7:50:12 > 7:50:14how it got into Islamic sources
7:50:14 > 7:50:18that are relatively early or are, like Zamakhshari,
7:50:18 > 7:50:22based on earlier Islamic sources that are lost.
7:50:22 > 7:50:26One wonders how it is that somebody like that who is a pious Muslim,
7:50:26 > 7:50:31would have or could have picked up such a thing if it had originated from the enemies of Islam.
7:50:32 > 7:50:36There are three different and conflicting versions of this story
7:50:36 > 7:50:40in the Muslim histories of Muhammad's life compiled after his death.
7:50:40 > 7:50:44There is no direct reference to it in the Qur'an and neither is it mentioned
7:50:44 > 7:50:49in the earliest and most reliable account of his life by Ibn Ishaq.
7:50:49 > 7:50:54Neither is there any mention of it in the great Hadiths of the ninth century.
7:50:54 > 7:50:57Muslims do not generally reject traditions because they are
7:50:57 > 7:51:02critical of Muhammad but because they cannot be properly verified.
7:51:05 > 7:51:11In 1989 a storm of violent protest erupted across the Islamic world
7:51:11 > 7:51:16when a novel written by Salman Rushdie was published in the UK.
7:51:16 > 7:51:19The book, The Satanic Verses, is a fictional account of this incident,
7:51:19 > 7:51:22and Muslims claim, depicts Muhammad as an impostor
7:51:22 > 7:51:27with purely political ambitions and the Qur'an as the work of the devil.
7:51:27 > 7:51:31All over the world, Muslim public opinion was outraged.
7:51:33 > 7:51:39Well, the event of 14th January 1989 is the day
7:51:39 > 7:51:42when I can very clearly remember
7:51:42 > 7:51:46there where over a thousand peoples to a minimum,
7:51:46 > 7:51:51and just to show that we do disapprove this material,
7:51:51 > 7:51:54we will publicly burn this book,
7:51:54 > 7:51:57and that's what we did on that day.
7:51:57 > 7:52:00The burning of the book was just the start.
7:52:00 > 7:52:05Violent demonstrations and riots broke out all over the Muslim world.
7:52:05 > 7:52:08Attempts by the Muslim community to have the book banned
7:52:08 > 7:52:12were opposed by many in the name of freedom of speech.
7:52:12 > 7:52:19This issue was then taken over by Ayatollah Khomeini, the then leader of the Islamic republic of Iran,
7:52:19 > 7:52:21who declared a fatwa, or religious order,
7:52:21 > 7:52:27against Rushdie, calling for his death by any means.
7:52:27 > 7:52:30The Fatwa has never been lifted and although Rushdie survived unharmed,
7:52:30 > 7:52:36numerous people connected with the book have been attacked and even killed.
7:52:38 > 7:52:41A single contentious event in Muhammad's life,
7:52:41 > 7:52:45and one most Muslim scholars believe never took place,
7:52:45 > 7:52:47was being used to define Muhammad,
7:52:47 > 7:52:51who he was and what he stood for and, most importantly,
7:52:51 > 7:52:55what it meant to be a Muslim in today's world.
7:52:59 > 7:53:04What this whole issue did was that it highlighted a fundamental difference of views
7:53:04 > 7:53:07between those in the West who believed that they had a right
7:53:07 > 7:53:15to say what they wanted to say and those Muslims who believed that they had a right not to be insulted.
7:53:16 > 7:53:20It was a defining moment, it was the first time that British Muslims
7:53:20 > 7:53:27came out as a community to assert themselves, but it was also a defining moment internationally.
7:53:27 > 7:53:31On one hand they rejected what Rushdie wrote,
7:53:31 > 7:53:34they were united in condemning the book.
7:53:34 > 7:53:37But on the other hand they were also united in condemning the fatwa.
7:53:37 > 7:53:43They realised what is going on in the West is not acceptable to them
7:53:43 > 7:53:49but they also realised at the same time that certain mechanisms in traditional Islam
7:53:49 > 7:53:51were also not acceptable to them.
7:53:52 > 7:53:55This incident led the Muslim community in Britain to feel
7:53:55 > 7:54:02that they were part of a larger international Islamic community with Muhammad at its heart.
7:54:02 > 7:54:07It would also mark the start of a clash between the liberal values so central to Western identity
7:54:07 > 7:54:12and the more traditional and conservative views in the British Muslim community.
7:54:12 > 7:54:16And at the heart of this clash was the character of Muhammad himself
7:54:16 > 7:54:22and conflicting opinions as to whether he was a force for good or evil in the world.
7:54:26 > 7:54:31Whatever the truth of this event, in Mecca Muhammad was locked into
7:54:31 > 7:54:32a desperate battle of ideas,
7:54:32 > 7:54:38between his new message of the One God and the old tribal values of the Quraysh.
7:54:46 > 7:54:52The Quraysh had by now imposed even tougher sanctions on Muhammad and his followers.
7:54:52 > 7:54:55From now on no-one was allowed to do any business with them,
7:54:55 > 7:54:59they were not allowed to intermarry, trade or even buy food.
7:55:02 > 7:55:08But in contrast to some Muslims now, even when faced by this extreme provocation
7:55:08 > 7:55:14Muhammad and his followers resisted without resorting to any violence.
7:55:14 > 7:55:20In the earliest period you could argue that a violent confrontation wasn't even feasible.
7:55:20 > 7:55:25You know we were talking about tens of people maybe even then hundreds
7:55:25 > 7:55:28of people, but certainly not more than say 200 or so.
7:55:28 > 7:55:32And so if there was a confrontation it would have been a massacre
7:55:32 > 7:55:35and we certainly wouldn't know such a thing as Islam now.
7:55:36 > 7:55:40Muhammad's stoic non-violent resistance began to pay off.
7:55:40 > 7:55:45The people of Mecca started to react against the extreme measures imposed
7:55:45 > 7:55:49on people who had once been their clan relatives.
7:55:49 > 7:55:53A huge amount of social pressure began to be exerted on
7:55:53 > 7:56:00the Quraysh leadership, and within two years after they imposed the ban they had to rescind it.
7:56:00 > 7:56:03But this was by no means the end of Muhammad's troubles.
7:56:03 > 7:56:07What Muslims call his year of sorrows was about to begin.
7:56:10 > 7:56:16A few months after the ban had been lifted, Muhammad's wife and the constant rock of his life,
7:56:16 > 7:56:18Khadija, died.
7:56:18 > 7:56:20Muhammad was devastated.
7:56:20 > 7:56:26She had been his beloved wife, his closest companion and advisor for 25 years.
7:56:26 > 7:56:32She had been the first to recognise him as the Prophet of God and had been the first person
7:56:32 > 7:56:38he had turned to when confronted by the terrifying and bewildering experience of revelation.
7:56:39 > 7:56:46She must have been astonishing in that she was the first person
7:56:46 > 7:56:49to accept the revelations.
7:56:49 > 7:56:56You could almost say that she was the first Muslim because she believed in the revelations before
7:56:56 > 7:56:58the Prophet himself
7:56:58 > 7:57:01and so she had that instinctive ability
7:57:01 > 7:57:04to recognise authenticity and genius.
7:57:04 > 7:57:06We see her in the sources
7:57:06 > 7:57:10as a very maternal figure and this is something the Prophet
7:57:10 > 7:57:14had lost himself, he had lost his
7:57:14 > 7:57:18own mother and he really loved Khadija.
7:57:18 > 7:57:21You know, Western critics often sneer at the Prophet's
7:57:21 > 7:57:25sort of opportunistic marriage to the wealthy widow,
7:57:25 > 7:57:29that's not born out in the sources, he loved her all his life.
7:57:29 > 7:57:32His later wives used to hate the mention of her
7:57:32 > 7:57:38because they knew that none of them could compete with her in his heart.
7:57:38 > 7:57:45Then a few months later Muhammad was hit by another devastating loss, the death of his uncle, Abu Talib,
7:57:45 > 7:57:50the man who had protected him from the worst attempts of the Quraysh to crush him.
7:57:50 > 7:57:55The leadership of Muhammad's clan now fell into the hands of his most violent opponents.
7:57:55 > 7:57:58Attacks against him increased.
7:57:58 > 7:58:01His enemies now gave him a stark warning -
7:58:01 > 7:58:05stop spreading your message or your life could be in danger.
7:58:05 > 7:58:10Muhammad and his small band of followers were now at their most vulnerable.
7:58:10 > 7:58:14Half of them had fled to Ethiopia, the rest were almost in hiding in Mecca.
7:58:14 > 7:58:20His enemies were now openly making plans to crush his embryonic Islamic movement...
7:58:20 > 7:58:22and even to kill him.
7:58:22 > 7:58:25The next step he would take would be critical.
7:58:25 > 7:58:30It would shape not only his future but the history of the world.
7:58:30 > 7:58:33In the next episode, Muhammad's persecution by the Quraysh
7:58:33 > 7:58:37intensifies and he's forced to leave his hometown of Mecca.
7:58:37 > 7:58:41It also brings him into conflict with some of the Jewish tribes of Arabia,
7:58:41 > 7:58:45leading to one of the most controversial events of his life...
7:58:45 > 7:58:49a massacre whose consequences still reverberate today.
7:58:49 > 7:58:54I think it seared itself into the Muslim historical memory
7:58:54 > 7:58:59and to that extent it has had an impact that we feel down to this day.
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