Full Name and Lineage
Full name: "Abū Al-Qāsim" Muḥammad bin ʿAbdullah b. ʿAbd Al-Muṭṭalib ﷺ.
Full patrilineal lineage:
Muḥammad b. ʿAbd-Allah b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib b. Hāshim b. ʿAbd Manāf b. Quṣayy b. Kilāb b. Murrah b. Kaʿb b. Luʾayy b. Ghālib b. Fihr b. Mālik b. al-Naḍr b. Kinānah b. Khuzaymah b. Mudrikah b. Ilyās b. Muḍar b. Nizār b. Maʿadd b. ʿAdnān.[1]
Titles and Epithets
The Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ is acknowledged by various titles and epithets. The following list provides a selection of some of these appellations.
- Muḥammad[2]
- Aḥmad[3]
- Nabī (Prophet)[4]
- Rasūl (Messenger)[5]
- Khātam al-Nabiyyīn (Seal of the Prophets)[6]
- al-Nabiyy al-Ummī (The Unlettered Prophet)[7]
- Shāhid, Mubashshir, Nadhīr (Witness, Herald of glad tidings, and Forewarner)[8]
- Shahīd (Witness; Testimony)[9]
- Bashīr (Bearer of good news)[10]
- Mundhir (Warner)[11]
- Hād (Guide)[12]
- Dāʿī ilā Allāh (Caller to Allah)[13]
- Sirāj Munīr (Illuminating Beacon)[14]
- ʿAbd (Servant)[15]
- Ṣāḥib (Friend; Companion)[16]
- Raḥmah li al-ʿĀlamīn (Mercy for the Worlds)[17]
- Muddaththir (Mantled)[18]
- Muzzammil (Enshrouded; Swathed in cloth)[19]
- Raʾūf & Raḥīm (Empathetic; Compassionate and Merciful)[20]
- Karīm (Noble)[21]
- Mudhakkir (Remembrancer)[22]
- Munādī (Harbinger)[23]
- Muslim (Submitter)[24]
- Sājid (One who prostrates)[25]
- Mujāhid (Crusader)[26]
- Mustaghfir (Seeker of Forgiveness)[27]
- ʿAbd-Allāh[28]
- Awwal (The First)[29]
- Bayyinah (Clear Proof)[30]
- Burhān (Apodictic Proof)[31]
- Rajul (Man)[32]
- Ṭāhā[33]
- Yā Sīn[34]
- Ḥamīd/Maḥmūd (Praiser and Praiseworthy)[35][36]
- ʿAzīz/Sayyid/Qādir (Mighty, Leader, Powerful)[37][38]
- al-Māḥī (The Effacer; Eradicator of Disbelief)[39]
- al-Ḥāshir (The Assembler)[40]
- al-ʿĀqib (The Final Prophet)[41]
- al-Muqaffā (Leader; Preeminently Followed)[42]
- Nabī al-Tawbah (The Prophet of Repentance)[43]
- Nabī al-Raḥmah (The Prophet of Mercy)[44]
- Nabī al-Malḥamah (The Prophet of the Battlefront)[45]
- Mutawakkil (The Trustful Prophet)[46]
Early Life
Birth
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Muḥaddithūn and Islamic historians unanimously agree that the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ was born in the Year of the Elephant, approximately fifty days after its eponymous incident.[47] His birth ﷺ is attributed to either the 8th or 12th day of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar (April, 570 CE).[48][49][50]
The Prophet ﷺ was born to ʿAbd-Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and Āminah b. Wahb. His father, ʿAbd-Allāh, passed away a few months before his blessed birth,[51] and his mother passed away when he was six years old.[52] For most of these first six years, the Prophet ﷺ lived under the care of Ḥalīmah al-Saʿdiyyah, his foster mother, amidst the Banū Saʿd.[53]
At around four years of age, the Prophet ﷺ was visited by the angel Jibrīl ﵇ (Gabriel), who wrestled him to the ground, split his chest, and removed a black sliver from his heart. Thereafter, the archangel washed his heart with Zamzam, placed it back in his chest cavity, and then resealed his chest.[54]
The entire paranormal event frightened Ḥalīmah, who returned the Prophet ﷺ to Āminah. Āminah would thereafter care for the Prophet ﷺ until her passing in either Abwāʾ, a small oasis in between Makkah and Madīnah, or in Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ was now, effectively, an orphan.
After his mother's passing, the Prophet ﷺ was embraced by his grandfather, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, with whom he remained until eight years of age, when ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib passed away.
After his grandfather's passing, the Prophet ﷺ was adopted by his paternal uncle, Abū Ṭālib, who would care for him until he ﷺ was 50 years old.
Upbringing
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He was suckled by his mother Āminah for a few days, then he was suckled by Thuwaybah ﵂. Then he was suckled by Ḥalīmah.
- ↑ Kāndhalwī, Muḥammad Idrīs. Seeratul Mustafa (Abridged). Translated by Muhammad Kadwa and Mahomed Mahomedy. 2nd ed. Isipingo Beach, South Africa: Jamiatul Ulama (KZN), 2015. Page 1. For a longer, more detailed lineage, see here.
- ↑ (مُّحَمَّدࣱ رَّسُولُ ٱللَّهِۚ) - Sūrah al-Fatḥ: Verse 29
- ↑ (وَمُبَشِّرَۢا بِرَسُولࣲ یَأۡتِی مِنۢ بَعۡدِی ٱسۡمُهُۥۤ أَحۡمَدُۖ) - Sūrah al-Ṣaff: Verse 6
- ↑ (یَـٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلنَّبِیُّ) - Sūrah al-Anfāl, Verse 64, among other locations
- ↑ (یَـٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلرَّسُولُ) - Sūrah al-Māʾidah: Verse 41
- ↑ (وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِیِّـۧنَۗ) - Sūrah al-Aḥzāb: Verse 40
- ↑ (ٱلنَّبِیَّ ٱلۡأُمِّیَّ) - Sūrah al-Aʿrāf: Verse 157
- ↑ (شَـٰهِدࣰا وَمُبَشِّرࣰا وَنَذِیرࣰا) - Sūrah al-Aḥzāb: Verse 45
- ↑ (عَلَىٰ هَـٰۤؤُلَاۤءِ شَهِیدࣰا) - Sūrah al-Nisāʾ: Verse 41
- ↑ (بَشِیرࣰا) - Sūrah al-Baqarah: Verse 119
- ↑ (إِنَّمَاۤ أَنتَ مُنذِرࣱۖ) - Sūrah al-Raʿd: Verse 7
- ↑ (وَلِكُلِّ قَوۡمٍ هَادٍ) - Sūrah al-Raʿd: Verse 7
- ↑ (وَدَاعِیًا إِلَى ٱللَّهِ) - Sūrah al-Aḥzāb: Verse 46
- ↑ (وَسِرَاجࣰا مُّنِیرࣰا) - Sūrah al-Aḥzāb: Verse 46
- ↑ (وَإِن كُنتُمۡ فِی رَیۡبࣲ مِّمَّا نَزَّلۡنَا عَلَىٰ عَبۡدِنَا) - Sūrah al-Baqarah: Verse 23 (وَمَاۤ أَنزَلۡنَا عَلَىٰ عَبۡدِنَا) - Sūrah al-Anfāl: Verse 41 (أَسۡرَىٰ بِعَبۡدِهِۦ) - Sūrah al-Isrāʾ: Verse 1 (ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِیۤ أَنزَلَ عَلَىٰ عَبۡدِهِ) - Sūrah al-Kahf: Verse 1
- ↑ (مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمۡ) - Sūrah al-Najm: Verse 2
- ↑ (وَمَاۤ أَرۡسَلۡنَـٰكَ إِلَّا رَحۡمَةࣰ لِّلۡعَـٰلَمِینَ) - Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ: Verse 107
- ↑ (یَـٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلۡمُدَّثِّرُ) - Sūrah al-Muddaththir: Verse 1
- ↑ (یَـٰۤأَیُّهَا ٱلۡمُزَّمِّلُ) - Sūrah al-Muzzammil: Verse 1
- ↑ (رَءُوفࣱ رَّحِیمࣱ) - Sūrah al-Baqarah: Verse 143
- ↑ (رَسُولࣲ كَرِیمࣲ) - al-Ḥāqqah: Verse 40. The term “رَسُولࣱ كَرِیمٌ” also appears in Sūrah al-Dukhān: Verse 17, but in the context of Mūsā (عليه السلام).
- ↑ (فَذَكِّرۡ إِنَّمَاۤ أَنتَ مُذَكِّرࣱ) - Sūrah al-Ghāshiyah: Verse 21
- ↑ (رَّبَّنَاۤ إِنَّنَا سَمِعۡنَا مُنَادِیࣰا یُنَادِی لِلۡإِیمَـٰنِ) - Sūrah Āl ʿImrān: Verse 193
- ↑ (وَأُمِرۡتُ أَنۡ أَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِینَ) - Sūrah Yūnus: Verse 72
- ↑ (وَكُن مِّنَ ٱلسَّـٰجِدِینَ) - Sūrah al-Ḥijr: Verse 98
- ↑ (جَـٰهِدِ ٱلۡكُفَّارَ وَٱلۡمُنَـٰفِقِینَ) - Sūrah al-Tawbah: Verse 73; Sūrah al-Taḥrīm: Verse 9
- ↑ (وَٱسۡتَغۡفِرۡ لِذَنۢبِكَ) - Sūrah Muḥammad: Verse 19
- ↑ (وَأَنَّهُۥ لَمَّا قَامَ عَبۡدُ ٱللَّهِ یَدۡعُوهُ كَادُوا۟ یَكُونُونَ عَلَیۡهِ لِبَدࣰا) - Sūrah al-Jinn: Verse 19
- ↑ (وَأُمِرۡتُ لِأَنۡ أَكُونَ أَوَّلَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِینَ) - Sūrah al-Zumar: Verse 12
- ↑ (حَتَّىٰ تَأۡتِیَهُمُ ٱلۡبَیِّنَةُ) - Sūrah al-Bayyinah: Verse 1
- ↑ (قَدۡ جَاۤءَكُم بُرۡهَـٰنࣱ) - Sūrah al-Nisāʾ: Verse 174
- ↑ (أَوۡحَیۡنَاۤ إِلَىٰ رَجُلࣲ مِّنۡهُمۡ) - Sūrah Yūnus: Verse 2
- ↑ (طه) - Sūrah Ṭāhā: Verse 1
- ↑ (یسۤ) - Sūrah Yā Sīn: Verse 1
- ↑ (حم) - Sūrah al-Ghāfir, al-Sajdah, al-Shūrā, al-Zukhruf, al-Dukhān, al-Jāthiyah, and al-Aḥqāf
- ↑ While such verses are arcane, known only to Allah and those who He inspires with such knowledge, some scholars have offered explanations for what these verses may denote. According to Fayrūzabādī in his Baṣāʾir Dhawī al-Tamyīz (Illuminations of the Insightful), the verse "حمۤ" is an abbreviation for two names of Rasūl-Allāh ﷺ. See: Fayrūzabādī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb. Baṣāʾir Dhawī Al-Tamyīz. Vol. 6. Cairo, Egypt: al-Majlis al-Aʿlā li al-Shuʾūn al-Islāmiyyah, 1973. Page 13.
- ↑ (عسق) - [Sūrah al-Shūrā: Verse 2]
- ↑ See: Fayrūzabādī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb. Baṣāʾir Dhawī Al-Tamyīz. Vol. 6. Cairo, Egypt: al-Majlis al-Aʿlā li al-Shuʾūn al-Islāmiyyah, 1973. Page 13.
- ↑ Qushayrī, Muslim b. Al-Ḥajjāj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Edited by Nazr b. Muḥammad Fāriyābī. Cairo, Egypt: Dār Ṭībah, 2006. Kitāb al-Faḍāʾil. Page 1105. Ḥadīth 2354.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid. Page 1106. Ḥadīth 2355.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Bustī, Muḥammad b. Ḥibbān. Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: al-Musnad al-Ṣaḥīḥ ʿalā al-Taqāsīm Wa al-Anwāʿ. 1st ed. Vol. 7. Beirut, Lebanon: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012. Page 777. Ḥadīth 7434.
- ↑ Bukhārī, Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Damascus, Syria: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 2002. Page 274. Ḥadīth 1130.
- ↑ Zarqānī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Bāqī. Sharḥ Al-ʿAllāmah al-Zarqānī: ʿalā al-Mawāhib al-Ladunniyyah Bi al-Minaḥ al-Muḥammadiyyah Li al-ʿAllāmah al-Qasṭalānī. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Al-Kotob Al-ilmiyah (DKI), 2012. Pages 243-244.
- ↑ Qasṭallānī says the 8th is the more likely birthdate. He attributes this opinion to most muḥaddithūn and historians 'who are knowledgeable in the field,' as well as Ibn ʿAbbās and Jubayr b. Muṭʿim. Zarqānī, Muḥammad. Sharḥ Al-ʿAllāmah al-Zarqānī. Pages 246-247.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr says the 12th is the more accurate opinion. He cites a ḥadīth in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim to support his viewpoint in this regard, narrated by Ibn ʿAbbās. Damishqī, Ibn Kathīr. Dhikr Mawlid Al-Nabī Wa Raḍāʿih. PDF. Edited by Maḥmūd al-Arnāʾūṭ, n.d. Pages 134-135
- ↑ For the academic discussion on Rasūl-Allāh's ﷺ date of birth, see here.
- ↑ Damishqī, Ibn Kathīr. Dhikr Mawlid Al-Nabī Wa Raḍāʿih. Page 139.
- ↑ Dimashqī, Ismāʿīl B. Kathīr. Al-Bidāyah Wa al-Nihāyah. Edited by Bashshār ʿAwwād and Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūt. Vol. 2. Qatar: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 2010. Page 63.
- ↑ Al-Mubarakpuri, Safiur Rahman. The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet ﷺ. First Edition. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Dar-us-Salam Publications, 1996. Page 59.
- ↑ Qushayrī, Muslim b. Al-Ḥajjāj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Kitāb al-Īmān. Page 87. Ḥadīth 261.