Lineage and childhood
Makkah lay in a dry valley on the trade routes of Arabia. At its heart stood the Kaaba, which, according to the Quran, Abraham and his son Ismail had raised as a house for the worship of the One God 2:127. Over the centuries, however, idols had been set up in and around it. The Arabs were proud of their poetry, their hospitality and their tribal loyalty – and at the same time knew blood feuds, the burial of newborn girls 81:8–9 and great injustice towards the weak.
Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ﷺ came from the clan of Banu Hashim, a branch of the Quraysh tribe of Makkah. Through his ancestry his line goes back to the Prophet Ismail, son of Ibrahim, peace be upon them both. He was born around the year 570, in what the Arabs called "the Year of the Elephant", because an army with elephants marched against the Kaaba and failed. Surah al-Fil (105) recalls that event. He was born on a Monday; asked about fasting on Mondays, he said: "That is the day on which I was born and the day on which revelation was sent down to me" (Muslim). The exact date is not certain: Sunni tradition most often gives 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, Shia tradition 17 Rabi' al-Awwal.
His childhood was marked by loss. His father Abdullah died before he was born, and his mother Aminah when he was about six. First his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib took him in, and after his death his uncle Abu Talib, who protected him for the rest of his life. As was customary among noble Makkan families, he spent his early years with a wet nurse in the desert, Halimah as-Sa'diyyah. The Quran later addresses him tenderly about this: "Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter?" 93:6.
Al-Amin – the trustworthy one
As a young man Muhammad ﷺ tended sheep and later worked as a merchant. Even before his prophethood the people of Makkah called him al-Amin, "the trustworthy one". They left their valuables in his care and listened to his judgement.
In his youth he took part in the Hilf al-Fudul, a pact in which Makkan clans pledged to stand by anyone wronged in the city, whether local or stranger. Years later, as a prophet, he said, according to the Sirah, that if he were invited to such a pact in Islam he would accept. A well-known report also tells how, at about the age of 35, when the Kaaba was being rebuilt, he settled a dispute between the clans: he placed the Black Stone on a cloth and let every clan hold a corner and lift it together, so that no one lost face.
Marriage to Khadijah and their children
His honesty in trade also impressed Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, a respected businesswoman. She proposed marriage, and he married her at about 25. It was a marriage of love and mutual respect. According to most historians they had six children: two sons, al-Qasim – after whom the Prophet ﷺ was called Abu al-Qasim – and Abdullah, who both died in childhood, and four daughters: Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah. He also took into his home his young cousin Ali, son of Abu Talib, and Zayd ibn Harithah, whom he freed and raised like a son.
Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, was the first person to believe in his message, and he remembered her with deep gratitude for the rest of his life.
The first revelation
As the years passed, Muhammad ﷺ liked to withdraw for reflection to the cave of Hira on a mountain near Makkah. There, around the year 610, at about the age of 40, the angel Jibril (Gabriel) came to him with the first verses of the Quran: "Read in the name of your Lord who created" 96:1–5. He returned home trembling. Khadijah comforted him with words recorded by al-Bukhari: Allah would never disgrace him, for he kept the ties of kinship, carried the burdens of the weak, helped the needy, honoured guests and stood by people in times of hardship.
She then took him to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, an elderly man who had become a Christian and knew the earlier scriptures. Waraqah said that this was the same angel Allah had sent to Moses, and added: "If only I were alive when your people drive you out!" The Prophet ﷺ asked: "Will they drive me out?" Waraqah answered that no one had ever come with something like this without meeting hostility (al-Bukhari 3). After a pause in revelation, the angel came again and the words were revealed: "O you who are wrapped in your cloak, arise and warn" 74:1–2.
Over 23 years the Quran was revealed to him piece by piece, often in response to real situations. When you listen verse by verse on our platform, you are following that very path of revelation. More in our chapter on the Quran.
The call in Makkah
For about three years the Prophet ﷺ called people quietly to faith in the One God. Among the first Muslims were Khadijah, his young cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, his friend Abu Bakr and his freed foster son Zayd ibn Harithah, may Allah be pleased with them. Then came the command: "And warn your nearest kin" 26:214. He climbed the hill of Safa and called the clans of Quraysh together: "If I told you that horsemen were in the valley, about to attack you, would you believe me?" They said: "Yes, we have only ever known you to speak the truth." He said: "Then I am a warner to you before a severe punishment" (al-Bukhari and Muslim). His uncle Abu Lahab rejected him harshly, and Surah al-Masad (111) was revealed about him.
Many of the powerful in Makkah rejected the message because it threatened their idols and their standing. The Muslims were mocked and boycotted, and some were severely mistreated. The weakest suffered most. According to the Sirah, Bilal, an Abyssinian slave, was laid on the burning sand with a heavy stone on his chest and only repeated "One, One" (ahad, ahad), until Abu Bakr bought his freedom. Sumayyah, the mother of Ammar ibn Yasir, was killed for her faith and is remembered as the first martyr of Islam.
Around the fifth year of prophethood, the Prophet ﷺ advised a group of Muslims to seek refuge with the Negus (an-Najashi), the just Christian king of Abyssinia. When Makkan envoys demanded their return, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib described before the king what Islam had brought: truthfulness, keeping trusts, honouring the ties of kinship, kindness to neighbours, and an end to idol worship and injustice. Then he recited the opening of Surah Maryam; the king wept and refused to hand them over (Musnad Ahmad, from Umm Salamah).
Later the Quraysh boycotted the Prophet's clan, Banu Hashim, together with Banu al-Muttalib: no trade and no marriage. For about three years, according to the Sirah, they lived in great hardship in the valley of Abu Talib, until the boycott collapsed.
The Year of Sorrow and Ta'if
Around the tenth year of prophethood, Khadijah and Abu Talib died one after the other. This time is known as the Year of Sorrow. When the Prophet ﷺ then went to the town of Ta'if to seek support, he was driven out with stones.
Aishah later asked him whether he had ever lived through a day harder than the Battle of Uhud. He named the day of Ta'if, and told how the angel of the mountains was sent to him and offered to crush the town between the two mountains. He answered: "No – rather I hope that Allah will bring forth from their descendants people who worship Allah alone, associating nothing with Him" (al-Bukhari and Muslim). On the way back, the Sirah relates, a Christian servant named Addas brought him grapes; when the Prophet ﷺ began with Bismillah and spoke of the prophet Yunus of Nineveh, Addas's hometown, Addas kissed his hands.
The Night Journey and Ascension
In this difficult period Allah honoured His Messenger with a special sign: al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj. In a single night he was taken from the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to the Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem 17:1, where he met the earlier prophets and led them in prayer (Muslim), and from there he was raised through the heavens, as far as the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary 53:13–18. In that night the prayers were prescribed for the Muslims: at first fifty, and on the advice of Moses the Prophet ﷺ asked for relief until five remained – with the reward of fifty (al-Bukhari and Muslim). It is a gift that carries every day of our lives to this day.
Most scholars hold that the journey was made in body and soul. Reports differ on its exact date; it is usually placed in the last years before the Hijra. You can read more on our prayer page.
The pledges of al-Aqabah and the Hijra
During the pilgrimage season, the Prophet ﷺ met people from Yathrib, a town to the north whose Arab tribes, al-Aws and al-Khazraj, were exhausted by long feuds. In 621 a group of twelve of them pledged at al-Aqabah, near Mina, to worship Allah alone and to live righteously; the Prophet ﷺ sent Mus'ab ibn Umayr back with them as a teacher. A year later, more than seventy men and two women pledged to protect him as they would protect their own families.
The Muslims of Makkah then emigrated quietly to Yathrib, family by family. The Quraysh plotted to kill the Prophet ﷺ 8:30. On the night he left, Ali ibn Abi Talib lay in his bed to mislead the watchers and stayed behind to return the valuables that people had entrusted to the Prophet ﷺ – including people who opposed him. The Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr hid for three nights in the cave of Thawr. Asma bint Abi Bakr prepared their provisions and tied them with her waistband, which she tore in two – which is why she is called "she of the two belts" (al-Bukhari). When the pursuers stood at the cave, the Prophet ﷺ said to his companion: "Do not grieve, Allah is with us" 9:40. They had hired a guide who was not Muslim, trusting his skill and honesty (al-Bukhari). On the way, Suraqah ibn Malik chased them for the bounty, but his horse's legs sank into the sand and he asked for safety (al-Bukhari).
In 622 the Prophet ﷺ reached Quba on the edge of Yathrib and founded the first mosque there. From then on Yathrib was called Madinat an-Nabi, "the City of the Prophet", or simply Madinah. Under the caliph Umar the year of the Hijra was made the starting point of the Islamic calendar.
Building a community
In Madinah the Prophet ﷺ bought the land for his mosque from two orphan boys (al-Bukhari) and worked with his own hands on building it; it became the Prophet's Mosque. It was a place of prayer, a school, a meeting hall and a shelter for the poor all at once, and Bilal called the adhan there. The Prophet ﷺ then joined the emigrants from Makkah (the Muhajirun) and the helpers of Madinah (the Ansar) in a bond of brotherhood: families in Madinah took in brothers and sisters from Makkah and shared what they had. The Quran praises the Ansar for preferring others over themselves, even when they were in need 59:9.
With the Charter of Madinah he set out how the different groups of the city, including its Jewish tribes, would live together: mutual rights and duties, protection and shared responsibility for defending the city. The text preserved in the Sirah describes the Jews as a community alongside the believers – "to the Jews their religion and to the Muslims theirs". For us in the Emirates, where people from all over the world live together in peace, this model of ordered and respectful coexistence is especially moving.
About sixteen or seventeen months after the Hijra, the direction of prayer was turned from Jerusalem to the Kaaba in Makkah 2:144; al-Bukhari, and in the second year fasting in Ramadan was prescribed.
Years of trial and treaty
In Madinah came the permission to defend themselves: "Permission has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged" 22:39 – with clear limits: "Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress" 2:190. The Prophet ﷺ forbade the killing of women and children (al-Bukhari and Muslim).
- Badr (2 AH, 624): In Ramadan, a small force of just over three hundred Muslims (al-Bukhari) met a much larger Makkan army at the wells of Badr and prevailed. "Allah had already given you victory at Badr when you were weak" 3:123.
- Uhud (3 AH, 625): At the mountain north of Madinah, archers left their posts and the Muslims suffered heavy losses. Hamzah, the Prophet's ﷺ uncle, was killed, and the Prophet ﷺ himself was wounded. The Quran's words about his gentleness 3:159 belong to this context.
- The Trench (5 AH, 627): When a large coalition marched on Madinah, the Muslims – at the suggestion of Salman al-Farisi, according to the Sirah – dug a trench; the Prophet ﷺ carried earth alongside them (al-Bukhari). After weeks of siege, the coalition withdrew.
- Hudaybiyyah (6 AH, 628): The Prophet ﷺ set out with his Companions for the lesser pilgrimage but was stopped outside Makkah. He agreed to a truce whose terms seemed hard to many Companions. Yet the Quran called it "a clear victory" 48:1, and in the peace that followed many people embraced Islam.
In these years the Prophet ﷺ also sent letters inviting rulers to Islam, among them the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (al-Bukhari), the Persian king and the Negus. Relations with some of the Jewish tribes of Madinah broke down into conflict in these years; the Muslim sources describe this as the result of broken treaties, and historians discuss these events in detail.
Return to Makkah – with forgiveness
In the year 8 AH (630), after allies of the Quraysh had attacked a tribe allied with the Muslims and so broken the truce, the Prophet ﷺ marched on Makkah with a large army. He had it announced: "Whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan is safe, whoever lays down his weapons is safe, and whoever locks his door is safe" (Muslim). The city that had driven him out was entered almost without bloodshed. According to the Sirah, he rode in with his head bowed in humility. He cleansed the Kaaba of idols, reciting: "Truth has come, and falsehood has vanished" 17:81; al-Bukhari and Muslim, and Bilal called the adhan from the roof of the Kaaba.
And to the people who had persecuted him for years he spoke, according to the biographies, words of forgiveness like those of Yusuf to his brothers: "No blame upon you today" compare 12:92. Most of the people of Makkah then embraced Islam. Surah an-Nasr, one of the last surahs to be revealed, speaks of this time: "When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest, and you see the people entering the religion of Allah in multitudes, then glorify the praises of your Lord and ask His forgiveness" 110:1–3. Ibn Abbas understood it as a sign that the Prophet's ﷺ mission was nearing its completion (al-Bukhari).
The Farewell Pilgrimage
In the year 10 AH the Prophet ﷺ performed his only Hajj, accompanied by a great number of Companions. In his farewell sermon at Arafah he reminded people that their lives, property and honour are sacred (al-Bukhari, Muslim). He urged men to treat their wives well (Muslim) and stressed that no Arab is superior to a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab to an Arab, except by God-consciousness (Musnad Ahmad). On that day the verse was revealed: "This day I have perfected your religion for you" 5:3.
On the way back to Madinah, at a pond called Ghadir Khumm, the Prophet ﷺ addressed the people. According to Sahih Muslim he said: "I am leaving among you two weighty things: the first is the Book of Allah, in which there is guidance and light … and the people of my household. I remind you of Allah regarding the people of my household." In another widely transmitted report (at-Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad) he said of Ali: "Whoever I am his mawla, Ali is his mawla." Shia Muslims understand this as Ali's designation as leader of the community after the Prophet ﷺ; Sunni Muslims understand it as a call to love Ali and stand by him.
His passing in Madinah
A few months later the Prophet ﷺ fell ill with fever and headache. He asked to be nursed in the room of his wife Aishah, and when he could no longer lead the prayer, he appointed Abu Bakr to lead it (al-Bukhari and Muslim). Among his last words was the prayer: "O Allah, the highest companionship" (al-Bukhari). He passed away in the year 11 AH (632) in Madinah, at about 63, and was buried in that room, where the Prophet's Mosque stands today. The date is given differently: Sunni tradition most often names 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, Shia tradition 28 Safar.
The Companions were shaken. Abu Bakr spoke the famous words: whoever worshipped Muhammad, Muhammad has died; but whoever worships Allah, Allah is Ever-Living and does not die. Then he recited 3:144 (al-Bukhari).
The question of who should lead the community after him is where Sunni and Shia understanding part ways: Sunni Muslims recognise Abu Bakr, chosen by the Companions, as the first caliph; Shia Muslims hold that the Prophet ﷺ had designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor. You can read more about this, explained fairly and calmly, in our chapter on Sunni and Shia.
The Seal of the Prophets
Muslims believe that Muhammad ﷺ is the last of the prophets: "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets" 33:40. His message is for all people: "And We have not sent you except to all of mankind, as a bringer of good tidings and a warner" 34:28. He described himself with an image: the prophets before him were like a beautiful house with a single brick missing; "I am that brick, and I am the seal of the prophets" (al-Bukhari and Muslim). He did not bring a new religion but completed the one message of all the prophets. Our chapter on the prophets tells their stories.
His character
Allah describes His Messenger: "We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds" 21:107, and "Indeed, you are of a great moral character" 68:4. And: "There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; he is deeply concerned for you, and to the believers he is kind and merciful" 9:128. When Aishah was asked about his character, she said: "His character was the Quran" (Muslim). And the Quran says: "In the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example" 33:21.
Anas ibn Malik served him for ten years and said: he never once said "uff" to me, and never "Why did you do that?" (al-Bukhari and Muslim). Aishah reported that whenever he had a choice between two things, he chose the easier one as long as it was not a sin, and that he never took revenge for himself (al-Bukhari and Muslim). He never struck a woman or a servant with his hand (Muslim). He mended his clothes, repaired his sandals and milked his goat (Musnad Ahmad), and he slept on a mat that left marks on his side (al-Bukhari and Muslim). One of his Companions said he had never seen anyone smile more than him (at-Tirmidhi). He liked to joke, yet he said: "I say nothing but the truth" (at-Tirmidhi).
The Quran explains why hearts opened to him: "Had you been harsh and hard-hearted, they would have dispersed from around you" 3:159.
Mercy in everyday life
With children
He kissed his grandson Hasan. When a man was surprised, he said: "Whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy" (al-Bukhari, Muslim). He said: "I begin the prayer intending to make it long; then I hear a child crying and shorten my prayer, because I know how distressed its mother is" (al-Bukhari, Muslim). He even prayed carrying his granddaughter Umamah (al-Bukhari, Muslim). And to a little boy whose pet bird had died he said, comforting him: "O Abu Umayr, what happened to the little bird?" (al-Bukhari, Muslim).
With his family
He helped in the house and was at the service of his family until the time of prayer came (al-Bukhari). He said: "The best of you are those who are best to their families, and I am the best of you to my family" (at-Tirmidhi). He raced with Aishah (Abu Dawud) and urged: "Treat women well" (al-Bukhari, Muslim).
With neighbours
Jibril kept urging me to treat the neighbour well until I thought he would make him an heir
And he said three times: "By Allah, he does not believe!" He was asked: "Who, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "The one whose neighbour is not safe from his harm" (al-Bukhari).
With animals
He told of a man whom Allah forgave because he gave water to a thirsty dog, and warned against cruelty to a cat (al-Bukhari, Muslim). When someone had taken a bird's chicks and the mother was fluttering in distress, he said: "Who has grieved this bird by taking her young? Give them back to her" (Abu Dawud). He admonished the owner of a camel that wept from hunger and overwork to fear Allah (Abu Dawud). And he taught that whoever slaughters should sharpen the blade and spare the animal suffering (Muslim).
With the poor, orphans and servants
"I and the one who cares for an orphan will be in Paradise like this," he said, holding his index and middle fingers together (al-Bukhari). Of servants he said: "They are your brothers … so let him feed them from what he eats and clothe them from what he wears" (al-Bukhari, Muslim).
With people of other faiths
When a funeral procession passed, he stood up. He was told it was a Jew. He replied: "Is it not a soul?" (al-Bukhari, Muslim). He visited a Jewish boy who had served him when the boy fell ill (al-Bukhari). And according to the Sirah, a Christian delegation from Najran was allowed to perform its prayer in his mosque.
His family
After Khadijah's death the Prophet ﷺ married several women, most of them widowed or divorced, among them Sawdah, Aishah, Hafsah, Umm Salamah, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Juwayriyah, Umm Habibah, Safiyyah and Maymunah. Scholars point out that several of these marriages built bonds between tribes or gave protection to the widows of fallen Companions. The Quran calls them "mothers of the believers" 33:6. Aishah became one of the great teachers of the community; a very large number of hadith go back to her.
From Mariyah, an Egyptian woman in his household, he had a son, Ibrahim, who died as a small child. The Prophet ﷺ wept and said: "The eye sheds tears and the heart grieves, but we say only what pleases our Lord" (al-Bukhari). On that day there was a solar eclipse, and when people linked it to Ibrahim's death, he corrected them: "The sun and the moon do not eclipse for the death or the life of anyone" (al-Bukhari, Muslim).
All his children except Fatimah died during his lifetime. Fatimah married Ali ibn Abi Talib, and through their sons Hasan and Husayn the Prophet's ﷺ descendants live on to this day. He said: "Fatimah is a part of me; whoever angers her angers me" (al-Bukhari). She passed away a few months after him.
All Muslims honour the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of the Prophet ﷺ. The Quran says: "Allah only intends to remove impurity from you, O people of the household, and to purify you thoroughly" 33:33. Aishah reported that the Prophet ﷺ once gathered Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn under his cloak and recited this verse (Muslim). Sunni scholars usually count his wives as part of the household too, since the surrounding verses address them; Shia Muslims understand the Ahl al-Bayt as the five under the cloak and the Imams descended from them. Love for the Prophet's family is part of the faith of every Muslim.
His Companions
The Sahabah are those who met the Prophet ﷺ as believers and died as Muslims. They stood by him, preserved the Quran and passed on his Sunnah – among them Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, Bilal, Salman al-Farisi, Abu Dharr and Ammar ibn Yasir, and many women such as Khadijah, Aishah, Umm Salamah and Asma. Allah says of the first of the Muhajirun and the Ansar: "Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him" 9:100. Sunni Muslims regard all the Companions as trustworthy in what they transmitted; Shia Muslims deeply honour many Companions while assessing them individually. You can get to know many of them in our chapter on the Companions.
The Sunnah and hadith
The Sunnah is the way of the Prophet ﷺ: his words, his actions and what he silently approved. It explains the Quran and shows how to live it: how to pray, fast, trade and treat people. A single transmitted report is called a hadith.
The Companions memorised his words, some also wrote them down, and passed them on to the next generation. Every hadith has two parts: the chain of narrators (isnad) and the text (matn). Over generations, scholars examined carefully whether each narrator was reliable and whether the chain was unbroken. A whole science grew out of this work.
The best-known collections are:
- Sahih al-Bukhari by Imam Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari
- Sahih Muslim by Imam Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj
- and the Sunan works of Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah, as well as the Muwatta' of Imam Malik and the Musnad of Imam Ahmad
In Sunni scholarship the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim are regarded as the most reliable books after the Quran. Shia scholars rely on their own collections, above all the "Four Books" – al-Kafi, Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih, Tahdhib al-Ahkam and al-Istibsar – which transmit the Sunnah largely through the Imams of the Prophet's family.
Sending blessings upon him
A beautiful expression of love for the Prophet ﷺ is salawat, sending blessings upon him. Allah says: "Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him and greet him with a worthy greeting of peace" 33:56. And the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever sends one blessing upon me, Allah sends ten blessings upon him" (Muslim). That is why Muslims say "sallallahu alayhi wa sallam" – "may Allah bless him and grant him peace" – after his name, written as ﷺ. Many scholars recommend writing or saying the phrase in full rather than only abbreviating it.
When the Companions asked how they should send blessings upon him, he taught them the words Muslims still say in every prayer: "O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim; You are indeed Praiseworthy, Glorious" (al-Bukhari and Muslim). In the Shia tradition especially, and among many Sunnis too, people take care always to include his family, as he himself taught. He said: "The miser is the one in whose presence I am mentioned and who does not send blessings upon me" (at-Tirmidhi), and he encouraged sending many blessings upon him on Fridays (Abu Dawud).
Love of the Prophet ﷺ
The Prophet ﷺ said: "None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his father, his child and all people" (al-Bukhari, Muslim). This love is shown not only in feelings, but in striving to follow him. The Quran joins the two: "Say: If you love Allah, then follow me, and Allah will love you" 3:31.
A man once asked the Prophet ﷺ when the Hour would come. He asked in return: "And what have you prepared for it?" The man said: "Not much – except that I love Allah and His Messenger." He said: "You will be with those you love" (al-Bukhari and Muslim).
Many Muslims, Sunni and Shia, celebrate his birthday, the Mawlid, with gatherings of recitation, poetry and charity; in the UAE it is a public holiday. Other Muslims prefer not to mark it with special celebrations, because this was not the practice of the first generations. Both agree that love for him shows above all in following him.
Following him today
Following the Prophet ﷺ starts small, in the middle of everyday life:
- Smile and greet: "Your smile in the face of your brother is charity" (at-Tirmidhi). Spread the greeting of peace, "as-salamu alaykum".
- Begin with Bismillah: he taught a child: "Say the name of Allah, eat with your right hand and eat from what is in front of you" (al-Bukhari, Muslim).
- Make things easy: "Make things easy and do not make them difficult, give good news and do not drive people away" (al-Bukhari, Muslim). This is the spirit of the middle way, wasatiyyah.
- Honour your parents and visit your relatives: in the Quran, kindness to parents stands right beside worshipping Allah alone 17:23.
- Be honest: at work, in trade and in your words, like al-Amin.
- Live the Quran: listen to a few verses every day, understand them and act on them. You could start right away with Surah al-Ahzab or Surah al-Isra'.
In this way the Sirah, the life story of the Prophet ﷺ, becomes more than history: it becomes a path you can walk yourself.
Soalan lazim
When and where was the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ born?
Around the year 570 in Makkah, in the so-called "Year of the Elephant". He belonged to the clan of Banu Hashim of the Quraysh tribe.
What does "al-Amin" mean?
"The trustworthy one". The people of Makkah called him this even before his prophethood because of his honesty and reliability.
Why does the Islamic calendar start with the Hijra?
The emigration to Madinah in 622 marked the beginning of the Muslim community. Under the caliph Umar this year was fixed as year 1 of the Hijri calendar.
Did Muhammad ﷺ found a new religion?
Not in the Muslim understanding. He is the last in a long line of prophets, from Adam through Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and completed their one message of the One God. The Quran calls him "the Seal of the Prophets" (33:40).
What is the difference between Sunnah and hadith?
The Sunnah is the whole exemplary way of the Prophet ﷺ. A hadith is a single transmitted report of what he said, did or approved. The hadith are the source through which we know the Sunnah.
Why is ﷺ written after his name?
ﷺ stands for "sallallahu alayhi wa sallam", "may Allah bless him and grant him peace". It follows the command in Surah al-Ahzab (33:56) to send blessings upon the Prophet.
Sumber
- Quran 2:127, 2:144, 2:190, 3:31, 3:123, 3:144, 3:159, 5:3, 8:30, 9:40, 9:100, 9:128, 12:92, 17:1, 17:23, 17:81, 21:107, 22:39, 26:214, 33:6, 33:21, 33:33, 33:40, 33:56, 34:28, 48:1, 53:13–18, 59:9, 68:4, 74:1–2, 81:8–9, 93:6, 96:1–5, 110:1–3, Surah 105, Surah 111
- Sahih al-Bukhari (including no. 3 – the beginning of revelation and Waraqah ibn Nawfal)
- Sahih Muslim
- Sunan Abu Dawud
- Sunan at-Tirmidhi
- Musnad Ahmad (including Umm Salamah's account of the emigration to Abyssinia)
- Ibn Hisham: as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah (based on Ibn Ishaq)
- Safiur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri: ar-Raheeq al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar)
Laman-laman ini memberikan gambaran keseluruhan. Untuk persoalan agama dalam kehidupan harian anda, sila rujuk ulama yang berkelayakan dalam mazhab anda.