The Prophet of Islam
Islamic tradition records that Muhammad was born in Mecca and received his first revelation around the age of forty in the cave of Hira; the revelations he received over the following twenty-odd years were recorded as the Quran. Facing persecution for preaching in Mecca, he emigrated to Medina in 622 (the "Hijra," from which the Islamic calendar begins), and later led his followers back to Mecca and unified most of the Arabian Peninsula. Islamic tradition honors him as the "Seal of the Prophets," the last in the line of prophets including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. In keeping with Islamic tradition, prophets are not to be depicted in images, and this site uses no figurative symbol for him.
Islamic tradition records that Muhammad often went to meditate alone in the cave of Hira outside Mecca. Around 610, the angel Jibril (Gabriel) conveyed to him God’s first revelation — "recite in the name of your Lord who created." Revelations continued to descend over twenty-three years, gathered at last into the Quran.
In 622, facing persecution for his preaching in Mecca, Muhammad led his followers in emigration to Medina, known as the "Hijra" (migration). The Islamic calendar takes this year as its first. In Medina he established the first Muslim community and drew up the Constitution of Medina to harmonize the relations among the tribes.
In 630, Muhammad reclaimed Mecca almost without bloodshed, ordering the idols cleared from the Kaaba and restoring it as the center of monotheistic worship. Thereafter most of the Arabian Peninsula came under Islam, and two years later he died in Medina.
On who should lead the community after Muhammad’s death, Sunnis hold that the community should choose the worthy (whence the four Rightly Guided Caliphs), while Shias hold it should be a blood successor designated by the Prophet (beginning with Ali) — this dispute over succession is the historical starting point of the two great Islamic schools. This site states only the facts both sides acknowledge and makes no adjudication of legitimacy.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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