Who is Muhammad?

The role of the messenger

Whereas we need no intercessors to present our prayers to Allah, who is All-Hearing, He is not of this world and does not speak to us directly. Instead of approaching each of His creatures individually with a personalised message, He has chosen messengers of impeccable character to bring His universal message to all of us. The task of these messengers was both to bring the message and to guide by personal example. They would always practice what they preached. In English, the term prophet is frequently used to describe these people, as part of their job was to warn of the consequences of non-compliance with the instructions of Allah, and this telling of future events or prophecies became a key characteristic in the perception of people. Whilst the messengers were given insights not usually available to other people and were often given miracles in support of their authenticity, it is important to understand that they were not superhuman. If Allah wanted to equip them in this way, He could have sent angels, but for the messengers to be followed, their life example had to be comprehendible; they had to be like everybody else in many respects, so that all who encountered their message would feel that they had the capability of trying to walk in their footsteps. For this reason, messengers were always chosen from amongst their own people, speaking their own language.

Since the days of Adam (peace be upon him), the universal content of the message itself remained unchanged: that there is only one God, Allah, that all depend on Him alone, that righteous conduct was the route to success in His eyes, and that He would judge everybody’s deeds on the Day of Reckoning. As mankind evolved through various stages, however, the detailed set of rules accompanying this general message equally evolved. Each messenger, in addition to calling his people to the undivided worship of Allah alone, addressed the major sins and injustices of his time and was such a social reformer by divine command.

Given the many generations of humans on this planet, spread across the vastness of the globe, the number of messengers sent for their guidance and betterment is too great for all their stories to have been preserved. The Qur’an mentions only a select number of them by name and tells in detail about their mission, where their example continues to provide beneficial admonition and guidance for us.

Messengers were sent to all kinds of communities, but many of those whose stories are preserved for us were sent to the Children of Israel. Each messenger takes his place in a long chain of such emissaries, and finally, when the time was right, Allah sent a final messenger to all mankind to revive, confirm and seal His message for the remaining generations of mankind. This messenger was Muhammad, (peace be upon him). "O Prophet (Muhammad) Verily, we have sent you as a witness, and a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner, and as one who calls to Allah." [The Holy Qur'an 33:45,46] Once mankind had reached a stage of development which could guarantee that the message brought by him, the Qur’an, would be preserved unchanged and its content would remain valid for all times to come, there will be no further new messenger after him.

The life and message of Muhammad

Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born in Makkah in Arabia in 570 as an orphan, for his father Abdullah died several weeks before his birth. When he was six, his mother died, too, and he was looked after for two years by his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, and then, after his death, by his uncle Abu Talib, whom he helped with his trade caravans.

His integrity soon earned him the nickname “al-Amin”, the Trustworthy. At the age of 25 he worked for the trading business of a wealthy widow, Khadijah who, impressed with his character, proposed marriage. In spite of her being 40 at the time, Muhammad (peace be upon him) accepted, and she remained his life companion for 25 years, and they had six children together. After her death he married a young girl, Aisha (may Allah be peace with her), who became an important teacher and narrator of ahadith (sayings of the prophet), as well as several war widows and divorcees, either to provide them with shelter or to forge political alliances between competing tribes. In turn for the kindness shown to him as a youth, he looked after Ali, the son of his uncle Abu Talib, and he freed and adopted a young slave boy, Zayd bin Haritha, into his household. His family’s testimony is that of a caring husband and father who, although busy with the affairs of the community, helped with the household chores wherever he could.

Disliking the idolatrous and frivolous practices of his compatriots in Makkah, Muhammad (peace be upon him) often retreated to a cave in mount Hira outside the town, and it was there, at the age of 40, that he received the first revelation. These revelations continued for 23 years until the end of the life of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and they are collected in the Qur’an, the Muslims’ holy book.

Muslims follow the life example of Muhammad (peace be upon him), Allah’s messenger, because – unlike so many rulers before and after him – he meticulously observed and followed himself what he preached to others and demonstrated that Islam, as revealed by Allah, is not some esoteric, aloof philosophy, but a practical guidance, applicable to all people, at all times, and in all areas of life. Amongst the most beautiful aspects of Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) own life is how perfectly he managed to balance the various demands of public and private life, neglecting neither for the sake of the other. Through his personality and the powerful guidance contained in the Qur’an he managed to unite the quarrelling tribes of the Arabian peninsula and lead them to being a major and flourishing civilisation within his own lifetime, putting the then dominant Persian and East Roman empires in the shade. Islam soon spread globally and took the cultural lead, advancing science and humanity, giving birth to the European enlightenment, and again, today, providing a much needed spiritual, social, and philosophical ideology for over a billion people, counter-balancing the excess materialism of the prevalent consumerism in the modern world.

Taken directly from Islam A Brief Guide.