The Birth Stories of Great Religous Leaders

“The birth stories of great religious leaders often tell of signs and miracles. Compare and contrast the traditions surrounding Buddhism’s Siddhartha Guatama’s birth with that of Islam’s Muhammad.”

Reporter: Today we will go back in time using this awesome new time machine. Firstly I will visit one of the great religious leaders, the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Guatama (when and where). I’ll ask him a few questions about the stories and traditions surrounding his birth. After my interview with Siddhartha, I will go back in my time machine to visit Islam’s Muhammad (where and when), and ask him the same questions. Afterwards I will return to present time, and with the information I have received, I shall compare and contrast the two leaders.

Reporter to muhammed: Was your birth predicted?

Not at all, there was nothing unusual about my mother’s pregnancy or delivery as far as I know. I was born in the “year of the elephant”. Going against the tradition of being named using ancestors’ names, I was named Muhammed. My grandfather did this because he believed that I would be praised, and become something great.

Where were you born and what were the circumstances surrounding your birth? Did anybody visit you?

While my mother was pregnant, my father had to go away on a trading trip. Before he returned, he became ill, and died, leaving my mother to give birth alone and as a widow. I was born in Mecca, into a pagan society. My relatives were the “guardians” of the Kabah, also known as the House of Worship for the pagan cult.

Who looked after you?

Shortly after my birth, I was sent to the desert for my uncle’s servent to nurse and look after me, but she died soon after. Wet nurses arrived from a nearby tribe to seek infants to nurse, but the prospect of me being an infant of a widow was not attractive to any wet nurses. They preferred to be rewarded by affluent fathers, and I did not have one. Nobody accepted me into their care. Eventually a thin and poor...