This is Muhammad ﷺ

Nearly four thousand years ago, in the Sumerian town of Ur in the valley of the river Euphrates, lived a young man named Abraham. Even as a small child he could not understand how his people could make statues with their own hands, call them gods, and then worship them. He sat alone under the stars, searching for truth.

One clear night he saw a beautiful shining star and cried out: "This must be Allah!" But it faded. He watched the rising moon: "This is my Lord." But it set. He saw the sunrise and thought the sun must be the greatest — but it too disappeared. Then he realised: Allah is the Creator of all these things, not one of them. At that moment he felt completely at peace, having found the Truth.

Abraham eventually settled in Palestine with his wife Sarah. When they had no children, Sarah suggested he marry her Egyptian handmaid, Hagar. Hagar bore a son named Ishmael. Allah then told Abraham to take Hagar and Ishmael to a barren valley — the valley that would become Mecca.

There, Hagar ran seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah searching for water for her dying child. A spring suddenly burst from the earth near Ishmael — the well of Zamzam. Caravans began stopping there and the valley grew into the great trading city of Mecca.

Later, Abraham returned and together with Ishmael rebuilt the Ka'bah as Allah commanded, praying: "Our Lord! Raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who shall recite unto them Thy revelations." That prayer, made four thousand years ago, would be answered in the person of Muhammad ﷺ.

Over the years, Ishmael's descendants spread across Arabia, forming tribes. One of these was the tribe of Quraysh, who lived near the Ka'bah in Mecca and considered it their honor to care for those who came on pilgrimage.

As time passed, the Arabs stopped worshipping Allah directly and began bringing idols back from distant lands, placing them at the Ka'bah. The well of Zamzam disappeared beneath the sand. One leader, Qusayy, reunited the tribe and restored order. His grandson Hashim established Mecca's great trade routes — summer caravans to Syria, winter caravans to Yemen — and the city grew rich and important.

Hashim married a noble woman in Yathrib and their son — who came to be called Abd al-Muttalib — would become the grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Abd al-Muttalib fell asleep near the Ka'bah and dreamed he was told to dig up the well of Zamzam. He began digging with his only son and after three days they found it — and pilgrims have been drinking from it ever since.

Abd al-Muttalib had made an oath: if Allah gave him ten sons, he would sacrifice one in His honor. The lot fell on his youngest and most beloved son, Abdullah. But the wise men of Mecca said: draw lots between Abdullah and camels, adding ten each time, until the lots fall on the camels. After reaching one hundred camels, the lots finally fell on them. Abdullah was saved. He grew up to become the father of the Prophet ﷺ — though he died before his son was born.

In the year 570 AD — the year the Prophet ﷺ would be born — a powerful ruler named Abrahah marched from Abyssinia with a great army led by an elephant, intending to destroy the Ka'bah.

When they reached the edge of Mecca, the elephant knelt down and refused to move toward the city, no matter how much they beat it. Suddenly, flocks of birds appeared carrying small stones, which they dropped on the army. The soldiers fell ill and fled back to Yemen where Abrahah later died.

The Arabs called this year the Year of the Elephant. In that very year, Allah had saved the Ka'bah — and would soon bring forth a Prophet from among its guardians.

On Monday, the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal in the Year of the Elephant, Aminah gave birth to a son. That night, signs were seen across the world. A learned Jew in Yathrib saw a brilliant new star he had never seen before and called out: "A Prophet must have been born tonight."

His grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, sleeping near the Ka'bah, dreamed the baby should be given the unusual name Muhammad — "the Praised One." When others asked why he hadn't chosen a more common name, he replied: "I want him to be praised by Allah in the heavens and praised by men on earth."

Abdullah, the Prophet's father, had died before his birth. Muhammad ﷺ entered the world an orphan — but one whose destiny had been written four thousand years earlier in Abraham's prayer beside the Ka'bah.

Following Meccan custom, Aminah sent her son to the desert to be raised in the clean air and pure language of the Bedouin. A poor woman named Halimah came to Mecca to collect a baby to nurse — and found that no one wanted the orphan Muhammad ﷺ since his father had died and couldn't pay her.

Her husband advised her to take him, saying: "Perhaps Allah will bless us because of him." From the moment Halimah began nursing the Prophet ﷺ, her milk increased, their land turned green, and their animals gave abundant milk. Everything changed.

The Prophet ﷺ stayed with Halimah's family for several years. He always looked back with joy on this time, and always thought of himself as one of the Bani Sa'd.

Muhammad ﷺ returned to Mecca at age three. When he was six, his mother Aminah died on the journey home from Yathrib, leaving him a complete orphan. He was then raised by his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, who loved him dearly and kept him by his side always.

Two years later Abd al-Muttalib died, and Muhammad ﷺ passed into the care of his uncle Abu Talib. He worked as a shepherd, thinking deeply about the world and never joining others in idol worship. He was quiet, thoughtful, and known for never lying, never cheating — a boy the whole of Mecca trusted.

On a caravan journey to Syria when he was twelve, a Christian monk named Bahira recognized signs in the boy that matched descriptions of a coming Prophet in his ancient scriptures. He warned Abu Talib: "Watch over this child with great care."

By the time Muhammad ﷺ was twenty-five, he was famous throughout Mecca for his honesty and was known as Al-Amin — the Trustworthy. He had never worshipped an idol in his life.

A wealthy, respected widow named Khadijah heard of his reputation and hired him to lead her trade caravan to Syria. Her slave Maysarah, who accompanied him, returned with stories of two miracles he witnessed: a monk who recognized the Prophet ﷺ as the coming messenger, and two angels who shielded him from the sun's heat.

Khadijah proposed marriage to Muhammad ﷺ through a friend. He accepted, and they were married when he was twenty-five and she was forty. Their marriage was a deeply joyful one — she would become the first Muslim, his greatest support, and the woman he loved most in the world.

In his fortieth year, Muhammad ﷺ went to the Cave of Hira in the mountain outside Mecca to spend the month of Ramadan in retreat. One night the Archangel Gabriel appeared and commanded: "Read!" Muhammad ﷺ replied: "I cannot read." Three times Gabriel pressed him close and commanded him, and the third time the first words of the Quran poured from his lips.

Terrified, Muhammad ﷺ ran home to Khadijah, shaking. She wrapped him in blankets and when he recovered, told him: "Be happy. I swear by Allah that you will be our people's Prophet." She took him to her wise cousin Waraqah, who confirmed: "The Archangel who came to Moses has come to you. You are the Prophet of this people."

Khadijah was the first to believe — the first Muslim on earth. Then came Ali, the Prophet's young cousin who found him praying and asked to join him. Then Zayd, his freed slave. Then Abu Bakr, his closest friend, who accepted Islam instantly without doubt or hesitation — earning him the title Al-Siddiq, the one who confirms the truth.

Through Abu Bakr, many more came to Islam, including Bilal — an Ethiopian slave who would one day climb the Ka'bah itself to give the first call to prayer in all of Mecca.

For three years the early Muslims met secretly in a house near the hill of Safa to pray together and learn. Only a few people knew. Then the Archangel Gabriel commanded the Prophet ﷺ to begin preaching openly to everyone.

When Muhammad ﷺ stood on the hill of Safa and called the people of Mecca to worship only Allah and abandon their idols, the leaders of Quraysh were furious. Their wealth and power depended on the idols at the Ka'bah — this message threatened everything.

They could not harm the Prophet ﷺ directly because his uncle Abu Talib protected him. So instead they targeted the weak and poor. Bilal was taken into the desert, laid on burning sand with a heavy stone on his chest, and told to renounce Islam. He said only: "Ahad! Ahad!" — "One! One!" Abu Bakr eventually bought him and set him free.

Even so, the Prophet ﷺ told his followers: "By Allah, if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left in return for my giving up this cause, I would not give it up until Allah makes Truth victorious, or I die in His service."

As the persecution grew unbearable, the Prophet ﷺ permitted the first Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia, saying: "The king there is a just man. Stay there until Allah makes it possible for you to return."

Quraysh sent messengers to convince the Abyssinian king to send the Muslims back. But when the king heard the Muslims speak, and heard verses from the Quran recited about Jesus and Mary, his eyes filled with tears. He said: "These words have surely come from God. There is very little to separate the Muslims from the Christians." He refused to hand them over and gave them full protection.

This was the first hijrah in Islam — the first migration for the sake of faith.

A fierce man named Umar ibn al-Khattab decided to kill the Prophet ﷺ to end the problem. On his way, he was told his own sister had secretly become Muslim. He stormed to her house, struck her, then asked to see the verses she had been reading.

He read the opening of Surah Ta Ha. Standing there with his sword in hand, he knew he had never heard anything more beautiful in his life. He walked directly to the Prophet ﷺ and declared: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger." The same sword he had carried to kill the Prophet ﷺ would now defend him.

When Quraysh could not kill the Prophet ﷺ, they declared a total social and economic boycott of all Muslims — no one could trade with them, speak to them, or sell them food. For three years the Muslims barely survived. Yet Islam grew stronger.

619 AD became the Year of Sorrow. First, Khadijah — the Prophet's beloved wife of twenty-five years, the first Muslim, his greatest comfort — fell ill and died. The Prophet ﷺ was heartbroken.

Then Abu Talib, the uncle who had protected him his entire life, also died. Without his protection, the Prophet ﷺ was vulnerable. His enemies rejoiced. Even children threw filth on his head. He tried preaching in Ta'if — they laughed at him and drove him out with stones.

Alone in a garden outside Ta'if, bleeding from the stones, he prayed: "O Allah, I complain of my weakness and helplessness. If Thou art not angry with me, I care not what happens to me. Thy favor alone is my objective." A Christian slave named Addas brought him grapes, heard him speak, and became a Muslim on the spot.

One night the Archangel Gabriel woke the Prophet ﷺ and a miraculous white animal carried him from Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, where he led Abraham, Moses, Jesus and all the Prophets in prayer. This journey is called the Isra.

Then he was taken up through the seven Heavens — the Mi'raj. He saw angels, Paradise and Hell. He met the great Prophets at each Heaven. Finally he reached the Lote Tree of the Uttermost, where no Prophet had been before, and was in the Divine Presence of Allah.

He was instructed that Muslims should pray fifty times a day. On the way back, Moses advised him to ask for a reduction. After going back and forth, the prayers were reduced to five — yet Allah declared they would carry the reward of fifty.

When the Prophet ﷺ told Quraysh what had happened, most mocked him. But Abu Bakr said without hesitation: "If Muhammad ﷺ himself has said so, then it is true." From that day he was called Al-Siddiq.

During the pilgrimage season, the Prophet ﷺ met six men from the tribe of Khazraj in Yathrib. The Jews of Yathrib had long told the Arabs that a Prophet was coming. When they heard the Quran recited, they knew: this is him. They became Muslim and promised to return.

The following year, twelve men came from Yathrib and pledged their allegiance. The year after that, seventy-three men and two women came at night for a secret meeting, offering the Prophet ﷺ their protection if he would come to live among them.

This was the Treaty of Aqabah — the agreement that would change the world. The Prophet ﷺ told his followers in Mecca to migrate to Yathrib where they would be safe.

When Quraysh realized the Muslims were leaving, they plotted to kill the Prophet ﷺ before he could escape. On the chosen night, young warriors from every clan surrounded his house. The Prophet ﷺ slipped past them — Allah removed their sight at that moment — and made his way to Abu Bakr's house.

Together they hid for three days in a cave on Mount Thawr. Quraysh searched everywhere and offered a reward of one hundred camels for the Prophet's capture. They found the cave — but a spider had woven its web across the entrance and a dove nested calmly nearby. They turned away, concluding no one could have entered recently.

Abu Bakr whispered in fear: "They are so close — if one of them turns we will be seen." The Prophet ﷺ replied: "What do you think of two who have with them Allah as their third? Grieve not, for verily Allah is with us."

The Hijrah — the migration — marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. It was the first step toward the spread of Islam throughout the entire world.

When news reached Yathrib that the Prophet ﷺ was coming, the people went out every morning to watch for him. On September 27, 622 AD, someone spotted him in the distance and cried: "The Messenger of Allah has arrived!" The city erupted in joy. Women and children sang from their rooftops.

The Prophet ﷺ let his camel Qaswa walk freely, saying she was under Allah's command. She knelt beside a building belonging to two young orphan boys — the site where the first mosque of Islam would be built. Every wealthy man offered to host the Prophet ﷺ. He replied: "Tie the camel and let Allah guide where I stay."

He then established the Islamic brotherhood — pairing each Meccan immigrant with a man from Madinah who shared everything with him as family. And from a dream, Bilal was chosen to give the first adhan, the call to prayer — the same call heard from minarets around the world to this day.

The Muslims learned that a large Quraysh caravan was returning from Syria loaded with goods — goods that had originally belonged to the Muslims who had been forced to flee Mecca leaving everything behind. Three hundred and five Muslims set out to intercept it.

But Quraysh had mobilized a full army of one thousand men to defend the caravan. The situation changed completely. The Prophet ﷺ asked his companions: "What should we do?" Sa'd ibn Mu'adh of the Ansar stood and said: "We believe in you. Go where you wish — we are with you even if you lead us into the sea!"

On the morning of the 17th of Ramadan, the two armies faced each other at Badr. The Muslims were outnumbered more than three to one. Yet Allah sent His angels to fight with them, and the Muslims won a stunning victory — killing most of the leaders of Quraysh and taking many prisoners who were treated with respect and kindness.

Quraysh returned the following year with three thousand men to avenge Badr. The Prophet ﷺ positioned fifty archers on the mountain with strict orders: "Whatever happens, keep your positions. Do not come down even if you see us being slain."

The Muslims began winning. But when the Quraysh army started retreating, forty of the fifty archers abandoned their posts to collect the spoils. Khalid ibn al-Walid, seeing the gap, turned his cavalry around and attacked from behind. The Muslims were caught between two forces and suffered heavy losses. The Prophet ﷺ himself was wounded in the face.

The Muslims learned a painful lesson that day: disobedience to the Prophet ﷺ and love for the things of this world cost them victory. The Quran confirmed: "Allah forgives you — but this was a test." The Prophet ﷺ said on returning: "We have come back from the lesser war to the greater war" — meaning the inner struggle against one's own ego.

Quraysh returned two years later with an overwhelming coalition of ten thousand fighters. The Muslims had only three thousand. A Persian companion named Salman suggested a solution: dig a trench around Madinah. The Prophet ﷺ himself carried rocks and dug alongside his men.

For nearly a month the enemy was held at bay by the trench. Then a sandstorm from Allah buried the enemy's tents for three days. Abu Sufyan, commander of Quraysh, declared: "Let us go home. The horses and camels are dying. There is no reason to stay." The ten-thousand-man army departed without entering the city.

After the battle, the Muslim army numbered three thousand — from three hundred at Badr, seven hundred at Uhud. Islam was growing, unstoppable.

The Prophet ﷺ dreamed that the Muslims should perform the pilgrimage to Mecca. Fourteen hundred Muslims dressed in white and went unarmed. Quraysh blocked their entry and refused to let them in. Negotiations began.

The resulting treaty seemed humiliating — the Muslims must leave without performing pilgrimage, return next year for only three days, and send back any Meccan who came to join them without guardian permission. The Muslims were furious. Umar said: "How can we accept this when we are right and they are wrong?"

But on the journey home, Allah revealed: "Surely We have given you a clear victory." The treaty turned out to be the greatest victory in Islam — within a year, more people accepted Islam than in all previous years combined. Khalid ibn al-Walid and Amr ibn al-As, two of Quraysh's greatest warriors, both traveled to Madinah and became Muslims.

During the peace guaranteed by the treaty, the Prophet ﷺ sent personal letters to the most powerful rulers on earth — the Roman Emperor Heraclius, the Persian Shah Chosroes, the King of Abyssinia, and the ruler of Egypt — inviting them to Islam.

Heraclius questioned Abu Sufyan closely about the Prophet ﷺ and concluded: "I see from this that he is indeed a prophet." He told his generals Islam would one day conquer Syria. As he rode away from the province he said: "Goodbye for the last time, O land of Syria!"

The Shah of Persia tore the letter in rage. The Prophet ﷺ said: "May Allah also tear his kingdom into pieces." Within years, the Persian Empire collapsed. The King of Abyssinia — who had already sheltered the early Muslims — declared himself a Muslim and wrote back to the Prophet ﷺ in joy.

When Quraysh broke the treaty by attacking Muslim allies, the Prophet ﷺ marched on Mecca with ten thousand men in the month of Ramadan. He wanted no bloodshed — he ordered his army: cause harm to no one unless you are attacked first.

Abu Sufyan, the leader of Quraysh, came to surrender in the night. In the morning the Muslim army entered Mecca from all sides. The city did not resist. The Prophet ﷺ descended from his camel, bowed to the ground in gratitude to Allah, and began the tawaf around the Ka'bah.

Standing before the people who had tormented him and his companions for twenty years, he asked: "What do you think I will do with you?" They replied: "You will treat us as a kind nephew and generous brother." He answered with the words of Prophet Joseph: "God forgives you and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful. Go — you are free."

No home was pillaged. No property was taken. Three hundred and sixty-five idols were removed from the Ka'bah as he recited: "Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Lo! Falsehood is ever bound to vanish." Bilal climbed to the top of the Ka'bah and gave the call to prayer over all of Mecca.

After Mecca, the Muslim army — now twelve thousand strong — marched to face the Hawazin tribes. As they looked at their great numbers, the Muslims said to themselves: "We will never be defeated!" The Prophet ﷺ heard this and warned: "Look to Allah and not to your own strength."

At dawn in the narrow valley of Hunayn, the enemy ambushed them from above. In the surprise and confusion, the Muslims began to flee. For a moment the Prophet ﷺ stood almost alone with a handful of companions. His uncle al-Abbas called out to the fleeing men. Ashamed, they turned back and fought with desperate courage until the enemy was defeated.

The lesson lives forever: no matter how strong you are, victory belongs to Allah alone. Pride was the enemy from within, more dangerous than any army from without.

News reached Madinah that the Roman Empire was mobilizing to attack the Muslims from the north. It was harvest time, an intensely hot year, and the journey to Tabuk was five hundred kilometres across desert. The hypocrites spread fear: "The Romans have a vast empire. The heat will kill us first."

Yet the true Muslims gave everything. Abu Bakr gave all his wealth. Uthman equipped ten thousand soldiers. Seven men wept bitterly when told there were no animals left for them to ride. When spare camels were found, the Prophet ﷺ sent for them immediately — their joy was complete.

The army crossed the desert miraculously, sustained by rain Allah sent in answer to the Prophet's prayer. When they arrived at Tabuk they found the Roman army had already retreated in fear. The Prophet ﷺ waited, then gave the order to return home. The test had been passed.

In the tenth year of the Hijrah, the Prophet ﷺ performed what he knew would be his final pilgrimage. One hundred thousand Muslims joined him. At the plain of Arafat he gave his last great sermon:

That day, the final verse of the Quran was revealed to him: "This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." The Prophet ﷺ knew his work was complete.

Within months of returning to Madinah, the Prophet ﷺ fell ill with a fever. He continued to lead prayers as long as he could. When he could no longer stand, he asked Abu Bakr to lead the prayers in his place.

On Monday, June 8, 632 AD, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ passed away at the age of sixty-three in the arms of his beloved wife Aisha, in the room beside the mosque he had built. He was buried where he died — his grave is there to this day beneath the green dome of the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah.

When Umar heard the news he refused to believe it and stood with his sword drawn, threatening anyone who said the Prophet ﷺ had died. Abu Bakr went quietly to the room, kissed the Prophet's forehead and said: "You are dearer to me than my father and mother. You have tasted the death Allah had decreed for you." Then he came out and addressed the people:

He left this world with less than five possessions to his name. He had received revelation for twenty-three years, unified a fractured Arabia, established a community of justice and mercy, and sent letters to emperors. He died as he had lived — in perfect simplicity, in perfect service to Allah and to humanity.