Who Is the Prophet Mohammad?

Muslims believe that Mohammad is the last of many messengers that God has sent to humanity. He was born in Mecca in the year 570. His father died before his birth, and his mother shortly afterwards. Mohammad was raised by his uncle under the aegis of the respected tribe of the Quraysh. As he grew up, he became known for his unfailing truthfulness, generosity, and sincerity. Starting from an early age, he was sought after for his ability to arbitrate disputes.

Mohammad was deeply contemplative, and had long disapproved of the idol worship in his society. Consequently, it became his habit to meditate from time to time in the Cave of Hira near the summit of Jabal -al-Nur, the "Mountain of Light" near Mecca.

At the age of 40, Mohammad received his first revelation from God through the Angel Gabriel during a meditative retreat at the Cave of Hira. These revelations, which continued for twenty-three years, were compiled and written throughout Mohammad's lifetime. These same revelations are what we call the Qur'an today. As soon as he began to preach the message that God had revealed to him, Mohammad and his small group of followers suffered bitter persecution from the Quraysh, who resented Mohammad's repeated urgings to stop their idol worship. The persecution grew so fierce that in the year 622 Allah gave Mohammad and his followers the command to emigrate to the city of Medina some 260 miles to the north. This event, the Hijra or "migration", marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar.

After several years of successfully defending his followers in Medina from attacks launched by the Quraysh, the Prophet and his followers returned to Mecca. They immediately forgave their enemies and established Islam definitively. Before the Prophet died at the age of 63, the greater part of Arabia was Muslim, and within a century of his death Islam had spread to Spain in the West and as far east as China.