Prophet Muhammad ﷺ مُحَمَّدٌ ﷺ

In review — pending scholar verification

The final prophet and messenger of Allah in Islam (c. 570–632 CE), born in Mecca and buried in Medina; the human channel through whom the Quran was revealed and the Sunnah established.

Overview

Muhammad ibn Abdullah (c. 570–632 CE) is the final prophet and messenger of Allah in Islam — the Khatam an-Nabiyyin, "Seal of the Prophets" (Surah Al-Ahzab 33:40). Muslims add the honorific ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam ("may Allah send peace and blessings upon him", abbreviated ﷺ) after his name. He was born in Mecca in the Year of the Elephant (traditionally 570 CE) into the clan of Hashim of the Quraysh tribe, received his first revelation at age forty in the Cave of Hira outside Mecca, migrated to Yathrib (later renamed Medina) in 622 CE — the event known as the Hijra, which marks the start of the Islamic calendar — and died in Medina in 632 CE.

The Quran was revealed to him over twenty-three years in stages, transmitted to the community through his recitation; his sayings, actions, and tacit approvals form the Sunnah, the second source of Islamic law and ethics after the Quran. The earliest formal preservation of the Sunnah is found in the major hadith collections compiled in the second and third Islamic centuries.

The Quran describes him as a "mercy to all the worlds" (rahmatan lil-alamin, Surah Al-Anbiya 21:107) and praises his moral character (Surah Al-Qalam 68:4). His role in Islamic theology is dual: he is a recipient of revelation and the embodied model of how to live by it. Both the formal acts of prayer, pilgrimage, and fasting, and the daily ethics of speech, generosity, and family conduct, are derived from his recorded practice.

Lineage and name

His full name is Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf, of the clan of Banū Hāshim of the tribe of Quraysh, descending through Ismaʿil ibn Ibrahim. His father Abdullah died before his birth; his mother Aminah bint Wahb died when he was about six. He was raised first by his grandfather Abdul-Muttalib, and after his death by his paternal uncle Abu Talib.

The Arabic name Muḥammad derives from the root ḥ-m-d ("to praise"), giving the participial sense "the praised one" or "one worthy of praise". The Quran identifies him also by the name Aḥmad ("most praised"), which Surah As-Saff 61:6 says was foretold by Isa (Jesus): "And [mention] when Isa, the son of Maryam, said: O Children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Aḥmad."

Quranic references

The Prophet ﷺ is mentioned by the name Muhammad four times in the Quran (in Surahs Aal Imran 3:144, Al-Ahzab 33:40, Muhammad 47:2, Al-Fath 48:29) and by the name Ahmad once (Surah As-Saff 61:6). He is also addressed throughout the Quran by titles and pronouns. Foundational verses include:

Surah Al-Ahzab 33:40 — "Muhammad is not the father of any one of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets." Establishes his finality.
Surah Al-Anbiya 21:107 — "And We have not sent you except as a mercy to all the worlds." Universal mission.
Surah Al-Qalam 68:4 — "And indeed, you are of a great moral character." Quranic testimony to his ethics.
Surah Al-Ahzab 33:21 — "Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example for whoever has hope in Allah and the Last Day." Establishes his Sunnah as the practical model.
Surah At-Tawbah 9:128 — "There has certainly come to you a messenger from among yourselves; grievous to him is what you suffer; concerned over you, with the believers kind and merciful."
Surah Al-Fath 48:29 — "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves."
Surah As-Saff 61:6 — "…bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Aḥmad."
Surah Aal Imran 3:144 — "Muhammad is no more than a messenger; messengers have already passed away before him."
Surah Al-Hashr 59:7 — "Whatever the Messenger gives you, take; and whatever he forbids you, refrain from." Authority of the Sunnah.
Surah An-Najm 53:3–4 — "Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed." On the divine source of his teaching.

Major life events

Birth and early life

Born in the Year of the Elephant — the year of the unsuccessful expedition of Abrahah, ruler of Yemen, against the Kaaba, recounted in Surah Al-Fil (105). Orphaned young. As a youth, he travelled with caravans of his uncle Abu Talib; on one journey to Syria the monk Bahira is reported in classical sirah (Ibn Hisham) to have recognised signs of prophethood in him. He earned the epithet al-Amīn ("the Trustworthy") among the Meccans for his honesty in commerce.

Marriage and prophethood

At twenty-five he married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, a respected merchant fifteen years his senior, who had employed him to lead her trade caravans. Their marriage lasted twenty-five years until her death; she bore him four daughters and two sons (the sons died in infancy). At forty, while in retreat in the Cave of Hira outside Mecca, the angel Jibril appeared to him and conveyed the first revelation — the opening verses of Surah Al-Alaq (96:1–5), beginning "Read in the name of your Lord who created" (Sahih al-Bukhari 3; Sahih Muslim 160).

Meccan period (610–622)

For three years he preached privately, gathering early converts including his wife Khadijah, his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, his servant Zayd ibn Haritha, and his close friend Abu Bakr. Public preaching began with the revelation of Surah Ash-Shuʿara 26:214, after which he addressed the Quraysh openly. Persecution of Muslims intensified; in the seventh year of prophethood (619 CE), he and the Banu Hashim were placed under a three-year economic boycott. The year his protectors Khadijah and Abu Talib both died (620 CE) is known as the ʿĀm al-Ḥuzn, the "Year of Sorrow". The Isra and Miʿraj — the night journey from Mecca to Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) and ascension through the seven heavens, during which the five daily prayers were ordained — is dated to around this period (Sahih al-Bukhari 3887; Sahih Muslim 162).

Hijra and Medinan period (622–632)

In 622 CE, after pledges of allegiance from delegations from Yathrib at Aqaba, the Prophet ﷺ migrated with Abu Bakr to Yathrib — an event called the Hijra from which the Islamic calendar is reckoned. The city was renamed Madinat an-Nabi ("the City of the Prophet"), or simply Medina. There he established the first Muslim polity, fraternising the Meccan Emigrants (Muhajirun) with the Medinan Helpers (Ansar), and concluded the Constitution of Medina with the city's Jewish and pagan tribes.

Major military events of the Medinan period:

Battle of Badr (2 AH / 624 CE) — first major engagement, decisive Muslim victory against a Quraysh army at the wells of Badr (Surah Aal Imran 3:123).
Battle of Uhud (3 AH / 625 CE) — partial setback after archers abandoned their position; the Prophet ﷺ was wounded.
Battle of the Trench (al-Khandaq) (5 AH / 627 CE) — defensive siege of Medina; the trench, Salman al-Farisi's strategy, withstood the Confederates.
Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (6 AH / 628 CE) — ten-year truce with Quraysh, opening the way for mass conversion (Surah Al-Fath 48).
Conquest of Mecca (8 AH / 630 CE) — bloodless entry into Mecca; the idols around the Kaaba were destroyed; a general amnesty was declared.
Battle of Hunayn and the Tabuk expedition (8–9 AH / 630–631 CE) — final consolidation across the Arabian Peninsula.

Farewell pilgrimage and death

In 10 AH (632 CE) the Prophet ﷺ performed his only complete Hajj — the Farewell Pilgrimage (Hajjat al-Wadāʿ) — during which he delivered the Farewell Sermon at Arafat (Sahih Muslim 1218; Jami at-Tirmidhi 3087, graded Sahih) summarising the rights of Muslims, women, and the universal brotherhood of believers. Surah Al-Maidah 5:3 was revealed during this pilgrimage: "This day I have perfected for you your religion." He died in Medina later that year, aged sixty-three, with his head on the lap of his wife Aishah (Sahih al-Bukhari 4449). He is buried where he died, in Aishah's chamber, now within Masjid an-Nabawi.

Character and conduct

Aishah, asked about his character, replied: "His character was the Quran" (Musnad Ahmad 24601, graded Sahih by Shu'aib al-Arna'ut). Numerous hadith describe his daily conduct, generosity, gentleness with children and women, and physical and moral qualities.

Anas ibn Malik said: "I served the Prophet ﷺ for ten years, and he never said to me Uff (a word of displeasure), nor did he ever ask me about something I had done, Why did you do this? — nor about something I had not done, Why did you not do that?" — Sahih al-Bukhari 6038; Sahih Muslim 2309

Ibn Abbas said: "The Prophet ﷺ was the most generous of people, and he was at his most generous in Ramadan when Jibril met him; Jibril used to meet him every night in Ramadan to teach him the Quran. The Prophet ﷺ in his generosity was faster than the wind that brings rain." — Sahih al-Bukhari 6 and 1902

Selected hadith from the Prophet ﷺ

"The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion, and sympathy are like one body: when one limb suffers, the whole body responds with sleeplessness and fever." — Sahih al-Bukhari 6011; Sahih Muslim 2586

"Actions are by intentions, and every person will have only what they intended." The opening hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari and a foundational principle of Islamic jurisprudence. — Sahih al-Bukhari 1; Sahih Muslim 1907

"None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." — Sahih al-Bukhari 13; Sahih Muslim 45

"My example and the example of the prophets before me is like a man who built a house excellently and beautifully, except for one brick missing in a corner. People walk around it admiring it, but say: If only this brick were placed. I am that brick, and I am the Seal of the Prophets." — Sahih al-Bukhari 3535; Sahih Muslim 2286

Significance

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ holds in Islam the dual position of recipient of final revelation and embodied model of practice. Belief in his prophethood — paired with belief in Allah — is the second clause of the Shahada and a condition of entering the religion. Sending blessings upon him (ṣalāt ʿalā an-nabī) is enjoined in Surah Al-Ahzab 33:56 and is integral to the daily prayers and to the etiquette of mentioning his name. Imitation of his practice in the details of worship and ethics — the Sunnah — is the second source of Islamic law after the Quran, and the discipline of hadith developed precisely to preserve and authenticate it across generations.

References

The Quran (Sahih International translation): Surahs Al-Ahzab 33:21, 33:40, 33:56; Al-Anbiya 21:107; Al-Qalam 68:4; Al-Fath 48; Aal Imran 3:123, 3:144; At-Tawbah 9:128; Al-Hashr 59:7; An-Najm 53:3–4; As-Saff 61:6; Al-Maidah 5:3; Al-Alaq 96:1–5; Al-Fil 105.
Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith nos. 1, 3, 6, 13, 1902, 3535, 3887, 4449, 6011, 6038. Trans. M. Muhsin Khan (Darussalam edition).
Sahih Muslim, hadith nos. 45, 160, 162, 1218, 1907, 2286, 2309, 2586. Trans. Abdul Hamid Siddiqui (Darussalam edition).
Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya, ed. Mustafa al-Saqqa et al. (Dar Ihya al-Turath, Beirut).
Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, trans. Alfred Guillaume as The Life of Muhammad (Oxford University Press, 1955) — used cautiously alongside Ibn Hisham's recension.
al-Mubarakpuri, al-Rahiq al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar) (Darussalam, 1996).
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, vols. 3–6 (Dar Ihya al-Turath).
al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-l-Muluk, trans. as The History of al-Tabari, vols. 6–9 (SUNY Press).
Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (Inner Traditions, 1983).