بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Messenger of Allah
Upon him be blessings and peace
Upon him be blessings and peace
He is Muhammad (ﷺ), the Messenger of Allah.
His father is 'Abdullah, son of Abdul-Muttalib, son of Hashim, from the Quraish tribe of Arabia.
He has multiple names and descriptions indicative of his nobility and excellence, and among them are:
Muhammad (the praised one)
Ahmad (the praiseworthy)
Abu al-Qasim (the father of al-Qasim)
as-Sadiq (the truthful)
al-Amin (the trustworthy)
Allah describes his Prophet (ﷺ) in the Quran with beautiful epithets, and among them are:
RasooluLlah (the Messenger of Allah)
An-Nabiyy (the Prophet)
Khatimun-Nabiyyeen (the Seal of the Prophets)
Rahmatun lil-'alameen (a great mercy for the worlds)
al-Mubashshir (the bringer of glad tidings)
an-Nadheer (the warner)
We, his followers, often refer to him as sayyiduna (our master/leader). May countless blessings and abundant peace be upon our master Muhammad and his folk.
He (ﷺ) was born on Monday in the month of Rabi'ul-Awwal in the Year of the Elephant (~570 CE). His father 'Abdullah passed away before he was born. His mother Aminah passed away when he was six.
He (ﷺ) stayed in the care of his grandfather 'Abdul-Muttalib until 8 years of age, then he was taken care of by his paternal uncle Abu Talib.
During his adolescence, he (ﷺ) worked as a shepherd, and he also worked as a merchant in his early twenties. He was known for his uprightness and character.
He (ﷺ) married Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her). They lived together for 25 years, she was the first to believe in him when the prophethood came. She bore him six children.
May Allah bless the messenger and his family and grant them peace.
He (ﷺ) was married to Khadijah until she passed away. He also married Sawdah, 'Aishah, Hafsah, Zaynab bint Khuzaymah, Umm Habibah, Umm Salamah, Zaynab bint Jahsh, Maymunah, Juwayriyyah, and Safiyyah. The wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) are called the mothers of the believers.
We consider Khadijah and 'Aishah to be the best among the wives, as Khadijah supported him (ﷺ) like no one else during the early stage of prophethood, and 'Aisha was a prodigy who became one of the most illustrious scholars of Islam.
The Prophet (ﷺ) had three sons and 4 daughters. The sons are Al-Qasim, Abdullah, and Ibrahim, and the daughters are Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah. All of them had passed away before he (ﷺ) did except for Fatimah, who passed away six months after the Prophet (ﷺ).
May Allah bless the messenger, his family, and companions, and grant them peace.
He (ﷺ) was known as the most trustworthy of his people. They called him As-Sadiq (the truthful) and al-Ameen (the trustworthy).
He (ﷺ) never worshipped idols, rather he practiced monotheism and would often retreat from his people to contemplate.
He received the revelation at the age of 40 in the month of Ramadan.
His mission lasted for 23 years, out of which he (ﷺ) stayed in Mecca for 13 years conveying the message that there is no god but Allah, the Creator of all things. Meccan idol-worshippers rejected the message, mocked, and persecuted the messenger (ﷺ) and the few followers he had. Then he (ﷺ) migrated to Madinah where he spent another 10 years ruling the city and organizing its people affairs. By the end of his prophetic mission all of Arabia accepted Islam.
When mentioning the messenger by name, we ask Allah to grant him blessings and peace.
Allah most High says in His Book:
Verily, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him, and salute him with worthy greetings of peace. [Qur’an, 33:56]
Scholars concluded from this ayah, that it is obligatory (fard) for every Muslim to ask Allah to bless the Prophet (ﷺ) at least once in person’s lifetime. It is also considered mandatory (wajib) to send salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ whenever a person hears his blessed name.
The Prophet (ﷺ) is reported to say:
"The miser is the one in whose presence I am mentioned but he does not supplicate for me." [Tirmidhi]
Therefore, when mentioning the Prophet (ﷺ), we put the following symbol in Arabic "ﷺ" in our articles, which has the following words:
صلّى ٱللَّه عليه وسلّم - "May Allah bless him and grant him peace".