102 Facts About Muhammad

Muhammad is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam.

Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis of Islamic religious belief.

Muhammad was the son of Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Amina bint Wahb.

Muhammad was raised under the care of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, and paternal uncle, Abu Talib.

When he was 40, circa 610CE, Muhammad reported being visited by Gabriel in the cave and receiving his first revelation from God.

In 613, Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "submission" to God is the right way of life, and that he was a prophet and messenger of God, similar to the other prophets in Islam.

Muhammad's followers were initially few in number, and experienced hostility from Meccan polytheists for 13 years.

In Medina, Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina.

The conquest went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed.

The revelations that Muhammad reported receiving until his death form the verses of the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the verbatim "Word of God" on which the religion is based.

Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim was born in Mecca about the year 570, and his birthday is believed to be in the month of Rabi' al-awwal.

Muhammad belonged to the Banu Hashim clan, part of the Quraysh tribe, which was one of Mecca's prominent families, although it appears less prosperous during Muhammad's early lifetime.

Muhammad stayed with his foster-mother, Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, 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.

Muhammad then came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of the Banu Hashim.

Islamic tradition states that when Muhammad was either nine or twelve while accompanying the Meccans' caravan to Syria, he met a Christian monk or hermit named Bahira who is said to have foreseen Muhammad's career as a prophet of God.

Muhammad's reputation attracted a proposal in 595 from Khadijah, a successful businesswoman.

Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one.

Several years later, according to a narration collected by historian Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad was involved with a well-known story about setting the Black Stone in place in the wall of the Kaaba in 605 CE.

Muhammad asked for a cloth and laid the Black Stone in its center.

The clan leaders held the corners of the cloth and together carried the Black Stone to the right spot, then Muhammad laid the stone, satisfying the honor of all.

Muhammad began to pray alone in a cave named Hira on Mount Jabal al-Nour, near Mecca for several weeks every year.

Islamic tradition holds that during one of his visits to that cave, in the year 610 the angel Gabriel appeared to him and commanded Muhammad to recite verses that would be included in the Quran.

Muhammad feared that others would dismiss his claims as being possessed.

Shi'a tradition states Muhammad was not surprised or frightened at Gabriel's appearance; rather he welcomed the angel, as if he was expected.

The initial revelation was followed by a three-year pause during which Muhammad felt depressed and further gave himself to prayers and spiritual practices.

Sahih Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing his revelations as "sometimes it is like the ringing of a bell".

Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages.

Muhammad did not only warn those who rejected God's revelation, but dispensed good news for those who abandoned evil, listening to the divine words and serving God.

Muhammad's mission involves preaching monotheism: The Quran commands Muhammad to proclaim and praise the name of his Lord and instructs him not to worship idols or associate other deities with God.

Muhammad was followed by Muhammad's ten-year-old cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, close friend Abu Bakr, and adopted son Zaid.

However, the Quranic exegesis maintains that it began as Muhammad started public preaching.

In 615, some of Muhammad's followers emigrated to the Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum and founded a small colony under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian emperor Ashama ibn Abjar.

Muhammad, desperately hoping for an accommodation with his tribe, pronounced a verse acknowledging the existence of three Meccan goddesses considered to be the daughters of Allah.

Muhammad retracted the verses the next day at the behest of Gabriel, claiming that the verses were whispered by the devil himself.

Islamic tradition states that in 620, Muhammad experienced the Isra and Mi'raj, a miraculous night-long journey said to have occurred with the angel Gabriel.

Muhammad then visited Ta'if, another important city in Arabia, and tried to find a protector, but his effort failed and further brought him into physical danger.

Muhammad took this opportunity to look for a new home for himself and his followers.

Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina, until nearly all his followers left Mecca.

Those who migrated from Mecca along with Muhammad became known as muhajirun.

Muhammad delivered Quranic verses permitting Muslims to fight the Meccans.

Muhammad adjusted to the new direction, and his companions praying with him followed his lead, beginning the tradition of facing Mecca during prayer.

Muhammad ordered a number of raids to capture Meccan caravans, but only the 8th of them, the Raid of Nakhla, resulted in actual fighting and capture of booty and prisoners.

Muhammad expelled from Medina the Banu Qaynuqa, one of three main Jewish tribes, but some historians contend that the expulsion happened after Muhammad's death.

Muhammad eventually conceded to the younger Muslims and readied the Muslim force for battle.

The announcement is probably because Muhammad was wounded and thought dead.

Questions accumulated about the reasons for the loss; Muhammad delivered Quranic verses 3:152 indicating that the defeat was twofold: partly a punishment for disobedience, partly a test for steadfastness.

Muhammad gained support from the nomadic tribes to the north and east of Medina; using propaganda about Muhammad's weakness, promises of booty, memories of Quraysh prestige and through bribery.

Muhammad heard of men massing with hostile intentions against Medina, and reacted in a severe manner.

Around a year later, Muhammad expelled the Banu Nadir from Medina forcing their emigration to Syria; he allowed them to take some possessions, as he was unable to subdue the Banu Nadir in their strongholds.

Muhammad prepared a force of about 3,000 men and adopted a form of defense unknown in Arabia at that time; the Muslims dug a trench wherever Medina lay open to cavalry attack.

Aisha was exonerated from accusations when Muhammad announced he had received a revelation confirming Aisha's innocence and directing that charges of adultery be supported by four eyewitnesses.

Whoever in Arabia wishes to enter into a treaty or covenant with Muhammad can do so, and whoever wishes to enter into a treaty or covenant with the Quraysh can do so.

Muhammad evaded them by taking a more difficult route, enabling his followers to reach al-Hudaybiyya just outside Mecca.

Muhammad called upon the pilgrims to make a pledge not to flee if the situation descended into war with Mecca.

Muhammad sent messengers to Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire, Khosrau of Persia, the chief of Yemen and to some others.

Muhammad declared an amnesty for past offences, except for ten men and women who were "guilty of murder or other offences or had sparked off the war and disrupted the peace".

Muhammad defeated the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes in the Battle of Hunayn.

Muhammad ordered the destruction of any remaining pagan idols in Eastern Arabia.

Muhammad refused to accept the city's surrender until they agreed to convert to Islam and allowed men to destroy the statue of their goddess Al-Lat.

In 632, at the end of the tenth year after migration to Medina, Muhammad completed his first true Islamic pilgrimage, setting precedent for the annual Great Pilgrimage, known as Hajj.

Muhammad abolished old blood feuds and disputes based on the former tribal system and asked for old pledges to be returned as implications of the creation of the new Islamic community.

Muhammad addressed the issue of inheritance by forbidding false claims of paternity or of a client relationship to the deceased and forbade his followers to leave their wealth to a testamentary heir.

Muhammad upheld the sacredness of four lunar months in each year.

When Saud bin Abdul-Aziz took Medina in 1805, Muhammad's tomb was stripped of its gold and jewel ornamentation.

Adherents to Wahhabism, Saud's followers, destroyed nearly every tomb dome in Medina in order to prevent their veneration, and the one of Muhammad is reported to have narrowly escaped.

Muhammad united several of the tribes of Arabia into a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the last years of his life.

Muhammad's message transformed society and moral orders of life in the Arabian Peninsula; society focused on the changes to perceived identity, world view, and the hierarchy of values.

The Quran requires payment of an alms tax for the benefit of the poor; as Muhammad's power grew he demanded that tribes who wished to ally with him implement the zakat in particular.

Muhammad was middle-sized, did not have lank or crisp hair, was not fat, had a white circular face, wide black eyes, and long eye-lashes.

Muhammad had the "seal of prophecy" between his shoulder blades.

Muhammad was taller than middling stature but shorter than conspicuous tallness.

Muhammad had a wide forehead, and fine, long, arched eyebrows which did not meet.

Muhammad's neck was like the neck of an ivory statue, with the purity of silver.

Muhammad was proportionate, stout, firm-gripped, even of belly and chest, broad-chested and broad-shouldered.

The "seal of prophecy" between Muhammad's shoulders is generally described as having been a type of raised mole the size of a pigeon's egg.

Muhammad was not marred by a skinny body, nor was he overly small in the head and neck.

Muhammad was graceful and elegant, with intensely black eyes and thick eyelashes.

Muhammad's beard was thick, and his eyebrows were finely arched and joined together.

Muhammad was from afar the most beautiful of men and the most glorious, and close up he was the sweetest and the loveliest.

Muhammad was sweet of speech and articulate, but not petty or trifling.

Muhammad's speech was a string of cascading pearls, measured so that none despaired of its length, and no eye challenged him because of brevity.

Muhammad has friends surrounding him, who listen to his words.

Muhammad's life is traditionally defined into two periods: pre-hijra in Mecca, and post-hijra in Medina.

Muhammad is said to have had thirteen wives in total.

At the age of 25, Muhammad married the wealthy Khadijah bint Khuwaylid who was 40 years old.

Muhammad did not enter into marriage with another woman during this marriage.

Muhammad is said to have asked for arrangements to marry both.

Muhammad performed household chores such as preparing food, sewing clothes, and repairing shoes.

Muhammad is said to have had accustomed his wives to dialogue; he listened to their advice, and the wives debated and even argued with him.

Zayd ibn Haritha was a slave that Muhammad bought, freed, and then adopted as his son.

Every Muslim proclaims in Shahadah: "I testify that there is no god but God, and I testify that Muhammad is a Messenger of God".

In Islamic belief, Muhammad is regarded as the last prophet sent by God.

Western historian of Islam Denis Gril believes the Quran does not overtly describe Muhammad performing miracles, and the supreme miracle of Muhammad is identified with the Quran itself.

The Sunnah represents actions and sayings of Muhammad and covers a broad array of activities and beliefs ranging from religious rituals, personal hygiene, and burial of the dead to the mystical questions involving the love between humans and God.

Muhammad's birthday is celebrated as a major feast throughout the Islamic world, excluding Wahhabi-dominated Saudi Arabia where these public celebrations are discouraged.

Muslim mystics, known as sufis, who were seeking for the inner meaning of the Quran and the inner nature of Muhammad, viewed the prophet of Islam not only as a prophet but as a perfect human being.

Muhammad rejects the common view that Muhammad is an impostor and argues that the Quran proffers "the most sublime truths of cult and morals"; it defines the unity of God with an "admirable concision".

Watt says that sincerity does not directly imply correctness: in contemporary terms, Muhammad might have mistaken his subconscious for divine revelation.

Alford T Welch holds that Muhammad was able to be so influential and successful because of his firm belief in his vocation.

Druze tradition honors several "mentors" and "prophets", and Muhammad is considered an important prophet of God in the Druze faith, being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history.

Criticism of Muhammad has existed since the 7th century, when Muhammad was decried by his non-Muslim Arab contemporaries for preaching monotheism, and by the Jewish tribes of Arabia for his perceived appropriation of Biblical narratives and figures and proclamation of himself as the "Seal of the Prophets".