erupted when the leading tribes of Mecca fell into
a dispute when rebuilding the Kaaba about who
would place the sacred black stone in its southern
corner. He had the stone placed on a large cloth
and instructed representatives of the different fac-
tions to join in lifting the cloth and carrying it to
the shrine. Then he took the stone and placed it in
the corner of the temple himself, thereby resolv-
ing the crisis.
Muhammad’s career as a prophet did not begin
until later in life, around the year 610, when he was
about 40 years old. Accounts say that he would go
into the mountainous wilderness outside Mecca
on retreats. It was during a retreat to Hira, a cave
in a nearby mountain, that he had a vision of the
angel gabriel (the Quran indicates the vision was
of God himself) and received the first quranic rev-
elations, which commanded, “Recite in the name
of your lord who created, created humans from
a clot of congealed blood. Recite, and your lord
is most generous, who taught by the pen, taught
humans what they did not know” (Q 96:1–2).
Muhammad was reportedly profoundly shaken
by this encounter and sought reassurance from
Khadija and Waraqa ibn Nawfal, a male relative
of hers familiar with Jewish and Christian scrip-
tures. They convinced him that the revelation
was truly from God. When Muhammad made his
revelations public, he was suspected of being a
soothsayer inspired by spirits known as jinn. But
a message he received from God confirmed for
him that this was not the case (Q 52:29). Rather,
he was God’s prophet sent to remind people in
clear Arabic speech that they should worship God
alone, follow “the straight path,” and give up their
pagan ways. He also warned them that they would
be accountable on JUdgment day for their dis-
belief, at the same time promising that those who
had true faith and performed good deeds need
not fear—they would be rewarded in paradise. In
addition to their beliefs, therefore, Muhammad
warned his listeners that God would judge them
on moral grounds, especially for their treatment of
the poor and the weak. The early chapters of the
Quran that he communicated to his listeners were
delivered in a terse, energetic style, as if to signal
the urgency of his message. Later chapters were
more prosaic, featuring elaborated descriptions of
the aFterliFe, moral teachings, and stories about
former prophets and the fates of those who failed
to heed them. Many of these prophets’ stories were
drawn from the Jewish and Christian Bible, and
from post-biblical narratives that circulated orally
among the peoples of the Middle East. Although
the Quran tells us very little about Muhammad’s
life, these tales about earlier prophets, especially
abraham and moses, were indirect commentaries
on key moments in his own career—his encoun-
ters with God, his struggles against idolatry and
persecution, and his mission to win believers.
The early sources also maintain that Muham-
mad went on a miraculous journey from Mecca
into heaven one night, mounted on a winged
animal and guided by Gabriel. This legendary
event, known as the night JoUrney and ascent,
appears to be mentioned briefly in the Quran (Q
17:1), but the story was continually elaborated in
the following centuries along the lines of other-
world journeys mentioned in pre-Islamic Jewish
and Christian literatures, where the journeys were
undertaken by holy figures like Enoch and Paul.
According to Islamic accounts, Muhammad visited
different levels of heaven, where he met holy fig-
ures such as Adam, JesUs, John the baptist, Joseph
the son of Jacob, idris (probably Enoch), Moses,
and Abraham. Finally, after visions of paradise and
the fires of hell, he encounters God and receives
the instructions for performing the five daily
prayers. Muhammad then returned to Mecca.
The sources indicate that Muhammad’s message
was heeded by individuals from a cross-section of
Mecca’s society, starting with his own family—his
wife Khadija, paternal cousin ali ibn abi talib
(d. 661), and members of the clans of his mother
and father. When he began to preach in public, he
won followers like abU bakr (d. 634), a merchant,
and members of the most powerful branches of
the qUraysh tribe, such as Umar ibn al-khattabK 492 Muhammad