Prophet Muhammad
The founder of Islam (c. 570–632 CE), regarded by Muslims as the final prophet of God and the bearer of the Qur'an.
Read in context →Biography
Muhammad ibn Abdullah (c. 570–632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and, in Islamic belief, the final prophet (the 'Seal of the Prophets') through whom God revealed the Qur'an. Born in Mecca and orphaned young, he worked as a merchant and married the widow Khadija before reporting his first revelations around 610 CE, conveyed by the angel Gabriel. After persecution in Mecca, he and his followers migrated to Medina in 622 (the Hijra, which begins the Islamic calendar), where he established the first Muslim community and political order. For Shia Muslims he is especially revered as the source of the Ahl al-Bayt, and Shia tradition emphasizes his designation of Ali at Ghadir Khumm during his final pilgrimage. A frequently noted nuance is the precision of the early biographical record, since the principal sources (the sira of Ibn Ishaq/Ibn Hisham) were composed generations after his death.
Quotes & narrations
«O people! Your Lord is one and your father is one. No Arab has superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab — except by piety.»
«Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.»
Sources
- Encyclopaedia of Islam (Brill), "Muḥammad"
- W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca (1953) and Muhammad at Medina (1956)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Muhammad"