0:00:04 > 0:00:101,400 years ago, a man born here in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13changed the course of world history.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18If you had to rate the top people in the history of the world
0:00:18 > 0:00:21as leaders, the name of Muhammad would be in the top three.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Here we have a man who began a mission.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26He gave light to the world.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30For one and a half billion Muslims, he is the last and greatest
0:00:30 > 0:00:34of that long line of prophets who have brought the word of God to humanity.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36He was not just a spiritual genius,
0:00:36 > 0:00:40but he also had political gifts of a very high order.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44He laid the foundations for a religion, Islam,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48that after his death developed a culture and civilization that spread
0:00:48 > 0:00:53around the world and inspired some of the most beautiful architecture.
0:00:53 > 0:00:59But today, Islam is at the very heart of the conflict that defines our world, and Muhammad's name
0:00:59 > 0:01:04is associated with some of the most appalling acts of terrorism
0:01:04 > 0:01:05the world has ever seen.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10Osama Bin Laden and others who have committed acts of Jihad terrorism
0:01:10 > 0:01:13consistently invoke the Qur'an and Muhammad's example
0:01:13 > 0:01:15to justify what they are doing.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17Obedience to one true God, Allah,
0:01:17 > 0:01:21and follow in the footsteps of the final prophet
0:01:21 > 0:01:22and messenger, Muhammad.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26Outside the Islamic world, almost nothing is known about Muhammad,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29whereas for Muslims, he is the ultimate role model,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and his life is known in every detail.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34So, who was he? What was his message?
0:01:34 > 0:01:39And why are so many people, Muslims and non-Muslims, divided over his legacy?
0:01:39 > 0:01:41In this groundbreaking series,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I will explore the many complexities
0:01:44 > 0:01:46of his life story, about the revelations
0:01:46 > 0:01:49he is said to have received from God,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53about his many wives, about his relations with the Jews of Arabia,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56about his use of war and peace,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00and about the laws that he enacted when he set up his own state.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03I want to examine his life and times
0:02:03 > 0:02:09and understand how they still affect today's world, and whether they are a force for good or evil.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12I want to uncover the real Muhammad,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30Muhammad was born in Mecca in the year 570, into the ruling tribe
0:02:30 > 0:02:33of the city, the Quraysh.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37According to Muslim tradition, at the age of 40,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Muhammad received a revelation from God, the first of many
0:02:41 > 0:02:46that would later become the Qur'an, the sacred text of Islam.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53He preached a new message that Allah was the one God, that he, Muhammad,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57was his messenger, and that all human beings would account
0:02:57 > 0:03:00for their behaviour on the Day of Judgement.
0:03:00 > 0:03:07He slowly built up a small band of followers, from his family, friends
0:03:07 > 0:03:10and the marginalised sections of Meccan society.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15But it was not a message that was always welcome.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20Right from the start, Muhammad's new message brought him into conflict with the rulers of Mecca -
0:03:20 > 0:03:26his own tribe, the Quraysh, who saw him as a direct threat to their control of the city.
0:03:26 > 0:03:27By the time of Muhammad's birth,
0:03:27 > 0:03:32the Kaaba had long been a shrine drawing people to the town of Mecca,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36the centre of pagan cults for the people of Arabia.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43For 13 years, Muhammad and his small band of followers
0:03:43 > 0:03:46endured increasingly brutal persecution at the hands
0:03:46 > 0:03:51of the Quraysh, until they were forced to leave Mecca and begin a new life in the city of Medina.
0:03:51 > 0:03:57Muhammad's new-found power at the head of Medina's Jewish and pagan tribes
0:03:57 > 0:04:00threatened the Quraysh's status as Arabia's pre-eminent tribe.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Several times, they tried to crush Muhammad and his followers by force.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12In the final battle, it's alleged that one of Medina's Jewish tribes switched allegiances,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16and in retaliation, all the Jewish men of that tribe
0:04:16 > 0:04:19were massacred on charge of treason.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23It was one of the most controversial incidents in Muhammad's life.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29With the ending of the siege of Medina,
0:04:29 > 0:04:35Muhammad had overcome the most powerful Arab army ever assembled against them and, once again,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37he had humiliated his Quraysh opponents.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41He had seen off all local opposition to his rule and, what's more,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45he'd ensured the survival of the Muslim community here in Medina.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50He was by now arguably the most powerful man in all of Arabia.
0:04:50 > 0:04:57The revelations Muhammad received would go on to form the Muslim holy book, The Qur'an.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00They came to him throughout his life, and every time they occurred,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03it was a terrifying and exhausting experience.
0:05:03 > 0:05:09He frequently had to struggle to make sense of them. Some came as words, others as visions
0:05:09 > 0:05:13that needed intense concentration to understand their meaning.
0:05:14 > 0:05:20He would always say that "never once did I receive a revelation
0:05:20 > 0:05:23"without feeling that my soul had been torn from my body."
0:05:23 > 0:05:25He'd go pale,
0:05:25 > 0:05:30and he'd sweat, even on a cold day.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34It's an effort to speak the word of God.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39For me, the Prophet has got that sort of terrifying, brief access
0:05:39 > 0:05:43to divine power, and he is using that consciousness
0:05:43 > 0:05:47that sort of flooded into his body, and creating the words.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52Muhammad is born into an age where it is taken for granted
0:05:52 > 0:05:57that the veil which obscures the dimension of the heavenly,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59the dimension of the angelic,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01can be penetrated by men
0:06:01 > 0:06:03of peculiar vision or holiness,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05and this is taken for granted
0:06:05 > 0:06:09by Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian holy men.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13And it's why people are able to accept his assurance
0:06:13 > 0:06:17that he is receiving revelations from God.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19It is why they are able to accept it.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27This kind of spiritual experience is not normally associated with Islam.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32One Muslim group, though, the Sufis,
0:06:32 > 0:06:36claim to try to replicate Muhammad's mystical experience of God
0:06:36 > 0:06:40through intense prayer, the chanting of God's name
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and singing verses from the Qur'an.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47TRANSLATION: When Prophet Muhammad was saying his prayers,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51while he was mediating and communicating with God,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55he used to hear the divine instructions and then act.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57That's why in Sufism, and in Islam,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00we also try to come close to God.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Through our rituals, we try and be one with Him.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Prophet Muhammad is an example of this.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12Whatever he did during his prayers or during his daily life
0:07:12 > 0:07:15is there for us to take example.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21The Sufis have developed their own elaborate rituals and techniques
0:07:21 > 0:07:24and, here in Turkey, they even dance.
0:07:24 > 0:07:30Although there is no evidence to suggest that Muhammad followed these rituals,
0:07:30 > 0:07:36the Sufis see him as an inspiration for their spiritual experience.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40The Prophet as a perfect human
0:07:40 > 0:07:42is very much a part
0:07:42 > 0:07:46of both theological and Sufi traditions in Islam.
0:07:46 > 0:07:52His perfection lies in the fact that it is only through him that one can know God.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58At the centre of the ceremony is the practice of zikr,
0:07:58 > 0:08:02or the repeated lyrical chanting of God's name, to bring people closer to God.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07CHANTING MALE VOICE SINGS
0:08:07 > 0:08:11The chanting is followed by a particularly Turkish Sufi practice
0:08:11 > 0:08:15to induce a trance-like condition through dance.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Every religion generates its own diversity of spiritual practices.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Islam is no exception.
0:08:33 > 0:08:39We have a number of different spiritual traditions, of which Sufism is but one.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Now, the Prophet prayed, he meditated, he contemplated,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45but he also said, "Pray, but tie your camel".
0:08:45 > 0:08:48That means praying itself is not good enough. You have to do good.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53You have to create a healthy, better society at the same time.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58Anybody who follows this spiritual tradition and does good,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and the emphasis on doing good is very, very important, is, in fact,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03following the way of Muhammad.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10But Muhammad's spiritual experiences were firmly rooted in the practical necessities of life.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14He was not someone who retired from the world,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17but worked continually to reform Arabian society.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Instead of simply waiting for paradise at the end of the world,
0:09:20 > 0:09:25Muhammad tried to create his own ideal society in his own lifetime.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33By 627AD Muhammad had become a powerful ruler in Medina, but by all accounts,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37in his personal habits and way of life, he remained modest.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40He continued to live next to his small mosque
0:09:40 > 0:09:44that served both as a place of worship and a centre for his work.
0:09:44 > 0:09:50Everyone was free to enter and speak with him - Jews, Christians,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52non-believers, even slaves.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56Reading the accounts, it is clear he is a very charismatic figure.
0:09:56 > 0:10:01He is a person that numerous people came to for advice. Constantly came for advice.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06But it was not just that he was dispensing sage advice, he was always listening to people.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10He comes out as a very humane and warm person.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15I think Muhammad does come across in many different contexts as being
0:10:15 > 0:10:19quite gentle, quite reluctant to find fault.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23He seemed a very fair individual.
0:10:23 > 0:10:29Muslim sources talk of his simple taste in clothes and his dislike of gold or silk or other luxuries.
0:10:29 > 0:10:35He did not care for possessions and gave much away in charity or as gifts.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44I haven't personally detected any sign that Muhammad was guided by power.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48I think his integrity remained intact.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54He was scrupulous over any corruption or financial issues.
0:10:54 > 0:11:01I think he stood out as a kind of exemplary human being
0:11:01 > 0:11:05who could combine that moral vision with the requirements
0:11:05 > 0:11:10of being a leader of a growing organization.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12He is a searcher.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16A searcher for truth and understanding throughout his life,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and he's a man who used the magic of his own language.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23He was a genius of the Arab people, infused it with something worldwide,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26to make something that humankind could understand.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Muhammad received revelations throughout his life,
0:11:31 > 0:11:35but between Mecca and Medina their content changed significantly.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43Whereas in Mecca the revelations dealt with inward principles of spirituality and faith,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47here in Medina the revelations would be far more practical.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51They provided a blueprint for how one should live life
0:11:51 > 0:11:56on a day-to-day basis as a Muslim, from the social to the political -
0:11:56 > 0:12:00a blueprint that many Muslims try to follow today.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Whilst in Mecca, he is very much a religious preacher.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08He talks much more about issues such as the end of time.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12You know, it's about morality, about justice and these kinds of things.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17Once he moves to Medina, he is the functioning leader of a community.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21He therefore has to get much more involved in the day-to-day running of a community,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24how people interact with each other,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28how people manage inheritance, how people greet each other, even.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32The revelations could be quite explicit -
0:12:32 > 0:12:35all Muslims should pay a tax to support the sick and needy.
0:12:35 > 0:12:41Or they could be general guidelines about how to treat others to promote justice and human dignity.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47Muhammad used these principles in deciding matters brought to him as the ruler of Medina.
0:12:47 > 0:12:53Over time, a moral code was revealed to Muhammad, based on ideas of social justice for all.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58In the Qur'an, it was called Sharia or 'the way to know God'.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01We have three verses
0:13:01 > 0:13:04where the concept is revealed
0:13:04 > 0:13:06in one way or another,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09in one form or another.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11And, in fact, what was understood by the Prophet and his companions
0:13:11 > 0:13:16is that what they were trying to implement was, in fact,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18this way towards God.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22So, this is why we have a problem of defining the word
0:13:22 > 0:13:25because the scholars afterward defined Sharia as God's law,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29but because they were jurists, so for them Sharia is all about law.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35But what he was doing is just promoting, you know, brotherhood, justice,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37equality, freedom.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39This is Sharia, in fact.
0:13:39 > 0:13:45What is known today as Sharia law, the sacred law of Islam, is very different.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50It only came into existence two centuries after Muhammad's death, when Muslim legal experts
0:13:50 > 0:13:55devised a legal code to help run the ever-expanding Islamic Empire.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00They used a mixture of Qur'anic teachings and examples from Muhammad's life.
0:14:00 > 0:14:06Many Muslims now regard that version of Sharia as the unalterable law of God.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10The underlying principles of Islamic law appear in the Qur'an,
0:14:10 > 0:14:14and there are detailed regulations relating to very specific areas,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18such as inheritance, which you do find in the Qur'an.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23But the Sharia itself is a human edifice constructed over time.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28It's man's attempt to understand God's will and implement it.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32But there are divergent views within the Sharia,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34there are contradictory rulings,
0:14:34 > 0:14:39and so it is certainly not a code sent down directly from God.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44It's something much more flexible and fluid, and adaptive to circumstance.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50In Medina, Muhammad made many radical changes to the customs of his tribal past.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53He abolished the brutal tradition of blood feuds.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58Women acquired a share in inheritance and secured rights to own property.
0:14:58 > 0:15:04But the Qur'an also ordered more traditional penalties, such as the amputation of limbs for stealing,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08although there is no evidence that Muhammad ever did this.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Many of these punishments still form part of Sharia law today.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18There was the practice of female infanticide in 7th-century Arabia.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21So, if you had a daughter and didn't want to take care of her
0:15:21 > 0:15:24for 13 or 15 years, until someone's going to marry her,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27you toss her out into the desert and she would die.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29Muhammad put an end to that.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Muhammad put an emphasis on helping orphans and widows.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35We would look at that and say, great, that's a great teaching.
0:15:35 > 0:15:41But, certainly, we find many teachings that we would consider barbaric by today's standards.
0:15:41 > 0:15:48Stoning of adulterers and adulteresses, chopping off body parts of those who steal things.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51These are certain things I would regard as backwards.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Today, because we are facing the West,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58because we are having a very narrow understanding,
0:15:58 > 0:16:04we come with something that Sharia is, how we are going to implement
0:16:04 > 0:16:09very narrow understanding of what a marriage is, of what punishments are,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11and I think that this is not the way.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15And this is why I am saying today if I am speaking about Sharia,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18I live in the West and in the West,
0:16:18 > 0:16:23we have laws where you and me, we are equal before law. This is my Sharia.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28This is where we have to come with a better, a deeper understanding
0:16:28 > 0:16:31of the very essence of Sharia.
0:16:31 > 0:16:38Some Muslim states, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, base their entire legal system on Sharia law,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42with punishments that many regard as medieval in their brutality.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47So, calls by Muslim extremists to introduce Sharia law in Europe
0:16:47 > 0:16:49and in Britain have led to street protests
0:16:49 > 0:16:51and the rise of political parties
0:16:51 > 0:16:56campaigning against what they see as the spread of Islamic influence.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00This is the problem - that in the 21st century,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03we still have nations who are beheading people,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05who are cutting the limbs off people,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07cutting the hands and feet.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12There are women today being stoned to death by the government
0:17:12 > 0:17:17for sexual violations, not for murder.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20It's not for a crime of taking someone else's life.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23It's an inhumane way of killing.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31All these people who are stoning the people and are just starting with punishments say this is Sharia.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36I say no, that's not Sharia. This is the way you are instrumentalising religion for your own sake.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38I have one question. How have you been elected?
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Are you elected? Are you representing the people?
0:17:40 > 0:17:46Let me start with the first question because you have no legitimacy, no way for you to implement this
0:17:46 > 0:17:49in the name of Islam, if you are not legitimate.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54Many of the people who do, and start with this, are not really elected,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58and are not chosen by the people, so their own status, it's important.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01And then there is a second question, what about social justice?
0:18:01 > 0:18:04What about equal rights? What about education?
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Are you going to punish people without educating them?
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Is this Islam? No. Islam is starting with education.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12And as for the punishment, it's another story.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16Don't start with punishment, start with dignity and rights.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Not with punishment, because punishment is the way
0:18:19 > 0:18:24you instrumentalise religion just to make yourself be legitimate while you are not.
0:18:27 > 0:18:33Like all law, Sharia law, at least in theory, is supposed to be a changing, evolving institution,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37but what we have under the rubric of Sharia law today
0:18:37 > 0:18:39is actually frozen in history.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42It is the interpretations of jurists
0:18:42 > 0:18:45undertaken during the 8th and 9th century.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47That is what we call Sharia law.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50That's why wherever Sharia law is implemented
0:18:50 > 0:18:52it recreates the conditions of the 8th and 9th century.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57What the Muslims need to do is to reformulate Sharia law,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01and this reformulation has to be continuous and constant.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Because the word Sharia itself means "the way to the watering hole".
0:19:05 > 0:19:06Why do you go to the watering hole?
0:19:06 > 0:19:10To drink water. It is something that we need to drink all the time.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15That means it has to be refreshed, rethought and reformulated from epoch to epoch.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28It was now 627 AD.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Muhammad had a secure power base in Medina.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Although he had frustrated all the efforts of his enemies, the Quraysh,
0:19:35 > 0:19:40to destroy him, they were still powerful and in control of Mecca.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45If Muhammad was to succeed in bringing his message to all the people of Arabia,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48he had to find a solution to break this stalemate.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51One of the key lessons from the battles for Muhammad
0:19:51 > 0:19:55was that he was going to find it very difficult
0:19:55 > 0:19:57to overcome the Meccans militarily.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00He had to try to undermine them politically.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05What he needed was to strike alliances with other tribes across Arabia.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10And one of the key ways of doing this was through marriage.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17For Muhammad's critics, his polygamous marriages have always been a problem.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21But at that time in Arabia, polygamy was the norm,
0:20:21 > 0:20:25and it wasn't until after the death of his first wife
0:20:25 > 0:20:28that Muhammad had several wives at the same time.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33Some accounts say nine, others 11 or 13. Some were widows.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38Some were women captured after battles who, by marrying him, were granted their freedom.
0:20:38 > 0:20:45One was even a Christian Coptic slave presented to him by the Byzantine ruler of Egypt.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48But his most controversial marriage was to the daughter
0:20:48 > 0:20:52of his closest companion, a young girl called Aisha.
0:20:55 > 0:20:56According to some sources,
0:20:56 > 0:21:01Aisha is supposed to have been betrothed at age six or seven,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04then formally married at nine.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Other accounts make her older, nearly 16 or 17.
0:21:08 > 0:21:14It's this lack of clarity that has left Muhammad open to serious condemnation from many critics.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16If you are a 53-year-old man,
0:21:16 > 0:21:20and you take a nine-year-old girl
0:21:20 > 0:21:25into your bed and consummate the marriage, it is not all right.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Not only from the standpoint of 21st-century morality
0:21:28 > 0:21:34of the Western world, but of, what one might say, natural morality
0:21:34 > 0:21:37of most societies, most of the time.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43My position on this is that she was older.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47She was between 16 and 18, and not six and nine.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50So these are scholars of today, but not today,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54in fact last century, trying to get a sense of that might be.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57We are repeating this, but this is not really true, it is not something
0:21:57 > 0:22:02which is in the Qur'an, is in the prophetic tradition, and we have to check about this,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06and I would say that age here is problematic in itself.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Muhammad's marriage to Aisha lasted till his death.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13And she later became a prominent political leader in her own right.
0:22:13 > 0:22:19Muslim historians claim that it was her differences with Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Ali
0:22:19 > 0:22:24that eventually led to the great schism in Islam between the Sunni and the Shia sects.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32The real point in this, and that is lost in all this argument,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35is who was Aisha - what did she become?
0:22:35 > 0:22:40She grew up in the Prophet's household to become a really feisty,
0:22:40 > 0:22:44independent, intelligent, politically aware woman.
0:22:44 > 0:22:50And she is a foundation of our understanding of the Prophet's life.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55Without Aisha, half of what we know of the Prophet disappears.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02A series of further revelations defined Islamic marriage.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07They also provided Muhammad's critics with more ammunition, as they said that while Muhammad
0:23:07 > 0:23:10was allowed to keep all his wives,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14in future, Muslim men would only be allowed a maximum of four wives,
0:23:14 > 0:23:19as long as they could support them and treat them all equally.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24We have to understand the Prophet Muhammad in the context of his time.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29Pagan Arabia is a place where there is unlimited polygamy,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32that is the normal practice.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37Islam comes, and limits that polygamy.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41For Muslims, it is limited to four wives.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45The Prophet is allowed, and the Prophet is previously married up to nine wives.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50He is also prohibited from adding any more to that number,
0:23:50 > 0:23:55but those wives that he is married to, he is allowed to keep.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59And there is a simple reason for that - the importance of building tribal alliances.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01This is very, very important.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05The Prophet is not only a prophet, he is a leader of his people
0:24:05 > 0:24:10and building those alliances is hugely important.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Now, the justification for Muhammad having more wives is sura 33:50,
0:24:14 > 0:24:19which gave Muhammad, and only Muhammad, permission to marry as many women as he wanted to marry,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22and we have to be somewhat sceptical.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26So many people have claimed to be prophets, when we look at a prophet and his revelations give him
0:24:26 > 0:24:32more sexual partners than anyone else is allowed to have, I say we have some reason for suspicion here.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37It would be entirely mistaken to imagine the Prophet
0:24:37 > 0:24:42basking decadently in a garden of earthly delights.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45These are political marriages.
0:24:45 > 0:24:51He marries Aisha because he wants to bind himself more closely with their fathers.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56He's creating a new community, not based on tribe or blood,
0:24:56 > 0:25:03but somehow, this helps to make the transition easier, if you make a marriage link.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06We know from Muslim sources that some of Muhammad's marriages
0:25:06 > 0:25:09even caused him problems during his own lifetime.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14For example, when he married the divorced wife of his adopted son,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18his enemies spread rumours that it was an incestuous relationship
0:25:18 > 0:25:22in an attempt to divide the Muslim community.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26His marriage to his former daughter in law, Zaynab bint Jahsh,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29when he married her, it's clear that there were protests
0:25:29 > 0:25:33from the community and people thought that this was a shocking,
0:25:33 > 0:25:37scandalising kind of thing for him to have done.
0:25:40 > 0:25:47According to the sources, Muhammad faced another marital crisis when Aisha went missing during a journey.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49She was eventually found and brought back to Medina
0:25:49 > 0:25:53by a man who had known her before her marriage to Muhammad.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Again, his enemies spread rumours
0:25:55 > 0:25:59that something scandalous must have happened between them.
0:25:59 > 0:26:00According to Muslim tradition,
0:26:00 > 0:26:05Muhammad himself was at first unsure who to believe, but, eventually,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08after a new revelation from God,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10he accepted Aisha's protestations of innocence.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15At that time in Arabia, adulterers were traditionally stoned to death.
0:26:15 > 0:26:21This new revelation defined how any future allegations of adultery should be dealt with,
0:26:21 > 0:26:27and, surprisingly, in complete contrast to the extreme views held by groups like the Taliban.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32The punishment of stoning to death was borrowed from Christianity and Judaism.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34From the Old Testament, of course, as we know.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37In the Qur'an, punishment for having sex outside marriage
0:26:37 > 0:26:40is lashing 100 times on your backside.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47Only if it can be proven that four people have seen the act of penetration,
0:26:47 > 0:26:49which is very difficult to prove.
0:26:51 > 0:26:57Muhammad's wives lived with him in specially built rooms adjoining the courtyard of his mosque in Medina.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01It was a very busy public place, and privacy was hard to find.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05With the continual attempts of Muhammad's enemies to create division,
0:27:05 > 0:27:10the potential for future scandal was always there, so something had to be done.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14One day Muhammad received a new revelation that instructed his wives
0:27:14 > 0:27:17to cover themselves to maintain their modesty.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21This act of veiling or covering has had a profound effect
0:27:21 > 0:27:25on Muslim women and, also, how the outside world
0:27:25 > 0:27:28views Islam's attitudes to women in general.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33There are injunctions about the Prophet's wives
0:27:33 > 0:27:36wearing some kind of covering.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40It's not exactly clear what that covering is, but it's to distinguish them.
0:27:40 > 0:27:46And this is all part and parcel of the difficult divisions in Medina,
0:27:46 > 0:27:51because Muhammad's enemies in Medina were using his wives to discredit him
0:27:51 > 0:27:56and so some kind of distinction needed to be made, but veiling was not for all women.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Today, the veil is seen by Islam's critics as symbolic
0:28:01 > 0:28:06of its attitude to women in general and its desire to oppress them.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10But the more universal veiling of women did not become an Islamic custom
0:28:10 > 0:28:14until more than 100 years after Muhammad's death.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17As far as the religion is concerned, there is a requirement of modesty
0:28:17 > 0:28:20for both men and women,
0:28:20 > 0:28:23but how you fulfil that requirement is open to debate.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27I don't feel I am compromising myself as a Muslim by not wearing the hijab,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29and I certainly don't not wear it,
0:28:29 > 0:28:34because I am trying to say that I am not a serious Muslim.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37You can't judge the seriousness of someone's faith and belief
0:28:37 > 0:28:40by what they wear.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Over the last 20 years, in Britain as in many Western countries,
0:28:45 > 0:28:50the veil has become a form of identity for many Muslim women.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Some just cover their hair, others their entire face.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56It is a controversial issue,
0:28:56 > 0:29:01with some European countries now banning women from using the veil.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Fatima Barkatullah is a writer on Islamic women.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09Fatima, are you wearing the veil because
0:29:09 > 0:29:12you are obliged to because of your family,
0:29:12 > 0:29:15or do you do it out of free will?
0:29:15 > 0:29:17For me it is absolutely 100% free will.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21It's very much about a spiritual journey
0:29:21 > 0:29:26and about wanting to be the best I can be,
0:29:26 > 0:29:27in God's eyes.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30When I'm getting ready in the morning to go out,
0:29:30 > 0:29:33I will just cover what I would normally be wearing, you know,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36whether it's jeans or whatever I am wearing, with something like this.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40- Which is a gown, essentially, isn't it?- Yes. It's an outer garment.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42People call it the abaya or the jilbab.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46And then I wear this, which is a khimar,
0:29:46 > 0:29:51or a scarf. And then I wear this small face veil.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54This is very much my public face, if you like.
0:29:54 > 0:30:01But why do you choose to wear the full face covering as opposed to this, the khimar, the scarf,
0:30:01 > 0:30:04which you see a lot of other Muslim women wearing, as well?
0:30:04 > 0:30:09I believe that the more modest I can be, the more of a virtue it is.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12So, essentially, I'm doing it to please God.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14Where do you think this comes from?
0:30:14 > 0:30:17- Is it in the Qur'an? Is it in the... - Yes, you'll find it in the Qur'an.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22The verse in Surat Ahzab clearly says, "O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters
0:30:22 > 0:30:27"and the women of the believers," meaning the Muslim women,
0:30:27 > 0:30:32when they go out of their homes they should wear their outer garments,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35and the word in Arabic is jalabeeb,
0:30:35 > 0:30:39- which has two orthodox interpretations.- That's the point. This is all an interpretation.
0:30:39 > 0:30:44There isn't anywhere in the Qur'an which says it is a rule for Muslim women that they must wear a veil.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46It's in the interpretation.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50As far as the face is concerned, there is some difference of opinion.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56The one verse that specifically does deal with clothing
0:30:56 > 0:30:58actually says cover your nakedness,
0:30:58 > 0:31:02not shroud yourself in a black bag.
0:31:02 > 0:31:07Now, Muslim women have interpreted it,
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Muslim men have interpolated practices from other societies
0:31:11 > 0:31:15into the interpretation of the religion, and identity politics
0:31:15 > 0:31:19has a great deal to do with it.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23But I say women should be free to choose,
0:31:25 > 0:31:30but there is no compulsion, and there is no requirement for them to veil themselves.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Despite the best efforts of his enemies to discredit him through his marriages,
0:31:40 > 0:31:45Muhammad had used them to confirm and widen his power base in Arabia.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49He could now turn his attention again to Mecca.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51In early 628 AD, he told his followers
0:31:51 > 0:31:58that they were going to set out to perform the annual Hajj rites at the Kaaba in Mecca.
0:32:01 > 0:32:02For Muhammad and his followers,
0:32:02 > 0:32:08the Kaaba had become central to their worship, the place to which they turned in prayer.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11They believed it had been originally built by the Prophet Abraham,
0:32:11 > 0:32:17and regarded it as the ultimate symbol of their faith, the unity of the one God, Allah.
0:32:17 > 0:32:23But access to the Kaaba was controlled by Muhammad's enemies, the Quraysh, the rulers of Mecca.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28It contained shrines to the hundreds of gods worshipped by all the tribes in Arabia.
0:32:28 > 0:32:35Muhammad was now determined to challenge their control of this sacred shrine.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39The Prophet announces that he is going to make the Hajj.
0:32:39 > 0:32:45It must have been astonishing because on the Hajj you are not allowed to carry weapons.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49He was going unarmed into the enemy territory.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58It's when, again, you touch the magic of Muhammad as a man.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02He fought wars and now he just said, right, we're off to pray to God.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07Muhammad and the convoy of followers were forced to stop here
0:33:07 > 0:33:12at Hudaibiya, which is about eight miles outside of the Holy City,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16because the Quraysh had reacted with characteristic aggression
0:33:16 > 0:33:19and they had sent a cavalry in order to stop the convoy.
0:33:19 > 0:33:26And so began a series of frenetic negotiations with emissaries going between Muhammad and the Quraysh.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30They eventually arrived at an agreement, but the so-called Treaty of Hudaibiya,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34signed at a spot marked by the mosque just behind me,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38looked like the most humiliating of compromises for Muhammad.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45The Quraysh insisted that Muhammad and his followers return to Medina
0:33:45 > 0:33:46without performing the Hajj rites.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50They also insisted that all raids on Meccan caravans
0:33:50 > 0:33:53by the Muslim forces under Muhammad's command should stop.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56In return, they would allow Muhammad and his followers to return to Mecca
0:33:56 > 0:34:01as pilgrims to perform the Hajj, but only in the following year.
0:34:01 > 0:34:06And when it came to signing the documents which describes Muhammad as "the Messenger of God",
0:34:06 > 0:34:12the Quraysh emissary objected, saying that to them he was only "Muhammad, the son of Abdullah".
0:34:12 > 0:34:15For Muhammad's followers, this was an unbearable insult.
0:34:15 > 0:34:20According to Muslim tradition, when Muhammad's young cousin Ali, who was doing the writing,
0:34:20 > 0:34:24heard this he refused to strike out the words "the Messenger of God".
0:34:26 > 0:34:33Muhammad says, "Give me the pen" - point out the words "Messenger of God", and he strikes it out himself.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37I see it as a striking out of ego there, not standing on your rights.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42The Qur'an says that if the enemy asks for peace you must lay down
0:34:42 > 0:34:48your arms immediately and accept any terms, however disadvantageous.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51For Muhammad's followers, the terms of this treaty,
0:34:51 > 0:34:55and the treatment of Muhammad, were completely humiliating.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00It was only Muhammad's adamant attitude that kept them from mutiny.
0:35:00 > 0:35:05What Muhammad was trying to do was totally unheard of in 7th-century Arabia.
0:35:05 > 0:35:10In a society of honour, traditionally, blood feuds ruled the day.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13But after years of bloody but inconclusive conflict, Muhammad
0:35:13 > 0:35:18now wanted to defeat his enemies not through war, but by peace.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20By signing a truce with the Quraysh,
0:35:20 > 0:35:25he had not only gained access to the Kaaba, albeit at a later date,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29but also extracted from them the crucial acknowledgement
0:35:29 > 0:35:32that he and they were now equals.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36In a sense, the Hudaibiya does represent a minimal option, which is,
0:35:36 > 0:35:38OK, we can't get what we want now,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41but we can get it in the future, if we make this agreement.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46And a truce in which people were not fighting was always preferable to war.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49This is, again, something which is Qur'anically given, that, you know,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51peace is better than war.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53It's repeated again and again.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56So, it very much fits within that particular type of principle.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01As he and his followers were returning to Medina,
0:36:01 > 0:36:03Muhammad received a new revelation,
0:36:03 > 0:36:08confirming that the Treaty of Hudaibiya was a not a humiliating defeat.
0:36:10 > 0:36:16He said, "I've just had a revelation. This was a manifest victory, says God.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20"It may have looked like a defeat, but it was a manifest victory."
0:36:20 > 0:36:24The Quraysh were filled with all the violence
0:36:24 > 0:36:26of the old tribal spirit.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28They were filled with contempt and pride.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32It was the Muslims, the spirit of peace that filled their hearts.
0:36:32 > 0:36:38Sometimes this is forgotten. We hear all about Muhammad's wars,
0:36:38 > 0:36:42but we forget this extraordinary, non-violent offensive.
0:36:42 > 0:36:47After Hudaibiya, the tide had turned in his favour
0:36:47 > 0:36:49with a campaign of non-violence.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56A primary vehicle that Muhammad did use was diplomacy at the time.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59He went out, visited the tribes,
0:36:59 > 0:37:03engaged with major religious leaders, attempted to form pacts,
0:37:03 > 0:37:09created, if you look at the community at Medina, created a space for other faiths and other people.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13But when faced with resistance or aggression,
0:37:13 > 0:37:18did exactly what the standards of the time would have legitimated.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21And I think that that is clearly there.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25You do not see the Prophet consistently
0:37:25 > 0:37:27calling for wholesale killing
0:37:27 > 0:37:30of all those who disagreed with him.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36The Treaty of Hudaibiya marks a turning point in Muhammad's attempts
0:37:36 > 0:37:39to spread his message throughout Arabia.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43But it also shows that he was prepared to suffer the utmost humiliation
0:37:43 > 0:37:46from his worst enemies in pursuit of peace.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49And yet in today's world, the most commonly held views of Muhammad
0:37:49 > 0:37:52is that he is the enemy of peace,
0:37:52 > 0:37:56and that Islam is the religion of Jihad,
0:37:56 > 0:37:58commonly taken to mean "Holy War".
0:37:58 > 0:38:04Thousands have been killed all over the world by groups that are now called Jihadi,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06a term never used in Muhammad's time.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11And yet, these groups all claim the Qur'an and Muhammad himself
0:38:11 > 0:38:16as inspiration and justification for their actions.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21It is very clear, brothers and sisters, that the path of Jihad
0:38:21 > 0:38:24and the desire for martyrdom was deeply embedded
0:38:24 > 0:38:26in the Holy Prophet
0:38:26 > 0:38:31- and their beloved companions. - Most so called Jihadis usually refer
0:38:31 > 0:38:37to a verse in the Qur'an, now known as the Sword Verse,
0:38:37 > 0:38:39as justification for their violent acts.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42If you come back to the Qur'an, you have these verses, no one can deny
0:38:42 > 0:38:48that there are verses very, very much dealing with war and violence.
0:38:48 > 0:38:55Now, as we have to deal with the Qur'an, it's an eternal book dealing with history.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59These verses were revealed in a very specific period of time
0:38:59 > 0:39:04when the Muslims were under oppression and trying to resist
0:39:04 > 0:39:05and just to survive.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08So, we have to contextualise this.
0:39:08 > 0:39:14The mainstream classical tradition, in the Shia and the Sunni tradition, are saying you can't use these verses
0:39:14 > 0:39:18just to promote war and to kill innocent people, this is wrong.
0:39:18 > 0:39:24The interpretation of individual Qur'anic verses goes to the heart of this controversy,
0:39:24 > 0:39:29but most scholars now agree that the term Jihad does not mean Holy War.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33Its real meaning is completely different.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38The concept of Jihad emerges out of the Holy Qur'an,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41out of the revelation that the Prophet receives.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46And there are about 35 examples in the Qur'an of the word "jihad",
0:39:46 > 0:39:51or the term basically being used, and often in the case of striving.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53Now striving can be all sorts of things.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56It can be striving against the baseness of oneself.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00It can be a seeking to overcome evil and being good.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02It can be striving in the sense of fighting.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04But Jihad is always distinguished from fighting,
0:40:04 > 0:40:08and a different terminology is used for the word "fighting".
0:40:11 > 0:40:15In all the battles that Muhammad fought, the rules of engagement were
0:40:15 > 0:40:21always carefully delineated within the context of his time and what was generally acceptable.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24But there are no recorded instances
0:40:24 > 0:40:27of deliberate attacks on civilian populations.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33One of the points about Jihad in the early Islamic tradition,
0:40:33 > 0:40:35both in the Prophet's lifetime
0:40:35 > 0:40:39and afterwards, is that it's is a gradual evolution of an idea
0:40:39 > 0:40:40towards something like a just war.
0:40:40 > 0:40:47And the just war is a constraint on the army, does not attack or massacre the civilians,
0:40:47 > 0:40:52doesn't kill women or children, doesn't kill priests of other religions incidentally, and so on.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57And this draws on the practice in the lifetime of the Prophet.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04These rules of engagement appear to have been forgotten by today's Muslim extremists.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08Suicide bombers kill people not only in Western cities,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12but also in mosques and other places of worship
0:41:12 > 0:41:14in the Muslim world itself.
0:41:16 > 0:41:21In Britain today, no Muslim activist or group will openly defy the law
0:41:21 > 0:41:25by accepting or agreeing to the use of violence.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27But over the last 10 years,
0:41:27 > 0:41:32more than 200 Muslims have been convicted of terrorist-related offences.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36In 2008, Abdul Muhid was convicted and jailed
0:41:36 > 0:41:39for two years for terrorist funding.
0:41:39 > 0:41:43Mizanur Rahman was charged for soliciting murder
0:41:43 > 0:41:46and jailed for four years in 2006.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49Both have now served their sentences,
0:41:49 > 0:41:54but still have strong views about the role of Jihad in today's world.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58Has the modern interpretation of Jihad changed in any way?
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Because, for most people today, Jihad means just one thing
0:42:01 > 0:42:04doesn't it, it means fighting and the physical struggle?
0:42:04 > 0:42:06The scholars of Islam in the past,
0:42:06 > 0:42:10they all agreed that Jihad means fighting against the non-Muslims,
0:42:10 > 0:42:16yes, but not just for the sake of forcing them to be Muslim, but to make the word of Allah
0:42:16 > 0:42:20the highest by removing obstacles from the implementation of the Sharia
0:42:20 > 0:42:23and for the call to Islam to spread across the world.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25From your interpretation of the Prophet's life,
0:42:25 > 0:42:29is it permittable at any time in Jihad to attack non-combatants?
0:42:29 > 0:42:32If I just cut straight to the point,
0:42:32 > 0:42:35the argument of Islamic terrorists is this, if you choose a government
0:42:35 > 0:42:40that represents you and they decide to bomb a country or kill people, then you have blood on your hands.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43It's like hiring, for example, a murderer.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47If I pay a murderer to go and kill someone it's not just the murderer who is blameworthy.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51I share that blame. So, if you say by non-combatants, these people voted
0:42:51 > 0:42:55for a government that is carrying out crimes, then they share the blame.
0:42:55 > 0:43:00And, obviously in the eyes of the Islamic terrorists, they are blameworthy.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06These ideas are abhorrent to Muslims and non-Muslims,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09and would have been unrecognisable to Muhammad.
0:43:09 > 0:43:14For him, the concept of Jihad was not just simply about killing and war,
0:43:14 > 0:43:17but it was about striving to improve yourself in the eyes of God.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21There is the concept of just war in Islam,
0:43:21 > 0:43:25and Muhammad himself fought many battles, but for him,
0:43:25 > 0:43:29there was no justification of the killing of innocent people.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33The Qur'an verses that talk about fighting and defending yourself
0:43:33 > 0:43:35don't legitimize killing yourself deliberately
0:43:35 > 0:43:38and killing others in that process.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41Remember, in Islam, collateral damage is not allowed.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45Intentionally bombing a group of people, assuming that your target
0:43:45 > 0:43:47would be killed, as well as others
0:43:47 > 0:43:52and the others would be collateral damage, is completely disallowed in Islam.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01Muhammad's peaceful Jihad was now about to come to fruition.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06Under the terms of the Treaty of Hudaibiya he could embark on a journey that would take him back
0:44:06 > 0:44:11to the city of his birth, the city he had left nearly seven years ago as a refugee,
0:44:11 > 0:44:14penniless and in fear of his life.
0:44:14 > 0:44:19He was returning as the head of an ever-expanding religious community,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22the most powerful leader in Arabia.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27In February 629, Muhammad agreed with the Quraysh
0:44:27 > 0:44:31to be allowed back into Mecca in order to visit the Kaaba.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36The Quraysh agreed to allow Muhammad and his followers into the Kaaba for three days.
0:44:36 > 0:44:41And yet, during that time, it marked a change in people's perceptions
0:44:41 > 0:44:44towards Muhammad and his followers.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47The people of Mecca saw the Muslims enter the Kaaba,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51and observed how well behaved they were, how sincere they were,
0:44:51 > 0:44:55and it was important because it showed that slowly but surely,
0:44:55 > 0:45:00the stranglehold of the Quraysh in Mecca was beginning to crumble.
0:45:02 > 0:45:08A year later, the Quraysh broke the truce by attacking one of Muhammad's allies.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10It was a fatal mistake.
0:45:10 > 0:45:16In January 630, the Prophet gathered a massive army of 10,000 men
0:45:16 > 0:45:18and marched towards Mecca.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20The Quraysh were powerless to resist
0:45:20 > 0:45:24and they fully expected Muhammad to storm into Mecca
0:45:24 > 0:45:29and exact a bloody revenge for the many years of persecution and war.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32Their control of city was at an end.
0:45:35 > 0:45:40But it was what he did next, in this, hour of ultimate victory,
0:45:40 > 0:45:41that left people stunned.
0:45:41 > 0:45:46Muhammad declared that he forgave all his former enemies.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49He then said that there was to be a general amnesty
0:45:49 > 0:45:54and he said that no-one was to be forced to convert to Islam.
0:45:54 > 0:45:59Instead of revenge, Muhammad consciously chose reconciliation.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05The conquest of Mecca is very important,
0:46:05 > 0:46:07because there was a wide-ranging amnesty given,
0:46:07 > 0:46:11and people were given options of accepting the faith,
0:46:11 > 0:46:12or going elsewhere, or whatever.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17But, certainly, there was this notion that, OK, once Mecca is taken,
0:46:17 > 0:46:21and Mecca is considered to be the cultic centre now of this new faith,
0:46:21 > 0:46:27that certainly the first stage of the mission is complete, so there's no need for fighting.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31For Muhammad, this was the moment he had been waiting for.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34He had come back to Mecca not to kill the Quraysh,
0:46:34 > 0:46:39but to restore the Kaaba to its role as the sacred shrine to the one God.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44According to Muslim tradition, when he and thousands of his followers
0:46:44 > 0:46:49entered the Kaaba they destroyed the many gods and effigies placed there.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53He pardons the Meccans, but he doesn't just pardon them, he pardons
0:46:53 > 0:46:57them with kindness and he almost drowns their criticisms with gifts.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01And there is that sort of wonderful instance of just the tribal sheiks,
0:47:01 > 0:47:04who had never really opposed and never listened to his message,
0:47:04 > 0:47:09all they wanted was cattle, more camels and more silver, and he gives it to them.
0:47:09 > 0:47:15It seems to me that's the heart and the essence of the life of the Prophet.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16The moment it was building to.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20From what I understand and know of the personality of the Prophet,
0:47:20 > 0:47:25it is the most characteristic moment in his entire life.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28He was not a vengeful man.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32His message was not about vengeance,
0:47:32 > 0:47:38but about constructing a transformative, reformative process,
0:47:38 > 0:47:42building society by including everybody.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46So, it seems to me that when he came back to Mecca,
0:47:46 > 0:47:51that's when I say, yes, that's the point from which we begin, that's the model we need to build on.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57And then he goes home.
0:47:57 > 0:48:02There is no attempt to impose what we'd call today an Islamic state.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06So, we're not talking about doctrinal conformity, we're talking about
0:48:06 > 0:48:12ending this tribalism which sets people off against one another.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19Although Mecca was now his, Muhammad chose not to move back to the city of his birth.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22Instead he returned to his adopted home, Medina.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24And with the Quraysh defeated,
0:48:24 > 0:48:28it wasn't long before the rest of Arabia joined his cause.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32Muhammad's bloodless conquest of Mecca was clear proof
0:48:32 > 0:48:34that his movement was succeeding.
0:48:34 > 0:48:40And, what's more, his message of justice and using peace and reconciliation as a means
0:48:40 > 0:48:44of delivering that message was beginning to attract huge numbers of converts.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47In fact, tribes were beginning to convert wholesale.
0:48:47 > 0:48:53By 631, the last pagan stronghold of Taif fell.
0:48:53 > 0:48:58Now Muhammad was effectively the ruler of the whole of Muslim Arabia.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06More than 20 years had passed since he had received his first revelation.
0:49:06 > 0:49:11For over a decade, he and his followers had eked out a precarious existence.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15Time after time, they had been on the verge of destruction,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19but they had managed to survive through a combination
0:49:19 > 0:49:23of Muhammad's spiritual, military and political leadership, and, finally,
0:49:23 > 0:49:28after a seemingly humiliating treaty, to triumph over their enemies.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32Muhammad expressed and exemplified the qualities that we now
0:49:32 > 0:49:38see universally are characteristic of a good leader and a leader for good -
0:49:38 > 0:49:41enthusiasm, integrity...
0:49:41 > 0:49:44then the combination of toughness
0:49:44 > 0:49:49and demandingness and fairness is important in leaders universally,
0:49:49 > 0:49:54and Muhammad had all those attributes very clearly.
0:49:54 > 0:50:01I think warmth, humanity, kindness is important, too.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05And, again, if you look at the traditions of the life of Muhammad,
0:50:05 > 0:50:10there are plenty of examples where he showed those humane qualities.
0:50:16 > 0:50:21By the year 632, Muhammad had achieved almost all that he had set out to achieve.
0:50:21 > 0:50:26He created a level of peace and security Arabia had rarely known.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29He laid out the foundations and rules of Islam
0:50:29 > 0:50:33and he created the foundations of a new Muslim community.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37But by this time, he was 60 years old and his health was beginning to fail.
0:50:37 > 0:50:44In that year, he came to Mecca for the last time and he performed his first and only Hajj, The Pilgrimage,
0:50:44 > 0:50:49and he gave what would become known as the "farewell sermon".
0:50:49 > 0:50:53Sitting here on a camel, on the Plains of Arafat,
0:50:53 > 0:50:59he spoke to a vast crowd with strategically placed announcers relaying his words.
0:50:59 > 0:51:04It was a deeply emotional speech in which, in his own words,
0:51:04 > 0:51:10Muhammad summarised what he felt he and his followers had achieved.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13"O People! Lend me an attentive ear,
0:51:13 > 0:51:18"for I know not whether after this year I shall ever be amongst you again.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22"Therefore, listen carefully to what I am saying and take these words
0:51:22 > 0:51:27"to those who could not be present here today".
0:51:27 > 0:51:30You see in the final sermon
0:51:30 > 0:51:34this heartfelt plea from the Prophet warning the Muslims
0:51:34 > 0:51:38about certain things, advising them about certain things.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42You can see his worries for the future of the Muslims
0:51:42 > 0:51:46and these words are something that they should take note of,
0:51:46 > 0:51:50and they should hang onto, and they should be aware,
0:51:50 > 0:51:55because in here is a very, very important message for every Muslim.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58"Do not therefore do injustice to yourselves.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02"Remember one day you will meet Allah and answer your deeds.
0:52:02 > 0:52:08"So beware - do not astray from the path of righteousness after I am gone".
0:52:08 > 0:52:13Remember what God's earliest message was,
0:52:13 > 0:52:16to Abraham, to Adam,
0:52:16 > 0:52:21to Moses, to Jesus, etc.,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24and remember that the only real reality,
0:52:24 > 0:52:28the ultimate reality, is the one true God,
0:52:28 > 0:52:32and that God is the creator,
0:52:32 > 0:52:35sustainer and judge of the universe.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38"All mankind is from Adam and Eve.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41"An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab,
0:52:41 > 0:52:44"nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48"Also, a white has no superiority over black,
0:52:48 > 0:52:54"nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action".
0:52:54 > 0:52:57He is saying all humans are one.
0:52:57 > 0:53:03God has called you from the tribalism of paganism
0:53:03 > 0:53:09and it's pride in ancestors, but, remember, all men came from Adam and Adam came from dust.
0:53:11 > 0:53:16And then he quotes these words from the Qur'an which really speak to our time.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18"O, people", God says to humanity,
0:53:18 > 0:53:23"we have formed you from a male and a female and have formed you
0:53:23 > 0:53:28"into tribes and nations so that you may get to know one another,
0:53:28 > 0:53:34"not so that you may fight, or oppress, or occupy, or convert or terrorise,
0:53:34 > 0:53:38"but so that you may get to know one another."
0:53:38 > 0:53:43"All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others,
0:53:43 > 0:53:47"and those to others again, and may the last ones understand my words better
0:53:47 > 0:53:50"than those who listen to me directly.
0:53:50 > 0:53:56"Be my witness, O Allah, that I have conveyed your message to your people".
0:53:56 > 0:54:03And he asks them, "O, people, O, Muslims, have I fulfilled my mandate to you?"
0:54:03 > 0:54:06And they cry, "Na'am!",
0:54:06 > 0:54:09"yes", and it rings around.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14And he asks them three times, have I,
0:54:14 > 0:54:16and each time they reply, "Na'am!"
0:54:16 > 0:54:20And I think it's a most moving moment.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26Well, that's the summation of his life,
0:54:26 > 0:54:30so he emphasises all the principles that he has been teaching for the last 23 years.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32He says, for example,
0:54:32 > 0:54:35there is no difference between Arab and non-Arab, look after your family,
0:54:35 > 0:54:39so it's kind of summation of his life.
0:54:39 > 0:54:46If you did nothing else but simply read the last sermon, you will get the essence of the life of Muhammad.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49The Prophet's final sermon sets the agenda
0:54:49 > 0:54:52for modern, contemporary Muslim society.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54It shows were we've failed,
0:54:54 > 0:54:57and it shows were we have to try to get to.
0:54:57 > 0:55:02It sums up the transformative mission that was the life of the Prophet.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06After his farewell pilgrimage,
0:55:06 > 0:55:11Muhammad returned to his small house in Medina, exhausted.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13He'd begun to have headaches and fainting fits.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16He tried to attend public prayers in the mosque,
0:55:16 > 0:55:21but was more and more confined to his bed, where Aisha nursed him.
0:55:21 > 0:55:26One day he appeared to get better and the news spread like wildfire around the oasis.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29But it was only a brief reprieve.
0:55:29 > 0:55:36On 8th June, 632, Muhammad died in the house of his wife Aisha.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38The news stunned his followers.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41Some refused to accept the truth.
0:55:41 > 0:55:43Panic began to take hold.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47How could the Messenger of God be dead?
0:55:47 > 0:55:49His closest companion, Abu Bakr,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53calmed their fears, reminding them that Muhammad had never claimed
0:55:53 > 0:55:58to be anything other than a mere mortal and that only God
0:55:58 > 0:56:01is to be worshipped, not Muhammad.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04He was buried here next to his mosque, his face
0:56:04 > 0:56:09turned towards Mecca, a practice still common today among Muslims.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24Within 100 years, Muhammad's message had spread across the world,
0:56:24 > 0:56:30as far as India and China in the east, and as far North Africa,
0:56:30 > 0:56:32Spain and France in the west.
0:56:32 > 0:56:39But, in many ways, his struggle for a peaceful Jihad was already in tatters.
0:56:39 > 0:56:45Within just a generation of Muhammad's death, his closest companions and family
0:56:45 > 0:56:49were already squabbling, breaking out into open and bloody warfare
0:56:49 > 0:56:52that led to the deep schism
0:56:52 > 0:56:57that still exists within the Muslim world today between Sunni and Shia.
0:56:57 > 0:57:02But today, Muhammad's message seems under threat like never before.
0:57:02 > 0:57:08Many Muslims feel humiliated and condemned by the sheer power of Western culture and military might,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11whilst many in the west see Islam
0:57:11 > 0:57:16as the religion of some of the most oppressive states on Earth,
0:57:16 > 0:57:22a violent, intolerant faith. But the question is, how much of this
0:57:22 > 0:57:24can be blamed on Muhammad himself?
0:57:24 > 0:57:29Muhammad left the world with three things - his faith in God,
0:57:29 > 0:57:35the example of his own life and, above all else, the Qur'an itself.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39Now, people will always choose and highlight those aspects of his life
0:57:39 > 0:57:42they want to support their own arguments whilst ignoring the rest.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45But if we examine his life in total,
0:57:45 > 0:57:49we find that he left Arabia a better place than he found it.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51When faced with persecution,
0:57:51 > 0:57:54he chose to suffer rather than to retaliate.
0:57:54 > 0:57:59Although he fought many military battles, he turned his back on war when he could.
0:57:59 > 0:58:04His ultimate victory came through peace, not through conflict.
0:58:04 > 0:58:09And with that victory, he chose the path of reconciliation,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12rather than revenge.
0:58:12 > 0:58:18And, finally, in his farewell sermon, Muhammad left us with the most important lesson of all,
0:58:18 > 0:58:23that we are all equal, Arab and non-Arab, Muslim and non-Muslim.
0:58:23 > 0:58:26A universal message that is as relevant today
0:58:26 > 0:58:30as it was in 7th-century Arabia, and it seems to me
0:58:30 > 0:58:34this is the true legacy of the life of Muhammad.
0:58:46 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:49 > 0:58:51E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk