Muhammad was born an orphan in the year 570, a child whose father Abdullah died six months before his birth and whose mother Amina died when he was just six years old. This double loss placed him under the guardianship of his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib and later his uncle Abu Talib, the leader of the Banu Hashim clan within the Quraysh tribe. Despite his aristocratic lineage, the clan was experiencing a period of diminished prosperity, and young Muhammad worked as a shepherd before entering the caravan trade. His reputation for honesty earned him the title al-Amin, meaning the Trustworthy, a moniker that would later become central to his public identity. At the age of twenty-five, his business acumen attracted the attention of Khadija, a wealthy forty-year-old merchant who employed him to lead a caravan to Syria. Impressed by his competence and integrity, she proposed marriage to him, and he accepted, remaining monogamous with her until her death. This union provided him with the financial security and social standing necessary to pursue a life of spiritual solitude, often retreating to the cave of Hira on Mount Nur for days of prayer and meditation.
The Night of Power
In the year 610, at the age of forty, Muhammad experienced a transformative event in the cave of Hira that would alter the course of history. According to tradition, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him, commanding him to read verses that Muhammad, being illiterate, could not recite. The encounter was so intense that Gabriel reportedly choked him three times until the words were forced into his memory, forming the opening verses of the Quran. Terrified and shaken, Muhammad fled the cave, believing he had been visited by a jinn or a demon, and climbed the mountain to end his life. However, a second vision of a transcendent presence reassured him of his prophethood. He returned to Khadija, who wrapped him in a cloak and validated his experience, followed by her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, a Christian scholar who confirmed that Muhammad had received the same divinity that had come to Moses. This initial period of revelation was marked by silence and fear, with Muhammad confiding only in Khadija, his cousin Ali, and his friend Abu Bakr. The early verses focused on the imminence of judgment, the punishment of the wicked, and the rewards of the faithful, establishing a tone of urgency and divine authority that would define his message.The Siege of the City
By 613, Muhammad began preaching publicly in Mecca, challenging the polytheistic beliefs of the Quraysh and denouncing their social hierarchy. His message of monotheism and social justice attracted the marginalized, including women, slaves, and freedmen, while the elite of Mecca viewed him as a threat to their economic and religious power. The Quraysh leaders, led by figures like Abu Jahl, attempted to silence him through ridicule, economic boycotts, and physical threats. In 616, a social and economic boycott was imposed on the Banu Hashim clan, forcing Muhammad and his followers into a narrow pass in Mecca for three years. The situation became so dire that the clan members were reduced to eating leaves, yet they refused to renounce their faith. The death of Khadija and Abu Talib in 619, known as the Year of Sorrow, left Muhammad vulnerable to renewed persecution. He traveled to Ta'if seeking protection, only to be stoned and driven out by the townspeople. In his despair, he prayed to God, and it was during this period of isolation that the Isra and Mi'raj, the Night Journey and Ascension, are believed to have occurred, transporting him from Mecca to Jerusalem and then to the heavens to receive divine instructions.