His Life, Step by Step

Muhammad ﷺ was born into the Quraysh tribe, in the year Allah protected the Kaaba from Abraha's army. His father Abdullah had passed away before his birth.

His mother Aminah died when he was about six, then his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, and his uncle Abu Talib raised him. He worked as a shepherd and became known among all Makkah as Al-Amin, the trustworthy.

Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, a respected businesswoman, proposed after seeing his honesty in trade. He was about twenty-five. Their marriage was a source of deep support for the mission to come.

In the Cave of Hira, the angel Jibril brought the first words of the Quran: “Iqra” — Read. Khadijah was the first to believe him and comfort him.

After about three years of quietly inviting family and close friends, he ﷺ was commanded to call openly. He climbed Mount Safa and called Quraysh to worship Allah alone.

As persecution grew, the Prophet ﷺ advised a group of Muslims to seek safety in Abyssinia, ruled by a just king, the Negus, who protected them.

Khadijah and Abu Talib passed away within a short time. He then travelled to Ta'if seeking support and was stoned — yet he prayed for them rather than against them.

In one night he ﷺ was taken from Makkah to Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem and then up through the heavens. During it, the five daily prayers were prescribed.

With Abu Bakr, he ﷺ left Makkah, sheltered in the Cave of Thawr, and reached Madinah, where he was welcomed with joy. He built Masjid Quba and then Masjid an-Nabawi, and joined the migrants and helpers as brothers.

About 313 Muslims faced a Makkan army of around a thousand. The Muslims won, an event the Quran calls the Day of Criterion (Yawm al-Furqan).

A hard lesson in obedience and patience: when the archers left their post, the battle turned. Hamza, the Prophet's uncle, was martyred here.

On the advice of Salman al-Farisi, the Muslims dug a great trench around Madinah. The large allied army besieging the city eventually withdrew without breaking through.

Turned back from Makkah while heading for Umrah, the Prophet ﷺ accepted a peace treaty that looked unfavorable. The Quran called it a clear victory, and Islam spread widely in the peace that followed.

He ﷺ entered Makkah almost without fighting and announced a general amnesty to those who had persecuted him for years. The idols were removed from the Kaaba.

At Arafah, before a vast gathering, he ﷺ stated the sanctity of life and property, the rights of women, and that no one is superior to another except by taqwa.

He ﷺ passed away in Madinah at about sixty-three years old and was buried in the room of Aisha, which today lies inside Masjid an-Nabawi. Abu Bakr then became the first caliph.