Muhammad's Teachings Meet with Rejection

Muhammad's Teachings Meet with Rejection

Around 613 C.E., Muhammad began to preach to other Meccans.  He taught that people must worship the one God, that all believers in God were equal, and that the rich should share their wealth.  He urged Meccans to care for orphans and the poor and to improve the status of women.

Multiple Choice

What should the rich do?

• Keep getting rich

• Share their wealth

Although some members of different clans, including Muhammad's, and social classes converted to Islam,  most Meccans rejected Muhammad's teachings.  Some Meccans did not want to share their wealth and feared that if Muhammad grew stronger, he would seize political power.  Merchants worried that their businesses would be hurt if people stopped coming to Mecca to trade while visiting the shrines of their gods.  Muhammad's monotheistic teachings also disturbed Arabs who did not want to give up their gods.

Multiple Choice

People...

• accepted Muhammads teachings

• rejected Muhammads teachings

To prevent the spread of the prophet's message, some Arabs called Muhammad a liar, and some persecuted his followers. Despite this treatment, the Muslims refused to give up their faith.  Muhammad was also protected by Abu Talib, the head of the Hashim clan, so anyone who harmed a member of the clan would face Abu Talib's vengeance.

As the number of Muslims increased, the powerful clans of Mecca started a boycott to pressure Muhammad's followers into giving up Islam. For three years, the Hashim clan suffered as Meccans refused to do business with them. Although they were threatened with starvation, the boycott failed to break their will. These difficult years, however, took their toll on Abu Talib and Khadijah. In 619, these trusted family members died.

While these losses were terrible for Muhammad, that same year, he reported a miraculous event. Muslim tradition tells the story of the Night Journey in which a winged horselike creature took Muhammad to Jerusalem, the city toward which early Muslims had directed their prayers. Jerusalem was already holy to Jews and Christians. According to Muslim teachings, Muhammad met with earlier prophets, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Then the creature guided Muhammad through the seven levels of heaven, and Muhammad met God. To this day, Jerusalem is a holy city for Muslims.

Multiple Choice

Why did Mecca's leaders try to prevent the spread of Muhammad's message?

• Mecca's leaders did not want to share their wealth

• they feared that if Muhammad became too powerful he would seize political power.

• all of the above

• none of the above

Multiple Choice

Why is Jerusalem a holy city for Muslims?

• Muhammad was born there

• Jerusalem is the site of Muhammad’s Night Journey

• This eight-sided domed monument, called the Dome of the Rock, marks where Muhammad is believed to have ended his Night Journey to Jerusalem and was led to heaven. Built in the 7th century C.E., it is one of the oldest surviving Islamic monuments.

  
  

  
  

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