The Life and Mission of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Muhammad ibn Abdullah (ﷺ) was born in Makkah around 570 CE into the clan of Banu Hashim. Orphaned young, raised by his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib and then his uncle Abu Talib, he earned the title al-Amin — the trustworthy — long before he claimed prophethood.

Before revelation

He worked in trade, married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, and withdrew regularly to the cave of Hira to reflect. Makkah at the time was a shrine city of idols, tribal vendetta, buried daughters and debt slavery. His discomfort with it was recorded by his own community before it was recorded by scripture.

The call

At forty, in Hira, came the first revelation: "Read, in the name of your Lord who created" (96:1). The first believers were Khadijah, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Zayd ibn Harithah and Abu Bakr. For three years the call was quiet; then it became public and the persecution began — the boycott of Banu Hashim, the migration of companions to Abyssinia, the deaths of Khadijah and Abu Talib in the "Year of Sorrow".

Madinah

In 622 CE he migrated to Yathrib, which became Madinat al-Nabi. There the mission changed shape: a constitution binding Muslims, Jews and pagan clans into one polity; a mosque that doubled as court, school and shelter; a system of brotherhood pairing migrants with hosts. Then came Badr, Uhud, the Trench, Hudaybiyyah and finally the near-bloodless conquest of Makkah in 630 CE.

The mission itself

The Qur'an sums it up twice: "We sent you only as a mercy to the worlds" (21:107) and "so that people may uphold justice" (57:25). The Prophet described his own purpose as perfecting noble character. In practice the mission dismantled idolatry, restrained tribal vengeance, gave women inheritance and contract rights, capped and regulated warfare, and made knowledge an obligation.

The farewell

At the Farewell Pilgrimage he declared the sanctity of life, property and honour, ended the vendettas of the age of ignorance, and reminded the crowd that no Arab is superior to a non-Arab. He died in Madinah in 632 CE in the room of A'ishah.

References across the schools

• Qur'an: 3:164, 21:107, 33:21, 33:40, 68:4.
• Sunni: Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa'l-Nihayah; Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Maghazi.
• Shia: al-Ya'qubi, Tarikh; al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar vols. 15–22; Ja'far Subhani, The Message.
• Salafi/Wahhabi: Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, al-Rahiq al-Makhtum; Ibn Uthaymin's sirah lectures.