A) Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 CE in Makkah (Bakka, Baca, Mecca). Sh. Abdullah, the father of Prophet died several weeks before birth for Muhammad Sahib & also lost his mother when he was only six years old. He after death of his grandfather Sh. Abu Talib, was looked after & raised by his paternal grandfather ‘Abd al Muttalib, until the age of eight. He was an influential leader of the Arab tribe ‘Quraish’ in Makkah who took care of the Holy sanctuary ‘Ka’bah’. Makkah, which was a city state well connected to the caravan routes to Syria and Egypt in the North and Northwest and Yemen in the South. (Prophet) Muhammad was a descendant of (Prophet) Ismail through the lineage of his second son Kedar.
B) Ka’bah is stated to be the first house of worship built on earth for the worship of Allah, the One True God. It was re-built by (Prophet) Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ismail (Ishmael). Unlike the word God, the word Allah is stated not have a plural or gender. Under the guardianship of Abu Talib, (Prophet) Muhammad (s) began to earn a living as a businessman and a trader. At the age of twelve, he accompanied Abu Talib with a merchant caravan as far as Bostra in Syria.
C) Khadijah, a rich merchant widow, twice widowed and forty years old proposed marriage to (prophet) Muhammad Sahib, through a relative when he was twenty-five & he accepted the proposal. Khadijah (ra) and Muhammad (s) were the parents of six children – four daughters and two sons. His first son Qasim died at the age of two. He was nicknamed Abul Qasim, meaning the father of Qasim. His second son Abdullah died in infancy. Abdullah was also called affectionately as ‘Tayyab’ and ‘Tahir’ because he was born after Muhammad’s Prophethood. The four daughters were: Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah (ra).
D) The place for worship, Holy sanctuary Ka’bah had three hundred sixty idols at one point of time. The original, pristine message of Prophet Ibrahim was lost, and it was mixed with superstitions and traditions of pilgrims and visitors from distant places, who were used to idol worship and myths & exploited by preachers. (Prophet) Muhammad was forty when, during his one of many retreats to Mount Hira for meditation during the month of Ramadan, he received the first revelation from the Archangel Jibril (Gabriel). On this first appearance, Gabriel said to Muhammad: “Iqraa,” meaning Read or Recite. (P) Muhammad replied, “I cannot read,” as he had not received any formal education and did not know how to read or write.
E) The Angel Gabriel then embraced him until he reached the limit of his endurance and after releasing said: “Iqraa.” Muhammad’s answer was the same as before. Gabriel repeated the embrace for the third time, asked him to repeat after him and said: “Recite in the name of your Lord who created! He created man from that which clings. Recite; and thy Lord is most Bountiful, He who has taught by the pen, taught man what he knew not.”These revelations are the first five verses of Surah (chapter) 96 of the Qur’an. Thus it was in the year 610 CE the revelation began.
F) (Prophet) Muhammad was terrified by the whole experience of the revelation and fled the cave of Mt. Hira. When he reached his home, tired and frightened, he asked his wife: ‘cover me, cover me,’ in a blanket. After his awe had somewhat abated, his wife Khadijah asked him about the reason of his great anxiety and fear. She then assured him by saying: “Allah (The One God) will not let you down because you are kind to relatives, you speak only the truth, you help the poor, the orphan and the needy, and you are an honest man. Khadijah then consulted with her cousin Waraqa who was an old, saintly man possessing knowledge of previous revelations and scriptures. Waraqa confirmed to her that the visitor was none other than the Angel Gabriel who had come to Moses. He then added that Muhammad is the expected Prophet. Khadijah accepted the revelation as truth and was the first person to accept Islam. She supported her husband in every hardship, most notably during the three-year ‘boycott’ of the Prophet’s clan by the pagan Quraish. She died at the age of sixty-five in the month of Ramadan soon after the lifting of the boycott in 620 CE.
G) Gabriel, angel (as) visited the Prophet as commanded by Allah revealing Ayat (meaning signs, loosely referred to as verses) in Arabic over a period of twenty-three years. All the revealed verses (over a period of 23 years and ending in 632 CE) were compiled in the book known as Qur’an. The name Qur’an appears in the revealed verses. The Qur’an does not contain even a word from the Prophet. The Qur’an speaks in the first person, i.e., Allah’s commandments to His creation. Gabriel also visited the Prophet throughout his mission informing and teaching him of events and strategy as needed to help in the completion of the prophetic mission. The Prophet’s sayings, actions, and approvals are recorded separately in collections known as Hadith.
H) The Mission of Prophet Muhammad (s) has been stated to be for restoration for the worship of the One True God, the creator and sustainer of the universe, as taught by Prophet Ibrahim and all Prophets of God, and to demonstrate and complete the laws of moral, ethical, legal, and social conduct and all other matters of significance for the humanity at large. The first few people who followed this message were: his cousin Ali, his servant Zayd ibn Harithah, his friend Abu Bakr and his wife and daughters. They accepted Islam by testifying that: “There is no Deity (worthy of worship) except Allah (The One True God) and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”Islam means peace by submission and obedience to the Will and Commandments of God and those who accept Islam are called Muslims, meaning those who have accepted the message of peace by submission to God. In the first three years of his mission forty people (men and women) accepted Islam.
I) After Khadijah’s death in 620 CE, the Prophet married a widowed Muslim woman, Sawdah (ra) .He later in the same year, married to A’ishah, the daughter of his dear companion Abu Bakr. She joined the Prophet in Medinah, completing the marriage contract. Sawdah and A’ishah (ra) were the only living wives until he was fifty-six years old. In 622 CE, the leaders of the Quraish decided to kill the Prophet and they developed a plan in which one man was chosen from each of the Quraish tribes and they were to attack the Prophet simultaneously. Gabriel informed the Prophet of the plan and instructed him to leave Makkah immediately.
J) The Prophet, after making arrangements to return the properties entrusted to him by several non believers, left with Abu Bakr in the night, he was to be assassinated. They went south of Makkah to a mountain cave of Thawr and after staying three nights they traveled north to Yathrib (Medinah) about two hundred fifty miles from Makkah. Upon discovery of his escape, the leaders of Quraish put up a reward of one hundred camels on him, dead or alive. In spite of all their best scouts and search parties, Allah protected the Prophet and he arrived safely in Quba, a suburb of Medinah .This event is known as the ‘Hijra’ (migration) and the Islamic calendar begins with this event.
K) The Muslims while defending their city and religion lost many men, which resulted in many widowed Muslim women and numerous orphaned children. In these circumstances, Prophet Muhammad (s) married several women during fifty-sixth year up to the sixtieth year of his life. He did not contract any marriage in the last three years of his life, following the revelation limiting the number of wives up to a maximum of four. All of the ladies he took as wives were either widowed or divorced, except A’ishah. The Prophet married Umm Salamah (ra) in 626 CE. Her husband had died of wounds inflicted in the Battle of Uhud (625 CE).
The Prophet’s marriage contract with Umm Habibah (ra) was solemnized, by proxy, by Negus, King of Abyssinia, in 628 CE. Two of his wives, Juwayriah and Safiyah, were prisoners of war. Both belonged to the family of the chief of their tribes and were set free by the Prophet; they then gladly accepted Islam and were pleased to become the Prophet’s wives.A year after the Battle of Allies (Trench), the Prophet and fifteen hundred of his companions left for Makkah to perform the annual pilgrimage (628 CE). They were barred from approaching the city at Hudaybiyah, where after some negotiations a treaty was signed allowing for them to come next year.