First Islamic state

{{Short description|State established in Medina in 622}} {{Infobox country | conventional_long_name = | native_name = | image_flag =  | image_map = First Islamic State under Prophet Muhammad, ca. 632.png | image_map_caption = The state of Medina (green) at the time of Muhammad's death, {{circa|632}}. It also shows the routes of early Muslim expeditions and conquests under Muhammad. | s1 = Rashidun Caliphate | p1 = Pre-Islamic Arabia | p2 = Sasanian Yemen | p3 = Mazun (Sasanian province) | p4 = Muhammad in Mecca | era = Late antiquity | event_start = Muhammad's migration to Medina | year_start = 622 | event1 = Constitution of Medina | date_event1 = 622 | event2 = Battle of Badr | date_event2 = 13 March 624 | event3 = Battle of Uhud | date_event3 = 23 March 625 | event4 = Battle of the Trench | date_event4 = 31 March – 14 April 627 | event5 = Treaty of Hudaybiyyah | date_event5 = March 628 | event6 = Conquest of Mecca | date_event6 = 31 December 629 – 10 January 630 | event_end = Succession to Muhammad | year_end = 632 | government_type = Islamic state | common_languages = Classical Arabic | title_leader = Leader | leader1 = Muhammad | year_leader1 = 622–632 | capital = Medina | religion = Islam (state) | currency = Denarius<br />Dirham | today = }}

The first Islamic state  was established by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the city of Medina in 622, under the Constitution of Medina. It represented the political unity of the Muslim ''Ummah'' (nation). After Muhammad's death, his companions known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Rashidun) founded the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), which began massive expansion and motivated subsequent Islamic states, such as the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) and Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258).

According to the traditional sirah account, Muhammad was born in Mecca, an important caravan trading center, around the year 570 CE,<ref name="Peters-1994-68">{{cite book|last=Peters|first=F. E.|year=1994|title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0OrCo4VyvGkC&pg=PA68|location=Albany, New York|publisher=SUNY Press|series=SUNY series in Near Eastern Studies|pages=68–75|isbn=9780791418758|access-date=4 November 2023}}</ref><ref>"The very first question a biographer has to ask, namely when the person was born, cannot be answered precisely for Muhammad. [...] Muhammad's biographers usually make him 40 or sometimes 43 years old at the time of his call to be a prophet, which [...] would put the year of his birth at about 570 A.D." F. Buhl & A.T. Welch, ''Encyclopaedia of Islam 2nd ed.'', "Muhammad", vol. 7, p. 361.</ref> in a family belonging to the clan of Quraysh, which was the chief tribe of Mecca and a dominant force in Hejaz region.<ref name="Robin287">{{cite book|author=Christian Julien Robin|title=Arabia and Ethiopia. In The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GKRybwb17WMC&pg=PA287|year=2012|location=Oxford and New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=287|isbn=978-0-19-533693-1}}</ref> When he was about 40 years old, he began receiving at mount Hira' what Muslims regard as divine revelations delivered through the Archangel Gabriel, which would later form the Quran. These inspirations urged him to proclaim a strict monotheistic faith, as the final expression of Biblical prophetism earlier codified in the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity; to warn his compatriots of the impending Judgement Day; and to castigate social injustices of his city.<ref name="Muhammad p. 363">"Key themes in these early recitations include the idea of the moral responsibility of man who was created by God and the idea of the judgment to take place on the day of resurrection. [...] Another major theme of Muhammad's early preaching, [... is that] there is a power greater than man's, and that the wise will acknowledge this power and cease their greed and suppression of the poor." F. Buhl & A.T. Welch, ''Encyclopaedia of Islam 2nd ed.'', "Muhammad", vol. 7, p. 363.</ref> Muhammad's message won over a handful of followers and was met with increasing resistance from Meccan notables.<ref name="Mecca. p. 364">"At first Muhammad met with no serious opposition [...] He was only gradually led to attack on principle the gods of Mecca. [...] Meccan merchants then discovered that a religious revolution might be dangerous to their fairs and their trade." F. Buhl & A.T. Welch, ''Encyclopaedia of Islam 2nd ed.'', "Muhammad", vol. 7, p. 364.</ref> He had been invited to Medina by city leaders to adjudicate disputes between clans from which the city suffered. Muhammad came to the city of Medina following the migration of his followers in what is known as the ''Hijrah'' in 622 and received positively by the city's Jewish and pagan residents as an arbitrator.<ref name="Cambridge39" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Religion |date=2005 |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |isbn=978-0-02-865733-2 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Lindsay |edition=2nd |location=Detroit |editor-last2=Eliade |editor-first2=Mircea |editor-last3=Adams |editor-first3=Charles J.}}</ref> As a result, he was accepted by popular consensus as the city's political leader, establishing the first Islamic state with his role.<ref>{{Cite web | last1=Islam | first1=History of |title=Prophet Muhammad in Medina {{!}} Advent of Islam |url=https://historyofislam.org/muslims-in-medina/#:~:text=It%20was%20the%20Arab%20population,only%20as%20a%20political%20leader. |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=History of Islam |language=en-CA}}</ref>

The first Islamic state was governed largely by the Constitution of Medina—in modern terminology—which dictated Muhammad's unification of Medina's tribes and the muhajirun (Muhammad's followers).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Khel |first=Muhammad Nazeer Kaka |date=1982 |title=Foundation of the Islamic State at Medina and Its Constitution |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20847209 |journal=Islamic Studies |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=61–88 |issn=0578-8072 |jstor=20847209}}</ref>

==Historicity== {{Further|Historicity of Muhammad|Historiography of early Islam}} Prophetic biography, known as ''sīra'', along with attributed records of the words, actions, and the silent approval of Muhammad, known as ''hadith'', survive in the historical works of writers from the second and third centuries of the Muslim era ({{circa|700}}−1000 CE),{{sfn|Donner|1998|p=125}}<ref name="Watt-Mecca-xi">William Montgomery Watt, ''Muhammad in Mecca'', 1953, Oxford University Press, p.xi</ref> and give a great deal of information on Muhammad.

The general Islamic view is that the Quran has been preserved from the beginning by both writing and memorization, and its testimony is considered beyond doubt. The earliest Muslim source of information for the life of Muhammad, the Quran, gives very little personal information and its historicity is debated.{{sfn|Nigosian|2004|p=6}} A group of researchers{{Who|date=September 2025}} explores the irregularities and repetitions in the Quranic text in a way that refutes the traditional claim that it was preserved by memorization alongside writing. According to them, an oral period shaped the Quran as a text and order, and the repetitions and irregularities mentioned were remnants of this period.<ref name=AGBRtT2014:1-4>Bannister, "Retelling the Tale", 2014: p.1-4</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=September 2025}}

Historicity can be based on sealed documents, orders, treaty texts, archaeological findings and internal and external correspondence of neighboring states or communities, as well as the discovery of Muhammad's genetic makeup and kinship through his personal belongings and physical remains (hair, beard, etc.) that are among his alleged legacies. Although the sources concerning the Sasanian realm of influence for the 6th century AD, which represents the time period before the beginning of Islam, are poor, the sources for the Byzantine provinces of Syria and Iraq in the same period, complemented by Syriac Christian writings, provide a relatively superior quality.{{sfn|Robinson|2010|pp=4-5}}

Most Islamic history was transmitted orally until after the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Vansina|1985}}</ref> At the same time the study of the earliest periods in Islamic history is made difficult by a lack of sources.{{sfn|Donner|2010|p=628}} The stories were written in the form of “founding conquest stories” based on nostalgia for the golden age then. Humphrey, quoted by Antoine Borrut, explains that the stories related to this period were created according to a pact-betrayal-redemption principle.<ref>Borrut A., "From Arabia to the Empire - conquest and caliphal construction in early Islam", in The Historians' Quran, vol. 1, 2019, pp. 249-289</ref>

There are a relatively small number of contemporaneous or near-contemporaneous non-Muslim sources which attest to the existence of Muhammad and are valuable both in themselves and for comparison with Muslim sources.{{sfn|Nigosian|2004|p=6}} Non-Islamic testimonies about Muhammad's life describe him as the leader of the Saracens,<ref>"Chapter 1. "A Prophet Has Appeared, Coming with the Saracens": Muhammad's Leadership during the Conquest of Palestine According to Seventh- and Eighth-Century Sources". The Death of a Prophet: The End of Muhammad's Life and the Beginnings of Islam, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, pp. 18-72. https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812205138.18</ref> believed to be descendants of Ishmael, lived in the regions Arabia Petrae and Arabia Deserta in the north. According to some sources, Muhammad is not a name but a title.<ref>Volker Popp, Die frühe Islamgeschichte nach inschriftlichen und numismatischen Zeugnissen, in: Karl-Heinz Ohlig (ed.), Die dunklen Anfänge. Neue Forschungen zur Entstehung und frühen Geschichte des Islam, Berlin 2005, pp. 16–123 (here p. 63 ff.)</ref>

==History== ===Background=== {{main|Hijrah}}

A delegation from Yathrib, consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans of Medina, invited Muhammad as a neutral outsider to serve as the chief arbitrator for the community.<ref name="Cambridge39"/><ref name="Esp">Esposito (1998), p. 17.</ref> There had been conflict in Yathrib between its Arab and Jewish tribes for around a hundred years prior.<ref name="Cambridge39"/> The recurring disagreements, fighting and killing over competing claims, especially after the Battle of Bu'ath in which all the clans were involved, rendered the tribal conceptions of blood-feud and eye for an eye justice unworkable without a neutral authority to adjudicate in disputed cases.<ref name="Cambridge39">''The Cambridge History of Islam'' (1977), p. 39</ref> The delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow-citizens to accept Muhammad into their community and to protect him as one of their own.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad">Alford Welch, ''Muhammad'', Encyclopedia of Islam</ref>

Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina until virtually all of his followers had left Mecca. Being alarmed at the departure of Muslims, according to the tradition, the Meccans plotted to assassinate him. He instructed his cousin and future son-in-law Ali to sleep in his bed to trick the assassins that he had stayed (and to fight them off in his stead) and secretly slipped away from the town.<ref>Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shiʻism, Yale University Press, p. 5</ref> By 622, Muhammad had emigrated to Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad"/> Following the emigration, the Meccans seized the properties of the Muslim emigrants in Mecca.<ref>Fazlur Rahman (1979), p. 21</ref>

Among the things Muhammad did in order to settle the longstanding grievances among the tribes of Medina was drafting a document known as the Constitution of Medina (date debated), establishing a kind of brotherhood among the eight Medinan tribes and Muslim emigrants from Mecca, which specified the rights and duties of all citizens and the relationship of the different communities in Medina (including that of the Muslim community to other communities specifically the Jews and other "Peoples of the Book").<ref name="Cambridge39"/><ref name="Esp"/> The community defined in the Constitution of Medina, ''umma'', had a religious outlook but was also shaped by the practical considerations and substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad"/>

====Relationship with followers of Abrahamic religions==== The first group of pagan converts to Islam in Medina were the clans who had not produced great leaders for themselves but had suffered from warlike leaders from other clans. This was followed by the general acceptance of Islam by the pagan population of Medina, apart from some exceptions. This was, according to Ibn Ishaq, influenced by the conversion to Islam of Sa'd ibn Mua'dh, one of the prominent leaders in Medina.

In the course of Muhammad proselytizing in Mecca, he viewed Christians and Jews (both of whom he referred to as "People of the Book") as natural allies, part of the Abrahamic religions, sharing the core principles of his teachings, and anticipated their acceptance and support. Muslims, like Jews, were at that time praying towards Jerusalem. In the Constitution of Medina, Muhammad demanded the Jews' political loyalty in return for religious and cultural autonomy in many treaties.<ref>See: * Esposito (1998), p.17 * Neusner (2003), p.153</ref> {{Muhammad}}

The Jewish clans however did not obey these treaties because of a feud with the Muslims though in the course of time there were a few converts from them.<ref name="Watt 1956, p. 175, p. 177">Watt (1956), p. 175, p. 177.</ref> After his migration to Medina, Muhammad's attitude towards Christians and Jews changed "because of experience of treachery". Norman Stillman states:<ref>Norman Stillman, ''Yahud'', Encyclopedia of Islam</ref>

{{Blockquote|During this fateful time, fraught with tension after the Hijra [migration to Medina], when Muhammad encountered contradiction, ridicule and rejection from the Jewish scholars in Medina, he came to adopt a radically more negative view of the people of the Book who had received earlier scriptures. This attitude was already evolving in the third Meccan period as the Prophet became more aware of the antipathy between Jews and Christians and the disagreements and strife amongst members of the same religion. The Qur'an at this time states that it will "relate [correctly] to the Children of Israel most of that about which they differ" {{CiteQuran Ayah|27|76}}.}}

===Internal disputes=== {{further|Early Muslim–Meccan conflict}} {{Campaignbox Campaigns of Muhammad}} thumb|A map of the Badr campaign Economically uprooted by their Meccan persecutors, the Muslim migrants turned to raiding Meccan caravans to respond to their persecution and to provide sustenance for their Muslim families, thus initiating armed conflict between the Muslims and the pagan Quraysh of Mecca.<ref name="Lewisw">Lewis, "The Arabs in History," 2003, p. 44.</ref><ref>Montgomery Watt, ''Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman,'' Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 105.</ref> Muhammad delivered Qur'anic verses permitting the Muslims, "''those who have been expelled from their homes''", to fight the Meccans in opposition to persecution (see Qur'an Sura 22 (Al-Hajj) Ayat 39-40<ref>{{CiteQuran Ayah|22|39-40|b=y}}</ref>).<ref>John Kelsay, Islam and War: A Study in Comparative Ethics, p. 21</ref> These attacks provoked and pressured Mecca by interfering with trade, and allowed the Muslims to acquire wealth, power and prestige while working toward their ultimate goal of inducing Mecca's submission to the new faith.<ref>Watt, ''Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman,'' Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 105, 107</ref><ref name="Lewis2">Bernard Lewis (1993), p. 41.</ref>

In March 624, Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Muslims set an ambush for the Meccans at Badr.<ref>Rodinson (2002), p. 164.</ref> Aware of the plan, the Meccan caravan eluded the Muslims. Meanwhile, a force from Mecca was sent to protect the caravan. The force did not return home upon hearing that the caravan was safe. The battle of Badr began in March 624.<ref>The Cambridge History of Islam, p. 45</ref> Though outnumbered more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom; only fourteen Muslims died. They had also succeeded in killing many of the Meccan leaders, including Abu Jahl.<ref>Glubb (2002), pp. 179–186.</ref> Muhammad himself did not fight, directing the battle from a nearby hut alongside Abu Bakr.<ref>Watt (1961), pp. 122–3.</ref> In the weeks following the battle, Meccans visited Medina in order to ransom captives from Badr. Many of these had belonged to wealthy families, and were likely ransomed for a considerable sum. Those captives who were not sufficiently influential or wealthy were usually freed without ransom. Muhammad's decision was that those prisoners who refused to end their persecution of Muslims and were wealthy but did not ransom themselves should be killed.<ref name="W123">Watt (1961), p. 123.</ref><ref name = "Rodinson 168-9">Rodinson(2002), pp. 168–9.</ref> Muhammad ordered the immediate execution of two Quraysh men without entertaining offers for their release.<ref name = "Rodinson 168-9" /> Both men, which included Uqba ibn Abu Mu'ayt, had personally attempted to kill Muhammad in Mecca.<ref name = "W123" /> The raiders had won a lot of treasure, and the battle helped to stabilize the Medinan community.<ref>Lewis, "The Arabs in History," p. 44.</ref> Muhammad and his followers saw in the victory a confirmation of their faith and a prime importance in the affairs of Medina. Those remaining pagans in Medina were very bitter about the advance of Islam. In particular Asma bint Marwan and Abu 'Afak had composed verses insulting some of the Muslims and thereby violated the Constitution of Medina to which they belonged. These two were assassinated and Muhammad did not disapprove of it. No one dared to take vengeance on them, and some of the members of the clan of Asma bint Marwan who had previously converted to Islam in secret, now professed openly. This marked an end to the overt opposition to Muhammad among the pagans in Medina.<ref>Watt (1956), p. 179.</ref>

Muhammad expelled from Medina the Banu Qaynuqa, one of the three main Jewish tribes.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad"/> Jewish opposition "may well have been for political as well as religious reasons".<ref>Endress (2003), p. 29</ref> On religious grounds, the Jews were skeptical of the possibility of a non-Jewish prophet,<ref name="Cambridge4344">''The Cambridge History of Islam'' (1977), pp. 43–44</ref> and also had concerns about possible incompatibilities between the Qur'an and their own scriptures.<ref name="Cambridge4344"/><ref name="Cohen">Cohen (1995), p. 23</ref> The Qur'an's response regarding the possibility of a non-Jew being a prophet was that Abraham was not a Jew. The Qur'an also stated that it was "restoring the pure monotheism of Abraham which had been corrupted in various, clearly specified, ways by Jews and Christians".<ref name="Cambridge4344"/> According to Francis Edward Peters, "The Jews also began secretly to connive with Muhammad's enemies in Mecca to overthrow him."<ref name="Peters194">Francis Edward Peters (2003), p. 194.</ref>

Following the battle of Badr, Muhammad also made mutual-aid alliances with a number of Bedouin tribes to protect his community from attacks from the northern part of Hejaz.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad"/>

====Conflicts with the Quraish==== {{see also|Battle of Uhud}} The attack at Badr committed Muhammad to total war with Meccans, who were now eager to avenge their defeat. To maintain their economic prosperity, the Meccans needed to restore their prestige, which had been lost at Badr.<ref>Watt (1961), p. 132.</ref> The Meccans sent out a small party for a raid on Medina to restore confidence and reconnoitre. The party retreated immediately after a surprise and speedy attack but with minor damages; there was no combat.<ref>Watt (1964), pp. 124–125</ref> In the ensuing months, Muhammad led expeditions on tribes allied with Mecca and sent out a raid on a Meccan caravan.<ref>Watt (1961), p. 134</ref> Abu Sufyan ibn Harb subsequently gathered an army of three thousand men and set out for an attack on Medina.<ref name = "Lewis 1960 45">Lewis (1960), p. 45.</ref> They were accompanied by some prominent women of Mecca, such as Hind bint Utbah, Abu Sufyan's wife, who had lost family members at Badr. These women provided encouragement in keeping with Bedouin custom, calling out the names of the dead at Badr.<ref>Rodinson (2002), pp. 177, 180.</ref>

A scout alerted Muhammad of the Meccan army's presence and numbers a day later. The next morning, at the Muslim conference of war, there was dispute over how best to repel the Meccans. Muhammad and many of the senior figures suggested that it would be safer to fight within Medina and take advantage of its heavily fortified strongholds. Younger Muslims argued that the Meccans were destroying their crops, and that huddling in the strongholds would destroy Muslim prestige. Muhammad eventually conceded to the wishes of the latter, and readied the Muslim force for battle. Thus, Muhammad led his force outside to the mountain of Uhud (where the Meccans had camped) and fought the Battle of Uhud on March 23.<ref>"Uhud", ''Encyclopedia of Islam''.</ref><ref>Watt (1964) p. 137</ref>

Although the Muslim army had the best of the early encounters, indiscipline on the part of tactically placed archers led to a tactical defeat for the Muslim army, with 75 Muslims killed. However, the Meccans failed to achieve their goal of destroying the Muslims completely.<ref>Watt (1974) p. 137</ref> The Meccans did not occupy the town and withdrew to Mecca, since they were unable to attack Muhammad's position again, owing to military losses, low morale and the possibility of Muslim resistance in the town. There was also hope that Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy leading a group of Muslims in Medina could be won over by diplomacy.<ref>Watt (1974) p. 141</ref> Following the defeat, Muhammad's detractors in Medina said that if the victory at Badr was proof of the genuineness of his mission, then the defeat at Uhud was proof that his mission was not genuine.<ref>Rodinson (2002), p. 183.</ref> Muhammad subsequently delivered Qur'anic verses 133-135 and 160-162 from the Al-i-Imran sura<ref>{{CiteQuran Ayah|3|133-135|b=y}}, {{CiteQuran Ayah|3|160-162|b=y}}</ref> indicating that the loss, however, was partly a punishment for disobedience and partly a test for steadfastness.<ref>Watt (1964) p. 144.</ref>

===The rousing of the nomads=== In the battle of Uhud, the Meccans had collected all the available men from the Quraysh and the neighboring tribes friendly to them but had not succeeded in destroying the Muslim community. In order to raise a more powerful army, Abu Sufyan attracted the support of the great nomadic tribes to the north and east of Medina, using propaganda about Muhammad's weakness, promises of treasure, memories of the prestige of Quraysh and straight bribes.<ref name = "Watt Medina 30">Watt (1956), p. 30.</ref>

Muhammad's policy in the next two years after the battle of Uhud was to prevent as best he could the formation of alliances against him. Whenever alliances of tribesmen against Medina were formed, he sent out an expedition to break it up.<ref name = "Watt Medina 30" /> When Muhammad heard of men massing with hostile intentions against Medina, he reacted with severity.<ref>Watt (1956), p. 34</ref> One example is the assassination of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, a member of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir who had gone to Mecca and written poems that had helped rouse the Meccans' grief, anger and desire for revenge after the battle of Badr (see the main article for other reasons for killing of Ka'b given in the historiographical sources).<ref>Watt (1956), p. 18</ref> Around a year later, Muhammad expelled the Jewish Banu Nadir from Medina.<ref>Watt (1956), pp. 220–221</ref>

Muhammad's attempts to prevent formation of confederation against him were not successful, although he was able to augment his own forces and keep many tribes from joining the confederation.<ref>Watt (1956), p. 35</ref>

=== Siege of Medina === {{main|Battle of the Trench}}

Abu Sufyan, the military leader of the Quraysh, with the help of Banu Nadir, had mustered a force numbering 10,000 men. Muhammad was able to prepare a force of about 3,000 men. He had however adopted a new form of defense, unknown in Arabia at that time: Muslims had dug trenches wherever Medina lay open to cavalry attack. The idea is credited to a Persian convert to Islam, Salman. The siege of Medina began on 31 March 627 and lasted for two weeks.<ref>Watt (1956), p. 36, 37</ref> Abu Sufyan's troops were unprepared for the fortifications they were confronted with, and after an ineffectual siege, the coalition decided to go home.<ref>Rodinson (2002), pp. 209–211.</ref> The Qur'an discusses this battle in verses 9-27 of sura 33, Al-Ahzab.<ref>{{CiteQuran Ayah|33|9-27|b=y}}</ref><ref name="Rubin">Uri Rubin, Quraysh, Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an</ref> [[File:Battle of the Trench map.gif|thumb|Battle of Khandaq (Battle of the Trench)]] During the Battle of the Trench, the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza who were located at the south of Medina were charged with treachery. After the retreat of the coalition, Muslims besieged Banu Qurayza, the remaining major Jewish tribe in Medina. The Banu Qurayza surrendered and all the men, apart from a few who converted to Islam, were beheaded, while all the women and children were enslaved.<ref>Peterson, Muhammad: the prophet of God, p. 126</ref><ref>Tariq Ramadan, In the Footsteps of the Prophet, Oxford University Press, p. 141</ref> In dealing with Muhammad's treatment of the Jews of Medina, aside from political explanations, Arab historians and biographers have explained it as "the punishment of the Medina Jews, who were invited to convert and refused, perfectly exemplify the Quran's tales of what happened to those who rejected the prophets of old."<ref name="Peters77">Francis Edward Peters (2003), p. 77</ref> F.E. Peters, a western scholar of Islam, states that Muhammad's treatment of Jews of Medina was essentially political being prompted by what Muhammad read as treasonous and not some transgression of the law of God.<ref name="Peters194"/> Peters adds that Muhammad was possibly emboldened by his military successes and also wanted to push his advantage. Economical motivations according to Peters also existed since the poorness of the Meccan migrants was a source of concern for Muhammad.<ref name="Peters78">F.E.Peters (2003), pp. 76–8.</ref> Peters argues that Muhammad's treatment of the Jews of Medina was "quite extraordinary", "matched by nothing in the Qur'an", and is "quite at odds with Muhammad's treatment of the Jews he encountered outside Medina."<ref name="Peters194"/> According to Welch, Muhammad's treatment of the three major Jewish tribes brought Muhammad closer to his goal of organizing a community strictly on a religious basis. He adds that some Jews from other families were, however, allowed to remain in Medina.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad"/>

In the siege of Medina, the Meccans had exerted their utmost strength towards the destruction of the Muslim community. Their failure resulted in a significant loss of prestige; their trade with Syria was gone.<ref>Watt (1956), p. 39</ref> Following the battle of trench, Muhammad made two expeditions to the north which ended without any fighting.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad"/> While returning from one of these two expeditions (or some years earlier according to other early accounts), an accusation of adultery was made against Aisha, Muhammad's wife. Aisha was exonerated from the accusations when Muhammad announced that he had received a revelation, verse 4 in the An-Nur sura,<ref>{{CiteQuran Ayah|24|4|b=y}}</ref> confirming Aisha's innocence and directing that charges of adultery be supported by four eyewitnesses.<ref name = "EIA" >{{cite encyclopedia | author= Watt, M | title=Aisha bint Abi Bakr | encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam Online |editor1=P.J. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs | publisher= Brill Academic Publishers | issn=1573-3912}}</ref>

===Truce of Hudaybiyya=== {{main|Treaty of Hudaybiyyah}}

Although Qur'anic verses had been received from God commanding the Hajj,<ref>{{CiteQuran Ayah|2|196-210|b=y}}</ref> the Muslims had not performed it due to the enmity of the Quraysh. In the month of Shawwal 628, Muhammad ordered his followers to obtain sacrificial animals and to make preparations for a pilgrimage (''umrah'') to Mecca, saying that God had promised him the fulfillment of this goal in a vision where he was shaving his head after the completion of the Hajj.<ref>Lings (1987), p. 249</ref> According to Lewis, Muhammad felt strong enough to attempt an attack on Mecca, but on the way it became clear that the attempt was premature and the expedition was converted into a peaceful pilgrimage.<ref name="Lewis 2002, p. 42">Lewis (2002), p. 42.</ref> Andrae disagrees, writing that the Muslim state of ''ihram'' (which restricted their freedom of action) and the paucity of arms carried indicated that the pilgrimage was always intended to be pacific. Most Islamic scholars agree with Andrae's view.<ref>Andrae; Menzel (1960) p. 156; See also: Watt (1964) p. 183</ref> Upon hearing of the approaching 1,400 Muslims, the Quraysh sent out a force of 200 cavalry to halt them. Muhammad evaded them by taking a more difficult route, thereby reaching al-Hudaybiyya, just outside Mecca.<ref name = "Hudaybiya">"al-Hudaybiya", Encyclopedia of Islam</ref> According to Watt, although Muhammad's decision to make the pilgrimage was based on his dream, he was at the same time demonstrating to the pagan Meccans that Islam does not threaten the prestige of their sanctuary, and that Islam was an Arabian religion.<ref>Watt, W. Montgomery. "al- Hudaybiya or al-Hudaybiyya." Encyclopaedia of Islam.</ref>

Negotiations commenced with emissaries going to and from Mecca. While these continued, rumors spread that one of the Muslim negotiators, Uthman ibn Affan, had been killed by the Quraysh. Muhammad responded by calling upon the pilgrims to make a pledge not to flee (or to stick with Muhammad, whatever decision he made) if the situation descended into war with Mecca. This pledge became known as the "Pledge of Good Pleasure" ({{langx|ar|بيعة الرضوان|rtl=yes}}, {{lang|ar-Latn|bay'at al-ridhwān}}) or the "Pledge of the Tree." News of Uthman's safety, however, allowed for negotiations to continue, and the treaty of Hudaybiyyah, scheduled to last ten years was eventually signed between the Muslims and the Quraysh.<ref name="Lewis 2002, p. 42"/><ref name = "Hudaybiya" /> The main points of treaty were the following: # The two parties and their allies should desist from hostilities against each other.<ref name=treaty_terms>Lings (1987), p. 253</ref> # Muhammad, should not perform Hajj this year but in the next year, Mecca will be evacuated for three days for Muslims to perform Hajj.<ref name="Watt-Hudaybiya">Watt, ''al- Ḥudaybiya or al-Hudaybiyya'', Encyclopaedia of Islam</ref> # Muhammad should send back any Meccan who had gone to Medina without the permission of his or her protector (according to William Montgomery Watt, this presumably refers to minors or women).<ref name="Watt-Hudaybiya"/> # It was allowed for both Muhammad and the Quraysh to enter into alliance with others.<ref name="Watt-Hudaybiya"/>

Many Muslims were not satisfied with the terms of the treaty. However, the Qur'anic sura Al-Fath (The Victory)<ref>{{CiteQuran Ayah|48|1-29|b=y}}</ref> assured the Muslims that the expedition from which they were now returning must be considered a victorious one.<ref>Lings (1987), p. 255</ref> It was only later that Muhammad's followers would realise the benefit behind this treaty. These benefits, according to Welch, included the inducing of the Meccans to recognise Muhammad as an equal; a cessation of military activity posing well for the future; and gaining the admiration of Meccans who were impressed by the incorporation of the pilgrimage rituals.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad"/>

After signing the truce, Muhammad made an expedition against the Jewish oasis of Khaybar. The explanation given by western scholars of Islam for this attack ranges from the presence of the Banu Nadir in Khaybar, who were inciting hostilities along with neighboring Arab tribes against Muhammad, to deflecting from what appeared to some Muslims as the inconclusive result of the truce of Hudaybiyya, increasing Muhammad's prestige among his followers and capturing booty.<ref name = "Lewis 1960 45" /><ref>Veccia Vaglieri, L. "Khaybar", Encyclopaedia of Islam</ref> According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad also sent letters to many rulers of the world, asking them to convert to Islam (the exact date are given variously in the sources).<ref name="EoI-Muhammad"/><ref name=King_Lings>Lings (1987), p. 260</ref><ref name=Kings_Khan>Khan (1998), pp. 250–251</ref> Hence he sent messengers (with letters) to Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire (the eastern Roman Empire), Khosrau of Persia, the chief of Yemen and to some others.<ref name=King_Lings/><ref name=Kings_Khan/> Most critical scholars doubt this tradition, however.<ref>Gabriel Said Reynolds, ''The Emergence of Islam'' (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), p. 49.</ref> In the years following the truce of Hudaybiyya, Muhammad sent his forces against the Arabs of Mu'tah on Byzantine soil in Transjordania since according to the tradition, they had murdered Muhammad's envoy. Muslims were defeated in this battle.<ref>F. Buhl, ''Muta'', Encyclopedia of Islam</ref>

===Conquest of Mecca and subsequent military expeditions=== [[Image:Siyer-i Nebi 298a.jpg|thumb|Muhammad and the ''sahaba'' advancing on Mecca. The angels Gabriel, Michael, Israfil and Azrael, are also in the painting.]]{{Main|Conquest of Mecca|Muhammad after the occupation of Mecca}}

In Ramadan 8 AH (around October 629), Muhammad left for Mecca with approximately 10,000 of his ''sahaba'' aiming to capture the city from the Quraysh following a violation of the terms of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah by the Banu Bakr, who were allies of the Quraysh, after they attacked the Banū Khuzaʽah, allies of the Muslims. The Treaty had called for a 10-year truce and ceasefire between the Muslims, the Quraysh and their respective allies. Muhammad arrived at Mecca a week from his departure, dividing the army into four regiments, each entering Mecca from one point of entry. The conquest was largely bloodless and the Quraysh eventually surrendered without putting up a fight.<ref name="khan_274_275">Khan (1998), pp. 274–5.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Mubarakpuri|first=Safi-ur-Rahman|title=The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet|date=2008|publisher=Darussalam|isbn=978-1-59144-070-3|edition=2nd rev.|location=Riyadh|oclc=1148803557}}</ref><ref>Watt (1956), p. 66.</ref>

Following the Conquest of Mecca, Muhammad was informed of a military threat from the confederate tribes of Hawazin who were readying an army twice as strong as Muhammad and the ''sahaba''. They were joined by the Thaqif inhabiting in the city of Ta’if who had adopted an anti-Meccan policy due to the decline of the prestige of Meccans. Both tribes were subsequently defeated in the Battle of Hunayn.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad" /><ref>Watt, ''Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman'', Oxford University Press, p.207</ref> Muhammad subsequently launched an expedition against the Byzantine Empire and their Ghassanid allies in the north in the Expedition of Tabuk. Although Muhammad did not make contact with hostile forces at Tabuk, he received the submission of some of the local chiefs of the region.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad" /><ref>M.A. al-Bakhit, ''Tabuk'', Encyclopedia of Islam</ref> Following this expedition, the Banu Thaqif and other Bedouins submitted to Muhammad in order to be safe from attack and to benefit from the bounty of the wars.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad" />

Following the Conquest of Mecca and these events, Muhammad would perform the Farewell Pilgrimage and return to Medina, where he would fall ill for several days with a headache and weakness. He died on Monday, June 8, 632, in the city, being buried where the home of his wife Aisha had been. It has since been modified several times and is now enclosed under the Green Dome within Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.<ref name="EoI-Muhammad" /><ref>{{cite journal|journal = Signs|author = Leila Ahmed|title = Women and the Advent of Islam|volume = 11|date = Summer 1986|pages = 665–91 (686)|doi = 10.1086/494271|issue = 4|issn = 0097-9740|jstor=3174138| s2cid=144943406 }}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal |Islam | History}} *''Muhammad at Medina'', a book *Timeline of Medina *Timeline of the history of Islam (7th century)

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==Sources== * {{Cite book |last=Donner |first=Fred McGraw |title=Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing |publisher=Darwin Press, Incorporated |isbn=0878501274 |date=May 1998}} * {{Cite book |last=Donner |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eyrnEAAAQBAJ |title=Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam |date=2010-09-01 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-50375-5 |language=en}} *{{cite book|last=Nigosian|first=Solomon Alexander|title=Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices|date=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=my7hnALd_NkC&pg=PA6|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-21627-4}} *{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Robinson |first=Chase F. |entry=Introduction / The rise of Islam, 600 705 |title=The New Cambridge History of Islam |pages=1–15, 173–225 |volume=1: The Formation of the Islamic World, Sixth to Eleventh Centuries |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-83823-8 |editor-last=Robinson |editor-first=Chase F.}} *{{Cite book |last=Vansina |first=Jan |title=Oral Tradition as History |publisher=James Currey Publishers |year=1985 |isbn=978-0852550076}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Muhammad in Medina Category:Life of Muhammad Category:622 establishments Category:630s disestablishments Category:Hijrah Category:Former theocracies Category:States and territories disestablished in the 7th century