All language subtitles for The Life of Muhammad (2011) - S01E03 - Holy Peace (1080p AMZN WEB-DL x265 t3nzin)_track3_[eng]

RAGEH OMAAR:
1,400 years ago,

a man born here
in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia,

changed the course
of world history.

JOHN ADAIR:
If you had to rate

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

the name of Muhammad
would be in the top three.

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

He gave light to the world.

OMAAR:
For one and a half
billion Muslims,

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

who have brought the
word of God to humanity.

KAREN ARMSTRONG:
He was not just
a spiritual genius,

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

OMAAR:
He laid the foundations

for a religion, Islam,
that after his death

developed
a culture and civilization

that spread around
the world and inspired

some of the most
beautiful architecture.

But today Islam is at
the very heart of the conflict

that defines our world.

And Muhammad's name

is associated with some of the
most appalling acts of terrorism

the world has ever seen.

ROBERT SPENCER:
Osama bin Laden and others

who have committed
acts of Jihad terrorism

consistently invoke the Qur'an
and Muhammad's example

to justify what they are doing.

Obedience to one true God Allah,

and follow in the footsteps
of the final prophet

and messenger, Muhammad.

Outside of the Islamic world,

almost nothing is
known about Muhammad,

whereas for Muslims
he is the ultimate role model

and his life is
known in every detail.

So who was he?

What was his message?

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

divided over his legacy?

In this groundbreaking series,

I will explore the many
complexities of his life story

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

about his many wives,

about his relations
with the Jews of Arabia,

about his use of war and peace

and about the laws
that he enacted

when he set up his own state.

I want to examine his life
and times and understand

how they still
affect today's world

and whether they are
a force for good or evil.

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

peace be upon him.

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

into the ruling tribe
of the city, the Quraysh.

According to Muslim tradition,
at the age of 40,

Muhammad received
a revelation from God,

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

the sacred text of Islam.

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

that he, Muhammad,
was his messenger,

and that all human beings

would account for their behavior
on the day of judgment.

He slowly built up
a small band of followers,

from his family, friends,

and the marginalized
sections of Meccan society.

But it was not a message
that was always welcome.

Right from the start,

Muhammad's new message brought
him into conflict

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

who saw him as
a direct threat

to their control of the city.

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

drawing people to
the town of Mecca,

the center of pagan cults
for the people of Arabia.

For 13 years, Muhammad
and his small band of followers

endured increasingly
brutal persecution

at the hands of the Quraysh

until they were
forced to leave Mecca,

and begin a new life
in the city of Medina.

Muhammad's newfound power
at the head

of Medina's Jewish
and pagan tribes

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

Several times they tried
to crush Muhammad

and his followers by force.

In the final battle,
it's alleged

that one of Medina's Jewish
tribes switched allegiances,

and in retaliation, all
the Jewish men of that tribe

were massacred on
charge of treason.

It was one of the most
controversial incidents

in Muhammad's life.

With the ending of
the siege of Medina,

Muhammad had overcome
the most powerful Arab army

ever assembled against him
and once again he had humiliated

his Quraysh opponents.

He had seen off all local
opposition to his rule,

and what's more he
had ensured the survival

of the Muslim community
here in Medina.

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

The revelations
Muhammad received

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

They came to him
throughout his life,

and every time they occurred,
it was a terrifying

and exhausting experience.

He frequently had to struggle
to make sense of them.

Some came as words,
others as visions

that needed intense
concentration

to understand their meaning.

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

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

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

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

BARNABY ROGERSON:
For me, the Prophet has got

that sort of terrifying,
brief access to divine power

and he's using that
consciousness

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

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

that the veil which obscures
the dimension of the heavenly,

the dimension of the angelic,
can be penetrated

by men of peculiar
vision or holiness,

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

by Zoastrian holy men.

And it is why people are able
to accept his assurance

that he is receiving
revelations from God.

It is why they are
able to accept it.

OMAAR:
This kind of
spiritual experience

is not normally
associated with Islam.

One Muslim group
though, the Sufis,

claim to try to replicate
Muhammad's mystical experience

of God through intense prayer,

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

(translator)
When prophet Muhammad
was saying his prayers

while he was mediating
and communicating with God,

he used to hear the divine
instructions and then act.

That's why in
Sufism and in Islam,

we also try and
come close to God.

Through our rituals,

we try to be one with him.

Prophet Muhammad is
an example of this.

Whatever he did
during his prayers,

or during his daily life,

is there for us to take example.

OMAAR:
The Sufis have developed

their own elaborate
rituals and techniques,

and here in Turkey
they even dance.

Although there is no
evidence to suggest that

Muhammad followed these rituals,
the Sufis see him

as an inspiration for their
spiritual experience.

(praying)

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

both theological and Sufi
traditions in Islam.

His perfection lies in the fact

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

(chanting)

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

or the repeated lyrical
chanting of God's name,

to bring people closer to God.

The chanting is followed

by a particularly
Turkish Sufi practice

to induce a trance-like
condition through dance.

(singing and chanting)

ZIAUDDIN SARDAR:
Every religion generates

its own diversity
of spiritual practices.

Islam is no exception.

We have number of different
spiritual traditions

of which Sufism is but one.

Now the Prophet prayed,
he meditated, he contemplated,

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

That means praying itself is not
good enough,

you have to do good,

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

Anybody who follows this
spiritual tradition

and does good-- and the
emphasis on doing good

is very, very important--

is in fact following
on the way of Muhammad.

OMAAR:
But Muhammad's spiritual
experiences were firmly rooted

in the practical
necessities of life.

He was not someone who
retired from the world,

but worked continually
to reform Arabian society.

Instead of simply
waiting for paradise

at the end of the world,

Muhammad tried to create
his own ideal society

in his own lifetime.

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

but by all accounts
in his personal habits

and way of life,
he remained modest.

He continued to live
next to his small mosque

that served both
as a place of worship

and as center for his work.

Everyone was free to enter
and speak with him--

Jews, Christians,
non-believers, even slaves.

SARDAR:
If you read the accounts,

it is clear that he is
a very charismatic figure.

He is a person that
numerous people came for advice,

constantly came for advice,

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

he was always
listening to people.

He comes out as a
very humane and warm person.

I think Muhammad
does come across

in many different contexts
as being quite gentle,

quite reluctant to find fault.

He seemed a very fair
individual.

OMAAR:
Muslim sources talk of his
simple taste in clothes

and his dislike of
gold or silk or other luxuries.

He did not care for
possessions and gave much away

in charity or as gifts.

ADAIR:
I haven't personally
detected any sign

that Muhammad was
guided by power.

I think his integrity
remained intact.

He was scrupulous over any
corruption or financial issues.

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

who could combine
that moral vision

with the requirements of being

a leader of
a growing organization.

ROGERSON:
He is a searcher--

a searcher for truth
and understanding

throughout his life.

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

He used the genius
of the Arab people,

infused it with
something worldwide,

to make something that
humankind could understand.

OMAAR:
Muhammad received revelations
throughout his life,

but between Mecca and Medina,

their content changed
significantly.

Whereas in Mecca,

the revelations dealt
with inward principles

of spirituality and faith,

here in Medina the revelations
would be far more practical.

They provided a blueprint
for how one should live life

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

from the social
to the political.

A blueprint that many Muslims
try to follow today.

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

he talks much more
about issues such as

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

about justice
and these kind of things,

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

of a community.

He therefore has to
get much more involved

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

how people interact
with each other;

how people manage inheritance;

how people greet
each other even.

OMAAR:
The revelations
could be quite explicit--

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

Or they could be general
guidelines

about how to treat
others to promote justice

and human dignity.

Muhammad used these principles
in deciding matters

brought to him as the ruler
of Medina.

Over time, a moral code was
revealed to Muhammad

based on ideas of
social justice for all.

In the Qur'an,
it was called Sharia,

or "the way to know God."

TARIQ RAMADAN:
We have three verses

where the concept is
revealed in one way or another,

in one form or another.

And, in fact,
what was understood

by the Prophet
and his companions

is that what they were
trying to implement

was, in fact,
this way towards God.

So this is why we have a problem
of defining the word

because the scholars afterward
defined Sharia as God's law.

But because they were jurists--

so for them Sharia
is all about law.

But what he was doing
is just promoting,

you know, brotherhood,
justice, equality, freedom.

This is Sharia, in fact.

OMAAR:
What is known today
as Sharia law,

the sacred law of Islam,
is very different.

It only came into existence two
centuries after Muhammad's death

when Muslim legal experts
devised a legal code

to help run the ever-expanding
Islamic empire.

They used a mixture of Qur'anic
teachings and examples

from Muhammad's life.

Many Muslims now regard
that version of Sharia

as the unalterable law of God.

The underlying principles of
Islamic law appear in the Qur'an

and there are some
detailed regulations

related to very specific
areas such as inheritance,

which you do find in the Qur'an,

but the Sharia itself
is a human edifice

constructed over time.

It's mans attempt to understand
God's will and implement it.

But there are divergent
views within the Sharia,

there are contradictory rulings,

and so it's
certainly not a code

sent down directly from God.

It's something much more
flexible and fluid

and adaptive to circumstance.

OMAAR:
In Medina, Muhammad made many
radical changes

to the customs
of his tribal past.

He abolished the brutal
tradition of blood feuds.

Women acquired a share in
inheritance and secured rights

to own property.

But the Qur'an also ordered
more traditional penalties

such as the amputation of limbs
for stealing,

although there is no evidence
Muhammad ever did this.

Many of these punishments still
form part of Sharia law today.

DAVID WOOD:
There was the practice
of female infanticide

in 7th century Arabia.

So if you had a daughter,

and you didn't want to
take care of a daughter

for 13 or 15 years until
someone's going to marry her,

you toss her out into the desert
and she would die.

Muhammad put an end to that.

Muhammad put an emphasis on
helping orphans and widows--

we would look at that and say,

"Great, that's a great
teaching."

But certainly we find many
teachings that we would consider

barbaric by today's standards.

Stoning of adulterers
and adulteresses,

chopping off body parts
for those who steal things.

These are certain things I would

regard as backwards.

RAMADAN:
Today, because we are
facing the West

because we are having
a very narrow understanding,

we come with something
that Sharia is,

how we are going to implement
very narrow understanding

of what a marriage is,
of what punishment are.

I think that this is not the way

and this is why I am saying
today,

if I am speaking about Sharia,

I live in the West,
and in the West we have laws

where you and me,
we are equal before law.

This is my Sharia.

This is where we have
to come with a better,

a deeper understanding
of the very essence of Sharia.

OMAAR:
Some Muslim states, such as
Saudi Arabia and Iran,

base their entire
legal system

on Sharia law with punishments
that many regard as medieval

in their brutality.

So calls by Muslim extremists

to introduce Sharia law
in Europe and in Britain

have led to street protests and
the rise of political parties

campaigning against
what they see

as the spread of
Islamic influence.

NONIE DARWISH:
This is the problem,

that in the 21st century
we still have nations

who are beheading people,

who are cutting
the limbs of people,

cutting the hands and feet.

There are women today
being stoned to death

by the government
for sexual violations.

Not for murder,
it's not for a crime

of taking someone else's life,

and it's an inhumane way
of killing.

(crowd shouting)

RAMADAN:
All these people
who are stoning the people

and are just
starting with punishments

say this is Sharia.

I say no, that's not Sharia,
this is a way you are

instrumentalizing religion
for your own sake.

I have one question--
how have you been elected?

Are you elected?

Are you representing the people?

Let me start
with the first question,

because you have no legitimacy,
no way for you to implement this

in the name of Islam
if you are not legitimate.

And many of the people who are
doing it starting with this

are not really elected and they
are not chosen by the people.

So their own status
is important.

And then there
is a second question.

What about social justice?

What about equal rights?

What about education?

Are you going to punish people
without educating them?

Is this Islam?

No, Islam is
starting with education.

And as for the punishment,
is another story.

Don't start with punishment,

start with dignity and rights,
not with punishment

because punishment is the way
you instrumentalize religion

just to make yourself being
legitimate while you are not.

(crowd shouting)

Like all law, Sharia law,
at least in theory,

is supposed to be a changing,
evolving institution.

But what we have under
the rubric of Sharia law today

is actually frozen in history.

It is the
interpretations of jurists

undertaken during
the 8th and 9th century.

That is what we call Sharia law.

That's why wherever
Sharia law is implemented

it recreates the conditions
of the 8th and 9th century.

What the Muslims need to do

is to reformulate Sharia law,
and this reformulation

has to be continuous
and constant.

Because the word
Sharia itself means

"the way to the watering hole".

Why do you go
to the watering hole?

To drink water.

It is something that we
need to drink all the time.

That means it
has to be refreshed,

rethought and reformulated
from epoch to epoch.

(bird screeching)

OMAAR:
It was now 627 A.D.

Muhammad had a secure power base
in Medina.

Although he had frustrated all
the efforts of his enemies,

the Quraysh, to destroy him,
they were still powerful

and in control of Mecca.

If Muhammad was to succeed
in bringing his message

to all the people of Arabia,

he had to find a solution
to break this stalemate.

One of the key lessons
from the battles for Muhammad

was that he was going
to find it very difficult

to overcome
the Meccans militarily.

He had to try to
undermine them politically.

What he needed
was to strike alliances

with the other tribes
across Arabia.

And one of the key ways of doing
this was through marriage.

For Muhammad's critics,
his polygamous marriages

have always been a problem.

But at that time in Arabia,
polygamy was the norm;

and it wasn't until after
the death of his first wife

that Muhammad had several wives
at the same time.

Some accounts say nine,
others 11 or 13.

Some were widows.

Some were women
captured after battles

who, by marrying him,
were granted their freedom.

One was even a Christian Coptic
slave presented to him

by the Byzantine ruler of Egypt.

But his most
controversial marriage

was to the daughter
of his closest companion,

a young girl called Aisha.

According to some sources,

Aisha is supposed to have been
betrothed at age six or seven,

then formally married at nine.

Other accounts make
her older-- nearly 16 or 17.

It's this lack of clarity
that has left Muhammad

open to serious condemnation
from many critics.

SERGE TRIFKOVIC:
If you are a 53-year-old man,

and you take a
nine-year-old girl into your bed

and consummate the marriage,

it is not all right.

Not only from the standpoint
of 21st century morality

of the Western world,

but of what one might say
natural morality

of most societies
most of the time.

RAMADAN:
My position on this
is that she was older,

she was between 16 and 18

and not six and nine.

So these are scholars
of today... but not today,

in fact, last century,

trying to get a sense that might
be we are repeating this

but this is not really true

it is not something
which is in the Qur'an,

it's in the prophetic traditions
and we have to check about this.

And I would say that age here
is problematic in itself.

OMAAR:
Muhammad's marriage to Aisha
lasted till his death,

and she later became
a prominent political leader

in her own right.

Muslim historians claim that it
was her differences

with Muhammad's cousin
and son-in-law Ali

that eventually led to
the great schism in Islam,

between the Sunni
and the Shia sects.

MERRYL DAVIES:
The real point in this, and it
is lost in all this argument,

is who was Aisha
and what did she become?

She grew up in
the Prophet's household

to become a really feisty,
independent, intelligent,

politically aware woman,

and she is a foundation
of our understanding

of the Prophet's life.

Without Aisha, half of what we
know of the Prophet disappears.

OMAAR:
A series of further revelations
defined Islamic marriage.

They also provided Muhammad's
critics with more ammunition,

as they said that while Muhammad
was allowed

to keep all his wives,

in future Muslim men would only
be allowed a maximum

of four wives as long as they
could support them

and treat them all equally.

ABDUR-RAHEEM GREEN:
We have to understand
the Prophet Muhammad

in the context of his time.

Pagan Arabia is a place

where there is
unlimited polygamy--

that is the normal practice.

Islam comes and
limits that polygamy.

For Muslims, it is
limited to four wives.

The Prophet is allowed and the
Prophet is previously married

up to nine wives.

He is also prohibited from
adding any more to that number,

but those wives
that he is married to

he is allowed to keep.

There is a simple
reason for that.

The importance of building
tribal alliances.

This is very, very important.

The Prophet is
not only a prophet,

he is a leader of his people,
and building those alliances

is hugely important.

WOOD:
Now, the justification for
Muhammad having more wives

is Sura 33:50, which gave
Muhammad, and only Muhammad,

permission to marry as many
women as he wanted to marry,

and we have
to be somewhat skeptical.

So many people have
claimed to be prophets.

When we look at a prophet
and his revelations give him

more sexual partners than anyone
else is allowed to have,

I say we have some reason
for suspicion here.

ARMSTRONG:
It would be entirely mistaken
to imagine the Prophet

basking decadently in a garden
of earthly delights.

These are political marriages.

He marries Aisha

because he wants to bind himself
more closely with their fathers.

He's creating a new community

not based on tribe or blood,
but somehow this helps

to make the transition easier
if you make a marriage link.

OMAAR:
We know from Muslim sources that
some of Muhammad's marriages

even caused him problems
during his own lifetime.

For example, when he
married the divorced wife

of his adopted son,
his enemies spread rumors

that it was an
incestuous relationship

in an attempt to divide
the Muslim community.

His marriage to his
former daughter-in-law

Zaynab bint Jahsh,
when he married her

it's clear that there were
protests from the community,

and people thought that this was

a shocking, scandalizing kind
of thing for him to have done.

OMAAR:
According to the sources,

Muhammad faced another
marital crisis

when Aisha went
missing during a journey.

She was eventually found
and brought back to Medina

by a man who had known her
before her marriage to Muhammad.

Again, his enemies spread rumors
that something scandalous

must have happened between them.

According to Muslim tradition,

Muhammad himself was at first
unsure who to believe,

but eventually, after a new
revelation from God,

he accepted Aisha's
protestations of innocence.

At that time in Arabia,
adulterers were traditionally

stoned to death.

This new revelation defined
how any future allegations

of adultery should
be dealt with,

and surprisingly,
in complete contrast

to the extreme views held by
groups like the Taliban.

AJMAL MASROOR:
The punishment of
stoning to death

was borrowed from
Christianity and Judaism

from the Old Testament,
of course, as we know.

In the Qur'an, punishment for
having sex outside marriage

is lashing hundred
times on your backside,

only if it can be
proven that four people

have seen the act
of penetration,

which is very difficult
to prove.

OMAAR:
Muhammad's wives lived with him
in specially built rooms

adjoining the courtyard of his
mosque in Medina.

It was a very busy public place
and privacy was hard to find.

With the continual attempts
of Muhammad's enemies

to create division,

the potential for future
scandal was always there,

so something had to be done.

One day Muhammad
received a new revelation

that instructed his wives
to cover themselves

to maintain their modesty.

This act of veiling or covering

has had a profound effect
on Muslim women,

and also how the outside world
views Islam's attitudes

to women in general.

There are injunctions
about the Prophet's wives

wearing some kind of covering--

it's not exactly clear
what that covering is--

but it's to distinguish them.

And this is all part and parcel

of the difficult
divisions in Medina,

because Muhammad's
enemies in Medina

were using his wives
to discredit him.

And so some kind of
distinction needed to be made,

but veiling was
not for all women.

OMAAR:
Today the veil is seen
by Islam's critics

as symbolic of its
attitude to women in general

and its desire to oppress them.

But the more universal
veiling of women

did not become an Islamic custom

until more than a hundred years
after Muhammad's death.

As far as the
religion is concerned,

there is a requirement of
modesty for both men and women,

but how you fulfill that
requirement is open to debate.

You know, I don't feel
that I am compromising myself

as a Muslim by not
wearing the hijab,

and I certainly
don't not wear it

because I am trying to say

I'm not actually such
a serious Muslim.

You can't judge the
seriousness of someone's faith

and belief by what they wear.

OMAAR:
Over the last 20 years,

in Britain, as in
many western countries,

the veil has become
a form of identity

for many Muslim women.

Some just cover their hair,
others their entire face.

It is a controversial issue

with some European countries

now banning women
from using the veil.

Fatima Barkatullah is a writer
on Islamic women.

Fatima, are you
wearing the veil

because you are obliged to
because of your family,

or do you do it
out of free will?

For me it is absolutely
100% free will.

It's very
much about a

spiritual journey,

and about
wanting to be

the best I can
be in God's eyes.

When I'm getting ready
in the morning to go out,

I'll just cover what I
would normally be wearing,

you know, whether it's jeans
or whatever I'm wearing,

with something like this...
Which is a gown?

Yes, it's an
outer garment--

people call it
the abaya or a jilbab.

And then I wear this,

which is a khimar,
or a scarf,

and then I wear
this small face veil,

this is very much
my public face, if you like.

OMAAR:
But why do you choose to wear
the full face covering

as opposed to this
the khimar, the scarf,

which you see a lot of other
Muslim women

wearing as well?

I believe that

the more modest
I can be,

the more of
a virtue it is.

So essentially I'm
doing it to please God.

Where do you feel
this comes from?

Is it in
the Qur'an?

Yes, you'll find it
in the Qur'an.

The verse in
the SuratAhzab

clearly says,
"O Prophet tell

"your wives,
your daughters,

and the women
of the believers"--

meaning the Muslim women--

"that when they
go out of their homes

they should wear
their outer garments,"

and the word in
Arabic is jalabeeb,

which has two orthodox
interpretations, actually.

But that's the point,
this is all in interpretation.

There isn't anywhere
in the Qur'an

which says it is
a rule for Muslim women

that they must
wear a veil.

It's in the
interpretation.

As far as the
face is concerned,

there is some
difference of opinion.

DAVIES:
The one verse

that specifically
does deal with clothing

actually says,
"Cover your nakedness"

not shroud yourself
in a black bag.

Now, Muslinterpretedim women
have interpretated it,

Muslim men have
interpolated practices

from other societies into the
interpretation of the religion,

and identity politics has
a great deal to do with it.

But I say women
should be free to choose,

but there is no compulsion,

and there is no requirement
for them to veil themselves.

OMAAR:
Despite the best efforts
of his enemies to discredit him

through his marriages,

Muhammad had used
them to confirm

and widen his power
base in Arabia.

He could now turn his
attention again to Mecca.

In early 628 A.D.,
he told his followers

that they were going to set out
to perform the annual Hajj rites

of the Kaaba, in Mecca.

For Muhammad and his followers,

the Kaaba had become
central to their worship,

the place to which
they turned in prayer.

They believed it had
been originally built

by the Prophet Abraham,

and regarded it as the ultimate
symbol of their faith--

the unity of the one God, Allah.

But access to the
Kaaba was controlled

by Muhammad's enemies, the
Quraysh, the rulers of Mecca.

It contained shrines to the
hundreds of gods worshipped

by all the tribes in Arabia.

Muhammad was now determined

to challenge their control
of this sacred shrine.

The Prophet announces that he
is going to make the Hajj.

Must have been astonishing

because on the Hajj you are not
allowed to carry weapons.

He was going unarmed
into the enemy territory.

ROGERSON
It's when, again,
you touch the magic

of Muhammad as a man.

He fought wars and
now he just said,

"Right, we're off
to pray to God."

OMAAR:
Muhammad and the
convoy of followers

were forced to
stop here at Hudaybiyyah,

which is about eight miles
outside of the Holy City,

because the Quraysh had reacted
with characteristic aggression

and they had sent a cavalry
in order to stop the convoy.

And so began a series
of frenetic negotiations

with emissaries going between
Muhammad and the Quraysh.

They eventually
arrived at an agreement.

But the so-called
Treaty of Hudaybiyyah,

signed at a spot marked by the
mosque just behind me,

looked like the most humiliating
of compromises for Muhammad.

The Quraysh insisted that
Muhammad and his followers

return to Medina without
performing the Hajj rites.

They also insisted that all
raids on Meccan caravans

by the Muslim forces under
Muhammad's command should stop.

In return they would allow
Muhammad and his followers

to return to Mecca as pilgrims
to perform the Hajj,

but only in the following year.

And when it came to
signing the documents

which describes Muhammad

as "the messenger of God",

the Quraysh emissary objected
saying that to them,

he was only
"Muhammad the son of Abdullah".

For Muhammad's followers,
this was an unbearable insult.

According to Muslim tradition,
when Muhammad's young cousin

Ali, who was doing the
writing, heard this,

he refused to strike out the
words "the messenger of God."

Muhammad says, "Give me the pen,
point out the words

'messenger of God'" and he
strikes it out himself.

See it as a striking out
of ego there,

not standing on your right.

The Qur'an says that if
the enemy asks for peace,

you must lay down
your arms immediately

and accept any terms,
however disadvantageous.

OMAAR:
For Muhammad's followers,
the terms of this treaty

and particularly
the treatment of Muhammad

were completely humiliating.

It was only Muhammad's
adamant attitude

that kept them from mutiny.

What Muhammad was trying to do

was totally unheard of
in 7th century Arabia.

In a society of honor,

traditionally blood
feuds ruled the day.

But after years of bloody
but inconclusive conflict,

Muhammad now wanted to defeat
his enemies not through war

but by peace.

By signing a truce
with the Quraysh,

he had not only gained
access to the Kaaba,

albeit at a later date,

but also extracted from them
the crucial acknowledgement

that he and they
were now equals.

RIZVI:
In the sense,
Hudaybiyyah does represent

a minimal option, which is,

"Okay we can't get
what we want now,

but we can get it in the future
if we make this agreement."

And a truce in which
people were not fighting

was always preferable to war.

This is, again, something
which is Qur'anically given,

that, you know,
peace is better than war.

It's repeated again and again.

So it very much fits within that
particular type of principle.

OMAAR:
As he and his followers
were returning to Medina,

Muhammad then received
a new revelation

confirming that the
Treaty of Hudaybiyyah

was a not a humiliating defeat.

He said,
"I've just had a revelation."

He said this was a manifest
victory, says the God.

It may have looked like a defeat
but it was a manifest victory.

The Quraysh were filled
with all the violence

of the old tribal spirit,

and they were filled
with contempt and pride.

It was the Muslims,
the spirit of peace

that filled their hearts.

Sometimes this is forgotten.

We hear all about
Muhammad's wars,

but we forget this extraordinary
non-violent offensive.

After Hudaybiyyah,

the tide had turned in his favor
with a campaign of non-violence.

JOHN ESPOSITO:
A primary vehicle
that Muhammad did use

was diplomacy at the time.

He went out, visited the tribes,

engaged with major
religious leaders,

attempted to form pacts,

created, if you look
at the community at Medina,

created a space for other faiths
and other people.

But when faced with
resistance or aggression,

did exactly what the
standards of the time

would have legitimated.

And I think that that
is clearly there.

You do not see
the Prophet consistently

calling for wholesale killing

of all those who
disagreed with him.

OMAAR:
The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah
marks a turning point

in Muhammad's attempts to spread
his message throughout Arabia.

But it also shows that
he was prepared to suffer

the utmost humiliation
from his worst enemies

in pursuit of peace.

And yet in today's world,

the most commonly held
views of Muhammad

is that he is the enemy
of peace,

and that Islam
is the religion of jihad--

commonly taken to
mean "holy war".

(sirens wailing)

Thousands have been
killed all over the world

by groups that are
now called Jihadi,

a term never used
in Muhammad's time.

And yet these groups
all claim the Qur'an

and Muhammad himself
as inspiration

and justification
for their actions.

(music playing)

It is very clear,
brothers and sisters,

that the path of jihad,
and the desire for martyrdom

was deeply embedded
in the Holy Prophet

and their beloved companions.

OMAAR:
Most so-called jihadis

usually refer to a
verse in the Qur'an,

now known as the "sword verse",

as justification
for their violent acts.

If you come back to the Qur'an
you have this verse.

No one can deny
that there are verses

very, very much dealing
with war and violence.

Now, as we have to
deal with the Qur'an,

it's an eternal book
dealing with history.

These verses were revealed in
a very specific period of time

where the Muslims were under
oppression and trying to resist,

and just to survive.

So we have to
contextualize this.

The mainstream classical
tradition

in the Shia
and the Sunni tradition

is saying you
can't use these verses

just to promote war
and to kill innocent people.

This is wrong.

OMAAR:
The interpretation of
individual Qur'anic verses

goes to the heart
of this controversy.

But most scholars now
agree that the term Jihad

does not mean holy war.

Its real meaning is
completely different.

The concept of jihad
emerges out of the Holy Qur'an,

out of the revelation
that the Prophet receives.

And there are about 35 examples
in the Qur'an of the word jihad

or the term
basically being used,

and often in the
case of striving.

Now striving can be
all sorts of things,

it can be striving against
the baseness of oneself,

it can be a seeking to
overcome evil and being good,

it can be striving in
the sense of fighting.

But jihad is always
distinguished from fighting

and a different terminology is
used for the words fighting.

OMAAR:
In all the battles
that Muhammad fought,

the rules of engagement were
always carefully delineated

within the context of his time,

and what was
generally acceptable.

But there are
no recorded instances

of deliberate attacks on
civilian populations.

BONNEY:
One of the points about jihad

in the early Islamic tradition,

both in the Prophet's lifetime
and afterwards,

is that there is a gradual
evolution of an idea

towards something
like a just war.

And the just war is
a constraint on the army,

does not attack or
massacre civilians,

doesn't kill women or children,

doesn't kill priests of other
religions, incidentally,

and so on.

And this draws on the practice
in the lifetime of the Prophet.

OMAAR:
These rules of engagement
appear to have been forgotten

by today's Muslim extremists.

Suicide bombers kill people not
only in Western cities,

but also in mosques
and other places of worship

in the Muslim world itself.

In Britain today,
no Muslim activist or group

will openly defy the law

by accepting or agreeing
to the use of violence.

But over the last ten years,

more than 200 Muslims
have been convicted

of terrorist-related offenses.

In 2008, Abdul Muhid was
convicted and jailed

for two years
for terrorist funding.

Mizanur Rehman was
charged for soliciting murder,

and jailed for
four years in 2006.

Both have now
served their sentences,

but still have strong views

about the role of jihad
in today's world.

Has the modern
interpretation of jihad

changed in
any way,

because for most
people today

jihad means just
one thing doesn't it?

It means fighting in
the physical struggle?

The scholars of
Islam in the past,

they all agreed that jihad means
fighting non-Muslims yes,

but not just
for the sake

of forcing them
to be Muslim,

but to make the
word of Allah the highest

by removing the obstacles

from the implementation
of the Sharia,

and for the call to Islam
to spread across the world.

From your interpretation
of the Prophet's life,

is it permitable
at any time

in jihad to attack
non-combatants?

If I just cut
straight to the point

the argument of Islamic
terrorists is this--

if you choose a government
that represents you,

and they decide
to bomb a country,

or kill people,

then you have
blood on your hands.

It's like hiring,
for example, a murderer.

If I pay a murderer
to go and kill someone,

it's not just the murderer
that is blameworthy.

I share that blame.

So if you say by
non-combatants

these people voted
for a government

that is carrying
out crimes,

then they share
the blame,

And obviously in the eyes
of the Islamic terrorists,

they are blameworthy.

These ideas are abhorrent
to Muslims and non-Muslims

and would have been
unrecognizable to Muhammad.

For him, the concept of jihad

was not just simply about
killing and war,

but it was about striving
to improve yourself

in the eyes of God.

There is the concept
of just war in Islam

and Muhammad himself
fought many battles,

but for him there
was no justification

of the killing
of innocent people.

The verses of the Qur'an

that talk about fighting
and defending yourself

don't legitimize killing
yourself deliberately

and killing others
in that process.

Remember, in Islam, collateral
damage is not allowed.

Intentionally bombing
a group of people,

assuming that your target would
be killed as well as others,

and the others
would be collateral damage,

is completely
disallowed in Islam.

OMAAR:
Muhammad's peaceful jihad

was now about
to come to fruition.

Under the terms
of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah,

he could embark on a journey
that would take him back

to the city of his birth;
the city he had left

nearly seven years ago
as a refugee,

penniless and in
fear of his life.

He was now returning
as the head of an ever-expanding

religious community,

the most powerful
leader in Arabia.

In February 629,

Muhammad agreed with the Quraysh
to be allowed back into Mecca,

in order to visit the Kaaba.

The Quraysh agreed to allow
Muhammad and his followers

into the Kaaba for three days.

And yet, during that time,

it marked a change
in people's perceptions

towards Muhammad
and his followers.

The people of Mecca saw the
Muslims enter the Kaaba,

and they observed how
well behaved they were,

how sincere they were,
and it was important

because it showed
that slowly but surely

the stranglehold
of the Quraysh in Mecca

was beginning to crumble.

A year later,
the Quraysh broke the truce

by attacking one
of Muhammad's allies.

It was a fatal mistake.

In January 630, the Prophet
gathered a massive army

of 10,000 men
and marched towards Mecca.

The Quraysh were
powerless to resist

and they fully expected Muhammad

to storm into Mecca
and exact a bloody revenge

for the many years of
persecution and war.

Their control of
the city was at an end.

But it was what he did next
at this,

his hour of ultimate victory,
that left people stunned.

Muhammad declared that he
forgave all his former enemies.

He then said that there
was to be a general amnesty,

and he said that no one

was to be forced
to convert to Islam.

Instead of revenge,

Muhammad consciously
chose reconciliation.

RIZVI:
The conquest of
Mecca is very important,

because there's a
wide-ranging amnesty given,

and people were given
options of accepting the faith,

or going elsewhere or whatever.

But certainly there was this
notion that once Mecca is taken,

and Mecca is considered to be

the cultic center now
of this new faith,

certainly the first stage of the
mission is complete,

so there's no need for fighting.

OMAAR:
For Muhammad, this was the
moment he had been waiting for.

He had come back to Mecca

not to kill the Quraysh,

but to restore the Kaaba
to its role as the sacred shrine

to the one God.

According to Muslim tradition,

when he and thousands of his
followers entered the Kaaba,

they destroyed the many gods
and effigies placed there.

ROGERSON:
He pardons the Meccans,

but he doesn't just pardon them,
he pardons them with kindness,

and he almost drowns
their criticisms with gifts.

And there is that sort
of wonderful instance

of just the tribal sheiks,

who had never really opposed and
never listened to his message--

all they wanted was cattle,
more camels and more silver--

and he gives it to them.

DAVIES:
It seems to me that's
the heart and the essence

of the life of the Prophet,
the moment it was building to.

From what I understand and know

of the personality
of the Prophet,

it is the most characteristic
moment in his entire life.

He was not a vengeful man.

His message was not
about vengeance,

but about constructing

a transformative
reformative process,

building society
by including everybody.

So it seems to me that
when he came back to Mecca,

that's when I say, yes, that's
the point from which we begin.

That's the model
we need to build on.

And then he goes home.

There is no attempt to impose

what we'd call today
an Islamic state.

So, we're not talking about
doctrinal conformity,

we're talking about
ending this tribalism

which sets people
off against one another.

OMAAR:
Although Mecca was now his,

Muhammad chose not to move back
to the city of his birth.

Instead he returned
to his adopted home, Medina.

And with the Quraysh defeated,

it wasn't long before the rest
of Arabia joined his cause.

Muhammad's bloodless
conquest of Mecca

was clear proof that his
movement was succeeding.

And what's more,
his message of justice

and using peace
and reconciliation

as a means of
delivering that message

was beginning to attract
huge numbers of converts.

In fact, tribes were beginning
to convert wholesale.

By 631, the last pagan
stronghold of Taif fell.

Now Muhammad was effectively

the ruler of the
whole of Muslim Arabia.

More than 20 years had passed

since he had received
his first revelation.

For over a decade
he and his followers

had eked out a
precarious existence.

Time after time they had been
on the verge of destruction,

but they had managed to survive
through a combination of

Muhammad's spiritual, military
and political leadership.

and, finally, after a
seemingly humiliating treaty,

to triumph over their enemies.

Muhammad expressed
and exemplified

the qualities that
we now see universally

are characteristic of a good
leader and a leader for good--

enthusiasm, integrity,

then the combination of
toughness and demandingness

and fairness is very important
in leaders universally.

And Muhammad had all those
attributes, very clearly.

I think warmth, humanity,
kindness is important too.

And, again, if you
look at the traditions

of the life of Muhammad,

there are plenty of
examples where he showed

those kinds of humane qualities.

By the year 632
Muhammad had achieved

almost all he had
set out to achieve.

He created a level
of peace and security

that Arabia had rarely known.

He laid out the
foundations and rules of Islam

and he created the foundations
of a new Muslim community.

But by this time
he was 60 years old,

and his health was
beginning to fail.

In that year, he came
to Mecca for the last time

and he performed his first
and only Hajj, or pilgrimage,

and he gave what would become
known as the "farewell sermon".

Sitting here on a camel,
on the plains of Arafat,

he spoke to a vast crowd

with strategically placed
announcers relaying his words.

It was a deeply emotional speech
in which, in his own words,

Muhammad summarized
what he felt

he and his
followers had achieved.

"O People! Lend me
an attentive ear,

"for I know not whether
after this year

"I shall ever be
amongst you again.

"Therefore, listen
carefully to what I am saying

"and take these words
to those who could not

be present here today."

You see in the final sermon

this heartfelt plea
from the Prophet

warning the Muslims
about certain things,

advising them about
certain things.

You can see his worries
for the future of Muslims,

and that these
words are something

that they should take note of
and they should hang on to

and they should be
aware because in here,

is a very, very important
message for every Muslim.

OMAAR:
"Do not therefore
do injustice to yourselves.

"Remember one day you will meet
Allah and answer your deeds.

"So beware, do not astray from
the path of righteousness

after I am gone."

ESPOSITO:
Remember what God's earliest
message was, to Abraham,

to Adam, to Moses, to Jesus etc,

and remember that
the only real reality,

the ultimate reality,
is the one true God.

And that that God
is the creator, sustainer,

and judge of the universe.

OMAAR:
"All mankind is from
Adam and Eve.

"An Arab has no superiority
over a non-Arab,

"nor a non-Arab has any
superiority over an Arab.

"Also, a white has
no superiority over black,

"nor a black has
any superiority over white

except by piety
and good action."

ARMSTRONG:
He's saying all humans are one.

God has called you from
the tribalism of paganism,

and it's pride in ancestors,

but remember all men came from
Adam and Adam came from dust.

And then he quotes these
words from the Qur'an

which really speak to our time.

"Oh people,"
God says to humanity,

"we have formed you
from a male and a female,

"and have formed you
into tribes and nations

"so that you may get
to know one another,

"not so that you may fight
or oppress or occupy

"or convert or terrorize,

but so that you may get
to know one another."

OMAAR:
"All those who listen to me

"shall pass on my
words to others

"and those to others again;

"and may the last ones
understand my words

"better than those who
listen to me directly.

"Be my witness, O Allah,

that I have conveyed your
message to your people."

ARMSTRONG:
And he asks them,
"Oh people, oh Muslims,

have I fulfilled my
mandate to you?"

And they cry na'am-- yes.

And it rings around.

And he asks them
three times, "Have I?"

And each time
they reply "na'am".

And I think it's
a most moving moment.

SARDAR:
Well that's the
summation of his life.

So he emphasizes
all the principles

that he has been teaching
for the last 23 years.

He says, for example,
there is no difference

between Arab and non-Arab.

Look after your family.

So it's kind of
summation of his life.

If you did nothing else but
simply read the last sermon,

you will get the essence
of the life of Muhammad.

DAVIES:
The Prophet's final sermon

sets the agenda for modern,
contemporary Muslim society.

It shows were we failed,

and it shows were we
have to try to get to.

It sums up the
transformative mission

that was the life
of the Prophet.

OMAAR:
After his farewell pilgrimage,

Muhammad returned to his small
house in Medina exhausted.

He had begun to have
headaches and fainting fits.

He tried to attend public
prayers in the mosque,

but he was more and more
confined to his bed

where Aisha nursed him.

One day he appeared
to get better,

and the news spread like
wildfire around the oasis.

But it was only
a brief reprieve.

On the 8th of June, 632,

Muhammad died in the
house of his wife Aisha.

The news stunned his followers.

Some refused to
accept the truth.

Panic began to take hold.

How could the
messenger of God be dead?

His closest companion,
Abu Bakr, calmed their fears,

reminding them that Muhammad
had never claimed to be

anything other
than a mere mortal,

and that only God is to be
worshiped, not Muhammad.

He was buried here,
next to his mosque,

his face turned towards Mecca,

a practice still common
today among Muslims.

Within a hundred years,

Muhammad's message had
spread across the world,

as far as
India and China in the east,

and as far North Africa and
Spain and France in the west.

But in many ways, his
struggle for a peaceful jihad

was already in tatters.

Within just a generation
of Muhammad's death,

his closest companions and
family were already squabbling,

breaking out into open
and bloody warfare

that lead to the deep
schism that still exists

within the Muslim world
today between Sunni and Shia.

But today, Muhammad's
message seems under threat

like never before.

Many Muslims feel
humiliated and condemned

by the sheer power
of Western culture

and military might,
whilst many in the West

see Islam as the religion
of some of the most

oppressive states on earth,
a violent, intolerant faith.

But the question is,

how much of this can be blamed
on Muhammad himself?

Muhammad left the world with
three things-- his faith in God,

the example of his own life,
and above all else,

the Qur'an itself.

Now people will always
choose and highlight

those aspects of his
life they want

to support their own arguments
whilst ignoring the rest.

But if we examine
his life in total,

we find that he left Arabia a
better place than he found it.

When faced with persecution,

he chose to suffer
rather than to retaliate.

Although he did fight many
military battles,

he turned his back
on war when he could.

His ultimate victory
came through peace,

not through conflict.

And with that victory,
he chose the path

of reconciliation
rather than revenge.

And finally,
in his farewell sermon,

Muhammad left us with the most
important lesson of all,

that we are all equal, Arab and
non-Arab, Muslim and non-Muslim,

a universal message
that is as relevant today

as it was in 7th century Arabia,

and it seems to me,

this is the true legacy
of the life of Muhammad.