What Are Some Facts About the Prophet Muhammad?

Learning about the Prophet Muhammad will acquaint you with some of the central tenets of Islam.

• Muhammad was the founder of Islam.
• He was believed to have been an agent of divine intervention.
• Muhammad was born in 570.
• He was born in Mecca and lived there for the first 52 years of his life.
• He belonged to a fairly prominent family.
• His father's name was Abdullah.
• His father passed away before he was born.
• His mother, Amina, also passed early on.
• Therefore, he was primarily raised by his paternal grandfather. Later, his uncle adopted him.

• He worked as a camel driver between Syria and Arabia when he was in his youth.

• He later became a merchant.  He was known to be a faithful and honest merchant.

• In 595, he married a woman named Khadijah. His wife was 15 years older than he was.
• They were married for 24 years when she passed away.
• Even though polygamy was common during his lifetime, he only had one wife. However, late in his life after his wife died, he is recorded as practicing polygamy.
• He visited a cave in Mount Hira for peace and prayer quite frequently during his life.
• The first revelation to Muhammad occurred on Mount Hira. The angel Gabriel appeared to him there and told him to memorize a verse.
• The story says that the angel told Muhammad that he was a chosen messenger of God.
• He was 40 years old when he was visited by the angel.

• Muhammad had his encounter with the angel during the month of Ramadan.

• Within the first three years of his teachings, he had only 40 followers. Yet he continued to surge forth with his works in the hopes of obtaining more.
• People who opposed his movement were often quite violent to him and his followers.
• He had several components to his religion which included punishments for those who did not believe, monotheism, the resurrection of the dead, frequent praying, and final judgment.
• His wife, sons, and cousins were his first followers.

• Muhammad met Christians, Jews, and pagans during his travels.

• Some Meccan tribes did not agree with him and they persecuted him and his followers for their beliefs.
• When he and his followers migrated to Medina which is now known as Hijra. Muhammad established the Constitution of Medina.
• Muhammad reported receiving signs from God until his death.
• Many of his children died before he did.
• In 632, Muhammad died from illness.
• At the time of his death, a great deal of the Arabian Peninsula had been heavily influenced by Islam.
• His name means "highly praised."

• Within 100 years of Muhammad's death, Islam had spread to the Atlantic and to China.
• He is regarded as the last prophet.
• The Qur'an is the main source of knowledge about the life of Muhammad.
• A couple of other religions have views of Muhammad as a prophet or as one who spoke great truths during his life.

Studying this prophet helps to give us an understanding of the Islamic religion and beliefs.