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Chapter 3 — The Prophet of Islam

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In the last chapter, we saw the world before Islam — a world of buried daughters, broken justice, and forgotten truth. The people of Arabia had turned away from the message of Ibrāhīm عليه السلام and filled the Kaʿbah with idols. But Allah (SWT) had not abandoned them. He was preparing something that would change not just Arabia, but the entire world.

This is the story of the man chosen to carry that message — the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

🕊 A Child Born to a World Waiting

In the city of Makkah, in the tribe of Quraysh, there was a respected clan called Banū Hāshim. They were known among the Arabs for their honourable character and for their role as caretakers of the pilgrims who visited the Kaʿbah each year.

It was into this family that Muhammad ﷺ was born, around the year 570 CE — a year the Arabs remembered as the Year of the Elephant (ʿĀm al-Fīl). That was the year an Abyssinian army led by a commander named Abrahah had marched toward Makkah with a great elephant, intending to destroy the Kaʿbah. But Allah (SWT) protected His House. The Qur'an records this event:

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ ﴿١﴾ أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِي تَضْلِيلٍ ﴿٢﴾ وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ ﴿٣﴾ تَرْمِيهِمْ بِحِجَارَةٍ مِنْ سِجِّيلٍ ﴿٤﴾ فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَأْكُولٍ ﴿٥﴾ "Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the People of the Elephant? Did He not make their plan go astray? He sent against them birds in flocks, striking them with stones of baked clay, and He made them like eaten straw."

— Surah Al-Fīl 105:1–5

The Prophet ﷺ was born into a world that desperately needed guidance — and into a family that, despite living among idols, still carried traces of the legacy of Ibrāhīm عليه السلام.

His father, ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, died before Muhammad ﷺ was born — some reports say before his birth, others say shortly after. Either way, the child never knew his father. From the very beginning, the Prophet's ﷺ life was shaped by loss.

🌙 The Orphan Who Was Never Alone

According to the custom of Makkah, newborn children from noble families were sent to live with Bedouin families in the desert, where the air was cleaner and the Arabic spoken was considered the purest. Islamic tradition records that the infant Muhammad ﷺ was taken in by a woman named Ḥalīmah as-Saʿdiyyah, who nursed and cared for him during his early years.

When he returned to Makkah, he was still a young child. His mother, Āminah bint Wahb, died when he was about six years old. The Qur'an would later speak directly to him about this time:

أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَىٰ ﴿٦﴾ وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَىٰ ﴿٧﴾ وَوَجَدَكَ عَائِلًا فَأَغْنَىٰ ﴿٨﴾ "Did He not find you an orphan and give you refuge? And He found you lost and guided you. And He found you in need and made you self-sufficient."

— Surah Aḍ-Ḍuḥā 93:6–8

After Āminah's death, his grandfather ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib — who was the chief of Banū Hāshim and one of the most respected men in Makkah — took care of him. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib loved his grandson deeply. But he too passed away, when Muhammad ﷺ was about eight years old.

The boy then came under the care of his uncle, Abū Ṭālib. Though Abū Ṭālib was not wealthy, he raised Muhammad ﷺ alongside his own children and treated him with kindness and protection. He would continue to protect his nephew for decades — even after the message of Islam brought danger and opposition.

⭐ Al-Amīn — The One They Trusted

As Muhammad ﷺ grew older, the people of Makkah began to notice something about him. In a society where cheating in trade was common, where tribal rivalries led to bloodshed, and where the powerful took advantage of the weak — this young man was different.

He was known for honesty in what he said, for keeping his word, and for dealing fairly in his business. When people had a disagreement, they often came to him to settle it, trusting his judgment to be fair.

The people of Makkah gave him two names that tell us everything about who he was: al-Amīn (الْأَمِين) — the Trustworthy — and aṣ-Ṣādiq (الصَّادِق) — the Truthful. These were not titles he claimed for himself. They were names his own community gave him, years before he ever spoke a word about prophethood.

As a young man, he worked as a shepherd — a profession shared by many of the prophets before him. The Prophet ﷺ himself later said:

"There was no prophet who was not a shepherd."

— Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī

He also travelled with trade caravans, learning the ways of different peoples and seeing the world beyond Makkah. On one of these journeys, he travelled with his uncle Abū Ṭālib to Syria — a journey that sīrah sources describe as an important early experience, though the details come from traditional accounts rather than authenticated narrations.

There is one well-known event from his younger years that shows exactly the kind of man he was. When the Quraysh were rebuilding the Kaʿbah after a flood had damaged it, a dispute broke out over which clan would have the honour of placing the sacred Black Stone (al-Ḥajar al-Aswad) back into its corner. The argument grew so heated that the clans nearly came to blows.

They agreed to let the next person who entered the courtyard decide. That person was Muhammad ﷺ. He placed the Black Stone on a cloth, asked a representative from each clan to hold an edge, and together they lifted it into place. Then he set the stone in its position with his own hands.

Sīrah sources record this story as an example of his wisdom and fairness — a man who solved problems without creating winners and losers.

وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ "And you are truly of outstanding character."

— Surah Al-Qalam 68:4

💍 Khadījah

Among the merchants of Makkah was a woman named Khadījah bint Khuwaylid (رضي الله عنها). She was a successful businesswoman who managed her own trade caravans — something unusual in that society. She was respected for her intelligence, her dignity, and her good judgment.

When Khadījah (رضي الله عنها) heard about Muhammad's ﷺ reputation for honesty, she hired him to lead one of her trade caravans to Syria. He returned with excellent profits and an account of fair and honest dealing throughout the journey. Khadījah (رضي الله عنها) was deeply impressed — not only by his business skill, but by the kind of man he was.

She sent a proposal of marriage to him. He accepted. According to the most widely transmitted accounts, he was about 25 years old and she was about 40. Their marriage would last about 25 years, until her death — and during all that time, he did not marry anyone else.

Khadījah (رضي الله عنها) was far more than a wife. She was his closest companion, his advisor, and the first person to believe in him when the revelation came. Through the difficult years of his early mission, she remained his steady support.

The Prophet ﷺ never forgot her. Years after her death, he continued to mention her often. In a narration recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) — his later wife — said that she was never as jealous of any of the Prophet's ﷺ other wives as she was of Khadījah (رضي الله عنها), simply because of how often he spoke of her and remembered her goodness.

🕯 The First Words

As Muhammad ﷺ grew older, he was drawn to solitude and reflection. He began spending time alone in a small cave called Ḥirāʾ (غَار حِرَاء), on a mountain overlooking Makkah. There he would stay for days at a time, engaged in quiet worship and contemplation. Sīrah sources suggest he was troubled by the idol worship and injustice around him — but what is confirmed in the authenticated narration is that he was given a love of being alone, away from the noise of the city.

Then, in the month of Ramaḍān, in the year 610 CE — when he was about 40 years old — something happened that would change the course of human history.

The angel Jibrīl عليه السلام came to him in the cave. The narration, reported by ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها) and recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, tells us what happened next.

Jibrīl عليه السلام seized him and pressed him tightly, then released him and said: "Read!"

Muhammad ﷺ replied: "I cannot read."

The angel pressed him again, tightly, until he could barely endure it, then released him and said again: "Read!"

Again he answered: "I cannot read."

A third time the angel pressed him, then released him and said:

اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ ﴿١﴾ خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ ﴿٢﴾ اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ ﴿٣﴾ الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ ﴿٤﴾ عَلَّمَ الْإِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ ﴿٥﴾ "Read, in the name of your Lord who created — created man from a clinging substance. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous — who taught by the pen — taught man that which he did not know."

— Surah Al-ʿAlaq 96:1–5

These were the first words of the Qur'an ever revealed.

Muhammad ﷺ came down from the mountain trembling. He went straight to Khadījah (رضي الله عنها) and told her what had happened. He was shaken and uncertain.

Her response, recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, tells us exactly who she was:

She said: "By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your family, you bear the burden of the weak, you help the poor, you honour your guests, and you assist those struck by hardship."

Her response was immediate. She looked at his character — the life he had lived — and she saw that a man like this could only have been chosen for something true.

Khadījah (رضي الله عنها) became the first person to accept Islam. She believed in him before anyone else — before any friend, any relative, any tribesman.

She then took him to her cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, an elderly man who had studied earlier scriptures. When Waraqah heard what had happened, he told Muhammad ﷺ that the one who had come to him was the same angel who had come to Mūsā عليه السلام. He recognised the experience as revelation.

📜 Lesson Summary

Muhammad ﷺ was born in Makkah around 570 CE, into the clan of Banū Hāshim within the tribe of Quraysh. He lost his father before birth, his mother at the age of about six, and his grandfather at the age of about eight. He was raised by his uncle Abū Ṭālib with care and protection.

Even before prophethood, the people of Makkah recognised his extraordinary character. They called him al-Amīn (the Trustworthy) and aṣ-Ṣādiq (the Truthful). He worked as a shepherd and a trader, settling disputes with wisdom and earning the respect of everyone who knew him.

He married Khadījah (رضي الله عنها), a respected businesswoman, and their marriage was built on trust, mutual respect, and shared values. She would become the first person to accept Islam.

At the age of about 40, while reflecting in the Cave of Ḥirāʾ, the angel Jibrīl عليه السلام brought him the first words of the Qur'an — the opening ayat (verses) of Surah Al-ʿAlaq. The message that would transform the world had begun.

Allah (SWT) did not send a king, a general, or a wealthy ruler to deliver His message. He sent an orphan — a man who had known loss, who had worked with his hands, who had lived among his people with honesty and compassion. The Qur'an tells us why:

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ "We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds."

— Surah Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:107

🌟 Discussion Questions

Talk these over with a parent, a teacher, or a study partner before you begin the worksheet.