NAMES AND PLACESAbdullah 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 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 who later converted to Islam.
Al-yAqaba: 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
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 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 has 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 to have delivered Allah's revelations
To Prophet 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 C.E.)
Ibn Sa'd: An early compiler of biographical traditions about Muhammad
(d. 845)
Jerusalem: The city from which Prophet Muhammad is said to have
ascended to Paradise on his Night Journey
Khadija: Muhammad's first wife and first convert
Khalid bin al-Walid: A renowned Muslim warrior
Khaybar: An oasis near Medina which Muhammad attacked, exiling the
Jews who inhabited it
Medina: An Arabian city north of Mecca, in which Muhammad first
became a political and military leader after his flight there (Hijra)
Nadir: A Jewish tribe of Medina; Prophet 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; their men were killed and their women and children
enslaved by the orders of Sa'd bin Mudah after they betrayed an alliance with the Muslims
Sa'd bin Muadh: The Muslim warrior who pronounced the death/enslavement sentence
against the Qurayzah tribe.
Tabuk: A northwestern Arabian city/tribe to which Prophet Muhammad led an expedition
against the Byzantines
Ta'if: A city south of Mecca that initially rejected Prophet 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 said to have
Confirmed Prophet Muhammad's prophetic status
Zayd bin Haritha: Muhammad's adopted son and the first husband of
Zaynab bint Jahsh
