Who was Muhammad?

Picture Makkah around the year 570, a trading town in western Arabia. Muhammad ﷺ was born there.

He grew up an orphan. His father died before he was born. His mother, when he was about six. His grandfather raised him, then his uncle Abu Talib.

He worked as a shepherd, then as a trader. He became known as al-Amin, the trustworthy.

At about twenty-five he married Khadijah, a respected businesswoman who had employed him. She was his only wife for the twenty-five years of their marriage, until her death.

Before he was a prophet, Muhammad was known for being honest.

Muhammad, the trader known as al-Amin, had a habit. He often withdrew to a cave on Mount Hira to reflect.

Around 610, when he was about forty, Muslims believe the angel Jibril (Gabriel) came to him there. He brought the first words of the Qur'an, beginning "Read, in the name of your Lord."

He went home to Khadijah, shaken. She reassured him. She became the first person to believe in his message. Revelations continued for the rest of his life.

The first word of the Qur'an was a command to read.

What was the message? Muhammad called people to worship one God, to care for the poor and to reject the idols kept at the Ka'bah.

Makkah's leaders saw this as a threat: to their religion, and to the pilgrim trade.

So the early Muslims were mocked, boycotted and in some cases tortured. Around 615 a group fled to Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia), where its Christian king gave them protection.

Islam began in Makkah as a persecuted minority.

Then a door opened. In 622 Muhammad and his followers emigrated to Yathrib, later called Madinah, at the invitation of its people.

This migration, the Hijrah, marks the start of the Islamic calendar.

In Madinah he became the leader of a mixed community that included Jewish tribes. He also fought several battles against the Makkans.

In 630 he returned to Makkah with a large following. The city surrendered with very little fighting. He declared a general amnesty for his old enemies, with a handful of named exceptions.

Muhammad forgave the city that had driven him out.

Muhammad died in Madinah in 632, aged about sixty-three.

So how do Muslims see him? They love and honour him, and say "peace and blessings be upon him" after his name. But they do not worship him. The Qur'an has him say, "I am only a man like you."

What they follow is his example. His sayings and actions, recorded in the hadith, form the Sunnah: the model Muslims try to follow in worship, family life and character.

Muslims follow his example; they worship only God.