A Short Biography of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

The great Arab states of the past, including the Al-Mundhirs/Lakhmids of Al-Ḥīrah, Ghassānids of Syria, and the states of Yemen and Najd had long disappeared before the advent of Islām in Arabia. The pre-Islāmic Middle East was dominated by the Byzantine and Sasanian empires. The Roman–Persian Wars had devastated the region, making the empires unpopular amongst local tribes. Furthermore, the wider region that would soon be conquered by Muslims had many Christian sects, including Nestorians, Monophysites, Jacobites and Copts, who were deemed heretics by the dominant Eastern Orthodox Church. The Coptic Pope at the time was living incognito in Egypt and Coptic churches operated underground. Jews of Palestine too welcomed the Muslim liberation. Within decades of the advent of Islām, Muslims conquered Arabia, Mesopotamia, Byzantine Syria and Egypt and large parts of the Sasanian Persia. Muslims were welcomed as liberators in all these lands. They restored full religious freedoms in all areas they conquered.

In Arabia, idol-worship was common and each tribe had its own idol made of stone or wood. There were 360 idols in the House of Allāh in Makkah representing various tribes and clans. However, three goddesses were supreme and were revered as God’s “daughters”: Allāt, Manāt and Al-‘Uzzā (53:19).

There were also small groups professing the ancient faith of Ibrāhīm which was called al-Ḥanīfiyah. In addition to these, there were pockets of Jews in Yemen and Madīnah and of Christians in Najrān, al-Ḥīrah and Syria.

The people of Makkah mainly relied on trade with Yemen and Syria while the Arab tribes of Madīnah, rich in orchards and agricultural lands, fought among themselves and with their Jewish neighbours.

Islām unified the Arabs, including the Bedouins and nomads, who were at loggerheads with each other, competing for pastures. It gave them a great sense of purpose in life, so much so that within decades of the advent of Islām, they emerged as the dominant force in the old world. So much so that Caliph Hārun al-Rashīd (d. 809 CE), could say, looking at the clouds in Baghdad, “Go wherever you want; your tax will come to me!”

Muḥammad, son of ‘Abdullāh and Āminah, was born in Makkah in the family of the chief of Quraysh, ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib, on 12 Rabī‘ al-Awwal, 53rd Year Before Hijrah, which is the Year of the Elephant (circa 570 CE). He was named “Muḥammad” (the Praised One) by his grandfather, ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib. It was a unique name in Arabia at the time (today, it is the most popular name in the world).

His father died before he was born and his mother passed away when he was just six years old. His grandfather took him under his care after the death of his mother but he too passed away two years later. Thereafter his uncle Abū Ṭālib became his guardian.

The Prophet spent his early life as a shepherd and later as a trader, going with caravans to Syria and probably also to Yemen. Due to his consistently upright character, he was known in Makkah as Al-Ṣādiq (The Truthful) and Al-Amīn (The Trustworthy). In his teens, Muḥammad accompanied Abū Ṭālib on Syrian trading journeys to gain experience in commerce which was the mainstay of Makkah. When he was around twelve years old, while accompanying a trading caravan to Syria, he attracted the attention of a Christian monk, called Baḥīrā, who foresaw Muḥammad’s future as a Prophet of God and told Abū Ṭālib to take him back to Makkah to keep him out of harm’s way.

In his youth, Muḥammad participated in Ḥilf al-Fuḍūl (Pact of Mutual Help) along with some conscientious people of Quraysh with the aim of defending the poor, the wronged and strangers in Makkah. At the age of 35, he was chosen by the Quraysh to place Al-Ḥajr al-Aswad (the Black Stone) in its place c. 605 CE after the Ka‘bah’s walls were damaged during a flood. He asked for a sheet of cloth and laid the Black Stone at its centre. Then he asked clan leaders to hold the corners of the sheet and together they lifted the Black Stone to the right spot, then he laid the stone at the required place, satisfying the honour of all. This event happened five years before the first revelation came to him through the angel Jibrīl.

Impressed by his qualities, Khadījah, a wealthy widow trader of Makkah, approached him for marriage. He was 25 years old at the time while she was 40. She bore all his children (except Ibrāhīm) and was the first to embrace Islām when the Prophet first received the revelation at the age of 40 while meditating and praying in the Cave of Ḥirā’ in al-Nūr mountain near Makkah in Ramaḍān, 13th year before Hijrah (August 610 CE).

The Angel Jibrīl appeared before him and asked him repeatedly to “Read!” Each time the Prophet replied, “I cannot read!” Thereafter, the angel taught him the following āyahs:

Created Man out of a congealed blood clot:

Taught Man that which he knew not (96:1).

After this first revelation, the Prophet hurried back home from the Cave of Ḥirā’ in a state of fear. He told Khadījah, “I am afraid about myself!” She comforted him and reassured him, saying: “Never, by Allāh, will He disgrace you: you take care of your blood-relatives, tell the truth, support the needy, help the poor, honour the guests and help people during calamities.” The next thing she did was to go to her Christian cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, and tell him about the Prophet’s encounter with the angel and the Message he received. Waraqah told her, “He has received the same great Message which Mūsā used to receive. He is the Prophet of this Ummah. Tell him to persevere.” Later, Waraqah met the Prophet in the Ka‘bah and told him, “By the One in whose hand is my life, you are the Prophet of this Ummah. The great Message that used to come to Mūsā has come to you. You will certainly be disbelieved, you will certainly be expelled and you will certainly be fought against. If I survive until that time, God knows I will support you.”

During this early period, revelation stopped for some time which perturbed the Prophet. When the revelation resumed, he was reassured and was commanded by Allāh to start preaching: “Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased” (93:3).

The Prophet preached secretly for the next three years. He started preaching openly only after Sūrah Al-Muddaththir (74:1) was revealed to him. In another āyah, he was enjoined: “Therefore, declare aloud what you are commanded” (15:94). By this time, the number of Muslims in Makkah had reached 40.

Most Makkans ignored and mocked the Prophet but some embraced the new Message. They were mainly the younger brothers and sons of wealthy merchants and the weak, the poor, slaves and unprotected aliens. Opposition and persecution started at an early stage targeting in particular the weak, the poor and the slaves, some of whom were tortured in the scorching heat of Makkah leading to their death. Sumayyah bint Khayyāṭ, a slave of Abū Jahl, was the first martyr of Islām. She was killed with a spear by her master when she refused to give up her faith. Bilāl the Abyssinian, another Muslim slave, was tortured by his master Umayyah ibn Khalaf who placed heavy rocks on his chest in the scorching sun to try to force him to renounce Islām. Bilāl refused. He was finally bought and freed by Abū Bakr, a wealthy trader who was among the earliest to embrace Islām.

The Quraysh chieftains were particularly angered by the verses denouncing the idols they worshipped and kept in the precinct of the Ka‘bah. They saw it as an affront to their forefathers who worshipped those idols and also feared that removal of the idols from the Ka‘bah would harm their tribal supremacy and commercial interests as Arabs would stop visiting the Holy House as pilgrims if their idols were removed.

The Prophet himself was persecuted and physically assaulted repeatedly by Quraysh, especially by some of his closest relatives, including his uncles Abū Lahab and Abū Jahl. The Quraysh tried to dissuade the Prophet from his mission by making him various offers, including wealth, admission into the inner circle of the rich merchants, making him the “King of Makkah,” arranging his marriage to the prettiest of women, etc. But he rejected them all. His uncle and guardian Abū Ṭālib, as a result of constant pressure from the Quraysh, advised him to tone down his Message or seek a compromise with his detractors but the Prophet refused saying, “If they place the Sun in my right hand and the moon in my left so that I leave this affair, I will not until Allāh makes it triumph or I perish.” The Prophet said this with tears in his eyes and left. Abū Ṭālib called him back and told him, “Go, son of my brother, and say whatever you wish. By Allāh, I will not deliver you to them.”

Seeing the situation at Makkah, the Prophet advised vulnerable believers to migrate to Abyssinia (the Kingdom of Aksum), ruled by a just Christian king, the Negus (Aṣḥama ibn Abjar). Vulnerable believers migrated twice to Abyssinia to flee persecution at Makkah. The first batch, consisting of 11 men and four women, migrated in Rajab, 5th year after prophethood (615 CE). The Prophet’s cousin Ja‘far ibn Abī Ṭālib joined them soon thereafter. The second batch, consisting of 83 men and 18 women, migrated in the year 6/7 before Hijrah (615/616 CE). Quraysh sent emissaries to the Negus seeking repatriation of these “fugitives.” The Negus, after listening to the response of Ja‘far ibn Abī Ṭālib and a part of the Qur’ān he recited, said it comes from the same source from which ‘Īsā received his revelations. He refused to deliver the Muslim emigrants to the Quraysh and told the Muslims to live without fear in his land. Muslims lived in peace in Abyssinia for years though some of them returned to Makkah when Islām gained strength and high-ranking Makkans, like ‘Umar and  Ḥamzah, converted. Both groups eventually later migrated to Madīnah at the time of the Expedition of Khaybar in May 628 CE.

After their failure to extradite the Muslim migrants from Abyssinia, the Quraysh hardened their attitude towards the Muslims in Makkah and plotted to kill the Prophet. They asked his clan, Banū Hāshim, to renounce their protection and deliver him to them. The Banū Hāshim refused and all, with the exception of Abū Lahab, fortified themselves in an area called “Abū Ṭālib’s Tract” in a valley. This social boycott lasted for three years. During this period, the Prophet and his relatives were able to venture out only during the pilgrimage months which were Ḥarām (Sacred), when all hostilities among Arabs were banned.

To enforce and prolong this decision, the Quraysh concluded a pact to boycott the whole clan of Banū Hāshim socially and commercially. The boycott document was hung on the inner wall of the Ka‘bah. This siege started from Muḥarram, 7th Year After Prophethood (6th Year Before Hijrah/616/617 CE) and continued to the 10th year after Prophethood (3 Before Hijrah). It ended only when the document was found eaten by termites.

Both the Prophet’s uncle Abū Ṭālib and his wife Khadījah, died in 619 CE (within 35 days of each other’s death), the year known as the “Year of Sorrow”. Now the leadership of the Banū Hāshim clan passed to Abū Lahab, an avowed enemy of the Prophet, who withdrew the clan’s protection to the Prophet. This implied that his clan would not exact a blood revenge if he were killed.

Now, the Prophet sought protection and refuge in the nearby town of Ṭā’if. He went there in Shawwāl 10th Year of Prophethood (Year 3 Before Hijrah), after he was expelled from Makkah. But its chiefs welcomed him with the worst of abuses and encouraged their ruffians to hit the Prophet and his companion Zayd ibn Ḥārithah with stones. The Prophet returned to Makkah with a heavy heart after spending ten days in Ṭā’if trying to find support there. Tradition describes an angel appearing to him and offering retribution against the assailants but the Prophet rejected the offer and prayed for guidance for the people of Ṭā’if. A Makkan chieftain, Muṭ‘im ibn ‘Adī and the protection of the clan of Banū Nawfal made it possible for the Prophet to safely re-enter Makkah.

After the disgraceful behaviour of the people of Ṭā’if, and perhaps to demonstrate to the Prophet divine support of the highest order, he was taken in Rajab, 3rd Year Before Hijrah (620 CE) on the night journey of Isrā’ (to Jerusalem) and Mi‘rāj (from Jerusalem to the heavens). During this miraculous night-long journey with the Angel Jibrīl, the Prophet traveled from Makkah on a winged white steed (al-Burāq) to “the Farthest Mosque” (Al-Masjid al-Aqsa) in Jerusalem. During the Mi‘rāj to al-Bayt al-Ma‘mūr (The Overflowing House) on the seventh heaven, the Prophet toured Heaven and Hell, and spoke with earlier prophets, including Ibrāhīm, Mūsā and ‘Īsā. It was a journey beyond our perception of Time. When the Prophet returned home in Makkah, the latch/chain of his door was still in motion.

At this critical juncture, the outside support the Prophet was seeking came from Yathrib, an Arab town 271.5 miles to the north of Makkah. The Arabs of Yathrib had some inkling that a new Prophet was about to appear as the Jews in their town used to talk about him. They also hoped that a strong leader and arbiter would stop the continuous bloodletting among their tribes and clans as well as between Yathrib’s Arabs and Jews.

First, six of its people came to Makkah two years before Hijrah (620 CE). They met the Prophet secretly and embraced Islām. The next year, 12 persons came from Yathrib, met the Prophet secretly at al-‘Aqabah, outside Makkah and gave him the First Pledge of al-‘Aqabah: to obey Allāh and protect His Prophet and the Muslims who would migrate to Yathrib. After this, the Prophet sent a group of preachers to Yathrib. Through their efforts, Islām entered all the households of al-Aws and Al-Khazraj, the two major Arab clans of the town.

Next year, in June 622 CE, the 13th year after Prophethood, another group of 73 men and two women came from Yathrib to Makkah during Ḥaj. They met the Prophet secretly at night and gave him the Second Pledge of Al-‘Aqabah under which they promised “to protect the Prophet as they protect their women and children.” After this pledge, the Prophet appointed 12 leaders for every clan in Yathrib to take care of their people and oversee the implementation of the pledge given to the Prophet.

Makkan Muslims now started migrating to Yathrib, fleeing persecution at home. Soon only the Prophet, Abū Bakr, ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and some weak Muslims remained in Makkah.

The Prophet’s followers had mostly migrated in small groups from Makkah to Yathrib in 622 CE after the Second Pledge of ‘Aqabah.

Seeing that Muslims had a found a place of refuge and support in Yathrib, the Quraysh chiefs held a meeting in their club, Dār al-Nadwah, in which they spoke of their fear that if Muḥammad joined his followers in Yathrib, he would wage a war against them. They considered a number of options, such as imprisoning the Prophet in his house but finally decided to kill him before he could leave for Yathrib. For this, they selected one strong young man from each clan so that the responsibility of the murder would be spread on all clans. This way the Prophet’s clan, Banū Hāshim, would not be able to take revenge while the Quraysh elders would readily pay blood money to his relatives according to the tribal custom.

Learning of this plan, the Prophet along with his closest companion, Abū Bakr, secretly migrated to Madīnah, leaving Makkah in the night of 27 Ṣafar, the 13th year of Prophethood (12 September 622 CE). ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib slept on the Prophet’s bed that night to trick the Quraysh. The other reason for leaving ‘Alī behind was so that he could return the deposits left by Makkans with the Prophet as they still considered him the most trustworthy and most truthful in the town.

On this historic journey, the Prophet was accompanied by Abū Bakr and his servant ‘Āmir ibn Fahīrah and a guide (‘Abdullāh ibn Arqaṭ) who was hired to lead them to Madīnah. The Prophet spent the first night in the house of Abū Bakr and the next three nights in the Cave of Thawr near Makkah. Before the start of their journey, the Prophet insisted on paying Abū Bakr for the camel he had readied for him. The Quraysh announced a reward of 100 she-camels for anyone who would help in the Prophet’s capture.

The Prophet and Abū Bakr reached Madīnah on 12 Rabī‘ al-Awwal (c. 24 September 622 CE). From then on, Yathrib was renamed as Madīnat al-Rasūl (City of the Prophet) or Al-Madīnah (The City) for short. Later, the event of the Hijrah (migration) of the Prophet from Makkah was adopted by Caliph ‘Umar as the start of the Hijri or the Islāmic lunar calendar.

After the Prophet’s hijrah no Muslim remained in Makkah except a few who had been imprisoned by the Quraysh or were subjected to fitnah.

The Quraysh did not leave the Prophet in peace even in Madīnah and attacked his adopted town again and again (e.g., the Battles of Badr in Ramaḍān 2 AH (March 624 CE), Uḥud in Shawwāl 3 AH (March, 625 CE), and Khandaq in Shawwāl 5 AH (March, 627 CE).

The first thing the Prophet did after his arrival in Yathrib was to build a mosque on a plot of land he bought from two orphan boys. The boys wished to donate it but the Prophet refused their offer and paid them ten dinars for their land. The Prophet himself participated in the construction of the mosque. Among the Prophet’s earliest decisions after his arrival in Yathrib was to establish a separate market for the Muslims.

At the time, the qiblah (direction) of mosques faced Jerusalem but around February 624 CE, 18 months after the Prophet’s arrival in Madīnah, it was changed towards the Ka‘bah. The change happened while the Prophet was praying in what is now known as the Masjid al-Qiblatayn (Mosque of the Two Qiblahs) in Madīnah.

Five months after his arrival in Madīnah, the Prophet initiated Muwākhāh (brotherhood) between Muhājirs (Muslim migrants from Makkah to Madīnah) and Anṣār (helpers, i.e., the Muslims of Madīnah) to help and protect one another. This unique institution was so strong that the Muhājir became the brother of the Anṣārī sharing with him wealth and property and inheriting from each other. The Prophet chose ‘Alī as his brother under this scheme although both of them were muhājirs. This continued until the Battle of Badr (Ramaḍān 2 AH (March 624 CE)) after which the brotherhood remained but inheritance between the “brothers” was abolished and people reverted to the normal rules of inheritance among blood relatives.

The Prophet organised the relationships and responsibilities in the emerging state on a legal footing five months after arriving in Madīnah. He promulgated a document to regulate the relations among the residents of Madīnah which included Muslims, polytheists and Jews. This document is called Al-Ṣaḥīfah (The Document or The Book) or Dustūr al-Madīnah (Constitution of Madīnah) or Mīthāq al-Madīnah (Charter of Madīnah). It consisted of 52 clauses, 25 of which concerned Muslims while 27 covered relationships between Muslims and others.

This document established a formal alliance, on the old pattern of Arab tribal alliances, between the Muslim emigrants from Makkah, the eight Arab tribes in Madīnah including their polytheist members, and nine Jewish clans that were settled there. The entities covered by this Constitution were called “Ummah Wāḥidah” (One Community) despite the difference in their religions. It also clearly provided for autonomy and freedom of religion for each party to the Charter and gave non-Muslim members of the alliance the same political and religious rights as Muslims (Clause 25).

The Constitution of Madīnah covered the Quraysh in two ways: the Muslim emigrants in Madīnah were covered and protected while the polytheists at Makkah were seen as enemies of the new alliance, to whom the alliance partners must not give asylum nor offer help in any way (Clause 43).

This alliance instituted peaceful methods of dispute resolution among member groups living as one people but without assimilating into one another, as it allowed all components to follow their own religions and customs. The document assured that representatives of all parties, Muslims and non-Muslims, should be included in consultations on common issues or in negotiations with outside parties. It imposed a tax system for supporting the community in times of conflict or payment of blood money.

Most importantly, the Charter imposed peace within the confines of Madīnah by designating it as “Ḥaram” (Sanctuary/Sacred Place – Clause 39) at par with Makkah, where no blood of the peoples included in the alliance can be spilled. The Prophet deputed a companion to place landmarks on the outskirts of Madīnah to show the limits of the Ḥaram area on all sides of the city’s entrances.

The Constitution of Madīnah was a masterpiece document showing the Prophet’s diplomatic skills and turning the Muslim community into supreme arbiter in the Madinan milieu and propelled Madīnah to slowly evolve as a “State” led by the Prophet. In one go, it abolished all the previous feuds among the constituent parties, established peace and started with a clean slate. It allowed the new alliance to establish peace at home and to face the outside dangers as one collective community. It also allowed the Prophet to firmly deal with any component that violated the terms of the alliance. The Constitution of Madīnah was the first organised political, democratic and legal document guaranteeing freedom of religion, ever written in history.

Following the Hijrah to Madīnah, people of Makkah seized the properties of the Muslim emigrants. Muslims in Madīnah were given permission to fight their persecutors over their eviction from Makkah and their usurped properties and also to usher in a polity where no one would be persecuted because of his religious beliefs and this included all religions. The āyahs permitting Muslims to fight made it clear that the permission was given to them to stop injustice and to protect all religions:

To those against whom war is waged, permission is given [to fight] because they are wronged; and verily, Allāh is Most-Powerful to help them. [They are] those who have been expelled from their abodes without any right [for no cause] except that they say, “Our Lord is Allāh.” Had Allāh not checked one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allāh is raised in abundant measure. Allāh will certainly help those who help His [cause]; for, verily, Allāh is Full-of-Strength, Exalted-in-Might [able to enforce His Will] (22:39).

Within seven months of his arrival in Madīnah, the Prophet started sending out expeditions to the nearby areas in an apparent effort to control the immediate environment of Madīnah. The Prophet ordered a number of raids to intercept and capture Makkan trade caravans, but only the eighth, the expedition of Nakhlah at the end of Rajab 2 AH/end of January, 624 CE, resulted in some fighting, capture of booty and two prisoners.

The Prophet himself took part in 27 raids, which are known as Ghazwahs because of his participation, while he sent out 47 sarīyahs (expeditions in which he did not take part). In all those expeditions and wars, the Prophet himself killed only one person (Ubayy ibn Khalaf) when the latter charged to kill the Prophet during the Battle of Uḥud.

These expeditions had many aims and purposes: to fight an invading army on a neutral terrain before it reaches Madīnah; ensure Madīnah’s security; prevent alliances against the new state and to force enemies, especially the Quraysh; to make truce or peace with the Prophet and the new emerging state; ward off or discourage an imminent attack; undertake reconnaissance; conclude new alliances; facilitate trade while putting economic pressure on Quraysh; and to disseminate the Message of Islām, etc.

In Ramaḍān 2 AH (March 624 CE), the Prophet led around three hundred fighters in a raid on a Makkan merchant caravan. Aware of the plan, the Makkan caravan eluded the Muslims. A Makkan force of 950 fighters, with 100 horses and hundreds of camels was sent to protect the caravan but it moved towards Badr after receiving word that their trade caravan was safe. The idea was to spend a few days at Badr, site of an annual Arabian festival, feast there, drink wine and listen to female singers. This, the Makkans thought, would send a message about their invincibility that Arabs would not soon forget.

In comparison, Muslims numbered only 313 under-armed fighters who had only one or two horses and only 70 camels.

The Battle of Badr took place on 17 Ramaḍān 2 AH (13 March 624 CE). Outnumbered by more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, though they lost 14 men. Seventy Makkan warriors were killed including some of the leading chieftains of the Quraysh. In addition, the same number (70) were taken prisoner, many of whom were later ransomed while those who could not pay were set free without ransom.

Following the Battle of Badr, the Prophet concluded alliances with a number of Bedouin tribes to protect Madīnah and also to enlist them on the Muslim side in future confrontations with enemies.

The Makkans were eager to avenge their defeat at Badr. This was also necessary to maintain their high status among Arabs and to protect their wealth based on trade with Syria, as their prestige had been dented by their defeat at Badr. After sending some smaller ambush parties, the Quraysh returned on 7 Shawwāl 3 AH (March/April, 625) to avenge their defeat at Badr. This time they brought 3000 well-armed fighters including some of their Bedouin allies. The Makkan army had 200 horses and 3000 camels. This large army by the standards of Arabia was pitted against 700 under-armed Muslims at Uḥud (at a distance of four miles from the Prophet’s Mosque in Madīnah). The Muslim army fought the invaders well but was nearly defeated due to a group of 50 Muslim archers who prematurely abandoned their appointed place, violating the express orders of the Prophet. Seventy five Muslims were killed, including Ḥamza, the Prophet’s uncle who is considered the most revered martyr in Islām, while 22 fighters of the invading army were killed. The Prophet himself was injured. Next day, as Quraysh fighters retreated planning to attack Madīnah soon thereafter, the Prophet went in hot pursuit of the invaders to show that the Muslims were not weakened or demoralised. This deterred the Quraysh from coming back to attack Madīnah when Muslims were weak.

Despite being bound by the Constitution of Madīnah, some Jewish chieftains conspired with the Quraysh against the Muslims, tried to kill the Prophet, supplied intelligence to the Quraysh and instigated them to fight the Muslims. The immediate provocation after the Battle of Badr was that one of the members of the Banū Qaynuqā‘ pinned the clothes of a Muslim woman in the Madīnah market in such a way that when she tried to move, her clothes tore and a part of her body was exposed. A Muslim man, who witnessed this act of shaming a woman, killed the Jewish man responsible for it. A Jewish mob assembled and killed that Muslim. This escalated to a chain of revenge killings, and tension grew between Muslims and the Banū Qaynuqā‘ who renounced the treaty with the Prophet and started fighting Muslims. This led to the siege of their fortresses for 15 days. Finally, the clan of Qaynuqā‘, at the request of their ally ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy, was punished only by expulsion from Madīnah in Shawwāl 2 AH (March/April, 624 CE).

Whenever the Prophet heard of groups assembling outside Madīnah with hostile intentions, he reacted in a swift and severe manner. One example is the assassination of Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf, a chieftain of the Jewish tribe of Banū al-Naḍīr. He had gone to Makkah where he wrote poems that roused the Makkans’ grief, anger and desire to avenge the Battle of Badr. Chieftains of Banū al-Naḍīr unsuccessfully tried to kill the Prophet, with daggers they had concealed, during a meeting with him. For their continuous violation of the terms of the Constitution of Madīnah, of which they were a party, the Prophet expelled the Banū Al-Naḍīr from Madīnah after the Battle of Uḥud, forcing them to emigrate to Khaybar and Syria in Rabī‘ al-Awwal 4 AH (August 625 CE). He allowed them to take whatever possessions, except arms, they could load on camels. They left Madīnah carrying their belongings on 600 camels.

Soon, the Quraysh and their allies as well as the Jews of Khaybar in north Arabia, especially the Banū al-Naḍīr who had settled there after their expulsion from Madīnah, assembled a large army of 10,000 fighters who marched to Madīnah to wage a final battle against the Muslims. The leader of the expedition, Abū Sufyan, gained support from nomadic tribes to the north and east of Madīnah using propaganda about the Muslims’ supposed weakness, promises of booty, memories of Quraysh prestige and by offering outright bribes.

Having received advance intelligence, the Prophet, at the advice of his Persian companion Salmān, dug a trench (khandaq) around the vulnerable areas of Madīnah before the enemy army could reach the city. The Prophet camped with an army of 3,000 at the Sala‘ mountain on the outskirts of Madīnah to face the invaders before they could enter the town. The invading army laid siege to Madīnah in Shawwal 5 AH/March 627. Lasting 24 nights, the siege severely tried and shook the Muslim camp (33:10). During this long siege, the two armies exchanged daggers and arrows from across the trench but no actual fighting took place. The invaders failed to enter the city from any side. Strong winds caused havoc to the invading army’s tents and overturned its utensils, forcing it to retreat in a hurry.

The Quraysh’s failure in their grand mission to uproot the Muslim stronghold at Madīnah resulted in a significant loss of their prestige among Arab tribes and their trade with Syria vanished because, due to Muslim patrols on the caravans’ route through the coastal area, it was no longer safe for Quraysh to move to and from Syria with their trade caravans.

During the siege of the Khandaq, the Banū Qurayẓah, violating the terms of the Constitution of Madīnah binding upon them, conspired with the invading army, tried to give it an opening into the city from their side on the outskirts and sent their fighters to bolster the invading army. Therefore, soon after the retreat of the invading army, the Banū Qurayẓah’s fortified settlement was besieged for 25 nights until they surrendered. Some of their adult men were executed according to the verdict of their own ally and self-chosen arbitrator Sa‘d ibn Mu‘ādh.

The Prophet’s next major step was to march the following year to Makkah, unarmed, with 1500 of his companions to offer the lesser pilgrimage (‘Umrah) in Dhū’l-Qa‘dah 6 AH (March 628 CE). Perhaps the real reason was to show to the tribes of Arabia that the Muslims, like others, revered the House of Allāh in Makkah and also to force the Quraysh to conclude a peace treaty which would give the Muslims some respite to build Madīnah and allow them to preach Islām freely to other Arabs who were impatiently waiting to see how the confrontation between the Muslims and the Quraysh would end.

Being proud guardians of the Ka‘bah, it was inconceivable that the Quraysh would stop pilgrims from entering their town. But the Quraysh saw it as an insult to allow their diehard enemies to enter their town under the pretext of pilgrimage. First, they sent small companies of fighters to stop and deter Muslims from approaching Makkah, but the Muslim party kept advancing until it was able to reach Ḥudaybīyah in the vicinity of Makkah. While skirmishes continued, rumours spread that one of the Muslim negotiators, ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, had been killed by the Quraysh. The Prophet called upon the Muslims accompanying him to make a pledge not to flee (or to stick with the Prophet until death) if the situation descended into war with Makkah. This pledge became known as the Bay‘ah al-Raḍwān (“Pledge of Good Pleasure”) or the “Pledge under the Tree.”

Meanwhile, negotiations continued through a number of emissaries and, finally, a treaty was concluded between the Muslims and the Quraysh. The main points of the treaty stipulated cessation of hostilities for ten years, security to each party’s trade caravans, deferral of the Prophet’s pilgrimage to the following year, and agreement to send back any Makkan who emigrated to Madīnah without permission from his protector while Makkans would not return any Muslim who came from Madīnah to Makkah. The truce also stipulated that each tribe in Arabia would be free to ally with either of the two parties. This document is called Ṣulḥ al-Ḥudaybīyah (Truce or Treaty of Ḥudaybīyah).

Some Muslims were not satisfied with the terms of this agreement. They only grudgingly accepted the Prophet’s decision and returned to Madīnah after offering their sacrificial animals at Ḥudaybīyah after the Prophet himself offered his sacrificial animal.

The treaty demonstrated that the Quraysh had accepted the Prophet as an equal party. Now, Arab tribes started to accept Islām or at least concluded alliances with the Prophet. Soon Islām spread to as far as Oman, Yamāmah, Baḥrain (the present-day Al-Aḥsā’ province of Saudi Arabia) and Yemen, etc.

After the Treaty of Ḥudaybīyah, the Prophet sent letters to the kings and rulers of the day inviting them to Islām and mutual peace. He sent fifteen envoys. One of the envoys, sent to the King of Buṣra, was killed before he could reach his destination, while only one ruler, the Emperor of Persia, tore the Prophet’s letter into pieces. Al-Ḥārith ibn Shammar, the Ghassānid king of Syria, disapproved and threatened the envoy while others, Emperor Heraclius of the Byzantium and Al-Muqawqis of Egypt honoured the envoys and sent gifts to the Prophet. The Negus of Abyssinia; the king of Yamāmah, Hawdah ibn ‘Alī Al-Ḥanafī; Jīfar and ‘Abd, rulers of Oman; Al-Mundhir ibn Sāwa, ruler of Baḥrain (present-day Al-Aḥsā’ province); Dhū ‘Amr, ruler of the Yemen and Al-Ḥārith ibn Kalāl, ruler of Najrān, accepted Islām.

The Treaty of Ḥudaybīyah allowed the Prophet to win supporters and act against enemies without risking interference by the Quraysh and their allies. So, a few weeks after the truce, the Prophet marched to Khaybar whose Jewish chiefs had played a major role in uniting Arab tribes and bringing them to Madīnah to wage the Battle of the Trench. Khaybar was conquered after about a two-week-long siege in Muḥarram 7 AH (May 628 CE). Its people were allowed to remain there on the condition that they offer half of their agricultural produce to the State of Madīnah every year. Here a Jewish woman (Zaynab bint al-Ḥārith, wife of Sallām ibn Mishkam), offered the Prophet a roast lamb that was thoroughly poisoned. The Prophet stopped eating as soon as he realised that something was amiss, but his companion Bishr ibn al-Barā’ ibn Ma‘rūr continued to eat and died as a result. During his illness, shortly prior to his death, the Prophet said, “I am feeling now the effect on my aorta of the food that I ate at Khaybar.” This is why early Muslims used to say that the Prophet died a martyr.

Next year the Prophet, accompanied by a large contingent of unarmed Muslims, offered the lesser pilgrimage at Makkah in Dhū’l-Qa‘dah 7 AH, as agreed under the terms of the Ḥudaybiyah treaty.

Around 18 months after the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyah, the Quraysh took part with their allies the Banū Bakr in an attack on the Khuzā‘ah tribe, which was allied to the Muslims. The Prophet sent a message to Makkah with three conditions, asking them to accept anyone of them: that the Makkans pay blood money for the slain among the Khuzā‘ah tribe, or renounce their alliance with Banū Bakr, or declare the Truce of Ḥudaybiyah null and void. The Makkans replied that they accepted the last condition (abrogation of the treaty). Soon, they realised their folly and dispatched their chief Abū Sufyān to Madīnah to renew the treaty. But his pleadings were not heard by anyone in Madīnah, not even by his own daughter who was a wife of the Prophet. Abū Sufyān returned to Makkah after unilaterally announcing in the Prophet’s mosque that he has made “peace between people!”

Now the Prophet secretly prepared to invade Makkah. He assembled an army of 10,000 including fighters from allied tribes and Bedouins. In total secrecy and while fasting, the Muslims marched towards Makkah in Ramaḍān 8 AH (January 630 CE). The Muslim army took Makkans by surprise and it was a bloodless conquest. The Muslim army had strict orders not to start any fighting. A commander who shouted, while entering Makkah, “Today is the day of war,” was at once replaced by the Prophet, who said, “Today is the Day of Mercy.”

The Prophet made ṭawāf (circumambulation) around the Ka‘bah and destroyed all the 360 idols kept there. Overwhelmed, the Makkans surrendered without any resistance. These diehard enemies, who had persecuted the Muslims for over two decades and had waged active war against Madīnah for close to a decade, were all pardoned by the Prophet under a general amnesty. Not even a fine was imposed on them for all the damages they had caused to Muslims in terms of lost lives and assets and no usurped property was reclaimed.

After the Conquest of Makkah, some small battles followed with nearby tribes but, in general, Arab tribes embraced Islām or concluded peace treaties with Madīnah.

In Dhu’l-Qa‘dah 10 AH (February 632), the Prophet decided to perform Ḥaj, his first after his Hijrah to Madīnah. Around 100,000 Muslim men and women accompanied him. At the end of this pilgrimage on 10 Dhū’l-Ḥijjah, the Prophet gave his Farewell Khuṭbah (sermon) in which he made important declarations, including abrogating all Jāhilīyah (Ignorance—pre-Islamic) customs, declaring that all Muslims were equal (“a white man has no superiority over a black man, nor a black man has any superiority over a white man except by piety and good deeds”), enjoining good behaviour towards women, abolishing usury and setting aside all old blood feuds etc. Here is the text of that historic sermon:

[The Prophet, upon whom be peace, praised and glorified Allāh, and then said:]

O people, listen to what I say, as I do not know if I shall ever meet you at this place after this year.

O people, your blood [life] and your property [and your honour] are sacrosanct until you meet your Lord, as sacrosanct as this day and this month. You shall meet your Lord and He shall ask you of your deeds.

I have conveyed [the Message]. He who has a trust [deposit] with him, let him return it to the one who has entrusted it with him.

[Behold, everything of the Jāhilīyah is [trampled] under my feet]. All usury is abolished, but you retain your capital. Do no wrong and you shall not be wronged. Allāh has ordered that there should be no usury. All the usury of ‘Abbās ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib is abolished. All the [unavenged] blood claims of the Jāhilīyah are abolished and the first claim I abolish is that of the son of Rabī‘ah ibn Al-Ḥārith ibn ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib; he was fostered among the Banū Layth where [the tribe of] Hudhail killed him. This is the first of the Jāhilīyah blood claims that I begin with.

[O People, Allāh has assigned unto everyone his due. Bequest to an heir is illegal. The child belongs to the bed, and the adulterer is to be stoned. Whoever claims to be the son of one who is not his real father and whoever claims to be the client of one who is not his master, on him rests the curse of Allāh, the angels and all humanity. Allāh shall not accept his repentance or redemption].

O people, the Shayṭān has despaired of ever being worshipped in this land of yours. But if he can be obeyed in anything less [than worship], he will be content with matters you may regard of little importance. So, beware of him in your religion.

O People, postponement of a sacred month is an excess in disbelief whereby those who disbelieve are misled; they permit it in one year and forbid it in another, [deluding themselves] that they may make up the months which Allāh has prescribed as sacrosanct; thus, they permit what Allāh has forbidden and forbid what Allāh has permitted. The cycle of time was shaped the day Allāh created the heavens and the earth. The number of the months with Allāh is twelve. Four of them are sacrosanct: three consecutive ones and the Rajab of Muḍar which is between Jumādā (al-Thāniyah) and Sha‘bān.

O People, you have rights over your wives and they have rights over you. You have the right that they do not permit into your homes anyone you dislike and they should not commit an indecent act. If they do, Allāh permits you to put them in secluded rooms and to beat them without severity. If they refrain (from such things) they have a right to their food and clothing in kindness. Take good care of women, for they are in your trust and have no control over themselves. You have only taken them as a trust from Allāh, and you have been permitted by the words of Allāh to have sexual relations with them.

O People, understand my words. I have conveyed [the Message]. I have left with you as plain indication which, if you hold fast, you will never go astray: the Book of Allāh and the practice of His Prophet.

O People, listen to what I say and understand it. Know that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims form one brotherhood. It is not lawful for a person to take from his brother except what he gives him willingly. So never wrong yourselves. O Allāh, have I not conveyed [the Message]?

You will be asked about me, so what you will say? (They said: “We witness that you have conveyed the Message and have performed your duty and that you have meant well with us”.) [Pointing his index finger to heaven and then to the people, he said: O Allāh, be witness; O Allāh, be witness; O Allāh, be witness.]

[Let those present [here] convey the Message to those absent. Many a listener may comprehend better than those who may be [present] listening. Return not to disbelief after me, killing one another.]

After this Pilgrimage, while the Prophet was still at Makkah, the āyah proclaiming the “perfection of religion” (5:3) was revealed. The Prophet and some of his companions, including Abū Bakr instantly understood that since his mission has been accomplished, he would soon depart from this world.

One of the earliest records about the Prophet’s appearance gives it as follows: The Prophet was medium-sized. He was taller than middling stature but shorter than conspicuously tall, and he was not fat. He had thick, curly hair. The tresses of his hair were parted. His hair reached beyond the lobe of his ear. He was not fat. He had a white circular face, wide black eyes, and long eyelashes. When he walked, it was as though he was going down a slope. He had the “Seal of Prophethood” on his back, between his shoulder blades. He was stocky. His face shone like the moon. His complexion was bright. He had a wide forehead, and fine, long, arched eyebrows which did not meet. Between his eyebrows there was a vein which distended when he was angry. His nose was hooked. He was thick-bearded, had smooth cheeks, a strong mouth, and his teeth were set apart. He had thin hair on his chest. His neck was like that of an ivory statue, with the purity of silver. He was proportionate, stout, firm-gripped, even of belly and chest, broad-chested and broad-shouldered. He performed household chores such as preparing food, sewing clothes, and repairing shoes. He had accustomed his wives to dialogue; he listened to their advice, and his wives debated and even argued with him.

Minute details of the Prophet’s life, his physical appearance, morals, behaviour and minute details of his life, especially of his life after attaining prophethood, have been meticulously recorded and preserved in hundreds of separate books. Some of his relics are preserved in museums and mosques in a number of places, especially in Turkey.

The Prophet married a number of women after his first wife Khadījah died when he was 50 years old. Most of those marriages were to cement personal, clan and political bonds with families and important clans to strengthen the new evolving community or to support widows after their husbands were killed in battle. The Prophet’s wife Sayyidah ‘Ā’isha survived him by decades and was instrumental in teaching Muslims and helping assemble scattered sayings of the Prophet. She is copiously quoted in Ḥadīth literature.

In the light of the copious accounts of his wives and companions, we know much about the Prophet’s character. He was the most generous, most considerate, most wise, most just and most forbearing among his people. He did not care much about his dress or bed or food. He did not take charity but accepted gifts. He used to visit poor Muslims during their illness and prayed at their funerals. He was never heard abusing anyone. He never hit anyone including his servants and slaves. He never avenged anything except if it was a violation of Allāh’s Commands. If given a choice, he always preferred the easiest option. He used to be the first to greet anyone he met, including children. When he sat in meetings, he could not be distinguished from his companions.

Many Miracles are attributed to the Prophet, including:

— The prophecy that the (Byzantine) Romans would defeat the Persians within a few years;

— Foretelling the killing of certain Quraysh fighters in the Battle of Badr;

— Numerous Miracles during the digging of the Trench;

— The prophecy that Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī would make peace between two warring Muslim groups;

— The prophecy that out of his family, his daughter Fāṭimah would be the first to join him after his death;

— Revealing that Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Balta‘ah had sent a secret message to the Quraysh warning them of the Muslim march to Makkah;

— The prophecy that Muslims would conquer Yemen, Syria, Maghrib (North Africa) and the “East” (Persia etc.);

— The prophecy that the rebel party would kill ‘Ammār ibn Yāsir;

— Small quantities of food and water fed many when he blessed it, etc;

— Allāh informed the Prophet in the Qur’ān about things and past events that neither he nor his people knew (11:49, 12:102).

However, the inimitable and unique Qur’ān remains the Prophet’s biggest and eternal Miracle. The Qur’ān challenges people to produce even a Sūrah of its likeness (2:23). This challenge is still unmet fifteen centuries later. The Qur’ān is so majestic and eloquent that it has left its imprint on Arabic language, grammar and literature forever. Arabic can never deviate from the high standards set by the Qur’ān which is neither poetry nor prose. There was no Arab tradition of writing or composing such inimitable prose. When compared with the Qur’ān, the Prophet’s own sayings (Ḥadīth) do not match the divine word in tone, tenor and eloquence. However, Aḥādīth Qudsīyah, sayings of the Prophet based on divine revelation but not included in the Qur’ān, also have a distinct majestic style though they are not used for prayers and are not recited like the Qur’ān.

In addition to the divine revelation received by the Prophet and meticulously preserved in the form of the Qur’ān, the Prophet’s own sayings (Ḥadīth) and deeds (Sunnah) are recorded in minute detail and preserved in hundreds of voluminous collections of Ḥadīth which, after the Qur’ān, are the second primary source of Islāmic teachings and laws. Sunnah explains in practice what is mentioned briefly in the Qur’ān. It is the model for Muslim life, from birth to burial and must be emulated by every Muslim.

During the first few decades of Islām, the Prophet’s sayings and deeds were not committed to writing lest it get mixed up with the Qur’ān. Ḥadīths were compiled several generations after the Prophet’s death by many scholars including Muḥammad al-Bukhārī, Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj, Muḥammad ibn ‘Īsā al-Tirmidhī, ‘Abdur Raḥmān al-Nasā’ī, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, Mālik ibn Anas, al-Dāraquṭnī etc. based on narrations received from previous generations in a reliable chain of narrators. All Ḥadīths maintain a verifiable chain of transmission (isnād). Biographies of the narrators and reporters of the Prophetic sayings have also been meticulously recorded and saved. These records, called Rijāl, are used to evaluate reports and if a narrator is proved to have lied even once in his life-time, his narration is rejected or considered “weak.” Likewise, a “ḥadīth” is considered “weak” (ḍa‘īf) if its chain of narrators is broken or if it is proved that one or some of its conveyors ever lied or never met each other.

Islām introduced monumental changes in the social order of Arabia. From family and clan loyalty, it elevated allegiance to an Ummah, a large community. It changed the social order and family structure, abolished all blood feuds (which was a scourge of Arabian society), limited slavery and gave rights to women and children, especially to girls who earlier used to be buried alive soon after their birth. Islām denounced dynastic and aristocratic privileges, proclaimed that all humans are equals, except in piety which is known to Allāh alone. It rejected hierarchy and adopted a formula of careers open to all according to their talent. As a result of Islām, the Arabian society got a new identity, outlook, world view, and values firmly based on justice. Economic reforms addressed the plight of the poor who were never respected in Arabia in general and in Makkah in particular. The Pact of Good Pleasure (Ḥilf al-Fuḍūl) was an attempt before Islām to ensure justice to the poor, weak and strangers in Makkah where injustice to such people was common. The essence of this pact became the nature of Muslim society.

Islām established a permanent system of social security and help for the poor and needy through the institution of an obligatory annual tax called Zakāt, which is to be paid by every financially solvent Muslim every year for the sole benefit of the poor, including non-Muslims. This tax is to be collected by an Islāmic state and spent under eight categories specified in the Qur’ān (9:60). Preferring high taxation rates under various heads, Muslim states no longer collect this tax. These days, individuals, Muslim organisations and NGOs undertake the collection of this obligatory tax from individuals and businesses and spend it on the needy. This is a multi-billion-dollar voluntary social support system working in all Muslim societies across the world.

Prophet Muḥammad is considered the best and complete exemplar for Mankind and the epitome of morality and righteousness. He taught his followers charity, justice, forgiveness and good behaviour towards all. His wife Sayyidah ‘Ā’isha said that his morals were a reflection of the Qur’ān. His life has been chronicled meticulously in hundreds of books of Sīrah, of which one of the earliest and the most authentic is the Sīrah of Ibn Hishām. There are hundreds of collections of Ḥadīth (sayings of the Prophet); six of them are considered most authentic.

The Prophet is the last in a long chain of Messengers sent by Allāh to Mankind. Like all earlier prophets, he too was human and a Messenger of Allāh at the same time. He confirmed what earlier Messengers of Allāh had taught (2:136, 10:37, 46:12). The Qur’ān refers to the Prophet as “Mercy for All the Worlds” (Raḥmatun li’l-‘Ālamīn – 21:107). Muslims in all ages and societies have held him in great love and veneration. When Muslims say or write the name of the Prophet, they follow it with the Arabic phrase ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam (May Allāh honour him and grant him peace / peace be upon him). Stories of his life, his high morals, his magnanimous treatment of enemies, and Miracles are part of the common folklore of all Muslim homes. In every language used by Muslims, there is a special genre of poetry in praise (Madīḥ) of the Prophet. Among Arabic odes to the Prophet is the famous Qaṣīdah al-Burdah (“Poem of the Mantle”) by the Algerian Berber ṣūfī poet Muḥammad ibn Sa‘īd Al-Būṣīrī (d. 1294). The Prophet’s birthday (‘Īd Mīlād al-Nabī) is celebrated as a major festival throughout the Muslim World and beyond. Muslims are highly sensitive to any abuse or disrespect shown to the Prophet.

The whole purpose of the Prophet’s message and mission was to enlighten Mankind that we have been created by Allāh to test us to see who recognises Allāh through His umpteen signs in this world and obeys Him unseen; that this life is temporary and the eternal life will begin after the Day of Resurrection/Judgement when people’s deeds and misdeeds will be minutely judged and their eternal abodes, Paradise or Hell, will be decided by Allāh in the light of each one’s record in this world, without least injustice to anyone.

Allāh asked people through His Messengers to spend their lives in this world according to His commands. Allāh made His commands clear from time to time through His Messengers. Prophets came to warn people that if they spent their lives according to the wish of Allāh they would receive the greatest of rewards in the eternal life to come, but if they failed, they would be subjected to eternal punishment and ignominy in the life to come. A person who believes in the Message of Prophet Muḥammad is called “Muslim,” i.e., one who submits to the will of Allāh. Prophet Ibrāhīm was the first to call believers “Muslim” (22:78).

To be a “Muslim,” one has to attest to the oneness of God, believe in all His Messengers including Muḥammad as the last Prophet, and spend one’s life in obedience to the commands of Allāh as revealed by Him in the Qur’ān and taught and explained by Prophet Muḥammad.

To enter Islām, one has to simply recite Shahādah (Witness) saying: Ash-hadu an-lā ilāha illal-Lāhu wa ash-hadu anna Muḥammadan ‘abduhū wa rasūluhū (I testify that there is no god but Allāh and that Muḥammad is His Servant and His Messenger). This Shahādah is the basic creed of Islām. It is repeated again and again in various rites especially in the call (adhān) to the five-times-a-day obligatory prayers as well as in the regular prayers themselves. Shahādah is the first of Islām’s Five Pillars. Every Muslim must follow these Five Pillars, viz., 1. Profession of Faith (Shahādah); 2. Prayer (Ṣalāt) facing Makkah at five appointed times a day: at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark; 3. Charity (Zakāt): Payment of the poor-due on annual savings and agricultural and horticultural produce; 4. Fasting (Ṣawm) every year during the month of Ramaḍān from dawn to dusk; 5. Pilgrimage (Ḥaj) to Makkah during the pilgrimage season once in a lifetime is obligatory for every Muslim whose health and finances permit it.

Having accomplished his mission and after establishing a firm base for Islām, and uniting the warring tribes and clans of Arabia into a single community, the Prophet died, at the age of 63, on 12 Rabī‘ al-Awwal 11 AH (Monday, 8 June 632 CE), following a short illness. He probably died from the effects of the poisoned food served to him by a Jewish woman at Khaybar. Although he had stopped eating that food as soon as he realised that it was not normal, he continued to suffer from its effects till the end. He died in the house of Mother of the Faithful Sayyidah ‘Ā’isha which was adjacent to the Prophet’s Mosque and he was buried at the same spot where he died. Later, the grave was enclosed into the Mosque when it was expanded and rebuilt by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walīd I during 88-91 AH (707-710 CE). The Green Dome above the tomb was built by the Egyptian Mamlūk Sulṭān Al-Manṣūr Qalāwūn in the 13th century. Since then the Mosque has been expanded many times by successive rulers, especially by the Ottoman sultans and the Saudi kings.

Muḥammad was the Last Prophet of Allāh to all humanity for all time to come. Unlike previous prophets, who were sent to their respective communities or to particular geographical areas, Prophet Muḥammad was sent to the whole world. He is described in the Qur’ān as a “Mercy to the Worlds” (21:107) and a Message to the worlds (6:90, 12:104, 21:107, 25:1, 38:87, 68:52, 81:27). The Prophet said, “I am sent to the black and the red” (Ibn Kathīr 2/681). There will be no prophet after him. His Message is valid to all Mankind till Doomsday. To ensure this, Allāh has promised to safeguard the Book that He revealed to the Prophet (15:9). To this day, the Qur’ān is preserved in its original form and in the same language it was revealed in.

After the Prophet’s death, Muslims elected Abū Bakr (d. 13 AH/634 CE) as his Khalīfah (successor). Some Arab tribes revolted and refused to pay Zakāt. Abū Bakr fought against them and was able to nip the rebellion in the bud.

The Prophet’s followers held sway in the old world and safeguarded world peace for the next millennium. They still dominate large parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. There are 58 countries in the world today which describe themselves as “Islāmic.” Every fourth inhabitant of the world today is a Muslim.

See also the Introduction.