Muhammad takes as his third wife Aisha, an adolescent daughter of Abdullah ibn Abi Quhafa, an early convert and loyal follower who becomes known as Abu Bakr (Father of the Virgin).

Muhammad soon becomes a religious, political and even military leader.

From 622, Muhammad's followers, probably influenced by Jewish tradition, had apparently faced toward Jerusalem five times each day when performing the salat (daily ritual prayer), but relations between Jews and Muslims no longer seem promising.

He had at first treated the Jews with indulgence, but during the early phase of the coming war with Mecca, he and his followers clash with the Jewish clans.

At this time, instead of making concessions to the Jews in the hope of gaining recognition of his prophethood, Muhammad asserts the specifically Arabian character of the Islamic religion.

A revelation to Muhammad in 623 causes him to change the qibla, the sacred direction, to that of the shrine of the Ka'aba in Mecca.

The Ka'aba, according to the Koran, had been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael and has therefore to be reintegrated in Muslim society.

Muhammad also abandons Saturday as the Sabbath.

Perhaps garnering additional support from among the Medinans because of this change in policy, Muhammad is now able to enlist a much larger force.