Who is he ﷺ?

The seal of the prophets ﷺ

Muhammad ﷺ is the messenger of God, and the last. He did not found a new religion: he presents himself as the last brick of a house that the prophets built before him. “I am that brick, and I am the seal of the prophets” (Bukhari 3535). The Qur’an says so:

Every prophet, he ﷺ said, was sent to his own people alone, and he to all mankind (Bukhari 335). The Qur’an says so too:

A man, not a god

He ﷺ never claimed more than the rank of a servant. “Do not exalt me as the Christians exalted the son of Mary. I am only His servant: so say, the servant of God and His Messenger” (Bukhari 3445). The Qur’an has him say:

He lived as a man and he died as a man. On the day of his death, Abu Bakr said to the believers: “Whoever worshipped Muhammad ﷺ, Muhammad ﷺ is dead; whoever worships God, God is living and does not die” (Bukhari 3668).

His names ﷺ

“Muhammad” means the one who is praised again and again, and “Ahmad” the one who receives the highest praise: this is the explanation of Ibn al-Qayyim, quoted by al-Salihi (al-Salihi, I, 416-417). The Prophet ﷺ said:

“I have five names: I am Muhammad, and Ahmad; I am al-Mahi, through whom God erases disbelief; I am al-Hashir, in whose footsteps people will be gathered; and I am al-Aqib” (Bukhari 3532).

Al-Aqib, the account in Muslim specifies, is the one after whom there is no prophet (Muslim 2354). He ﷺ also called himself “the prophet of repentance and the prophet of mercy” (Muslim 2355). He was known as Abu al-Qasim, father of al-Qasim, after his son (Bukhari 3539).

The sign ﷺ that follows his name is read salla Llahu alayhi wa sallam: “may God send blessings upon him and greet him with peace”. This is what the Qur’an asks of the believers:

His life ﷺ, in a few lines

He ﷺ is born in Mecca, on a Monday, in the Year of the Elephant, around 571, in the clan of Hashim, of the tribe of Quraysh, descended from Ishmael son of Abraham. He never knew his father (Lineage, The birth). His mother dies when he is six, his grandfather when he is eight; his uncle Abu Talib takes him in (Childhood).

He ﷺ tends sheep, then goes into trade. His people call him al-Amin, the trustworthy. At twenty-five, he marries Khadija, who bears him all his children but one (Khadija and Hira).

At forty, around 610, in the cave of Hira, he ﷺ receives the first verses of the Qur’an. Khadija is the first to believe (The revelation). He preaches in Mecca for thirteen years, against an opposition that goes as far as boycotting his clan (Mecca).

In 622, he ﷺ emigrates to Medina: this is the Hijra, the start of the Muslim calendar (The Hijra). There he founds the community of Muslims, stands firm against the attacks of Quraysh, and enters Mecca in 630 (Medina, From Badr to Tabuk). In 632, after the Farewell Pilgrimage, he dies in Medina, at sixty-three (Bukhari 3536; His death).

What those who knew him ﷺ said of him

His wife, on the first day. When he ﷺ comes back from Hira, trembling, Khadija tells him: “No, by God, God will never disgrace you: you keep the ties of kinship, you bear the burden of the weak, you give to the one who has nothing, you honour the guest, and you help those struck by the trials of what is right” (Bukhari 3).

His adversary, before an emperor. When Heraclius questions Abu Sufyan, then still an enemy of the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Sufyan admits that he had never been accused of lying and that he does not betray. He would have lied about him, he says, but for the shame of being called a liar by his own people (Bukhari 7).

A Jewish scholar, at first sight. Abd Allah ibn Salam goes to see him ﷺ on his arrival in Medina: “When I saw his face clearly, I knew that it was not the face of a liar” (Tirmidhi 2485, graded authentic by al-Tirmidhi and al-Albani).

His servant, after ten years. “I served the Prophet ﷺ for ten years. He never said ‘uff’ to me, nor ‘why did you do that?’, nor ‘why did you not do that?’” (Anas, Bukhari 6038).

His Lord.

What he ﷺ taught

Abu Sufyan sums it up for Heraclius, as an adversary: “He says: worship God alone, associate nothing with Him, leave what your fathers say. And he commands us to prayer, truthfulness, chastity and keeping the ties of kinship” (Bukhari 7).

His first words ﷺ in Medina, according to Abd Allah ibn Salam, were these: “O people, spread the greeting of peace, give food, pray while people sleep: you will enter Paradise in peace” (Tirmidhi 2485). The Qur’an states the meaning of his mission:

What he ﷺ left

At his death, he ﷺ leaves “neither dirham, nor dinar, nor slave, man or woman, nor anything else”, except his white mule, his weapons and a piece of land he has made a charity (Bukhari 2739). He leaves the Qur’an, and Companions who have passed on what these pages tell.

Where to continue

• His life, from birth to death, step by step.
• His person: his portrait ﷺ, his character, his days, his worship.
• His predictions: what he foretold and what came to pass.
• Foretold by the Scriptures: what the Bible and the Qur’an say of his coming.
• Objections answered: what is raised against him, and what can be answered.

Sources for this page

• Qur’an: Tanzil text (Uthmani); translation of the meaning by this site.
• Hadiths: Bukhari 3, 7, 335, 2739, 3445, 3532, 3535, 3536, 3539, 3668, 6038; Muslim 2354, 2355; Tirmidhi 2485.
• Al-Salihi al-Shami, Subul al-huda wa-l-rashad, I, 416-417.
• The facts of his life are sourced in the pages of His life.