Who was Prophet Muhammad?

The final messenger of God in Islam, born in Makkah around 570 CE, who received the Quran from age 40 and died in Madinah in 632 CE.

Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah (peace be upon him) is, in Islam, the final prophet and messenger of God. He was born in Makkah around 570 CE, began receiving the Quran at about forty, emigrated to Madinah in 622 CE, and died there in 632 CE at the age of sixty-three.

His life in brief

1. Early life. Born into the Quraysh tribe and orphaned young, he was raised by his grandfather and then his uncle Abu Talib. He worked as a merchant and was known as al-Amin, "the trustworthy".
2. First revelation, 610 CE. While secluded in the cave of Hira near Makkah, he received the first verses of the Quran through the angel Gabriel (Sahih al-Bukhari 3).
3. Makkah, 610-622. Thirteen years calling people to worship one God, met with growing persecution of him and his followers.
4. The Hijrah, 622. He emigrated to Madinah, where the first Muslim community took shape. The Islamic calendar counts from this year.
5. Return to Makkah, 630. He re-entered Makkah with little bloodshed and pardoned most of those who had fought him.
6. Death, 632. He died in Madinah, shortly after his Farewell Pilgrimage.

How the Quran describes him

• The last prophet: "the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets" (Quran 33:40).
• Sent as "a mercy to all worlds" (Quran 21:107).
• "Of tremendous character" (Quran 68:4).

Muslims do not worship him; they follow his example, the Sunnah, as the living explanation of the Quran. For his life event by event, see the Seerah section.