In their own business interests the merchants of Mecca had remained neutral toward the two empires. Growing prosperity had led to a malaise among the inhabitants of Mecca, accompanied by religious questioning. Mohammed's clan of Hashim, like most of the Meccan clans, gained a livelihood by commerce, but some of the other clans had been more successful and were now wealthier.
Call To Be a Prophet
Mohammed's personal situation made him keenly aware of the tensions in Mecca. He was born posthumously, and his grandfather, Abdu-l-Muttalib, and his mother both died when he was a child. As a minor, he was unable by Arab custom to inherit anything. He was thus relatively poor until about 595, when a wealthy woman, Khadija, asked him to go to Syria as steward of her merchandise and, on the successful accomplishment of the mission, offered marriage. From this time onward Mohammed was comfortably off, but he began to spend time in solitary reflection on the problems of Mecca.
During a period of solitude about 610 Mohammed had two visions in which he beheld a supernatural being who said to him, "You are the Messenger of God" (this being the title more frequently given to him by Moslems than that of prophet).
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