Muhammad's Early Life • 33Even if the early Muslims had kept a low profile, they would have at¬
tracted the notice—and hostility—of Mecca's leaders. Often Muslims and
pagans were related to one another. Muhammad's message disrupted fam¬
ilies and threatened the established order. W. Montgomery Watt, whose
books on the life of the Prophet have won wide acceptance, summarized
his early message in five main points: (1) God is good and all-powerful;
(2) God will call all men and women back to Himself on the Last Day and
will judge and reward them on the basis of how they acted on earth;
(3) people should thank God, through worship, for the blessings He has
given the earth; (4) God expects people to share their worldly goods with
others needier than themselves; and (5) Muhammad is God's designated
messenger to his own people, the Arabs. Later Quranic revelations taught
that Muhammad was a prophet for all humanity.
Let us make a semantic point. During Muhammad's mission, those who
believed in him as God's messenger came to be known as Muslims. The
Arabic word muslim means "one who submits"—to God's will. The act of
submission is islam, which became the name of the religion. You may see
Mohammedanism used in place of Islam in old books, but Muslims detest
the term. Moslem is a variant spelling of Muslim. Please do not say "Ali be¬
came an Islam" when you mean "Ali became a Muslim." Do not say "Mecca
is an Islam city" for "Mecca is a Muslim (or Islamic) city." Some usages are
confusing. An "Islamic scholar" may be a learned Muslim, but the same
term is also used for a non-Muslim who has studied the religion. "Islamic
history" may mean the story of Islam's evolution as a religion or the com¬
munity of Muslims as distinct from non-Muslims. Let us make our terms
as clear as we can.
Meccan Opposition
The Meccans who rejected this message feared that Muhammad might try
to take away their wealth and power. What right did he have to attack busi¬
ness practices that they deemed necessary for their success? If God had de¬
cided to reveal himself then and there, why had he not chosen one of
Mecca's leaders? Why did the early Muslims pray facing Jerusalem? If the
pagan tribes accepted Islam, would they stop making their annual hajj
(pilgrimage) to the Ka'ba and Mecca's other shrines? We now know that
Muhammad respected the Ka'ba and never wanted to displace it as a cen¬
ter for pilgrims. Nor was he trying to undermine Mecca's economy. A few
accounts depict Muhammad as having been so eager to win the Meccan
leaders' acceptance that he even conceded that the three pagan goddesses,
al-Lat, al-Uzza, and al-Manat, were "sacred swans" worthy of veneration.