Birth and Prophethood

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born of a noble family of Banu Hashim ancestry. However, he was not fortunate enough to have been born wealthy, as he was born an orphan. His father Abdullah bin Abdul Muttalib died of sickness at the age of 25 on a trading journey to Syria, leaving his wife Aminah only a few months pregnant.

Muhammad's Birth

His birth was on the twelfth (12th) of Rabi' al-Awwal, 53 B.H. (570 CE — known as the Year of the Elephant). The Prophet ﷺ himself emphasized that his birthday has no particular religious significance in Islam, and the celebrations held on this occasion have no basis in Shari'ah.

Abdul Muttalib, his grandfather who was the chief of Makkah at that time, showed pride in him. His mother showed affection for her son as she awaited the best nurses to come and take care of him. The tradition at that time was that nurses would come from the desert seeking to be the custodians of the children of nobility in return for good pay and gifts.

Given that Muhammad ﷺ was not wealthy, all nurses turned away from him — except Halimah of the Banu Saad tribe. When she could not find any other child, she was ashamed to return home empty-handed, so she took Muhammad ﷺ. Since then, Allah showered His mercy on her; for instance, her animals started giving plenty of milk after they had been dried. Her husband felt they were blessed to have taken Muhammad ﷺ and became very attached to him.

Childhood and the Splitting of the Chest

Muhammad ﷺ spent five years with Banu Saad during which nothing out of the ordinary happened except one incident which scared Halimah, known as the splitting of his chest. When he was playing with other boys, Jibreel held him, threw him down, split his chest, took out his heart, removed a black clump from it (Satan's portion), washed him in a basin of gold with Zamzam water, then sealed his chest and returned him. The boys ran to Halimah saying Muhammad ﷺ had been killed, but they found him alive, only pale. (Reported by Anas in Sahih Muslim and Musnad Ahmad)

Return to Makkah and Early Losses

Muhammad ﷺ returned to Makkah at the age of five to his mother and grandfather who took good care of him. But tranquility eluded him as his mother died during a visit to Madinah to visit her husband's grave, leaving him with his maid Umm Aiman. On the way back from Madinah, Aminah fell very sick and died in Abwa, leaving Muhammad ﷺ an orphan with Umm Aiman.

His grandfather Abdul Muttalib always took good care of him and never left him alone, taking him to all public gatherings. However, at the age of eight, Abdul Muttalib died, leaving him into his uncle Abu Talib's care. Since Abu Talib had many children and was not wealthy, Muhammad ﷺ insisted on sharing the burdens of life with him.

The Journey to Syria and Bahira the Monk

At the age of thirteen, he accompanied his uncle Abu Talib on a trading journey to Syria. During the journey, he met a monk called Bahira, who recognized the signs of Prophethood on him and asked Abu Talib: "What is this boy to you?" When Abu Talib explained that Muhammad ﷺ was his brother's orphaned son, the monk warned: "Take him back and be careful of the Jews over him."

Muhammad ﷺ then returned to Makkah and resumed his life, working as a shepherd in his early life. He did not acquire knowledge from a monk, philosopher, or sorcerer. Instead, he read through the pages of life and took what he found good, combining discipline with spiritual purity, righteousness, and contentment.

Marriage to Khadijah (RA)

In this manner, he entered his third phase of life and got acquainted with his first wife Khadijah (RA) — a noble and wealthy merchant woman. She had heard of his truthfulness and trustworthiness, so she offered him to take her trade to Syria before marrying him. He was 25 years old and she was 40 years old when they married. Their blessed marriage lasted until she died at the age of 65.

The Message of Islam

Every year, Muhammad ﷺ would leave Makkah to spend Ramadan in the Cave of Hira on Mount Nur, where he would meditate and worship for self-purification away from the falsehood of Jahiliyyah. In this cave, he met with the heavenly host and heard the voice of the angel commanding him to "Read" (Iqra). He knew that he had become a Prophet of Allah ﷺ and that it was Jibreel (Gabriel), the ambassador of revelation, who came to him. Then the mission's struggle began.

Quraysh spared no efforts to fight Islam and persecuted those who embraced it. The Prophet ﷺ and his companions were abused, ridiculed, humiliated, and accused of indulging in magic. The weak and oppressed believers were tortured until they disbelieved, died, or swooned — as they had no clan to defend them.

The General Boycott

In spite of all that, Islam grew stronger, so Quraysh decided to change strategy and agreed not to buy, sell, or intermarry with Muslims or those who approved of their religion. They wrote this agreement (called the General Boycott) on parchment and hung it inside the Ka'bah as a secret pact. The Prophet ﷺ and his followers were forced into confinement in the Vale of Banu Hashim, where they were cut off from any assistance.

This boycott lasted three long years during which only the bond of faith kept the hearts together and gave them strength. It ended after Hisham Ibn Amr gathered some clans around him and agreed to break the pact. When they went to tear the parchment inside the Ka'bah, they found that worms had already eaten it up — except the words: "In Your name, O God."

Muhammad's Attractive Leadership

Muhammad ﷺ led a very ordinary life, yet the lifestyle he practiced offered an example for others to follow. The Prophet ﷺ sat on the ground and ate his food from the ground. He wore coarse clothes and rode a donkey with others sitting behind him. He licked his fingers after taking food and never started any activity without saying "In the name of Allah."

The Year of Sorrow

After ten years of suffering for the mission of Islam, Muhammad ﷺ suffered the loss of his beloved wife Khadijah (RA) and his protective uncle Abu Talib. In other words, he lost both his public life (as his uncle defended him from calamity) and his private life (as Khadijah loved, supported, and shared his trials).

Yet through every trial, Allah's plan unfolded perfectly. The Prophet ﷺ soon found new companions and supporters who would carry Islam forward to the corners of the earth. His Sunnah continues to guide over a billion Muslims today, more than 1,400 years later.