#prophet muhammad saws

People in Islam:Eidition – The Prophet Muhammad (saws)

Bismillah r-Rahman r-Raheem.

There are very few men who, in the course of history have changed it forever.

If there is anything in this article that is factually incorrect, it is because I spoke without definite knowledge and that is my own mistake. If there is anything in this article that is factual and good, it is from Allah (swt).

The Prophet Muhammad is the seal of the prophets that came before him, the final messenger to which there would be none after. His life and his mission from Allah (swt) takes him from what his enemies called a madman to what his enemies called Rasool Allah (the Messenger of God) in only a few short years.

Born within the Quraysh tribe of then polytheistic Arabian Peninsula to the Banu Hashim clan in Mecca in the year 570. He was orphaned at a very early age and raised by first his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib and then his uncle Abu Talib, father of Ali, one of Muhammad’s (saws) most trusted companions and steadfast believers in Allah sending his cousin as a mercy to mankind. Under his uncle’s protection Muhammad (saws) as a young man traveled to many places to learn commercial trade with his uncle’s caravan. This experience as a tradesman and arbitrator led him to, at the age of 25 to receive a marriage proposal from a wealthy widow, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid.

15 years later, in the cave of Hira outside Mecca, Muhammad (saws) was struck with revelation from the angel Jibra'il (Gabriel) “Iqra!”, commonly translated as “read” or “recite”, the rest of the first revelation continues for the first 5 ayah of Surah Al-‘Alaq. Muhammad (saws) rushed home to his wife for support and as time passed, received more revelations and began preaching them in Mecca. Few joined him at first, although starting with Khadijah, Ali, Muhammad’s (saws) friend Abu Bakr, and Muhammad’s (saws) adopted son Zaid, they quickly accepted Muhammad (saws) as the prophet of God and the divine revelations he was receiving.

Early on in Mecca Muhammad (saws) received intense opposition, where the first Muslims had to hide to hear the revelations, some Muslims paid with their lives, this includes the first martyr of Islam, Summayah bint Khayyat. After the death of Summayah, some of Muhammad’s followers fled to Abyssinia to seek the protection of the Christian king, Ashama ibn Abjar who accepted Islam, while Muhammad and other remained in Mecca.

In the year 619, known as “the Year of Sorrow”, both Khadijah and Abu Talib died, leaving the Prophet without his clan’s protection and forcing him to partake in one of the most important events in Islamic history, the Hijra, by which even the Islamic calendar begins. The Hijra is year 0 for Islam, and the start of the meteoric rise of a humble prophet and his handful of followers into arguably the most defining force of the modern world and religion.

The Hijra is the migration, in the middle of the night to avoid assassination by Muhammad (saws) and his followers to the city of Medina.

In Medina Muhammad (saws) faced treachery, the Quraysh twice in battle (first at the Battle of Badr where Muslims scored a decisive victory and the Battle of Uhud, where he experienced the death of many of his initial brothers in Islam who died defending the faith). Muhammad (saws) also experienced the first mosque to be built (also to be his house), the explosive growth of Islam among the population of Medina and the changing of the Qibla from Jerusalem to the Ka'aba, Mecca’s center of worship initially built by the prophet Ibrahim (as) to praise the One God.

From Medina the Muslims moved onto Mecca and after a brief siege and the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, Islam began spreading through the Arab tribes at an amazing rate. At the time when Muhammad (saws) and the Sahaba (early followers of Islam) entered Mecca, Muhammad (saws) was a man of 60 years of age.

His final pilgrimage to Mecca took place in 632 (10 After Hijra, or AH), he gave a farewell sermon that can be read here, where he spoke to those present to spread his words and the Qur'an to those who are could not be with them, to generations to come.

A few months after his Farewell Pilgrimage, the greatest of all prophets, thehabib (beloved one of) Allah and the man who delivered revelations from God and led a new nation on earth to spread the message of uncorrupted religion, of God without partners, of life with love, respect, charity, tolerance and peace, died, buried in the bedchamber of his youngest wife, Aisha.

His legacy extended far beyond the trading routes of Arabia, his contribution to humanity pushes the borders of nationality and the narrow minded adherence to racism. Muhammad (saws) was sent as a mercy unto mankind, and that legacy exists in the hearts and minds of every Muslim nearly 1400 years after the passing of the greatest human being to ever walk on earth.

May Allah be pleased with all whom Muhammad (saws) has inspired, and the billions of people throughout history who have accepted him as the seal of the prophets, the final messenger who has perfected the religion of Ibrahim (as) and Isa (Jesus as).

May Allah be pleased with all of us as we come to close this year’s Ramadan, may our good deeds be acceptable and may our good habits picked up in Ramadan last all year long. Jazakallah khair for reading, everyone.