How honorable is Prophet Muhammad to his followers that they pray for him in the words "may peace and blessings of God be upon him" every time his name is mentioned.
The greatest prophet ever to live, Muhammad, was born in 571 at Mecca in Arabia. The city of Mecca had grown around an ancient holy site rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael, which came to be known as the Ka‘bah (literally meaning, "a cube").
His father died a few months before his birth. His mother died when he was 6 years old. He was cared for by his grandfather Abd-ul-Muttalib until he died two years later. His uncle, Abu Talib, then became his guardian.
In his teens, he joined an organization whose members pledged to help the disadvantaged and the oppressed. Due to his honesty and support of the oppressed, he came to be known in his city as the Truthful and the Trustworthy.
At age 25, he accepted a marriage proposal from a pious and wealthy trader Khadijah, 15 years senior to him.
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He preferred to spend his time in worship and meditation, retreating often to the cave of Ḥira near Mecca for days at a time to pray in solitude. He received his first revelation there when he was 40. His wife Khadijah, his close friend Abu Bakr, and his cousin Ali were some of the first people to accept his call to the religion of Islam that he was commanded to spread.
His fervor to spread the anti-idolatry message of equity and goodwill met with extreme opposition. He and his followers were severely persecuted. To escape the harassment in Mecca, a group of Muslims immigrated to the Christian state of Abyssinia in 615. Meccans declared a boycott of the Muslims and segregated them outside Mecca for three years. The year 619 brought great sorrow for Muḥammad. His uncle and protector, Abu Talib, and his wife, Khadijah, both died. They had stood by him during the early years of his call.
While the resistance to Islam in and around Mecca was relentless, he found acceptance of his message 250 miles to the north in Yathrib. A deputation from the town accepted Islam in 620. He migrated to Yathrib in 622, escaping Meccan persecution. Yathrib came to be known as Madinat-un-Nabi, that is "city of the prophet," abbreviated to Medina.
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Meccans followed the Muslims with swords to their new haven. Meccans were defeated in the Battle of Badr, but inflicted damage to the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud. Muslims continued spreading their message in spite of persecution and attacks culminating in the bloodless fall of Mecca to Muslims in 630. Muhammad entered the city at the head of “10,000 saints” fulfilling the Biblical prophecy about the advent of a prophet among the Ishmaelites (Deuteronomy 33:2, 18:15).
After Muḥammad passed away in 632, his longtime companion, Abu Bakr, was elected to lead the Muslims until 634, followed by Umar until 644, Uthman until 656, and his cousin Ali until 661.
