title: Muhammad

text: Negotiations commenced with emissaries traveling to and from Mecca. While these continued, rumors spread that one of the Muslim negotiators, Uthman bin al-Affan, had been killed by the Quraysh. Muhammad called upon the pilgrims to make a pledge not to flee (or to stick with Muhammad, whatever decision he made) if the situation descended into war with Mecca. This pledge became known as the "Pledge of Acceptance" or the "Pledge under the Tree". News of Uthman's safety allowed for negotiations to continue, and a treaty scheduled to last ten years was eventually signed between the Muslims and Quraysh. The main points of the treaty included: cessation of hostilities, the deferral of Muhammad's pilgrimage to the following year, and agreement to send back any Meccan who emigrated to Medina without permission from their protector.


title: Muhammad

text: Many Muslims were not satisfied with the treaty. However, the Quranic sura "Al-Fath" (The Victory) assured them that the expedition must be considered a victorious one. It was later that Muhammad's followers realized the benefit behind the treaty. These benefits included the requirement of the Meccans to identify Muhammad as an equal, cessation of military activity allowing Medina to gain strength, and the admiration of Meccans who were impressed by the pilgrimage rituals.


title: Muhammad

text: After signing the truce, Muhammad assembled an expedition against the Jewish oasis of Khaybar, known as the Battle of Khaybar. This was possibly due to housing the Banu Nadir who were inciting hostilities against Muhammad, or to regain prestige from what appeared as the inconclusive result of the truce of Hudaybiyya. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad also sent letters to many rulers, asking them to convert to Islam (the exact date is given variously in the sources). He sent messengers (with letters) to Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire (the eastern Roman Empire), Khosrau of Persia, the chief of Yemen and to some others. In the years following the truce of Hudaybiyya, Muhammad directed his forces against the Arabs on Transjordanian Byzantine soil in the Battle of Mu'tah.


title: Muhammad

text: The truce of Hudaybiyyah was enforced for two years. The tribe of Banu Khuza'a had good relations with Muhammad, whereas their enemies, the Banu Bakr, had allied with the Meccans. A clan of the Bakr made a night raid against the Khuza'a, killing a few of them. The Meccans helped the Banu Bakr with weapons and, according to some sources, a few Meccans also took part in the fighting. After this event, Muhammad sent a message to Mecca with three conditions, asking them to accept one of them. These were: either the Meccans would pay blood money for the slain among the Khuza'ah tribe, they disavow themselves of the Banu Bakr, or they should declare the truce of Hudaybiyyah null.


title: Muhammad

text: The Meccans replied that they accepted the last condition. Soon they realized their mistake and sent Abu Sufyan to renew the Hudaybiyyah treaty, a request that was declined by Muhammad.


title: Muhammad

text: Muhammad began to prepare for a campaign. In 630, Muhammad marched on Mecca with 10,000 Muslim converts. With minimal casualties, Muhammad seized control of Mecca. He declared an amnesty for past offences, except for ten men and women who were "guilty of murder or other offences or had sparked off the war and disrupted the peace". Some of these were later pardoned. Most Meccans converted to Islam and Muhammad proceeded to destroy all the statues of Arabian gods in and around the Kaaba. According to reports collected by Ibn Ishaq and al-Azraqi, Muhammad personally spared paintings or frescos of Mary and Jesus, but other traditions suggest that all pictures were erased. The Quran discusses the conquest of Mecca.


title: Muhammad

text: Following the conquest of Mecca, Muhammad was alarmed by a military threat from the confederate tribes of Hawazin who were raising an army double the size of Muhammad's. The Banu Hawazin were old enemies of the Meccans. They were joined by the Banu Thaqif (inhabiting the city of Ta'if) who adopted an anti-Meccan policy due to the decline of the prestige of Meccans. Muhammad defeated the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes in the Battle of Hunayn.


title: Muhammad

text: In the same year, Muhammad organized an attack against northern Arabia because of their previous defeat at the Battle of Mu'tah and reports of hostility adopted against Muslims. With great difficulty he assembled 30,000 men; half of whom on the second day returned with Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, untroubled by the damning verses which Muhammad hurled at them. Although Muhammad did not engage with hostile forces at Tabuk, he received the submission of some local chiefs of the region.


title: Muhammad

text: He also ordered the destruction of any remaining pagan idols in Eastern Arabia. The last city to hold out against the Muslims in Western Arabia was Taif. Muhammad refused to accept the city's surrender until they agreed to convert to Islam and allowed men to destroy the statue of their goddess Al-Lat.


title: Muhammad

text: A year after the Battle of Tabuk, the Banu Thaqif sent emissaries to surrender to Muhammad and adopt Islam. Many bedouins submitted to Muhammad to safeguard against his attacks and to benefit from the spoils of war. However, the bedouins were alien to the system of Islam and wanted to maintain independence: namely their code of virtue and ancestral traditions. Muhammad required a military and political agreement according to which they "acknowledge the suzerainty of Medina, to refrain from attack on the Muslims and their allies, and to pay the Zakat, the Muslim religious levy."


title: Muhammad

text: In 632, at the end of the tenth year after migration to Medina, Muhammad completed his first true Islamic pilgrimage, setting precedent for the annual Great Pilgrimage, known as "Hajj". On the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah Muhammad delivered his Farewell Sermon, at Mount Arafat east of Mecca. In this sermon, Muhammad advised his followers not to follow certain pre-Islamic customs. For instance, he said a white has no superiority over a black, nor a black any superiority over a white except by piety and good action. He abolished old blood feuds and disputes based on the former tribal system and asked for old pledges to be returned as implications of the creation of the new Islamic community. Commenting on the vulnerability of women in his society, Muhammad asked his male followers to "be good to women, for they are powerless captives ("awan") in your households. You took them in God's trust, and legitimated your sexual relations with the Word of God, so come to your senses people, and hear my words ..." He told them that they were entitled to discipline their wives but should do so with kindness. He addressed the issue of inheritance by forbidding false claims of paternity or of a client relationship to the deceased and forbade his followers to leave their wealth to a testamentary heir. He also upheld the sacredness of four lunar months in each year. According to Sunni tafsir, the following Quranic verse was delivered during this event: "Today I have perfected your religion, and completed my favours for you and chosen Islam as a religion for you". According to Shia tafsir, it refers to the appointment of Ali ibn Abi Talib at the pond of Khumm as Muhammad's successor, this occurring a few days later when Muslims were returning from Mecca to Medina.


title: Muhammad

text: A few months after the farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and suffered for several days with fever, head pain, and weakness. He died on Monday, 8 June 632, in Medina, at the age of 62 or 63, in the house of his wife Aisha. With his head resting on Aisha's lap, he asked her to dispose of his last worldly goods (seven coins), then spoke his final words:


title: Muhammad

text: According to the "Encyclopaedia of Islam", Muhammad's death may be presumed to have been caused by Medinan fever exacerbated by physical and mental fatigue. Academics Reşit Haylamaz and Fatih Harpci say that "Ar-Rafiq Al-A'la" is referring to God.


title: Muhammad

text: Muhammad was buried where he died in Aisha's house. During the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I, al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the Mosque of the Prophet) was expanded to include the site of Muhammad's tomb. The Green Dome above the tomb was built by the Mamluk sultan Al Mansur Qalawun in the 13th century, although the green color was added in the 16th century, under the reign of Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Among tombs adjacent to that of Muhammad are those of his companions (Sahabah), the first two Muslim caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar, and an empty one that Muslims believe awaits Jesus.


title: Muhammad

text: When Saud bin Abdul-Aziz took Medina in 1805, Muhammad's tomb was stripped of its gold and jewel ornamentation. Adherents to Wahhabism, Saud's followers, destroyed nearly every tomb dome in Medina in order to prevent their veneration, and the one of Muhammad is reported to have narrowly escaped. Similar events took place in 1925, when the Saudi militias retook—and this time managed to keep—the city. In the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, burial is to take place in unmarked graves. Although the practice is frowned upon by the Saudis, many pilgrims continue to practice a ziyarat—a ritual visit—to the tomb.


title: Muhammad

text: Muhammad united several of the tribes of Arabia into a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the last years of his life. With Muhammad's death, disagreement broke out over who his successor would be. Umar ibn al-Khattab, a prominent companion of Muhammad, nominated Abu Bakr, Muhammad's friend and collaborator. With additional support Abu Bakr was confirmed as the first caliph. This choice was disputed by some of Muhammad's companions, who held that Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law, had been designated the successor by Muhammad at Ghadir Khumm. Abu Bakr immediately moved to strike against the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire) forces because of the previous defeat, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an event that Muslim historians later referred to as the Ridda wars, or "Wars of Apostasy".


title: Muhammad

text: The pre-Islamic Middle East was dominated by the Byzantine and Sassanian empires. The Roman–Persian Wars between the two had devastated the region, making the empires unpopular amongst local tribes. Furthermore, in the lands that would be conquered by Muslims many Christians (Nestorians, Monophysites, Jacobites and Copts) were disaffected from the Eastern Orthodox Church which deemed them heretics. Within a decade Muslims conquered Mesopotamia, Byzantine Syria, Byzantine Egypt, large parts of Persia, and established the Rashidun Caliphate.


title: Muhammad

text: According to William Montgomery Watt, religion for Muhammad was not a private and individual matter but "the total response of his personality to the total situation in which he found himself. He was responding [not only]... to the religious and intellectual aspects of the situation but also to the economic, social, and political pressures to which contemporary Mecca was subject." Bernard Lewis says there are two important political traditions in Islam—Muhammad as a statesman in Medina, and Muhammad as a rebel in Mecca. In his view, Islam is a great change, akin to a revolution, when introduced to new societies.


title: Muhammad

text: Historians generally agree that Islamic social changes in areas such as social security, family structure, slavery and the rights of women and children improved on the "status quo" of Arab society. For example, according to Lewis, Islam "from the first denounced aristocratic privilege, rejected hierarchy, and adopted a formula of the career open to the talents". Muhammad's message transformed society and moral orders of life in the Arabian Peninsula; society focused on the changes to perceived identity, world view, and the hierarchy of values.


title: Muhammad

text: Economic reforms addressed the plight of the poor, which was becoming an issue in pre-Islamic Mecca. The Quran requires payment of an alms tax (zakat) for the benefit of the poor; as Muhammad's power grew he demanded that tribes who wished to ally with him implement the zakat in particular.


title: Muhammad

text: In Muhammad al-Bukhari's book Sahih al-Bukhari, in Chapter 61, Hadith 57 & Hadith 60, Muhammad is depicted by two of his companions thus:


title: Muhammad

text: The description given in Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi's book Shama'il al-Mustafa, attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib and Hind ibn Abi Hala is as follows:


title: Muhammad

text: The "seal of prophecy" between Muhammad's shoulders is generally described as having been a type of raised mole the size of a pigeon's egg. Another description of Muhammad was provided by Umm Ma'bad, a woman he met on his journey to Medina:


title: Muhammad

text: Descriptions like these were often reproduced in calligraphic panels (Turkish: "hilye"), which in the 17th century developed into an art form of their own in the Ottoman Empire.


title: Muhammad

text: Muhammad's life is traditionally defined into two periods: pre-hijra (emigration) in Mecca (from 570 to 622), and post-hijra in Medina (from 622 until 632). Muhammad is said to have had thirteen wives in total (although two have ambiguous accounts, Rayhana bint Zayd and Maria al-Qibtiyya, as wife or concubine). Eleven of the thirteen marriages occurred after the migration to Medina.


title: Muhammad

text: At the age of 25, Muhammad married the wealthy Khadijah bint Khuwaylid who was 40 years old. The marriage lasted for 25 years and was a happy one. Muhammad did not enter into marriage with another woman during this marriage. After Khadijah's death, Khawla bint Hakim suggested to Muhammad that he should marry Sawda bint Zama, a Muslim widow, or Aisha, daughter of Um Ruman and Abu Bakr of Mecca. Muhammad is said to have asked for arrangements to marry both. Muhammad's marriages after the death of Khadijah were contracted mostly for political or humanitarian reasons. The women were either widows of Muslims killed in battle and had been left without a protector, or belonged to important families or clans with whom it was necessary to honor and strengthen alliances.


title: Muhammad

text: According to traditional sources, Aisha was six or seven years old when betrothed to Muhammad, with the marriage not being consummated until she reached the age of nine or ten years old. She was therefore a virgin at marriage. Modern Muslim authors who calculate Aisha's age based on other sources of information, such as a hadith about the age difference between Aisha and her sister Asma, estimate that she was over thirteen and perhaps in her late teens at the time of her marriage.


title: Muhammad

text: Muhammad performed household chores such as preparing food, sewing clothes, and repairing shoes. He is also said to have had accustomed his wives to dialogue; he listened to their advice, and the wives debated and even argued with him.


title: Muhammad

text: Khadijah is said to have had four daughters with Muhammad (Ruqayyah bint Muhammad, Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, Zainab bint Muhammad, Fatimah Zahra) and two sons (Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad and Qasim ibn Muhammad, who both died in childhood). All but one of his daughters, Fatimah, died before him. Some Shi'a scholars contend that Fatimah was Muhammad's only daughter. Maria al-Qibtiyya bore him a son named Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, but the child died when he was two years old.


title: Muhammad

text: Nine of Muhammad's wives survived him. Aisha, who became known as Muhammad's favourite wife in Sunni tradition, survived him by decades and was instrumental in helping assemble the scattered sayings of Muhammad that form the Hadith literature for the Sunni branch of Islam.


title: Muhammad

text: Muhammad's descendants through Fatimah are known as "sharifs", "syeds" or "sayyids". These are honorific titles in Arabic, "sharif" meaning 'noble' and "sayed" or "sayyid" meaning 'lord' or 'sir'. As Muhammad's only descendants, they are respected by both Sunni and Shi'a, though the Shi'a place much more emphasis and value on their distinction.


title: Muhammad

text: Zayd ibn Haritha was a slave that Muhammad bought, freed, and then adopted as his son. He also had a wetnurse. According to a BBC summary, "the Prophet Muhammad did not try to abolish slavery, and bought, sold, captured, and owned slaves himself. But he insisted that slave owners treat their slaves well and stressed the virtue of freeing slaves. Muhammad treated slaves as human beings and clearly held some in the highest esteem".


title: Muhammad

text: Following the attestation to the oneness of God, the belief in Muhammad's prophethood is the main aspect of the Islamic faith. Every Muslim proclaims in "Shahadah": "I testify that there is no god but God, and I testify that Muhammad is a Messenger of God." The Shahadah is the basic creed or tenet of Islam. Islamic belief is that ideally the Shahadah is the first words a newborn will hear; children are taught it immediately and it will be recited upon death. Muslims repeat the shahadah in the call to prayer ("adhan") and the prayer itself. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the creed.


title: Muhammad

text: In Islamic belief, Muhammad is regarded as the last prophet sent by God. Qur'an 10:37 states that "...it (the Quran) is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book—wherein there is no doubt—from The Lord of the Worlds." Similarly, 46:12 states "...And before this was the book of Moses, as a guide and a mercy. And this Book confirms (it)...", while commands the believers of Islam to "Say: we believe in God and that which is revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered."


title: Muhammad

text: Muslim tradition credits Muhammad with several miracles or supernatural events. For example, many Muslim commentators and some Western scholars have interpreted the Surah 54:1–2 as referring to Muhammad splitting the Moon in view of the Quraysh when they began persecuting his followers. Western historian of Islam Denis Gril believes the Quran does not overtly describe Muhammad performing miracles, and the supreme miracle of Muhammad is identified with the Quran itself.


title: Muhammad

text: According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad was attacked by the people of Ta'if and was badly injured. The tradition also describes an angel appearing to him and offering retribution against the assailants. It is said that Muhammad rejected the offer and prayed for the guidance of the people of Ta'if.


title: Muhammad

text: The Sunnah represents actions and sayings of Muhammad (preserved in reports known as Hadith) and covers a broad array of activities and beliefs ranging from religious rituals, personal hygiene, and burial of the dead to the mystical questions involving the love between humans and God. The Sunnah is considered a model of emulation for pious Muslims and has to a great degree influenced the Muslim culture. The greeting that Muhammad taught Muslims to offer each other, "may peace be upon you" (Arabic: "as-salamu 'alaykum") is used by Muslims throughout the world. Many details of major Islamic rituals such as daily prayers, the fasting and the annual pilgrimage are only found in the Sunnah and not the Quran.


title: Muhammad

text: Muslims have traditionally expressed love and veneration for Muhammad. Stories of Muhammad's life, his intercession and of his miracles have permeated popular Muslim thought and poetry. Among Arabic odes to Muhammad, Qasidat al-Burda ("Poem of the Mantle") by the Egyptian Sufi al-Busiri (1211–1294) is particularly well-known, and widely held to possess a healing, spiritual power. The Quran refers to Muhammad as "a mercy ("rahmat") to the worlds" The association of rain with mercy in Oriental countries has led to imagining Muhammad as a rain cloud dispensing blessings and stretching over lands, reviving the dead hearts, just as rain revives the seemingly dead earth. Muhammad's birthday is celebrated as a major feast throughout the Islamic world, excluding Wahhabi-dominated Saudi Arabia where these public celebrations are discouraged. When Muslims say or write the name of Muhammad, they usually follow it with the Arabic phrase "ṣallā llahu ʿalayhi wa-sallam" ("may God honor him and grant him peace") or the English phrase "peace be upon him". In casual writing, the abbreviations SAW (for the Arabic phrase) or PBUH (for the English phrase) are sometimes used; in printed matter, a small calligraphic rendition is commonly used ().


title: Muhammad

text: The Sunnah contributed much to the development of Islamic law, particularly from the end of the first Islamic century.


title: Muhammad

text: Muslim mystics, known as sufis, who were seeking for the inner meaning of the Quran and the inner nature of Muhammad, viewed the prophet of Islam not only as a prophet but also as a perfect human being. All Sufi orders trace their chain of spiritual descent back to Muhammad.


title: Muhammad

text: In line with the hadith's prohibition against creating images of sentient living beings, which is particularly strictly observed with respect to God and Muhammad, Islamic religious art is focused on the word. Muslims generally avoid depictions of Muhammad, and mosques are decorated with calligraphy and Quranic inscriptions or geometrical designs, not images or sculptures. Today, the interdiction against images of Muhammad—designed to prevent worship of Muhammad, rather than God—is much more strictly observed in Sunni Islam (85%–90% of Muslims) and Ahmadiyya Islam (1%) than among Shias (10%–15%). While both Sunnis and Shias have created images of Muhammad in the past, Islamic depictions of Muhammad are rare. They have mostly been limited to the private and elite medium of the miniature, and since about 1500 most depictions show Muhammad with his face veiled, or symbolically represent him as a flame.


title: Muhammad

text: The earliest extant depictions come from 13th century Anatolian Seljuk and Ilkhanid Persian miniatures, typically in literary genres describing the life and deeds of Muhammad. During the Ilkhanid period, when Persia's Mongol rulers converted to Islam, competing Sunni and Shi'a groups used visual imagery, including images of Muhammad, to promote their particular interpretation of Islam's key events. Influenced by the Buddhist tradition of representational religious art predating the Mongol elite's conversion, this innovation was unprecedented in the Islamic world, and accompanied by a "broader shift in Islamic artistic culture away from abstraction toward representation" in "mosques, on tapestries, silks, ceramics, and in glass and metalwork" besides books. In the Persian lands, this tradition of realistic depictions lasted through the Timurid dynasty until the Safavids took power in the early 16th century. The Safavaids, who made Shi'i Islam the state religion, initiated a departure from the traditional Ilkhanid and Timurid artistic style by covering Muhammad's face with a veil to obscure his features and at the same time represent his luminous essence. Concomitantly, some of the unveiled images from earlier periods were defaced. Later images were produced in Ottoman Turkey and elsewhere, but mosques were never decorated with images of Muhammad. Illustrated accounts of the night journey ("mi'raj") were particularly popular from the Ilkhanid period through the Safavid era. During the 19th century, Iran saw a boom of printed and illustrated "mi'raj" books, with Muhammad's face veiled, aimed in particular at illiterates and children in the manner of graphic novels. Reproduced through lithography, these were essentially "printed manuscripts". Today, millions of historical reproductions and modern images are available in some Muslim-majority countries, especially Turkey and Iran, on posters, postcards, and even in coffee-table books, but are unknown in most other parts of the Islamic world, and when encountered by Muslims from other countries, they can cause considerable consternation and offense.


title: Muhammad

text: After the Reformation, Muhammad was often portrayed in a similar way. Guillaume Postel was among the first to present a more positive view of Muhammad when he argued that Muhammad should be esteemed by Christians as a valid prophet. Gottfried Leibniz praised Muhammad because "he did not deviate from the natural religion". Henri de Boulainvilliers, in his "Vie de Mahomed" which was published posthumously in 1730, described Muhammad as a gifted political leader and a just lawmaker. He presents him as a divinely inspired messenger whom God employed to confound the bickering Oriental Christians, to liberate the Orient from the despotic rule of the Romans and Persians, and to spread the knowledge of the unity of God from India to Spain. Voltaire had a somewhat mixed opinion on Muhammad: in his play "Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le Prophète" he vilifies Muhammad as a symbol of fanaticism, and in a published essay in 1748 he calls him "a sublime and hearty charlatan", but in his historical survey "Essai sur les mœurs", he presents him as legislator and a conqueror and calls him an "enthusiast." Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his "Social Contract" (1762), "brushing aside hostile legends of Muhammad as a trickster and impostor, presents him as a sage legislator who wisely fused religious and political powers." Emmanuel Pastoret published in 1787 his "Zoroaster, Confucius and Muhammad", in which he presents the lives of these three "great men", "the greatest legislators of the universe", and compares their careers as religious reformers and lawgivers. He rejects the common view that Muhammad is an impostor and argues that the Quran proffers "the most sublime truths of cult and morals"; it defines the unity of God with an "admirable concision." Pastoret writes that the common accusations of his immorality are unfounded: on the contrary, his law enjoins sobriety, generosity, and compassion on his followers: the "legislator of Arabia" was "a great man." Napoleon Bonaparte admired Muhammad and Islam, and described him as a model lawmaker and a great man. Thomas Carlyle in his book "On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History" (1841) describes "Mahomet" as "A silent great soul; he was one of those who cannot "but" be in earnest". Carlyle's interpretation has been widely cited by Muslim scholars as a demonstration that Western scholarship validates Muhammad's status as a great man in history.


title: Muhammad

text: Ian Almond says that German Romantic writers generally held positive views of Muhammad: "Goethe’s 'extraordinary' poet-prophet, Herder’s nation builder (...) Schlegel’s admiration for Islam as an aesthetic product, enviably authentic, radiantly holistic, played such a central role in his view of Mohammed as an exemplary world-fashioner that he even used it as a scale of judgement for the classical (the dithyramb, we are told, has to radiate pure beauty if it is to resemble 'a Koran of poetry')." After quoting Heinrich Heine, who said in a letter to some friend that "I must admit that you, great prophet of Mecca, are the greatest poet and that your Quran... will not easily escape my memory", John Tolan goes on to show how Jews in Europe in particular held more nuanced views about Muhammad and Islam, being an ethnoreligious minority feeling discriminated, they specifically lauded Al-Andalus, and thus, "writing about Islam was for Jews a way of indulging in a fantasy world, far from the persecution and pogroms of nineteenth-century Europe, where Jews could live in harmony with their non-Jewish neighbors."


title: Muhammad

text: Recent writers such as William Montgomery Watt and Richard Bell dismiss the idea that Muhammad deliberately deceived his followers, arguing that Muhammad "was absolutely sincere and acted in complete good faith" and Muhammad's readiness to endure hardship for his cause, with what seemed to be no rational basis for hope, shows his sincerity. Watt, however, says that sincerity does not directly imply correctness: in contemporary terms, Muhammad might have mistaken his subconscious for divine revelation. Watt and Bernard Lewis argue that viewing Muhammad as a self-seeking impostor makes it impossible to understand Islam's development. Alford T. Welch holds that Muhammad was able to be so influential and successful because of his firm belief in his vocation.


title: Muhammad

text: Followers of the Baháʼí Faith venerate Muhammad as one of a number of prophets or "Manifestations of God". He is thought to be the final manifestation, or seal of the Adamic cycle, but consider his teachings to have been superseded by those of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí faith, and the first manifestation of the current cycle.


title: Muhammad

text: Druze tradition honors several "mentors" and "prophets", and Muhammad is considered an important prophet of God in the Druze faith, being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history.


title: Muhammad

text: Criticism of Muhammad has existed since the 7th century, when Muhammad was decried by his non-Muslim Arab contemporaries for preaching monotheism, and by the Jewish tribes of Arabia for his perceived appropriation of Biblical narratives and figures and proclamation of himself as the "Seal of the Prophets".


title: Muhammad

text: During the Middle Ages, various Western and Byzantine Christian thinkers criticized Muhammad's morality, and labelled him a false prophet or even the Antichrist, and he was frequently portrayed in Christendom as being either a heretic or as being possessed by demons.


title: Muhammad

text: Modern religious and secular criticism of Islam has concerned Muhammad's sincerity in claiming to be a prophet, his morality, his marriages, his ownership of slaves, his treatment of his enemies, his handling of doctrinal matters and his psychological condition.


title: The Northman

text: The Northman is a 2022 American epic historical action thriller film directed by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sjón. Based on the legend of Amleth, the film stars Alexander Skarsgård (who also produced), Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk and Willem Dafoe. The plot centers on Amleth, a Viking prince who sets out on a quest to avenge the murder of his father. The film is heavily influenced by Norse mythology.


title: The Northman

text: Skarsgård had wanted to make a Viking film for several years, and Eggers decided to make the film his third project after the pair met to discuss possible collaborations. Much of the cast joined in October 2019, and filming took place in locations throughout Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Iceland from August to December 2020.


title: The Northman

text: "The Northman" had its world premiere in Stockholm at Rigoletto Cinema on March 28, 2022. It began theatrical release in some countries on April 13, 2022, and was released theatrically in the United States on April 22 to critical acclaim, with particular praise aimed at its direction, production values and the performances of Skarsgård, Kidman and Bang. Although the film had underperformed at the worldwide box office, the film later found financial success at the VOD and other post-theatrical markets.


title: The Northman

text: In AD 895, King Aurvandill returns to the fictional island of Hrafnsey after his overseas conquests, reuniting with his wife, Queen Gudrún, and his heir, Prince Amleth. To prepare Amleth for his eventual ascension, the father and son participate in a ceremony overseen by Aurvandill's jester, Heimir. Heimir tells Amleth that his destiny is fixed and cannot be escaped, and Amleth vows to avenge his father if Aurvandill is ever slain, rather than live his life in shame. The next morning, Amleth's bastard uncle Fjölnir stages a palace coup, personally beheads Aurvandill, sacks the hillfort and carries away Gudrún. Amleth narrowly escapes Fjölnir's assassins and flees by boat, swearing vengeance.


title: The Northman

text: Years later, an adult Amleth is an ulfheðnar with a band of Vikings. After attacking a village in Gardariki, Amleth encounters a Seeress in the temple of Svetovit; the Seeress says that it is Odin's will for Amleth to take his revenge on Fjölnir and advises Amleth to "follow the vixen's tail," and that his fate is intertwined with that of a Maiden-King. Soon after, Amleth learns that "Fjölnir the Brotherless" has lost his throne to King Harald Fairhair of Norway and now lives as a sheep farmer in Iceland. Cutting his hair and posing as a slave, Amleth sneaks aboard a ship. He encounters an enslaved Slavic woman named Olga, who claims to be a sorceress. They are taken to Fjölnir's farm, where Amleth learns his mother has married Fjölnir and borne him a son named Gunnar.


title: The Northman

text: One night, Amleth follows a vixen and encounters a he-witch, who facilitates a spiritual dialogue between Amleth and the skull of Heimir, whom Fjölnir has also murdered. The he-witch also tells Amleth about Draugr, a magical sword at the Gates of Hel. Amleth enters a mound and obtains the blade after fighting the undead Mound Dweller. He hides the sword upon his return to the farm. The next day, Amleth is selected to compete in a game of knattleikr against another farm. The game turns violent and Gunnar is almost killed, but Amleth saves him. As a reward, Fjölnir's adult son, Thorir, grants him overseer duties and allows him to choose a woman.


title: The Northman

text: During the evening celebrations, Amleth and Olga make love; they promise to overcome Fjölnir together. Amleth kills several of Fjölnir's men, and Olga mixes their food with fly agaric, a potent hallucinogen. The ensuing chaos and the suspicion that the Christian slaves are behind the killings allows Amleth to enter Fjölnir's house. Amleth reveals his identity to Gudrún, who replies that she was Aurvandil's slave and that Amleth was conceived by rape. Gudrún also reveals that "she" masterminded Fjölnir's coup because she wanted both Aurvandill and Amleth dead; she then mockingly tries to seduce Amleth, who recoils in disgust. Enraged, Amleth kills Thorir, and then cuts out and steals his heart.


title: The Northman

text: Gudrún reveals Amleth's true identity to Fjölnir and calls for the death of her eldest son. Fjölnir decides to kill Olga, but Amleth offers to trade Olga's life for Thorir's heart. After a severe beating, Amleth is released from his restraints by a flock of ravens sent by Odin. Olga also rescues Amleth, who tells her that his mother has murdered his past. Amleth decides to abandon his quest for revenge, and the two decide to escape by boat to his kinsmen in the Orkney Islands. But Amleth then has a vision and discovers that Olga is pregnant with twins, one of whom will be the Maiden-King prophesied by the Seeress. Realizing that Olga and their children will never be safe while Fjölnir lives, Amleth, despite Olga's pleas, jumps overboard and swims ashore.


title: The Northman

text: Back at the farm, Amleth frees the slaves and kills Fjölnir's warriors. While searching for Fjölnir, Amleth is attacked by Gudrún and drives Draugr through her heart. Gunnar jumps on Amleth's back, stabbing his half-brother repeatedly until Amleth kills him, too. Fjölnir, discovering his wife and son dead, coldly tells Amleth to meet him at the Gates of Hel. At the crater of the volcano Hekla, Amleth and Fjölnir engage in a fierce Holmgang until Fjölnir is beheaded and Amleth is fatally stabbed simultaneously. As he lies dying, Amleth has a vision of Olga embracing their two children, whom she tells him are safe, before urging him to let go. A valkyrie carries Amleth through the gates of Valhöll (Valhalla).


title: The Northman

text: Born to a Swedish family, Alexander Skarsgård had been fascinated with Viking history and mythology since childhood, and had long sought a Viking-themed project with the help of producer Lars Knudsen. In 2011, Skarsgård was attached to a Warner Bros. epic with the working title "The Vanguard", which ultimately did not materialize. Robert Eggers became interested in making a Viking film following a 2016 trip to Iceland with his wife Alexandra Shaker, who is a fan of Old Norse sagas. During the trip, Eggers met Björk, who in turn introduced Eggers to Sjón. In 2017, Skarsgård met Eggers to discuss future projects, but the discussion quickly turned to a Viking Age–themed film. Eggers subsequently reached out to Sjón, and the two began researching and writing the screenplay.


title: The Northman

text: The story of "The Northman" was based primarily on the legend of Amleth as written by Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, known as the direct inspiration for William Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Eggers cited the "Poetic Edda", the "Prose Edda", "Egil's Saga", "Grettir's Saga", the "Eyrbyggja saga" and the "Saga of Hrolfr Kraki" as additional influences. Archaeologist Neil Price at Uppsala University, folklorist Terry Gunnell at the University of Iceland and Viking historian Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir served as historical consultants on the film. Eggers also acknowledged "Conan the Barbarian" as a source of inspiration.


title: The Northman

text: In October 2019, it was announced that Eggers would direct an epic Viking revenge saga, which he would also co-write with Sjón. Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Skarsgård (Alexander's brother) and Willem Dafoe were in talks to join the film. They would all be confirmed in December, along with the addition of Claes Bang to the cast. The film was officially in preparation in December 2019, and would begin filming in Belfast in 2020. In August 2020, Björk, along with her daughter Ísadóra "Doa" Barney, Kate Dickie and Ethan Hawke joined the cast of the film. In September 2020, Bill Skarsgård announced he had dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced with Gustav Lindh.


title: The Northman

text: Principal photography was to begin in March 2020, but it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming, most of which took place in Northern Ireland, started in August 2020 and wrapped early in December, lasting 87 days. King Aurvandill's village was constructed at Torr Head on the coast of County Antrim, while Fjölnir's farm was built at Knockdhu near Larne. The scenes in the Land of the Rus were filmed at Portglenone, the Clandeboye Estate, Shane's Castle and on the River Bann. The Hightown quarry outside Belfast stood for the volcano Hekla, where the film's climactic fight takes place. Brief sequences were filmed in Iceland at the Svínafellsjökull glacier and the town of Akureyri.


title: The Northman

text: The film cost between $70–90 million to produce, which was higher than its original $65 million budget. Eggers found the editing process to be the most difficult of his career. Feedback from test screenings indicated that the film's first act was too slow. More feedback showed that audiences found the Old Norse dialogue difficult to understand, which resulted in most of it being replaced in ADR sessions. The final cut was eventually approved on November 3, 2021.


title: The Northman

text: For the film's score, Eggers brought former Tri Angle record label artists, Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough Vessel, for composition and production. They researched extensively on the history of Vikings music, including discussions with ethnographer Poul Høxbro, and used instruments based on Nordic folk music, such as tagelharpa, langspil, kravik lyre, and säckpipa. They further experimented with the instruments they had, to create that ethnic Nordic sound, which includes the 40-member string ensemble mimicking the sound of an archaic instrument called bullroarer.


title: The Northman

text: The score album was released by Back Lot Music on April 15, 2022 and featured 43 tracks. On July 1, Sacred Bones Records released the album in CD, vinyl and cassettes.


title: The Northman

text: The film's advertising campaign briefly attracted notoriety due to a series of posters commissioned for the New York subway system that neglected to include the film's title. Within a day of the subject going viral on Twitter, the posters were removed. The film's advertising campaign additionally sponsored an episode of the web series "Death Battle", with the midway segment of the episode featuring its characters interacting with the film and one of its axes.


title: The Northman

text: A 160-page book written by Simon Abrams and Eggers about the film's production and research, titled "The Northman: A Call to the Gods," was originally scheduled to be released on September 6, 2022, but was later pushed back to November 8.


title: The Northman

text: "The Northman" was originally scheduled to be released on April 8, 2022, but was later pushed back to April 22. It was distributed by Focus Features in United States and by Universal Pictures internationally. Special screenings were held in several cities worldwide ahead of the theatrical release: in Stockholm at Rigoletto Cinema on March 28, in Hamburg at Astor Film Lounge on March 30, in Rome at Cinema Troisi on April 1, in London at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on April 5, in Belfast at Cineworld on April 6 and in Los Angeles at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 18. Wide releases began early in some countries: on April 13 in Denmark, Norway and Sweden; on April 14 in Czech Republic, Ecuador, Iceland, Mexico, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia and Uruguay; and on April 15 in the United Kingdom and Lithuania.


title: The Northman

text: "The Northman" was released on VOD on May 13, 2022, on digital on June 6, 2022, and on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD on June 7, 2022, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in the United States.


title: The Northman

text: "The Northman" grossed $34.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $35.4 million in other territories – for a worldwide total of $69.6 million.


title: The Northman

text: In the U.S. and Canada, "The Northman" was released alongside "The Bad Guys" and "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent", and was projected to gross $8–15 million from 3,223 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $5 million on its first day, including $1.4 million from Thursday night previews. The film went on to debut to $12.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing fourth at the box office. "Deadline Hollywood" noted that "The Northman" and "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" were targeting the same demographic, which impacted their debuts. The film earned $6.4 million in its second weekend, finishing fourth; $2.9 million in its third weekend, finishing sixth; $1.75 million in its fourth weekend, finishing seventh; and $1.1 million in its fifth weekend, finishing 10th. It dropped out of the box office top 10 in its sixth weekend with $249,660.


title: The Northman

text: Outside of the U.S. and Canada, the film earned $3.4 million from 15 international markets in its opening weekend. It made $6.3 million in its second weekend after expanding to 41 markets, $4.5 million in its third weekend, $2.2 million in its fourth, $2.5 million in its fifth, $2.9 million in its sixth, and $1.4 million in its seventh.


title: The Northman

text: Eggers commented on the film's underwhelming box office, stating that "[The film] met the expectations of a bad marketplace ... Am I disappointed that, three to four weeks in, we're on VOD because that's the way things are done in the post-COVID world? Yeah. But it's doing great on VOD, so there you go." In its debut weekend on PVOD in the United States, the film was the top-rented title on iTunes, third on Vudu and fourth on Google Play, making about the same amount of revenue as "The Bad Guys" and "The Lost City" despite grossing much less than both in theaters. IndieWire wrote that ""The Northman" looks like the type of film that, even with lower theatrical returns, is greatly elevated by that exposure." The following week, it finished third on the iTunes and Vudu charts, and fifth on Google Play.


title: The Northman

text: In its debut week on the DVD/Blu-ray market, the film debuted at the No. 1 spot on both the NPD VideoScan First Alert chart (which tracks combined DVD and Blu-ray disc unit sales) and the Blu-ray disc sales chart for the week ending June 11, 2022.


title: The Northman

text: Focus Features’ president of production and acquisitions, Kiska Higgs, later stated that the film did become profitable despite press speculations.


title: The Northman

text: The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 89% based on 368 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A bloody revenge epic and breathtaking visual marvel, "The Northman" finds filmmaker Robert Eggers expanding his scope without sacrificing any of his signature style." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 based on 60 critics, indicating "universal acclaim." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak gave it a 75% positive score (with an average 3.5 out of 5 stars), with 56% saying they would definitely recommend it.


title: The Northman

text: "The Guardian"'s Peter Bradshaw gave a 5 out of 5 score, praising the film's nihilistic tone and performances by the cast, stating that "It's entirely outrageous, with some epic visions of the flaring cosmos. I couldn't look away." "Digital Spy"'s Gabriella Geisinger gave a 5 out of 5 score and praised Eggers's visionary direction and the film's grisly and surreal atmosphere, claiming that "The world created in "The Northman" is so totally absorbing". "MovieZine"'s Alexander Kardelo gave the film a 4 out of 5 score and particularly praised Skarsgård's performance and Eggers' direction. "IndieWire"'s David Ehrlich called the film "primal, sinewy, gnarly-as-fuck," "grab-you-by-the-throat intense" and "never dull." "Games Radar’"s Matt Maytum commented that the film is a "truly distinctive, unmissable epic" in his review, ultimately giving it a 5 out of 5 stars. "The Independent"'s Clarrise Loughrey gave a 5 out of 5 stars and stated in her review that the film was a "beautiful risk". "RogerEbert.com"s Robert Daniels gave a 3 out of 4 score and praised the direction, cinematography and cast performances, but found that the film "often stumbles when it searches for profundity." "The Austin Chronicle"'s Richard Whittaker called the film an "extraordinary feat of cinema," commending the direction. "The New York Times"s A.O. Scott praised the world-building and cinematography, writing, "Eggers's accomplishment lies in his fastidious, fanatical rendering of that world, down to its bed linens and cooking utensils."" The New Yorker"'s Richard Brody found that the film "offers no synesthesia, no evocation of any sense beside vision" and criticized Eggers's direction, ultimately concluding, ""The Northman" merely serves up its raw material both half-baked and overcooked.""" "Rolling Stone"'s K. Austin Collins wrote that "It’s an oft-stunning visual feast," but added, "It is also an instructive example of how the most visionary intentions can’t always enliven an otherwise rote story."


title: The Weeknd

text: Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and melancholia, and is often inspired by personal experiences. He has received numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, 20 "Billboard" Music Awards, 17 Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.


title: The Weeknd

text: Born and raised in Toronto, Tesfaye began his career in 2009 by anonymously releasing music on YouTube. Two years later, he co-founded the XO record label and released the mixtapes "House of Balloons", "Thursday" and "Echoes of Silence", which gained recognition for his style of contemporary and alternative R&B and the mystique surrounding his identity. In 2012, he signed with Republic Records and rereleased the mixtapes in the compilation album "Trilogy". He explored dark wave in his debut studio album "Kiss Land" (2013), which debuted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200. After its release, Tesfaye began contributing to film soundtracks, with his acclaimed single "Earned It" from "Fifty Shades of Grey" (2015) winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, while also being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye earned critical and commercial success with his pop-leaning second album "Beauty Behind the Madness" (2015), which reached number one in the US, contained the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart-topping singles "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills", and won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. His trap-infused third studio album "Starboy" (2016) saw similar commercial success and included the US number-one single of the same name and won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Tesfaye explored new wave and dream pop with his critically acclaimed fourth studio album "After Hours" (2020), which featured the chart record-setting single "Blinding Lights" and the US number-one singles "Heartless" and "Save Your Tears". His dance-pop inspired fifth album "Dawn FM" (2022) included the US top-ten single "Take My Breath" and "Sacrifice".


title: The Weeknd

text: Among the world's best-selling music artists with over 75 million records sold, Tesfaye holds several streaming and "Billboard" chart records. He is the first artist to simultaneously debut on the top three on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while "Blinding Lights" is ranked as the greatest Hot 100 song in "Billboard" history. Often considered as a prominent figure in contemporary popular music, Tesfaye was listed by "Time" as one of the world's most influential people in 2020. An advocate for racial equality and food security, he was appointed a World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador in 2021.


title: The Weeknd

text: Abel Makkonen Tesfaye was born on February 16, 1990, in Toronto, Ontario. He is the only child of Ethiopian immigrants Makkonen Tesfaye and Samrawit Hailu, who separated shortly after his birth. He was brought up in the district of Scarborough by his mother and grandmother. He has an estranged relationship with his father, in which he explained to "Rolling Stone", "I saw him vaguely when I was six, and then again when I was 11 or 12, and he had a new family and kids. I don't even know where he lived — I'd see him for, like, a night. I'm sure he's a great guy. I never judged him. He wasn't abusive, he wasn't an alcoholic, he wasn't an asshole. He just wasn't there."


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye was raised as an Ethiopian Orthodox. When asked whether or not he was still religious, he stated to "Variety" in 2020, "I dunno...everything is a test, and if you are religious or spiritual, you have to go through things." His native language is Amharic, which he learned through his grandmother. He later became fluent in French by attending a French-immersion school. He was further educated at West Hill Collegiate Institute and Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute.


title: The Weeknd

text: When he was 17, Tesfaye dropped out of school and moved to an apartment in the neighbourhood of Parkdale with two friends; including his best friend and now creative director La Mar Taylor. He has described this period as being like the film "Kids" (1995) "without the AIDS", as they lived a hedonistic lifestyle. He has also experienced homelessness and was incarcerated on several occasions during this time, which encouraged him to "smarten up, to focus."


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye often used drugs and abused illegal substances such as ketamine, cocaine, MDMA, magic mushrooms, and cough syrup. In December 2016, he stated that drugs were a "crutch" for him when it came to writing music. In August 2021, during a cover story with "GQ", he described himself as being "sober lite", meaning that he has stopped using drugs with the exception of marijuana. He also noted that he drinks alcohol occasionally, stating: "I'm not a heavy drinker, as much as I used to be. The romance of drinking isn't there."


title: The Weeknd

text: In August 2009, Tesfaye began anonymously releasing music on YouTube. The following year, he met Jeremy Rose, a producer who had an idea for a dark contemporary R&B project. After initially trying to pitch the idea to musician Curtis Santiago, Rose played one of his instrumentals for Tesfaye, who freestyle rapped over it. Rose produced three songs – "What You Need", "Loft Music" and "The Morning" – and others that Tesfaye had sung on, which were ultimately scrapped. Rose let Tesfaye keep the tracks he had produced under the condition that he would be credited for them. In December 2010, Tesfaye uploaded "What You Need", "Loft Music" and "The Morning" to YouTube under the username "xoxxxoooxo". His identity was initially unknown. The songs drew some attention online, and were later included in a blog post from rapper Drake. The songs subsequently received coverage from various media outlets, including "Pitchfork" and "The New York Times".


title: The Weeknd

text: Before adopting the stage name the Weeknd, Tesfaye released music under two aliases; the Noise and Kin Kane. His current stage name was chosen in tribute to when he dropped out of school, took his mattress, "left one weekend and never came home." However, Rose claims the name was his idea. The last 'e' was excluded to avoid trademark problems with pop rock band the Weekend. In the beginning of his career, Tesfaye worked at American Apparel. Due to his anonymity, his co-workers listened to his music without knowing it was him.


title: The Weeknd

text: In 2011, Tesfaye met music executives Wassim "Sal" Slaiby and Amir "Cash" Esmailian, with whom, along with Taylor, he founded the XO record label. On March 21, Tesfaye released his debut mixtape "House of Balloons". The mixtape included production from producers Illangelo and Doc McKinney, and included the tracks produced by Rose, although he did not receive production credits. "House of Balloons" was named as one of ten shortlisted nominees for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize. On August 18, Tesfaye released his second mixtape "Thursday", which received generally positive reviews. His third mixtape, "Echoes of Silence", was released on December 21. It was a longlisted nominee for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize.


title: The Weeknd

text: In July 2011, Tesfaye held his first live performance at the Mod Club Theatre in Toronto. After the performance, Drake met with Tesfaye to discuss collaborations, which led to Tesfaye earning an appearance at his OVO Festival. He also participated in concerts hosted by the Black Student Association at the University of Toronto. Tesfaye contributed to four songs on Drake's second studio album "Take Care", which was released on November 15, as a songwriter, producer and a featured artist on the album's seventh single "Crew Love".


title: The Weeknd

text: Between January and March 2012, Tesfaye performed at several Ontario universities, including Waterloo's Laurier University, Hamilton's Mohawk College and McMaster University. In April, he began his first international tour; which included performances at Coachella, sold-out shows at such venues as the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, which were positively reviewed by "Rolling Stone", and various European festivals, including Primavera Sound in Spain and Portugal, and the Wireless Festival in the United Kingdom. In September, Tesfaye signed with Republic Records and XO was assumed as a subsidiary label. In september, he also began his first official concert tour: The Fall Tour, during which he opened for Florence and the Machine on their Ceremonials Tour in 5 cities, which included 2 shows at the iconic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.


title: The Weeknd

text: On November 13, 2012, Tesfaye released "Trilogy", a compilation album consisting of re-mixed and remastered versions of his 2011 mixtapes and three additional tracks. The album officially credited Rose as a producer and writer on the three songs from "House of Balloons" for which he did not initially receive credit. "Trilogy" debuted at number four on the US "Billboard" 200 with first-week sales of 86,000 copies. It also debuted at number five on the Canadian Albums Chart, with similar sales. The album was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and double-platinum by Music Canada. It also earned Tesfaye a nomination for the Sound of 2013 poll award by BBC.


title: The Weeknd

text: On May 17, 2013, Tesfaye released the title track to his debut studio album "Kiss Land", and announced the album's release date of September 10. Upon release, the album debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200 with 96,000 copies, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album was later supported by the singles "Belong to the World", "Love in the Sky" and "Live For" featuring Drake. Tesfaye embarked on a fall tour from September 6 to November 26. As of August 2015, the album had sold 273,000 copies in the United States. On August 10, 2020, almost seven years after its release, "Kiss Land" reached number one on the iTunes R&B chart.


title: The Weeknd

text: In November 2013, Tesfaye opened for Justin Timberlake on The 20/20 Experience World Tour. He then contributed to the for "" (2013), on the songs "Devil May Cry" and "Elastic Heart" with Sia and Diplo, the latter serving as the second single from the soundtrack.


title: The Weeknd

text: In February 2014, Tesfaye remixed Beyoncé's single "Drunk in Love" from her eponymous studio album. Retaining the theme and concept of the song, he detailed the synopsis through a male's perspective. On August 25, Tesfaye collaborated with Ariana Grande on the song "Love Me Harder" from Grande's second studio album "My Everything". The song was then released on September 30 as the fourth single from the album, and peaked at number seven on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye's first headlining tour, the King of the Fall Tour, a 4-city tour of North America was held in September and October 2014, and was supported by Schoolboy Q and Jhené Aiko. The tour was followed by release of the songs "Often" and "King of the Fall", leading to speculation that the former was the lead single from his second studio album, "Beauty Behind the Madness" (2015). On December 23, Tesfaye released the song "Earned It" from the soundtrack for "Fifty Shades of Grey" (2015). The single, which peaked at number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100, earned Tesfaye his first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. The song won Best R&B Performance and was nominated for Best R&B Song and Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: The Weeknd

text: On May 27, 2015, Tesfaye released the second single from "Beauty Behind the Madness", "The Hills". The single debuted at number twenty on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and peaked at number one, becoming Tesfaye's first number-one single. In June 2019, "The Hills" was certified diamond by the RIAA, marking Tesfaye's first diamond-certified record.


title: The Weeknd

text: In June 2015, after winning the Centric Award at the BET Awards, Tesfaye performed "Earned It" with Alicia Keys. On June 8, he released the song "Can't Feel My Face" as the album's third single. The track was previously leaked in May, but was released as a single following a performance by Tesfaye at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. The single debuted at number twenty-four on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and peaked at number one, making it Tesfaye's third top 10 hit and his second number-one song in the United States. The song was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. He occupied all three slots on "Billboard's" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart simultaneously with the aforementioned singles, becoming the first artist in history to accomplish this. He was also unveiled as one of the musical faces of the streaming service Apple Music, alongside Drake. During the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Apple debuted a two-part promotional commercial featuring Tesfaye, which had a guest appearance from John Travolta. In July, Tesfaye headlined the inaugural FVDED in the Park festival in Surrey, British Columbia. On June 29, Tesfaye was featured on Meek Mill's second studio album "Dreams Worth More Than Money" (2015), on the track "Pullin' Up".


title: The Weeknd

text: "Beauty Behind the Madness", Tesfaye's second studio album, was released on August 28, 2015, and debuted atop the "Billboard" 200, earning 412,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It reached the top 10 in over ten countries and reached number one in Canada, Australia, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The album was promoted by Tesfaye headlining various summer music festivals, including Lollapalooza, the Hard Summer Music Festival, and the Bumbershoot Festival. He announced The Madness Fall Tour, his first large-scale tour across the United States, which began in November, and concluded in December. The album was certified double platinum in the U.S., and sold 1.5 million copies worldwide. It was the most-streamed album in 2015, with over 60 million streams, and was ranked on multiple lists of albums of the year. The three singles that preceded the album were certified platinum in the United States. The album won Best Urban Contemporary Album and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: The Weeknd

text: On September 4, 2015, Tesfaye was featured on Travis Scott's debut album "Rodeo", on the track "Pray 4 Love". On October 10, Tesfaye appeared on "Saturday Night Live" alongside actress Amy Schumer, performing as the show's musical guest. This was his first performance on the show as a solo artist, after appearing with Ariana Grande to perform "Love Me Harder".In November, he began his debut arena tour, The Madness Fall Tour, which included shows at Toronto's Air Canada Centre and New York City's Madison Square Garden. On December 18, Tesfaye was featured on Belly's single "Might Not" from his eighth mixtape "Up For Days".


title: The Weeknd

text: On February 14, 2016, Tesfaye was featured on Kanye West's seventh studio album "The Life of Pablo" on the track "FML". It marked their second collaboration, with West previously writing and producing on Tesfaye's single "Tell Your Friends" from "Beauty Behind the Madness". On March 1, Tesfaye was featured on Future's single "Low Life" from his fourth studio album "Evol". On April 23, he was featured on Beyoncé's sixth studio album "Lemonade" on the track "6 Inch". On August 26, Tesfaye was featured on Cashmere Cat's single "Wild Love" with Francis and the Lights, which served as the lead single from Cashmere Cat's debut studio album "9" (2017).


title: The Weeknd

text: In September 2016, Tesfaye announced that his third studio album, "Starboy", would be released on November 25, and included collaborations with former French electronic music duo Daft Punk. He released the album's title track, which featured Daft Punk on September 21. The song debuted at number 40 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and peaked at number one, making it Tesfaye's third number-one single. As of March 2020, the song is certified 8× platinum by the RIAA. Their second collaboration, "I Feel It Coming" was released on November 24. The single peaked at number four on the "Billboard" Hot 100. On October 1, Tesfaye made a second appearance on "Saturday Night Live" as the musical guest alongside actress Margot Robbie. During the show, he performed "Starboy" and "False Alarm". On November 23, he released the short film "M A N I A". Directed by Grant Singer, it featured excerpts from the album, including snippets from "All I Know" featuring Future, "Sidewalks" featuring Kendrick Lamar, "Secrets" and "Die for You". Upon release, the album debuted at number one on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 with 348,000 units, making it Tesfaye's second consecutive number-one album. As of January 2019, the album is certified triple platinum by the RIAA. The album won Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, making it Tesfaye's second win in the category.


title: The Weeknd

text: On February 17, 2017, The Weeknd began his fifth concert tour, called . The tour was in support of his third studio album Starboy (2016) and concluded on December 14, 2017. He visited the continents Europa, North- and South America and Oceania. On February 15, 2017, Tesfaye was featured on Nav's commercial debut single "Some Way", which also served as the lead single from his self-titled mixtape. On February 24, he appeared on Future's sixth studio album "Hndrxx", on the song "Comin Out Strong". On April 19, Tesfaye appeared on the title track and second single from Lana Del Rey's fifth studio album. On August 15, he was featured on French Montana's track "A Lie", the third single from his second studio album "Jungle Rules". He then appeared on the Virgil Abloh-directed music video for Lil Uzi Vert's "XO Tour Llif3" alongside Nav. He was later featured on Lil Uzi Vert's debut album "Luv Is Rage 2" on the track "UnFazed" and on Gucci Mane's eleventh studio album "Mr. Davis" on the track "Curve".


title: The Weeknd

text: On February 2, 2018, Tesfaye contributed to the soundtrack for "Black Panther" on the song "Pray for Me" with Kendrick Lamar. The track served as the third single from the soundtrack, and peaked at number seven on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: The Weeknd

text: On March 30, 2018, Tesfaye released his debut extended play "My Dear Melancholy," after news of the project were teased and leaked. The EP debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200 with 169,000 units, making it Tesfaye's third consecutive number-one album and the shortest album, by track count, to top the chart in eight years. On April 6, Tesfaye released the EP's lead single "Call Out My Name", which peaked at number four on the "Billboard" Hot 100. On April 13, he headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the first time.


title: The Weeknd

text: On June 6, 2018, Tesfaye announced his new Apple Music 1 radio show "Memento Mori". The first episode was released two days later. On November 21, he released his first greatest hits album "The Weeknd in Japan." In support of the album and his EP My Dear Melancholy, he began his sixth concert tour: The Weeknd Asia Tour. The tour began on November 30, 2018 and concluded on December 18, 2018. Tesfaye did six shows in Asia. On January 11, 2019, Tesfaye was featured on Gesaffelstein's song "Lost in the Fire", the second single from his second studio album "Hyperion." On April 18, he released "Power Is Power" with SZA and Travis Scott, the lead single from the "Game of Thrones"-inspired .


title: The Weeknd

text: On November 24, 2019, Tesfaye teased his single "Blinding Lights" through a Mercedes-Benz commercial. On November 27, he released "Heartless" as the lead single from his fourth studio album. The song debuted at number thirty-two on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and peaked at number one, making it Tesfaye's fourth number-one single. "Blinding Lights" was released two days after the release of "Heartless" on November 29. The single debuted at number eleven on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and peaked at number one, making it Tesfaye's fifth number-one single. "Blinding Lights" would then go on to become the first song in the chart's history to hold a spot in the top ten for an entire year. It also became the longest charting song on the Hot 100 of all-time at 90 weeks, ending the week of September 11, 2021. On November 23, 2021, "Blinding Lights" was ranked as the #1 Greatest Hot 100 Hit of All Time by "Billboard", surpassing "The Twist" by Chubby Checker.


title: The Weeknd

text: On February 19, 2020, Tesfaye revealed that his fourth studio album would be titled "After Hours", and would be released on March 20. He also released the album's title track as a promotional single. On March 7, he made his third appearance as a musical guest on "Saturday Night Live", alongside actor Daniel Craig. On the show, he performed "Blinding Lights" and debuted the track "Scared to Live". Tesfaye released the album's third single "In Your Eyes" on March 24. The track peaked at number sixteen on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: The Weeknd

text: Upon release, "After Hours" debuted atop the "Billboard" 200, earning 444,000 units, marking Tesfaye's fourth consecutive number-one album. It became the most streamed R&B album of all-time, surpassing Tesfaye's own "Starboy". In the album's first charting week, Tesfaye also became the first artist to lead the "Billboard" 200, "Billboard" Hot 100, "Billboard" Artist 100, Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts simultaneously, and repeated his lead the following week. The deluxe version of "After Hours" was released on March 29, 2020, and contained the tracks "Nothing Compares", "Missed You" and "Final Lullaby".


title: The Weeknd

text: On August 7, 2020, Tesfaye was featured on the late Juice Wrld's single "Smile" from his first posthumous album "Legends Never Die". On August 28, he was featured on Calvin Harris' single "Over Now". On October 30, Tesfaye appeared on Ariana Grande's song "Off the Table" from her sixth studio album "Positions". On the same day, he appeared on Oneohtrix Point Never's track "No Nightmares" from his ninth studio album "Magic Oneohtrix Point Never", which he also executive produced with OPN. On November 5, he appeared on the remix of Maluma's "Hawái", was nominated for Best Urban Fusion/Performance at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Later that month, he debuted three live performances on Vevo. On December 10, he performed at iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball.


title: The Weeknd

text: On February 5, 2021, Tesfaye released his second greatest hits album "The Highlights". The album debuted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200, making it Tesfaye's highest charting compilation album and the biggest first week debut for a greatest hits album since "" (2019).


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye headlined the Super Bowl LV halftime show on February 7, 2021, becoming the first Canadian solo artist to headline the show. He reportedly spent US$7 million of his own money on the Super Bowl performance. Reviews of the performance were mixed. The show resulted in a surge in streaming and downloads for Tesfaye's "After Hours" album as well as for the seven other songs he performed. The halftime show earned three nominations at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special, and Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Special.


title: The Weeknd

text: In March 2021, Tesfaye reissued his debut mixtape "House of Balloons" in its authentic form with the original mixes and samples to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its release. In a collaboration with architect Daniel Arsham, limited edition merchandise was also released alongside the reissue. Six months later, in August, Tesfaye reissued his second 2011 mixtape "Thursday" to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its release. Like "House of Balloons", limited edition merchandise was released to accompany the reissue, designed by artist Mr. Yanen. Four months later, in December, Tesfaye reissued his final 2011 mixtape "Echoes of Silence" to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its release. Following the earlier two mixtapes, limited edition merchandise was released alongside the reissue, designed by illustrator Hajime Sorayama.Tesfaye began to tease new music in May 2021. When asked about a new album during an interview with "Variety", he explained that "if the last record is the "After Hours" of the night, then "The Dawn" is coming". On May 11, Tesfaye performed "Save Your Tears" at the Brit Awards. He also accepted his first Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist, which was presented to him by former first lady of the United States Michelle Obama. On May 24, Tesfaye performed "Save Your Tears" at the "Billboard" Music Awards. He was nominated for a record sixteen awards, and won ten, including Top Artist and Top Hot 100 Song. When accepting his awards, Tesfaye continued to tease new music by saying "the "After Hours" are done, and "The Dawn" is coming". On May 28, he performed the remix of "Save Your Tears" at the iHeartRadio Music Awards with Ariana Grande. On June 25, Tesfaye appeared on Doja Cat's single "You Right" from her third studio album "Planet Her". On July 22, he appeared on Belly's single "Better Believe" with Young Thug from his third studio album "See You Next Wednesday".


title: The Weeknd

text: On August 2, 2021, Tesfaye released a snippet of new music on social media. Later that day, he covered the September 2021 issue of "GQ", marking the magazine's first global publication. Then, in a collaboration with NBC Sports and the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tesfaye announced his single "Take My Breath", which was released on August 6. Later that month, he appeared on Kanye West's tenth studio album "Donda" on the track "Hurricane", which won Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: The Weeknd

text: On October 4, 2021, during an episode of "Memento Mori", Tesfaye revealed that his fifth studio album is complete and that he was waiting on a "couple characters that are key to the narrative." He also revealed that he will be featured in a couple of songs that will arrive prior to the album's release. On October 18, Tesfaye announced that his upcoming tour, originally titled The After Hours Tour, will be held entirely in stadiums due to arena constraints and is now scheduled to commence in July 2022. The tour was renamed as the After Hours til Dawn Tour, and will incorporate elements from his fourth and fifth studio albums. The Weeknd is currently on tour in North America, and will visit the continents South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the country Australia.


title: The Weeknd

text: On October 22, 2021, Tesfaye appeared on Swedish House Mafia's single "Moth To A Flame" from their debut studio album "Paradise Again". On November 5, he appeared on Post Malone's single "One Right Now" from his fourth studio album "Twelve Carat Toothache". On November 11, he was featured on Rosalía's single "La Fama" from her third studio album "Motomami". On December 16, Tesfaye was featured on FKA Twigs' single "Tears in the Club" from her debut mixtape "Caprisongs". The next day, on December 17, he was featured on Aaliyah's single "Poison" from her posthumous album "Unstoppable".


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye released his fifth studio album "Dawn FM" on January 7, 2022. Upon release, the album debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200 with 148,000 units, marking Tesfaye's eighth top ten entry and his second non-consecutive album to debut at number two. He also broke the record for the most simultaneous entries for a male soloist on the "Billboard" Global 200, with twenty-four songs on the chart. In addition to "Take My Breath", "Dawn FM" was supported by the singles "Sacrifice" and "Out of Time". An "alternate world" edition of the album, featuring a remix of Sacrifice, the single version of "Take My Breath", and the previously released track "Moth To A Flame", was released on January 12. After a while, a remix of the song "Out Of Time" was also added to the version. The Alternate world edition was released alongside a music video for the song "Gasoline", and a music video for the Sacrifice Remix. On February 26, Tesfaye premiered "The Dawn FM Experience", a television music special in partnership with Amazon Prime Video.


title: The Weeknd

text: On March 3, Tesfaye announced show dates of leg 1 of his After Hours til Dawn Stadium Tour. Leg 1 spans across the United States and Canada. Dates for other countries are yet to be announced. On March 20, the Weeknd played in an episode of the cartoon The Simpsons. A music video was released on April 5, for the song "Out of Time". The music video stars HoYeon Jung and Jim Carrey. On April 18, he headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the second time, performing alongside Swedish House Mafia. On July 22, another music video was released, for the song "How Do I Make You Love Me?" On July 26, 2022, the Weeknd announced that will host a haunted house at Universal Studios Hollywood for Halloween, as part of the Universal's Halloween Horror Nights hosted every Halloween. He will style the haunted houses with aesthetic of his 2020 album After Hours and the corresponding music videos and other artworks.


title: The Weeknd

text: The Weeknd released various remixes of songs off of Dawn FM. On April 22, 2022, he released a remix of the song "Out Of Time", in collaboration with Kaytranada. On July 1, 2022, he collaborated with Mike Dean and made a remix for the song "Starry Eyes". On July 8, 2022, Tesfaye released a remix for the song "Dawn FM", in collaboration with Oneohtrix Point Never. With the music video for the song "How Do I Make You Love Me?", the Weeknd released a remix of the song on July 22, 2022. He collaborated with Sebastian Ingrosso and Salvatore Ganacci. On August 5, 2022, the Weeknd collaborated with Summer Walker, to make a remix of the song "Best Friends". On December 4, 2022, The Weeknd announced that he will contribute an original song, called "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)," to the . The song is produced by Simon Franglen & Swedish House Mafia.


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye cites Michael Jackson, Prince, and R. Kelly as his main musical inspirations. He has attributed Jackson's music as key in spurring him to be a singer, referencing the lyrics to "Dirty Diana" as an example. His high-flying vocal style was influenced by Ethiopian singers such as Aster Aweke. He grew up listening to a variety of music genres, including soul, hip hop, funk, indie rock, and post-punk. Tesfaye is heavily influenced by 1980s music, and credits the video game "" (2002) for "opening my eyes" to the music of that era. "I've always had an admiration for the era before I was born", he said in an interview for "Billboard". "You can hear it as far back as my first mixtape that the '80s – Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins – play such a huge role in my sound."


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye has named Deftones as one of his influences during the making of "House of Balloons", "Thursday" and "Echoes of Silence". He has also cited Lana Del Rey, David Bowie, the Smiths, Bad Brains, Talking Heads, DeBarge, 50 Cent, Wu-Tang Clan, and Eminem as influences and inspirations. When Daft Punk announced their split in 2021, Tesfaye praised them during an interview with "Variety", saying: "Those guys are one of the reasons I make music, so I can't even compare them to other people..."


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye's songs are "built around a fogged, crepuscular production", and feature slow tempos, rumbling bass, and forlorn echoes. His music incorporates samples that are unconventional in R&B production, including punk, Shoegaze, Dream pop and alternative rock. Marc Hogan of "Spin" says that Tesfaye's samples tend "to draw from rock critic-approved sources, though generally ones that already share elements of his sexual menace", sampling artists such as Beach House, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Aaliyah. Tesfaye worked mostly with producers Illangelo and Doc McKinney, whom Ian Cohen of "Pitchfork" credits with developing "a state-of-the-art R&B template" with the artist. In concert, Tesfaye reappropriates his digitized productions with a suite-like arena rock aesthetic.


title: The Weeknd

text: His emotional, plaintive lyrics often express feelings of hurt and deal with subject matter such as sex, drugs, and partying; this is seen especially in "After Hours" and "House of Balloons". Hermione Hoby of "The Guardian" characterizes Tesfaye's songs as "narcotised-slow jams" and delineates their message as "partying is an existential experience, sex is fraught with alienation, and everything registers as unreal and unsettling." Paul MacInnes of "The Guardian" stated that he views Tesfaye's three mixtapes as "a rough trajectory of party, after-party and hangover." Anupa Mistry of the "Toronto Standard" observes throughout his mixtapes a "cast of supine, stoned zombie-women... whose legs willingly part after being plied with substances and who morph into threats only when [he is] coming down and feeling vulnerable." Tesfaye has viewed that, by singing vulgar, ignorant lyrics in an elegant, sexy way, he is paying homage to R. Kelly and Prince.


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye often sings in a falsetto register, exhibiting an enticing tone. J. D. Considine finds his singing's "tremulous quality" similar to Michael Jackson, but writes that he eschews Jackson's "strong basis in the blues" for a more Arabic-influenced melisma. Tesfaye possesses a wide light-lyric tenor vocal range, which spans over three octaves. His vocal range reaches its extreme low at the bass F (F), and its peak high at the tenor G (G), with a natural tessitura within the upper fourth octave. Tesfaye often makes use of his head voice to build resonance to belt out strong high notes within the fifth octave. Tesfaye's vocals have a recognizable Ethiopian characteristic. Hannah Giogis of "Pitchfork" notes that "his trademark vibrato, the characteristically pained whine that pervades much of Tesfaye's music, draws from a long Ethiopian musical legacy of tortured pining. Imbuing our voices with the shaky pain of loss—romantic or otherwise—is a hallmark of Ethiopian musical tradition. Tesfaye, with his staccato wails and aching nostalgia, is a young, North American addition to a dynasty of melodramatic Ethiopian singers."


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye's discography spans R&B, pop, hip hop, dance, alternative and new wave genres. His work is generally categorized as alternative R&B, due to his contributions in broadening the genre's musical palette to incorporate indie and electronic styles. Mistry writes that he "will be obsequiously praised as the future of R&B music—because Tesfaye is a black singer, not because he's making quantifiable, canonical R&B." Tesfaye shared his thoughts on the primary label during an interview with "Time" in 2015, stating: "Alternative R&B is in my soul. It's not going anywhere. When I put out songs from "House of Balloons" in 2010, people said I made R&B cool again. I'm assuming that's when the label was created. I feel honored that a good part of today's music is inspired by it, consciously or subconsciously. The only way I could have done that was to be ambitious and grand." Tesfaye's first three mixtapes; "House of Balloons", "Thursday" and "Echoes of Silence", are alternative R&B projects that draw on dream pop, post-punk and trip hop, amongst others. His debut studio album "Kiss Land" is categorized as R&B and dark wave. His next three albums, "Beauty Behind the Madness", "Starboy" and "After Hours", are considered R&B and pop; with "Starboy" utilizing heavy trap influences, and "After Hours" drawing on new wave and dream pop influences. Tesfaye's fifth studio album "Dawn FM" explores dance-pop and synth-pop genres.


title: The Weeknd

text: In December 2015, Tesfaye was sued by Cutting Edge Music, which alleged that the bassline for "The Hills" had been taken from a composition featured in the score for the 2013 science fiction film "The Machine". One of the producers of the song was alleged to have sent a private Twitter message to Tom Raybould, the composer of the film's score, to tell him about the sample. In September 2018, Tesfaye and Daft Punk were sued for allegedly stealing the rhythm for "Starboy" from Ethiopian poet and singer-songwriter Yasminah. Tesfaye denied the allegations.


title: The Weeknd

text: In April 2019, Tesfaye was sued by British trio William Smith, Brian Clover, and Scott McCulloch, who accused Tesfaye of copyright infringement from plagiarising their song "I Need to Love" in order to create his song "A Lonely Night". They sought $150,000 from Tesfaye and Belly. In August 2019, the lawsuit was dismissed via summary judgment with the option to amend, with the court ruling that they had failed to show that Tesfaye or anyone else involved in making "A Lonely Night" had access to their song or that the works were substantially similar. In September 2019, the plaintiffs filed an amended claim based on secondary infringement, which is still in litigation.


title: The Weeknd

text: In February 2020, Tesfaye and Kendrick Lamar were sued by the now-defunct indie band Yeasayer, claiming that "Pray for Me" includes an unauthorized sample of their song "Sunrise". Later that year, Yeasayer voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit. In September 2021, Tesfaye, Nicolás Jaar, and Frank Dukes were sued for copyright infringement by producers Suniel Fox and Henry Strange, protesting that "Call Out My Name" is "strikingly [or] substantially similar, if not identical" to their 2015 track "Vibeking".


title: The Weeknd

text: In January 2019, Tesfaye was criticized for some of the lyrics in his and Gesaffelstein's single "Lost in the Fire". The second verse of the song, with the lines "You said you might be into girls, said you're going through a phase / Keeping your heart safe / Well, baby, you can bring a friend / She can ride on top your face / While I fuck you straight", were accused of being homophobic, fetishizing bisexuality, and perpetuating the falsehood that a person who identifies as being part of the LGBTQ+ community can be "turned straight". However, some listeners have suggested that the lyrics were actually referring to a sex position. Tesfaye quietly addressed the controversy in the song "Snowchild" from "After Hours", with the lines "Every month another accusation / Only thing I'm phobic of is failing".


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye is a cinephile, and has made numerous movie references in his music videos and teasers. On August 30, 2019, during the Telluride Film Festival, he made his acting debut in the film "Uncut Gems". On March 7, 2020, during his third appearance as a musical guest on "Saturday Night Live", he starred in the skit "On The Couch" with actors Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd. On May 4, he co-wrote and starred in an episode of "American Dad!." In July, he voiced three characters during the 200th episode of "Robot Chicken". On June 29, 2021, Tesfaye announced that he will be co-creating, co-writing, executive producing and starring in the upcoming HBO television drama series "The Idol", alongside his producing partner Reza Fahim and "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson. On March 20, 2022, Tesfaye voiced two characters during an episode of "The Simpsons".


title: The Weeknd

text: In 2013, Tesfaye collaborated with condom company ONE to give away limited-edition condoms at his shows during the Kiss Land Fall Tour. In November 2015, he partnered with electronic vaporizer company Pax Labs to release a limited edition vaporizer. He also collaborated with fashion designer Alexander Wang for an apparel collection. In 2016, Tesfaye became a creative collaborator and global brand ambassador for the clothing brand Puma. With the partnership, he released numerous capsule collections and hosted several pop-up retail stores.


title: The Weeknd

text: In 2017, Tesfaye partnered with retail company H&M for their men's collection. He cut ties with the company in 2018, following a racist incident within the company. In July 2018, Tesfaye collaborated with Marvel Comics to release a comic book inspired by his third studio album "Starboy". In August, he released an apparel collection in collaboration with A Bathing Ape. A second collection was released in January 2020.


title: The Weeknd

text: In April 2019, Tesfaye became an owner and global ambassador of the esports company OverActive Media, who owns the Splyce and Overwatch League team Toronto Defiant.


title: The Weeknd

text: On August 31, 2020, Tesfaye partnered with TD Bank to launch Black HXOUSE, an entrepreneurial initiative within the incubator HXOUSE, where he serves as a sleeping partner. On September 9, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a CA$221,000,000 joint venture with HXOUSE for Black Canadian entrepreneurs.


title: The Weeknd

text: In March 2021, Tesfaye auctioned a collection of visual artwork and an unreleased song in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) on Nifty Gateway. In October, he joined football player Tom Brady's NFT platform Autograph as a member of their board of directors.


title: The Weeknd

text: After being presented with a Bikila Award for Professional Excellence in 2014, Tesfaye donated CA$50,000 to the University of Toronto to fund a new course on Ge'ez, the classic language of Ethiopia. In December 2015, he worked with Ryan Seacrest's foundation to visit the Children's Hospital of Atlanta. In May 2016, during Orthodox Easter, Tesfaye donated CA$50,000 to the St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Toronto, Canada, a church he attended growing up. Despite having previously worked with the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, Tesfaye cancelled a scheduled appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" with Belly in May 2016 due to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump being present. In August 2016, he funded a new Ethiopian studies program at the University of Toronto.


title: The Weeknd

text: In June 2017, Tesfaye donated US$100,000 to the Suubi Health Center, a maternity and children's medical facility in Budondo, Uganda. He was inspired to support the center after learning of French Montana's work with Global Citizen and Mama Hope to help raise awareness for Suubi and the people of Uganda.


title: The Weeknd

text: In April 2020, Tesfaye launched a line of non-medical face masks with all of the proceeds going to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, a campaign launched by the Recording Academy to help musicians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Tesfaye donated US$500,000 to MusiCares and CA$500,000 to the Scarborough Health Network.


title: The Weeknd

text: In August 2016, Tesfaye donated US$250,000 to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation following numerous reports of police brutality in the United States. In May 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed, Tesfaye donated US$500,000 to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Colin Kaepernick's Know Your Rights Camp, and the National Bail Out. He then urged other music executives, major record labels, and streaming services to donate to the cause as well.


title: The Weeknd

text: On August 7, 2020, Tesfaye held "the Weeknd Experience", an interactive virtual concert on the social media platform TikTok that drew two million total viewers, including 275,000 concurrent viewers. The concert raised over US$350,000 for the Equal Justice Initiative. He also donated US$300,000 to Global Aid for Lebanon in support of victims of the Beirut explosion. On November 2, the University of Toronto announced that it was able to reach and surpass its fundraising goal of CA$500,000 for its Ethiopic program, which included a CA$30,000 donation from Tesfaye. In May 2021, he was among the celebrities expressing more solidarity for civilians who died during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. On September 23, Tesfaye was honored with the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award at the inaugural Music in Action Awards, which was presented by the Black Music Action Coalition.


title: The Weeknd

text: On April 4, 2021, Tesfaye announced a US$1,000,000 donation through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to relief efforts in Ethiopia for people affected by the Tigray War. On June 9, he met with the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, to discuss the humanitarian crisis of the Tigray War. During the meeting, Tesfaye was briefed on the latest developments and discussed ways of increasing public pressure so direct action can be made to help civilians. Tesfaye was appointed as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for the World Food Programme on October 7. On March 3, 2022, he partnered with the WFP to launch the XO Humanitarian Fund. Through the fund, Tesfaye will donate US$1 from every ticket sold at his After Hours til Dawn Tour, in addition to a US$500,000 donation, to the WFP.


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye is known to be very enigmatic, and prefers to keep his personal life out of the public eye. In the beginning of his career, he refrained from participating in interviews and instead chose to communicate via Twitter, which he attributed to shyness and insecurities. To this day, he is still adamant about not participating in interviews, only agreeing to be interviewed in rare situations.


title: The Weeknd

text: From April 2015 to August 2019, Tesfaye was in an on-again, off-again relationship with American model Bella Hadid. She starred in the music video for his single "In the Night" in December 2015. He briefly dated American singer-actress Selena Gomez from January to October 2017. Both of the relationships received widespread media attention, and were the topic of tabloid speculation.


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye's hairstyle, which has been described as one of his most recognizable traits, has been claimed to be partly inspired by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. He began growing it out in 2011 and remarked at how easy it was to maintain with "a hard shampoo every once in a while". He cut his hair in 2016, prior to the release of "Starboy". On social media, Tesfaye typically suffixed his first name with "xo", which is often used as an emoticon for hugs and kisses. According to "The Guardian" Hermione Hoby, this was his intention, though others believe it was a reference to his recreational use of ecstasy and oxycodone. He later altered the handles on his social media to reflect his stage name in preparation for the release of "Starboy".


title: The Weeknd

text: In January 2015, Tesfaye was arrested for allegedly punching a police officer in Las Vegas after being taken into an elevator to break up a fight. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to complete fifty hours of community service.


title: The Weeknd

text: As of August 2021, Tesfaye resides in Bel Air, Los Angeles. In 2017, he purchased a home in Hidden Hills, California for $18.5 million, which he sold to Madonna in 2021 for $19.3 million. Tesfaye previously lived in penthouses in Westwood, Los Angeles and New York City.


title: The Weeknd

text: Tesfaye has won four Grammy Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, 20 "Billboard" Music Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards and 17 Juno Awards. He has also received nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.


title: The Weeknd

text: In October 2014, Tesfaye was awarded the Allan Slaight Honour by Canada's Walk of Fame for "making a positive impact in the fields of music, film, literature, visual or performing arts, sports, innovation or philanthropy".


title: The Weeknd

text: In February 2021, the Mayor of Toronto John Tory announced that the city would observe February 7 as "The Weeknd Day" to commemorate Tesfaye's Super Bowl halftime performance.


title: Jenna Ortega

text: Jenna Marie Ortega (born September 27, 2002) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, receiving recognition for her role as young Jane in The CW comedy-drama series "Jane the Virgin" (2014–2019). She had her breakthrough by starring as Harley Diaz in the Disney Channel series "Stuck in the Middle" (2016–2018), for which she won an Imagen Award. She played Ellie Alves in the second season of the thriller series "You" in 2019 and starred in the family film "Yes Day" (2021), both for Netflix.


title: Jenna Ortega

text: Ortega received critical praise for her performance in the teen drama "The Fallout" (2021), and went on to star in the 2022 slasher films "X" and "Scream", establishing herself as a scream queen. She starred as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix horror comedy series "Wednesday" (2022), for which she received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award.


title: Jenna Ortega

text: Jenna Marie Ortega was born on September 27, 2002, in Coachella Valley, California, the fourth of six children. Her father is of Mexican descent and her mother is of Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry. Due to her career, Ortega has not "really lived a normal lifestyle" and has expressed regret at missing the traditional high school experience and teenage milestones such as prom and graduation.


title: Jenna Ortega

text: Ortega had become interested in acting from the age of six. By the age of eight, with her mother's help and agents, she eventually began receiving auditions, and soon made her acting debut in 2012 with a guest appearance for "Rob", in the episode "Baby Bug." Following this was an appearance on "" on the episode "Unspoken" as Aimee Moore. In 2013, she made her film debut with a minor role in the superhero movie "Iron Man 3" as the vice president's daughter. Following this, Ortega starred in the horror film "", the second film in the "Insidious" franchise, as Annie, a supporting role. Both films were successful at the box-office.


title: Jenna Ortega

text: In 2014, Ortega was cast in the role of Zoe Leon on the series "Rake", and from 2014 to 2019, played the recurring younger version of Jane on the romantic-drama series "Jane the Virgin". Also in 2014, she starred as Mary Ann in the direct-to-video comedy film "The Little Rascals Save the Day". In 2015, Ortega was cast for the Netflix original series "Richie Rich" as part of the main cast, playing Darcy, a gold digger who spends Richie's money even without his consent; the show was panned. In the same year, she appeared in the film "After Words" as Anna Chapa.