Muhammad was born in 570. His father died around the time of his birth and his mother died when he was 6 years old. Muhammad was raised first by his grandfather and later by his uncle, who was a tribal leader at the time. In those days, most people living in Arabia were nomads. Families, or clans, were organized together into tribes. Sometimes the animal herds of a tribe was insufficient for its needs and one tribe would raid another for goods.

The only people more powerful than tribal leaders were poets. Poets were believed to be possessed of spirits that inhabit the natural world known as "jinn." Arabs believed jinn could work good and evil, so keeping the spirits happy was important: Most tribes also believed in other gods and goddesses, including Allah (the creator of the universe) and his three daughters. Each year local tribesmen visited Mecca to see the KaBah, an area built around a mysterious and sacred black stone (possibly a meteorite) that contained a sanctuary dedicated to these goddesses.

With these annual pilgrimages, Mecca became an important commercial center as well as a religious center. During Muhammad’s early adult life in Mecca, Arabian society began to become more concerned with individual prosperity than clan and tribal community. At age 25 Muhammad married an older, wealthy merchant woman. He became involved in commerce and traveled frequently to areas north of Mecca, where Christitanity and Judaism (both monotheistic religions) were prominent. No one knows how much his travels among Jews and Christians influenced Muhammad, but he certainly gained a broader wider view.

Muhammad was only mildly happy with the comforts that wealth brought and he was quite concerned about the decline of traditional values and community. He began to spend a lot of time alone in meditation and prayer on these concerns. Our story begins with one such event, in the year 610.

For the skit, you will need one person to be the narrator and others to pantomime the underlined action in each scene. Gather props and costumes and have fun!

Characters:
Muhammad
Young boy
Gabriel (angel)
Khadijah (Muhammad’s wife)
Meccan merchants
Abraham
Moses
Jesus
Pilgrims from Medina
Meccan assasins
Abu Bakr (close advisor)

Scene 1: Gabriel’s First Visit
Muhammad was traveling home one night when he passed a young boy sitting idly on the road, staring blankly out in the night. It seemed like he had no where to go, no family even to care for him. Muhammad thought about how things were changing in Mecca. More and more people seemed concerned only about themselves, tribal wars were increasing, and in Mecca itself money and commerce seemed more important than religion. He worried when he heard stories of people less fortunate than himself. Now, this young boy was a reminder of those worries. When he arrived home he decided to go to one of his favorite caves just outside Mecca. He would spend the night there, fasting and reflecting on the changes that were happening all around him.

He gathered a few belongings for the night and headed off for a time of quiet and meditation. As he sat in silence a strange vision appeared to Muhammad. It was an angel Gabriel in human form. Gabriel reached out and held Muhammad tightly in his arms and ordered him to recite a short set of words. When Muhammad did so the angel released him and disappeared.

Muhammad was convinced that he was either losing his mind, or the jinn had possessed him, so he fled from the cave. Part way down the hill he heard a voice behind him say, "Oh, Muhammad, you are the Messenger of God. and I am Gabriel."

Scene 2: The revelations
When Muhammad got home, his wife, Khadijah, saw that he was disturbed and asked him what happened. Muhammad told her what he had seen and heard and said that he was afraid he was losing his mind. But the visions of Gabriel continued and each time Muhammad was asked to recite certain words before the vision would let him go. Khadijah was sure the words had come fiom God and that Muhammad had been chosen by Gabriel to be a messenger of God, just as the angel had said. Slowly Muhammad began to share the words he had heard with Khadijah and a few followers. It took Muhammad several years of experiencing the visions to come to believe they were truly revelations fiom God.

By 613, Muhammad was preaching openly in the streets. The message he preached was a simple one: he declared that there was only one God, Allah, and that there was nothing like him. He preached that Allah was all-powerful and that a day of judgment would come to all people. To worship any other gods, or jinn, was to violate the absolute oneness of Allah. The merchants and leaders in Mecca saw Muhammad’s ideas as threats to the established religious system that kept them wealthy and in power. Slowly hostility against Muhammad grew until his life was in danger.

Scene 3: The Miraculous Occasion
In 619 Muhammad moved his family and supporters away from Mecca to nearby Ta’if for refuge. But the main tribe there refused to let them stay, so they were forced to return to Mecca. That same year, both Muhammad’s wife and his uncle Abu Talib died. In the middle of his sadness and troubles, Muhammad had the most remarkable experience of his life.

One night, Gabriel came to Muhammad in his sleep. But instead of talking to him, he flew with Muhammad on a winged horse to Jerusalem, where from a large rock, they ascended to heaven. In heaven Muhammad met with the great prophets of Abraham, Moses and Jesus. At the end of his journey, it is said that Muhammad stood before God. (This night, called Isra & Mi’raj, is celebrated each year on the 27th day of the Islamic month of Rajab.)

Scene 4: Journey to Medina
Muhammad’s followers increased and so did the hostility against them. He knew he had to find a safe place outside Mecca for himself and his followers. The answer came one day when a group of pilgrims from Medina who had heard of Muhammad and his teachings, sought him out in Mecca. They were looking for someone to come to Medina to help bring peace among the tribes of the area. Muhammad saw an opportunity to start a new community of Muslims and he began urging his followers to move to the northern town.

One night, in 622, Muhammad received word that a group of Meccans were planning to kill him. He arranged to leave Mecca that very night with his closest fiiend, Abu Bakr. They gathered a few things for the journey and made their way to a cave outside of town. There they hid for three days. According to legend, the mouth of the cave was covered with a fine spider’s web just moments before the Meccan assasins rode by. When they saw the delicate web covering the entrance they were sure no one could have recently gone inside.

With travel safe again, Muhammad and Abu Bakr made their way to Medina where they were greeted joyfully by the Muslims who had already moved there and other people of Medina. Muhammad was safe and, most importantly, the first Islamic community was formed. This journey, known today as Hijrah, was so important to Muslims that they used it to mark the beginning of the Islamic calendar.