The Prophet Muhammad: Life, Mission and Legacy in Islam

The Prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632) is, for Muslims, the final messenger of God, the man through whom the Qur'an was revealed and whose life is the model for Islamic conduct. Born in Mecca, he began preaching the worship of one God around 610, emigrated to Medina in 622, and by his death in 632 had united much of Arabia under the new faith. Muslims honour him as a human being chosen by God, not as divine, and customarily add a blessing whenever his name is mentioned.

Historical Sources for the Life of the Prophet§

The Qur'an addresses Muhammad directly and alludes to events of his life, but it is not a biography. The fuller narrative comes from two later bodies of material: the hadith, short reports of his sayings and actions (see The Qur'an and Hadith), and the sīra, the biographical tradition. The most important early biography was composed by Ibn Ishaq (d. c. 767) and survives mainly in the edition of Ibn Hisham (d. 833); other early works include the campaign history of al-Waqidi (d. 823) and the biographical compendium of Ibn Sa'd (d. 845).

Historians therefore work with sources written down a century or more after the events they describe. Some Western scholars of the 1970s questioned how much of the traditional account could be relied on; others, such as W. Montgomery Watt, accepted its broad outline while weighing details critically. A few non-Muslim texts from the 630s and 640s, such as a Greek Christian dialogue known as the Doctrina Jacobi, already mention a prophet who had appeared among the Arabs. Most historians accept the main framework given below, while recognising that many particulars are known only through later tradition.

Mecca, Early Life and the First Revelation§

Muhammad ibn 'Abdallah was born in Mecca, traditionally in the "Year of the Elephant", usually placed around 570. He belonged to the clan of Hashim within the tribe of Quraysh, which controlled the town and its sanctuary, the Ka'ba. His father died before his birth and his mother, Amina, when he was about six; he was raised first by his grandfather 'Abd al-Muttalib and then by his uncle Abu Talib. As a young man he worked in the caravan trade and gained a reputation for honesty, earning the name al-Amīn, "the trustworthy".

At about twenty-five he married Khadija, a widowed merchant some years older than himself who had employed him. Their marriage lasted until her death some twenty-five years later, and their daughter Fatima became the ancestor of the Prophet's descendants. In his late thirties Muhammad took to retreating to a cave on Mount Hira outside Mecca. There, according to Muslim tradition, in about 610 the angel Gabriel appeared and commanded him to "Read" or "Recite", the opening of sura al-Alaq. Shaken, he returned to Khadija, who comforted him and became the first person to accept his message. Her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, a Christian, is said to have recognised in the experience the same law that had come to Moses.

Preaching in Mecca and the Night Journey§

For about three years Muhammad shared the revelations privately with family and friends. Early believers included Khadija, his young cousin 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, his freed slave Zayd ibn Haritha and the merchant Abu Bakr. When he began preaching publicly, his message of one God, the resurrection and the judgement, and of justice toward orphans and the poor, challenged both the religion and the commercial order of Mecca, whose prosperity was bound to pilgrimage to its shrine. Converts of weak social standing were persecuted; around 615 a group of Muslims sought refuge with the Christian king of Abyssinia.

The year 619 is remembered as the "Year of Sorrow", when both Khadija and Abu Talib, his protector, died. In this period tradition places the Night Journey (isrāʾ) and Ascension (miʿrāj), alluded to at the start of sura al-Isra: Muhammad was carried by night from Mecca to Jerusalem and from there through the heavens, meeting earlier prophets and receiving the command of the five daily prayers. Whether the journey was bodily or visionary was debated, and the miʿrāj became a favourite theme of Sufi literature on the soul's ascent and of illustrated Persian and Turkish manuscripts.

The Hijra and the Community at Medina§

In 621 and 622 men from the agricultural oasis of Yathrib, divided by feuding between its Arab clans, pledged allegiance to Muhammad and invited him to come as arbiter. His followers left Mecca in small groups, and in September 622 he and Abu Bakr slipped away, hiding in a cave on Mount Thawr before reaching the oasis. This hijra ("emigration") was later chosen as the starting point of the Muslim calendar, whose years are marked AH, anno Hegirae. Yathrib became Madīnat al-Nabī, "the city of the Prophet", or simply Medina.

In Medina Muhammad led a community that combined Meccan emigrants (muhājirūn), Medinan helpers (anṣār) and, at first, the town's Jewish tribes. A document known as the Constitution of Medina, preserved in the sīra, sets out mutual obligations among these groups. The first mosque, the Prophet's house with its courtyard, became the model for later mosques. The direction of prayer was changed from Jerusalem to Mecca, and fasting in Ramadan and the alms tax were instituted. Relations with the Jewish tribes deteriorated, and conflicts with them are recorded in the sources, a subject historians treat with care.

War with Mecca followed: a Muslim victory at Badr (624), a setback at Uhud (625) and the failed Meccan siege of Medina known as the Battle of the Trench (627). In 628 the Treaty of Hudaybiyya established a truce and allowed the Muslims to perform pilgrimage the following year.

Return to Mecca and the Prophet's Death§

When the truce broke down, Muhammad marched on Mecca in 630 with a large army. The city surrendered with little bloodshed, a general amnesty was proclaimed for most of his former opponents, and the idols of the Ka'ba were destroyed. Delegations from tribes across Arabia came to Medina to accept Islam and his authority over the following two years.

In March 632 he led the "Farewell Pilgrimage" to Mecca, establishing the rites of the hajj as Muslims still perform them, and delivered a sermon remembered for its call to equality among believers and the sanctity of life and property. He fell ill soon after returning to Medina and died in June 632 in the apartment of his wife 'A'isha, where he was buried. His tomb lies within the greatly enlarged Prophet's Mosque. He left no son, and the question of who should lead the community after him divided Muslims into the traditions described in Sunni and Shi'a Islam.

Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety§

The Qur'an presents Muhammad as a mortal messenger, but also as one sent as a mercy to all peoples and as a good example for believers, and as the "Seal of the Prophets" (al-Ahzab 33:40). Muslims invoke blessings upon him (ṣalawāt), often abbreviated in writing, and the five daily prayers include a blessing on him and his family. The imitation of his habits, from the way he prayed to the way he ate, is regarded as meritorious.

Devotion produced a vast literature. The Burda, a praise poem by the Egyptian Sufi al-Busiri (d. c. 1294), is recited across the Muslim world, and the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt, a prayer book of blessings by the Moroccan Sufi al-Jazuli (d. 1465), became one of the most copied devotional books, often illustrated with images of Mecca and Medina. The celebration of his birthday (mawlid) is recorded at the Fatimid court in Egypt, spread widely from the thirteenth century and is observed in many countries today, though some reformist scholars regard it as an unwarranted innovation. Ottoman calligraphers created the ḥilye, a panel in which a classical verbal description of the Prophet's appearance and character is written out in place of a picture.

Islamic art has generally avoided depicting him, and this is a strong norm among Muslims today; when Persian and Turkish manuscripts did portray him, his face was often veiled or left blank. In Sufi thought he is the "Perfect Human" and the first of created realities, the "light of Muhammad" from which the world was made, an idea explored in Sufism in Islam.

Frequently asked questions§

Do Muslims worship Muhammad?§

No. Islamic doctrine holds that worship belongs to God alone and that Muhammad was a human messenger. Muslims love and honour him, invoke blessings on him and follow his example, but associating him with God would be regarded as a grave sin.

Why does the Islamic calendar begin in 622?§

The second caliph, 'Umar, chose the year of the hijra, the Prophet's emigration from Mecca to Medina, as the starting point because it marked the founding of the Muslim community. The calendar is lunar, so its year is about eleven days shorter than the solar year.

Could Muhammad read and write?§

The Qur'an calls him al-nabī al-ummī, which Muslim tradition generally understands as "the unlettered prophet", a sign that the Qur'an could not have been his own literary composition. Some modern scholars interpret ummī differently, as meaning a prophet sent to a people without a previous scripture.

Where is the Prophet buried?§

He is buried in Medina, in the place where his wife 'A'isha's room stood, now within the Prophet's Mosque under the Green Dome. Visiting the mosque is a customary part of many pilgrims' journeys.

Sources and further reading§

• The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah — Alfred Guillaume, 1955
• Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman — W. Montgomery Watt, 1961
• Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources — Martin Lings, 1983
• Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam — Fred M. Donner, 2010
• And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety — Annemarie Schimmel, 1985
• Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction — Jonathan A. C. Brown, 2011