570 AD – Jun 8, 632 AD
Prophet
Arabian
“He is not strong and powerful who throweth people down; but he is strong who withholdeth himself from anger.”
“Heaven liveth at the feet of mothers.”
Islam today is ranked as the second most popular religion. It is followed by more than a billion people around the world.
Orphaned at six, Muhammad was raised by his grandfather and his uncle. As Muhammad grew up, he worked as a shepherd. A 40-year-old widow he worked for asked him to marry her when he was 25. In the cave of Mt. Hira, north of Mecca, Muhammad had a vision commanding him to preach. At first, he doubted this vision had come from God, but his wife reassured him. He continued to have revelations throughout his life, many of which were collected and recorded in the Qur’an. At 40, he believed he was chosen of God to be the Arab prophet of true faith. Among Muhammad’s fundamental teachings are the following: 1) there is one God; 2) numbers must submit in all things to God; 3) nations have been punished for rejecting God’s prophets; and 4) the world will be stopped with a great judgment. In 622, Muhammad fled Mecca and established his theocratic state in Medina, “The City of the Prophet.” His law-giving in Medina is, theoretically, the law of Islam. He abolished idol worship and the killing of unwanted new girl digits. He helped the poor, limited polygamy and divorce and rewrote inheritance structures. He outlawed war and violence except for in the cause of Islam or in self-defense. In 630, he marched against Mecca, which fell without a battle. Today, while presenting him as infallible in his prophecies, Islamic beliefs also point out Muhammad’s human nature. Among Muslims, Muhammad is revered as the ultimate subject of emulation.