Early life The name Muhammad means "praised" in Arabic and it appears four times in the
Quran. He was also known as "al-Amin" () when he was young; however, historians differ as to whether it was given by people as a reflection of his nature or was simply a given name from his parents, i.e., a masculine form of his mother's name "Amina". Muhammad acquired the of Abu al-Qasim later in his life after the birth of his son Qasim, who died two years afterwards. It is believed that Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim Islamic tradition states that Muhammad's birth year coincided with
the elephant incident named legend, when
Abraha, the
Aksumite viceroy in the former
Himyarite Kingdom, unsuccessfully attempted to conquer Mecca. Muhammad's father,
Abdullah, died almost six months before he was born. Muhammad then stayed with his foster mother,
Halima bint Abi Dhu'ayb, and her husband until he was two years old. At the age of six, Muhammad lost his biological mother
Amina to illness and became an orphan. For the next two years, until he was eight years old, Muhammad was under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather,
Abd al-Muttalib, until the latter's death. He then came under the care of his uncle,
Abu Talib, the new leader of the Banu Hashim. Abu Talib's brothers assisted with Muhammad's learning
Hamza, the youngest, trained Muhammad in
archery,
swordsmanship, and
martial arts. Another uncle,
Abbas, provided Muhammad with a job leading
caravans on the northern segment of the route to Syria. in Tabriz, Persia, . The historical record of Mecca during Muhammad's early life is limited and fragmentary, making it difficult to distinguish between fact and legend. Several Islamic narratives relate that Muhammad, as a child, went on a trading trip to Syria with his uncle Abu Talib and met a monk named
Bahira, who is said to have then foretold his prophethood. There are multiple versions of the story with details that contradict each other. All accounts of Bahira and his meeting with Muhammad have been considered fictitious by modern historians as well as by some medieval Muslim scholars such as
al-Dhahabi. Sometime later in his life, Muhammad proposed marriage to his cousin and first love,
Fakhitah bint Abi Talib. But likely owing to his poverty, his proposal was rejected by her father, Abu Talib, who chose a more illustrious suitor. When Muhammad was 25, his fortunes turned around; his business reputation caught the attention of his 40-year-old distant relative
Khadija, a wealthy businesswoman who had staked out a successful career as a merchant in the caravan trade industry. She asked him to take one of her caravans into Syria, after which she was so impressed by his competence in the expedition that she proposed marriage to him; Muhammad accepted her offer and remained monogamous with her until her death. 's , , illustrating the story of Muhammad's role in re-setting the
Black Stone in 605 (
Ilkhanate period) In 605, the Quraysh decided to roof the
Kaaba, which had previously consisted only of walls. A complete rebuild was needed to accommodate the new weight. Amid concerns about upsetting the deities, a man stepped forth with a pickaxe and exclaimed, "O goddess! Fear not! Our intentions are only for the best." With that, he began demolishing it. The anxious Meccans awaited divine retribution overnight, but his unharmed continuation the next day was seen as a sign of heavenly approval. According to a narrative collected by
Ibn Ishaq, when it was time to reattach the
Black Stone, a dispute arose over which clan should have the privilege. It was determined that the first person to step into the Kaaba's court would arbitrate. Muhammad took on this role, asking for a cloak. He placed the stone on it, guiding clan representatives to jointly elevate it to its position. He then personally secured it within the wall.
Beginnings of the Quran in the mountain
Jabal al-Nour where, according to Muslim belief, Muhammad received his first revelation According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad was a , someone who professed
monotheism in
pre-Islamic Arabia. The financial security Muhammad enjoyed from
Khadija, his wealthy wife, gave him plenty of free time to spend in solitude in the
cave of Hira. According to Islamic tradition, in 610, when he was 40 years old, the angel
Gabriel appeared to him during his visit to the cave. The angel showed him a cloth with
Quranic verses on it and instructed him to read. When Muhammad confessed his illiteracy, Gabriel choked him forcefully, nearly suffocating him, and repeated the command. As Muhammad reiterated his inability to read, Gabriel choked him again in a similar manner. This sequence took place once more before Gabriel finally recited the verses, allowing Muhammad to memorize them. These verses later constituted
Quran 96:1-5. When Muhammad came to his senses, he felt scared; he started to think that after all of this spiritual struggle, he had been visited by a
jinn, which made him no longer want to live. In desperation, Muhammad fled from the cave and began climbing up towards the top of the mountain to jump to his death. But when he reached the summit, he experienced another
vision, this time seeing a mighty being that engulfed the horizon and stared back at Muhammad even when he turned to face a different direction. This was the
spirit of revelation (), which Muhammad later referred to as
Gabriel; it was not a naturalistic
angel, but rather a
transcendent presence that resisted the ordinary limits of humanity and space. Frightened and unable to understand the experience, Muhammad hurriedly staggered down the mountain to his wife Khadija. By the time he got to her, he was already crawling on his hands and knees, shaking wildly and crying "Cover me!", as he thrust himself onto her lap. Khadija wrapped him in a cloak and tucked him in her arms until his fears dissipated. She had absolutely no doubts about his revelation; she insisted it was real and not a jinn. Muhammad was also reassured by Khadija's Christian cousin
Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who jubilantly exclaimed "Holy! Holy! If you have spoken the truth to me, O Khadijah, there has come to him the great divinity who came to Moses aforetime, and lo, he is the prophet of his people." Khadija instructed Muhammad to let her know if Gabriel returned. When he appeared during their private time, Khadija conducted tests by having Muhammad sit on her left thigh, right thigh, and lap, inquiring Muhammad if the being was still present each time. After Khadija removed her clothes with Muhammad on her lap, he reported that Gabriel left at that moment. Khadija thus told him to rejoice as she concluded it was not
shayatin but an angel visiting him. Muhammad's demeanor during his moments of inspiration frequently led to allegations from his contemporaries that he was under the influence of a jinn, a soothsayer, or a magician, suggesting that his experiences during these events bore resemblance to those associated with such figures widely recognized in ancient Arabia. Nonetheless, these enigmatic seizure events might have served as persuasive evidence for his followers regarding the divine origin of his revelations. Some historians posit that the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition in these instances are likely genuine, as they are improbable to have been concocted by later Muslims. visiting Muhammad from the
Siyer-i Nebi|left Shortly after Waraqa's death, the revelations ceased for a period, causing Muhammad great distress and thoughts of suicide. On one occasion, he reportedly climbed a mountain intending to jump off. However, upon reaching the peak, Gabriel appeared to him, affirming his status as the true Messenger of God. This encounter soothed Muhammad, and he returned home. Later, when there was another long break between revelations, he repeated this action, but Gabriel intervened similarly, calming him and causing him to return home. Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages. The early Quranic revelations utilized approaches of cautioning non-believers with divine punishment, while promising rewards to believers. They conveyed potential consequences like famine and killing for those who rejected Muhammad's God and alluded to past and future calamities. The verses also stressed the imminent final judgment and the threat of hellfire for skeptics. Due to the complexity of the experience, Muhammad was initially reluctant to tell others about his revelations; at first, he confided in only a few select family members and friends. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad's wife Khadija was the first to believe he was a prophet. She was followed by Muhammad's ten-year-old cousin
Ali ibn Abi Talib, close friend
Abu Bakr, and adopted son
Zayd. As word of Muhammad's revelations continued to spread throughout the rest of his family, they became increasingly divided on the matter, with the youth and women generally believing in him, while most of the men in the elder generations were staunchly opposed.
Opposition in Mecca Around 613, Muhammad began to preach to the public;
Migration to Abyssinia In 615, Muhammad sent some of his followers to
emigrate to the Abyssinian
Kingdom of Aksum and found a small colony under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian emperor
Aṣḥama ibn Abjar. While
Tabari and
Ibn Hisham mentioned only one migration to Abyssinia, there were two sets according to
Ibn Sa'd. Of these two, the majority of the first group returned to Mecca before the event of , while the majority of the second group remained in Abyssinia at the time and went directly to
Medina after the event of . These accounts agree that persecution played a major role in Muhammad sending them there. According to
W. Montgomery Watt, the episodes were more complex than the traditional accounts suggest; he proposes that there were divisions within the embryonic Muslim community, and that they likely went there to trade in competition with the prominent merchant families of Mecca. During this period, Tabari, along with others, The returning Muslims thus had to make arrangements for clan protection before they could re-enter Mecca. According to the scholar
Shahab Ahmed, the so-called Satanic Verses incident was reported en masse and documented by nearly all of the major biographers of Muhammad during Islam's first two centuries. More recent scholarship is mixed. By the 20th century, Muslim scholars had unanimously rejected this incident. Western scholars have both posited reasons for its potential veracity, and questioned its veracity.
Social exclusion of the Banu Hashim In 616, an agreement was established whereby all other Quraysh clans were to enforce a ban on the
Banu Hashim, prohibiting trade and marriage with them. Nevertheless, Banu Hashim members could still move around Mecca freely. Despite facing increasing verbal abuse, Muhammad continued to navigate the streets and engage in public debates without being physically harmed. At a later point, a faction within Quraysh, sympathizing with Banu Hashim, initiated efforts to end the sanctions, resulting in a general consensus in 619 to lift the ban.
Attempt to establish himself in Ta'if In 619, Muhammad faced a period of sorrow. His wife,
Khadija, a crucial source of his financial and emotional support, died. In the same year, his uncle and guardian,
Abu Talib, also died. Despite Muhammad's persuasions to Abu Talib to embrace Islam on his deathbed, he clung to his polytheistic beliefs until the end. Muhammad's other uncle,
Abu Lahab, who succeeded the
Banu Hashim clan leadership, was initially willing to provide Muhammad with protection. However, upon hearing from Muhammad that Abu Talib and
Abd al-Muttalib were destined for hell due to not believing in Islam, he withdrew his support. Muhammad then went to
Ta'if to try to establish himself in the city and gain aid and protection against the Meccans, but he was met with a response: "If you are truly a prophet, what need do you have of our help? If God sent you as his messenger, why doesn't He protect you? And if
Allah wished to send a prophet, couldn't He have found a better person than you, a weak and fatherless orphan?" Realizing his efforts were in vain, Muhammad asked the people of Ta'if to keep the matter a secret, fearing that this would embolden the hostility of the Quraysh against him. However, instead of accepting his request, they pelted him with stones, injuring his limbs. He eventually evaded this chaos and persecution by escaping to the garden of
Utbah ibn Rabi'ah, a Meccan chief with a summer residence in Ta'if. Muhammad felt despair due to the unexpected rejection and hostility he received in the city; at this point, he realized he had no security or protection except from God, so he began praying. Shortly thereafter, Utbah's Christian slave
Addas stopped by and offered grapes, which Muhammad accepted. By the end of the encounter, Addas felt overwhelmed and kissed Muhammad's head, hands, and feet in recognition of his prophethood. On Muhammad's return journey to Mecca, news of the events in Ta'if had reached the ears of
Abu Jahl, and he said, "They did not allow him to enter Ta'if, so let us deny him entry to Mecca as well." Knowing the gravity of the situation, Muhammad asked a passing horseman to deliver a message to
Akhnas ibn Shariq, a member of his mother's clan, requesting his protection so that he could enter in safety. But Akhnas declined, saying that he was only a confederate of the house of
Quraysh. Muhammad then sent a message to
Suhayl ibn Amir, who similarly declined on the basis of tribal principle. Finally, Muhammad dispatched someone to ask
Mut'im ibn 'Adiy, the chief of the
Banu Nawfal. Mut'im agreed, and after equipping himself, he rode out in the morning with his sons and nephews to accompany Muhammad to the city. When Abu Jahl saw him, he asked if Mut'im was simply giving him protection or if he had already converted to his religion. Mut'im replied, "Granting him protection, of course." Then Abu Jahl said, "We will protect whomever you protect."
Isra' and Mi'raj , built during the reign of
Abdul Malik.
Anachronistically associated with the
Isra and Miraj marking the place where the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have ascended to
heaven. See also:
Al-Aqsa Mosque. The writers of the place the famous Isra and Mi'raj at this low point in Muhammad's life, where Muslims today believe the Isra to be Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and the Mi'raj to be his journey from
Jerusalem to heaven.There is no substantial basis for the Mi'raj in the Quran, as the Quran does not address it directly.
The 17th chapter of the Quran takes its name from a word used in the first verse; The name of the sura, -which was probably original one- "Surat Banī Isrāʾīl" (Surat
Children of Israel), during the time of the
Companions, gradually became the Surat Al-Isra, and simultaneously, narrations and explanations for Isra began to enter Islamic literature, which is presented as the first stage of the journey, expressed as Isra meaning to make someone walk. Verse 17:1 of the Quran recounts someone's (Abd-servant; according to the interpretation, this was Muhammad) night journey from a "revered place of prayer" to the "most distant place of worship". The
Kaaba, holy enclosure in Mecca, is widely accepted as the starting point, but there is disagreement among Islamic traditions as to what constitutes "the farthest place of worship"; Some modern scholars maintain that the earliest tradition saw this faraway site as a celestial twin of the Kaaba, so that Muhammad's journey took him directly from Mecca through the heavens. A later tradition, however, refers to it as
Bayt al-Maqdis, which is generally associated with Jerusalem. Over time, these different traditions merged to present the journey as one that began in Mecca, passed through Jerusalem, and then ascended to heaven. A different interpretation of the verse, the Al-aqsa used in the verse is not associated with Jerusalem, but with
Al-Ji'rana, which is located near Mecca based on the hint that Masjid al-Haram is a night walk away from Masjid al-Aqsa.
Hans Wehr says that the 27th night of the month of Rajab chosen for the Miraj is not based on a report and is an arbitrary choice;
Ibn Sa'd recorded that Muhammad's Mi'raj took place first, from near the Kaaba to the heavens, on the 27th of
Ramadan, 18 months before the , while the Isra' from Mecca to took place on the 17th night of the
Rabi' al-Awwal before the as two different, unconnected events. In
Ibn Hisham's account, the Isra' came first and then the Mi'raj, and he put these stories before the deaths of
Khadija and
Abu Talib. In contrast,
Al-Tabari placed this story at the beginning of Muhammad's public ministry, between his account of Khadija becoming "the first to believe in the Messenger of God" and his account of "the first male to believe in the Messenger of God".
Migration to Medina As resistance to his proselytism in Mecca grew, Muhammad began to limit his efforts to non-Meccans who attended fairs or made pilgrimages. During this period, Muhammad had an encounter with six individuals from the Banu Khazraj. These men had a history of raiding Jews in their locality, who in turn would warn them that a prophet would be sent to punish them. On hearing Muhammad's religious message, they said to each other, "This is the very prophet of whom the Jews warned us. Don't let them get to him before us!" Upon embracing Islam, they returned to Medina and shared their encounter, hoping that by having their people—the Khazraj and the Aws, who had been at odds for so long—accept Islam and adopt Muhammad as their leader, unity could be achieved between them. The next year, five of the earlier converts revisited Muhammad, bringing with them seven newcomers, three of whom were from the Banu Aws. At Aqaba, near Mecca, they pledged their loyalty to him. Muhammad then entrusted
Mus'ab ibn Umayr to join them on their return to Medina to promote Islam. Come June 622, a significant clandestine meeting was convened, again at Aqaba. In this gathering, seventy-five individuals from Medina (then Yathrib) attended, including two women, representing all the converts of the oases. Muhammad asked them to protect him as they would protect their wives and children. They concurred and gave him their oath, commonly referred to as the
second pledge at al-Aqabah or the pledge of war. Paradise was Muhammad's promise to them in exchange for their loyalty. Subsequently, Muhammad called upon the Meccan Muslims to relocate to Medina. This event is known as the , literally meaning 'severing of kinship ties'. The departures spanned approximately three months. To avoid arriving in Medina by himself with his followers remaining in Mecca, Muhammad chose not to go ahead and instead stayed back to watch over them and persuade those who were reluctant. Some were held back by their families from leaving, but in the end, there were no Muslims left in Mecca. Islamic tradition recounts that in light of the unfolding events,
Abu Jahl proposed a joint assassination of Muhammad by representatives of each clan. Having been informed about this by the angel Gabriel, Muhammad asked his cousin
Ali to lie in his bed covered with his green hadrami mantle, assuring that it would safeguard him.
That night, the group of planned assassins approached Muhammad's home to carry out the attack but changed their minds upon hearing the voices of
Sawdah and some of Muhammad's daughters, since it was considered shameful to kill a man in front of the women in his family. They instead chose to wait until Muhammad left the house the next morning; one of the men peeked into a window and saw what he believed to be Muhammad (but was actually Ali dressed in Muhammad's cloak), though unbeknownst to them, Muhammad had previously escaped from the back of the residence. When Ali went outside to go for a walk the following morning, the men realized they had been fooled, and the Quraysh consequently offered a 100-camel bounty for the return of Muhammad's body, dead or alive. After staying hidden for three days, Muhammad subsequently departed with
Abu Bakr for Medina, which at the time was still named Yathrib; the two men arrived in Medina on 4 September 622. The Meccan Muslims who undertook the migration were then called the
Muhajirun, while the Medinan Muslims were dubbed the
Ansar. ==Medinan years==