IMPORTANT NAMES AND PLACES
Abdullah bin Jahsh: the Muslim warrior who carried out the first Muslim raid (at Nakhla) on Muhammad’s orders
Abdullah bin Salam: a Jewish rabbi who became an early convert to Islam
Abdullah bin Ubayy: a leader of the “Hypocrites,” insincere Muslims who opposed Muhammad
Abu’Afak: a poet who mocked Muhammad in his verses and was assassinated on Muhammad’s orders
Abu Bakr: One of Muhammad’s earliest companions and his successor as leader of the Muslims (caliph)
Abu Jahl: A leader of the pagan Quraysh who opposed Muhammad
Abu Lahab: Muhammad’s uncle, who opposed him and was cursed in the Qur’an (111:1-5)
Abu Sufyan: A leader of the pagan Quraysh who opposed Muhammad, but was later converted to Islam
Aisha: Muhammad’s favorite wife; he married her when she was six and consummated the marriage when she was nine
Al-‘Aqaba: A city where the early Muslims pledged fealty to Muhammad
Al-Lat: One of the goddesses worshipped by the pagan Quraysh
Al-‘Uzza: One of the goddesses worshipped by the pagan Quraysh
Ali: Muhammad’s son-in-law, whom Shi’ite Muslims regard as his rightful successor; he reigned briefly as the fourth caliph, after Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman
Asma bint Marwan: A poetess who mocked Muhammad in her verses and was assassinated on Muhammad’s orders
Badr: An Arabian town about 80 miles from Medina where the Muslims won their first great military victory, against the Quraysh in 624
Bahira: A Syrian Christian monk who, according to Islamic tradition, recognized the boy Muhammad as a prophet
Bukhari: Ninth-century collector of traditions about Muhammad that Muslims generally consider reliable
Buraq: The winged horse with a human head that is supposed to have carried Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem and thence to Paradise on his Night Journey
Chosroes: The Persian emperor in Muhammad’s day, whom Muhammad called to Islam
Gabriel: The angel who is supposed to have delivered Allah’s revelations to Muhammad
Ghatafan: The pagan Arabian tribe that, along with the Quraysh, laid siege to Medina in the Battle of the Trench
Hafsa: One of Muhammad’s wives
Heraclius: The Byzantine emperor in Muhammad’s day, whom Muhammad called to Islam
Hudaybiyya: A town about nine miles from Mecca where Muhammad concluded a treaty with the Quraysh
Hunayn: A dry riverbed near Mecca where Muhammad defeated the last large-scale resistance to him in Arabia
Ibn Ishaq: Muhammad’s first biographer (704-773)
Ibn Sa’d: An early compiler of biographical traditions about Muhammad (d. 845)
Jerusalem: The city from which Muhammad is supposed to have ascended to Paradise on his Night Journey
Ka’b bin Al-Ashraf: A Jewish poet who mocked Muhammad in his verses and was assassinated on Muhammad’s orders
Ka’bah: A shrine and place of pilgrimage in Mecca that Muhammad emptied of its idols and transformed into a site for Islamic pilgrimage
Khadija: Muhammad’s first wife and first convert
Kahlid bin al-Walid: A renowned Muslim warrior
Khaybar: An oasis near Medina which Muhammad attacked, exiling the Jews who inhabited it
Kinana ibn Rabi: A Jewish leader at Khaybar who was tortured and killed on Muhammad’s orders for refusing to disclose the location of treasure
Manat: One of the goddesses worshipped by the pagan Quraysh
Mary the Copt: Muhammad’s concubine and mother of his son Ibrahim, who died in infancy
Mecca: Muhammad’s birthplace; a principal city for trade and pilgrimage in pre-Islamic Arabia
Medina: An Arabian city north of Mecca, in which Muhammad first became a political and military leader after his flight there (Hijra)
Muhammad: the prophet of Islam (570-632)
Muhammad bin Maslama: An early Muslim who carried out several assassinations on Muhammad’s orders
Nadir: A Jewish tribe of Medina; Muhammad besieged and exiled them
Nakhla: An Arabian town where the Muslims carried out their first military raid against the Quraysh
Qaynuqa: A Jewish tribe of Medina; Muhammad besieged and exiled them
Quraysh: The pagan Arabs of Mecca; Muhammad belonged to this tribe, but they rejected his prophetic message
Qurayzah: A Jewish tribe of Medina; Muhammad supervised their massacre after they betrayed an alliance with the Muslims
Sa’d bin Mu’adh: The Muslim warrior who pronounced sentence, with Muhammad’s permission, against the Qurayzah tribe
Safiyya bint Huyayy: Wife of Kinana ibn Rabi; Muhammad took her as his own wife after killing Kinana
Tabuk: A northwestern Arabian city to which Muhammad led an expedition against the Byzantines
Ta’if: A city south of Mecca that initially rejected Muhammad and was later conquered by the Muslims
Uhud: A mountain near Mecca where the Quraysh defeated the Muslims after the Battle of Badr
Umar: One of Muhammad’s earliest companions and the successor of Abu Bakr as leader of the Muslims (caliph)
Waraqa: Khadija’s uncle and a Christian priest; he is supposed to have confirmed Muhammad’s prophetic status
Zayd bin Haritha: Muhammad’s adopted son and the first husband of zaynab bint Jahsh
Zaynab bint Jahsh: Muhammad’s daughter-in-law, whom he subsequently married by what he represented as a command of Allah
The Oil for Your Lamp 