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RAGEH OMAAR:
1,400 years ago,

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a man born here
in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia,

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changed the course
of world history.

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JOHN ADAIR:
If you had to rate

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the top people in the history
of the world as leaders,

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the name of Muhammad
would be in the top three.

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AJMAL MASROOR:
Here we have a man
who began a mission.

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He gave light to the world.

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OMAAR:
For one and a half
billion Muslims,

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he is the last and greatest
of that long line of prophets

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who have brought the
word of God to humanity.

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KAREN ARMSTRONG:
He was not just
a spiritual genius,

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but he also had political
gifts of a very high order.

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OMAAR:
He laid the foundations

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for a religion, Islam,
that after his death

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developed
a culture and civilization

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that spread around
the world and inspired

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some of the most
beautiful architecture.

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But today Islam is at
the very heart of the conflict

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that defines our world.

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And Muhammad's name

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is associated with some of the
most appalling acts of terrorism

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the world has ever seen.

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ROBERT SPENCER:
Osama bin Laden and others

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who have committed
acts of Jihad terrorism

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consistently invoke the Qur'an
and Muhammad's example

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to justify what they are doing.

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Obedience to one true God Allah,

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and follow in the footsteps
of the final prophet

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and messenger, Muhammad.

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Outside of the Islamic world,

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almost nothing is
known about Muhammad,

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whereas for Muslims
he is the ultimate role model

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and his life is
known in every detail.

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So who was he?

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What was his message?

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And why are so many people,
Muslims and non-Muslims,

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divided over his legacy?

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In this groundbreaking series,

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I will explore the many
complexities of his life story

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about the revelations he is said
to have received from God,

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about his many wives,

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about his relations
with the Jews of Arabia,

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about his use of war and peace

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and about the laws
that he enacted

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when he set up his own state.

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I want to examine his life
and times and understand

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how they still
affect today's world

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and whether they are
a force for good or evil.

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I want to uncover the real
Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam,

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peace be upon him.

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RAGEH OMAAR:
Muhammad was born
in Mecca in the year 570

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into the ruling tribe
of the city, the Quraysh.

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According to Muslim tradition,
at the age of 40,

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Muhammad received
a revelation from God,

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the first of many that would
later become the Qur'an,

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the sacred text of Islam.

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He preached a new message
that Allah was the one God,

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that he, Muhammad,
was his messenger,

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and that all human beings

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would account for their behavior
on the day of judgment.

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He slowly built up
a small band of followers,

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from his family, friends,

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and the marginalized
sections of Meccan society.

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But it was not a message
that was always welcome.

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Right from the start,

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Muhammad's new message brought
him into conflict

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with the rulers of Mecca,
his own tribe, the Quraysh,

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who saw him as
a direct threat

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to their control of the city.

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By the time of Muhammad's birth,
the Kaaba had long been a shrine

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drawing people to
the town of Mecca,

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the center of pagan cults
for the people of Arabia.

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For 13 years, Muhammad
and his small band of followers

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endured increasingly
brutal persecution

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at the hands of the Quraysh

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until they were
forced to leave Mecca,

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and begin a new life
in the city of Medina.

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Muhammad's newfound power
at the head

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of Medina's Jewish
and pagan tribes

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threatened the Quraysh's status
as Arabia's pre-eminent tribe.

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Several times they tried
to crush Muhammad

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and his followers by force.

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In the final battle,
it's alleged

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that one of Medina's Jewish
tribes switched allegiances,

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and in retaliation, all
the Jewish men of that tribe

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were massacred on
charge of treason.

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It was one of the most
controversial incidents

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in Muhammad's life.

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With the ending of
the siege of Medina,

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Muhammad had overcome
the most powerful Arab army

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ever assembled against him
and once again he had humiliated

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his Quraysh opponents.

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He had seen off all local
opposition to his rule,

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and what's more he
had ensured the survival

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of the Muslim community
here in Medina.

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He was by now arguably the most
powerful man in all of Arabia.

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The revelations
Muhammad received

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would go on to form the
Muslim holy book, the Qur'an.

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They came to him
throughout his life,

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and every time they occurred,
it was a terrifying

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and exhausting experience.

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He frequently had to struggle
to make sense of them.

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Some came as words,
others as visions

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that needed intense
concentration

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to understand their meaning.

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ARMSTRONG:
He would always say that, "Never
once did I receive a revelation

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without feeling that my soul
had been torn from my body."

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He'd go pale and he'd
sweat even on a cold day.

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It's an effort to speak
the word of God.

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BARNABY ROGERSON:
For me, the Prophet has got

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that sort of terrifying,
brief access to divine power

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and he's using that
consciousness

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that sort of flooded into his
body and creating the words.

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TOM HOLLAND:
Muhammad is born into an age
where it is taken for granted

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that the veil which obscures
the dimension of the heavenly,

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the dimension of the angelic,
can be penetrated

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by men of peculiar
vision or holiness,

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and this is taken for granted
by Christian, by Jewish,

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by Zoastrian holy men.

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And it is why people are able
to accept his assurance

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that he is receiving
revelations from God.

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It is why they are
able to accept it.

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OMAAR:
This kind of
spiritual experience

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is not normally
associated with Islam.

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One Muslim group
though, the Sufis,

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claim to try to replicate
Muhammad's mystical experience

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of God through intense prayer,

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the chanting of God's name, and
singing verses from the Qur'an.

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(translator)
When prophet Muhammad
was saying his prayers

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while he was mediating
and communicating with God,

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he used to hear the divine
instructions and then act.

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That's why in
Sufism and in Islam,

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we also try and
come close to God.

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Through our rituals,

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we try to be one with him.

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Prophet Muhammad is
an example of this.

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Whatever he did
during his prayers,

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or during his daily life,

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is there for us to take example.

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OMAAR:
The Sufis have developed

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their own elaborate
rituals and techniques,

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and here in Turkey
they even dance.

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Although there is no
evidence to suggest that

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Muhammad followed these rituals,
the Sufis see him

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as an inspiration for their
spiritual experience.

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(praying)

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SAJJAD RIZVI:
The Prophet as a perfect human--
that's very much a part of

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both theological and Sufi
traditions in Islam.

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His perfection lies in the fact

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that it is only through
him that one can know God.

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(chanting)

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OMAAR:
At the center of the ceremony is
the practice of Zhikr,

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or the repeated lyrical
chanting of God's name,

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to bring people closer to God.

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The chanting is followed

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by a particularly
Turkish Sufi practice

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to induce a trance-like
condition through dance.

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(singing and chanting)

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ZIAUDDIN SARDAR:
Every religion generates

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its own diversity
of spiritual practices.

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Islam is no exception.

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We have number of different
spiritual traditions

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of which Sufism is but one.

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Now the Prophet prayed,
he meditated, he contemplated,

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but he also said,
"Pray, but tie your camel."

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That means praying itself is not
good enough,

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you have to do good,

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you have to create a healthy,
better society at the same time.

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Anybody who follows this
spiritual tradition

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and does good-- and the
emphasis on doing good

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is very, very important--

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is in fact following
on the way of Muhammad.

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OMAAR:
But Muhammad's spiritual
experiences were firmly rooted

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in the practical
necessities of life.

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He was not someone who
retired from the world,

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but worked continually
to reform Arabian society.

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Instead of simply
waiting for paradise

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at the end of the world,

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Muhammad tried to create
his own ideal society

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in his own lifetime.

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By 627 A.D., Muhammad had become
a powerful ruler in Medina,

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but by all accounts
in his personal habits

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and way of life,
he remained modest.

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He continued to live
next to his small mosque

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that served both
as a place of worship

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and as center for his work.

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Everyone was free to enter
and speak with him--

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Jews, Christians,
non-believers, even slaves.

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SARDAR:
If you read the accounts,

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it is clear that he is
a very charismatic figure.

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He is a person that
numerous people came for advice,

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constantly came for advice,

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But it was not just that he was
dispensing sage advice,

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he was always
listening to people.

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He comes out as a
very humane and warm person.

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I think Muhammad
does come across

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in many different contexts
as being quite gentle,

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quite reluctant to find fault.

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He seemed a very fair
individual.

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OMAAR:
Muslim sources talk of his
simple taste in clothes

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and his dislike of
gold or silk or other luxuries.

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He did not care for
possessions and gave much away

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in charity or as gifts.

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ADAIR:
I haven't personally
detected any sign

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that Muhammad was
guided by power.

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I think his integrity
remained intact.

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He was scrupulous over any
corruption or financial issues.

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I think he stood out as a kind
of exemplary human being

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who could combine
that moral vision

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with the requirements of being

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a leader of
a growing organization.

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ROGERSON:
He is a searcher--

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a searcher for truth
and understanding

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throughout his life.

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And he's a man who used
the magic of his own language.

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He used the genius
of the Arab people,

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infused it with
something worldwide,

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to make something that
humankind could understand.

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OMAAR:
Muhammad received revelations
throughout his life,

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but between Mecca and Medina,

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their content changed
significantly.

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Whereas in Mecca,

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the revelations dealt
with inward principles

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of spirituality and faith,

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here in Medina the revelations
would be far more practical.

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They provided a blueprint
for how one should live life

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on a day-to-day basis
as a Muslim--

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from the social
to the political.

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A blueprint that many Muslims
try to follow today.

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BENNISON:
Whilst in Mecca he is very much
a religious preacher,

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he talks much more
about issues such as

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the end of time,
you know, it's about morality,

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about justice
and these kind of things,

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but once he moves to Medina,
he is the functioning leader

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of a community.

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He therefore has to
get much more involved

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in the day-to-day running
of a community;

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how people interact
with each other;

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how people manage inheritance;

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how people greet
each other even.

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OMAAR:
The revelations
could be quite explicit--

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all Muslims should pay a tax
to support the sick and needy.

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Or they could be general
guidelines

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about how to treat
others to promote justice

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00:12:40,527 --> 00:12:42,329
and human dignity.

247
00:12:42,362 --> 00:12:44,932
Muhammad used these principles
in deciding matters

248
00:12:44,965 --> 00:12:47,534
brought to him as the ruler
of Medina.

249
00:12:47,567 --> 00:12:50,637
Over time, a moral code was
revealed to Muhammad

250
00:12:50,670 --> 00:12:55,008
based on ideas of
social justice for all.

251
00:12:55,042 --> 00:12:56,043
In the Qur'an,
it was called Sharia,

252
00:12:56,076 --> 00:12:58,678
or "the way to know God."

253
00:12:58,711 --> 00:13:01,414
TARIQ RAMADAN:
We have three verses

254
00:13:01,448 --> 00:13:05,886
where the concept is
revealed in one way or another,

255
00:13:05,919 --> 00:13:07,720
in one form or another.

256
00:13:07,754 --> 00:13:10,323
And, in fact,
what was understood

257
00:13:10,357 --> 00:13:13,126
by the Prophet
and his companions

258
00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:15,062
is that what they were
trying to implement

259
00:13:15,095 --> 00:13:18,798
was, in fact,
this way towards God.

260
00:13:18,832 --> 00:13:21,401
So this is why we have a problem
of defining the word

261
00:13:21,434 --> 00:13:26,239
because the scholars afterward
defined Sharia as God's law.

262
00:13:26,273 --> 00:13:28,108
But because they were jurists--

263
00:13:28,141 --> 00:13:30,143
so for them Sharia
is all about law.

264
00:13:30,177 --> 00:13:33,013
But what he was doing
is just promoting,

265
00:13:33,046 --> 00:13:36,649
you know, brotherhood,
justice, equality, freedom.

266
00:13:36,683 --> 00:13:38,986
This is Sharia, in fact.

267
00:13:40,854 --> 00:13:42,655
OMAAR:
What is known today
as Sharia law,

268
00:13:42,689 --> 00:13:45,492
the sacred law of Islam,
is very different.

269
00:13:45,525 --> 00:13:49,496
It only came into existence two
centuries after Muhammad's death

270
00:13:49,529 --> 00:13:52,866
when Muslim legal experts
devised a legal code

271
00:13:52,900 --> 00:13:56,403
to help run the ever-expanding
Islamic empire.

272
00:13:56,436 --> 00:13:59,506
They used a mixture of Qur'anic
teachings and examples

273
00:13:59,539 --> 00:14:01,041
from Muhammad's life.

274
00:14:01,074 --> 00:14:03,710
Many Muslims now regard
that version of Sharia

275
00:14:03,743 --> 00:14:07,214
as the unalterable law of God.

276
00:14:07,247 --> 00:14:11,118
The underlying principles of
Islamic law appear in the Qur'an

277
00:14:11,151 --> 00:14:13,320
and there are some
detailed regulations

278
00:14:13,353 --> 00:14:17,124
related to very specific
areas such as inheritance,

279
00:14:17,157 --> 00:14:19,226
which you do find in the Qur'an,

280
00:14:19,259 --> 00:14:22,662
but the Sharia itself
is a human edifice

281
00:14:22,695 --> 00:14:24,998
constructed over time.

282
00:14:25,032 --> 00:14:29,336
It's mans attempt to understand
God's will and implement it.

283
00:14:29,369 --> 00:14:33,706
But there are divergent
views within the Sharia,

284
00:14:33,740 --> 00:14:36,243
there are contradictory rulings,

285
00:14:36,276 --> 00:14:37,510
and so it's
certainly not a code

286
00:14:37,544 --> 00:14:39,879
sent down directly from God.

287
00:14:39,913 --> 00:14:42,015
It's something much more
flexible and fluid

288
00:14:42,049 --> 00:14:45,518
and adaptive to circumstance.

289
00:14:45,552 --> 00:14:48,188
OMAAR:
In Medina, Muhammad made many
radical changes

290
00:14:48,221 --> 00:14:50,657
to the customs
of his tribal past.

291
00:14:50,690 --> 00:14:53,860
He abolished the brutal
tradition of blood feuds.

292
00:14:53,893 --> 00:14:57,497
Women acquired a share in
inheritance and secured rights

293
00:14:57,530 --> 00:14:59,266
to own property.

294
00:14:59,299 --> 00:15:02,302
But the Qur'an also ordered
more traditional penalties

295
00:15:02,335 --> 00:15:05,338
such as the amputation of limbs
for stealing,

296
00:15:05,372 --> 00:15:08,875
although there is no evidence
Muhammad ever did this.

297
00:15:08,908 --> 00:15:13,046
Many of these punishments still
form part of Sharia law today.

298
00:15:15,248 --> 00:15:17,550
DAVID WOOD:
There was the practice
of female infanticide

299
00:15:17,584 --> 00:15:19,319
in 7th century Arabia.

300
00:15:19,352 --> 00:15:20,820
So if you had a daughter,

301
00:15:20,853 --> 00:15:22,289
and you didn't want to
take care of a daughter

302
00:15:22,322 --> 00:15:25,425
for 13 or 15 years until
someone's going to marry her,

303
00:15:25,458 --> 00:15:26,994
you toss her out into the desert
and she would die.

304
00:15:27,027 --> 00:15:30,097
Muhammad put an end to that.

305
00:15:30,130 --> 00:15:32,832
Muhammad put an emphasis on
helping orphans and widows--

306
00:15:32,865 --> 00:15:34,134
we would look at that and say,

307
00:15:34,167 --> 00:15:35,835
"Great, that's a great
teaching."

308
00:15:35,868 --> 00:15:39,872
But certainly we find many
teachings that we would consider

309
00:15:39,906 --> 00:15:43,243
barbaric by today's standards.

310
00:15:43,276 --> 00:15:44,911
Stoning of adulterers
and adulteresses,

311
00:15:44,944 --> 00:15:49,016
chopping off body parts
for those who steal things.

312
00:15:49,049 --> 00:15:50,083
These are certain things I would

313
00:15:50,117 --> 00:15:52,519
regard as backwards.

314
00:15:52,552 --> 00:15:56,089
RAMADAN:
Today, because we are
facing the West

315
00:15:56,123 --> 00:15:59,892
because we are having
a very narrow understanding,

316
00:15:59,926 --> 00:16:02,595
we come with something
that Sharia is,

317
00:16:02,629 --> 00:16:06,499
how we are going to implement
very narrow understanding

318
00:16:06,533 --> 00:16:10,203
of what a marriage is,
of what punishment are.

319
00:16:10,237 --> 00:16:12,539
I think that this is not the way

320
00:16:12,572 --> 00:16:14,607
and this is why I am saying
today,

321
00:16:14,641 --> 00:16:16,409
if I am speaking about Sharia,

322
00:16:16,443 --> 00:16:19,512
I live in the West,
and in the West we have laws

323
00:16:19,546 --> 00:16:22,315
where you and me,
we are equal before law.

324
00:16:22,349 --> 00:16:23,716
This is my Sharia.

325
00:16:23,750 --> 00:16:27,620
This is where we have
to come with a better,

326
00:16:27,654 --> 00:16:31,791
a deeper understanding
of the very essence of Sharia.

327
00:16:31,824 --> 00:16:35,495
OMAAR:
Some Muslim states, such as
Saudi Arabia and Iran,

328
00:16:35,528 --> 00:16:37,230
base their entire
legal system

329
00:16:37,264 --> 00:16:40,733
on Sharia law with punishments
that many regard as medieval

330
00:16:40,767 --> 00:16:43,070
in their brutality.

331
00:16:43,103 --> 00:16:46,273
So calls by Muslim extremists

332
00:16:46,306 --> 00:16:49,809
to introduce Sharia law
in Europe and in Britain

333
00:16:49,842 --> 00:16:51,711
have led to street protests and
the rise of political parties

334
00:16:51,744 --> 00:16:55,014
campaigning against
what they see

335
00:16:55,048 --> 00:16:57,850
as the spread of
Islamic influence.

336
00:16:57,884 --> 00:16:59,419
NONIE DARWISH:
This is the problem,

337
00:16:59,452 --> 00:17:02,289
that in the 21st century
we still have nations

338
00:17:02,322 --> 00:17:04,257
who are beheading people,

339
00:17:04,291 --> 00:17:06,326
who are cutting
the limbs of people,

340
00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,062
cutting the hands and feet.

341
00:17:09,096 --> 00:17:11,431
There are women today
being stoned to death

342
00:17:11,464 --> 00:17:16,469
by the government
for sexual violations.

343
00:17:16,503 --> 00:17:19,072
Not for murder,
it's not for a crime

344
00:17:19,106 --> 00:17:22,242
of taking someone else's life,

345
00:17:22,275 --> 00:17:23,510
and it's an inhumane way
of killing.

346
00:17:23,543 --> 00:17:26,946
(crowd shouting)

347
00:17:26,979 --> 00:17:29,048
RAMADAN:
All these people
who are stoning the people

348
00:17:29,082 --> 00:17:30,550
and are just
starting with punishments

349
00:17:30,583 --> 00:17:32,152
say this is Sharia.

350
00:17:32,185 --> 00:17:34,554
I say no, that's not Sharia,
this is a way you are

351
00:17:34,587 --> 00:17:37,056
instrumentalizing religion
for your own sake.

352
00:17:37,090 --> 00:17:38,758
I have one question--
how have you been elected?

353
00:17:38,791 --> 00:17:40,127
Are you elected?

354
00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:41,628
Are you representing the people?

355
00:17:41,661 --> 00:17:43,896
Let me start
with the first question,

356
00:17:43,930 --> 00:17:46,999
because you have no legitimacy,
no way for you to implement this

357
00:17:47,033 --> 00:17:49,736
in the name of Islam
if you are not legitimate.

358
00:17:49,769 --> 00:17:52,872
And many of the people who are
doing it starting with this

359
00:17:52,905 --> 00:17:55,208
are not really elected and they
are not chosen by the people.

360
00:17:55,242 --> 00:17:59,078
So their own status
is important.

361
00:17:59,112 --> 00:18:00,480
And then there
is a second question.

362
00:18:00,513 --> 00:18:02,249
What about social justice?

363
00:18:02,282 --> 00:18:03,716
What about equal rights?

364
00:18:03,750 --> 00:18:05,118
What about education?

365
00:18:05,152 --> 00:18:07,620
Are you going to punish people
without educating them?

366
00:18:07,654 --> 00:18:08,688
Is this Islam?

367
00:18:08,721 --> 00:18:10,557
No, Islam is
starting with education.

368
00:18:10,590 --> 00:18:13,126
And as for the punishment,
is another story.

369
00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,027
Don't start with punishment,

370
00:18:15,061 --> 00:18:19,031
start with dignity and rights,
not with punishment

371
00:18:19,065 --> 00:18:21,268
because punishment is the way
you instrumentalize religion

372
00:18:21,301 --> 00:18:25,104
just to make yourself being
legitimate while you are not.

373
00:18:25,138 --> 00:18:27,840
(crowd shouting)

374
00:18:27,874 --> 00:18:30,710
Like all law, Sharia law,
at least in theory,

375
00:18:30,743 --> 00:18:33,079
is supposed to be a changing,
evolving institution.

376
00:18:33,112 --> 00:18:37,450
But what we have under
the rubric of Sharia law today

377
00:18:37,484 --> 00:18:39,452
is actually frozen in history.

378
00:18:39,486 --> 00:18:42,855
It is the
interpretations of jurists

379
00:18:42,889 --> 00:18:45,925
undertaken during
the 8th and 9th century.

380
00:18:45,958 --> 00:18:48,228
That is what we call Sharia law.

381
00:18:48,261 --> 00:18:50,129
That's why wherever
Sharia law is implemented

382
00:18:50,163 --> 00:18:53,466
it recreates the conditions
of the 8th and 9th century.

383
00:18:53,500 --> 00:18:55,835
What the Muslims need to do

384
00:18:55,868 --> 00:18:59,272
is to reformulate Sharia law,
and this reformulation

385
00:18:59,306 --> 00:19:01,474
has to be continuous
and constant.

386
00:19:01,508 --> 00:19:04,110
Because the word
Sharia itself means

387
00:19:04,143 --> 00:19:05,478
"the way to the watering hole".

388
00:19:05,512 --> 00:19:07,447
Why do you go
to the watering hole?

389
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:08,748
To drink water.

390
00:19:08,781 --> 00:19:10,883
It is something that we
need to drink all the time.

391
00:19:10,917 --> 00:19:12,652
That means it
has to be refreshed,

392
00:19:12,685 --> 00:19:15,355
rethought and reformulated
from epoch to epoch.

393
00:19:22,729 --> 00:19:27,200
(bird screeching)

394
00:19:27,234 --> 00:19:28,868
OMAAR:
It was now 627 A.D.

395
00:19:28,901 --> 00:19:32,739
Muhammad had a secure power base
in Medina.

396
00:19:32,772 --> 00:19:36,443
Although he had frustrated all
the efforts of his enemies,

397
00:19:36,476 --> 00:19:38,945
the Quraysh, to destroy him,
they were still powerful

398
00:19:38,978 --> 00:19:41,214
and in control of Mecca.

399
00:19:41,248 --> 00:19:43,516
If Muhammad was to succeed
in bringing his message

400
00:19:43,550 --> 00:19:45,485
to all the people of Arabia,

401
00:19:45,518 --> 00:19:48,821
he had to find a solution
to break this stalemate.

402
00:19:48,855 --> 00:19:51,924
One of the key lessons
from the battles for Muhammad

403
00:19:51,958 --> 00:19:54,461
was that he was going
to find it very difficult

404
00:19:54,494 --> 00:19:57,530
to overcome
the Meccans militarily.

405
00:19:57,564 --> 00:20:01,200
He had to try to
undermine them politically.

406
00:20:01,234 --> 00:20:03,803
What he needed
was to strike alliances

407
00:20:03,836 --> 00:20:06,539
with the other tribes
across Arabia.

408
00:20:06,573 --> 00:20:10,577
And one of the key ways of doing
this was through marriage.

409
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,416
For Muhammad's critics,
his polygamous marriages

410
00:20:16,449 --> 00:20:18,285
have always been a problem.

411
00:20:18,318 --> 00:20:21,888
But at that time in Arabia,
polygamy was the norm;

412
00:20:21,921 --> 00:20:25,224
and it wasn't until after
the death of his first wife

413
00:20:25,258 --> 00:20:28,761
that Muhammad had several wives
at the same time.

414
00:20:28,795 --> 00:20:32,932
Some accounts say nine,
others 11 or 13.

415
00:20:32,965 --> 00:20:34,133
Some were widows.

416
00:20:34,166 --> 00:20:36,002
Some were women
captured after battles

417
00:20:36,035 --> 00:20:39,272
who, by marrying him,
were granted their freedom.

418
00:20:39,306 --> 00:20:43,009
One was even a Christian Coptic
slave presented to him

419
00:20:43,042 --> 00:20:45,812
by the Byzantine ruler of Egypt.

420
00:20:45,845 --> 00:20:47,680
But his most
controversial marriage

421
00:20:47,714 --> 00:20:50,417
was to the daughter
of his closest companion,

422
00:20:50,450 --> 00:20:53,320
a young girl called Aisha.

423
00:20:56,155 --> 00:20:57,857
According to some sources,

424
00:20:57,890 --> 00:21:02,362
Aisha is supposed to have been
betrothed at age six or seven,

425
00:21:02,395 --> 00:21:04,664
then formally married at nine.

426
00:21:04,697 --> 00:21:08,868
Other accounts make
her older-- nearly 16 or 17.

427
00:21:08,901 --> 00:21:11,103
It's this lack of clarity
that has left Muhammad

428
00:21:11,137 --> 00:21:15,274
open to serious condemnation
from many critics.

429
00:21:15,308 --> 00:21:18,110
SERGE TRIFKOVIC:
If you are a 53-year-old man,

430
00:21:18,144 --> 00:21:22,081
and you take a
nine-year-old girl into your bed

431
00:21:22,114 --> 00:21:24,050
and consummate the marriage,

432
00:21:24,083 --> 00:21:26,018
it is not all right.

433
00:21:26,052 --> 00:21:30,357
Not only from the standpoint
of 21st century morality

434
00:21:30,390 --> 00:21:31,624
of the Western world,

435
00:21:31,658 --> 00:21:36,062
but of what one might say
natural morality

436
00:21:36,095 --> 00:21:37,597
of most societies
most of the time.

437
00:21:41,167 --> 00:21:43,636
RAMADAN:
My position on this
is that she was older,

438
00:21:43,670 --> 00:21:46,339
she was between 16 and 18

439
00:21:46,373 --> 00:21:48,240
and not six and nine.

440
00:21:48,274 --> 00:21:51,944
So these are scholars
of today... but not today,

441
00:21:51,978 --> 00:21:53,312
in fact, last century,

442
00:21:53,346 --> 00:21:56,015
trying to get a sense that might
be we are repeating this

443
00:21:56,048 --> 00:21:57,417
but this is not really true

444
00:21:57,450 --> 00:21:59,285
it is not something
which is in the Qur'an,

445
00:21:59,318 --> 00:22:02,021
it's in the prophetic traditions
and we have to check about this.

446
00:22:02,054 --> 00:22:07,093
And I would say that age here
is problematic in itself.

447
00:22:07,126 --> 00:22:09,696
OMAAR:
Muhammad's marriage to Aisha
lasted till his death,

448
00:22:09,729 --> 00:22:12,031
and she later became
a prominent political leader

449
00:22:12,064 --> 00:22:14,367
in her own right.

450
00:22:14,401 --> 00:22:17,537
Muslim historians claim that it
was her differences

451
00:22:17,570 --> 00:22:19,939
with Muhammad's cousin
and son-in-law Ali

452
00:22:19,972 --> 00:22:22,642
that eventually led to
the great schism in Islam,

453
00:22:22,675 --> 00:22:28,715
between the Sunni
and the Shia sects.

454
00:22:28,748 --> 00:22:31,751
MERRYL DAVIES:
The real point in this, and it
is lost in all this argument,

455
00:22:31,784 --> 00:22:35,688
is who was Aisha
and what did she become?

456
00:22:35,722 --> 00:22:37,924
She grew up in
the Prophet's household

457
00:22:37,957 --> 00:22:42,762
to become a really feisty,
independent, intelligent,

458
00:22:42,795 --> 00:22:44,497
politically aware woman,

459
00:22:44,531 --> 00:22:49,335
and she is a foundation
of our understanding

460
00:22:49,368 --> 00:22:51,037
of the Prophet's life.

461
00:22:51,070 --> 00:22:55,942
Without Aisha, half of what we
know of the Prophet disappears.

462
00:22:58,310 --> 00:23:02,849
OMAAR:
A series of further revelations
defined Islamic marriage.

463
00:23:02,882 --> 00:23:06,486
They also provided Muhammad's
critics with more ammunition,

464
00:23:06,519 --> 00:23:08,521
as they said that while Muhammad
was allowed

465
00:23:08,555 --> 00:23:10,957
to keep all his wives,

466
00:23:10,990 --> 00:23:13,460
in future Muslim men would only
be allowed a maximum

467
00:23:13,493 --> 00:23:16,529
of four wives as long as they
could support them

468
00:23:16,563 --> 00:23:19,966
and treat them all equally.

469
00:23:19,999 --> 00:23:22,869
ABDUR-RAHEEM GREEN:
We have to understand
the Prophet Muhammad

470
00:23:22,902 --> 00:23:24,971
in the context of his time.

471
00:23:25,004 --> 00:23:26,873
Pagan Arabia is a place

472
00:23:26,906 --> 00:23:30,209
where there is
unlimited polygamy--

473
00:23:30,242 --> 00:23:33,245
that is the normal practice.

474
00:23:33,279 --> 00:23:38,417
Islam comes and
limits that polygamy.

475
00:23:38,451 --> 00:23:42,421
For Muslims, it is
limited to four wives.

476
00:23:42,455 --> 00:23:44,691
The Prophet is allowed and the
Prophet is previously married

477
00:23:44,724 --> 00:23:46,158
up to nine wives.

478
00:23:46,192 --> 00:23:50,930
He is also prohibited from
adding any more to that number,

479
00:23:50,963 --> 00:23:53,833
but those wives
that he is married to

480
00:23:53,866 --> 00:23:55,835
he is allowed to keep.

481
00:23:55,868 --> 00:23:57,537
There is a simple
reason for that.

482
00:23:57,570 --> 00:24:00,540
The importance of building
tribal alliances.

483
00:24:00,573 --> 00:24:02,341
This is very, very important.

484
00:24:02,374 --> 00:24:04,110
The Prophet is
not only a prophet,

485
00:24:04,143 --> 00:24:07,547
he is a leader of his people,
and building those alliances

486
00:24:07,580 --> 00:24:08,981
is hugely important.

487
00:24:11,383 --> 00:24:13,520
WOOD:
Now, the justification for
Muhammad having more wives

488
00:24:13,553 --> 00:24:16,455
is Sura 33:50, which gave
Muhammad, and only Muhammad,

489
00:24:16,489 --> 00:24:20,092
permission to marry as many
women as he wanted to marry,

490
00:24:20,126 --> 00:24:22,829
and we have
to be somewhat skeptical.

491
00:24:22,862 --> 00:24:24,463
So many people have
claimed to be prophets.

492
00:24:24,497 --> 00:24:27,233
When we look at a prophet
and his revelations give him

493
00:24:27,266 --> 00:24:29,869
more sexual partners than anyone
else is allowed to have,

494
00:24:29,902 --> 00:24:32,505
I say we have some reason
for suspicion here.

495
00:24:35,174 --> 00:24:40,146
ARMSTRONG:
It would be entirely mistaken
to imagine the Prophet

496
00:24:40,179 --> 00:24:43,315
basking decadently in a garden
of earthly delights.

497
00:24:43,349 --> 00:24:44,551
These are political marriages.

498
00:24:44,584 --> 00:24:48,688
He marries Aisha

499
00:24:48,721 --> 00:24:51,724
because he wants to bind himself
more closely with their fathers.

500
00:24:51,758 --> 00:24:53,760
He's creating a new community

501
00:24:53,793 --> 00:24:58,731
not based on tribe or blood,
but somehow this helps

502
00:24:58,765 --> 00:25:01,467
to make the transition easier
if you make a marriage link.

503
00:25:03,770 --> 00:25:07,106
OMAAR:
We know from Muslim sources that
some of Muhammad's marriages

504
00:25:07,139 --> 00:25:10,309
even caused him problems
during his own lifetime.

505
00:25:10,342 --> 00:25:14,146
For example, when he
married the divorced wife

506
00:25:14,180 --> 00:25:16,716
of his adopted son,
his enemies spread rumors

507
00:25:16,749 --> 00:25:19,018
that it was an
incestuous relationship

508
00:25:19,051 --> 00:25:21,888
in an attempt to divide
the Muslim community.

509
00:25:24,523 --> 00:25:26,659
His marriage to his
former daughter-in-law

510
00:25:26,693 --> 00:25:29,361
Zaynab bint Jahsh,
when he married her

511
00:25:29,395 --> 00:25:31,864
it's clear that there were
protests from the community,

512
00:25:31,898 --> 00:25:33,532
and people thought that this was

513
00:25:33,566 --> 00:25:37,469
a shocking, scandalizing kind
of thing for him to have done.

514
00:25:40,573 --> 00:25:41,941
OMAAR:
According to the sources,

515
00:25:41,974 --> 00:25:44,944
Muhammad faced another
marital crisis

516
00:25:44,977 --> 00:25:47,814
when Aisha went
missing during a journey.

517
00:25:47,847 --> 00:25:50,249
She was eventually found
and brought back to Medina

518
00:25:50,282 --> 00:25:55,321
by a man who had known her
before her marriage to Muhammad.

519
00:25:55,354 --> 00:25:58,758
Again, his enemies spread rumors
that something scandalous

520
00:25:58,791 --> 00:26:00,459
must have happened between them.

521
00:26:00,492 --> 00:26:02,461
According to Muslim tradition,

522
00:26:02,494 --> 00:26:06,098
Muhammad himself was at first
unsure who to believe,

523
00:26:06,132 --> 00:26:09,368
but eventually, after a new
revelation from God,

524
00:26:09,401 --> 00:26:11,838
he accepted Aisha's
protestations of innocence.

525
00:26:11,871 --> 00:26:14,506
At that time in Arabia,
adulterers were traditionally

526
00:26:14,540 --> 00:26:16,743
stoned to death.

527
00:26:16,776 --> 00:26:20,079
This new revelation defined
how any future allegations

528
00:26:20,112 --> 00:26:21,948
of adultery should
be dealt with,

529
00:26:21,981 --> 00:26:24,350
and surprisingly,
in complete contrast

530
00:26:24,383 --> 00:26:28,254
to the extreme views held by
groups like the Taliban.

531
00:26:28,287 --> 00:26:30,022
AJMAL MASROOR:
The punishment of
stoning to death

532
00:26:30,056 --> 00:26:32,659
was borrowed from
Christianity and Judaism

533
00:26:32,692 --> 00:26:34,727
from the Old Testament,
of course, as we know.

534
00:26:34,761 --> 00:26:38,965
In the Qur'an, punishment for
having sex outside marriage

535
00:26:38,998 --> 00:26:41,734
is lashing hundred
times on your backside,

536
00:26:41,768 --> 00:26:45,037
only if it can be
proven that four people

537
00:26:45,071 --> 00:26:47,306
have seen the act
of penetration,

538
00:26:47,339 --> 00:26:50,109
which is very difficult
to prove.

539
00:26:52,211 --> 00:26:55,181
OMAAR:
Muhammad's wives lived with him
in specially built rooms

540
00:26:55,214 --> 00:26:58,017
adjoining the courtyard of his
mosque in Medina.

541
00:26:58,050 --> 00:27:02,755
It was a very busy public place
and privacy was hard to find.

542
00:27:02,789 --> 00:27:04,691
With the continual attempts
of Muhammad's enemies

543
00:27:04,724 --> 00:27:06,325
to create division,

544
00:27:06,358 --> 00:27:09,061
the potential for future
scandal was always there,

545
00:27:09,095 --> 00:27:11,463
so something had to be done.

546
00:27:11,497 --> 00:27:13,700
One day Muhammad
received a new revelation

547
00:27:13,733 --> 00:27:16,168
that instructed his wives
to cover themselves

548
00:27:16,202 --> 00:27:18,437
to maintain their modesty.

549
00:27:18,470 --> 00:27:20,572
This act of veiling or covering

550
00:27:20,606 --> 00:27:23,375
has had a profound effect
on Muslim women,

551
00:27:23,409 --> 00:27:27,179
and also how the outside world
views Islam's attitudes

552
00:27:27,213 --> 00:27:31,050
to women in general.

553
00:27:31,083 --> 00:27:34,220
There are injunctions
about the Prophet's wives

554
00:27:34,253 --> 00:27:36,422
wearing some kind of covering--

555
00:27:36,455 --> 00:27:38,858
it's not exactly clear
what that covering is--

556
00:27:38,891 --> 00:27:41,460
but it's to distinguish them.

557
00:27:41,493 --> 00:27:43,095
And this is all part and parcel

558
00:27:43,129 --> 00:27:47,066
of the difficult
divisions in Medina,

559
00:27:47,099 --> 00:27:49,035
because Muhammad's
enemies in Medina

560
00:27:49,068 --> 00:27:51,337
were using his wives
to discredit him.

561
00:27:51,370 --> 00:27:54,240
And so some kind of
distinction needed to be made,

562
00:27:54,273 --> 00:27:57,109
but veiling was
not for all women.

563
00:27:58,945 --> 00:28:02,048
OMAAR:
Today the veil is seen
by Islam's critics

564
00:28:02,081 --> 00:28:04,884
as symbolic of its
attitude to women in general

565
00:28:04,917 --> 00:28:07,086
and its desire to oppress them.

566
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:08,487
But the more universal
veiling of women

567
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,223
did not become an Islamic custom

568
00:28:11,257 --> 00:28:15,161
until more than a hundred years
after Muhammad's death.

569
00:28:15,194 --> 00:28:16,495
As far as the
religion is concerned,

570
00:28:16,528 --> 00:28:19,832
there is a requirement of
modesty for both men and women,

571
00:28:19,866 --> 00:28:23,535
but how you fulfill that
requirement is open to debate.

572
00:28:23,569 --> 00:28:25,637
You know, I don't feel
that I am compromising myself

573
00:28:25,671 --> 00:28:28,875
as a Muslim by not
wearing the hijab,

574
00:28:28,908 --> 00:28:31,377
and I certainly
don't not wear it

575
00:28:31,410 --> 00:28:33,245
because I am trying to say

576
00:28:33,279 --> 00:28:34,914
I'm not actually such
a serious Muslim.

577
00:28:34,947 --> 00:28:37,316
You can't judge the
seriousness of someone's faith

578
00:28:37,349 --> 00:28:39,585
and belief by what they wear.

579
00:28:42,454 --> 00:28:44,056
OMAAR:
Over the last 20 years,

580
00:28:44,090 --> 00:28:46,692
in Britain, as in
many western countries,

581
00:28:46,725 --> 00:28:48,828
the veil has become
a form of identity

582
00:28:48,861 --> 00:28:51,363
for many Muslim women.

583
00:28:51,397 --> 00:28:54,934
Some just cover their hair,
others their entire face.

584
00:28:54,967 --> 00:28:56,836
It is a controversial issue

585
00:28:56,869 --> 00:28:58,570
with some European countries

586
00:28:58,604 --> 00:29:01,941
now banning women
from using the veil.

587
00:29:01,974 --> 00:29:06,078
Fatima Barkatullah is a writer
on Islamic women.

588
00:29:08,147 --> 00:29:10,482
Fatima, are you
wearing the veil

589
00:29:10,516 --> 00:29:13,152
because you are obliged to
because of your family,

590
00:29:13,185 --> 00:29:15,587
or do you do it
out of free will?

591
00:29:15,621 --> 00:29:18,224
For me it is absolutely
100% free will.

592
00:29:18,257 --> 00:29:20,726
It's very
much about a

593
00:29:20,759 --> 00:29:21,894
spiritual journey,

594
00:29:21,928 --> 00:29:24,130
and about
wanting to be

595
00:29:24,163 --> 00:29:29,068
the best I can
be in God's eyes.

596
00:29:29,101 --> 00:29:30,837
When I'm getting ready
in the morning to go out,

597
00:29:30,870 --> 00:29:34,440
I'll just cover what I
would normally be wearing,

598
00:29:34,473 --> 00:29:36,375
you know, whether it's jeans
or whatever I'm wearing,

599
00:29:36,408 --> 00:29:38,477
with something like this...
Which is a gown?

600
00:29:38,510 --> 00:29:40,446
Yes, it's an
outer garment--

601
00:29:40,479 --> 00:29:43,649
people call it
the abaya or a jilbab.

602
00:29:43,682 --> 00:29:45,717
And then I wear this,

603
00:29:45,751 --> 00:29:49,856
which is a khimar,
or a scarf,

604
00:29:49,889 --> 00:29:52,091
and then I wear
this small face veil,

605
00:29:52,124 --> 00:29:55,361
this is very much
my public face, if you like.

606
00:29:55,394 --> 00:30:00,332
OMAAR:
But why do you choose to wear
the full face covering

607
00:30:00,366 --> 00:30:02,368
as opposed to this
the khimar, the scarf,

608
00:30:02,401 --> 00:30:03,169
which you see a lot of other
Muslim women

609
00:30:03,202 --> 00:30:04,904
wearing as well?

610
00:30:04,937 --> 00:30:06,238
I believe that

611
00:30:06,272 --> 00:30:09,041
the more modest
I can be,

612
00:30:09,075 --> 00:30:11,077
the more of
a virtue it is.

613
00:30:11,110 --> 00:30:13,079
So essentially I'm
doing it to please God.

614
00:30:13,112 --> 00:30:14,981
Where do you feel
this comes from?

615
00:30:15,014 --> 00:30:16,482
Is it in
the Qur'an?

616
00:30:16,515 --> 00:30:18,117
Yes, you'll find it
in the Qur'an.

617
00:30:18,150 --> 00:30:21,153
The verse in
the SuratAhzab

618
00:30:21,187 --> 00:30:23,155
clearly says,
"O Prophet tell

619
00:30:23,189 --> 00:30:24,523
"your wives,
your daughters,

620
00:30:24,556 --> 00:30:26,358
and the women
of the believers"--

621
00:30:26,392 --> 00:30:27,960
meaning the Muslim women--

622
00:30:27,994 --> 00:30:29,929
"that when they
go out of their homes

623
00:30:29,962 --> 00:30:32,164
they should wear
their outer garments,"

624
00:30:32,198 --> 00:30:34,867
and the word in
Arabic is jalabeeb,

625
00:30:34,901 --> 00:30:38,537
which has two orthodox
interpretations, actually.

626
00:30:38,570 --> 00:30:40,639
But that's the point,
this is all in interpretation.

627
00:30:40,672 --> 00:30:42,108
There isn't anywhere
in the Qur'an

628
00:30:42,141 --> 00:30:45,044
which says it is
a rule for Muslim women

629
00:30:45,077 --> 00:30:46,345
that they must
wear a veil.

630
00:30:46,378 --> 00:30:47,346
It's in the
interpretation.

631
00:30:47,379 --> 00:30:49,515
As far as the
face is concerned,

632
00:30:49,548 --> 00:30:51,350
there is some
difference of opinion.

633
00:30:53,019 --> 00:30:54,686
DAVIES:
The one verse

634
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:56,989
that specifically
does deal with clothing

635
00:30:57,023 --> 00:30:59,325
actually says,
"Cover your nakedness"

636
00:30:59,358 --> 00:31:03,495
not shroud yourself
in a black bag.

637
00:31:03,529 --> 00:31:06,865
Now, Muslinterpretedim women
have interpretated it,

638
00:31:06,899 --> 00:31:11,770
Muslim men have
interpolated practices

639
00:31:11,803 --> 00:31:15,274
from other societies into the
interpretation of the religion,

640
00:31:15,307 --> 00:31:20,379
and identity politics has
a great deal to do with it.

641
00:31:20,412 --> 00:31:25,484
But I say women
should be free to choose,

642
00:31:25,517 --> 00:31:27,853
but there is no compulsion,

643
00:31:27,886 --> 00:31:30,789
and there is no requirement
for them to veil themselves.

644
00:31:36,728 --> 00:31:39,865
OMAAR:
Despite the best efforts
of his enemies to discredit him

645
00:31:39,898 --> 00:31:41,267
through his marriages,

646
00:31:41,300 --> 00:31:43,169
Muhammad had used
them to confirm

647
00:31:43,202 --> 00:31:46,505
and widen his power
base in Arabia.

648
00:31:46,538 --> 00:31:49,475
He could now turn his
attention again to Mecca.

649
00:31:49,508 --> 00:31:53,345
In early 628 A.D.,
he told his followers

650
00:31:53,379 --> 00:31:56,715
that they were going to set out
to perform the annual Hajj rites

651
00:31:56,748 --> 00:31:59,318
of the Kaaba, in Mecca.

652
00:32:01,153 --> 00:32:04,556
For Muhammad and his followers,

653
00:32:04,590 --> 00:32:07,259
the Kaaba had become
central to their worship,

654
00:32:07,293 --> 00:32:09,895
the place to which
they turned in prayer.

655
00:32:09,928 --> 00:32:12,064
They believed it had
been originally built

656
00:32:12,098 --> 00:32:13,665
by the Prophet Abraham,

657
00:32:13,699 --> 00:32:16,335
and regarded it as the ultimate
symbol of their faith--

658
00:32:16,368 --> 00:32:18,337
the unity of the one God, Allah.

659
00:32:18,370 --> 00:32:21,640
But access to the
Kaaba was controlled

660
00:32:21,673 --> 00:32:24,676
by Muhammad's enemies, the
Quraysh, the rulers of Mecca.

661
00:32:24,710 --> 00:32:27,679
It contained shrines to the
hundreds of gods worshipped

662
00:32:27,713 --> 00:32:29,748
by all the tribes in Arabia.

663
00:32:29,781 --> 00:32:31,750
Muhammad was now determined

664
00:32:31,783 --> 00:32:35,921
to challenge their control
of this sacred shrine.

665
00:32:35,954 --> 00:32:40,259
The Prophet announces that he
is going to make the Hajj.

666
00:32:40,292 --> 00:32:42,594
Must have been astonishing

667
00:32:42,628 --> 00:32:46,565
because on the Hajj you are not
allowed to carry weapons.

668
00:32:46,598 --> 00:32:49,535
He was going unarmed
into the enemy territory.

669
00:32:54,573 --> 00:32:56,242
ROGERSON
It's when, again,
you touch the magic

670
00:32:56,275 --> 00:32:58,177
of Muhammad as a man.

671
00:32:58,210 --> 00:33:00,846
He fought wars and
now he just said,

672
00:33:00,879 --> 00:33:02,748
"Right, we're off
to pray to God."

673
00:33:05,084 --> 00:33:07,153
OMAAR:
Muhammad and the
convoy of followers

674
00:33:07,186 --> 00:33:09,855
were forced to
stop here at Hudaybiyyah,

675
00:33:09,888 --> 00:33:13,192
which is about eight miles
outside of the Holy City,

676
00:33:13,225 --> 00:33:16,895
because the Quraysh had reacted
with characteristic aggression

677
00:33:16,928 --> 00:33:20,499
and they had sent a cavalry
in order to stop the convoy.

678
00:33:20,532 --> 00:33:23,702
And so began a series
of frenetic negotiations

679
00:33:23,735 --> 00:33:26,838
with emissaries going between
Muhammad and the Quraysh.

680
00:33:26,872 --> 00:33:29,508
They eventually
arrived at an agreement.

681
00:33:29,541 --> 00:33:32,178
But the so-called
Treaty of Hudaybiyyah,

682
00:33:32,211 --> 00:33:35,147
signed at a spot marked by the
mosque just behind me,

683
00:33:35,181 --> 00:33:40,086
looked like the most humiliating
of compromises for Muhammad.

684
00:33:42,154 --> 00:33:45,057
The Quraysh insisted that
Muhammad and his followers

685
00:33:45,091 --> 00:33:47,293
return to Medina without
performing the Hajj rites.

686
00:33:47,326 --> 00:33:51,063
They also insisted that all
raids on Meccan caravans

687
00:33:51,097 --> 00:33:53,899
by the Muslim forces under
Muhammad's command should stop.

688
00:33:53,932 --> 00:33:56,968
In return they would allow
Muhammad and his followers

689
00:33:57,002 --> 00:33:59,571
to return to Mecca as pilgrims
to perform the Hajj,

690
00:33:59,605 --> 00:34:01,740
but only in the following year.

691
00:34:01,773 --> 00:34:03,875
And when it came to
signing the documents

692
00:34:03,909 --> 00:34:06,078
which describes Muhammad

693
00:34:06,112 --> 00:34:07,513
as "the messenger of God",

694
00:34:07,546 --> 00:34:10,449
the Quraysh emissary objected
saying that to them,

695
00:34:10,482 --> 00:34:12,551
he was only
"Muhammad the son of Abdullah".

696
00:34:12,584 --> 00:34:16,388
For Muhammad's followers,
this was an unbearable insult.

697
00:34:16,422 --> 00:34:19,291
According to Muslim tradition,
when Muhammad's young cousin

698
00:34:19,325 --> 00:34:23,095
Ali, who was doing the
writing, heard this,

699
00:34:23,129 --> 00:34:27,533
he refused to strike out the
words "the messenger of God."

700
00:34:27,566 --> 00:34:30,102
Muhammad says, "Give me the pen,
point out the words

701
00:34:30,136 --> 00:34:34,106
'messenger of God'" and he
strikes it out himself.

702
00:34:34,140 --> 00:34:36,942
See it as a striking out
of ego there,

703
00:34:36,975 --> 00:34:38,510
not standing on your right.

704
00:34:38,544 --> 00:34:41,980
The Qur'an says that if
the enemy asks for peace,

705
00:34:42,013 --> 00:34:45,050
you must lay down
your arms immediately

706
00:34:45,083 --> 00:34:48,086
and accept any terms,
however disadvantageous.

707
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:51,890
OMAAR:
For Muhammad's followers,
the terms of this treaty

708
00:34:51,923 --> 00:34:54,593
and particularly
the treatment of Muhammad

709
00:34:54,626 --> 00:34:56,495
were completely humiliating.

710
00:34:56,528 --> 00:34:59,498
It was only Muhammad's
adamant attitude

711
00:34:59,531 --> 00:35:02,067
that kept them from mutiny.

712
00:35:02,100 --> 00:35:03,669
What Muhammad was trying to do

713
00:35:03,702 --> 00:35:06,338
was totally unheard of
in 7th century Arabia.

714
00:35:06,372 --> 00:35:08,474
In a society of honor,

715
00:35:08,507 --> 00:35:10,909
traditionally blood
feuds ruled the day.

716
00:35:10,942 --> 00:35:14,045
But after years of bloody
but inconclusive conflict,

717
00:35:14,079 --> 00:35:17,349
Muhammad now wanted to defeat
his enemies not through war

718
00:35:17,383 --> 00:35:19,585
but by peace.

719
00:35:19,618 --> 00:35:22,721
By signing a truce
with the Quraysh,

720
00:35:22,754 --> 00:35:25,857
he had not only gained
access to the Kaaba,

721
00:35:25,891 --> 00:35:27,859
albeit at a later date,

722
00:35:27,893 --> 00:35:30,662
but also extracted from them
the crucial acknowledgement

723
00:35:30,696 --> 00:35:32,998
that he and they
were now equals.

724
00:35:33,031 --> 00:35:35,201
RIZVI:
In the sense,
Hudaybiyyah does represent

725
00:35:35,234 --> 00:35:36,702
a minimal option, which is,

726
00:35:36,735 --> 00:35:39,705
"Okay we can't get
what we want now,

727
00:35:39,738 --> 00:35:42,874
but we can get it in the future
if we make this agreement."

728
00:35:42,908 --> 00:35:45,444
And a truce in which
people were not fighting

729
00:35:45,477 --> 00:35:47,513
was always preferable to war.

730
00:35:47,546 --> 00:35:49,781
This is, again, something
which is Qur'anically given,

731
00:35:49,815 --> 00:35:52,484
that, you know,
peace is better than war.

732
00:35:52,518 --> 00:35:54,186
It's repeated again and again.

733
00:35:54,220 --> 00:35:56,688
So it very much fits within that
particular type of principle.

734
00:35:59,291 --> 00:36:01,727
OMAAR:
As he and his followers
were returning to Medina,

735
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,596
Muhammad then received
a new revelation

736
00:36:04,630 --> 00:36:06,532
confirming that the
Treaty of Hudaybiyyah

737
00:36:06,565 --> 00:36:11,337
was a not a humiliating defeat.

738
00:36:11,370 --> 00:36:13,071
He said,
"I've just had a revelation."

739
00:36:13,104 --> 00:36:17,243
He said this was a manifest
victory, says the God.

740
00:36:17,276 --> 00:36:21,046
It may have looked like a defeat
but it was a manifest victory.

741
00:36:21,079 --> 00:36:25,183
The Quraysh were filled
with all the violence

742
00:36:25,217 --> 00:36:27,286
of the old tribal spirit,

743
00:36:27,319 --> 00:36:29,688
and they were filled
with contempt and pride.

744
00:36:29,721 --> 00:36:32,258
It was the Muslims,
the spirit of peace

745
00:36:32,291 --> 00:36:33,525
that filled their hearts.

746
00:36:33,559 --> 00:36:34,993
Sometimes this is forgotten.

747
00:36:35,026 --> 00:36:37,062
We hear all about
Muhammad's wars,

748
00:36:37,095 --> 00:36:43,302
but we forget this extraordinary
non-violent offensive.

749
00:36:43,335 --> 00:36:44,970
After Hudaybiyyah,

750
00:36:45,003 --> 00:36:50,542
the tide had turned in his favor
with a campaign of non-violence.

751
00:36:52,911 --> 00:36:55,314
JOHN ESPOSITO:
A primary vehicle
that Muhammad did use

752
00:36:55,347 --> 00:36:57,649
was diplomacy at the time.

753
00:36:57,683 --> 00:36:59,918
He went out, visited the tribes,

754
00:36:59,951 --> 00:37:02,187
engaged with major
religious leaders,

755
00:37:02,220 --> 00:37:04,122
attempted to form pacts,

756
00:37:04,155 --> 00:37:06,858
created, if you look
at the community at Medina,

757
00:37:06,892 --> 00:37:09,961
created a space for other faiths
and other people.

758
00:37:09,995 --> 00:37:14,600
But when faced with
resistance or aggression,

759
00:37:14,633 --> 00:37:17,102
did exactly what the
standards of the time

760
00:37:17,135 --> 00:37:19,505
would have legitimated.

761
00:37:19,538 --> 00:37:21,907
And I think that that
is clearly there.

762
00:37:21,940 --> 00:37:25,911
You do not see
the Prophet consistently

763
00:37:25,944 --> 00:37:28,714
calling for wholesale killing

764
00:37:28,747 --> 00:37:31,082
of all those who
disagreed with him.

765
00:37:31,116 --> 00:37:34,953
OMAAR:
The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah
marks a turning point

766
00:37:34,986 --> 00:37:40,258
in Muhammad's attempts to spread
his message throughout Arabia.

767
00:37:40,292 --> 00:37:43,061
But it also shows that
he was prepared to suffer

768
00:37:43,094 --> 00:37:45,096
the utmost humiliation
from his worst enemies

769
00:37:45,130 --> 00:37:46,998
in pursuit of peace.

770
00:37:47,032 --> 00:37:48,534
And yet in today's world,

771
00:37:48,567 --> 00:37:50,135
the most commonly held
views of Muhammad

772
00:37:50,168 --> 00:37:52,304
is that he is the enemy
of peace,

773
00:37:52,338 --> 00:37:54,740
and that Islam
is the religion of jihad--

774
00:37:54,773 --> 00:37:56,942
commonly taken to
mean "holy war".

775
00:37:58,176 --> 00:37:59,711
(sirens wailing)

776
00:37:59,745 --> 00:38:03,649
Thousands have been
killed all over the world

777
00:38:03,682 --> 00:38:05,784
by groups that are
now called Jihadi,

778
00:38:05,817 --> 00:38:07,586
a term never used
in Muhammad's time.

779
00:38:07,619 --> 00:38:10,389
And yet these groups
all claim the Qur'an

780
00:38:10,422 --> 00:38:13,759
and Muhammad himself
as inspiration

781
00:38:13,792 --> 00:38:15,727
and justification
for their actions.

782
00:38:15,761 --> 00:38:18,096
(music playing)

783
00:38:18,129 --> 00:38:20,532
It is very clear,
brothers and sisters,

784
00:38:20,566 --> 00:38:23,669
that the path of jihad,
and the desire for martyrdom

785
00:38:23,702 --> 00:38:27,606
was deeply embedded
in the Holy Prophet

786
00:38:27,639 --> 00:38:29,307
and their beloved companions.

787
00:38:29,341 --> 00:38:32,077
OMAAR:
Most so-called jihadis

788
00:38:32,110 --> 00:38:33,845
usually refer to a
verse in the Qur'an,

789
00:38:33,879 --> 00:38:36,948
now known as the "sword verse",

790
00:38:36,982 --> 00:38:39,217
as justification
for their violent acts.

791
00:38:41,152 --> 00:38:42,988
If you come back to the Qur'an
you have this verse.

792
00:38:43,021 --> 00:38:45,591
No one can deny
that there are verses

793
00:38:45,624 --> 00:38:49,761
very, very much dealing
with war and violence.

794
00:38:49,795 --> 00:38:53,064
Now, as we have to
deal with the Qur'an,

795
00:38:53,098 --> 00:38:56,167
it's an eternal book
dealing with history.

796
00:38:56,201 --> 00:38:59,805
These verses were revealed in
a very specific period of time

797
00:38:59,838 --> 00:39:04,510
where the Muslims were under
oppression and trying to resist,

798
00:39:04,543 --> 00:39:06,778
and just to survive.

799
00:39:06,812 --> 00:39:08,914
So we have to
contextualize this.

800
00:39:08,947 --> 00:39:10,949
The mainstream classical
tradition

801
00:39:10,982 --> 00:39:12,884
in the Shia
and the Sunni tradition

802
00:39:12,918 --> 00:39:15,186
is saying you
can't use these verses

803
00:39:15,220 --> 00:39:16,988
just to promote war
and to kill innocent people.

804
00:39:17,022 --> 00:39:17,889
This is wrong.

805
00:39:19,891 --> 00:39:22,894
OMAAR:
The interpretation of
individual Qur'anic verses

806
00:39:22,928 --> 00:39:25,096
goes to the heart
of this controversy.

807
00:39:25,130 --> 00:39:29,735
But most scholars now
agree that the term Jihad

808
00:39:29,768 --> 00:39:31,169
does not mean holy war.

809
00:39:31,202 --> 00:39:36,307
Its real meaning is
completely different.

810
00:39:36,341 --> 00:39:39,177
The concept of jihad
emerges out of the Holy Qur'an,

811
00:39:39,210 --> 00:39:44,483
out of the revelation
that the Prophet receives.

812
00:39:44,516 --> 00:39:47,919
And there are about 35 examples
in the Qur'an of the word jihad

813
00:39:47,953 --> 00:39:50,922
or the term
basically being used,

814
00:39:50,956 --> 00:39:52,924
and often in the
case of striving.

815
00:39:52,958 --> 00:39:55,393
Now striving can be
all sorts of things,

816
00:39:55,427 --> 00:39:58,697
it can be striving against
the baseness of oneself,

817
00:39:58,730 --> 00:40:01,800
it can be a seeking to
overcome evil and being good,

818
00:40:01,833 --> 00:40:04,269
it can be striving in
the sense of fighting.

819
00:40:04,302 --> 00:40:07,506
But jihad is always
distinguished from fighting

820
00:40:07,539 --> 00:40:10,909
and a different terminology is
used for the words fighting.

821
00:40:12,544 --> 00:40:14,980
OMAAR:
In all the battles
that Muhammad fought,

822
00:40:15,013 --> 00:40:17,949
the rules of engagement were
always carefully delineated

823
00:40:17,983 --> 00:40:19,918
within the context of his time,

824
00:40:19,951 --> 00:40:22,320
and what was
generally acceptable.

825
00:40:22,353 --> 00:40:24,956
But there are
no recorded instances

826
00:40:24,990 --> 00:40:28,894
of deliberate attacks on
civilian populations.

827
00:40:30,629 --> 00:40:33,098
BONNEY:
One of the points about jihad

828
00:40:33,131 --> 00:40:34,666
in the early Islamic tradition,

829
00:40:34,700 --> 00:40:37,068
both in the Prophet's lifetime
and afterwards,

830
00:40:37,102 --> 00:40:39,104
is that there is a gradual
evolution of an idea

831
00:40:39,137 --> 00:40:41,740
towards something
like a just war.

832
00:40:41,773 --> 00:40:46,077
And the just war is
a constraint on the army,

833
00:40:46,111 --> 00:40:48,146
does not attack or
massacre civilians,

834
00:40:48,179 --> 00:40:50,348
doesn't kill women or children,

835
00:40:50,381 --> 00:40:52,050
doesn't kill priests of other
religions, incidentally,

836
00:40:52,083 --> 00:40:54,486
and so on.

837
00:40:54,520 --> 00:41:00,659
And this draws on the practice
in the lifetime of the Prophet.

838
00:41:00,692 --> 00:41:03,461
OMAAR:
These rules of engagement
appear to have been forgotten

839
00:41:03,495 --> 00:41:05,597
by today's Muslim extremists.

840
00:41:05,631 --> 00:41:09,334
Suicide bombers kill people not
only in Western cities,

841
00:41:09,367 --> 00:41:12,871
but also in mosques
and other places of worship

842
00:41:12,904 --> 00:41:15,240
in the Muslim world itself.

843
00:41:17,643 --> 00:41:20,512
In Britain today,
no Muslim activist or group

844
00:41:20,546 --> 00:41:22,380
will openly defy the law

845
00:41:22,413 --> 00:41:25,817
by accepting or agreeing
to the use of violence.

846
00:41:25,851 --> 00:41:28,453
But over the last ten years,

847
00:41:28,486 --> 00:41:30,722
more than 200 Muslims
have been convicted

848
00:41:30,756 --> 00:41:32,357
of terrorist-related offenses.

849
00:41:34,025 --> 00:41:36,995
In 2008, Abdul Muhid was
convicted and jailed

850
00:41:37,028 --> 00:41:38,530
for two years
for terrorist funding.

851
00:41:40,431 --> 00:41:43,935
Mizanur Rehman was
charged for soliciting murder,

852
00:41:43,969 --> 00:41:46,104
and jailed for
four years in 2006.

853
00:41:47,405 --> 00:41:50,408
Both have now
served their sentences,

854
00:41:50,441 --> 00:41:51,877
but still have strong views

855
00:41:51,910 --> 00:41:53,979
about the role of jihad
in today's world.

856
00:41:55,380 --> 00:41:58,016
Has the modern
interpretation of jihad

857
00:41:58,049 --> 00:41:59,317
changed in
any way,

858
00:41:59,350 --> 00:42:01,086
because for most
people today

859
00:42:01,119 --> 00:42:02,688
jihad means just
one thing doesn't it?

860
00:42:02,721 --> 00:42:04,155
It means fighting in
the physical struggle?

861
00:42:04,189 --> 00:42:06,357
The scholars of
Islam in the past,

862
00:42:06,391 --> 00:42:11,697
they all agreed that jihad means
fighting non-Muslims yes,

863
00:42:11,730 --> 00:42:13,565
but not just
for the sake

864
00:42:13,599 --> 00:42:15,400
of forcing them
to be Muslim,

865
00:42:15,433 --> 00:42:17,535
but to make the
word of Allah the highest

866
00:42:17,569 --> 00:42:19,871
by removing the obstacles

867
00:42:19,905 --> 00:42:21,406
from the implementation
of the Sharia,

868
00:42:21,439 --> 00:42:24,375
and for the call to Islam
to spread across the world.

869
00:42:24,409 --> 00:42:26,411
From your interpretation
of the Prophet's life,

870
00:42:26,444 --> 00:42:27,679
is it permitable
at any time

871
00:42:27,713 --> 00:42:30,548
in jihad to attack
non-combatants?

872
00:42:30,582 --> 00:42:31,783
If I just cut
straight to the point

873
00:42:31,817 --> 00:42:34,485
the argument of Islamic
terrorists is this--

874
00:42:34,519 --> 00:42:37,322
if you choose a government
that represents you,

875
00:42:37,355 --> 00:42:39,324
and they decide
to bomb a country,

876
00:42:39,357 --> 00:42:41,059
or kill people,

877
00:42:41,092 --> 00:42:42,527
then you have
blood on your hands.

878
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:44,930
It's like hiring,
for example, a murderer.

879
00:42:44,963 --> 00:42:46,598
If I pay a murderer
to go and kill someone,

880
00:42:46,632 --> 00:42:48,299
it's not just the murderer
that is blameworthy.

881
00:42:48,333 --> 00:42:49,467
I share that blame.

882
00:42:49,500 --> 00:42:51,369
So if you say by
non-combatants

883
00:42:51,402 --> 00:42:52,971
these people voted
for a government

884
00:42:53,004 --> 00:42:54,940
that is carrying
out crimes,

885
00:42:54,973 --> 00:42:56,541
then they share
the blame,

886
00:42:56,574 --> 00:42:58,877
And obviously in the eyes
of the Islamic terrorists,

887
00:42:58,910 --> 00:42:59,911
they are blameworthy.

888
00:43:04,149 --> 00:43:07,886
These ideas are abhorrent
to Muslims and non-Muslims

889
00:43:07,919 --> 00:43:10,656
and would have been
unrecognizable to Muhammad.

890
00:43:10,689 --> 00:43:12,290
For him, the concept of jihad

891
00:43:12,323 --> 00:43:14,325
was not just simply about
killing and war,

892
00:43:14,359 --> 00:43:16,762
but it was about striving
to improve yourself

893
00:43:16,795 --> 00:43:18,596
in the eyes of God.

894
00:43:18,630 --> 00:43:21,299
There is the concept
of just war in Islam

895
00:43:21,332 --> 00:43:24,302
and Muhammad himself
fought many battles,

896
00:43:24,335 --> 00:43:27,405
but for him there
was no justification

897
00:43:27,438 --> 00:43:29,440
of the killing
of innocent people.

898
00:43:30,709 --> 00:43:32,210
The verses of the Qur'an

899
00:43:32,243 --> 00:43:34,212
that talk about fighting
and defending yourself

900
00:43:34,245 --> 00:43:37,716
don't legitimize killing
yourself deliberately

901
00:43:37,749 --> 00:43:39,284
and killing others
in that process.

902
00:43:39,317 --> 00:43:42,721
Remember, in Islam, collateral
damage is not allowed.

903
00:43:42,754 --> 00:43:45,657
Intentionally bombing
a group of people,

904
00:43:45,691 --> 00:43:49,560
assuming that your target would
be killed as well as others,

905
00:43:49,594 --> 00:43:51,496
and the others
would be collateral damage,

906
00:43:51,529 --> 00:43:52,931
is completely
disallowed in Islam.

907
00:43:58,169 --> 00:44:00,405
OMAAR:
Muhammad's peaceful jihad

908
00:44:00,438 --> 00:44:03,541
was now about
to come to fruition.

909
00:44:03,574 --> 00:44:05,410
Under the terms
of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah,

910
00:44:05,443 --> 00:44:07,378
he could embark on a journey
that would take him back

911
00:44:07,412 --> 00:44:11,216
to the city of his birth;
the city he had left

912
00:44:11,249 --> 00:44:13,318
nearly seven years ago
as a refugee,

913
00:44:13,351 --> 00:44:16,487
penniless and in
fear of his life.

914
00:44:16,521 --> 00:44:19,124
He was now returning
as the head of an ever-expanding

915
00:44:19,157 --> 00:44:20,491
religious community,

916
00:44:20,525 --> 00:44:21,960
the most powerful
leader in Arabia.

917
00:44:23,228 --> 00:44:26,798
In February 629,

918
00:44:26,832 --> 00:44:30,201
Muhammad agreed with the Quraysh
to be allowed back into Mecca,

919
00:44:30,235 --> 00:44:32,137
in order to visit the Kaaba.

920
00:44:32,170 --> 00:44:35,006
The Quraysh agreed to allow
Muhammad and his followers

921
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,175
into the Kaaba for three days.

922
00:44:37,208 --> 00:44:39,344
And yet, during that time,

923
00:44:39,377 --> 00:44:43,381
it marked a change
in people's perceptions

924
00:44:43,414 --> 00:44:45,416
towards Muhammad
and his followers.

925
00:44:45,450 --> 00:44:47,685
The people of Mecca saw the
Muslims enter the Kaaba,

926
00:44:47,719 --> 00:44:50,388
and they observed how
well behaved they were,

927
00:44:50,421 --> 00:44:53,191
how sincere they were,
and it was important

928
00:44:53,224 --> 00:44:56,461
because it showed
that slowly but surely

929
00:44:56,494 --> 00:44:59,130
the stranglehold
of the Quraysh in Mecca

930
00:44:59,164 --> 00:45:01,032
was beginning to crumble.

931
00:45:03,769 --> 00:45:07,005
A year later,
the Quraysh broke the truce

932
00:45:07,038 --> 00:45:08,940
by attacking one
of Muhammad's allies.

933
00:45:08,974 --> 00:45:11,342
It was a fatal mistake.

934
00:45:11,376 --> 00:45:15,480
In January 630, the Prophet
gathered a massive army

935
00:45:15,513 --> 00:45:19,684
of 10,000 men
and marched towards Mecca.

936
00:45:19,717 --> 00:45:21,920
The Quraysh were
powerless to resist

937
00:45:21,953 --> 00:45:24,322
and they fully expected Muhammad

938
00:45:24,355 --> 00:45:26,792
to storm into Mecca
and exact a bloody revenge

939
00:45:26,825 --> 00:45:29,995
for the many years of
persecution and war.

940
00:45:30,028 --> 00:45:32,563
Their control of
the city was at an end.

941
00:45:36,134 --> 00:45:38,569
But it was what he did next
at this,

942
00:45:38,603 --> 00:45:42,540
his hour of ultimate victory,
that left people stunned.

943
00:45:42,573 --> 00:45:47,078
Muhammad declared that he
forgave all his former enemies.

944
00:45:47,112 --> 00:45:50,315
He then said that there
was to be a general amnesty,

945
00:45:50,348 --> 00:45:52,483
and he said that no one

946
00:45:52,517 --> 00:45:54,953
was to be forced
to convert to Islam.

947
00:45:54,986 --> 00:45:56,922
Instead of revenge,

948
00:45:56,955 --> 00:46:02,693
Muhammad consciously
chose reconciliation.

949
00:46:02,727 --> 00:46:06,497
RIZVI:
The conquest of
Mecca is very important,

950
00:46:06,531 --> 00:46:08,733
because there's a
wide-ranging amnesty given,

951
00:46:08,766 --> 00:46:11,536
and people were given
options of accepting the faith,

952
00:46:11,569 --> 00:46:13,738
or going elsewhere or whatever.

953
00:46:13,771 --> 00:46:18,176
But certainly there was this
notion that once Mecca is taken,

954
00:46:18,209 --> 00:46:19,978
and Mecca is considered to be

955
00:46:20,011 --> 00:46:22,580
the cultic center now
of this new faith,

956
00:46:22,613 --> 00:46:25,984
certainly the first stage of the
mission is complete,

957
00:46:26,017 --> 00:46:28,086
so there's no need for fighting.

958
00:46:28,119 --> 00:46:31,289
OMAAR:
For Muhammad, this was the
moment he had been waiting for.

959
00:46:31,322 --> 00:46:33,791
He had come back to Mecca

960
00:46:33,825 --> 00:46:35,793
not to kill the Quraysh,

961
00:46:35,827 --> 00:46:38,864
but to restore the Kaaba
to its role as the sacred shrine

962
00:46:38,897 --> 00:46:40,465
to the one God.

963
00:46:40,498 --> 00:46:42,800
According to Muslim tradition,

964
00:46:42,834 --> 00:46:47,272
when he and thousands of his
followers entered the Kaaba,

965
00:46:47,305 --> 00:46:51,209
they destroyed the many gods
and effigies placed there.

966
00:46:51,242 --> 00:46:53,511
ROGERSON:
He pardons the Meccans,

967
00:46:53,544 --> 00:46:56,314
but he doesn't just pardon them,
he pardons them with kindness,

968
00:46:56,347 --> 00:46:58,816
and he almost drowns
their criticisms with gifts.

969
00:46:58,850 --> 00:47:00,886
And there is that sort
of wonderful instance

970
00:47:00,919 --> 00:47:02,988
of just the tribal sheiks,

971
00:47:03,021 --> 00:47:05,390
who had never really opposed and
never listened to his message--

972
00:47:05,423 --> 00:47:07,592
all they wanted was cattle,
more camels and more silver--

973
00:47:07,625 --> 00:47:10,095
and he gives it to them.

974
00:47:10,128 --> 00:47:14,065
DAVIES:
It seems to me that's
the heart and the essence

975
00:47:14,099 --> 00:47:17,802
of the life of the Prophet,
the moment it was building to.

976
00:47:17,835 --> 00:47:19,971
From what I understand and know

977
00:47:20,005 --> 00:47:21,940
of the personality
of the Prophet,

978
00:47:21,973 --> 00:47:26,211
it is the most characteristic
moment in his entire life.

979
00:47:26,244 --> 00:47:29,080
He was not a vengeful man.

980
00:47:29,114 --> 00:47:32,217
His message was not
about vengeance,

981
00:47:32,250 --> 00:47:33,919
but about constructing

982
00:47:33,952 --> 00:47:37,722
a transformative
reformative process,

983
00:47:37,755 --> 00:47:43,094
building society
by including everybody.

984
00:47:43,128 --> 00:47:47,132
So it seems to me that
when he came back to Mecca,

985
00:47:47,165 --> 00:47:51,469
that's when I say, yes, that's
the point from which we begin.

986
00:47:51,502 --> 00:47:55,540
That's the model
we need to build on.

987
00:47:55,573 --> 00:47:57,342
And then he goes home.

988
00:47:57,375 --> 00:47:59,978
There is no attempt to impose

989
00:48:00,011 --> 00:48:03,081
what we'd call today
an Islamic state.

990
00:48:03,114 --> 00:48:05,116
So, we're not talking about
doctrinal conformity,

991
00:48:05,150 --> 00:48:08,719
we're talking about
ending this tribalism

992
00:48:08,753 --> 00:48:13,224
which sets people
off against one another.

993
00:48:15,160 --> 00:48:17,028
OMAAR:
Although Mecca was now his,

994
00:48:17,062 --> 00:48:20,698
Muhammad chose not to move back
to the city of his birth.

995
00:48:20,731 --> 00:48:23,401
Instead he returned
to his adopted home, Medina.

996
00:48:23,434 --> 00:48:25,136
And with the Quraysh defeated,

997
00:48:25,170 --> 00:48:29,474
it wasn't long before the rest
of Arabia joined his cause.

998
00:48:29,507 --> 00:48:32,410
Muhammad's bloodless
conquest of Mecca

999
00:48:32,443 --> 00:48:35,546
was clear proof that his
movement was succeeding.

1000
00:48:35,580 --> 00:48:38,216
And what's more,
his message of justice

1001
00:48:38,249 --> 00:48:40,351
and using peace
and reconciliation

1002
00:48:40,385 --> 00:48:42,720
as a means of
delivering that message

1003
00:48:42,753 --> 00:48:45,323
was beginning to attract
huge numbers of converts.

1004
00:48:45,356 --> 00:48:48,893
In fact, tribes were beginning
to convert wholesale.

1005
00:48:48,926 --> 00:48:54,132
By 631, the last pagan
stronghold of Taif fell.

1006
00:48:54,165 --> 00:48:55,933
Now Muhammad was effectively

1007
00:48:55,967 --> 00:48:58,003
the ruler of the
whole of Muslim Arabia.

1008
00:49:02,807 --> 00:49:04,909
More than 20 years had passed

1009
00:49:04,942 --> 00:49:07,278
since he had received
his first revelation.

1010
00:49:07,312 --> 00:49:09,147
For over a decade
he and his followers

1011
00:49:09,180 --> 00:49:12,183
had eked out a
precarious existence.

1012
00:49:12,217 --> 00:49:14,986
Time after time they had been
on the verge of destruction,

1013
00:49:15,020 --> 00:49:18,223
but they had managed to survive
through a combination of

1014
00:49:18,256 --> 00:49:21,792
Muhammad's spiritual, military
and political leadership.

1015
00:49:21,826 --> 00:49:25,096
and, finally, after a
seemingly humiliating treaty,

1016
00:49:25,130 --> 00:49:27,232
to triumph over their enemies.

1017
00:49:31,036 --> 00:49:33,071
Muhammad expressed
and exemplified

1018
00:49:33,104 --> 00:49:36,174
the qualities that
we now see universally

1019
00:49:36,207 --> 00:49:39,410
are characteristic of a good
leader and a leader for good--

1020
00:49:39,444 --> 00:49:42,713
enthusiasm, integrity,

1021
00:49:42,747 --> 00:49:48,186
then the combination of
toughness and demandingness

1022
00:49:48,219 --> 00:49:51,289
and fairness is very important
in leaders universally.

1023
00:49:51,322 --> 00:49:55,960
And Muhammad had all those
attributes, very clearly.

1024
00:49:55,993 --> 00:50:03,201
I think warmth, humanity,
kindness is important too.

1025
00:50:03,234 --> 00:50:05,403
And, again, if you
look at the traditions

1026
00:50:05,436 --> 00:50:07,004
of the life of Muhammad,

1027
00:50:07,038 --> 00:50:08,973
there are plenty of
examples where he showed

1028
00:50:09,006 --> 00:50:11,576
those kinds of humane qualities.

1029
00:50:17,782 --> 00:50:20,785
By the year 632
Muhammad had achieved

1030
00:50:20,818 --> 00:50:22,887
almost all he had
set out to achieve.

1031
00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:24,955
He created a level
of peace and security

1032
00:50:24,989 --> 00:50:26,924
that Arabia had rarely known.

1033
00:50:26,957 --> 00:50:30,295
He laid out the
foundations and rules of Islam

1034
00:50:30,328 --> 00:50:33,898
and he created the foundations
of a new Muslim community.

1035
00:50:33,931 --> 00:50:36,401
But by this time
he was 60 years old,

1036
00:50:36,434 --> 00:50:38,836
and his health was
beginning to fail.

1037
00:50:38,869 --> 00:50:41,606
In that year, he came
to Mecca for the last time

1038
00:50:41,639 --> 00:50:45,210
and he performed his first
and only Hajj, or pilgrimage,

1039
00:50:45,243 --> 00:50:50,981
and he gave what would become
known as the "farewell sermon".

1040
00:50:51,015 --> 00:50:53,718
Sitting here on a camel,
on the plains of Arafat,

1041
00:50:53,751 --> 00:50:57,488
he spoke to a vast crowd

1042
00:50:57,522 --> 00:51:00,225
with strategically placed
announcers relaying his words.

1043
00:51:00,258 --> 00:51:03,761
It was a deeply emotional speech
in which, in his own words,

1044
00:51:03,794 --> 00:51:07,765
Muhammad summarized
what he felt

1045
00:51:07,798 --> 00:51:12,337
he and his
followers had achieved.

1046
00:51:12,370 --> 00:51:14,339
"O People! Lend me
an attentive ear,

1047
00:51:14,372 --> 00:51:18,276
"for I know not whether
after this year

1048
00:51:18,309 --> 00:51:21,011
"I shall ever be
amongst you again.

1049
00:51:21,045 --> 00:51:22,947
"Therefore, listen
carefully to what I am saying

1050
00:51:22,980 --> 00:51:24,815
"and take these words
to those who could not

1051
00:51:24,849 --> 00:51:28,553
be present here today."

1052
00:51:28,586 --> 00:51:31,021
You see in the final sermon

1053
00:51:31,055 --> 00:51:34,159
this heartfelt plea
from the Prophet

1054
00:51:34,192 --> 00:51:36,727
warning the Muslims
about certain things,

1055
00:51:36,761 --> 00:51:39,130
advising them about
certain things.

1056
00:51:39,164 --> 00:51:41,832
You can see his worries
for the future of Muslims,

1057
00:51:41,866 --> 00:51:45,636
and that these
words are something

1058
00:51:45,670 --> 00:51:49,207
that they should take note of
and they should hang on to

1059
00:51:49,240 --> 00:51:51,776
and they should be
aware because in here,

1060
00:51:51,809 --> 00:51:54,879
is a very, very important
message for every Muslim.

1061
00:51:56,781 --> 00:51:59,350
OMAAR:
"Do not therefore
do injustice to yourselves.

1062
00:51:59,384 --> 00:52:03,821
"Remember one day you will meet
Allah and answer your deeds.

1063
00:52:03,854 --> 00:52:07,225
"So beware, do not astray from
the path of righteousness

1064
00:52:07,258 --> 00:52:10,027
after I am gone."

1065
00:52:10,060 --> 00:52:16,301
ESPOSITO:
Remember what God's earliest
message was, to Abraham,

1066
00:52:16,334 --> 00:52:22,507
to Adam, to Moses, to Jesus etc,

1067
00:52:22,540 --> 00:52:26,877
and remember that
the only real reality,

1068
00:52:26,911 --> 00:52:29,514
the ultimate reality,
is the one true God.

1069
00:52:29,547 --> 00:52:33,551
And that that God
is the creator, sustainer,

1070
00:52:33,584 --> 00:52:36,554
and judge of the universe.

1071
00:52:36,587 --> 00:52:39,557
OMAAR:
"All mankind is from
Adam and Eve.

1072
00:52:39,590 --> 00:52:42,193
"An Arab has no superiority
over a non-Arab,

1073
00:52:42,227 --> 00:52:46,030
"nor a non-Arab has any
superiority over an Arab.

1074
00:52:46,063 --> 00:52:49,967
"Also, a white has
no superiority over black,

1075
00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:54,372
"nor a black has
any superiority over white

1076
00:52:54,405 --> 00:52:57,141
except by piety
and good action."

1077
00:52:57,174 --> 00:53:00,611
ARMSTRONG:
He's saying all humans are one.

1078
00:53:00,645 --> 00:53:04,682
God has called you from
the tribalism of paganism,

1079
00:53:04,715 --> 00:53:06,717
and it's pride in ancestors,

1080
00:53:06,751 --> 00:53:10,721
but remember all men came from
Adam and Adam came from dust.

1081
00:53:14,024 --> 00:53:16,394
And then he quotes these
words from the Qur'an

1082
00:53:16,427 --> 00:53:18,996
which really speak to our time.

1083
00:53:19,029 --> 00:53:20,931
"Oh people,"
God says to humanity,

1084
00:53:20,965 --> 00:53:25,002
"we have formed you
from a male and a female,

1085
00:53:25,035 --> 00:53:27,037
"and have formed you
into tribes and nations

1086
00:53:27,071 --> 00:53:29,106
"so that you may get
to know one another,

1087
00:53:29,139 --> 00:53:32,943
"not so that you may fight
or oppress or occupy

1088
00:53:32,977 --> 00:53:36,046
"or convert or terrorize,

1089
00:53:36,080 --> 00:53:39,350
but so that you may get
to know one another."

1090
00:53:39,384 --> 00:53:41,986
OMAAR:
"All those who listen to me

1091
00:53:42,019 --> 00:53:43,921
"shall pass on my
words to others

1092
00:53:43,954 --> 00:53:45,623
"and those to others again;

1093
00:53:45,656 --> 00:53:48,293
"and may the last ones
understand my words

1094
00:53:48,326 --> 00:53:51,629
"better than those who
listen to me directly.

1095
00:53:51,662 --> 00:53:53,230
"Be my witness, O Allah,

1096
00:53:53,264 --> 00:53:56,967
that I have conveyed your
message to your people."

1097
00:53:57,001 --> 00:53:59,036
ARMSTRONG:
And he asks them,
"Oh people, oh Muslims,

1098
00:53:59,069 --> 00:54:04,642
have I fulfilled my
mandate to you?"

1099
00:54:04,675 --> 00:54:07,912
And they cry na'am-- yes.

1100
00:54:07,945 --> 00:54:10,415
And it rings around.

1101
00:54:12,350 --> 00:54:15,019
And he asks them
three times, "Have I?"

1102
00:54:15,052 --> 00:54:16,987
And each time
they reply "na'am".

1103
00:54:17,021 --> 00:54:20,157
And I think it's
a most moving moment.

1104
00:54:24,795 --> 00:54:27,332
SARDAR:
Well that's the
summation of his life.

1105
00:54:27,365 --> 00:54:29,367
So he emphasizes
all the principles

1106
00:54:29,400 --> 00:54:32,002
that he has been teaching
for the last 23 years.

1107
00:54:32,036 --> 00:54:34,104
He says, for example,
there is no difference

1108
00:54:34,138 --> 00:54:35,706
between Arab and non-Arab.

1109
00:54:35,740 --> 00:54:37,708
Look after your family.

1110
00:54:37,742 --> 00:54:39,810
So it's kind of
summation of his life.

1111
00:54:39,844 --> 00:54:42,813
If you did nothing else but
simply read the last sermon,

1112
00:54:42,847 --> 00:54:47,318
you will get the essence
of the life of Muhammad.

1113
00:54:47,352 --> 00:54:49,019
DAVIES:
The Prophet's final sermon

1114
00:54:49,053 --> 00:54:52,957
sets the agenda for modern,
contemporary Muslim society.

1115
00:54:52,990 --> 00:54:55,760
It shows were we failed,

1116
00:54:55,793 --> 00:54:58,128
and it shows were we
have to try to get to.

1117
00:54:58,162 --> 00:55:01,632
It sums up the
transformative mission

1118
00:55:01,666 --> 00:55:03,233
that was the life
of the Prophet.

1119
00:55:05,736 --> 00:55:07,738
OMAAR:
After his farewell pilgrimage,

1120
00:55:07,772 --> 00:55:11,108
Muhammad returned to his small
house in Medina exhausted.

1121
00:55:11,141 --> 00:55:14,612
He had begun to have
headaches and fainting fits.

1122
00:55:14,645 --> 00:55:17,815
He tried to attend public
prayers in the mosque,

1123
00:55:17,848 --> 00:55:19,917
but he was more and more
confined to his bed

1124
00:55:19,950 --> 00:55:22,019
where Aisha nursed him.

1125
00:55:22,052 --> 00:55:25,222
One day he appeared
to get better,

1126
00:55:25,255 --> 00:55:27,425
and the news spread like
wildfire around the oasis.

1127
00:55:27,458 --> 00:55:32,096
But it was only
a brief reprieve.

1128
00:55:32,129 --> 00:55:35,433
On the 8th of June, 632,

1129
00:55:35,466 --> 00:55:38,035
Muhammad died in the
house of his wife Aisha.

1130
00:55:38,068 --> 00:55:40,137
The news stunned his followers.

1131
00:55:40,170 --> 00:55:42,640
Some refused to
accept the truth.

1132
00:55:42,673 --> 00:55:44,742
Panic began to take hold.

1133
00:55:44,775 --> 00:55:48,446
How could the
messenger of God be dead?

1134
00:55:48,479 --> 00:55:52,417
His closest companion,
Abu Bakr, calmed their fears,

1135
00:55:52,450 --> 00:55:56,186
reminding them that Muhammad
had never claimed to be

1136
00:55:56,220 --> 00:55:58,389
anything other
than a mere mortal,

1137
00:55:58,423 --> 00:56:02,727
and that only God is to be
worshiped, not Muhammad.

1138
00:56:02,760 --> 00:56:05,630
He was buried here,
next to his mosque,

1139
00:56:05,663 --> 00:56:07,632
his face turned towards Mecca,

1140
00:56:07,665 --> 00:56:10,535
a practice still common
today among Muslims.

1141
00:56:21,011 --> 00:56:23,814
Within a hundred years,

1142
00:56:23,848 --> 00:56:26,016
Muhammad's message had
spread across the world,

1143
00:56:26,050 --> 00:56:29,587
as far as
India and China in the east,

1144
00:56:29,620 --> 00:56:33,924
and as far North Africa and
Spain and France in the west.

1145
00:56:33,958 --> 00:56:37,962
But in many ways, his
struggle for a peaceful jihad

1146
00:56:37,995 --> 00:56:40,531
was already in tatters.

1147
00:56:40,565 --> 00:56:43,734
Within just a generation
of Muhammad's death,

1148
00:56:43,768 --> 00:56:47,738
his closest companions and
family were already squabbling,

1149
00:56:47,772 --> 00:56:51,008
breaking out into open
and bloody warfare

1150
00:56:51,041 --> 00:56:54,311
that lead to the deep
schism that still exists

1151
00:56:54,344 --> 00:56:58,182
within the Muslim world
today between Sunni and Shia.

1152
00:56:58,215 --> 00:57:02,352
But today, Muhammad's
message seems under threat

1153
00:57:02,386 --> 00:57:04,622
like never before.

1154
00:57:04,655 --> 00:57:07,224
Many Muslims feel
humiliated and condemned

1155
00:57:07,257 --> 00:57:09,727
by the sheer power
of Western culture

1156
00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:12,429
and military might,
whilst many in the West

1157
00:57:12,463 --> 00:57:15,500
see Islam as the religion
of some of the most

1158
00:57:15,533 --> 00:57:19,336
oppressive states on earth,
a violent, intolerant faith.

1159
00:57:19,369 --> 00:57:22,239
But the question is,

1160
00:57:22,272 --> 00:57:25,810
how much of this can be blamed
on Muhammad himself?

1161
00:57:25,843 --> 00:57:30,447
Muhammad left the world with
three things-- his faith in God,

1162
00:57:30,481 --> 00:57:34,118
the example of his own life,
and above all else,

1163
00:57:34,151 --> 00:57:36,754
the Qur'an itself.

1164
00:57:36,787 --> 00:57:38,222
Now people will always
choose and highlight

1165
00:57:38,255 --> 00:57:40,725
those aspects of his
life they want

1166
00:57:40,758 --> 00:57:43,694
to support their own arguments
whilst ignoring the rest.

1167
00:57:43,728 --> 00:57:46,697
But if we examine
his life in total,

1168
00:57:46,731 --> 00:57:51,101
we find that he left Arabia a
better place than he found it.

1169
00:57:51,135 --> 00:57:53,037
When faced with persecution,

1170
00:57:53,070 --> 00:57:55,906
he chose to suffer
rather than to retaliate.

1171
00:57:55,940 --> 00:57:58,142
Although he did fight many
military battles,

1172
00:57:58,175 --> 00:58:00,745
he turned his back
on war when he could.

1173
00:58:00,778 --> 00:58:03,614
His ultimate victory
came through peace,

1174
00:58:03,648 --> 00:58:05,415
not through conflict.

1175
00:58:05,449 --> 00:58:08,018
And with that victory,
he chose the path

1176
00:58:08,052 --> 00:58:12,256
of reconciliation
rather than revenge.

1177
00:58:12,289 --> 00:58:15,259
And finally,
in his farewell sermon,

1178
00:58:15,292 --> 00:58:18,729
Muhammad left us with the most
important lesson of all,

1179
00:58:18,763 --> 00:58:24,334
that we are all equal, Arab and
non-Arab, Muslim and non-Muslim,

1180
00:58:24,368 --> 00:58:27,237
a universal message
that is as relevant today

1181
00:58:27,271 --> 00:58:30,007
as it was in 7th century Arabia,

1182
00:58:30,040 --> 00:58:31,609
and it seems to me,

1183
00:58:31,642 --> 00:58:35,412
this is the true legacy
of the life of Muhammad.