Muhammad Abū al - Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al - Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim ( ; 570 – 8 June 632 ) , also transliterated as Muhammad ( ) , was a religious , political , and military leader from Mecca who unified Arabia into a single religious polity under Islam . He is believed by Muslims and Bahá ' í s to be a messenger and prophet of God . Muhammad is almost universally considered by Muslims as the last prophet sent by God for mankind . While non - Muslims regard Muhammad to have been the founder of Islam , Muslims consider him to have been the restorer of an unaltered original monotheistic faith of Adam , Noah , Abraham , Moses , Jesus , and other prophets . Born in about 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca , Muhammad was orphaned at an early age and brought up under the care of his uncle Abu Talib . He later worked mostly as a merchant , as well as a shepherd , and was first married by age 25 . Being in the habit of periodically retreating to a cave in the surrounding mountains for several nights of seclusion and prayer , he later reported that it was there , at age 40 , that he received his first revelation from God . Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly , proclaiming that " God is One " , that complete " surrender " to Him ( lit . " islām " ) is the only way ( " dīn " ) acceptable to God , and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God , in the same vein as other Islamic prophets . Muhammad gained few followers early on , and was met with hostility from some Meccan tribes . To escape persecution , Muhammad sent some of his followers to Abyssinia before he and his followers in Mecca migrated to Medina ( then known as Yathrib ) in the year 622 . This event , the Hijra , marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar , which is also known as the Hijri Calendar . In Medina , Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina . After eight years of fighting with the Meccan tribes , his followers , who by then had grown to 10 , 000 , took control of Mecca in the largely peaceful Conquest of Mecca . He destroyed the pagan idols in the city and then sent his followers out to destroy all of the remaining pagan temples in Eastern Arabia . In 632 , a few months after returning to Medina from The Farewell Pilgrimage , Muhammad fell ill and died . By the time of his death , most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam , and he had united Arabia into a single Muslim religious polity . The revelations ( or " Ayah " , lit . " Signs [ of God ] " ) — which Muhammad reported receiving until his death – form the verses of the Quran , regarded by Muslims as the " Word of God " and around which the religion is based . Besides the Quran , Muhammad ' s life ( " sira " ) and traditions ( " sunnah " ) are also upheld by Muslims as the sources of sharia law . They discuss Muhammad and other prophets of Islam with reverence , adding the phrase " peace be upon him " whenever their names are mentioned . While conceptions of Muhammad in medieval Christendom and premodern times were largely negative , appraisals in modern history have been far less so . Names and appellations in the Quran . The name " Muhammad " means " Praiseworthy " and occurs four times in the Quran . The Quran addresses Muhammad in the second person not by his name but by the appellations prophet , messenger , servant of God ( " ' abd " ) , announcer ( " bashir " ) , witness ( " shahid " ) , bearer of good tidings ( " mubashshir " ) , warner ( " nathir " ) , reminder ( " mudhakkir " ) , one who calls [ unto God ] ( " dā ‘ ī " ) , light personified ( " noor " ) , and the light - giving lamp ( " siraj munir " ) . Muhammad is sometimes addressed by designations deriving from his state at the time of the address : thus he is referred to as the enwrapped ( " al - muzzammil " ) in Quran and the shrouded ( " al - muddaththir " ) in Quran . In the Quran , believers are not to distinguish between the messengers of God and are to believe in all of them ( Sura Al - Baqara ) . God has caused some messengers to excel above others and in Sura Al - Ahzab He singles out Muhammad as the " Seal of the Prophets " . The Quran also refers to Muhammad as " Aḥmad " " more praiseworthy " ( , Sura As - Saff ) . Sources for Muhammad ' s life . Quran . The Quran is the central religious text of Islam and Muslims believe that it represents the words of God revealed to Muhammad through the archangel Gabriel . Although it mentions Muhammad directly only four times , there are verses which can be interpreted as allusions to Muhammad ' s life . The Quran however provides little assistance for a chronological biography of Muhammad , and many of the utterances recorded in it lack historical context . Early biographies . Next in importance are historical works by writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries of the Muslim era ( AH – 8th and 9th century CE ) . These include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad ( the " sira " literature ) , which provide further information on Muhammad ' s life . The earliest surviving written " sira " ( biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him ) is Ibn Ishaq ' s " Life of God ' s Messenger " written c . 767 CE ( 150 AH ) . The work is lost , but was used verbatim at great length by Ibn Hisham and Al - Tabari . Another early source is the history of Muhammad ' s campaigns by al - Waqidi ( death 207 of Muslim era ) , and the work of his secretary Ibn Sa ' d al - Baghdadi ( death 230 of Muslim era ) . Many scholars accept the accuracy of the earliest biographies , though their accuracy is unascertainable . Recent studies have led scholars to distinguish between the traditions touching legal matters and the purely historical ones . In the former sphere , traditions could have been subject to invention while in the latter sphere , aside from exceptional cases , the material may have been only subject to " tendential shaping " . Hadith . In addition , the hadith collection s are accounts of the verbal and physical traditions of Muhammad that date from several generations after his death . Western academics view the hadith collections with caution as accurate historical sources . Scholars such as Madelung do not reject the narrations which have been compiled in later periods , but judge them in the context of history and on the basis of their compatibility with the events and figures . Pre - Islamic Arabia . The Arabian Peninsula was largely arid and volcanic , making agriculture difficult except near oases or springs . The landscape was thus dotted with towns and cities , two prominent ones being Mecca and Medina . Medina was a large flourishing agricultural settlement , while Mecca was an important financial center for many surrounding tribes . Communal life was essential for survival in the desert conditions , as people needed support against the harsh environment and lifestyle . Tribal grouping was encouraged by the need to act as a unit , this unity being based on the bond of kinship by blood . Indigenous Arabs were either nomadic or sedentary , the former constantly travelling from one place to another seeking water and pasture for their flocks , while the latter settled and focused on trade and agriculture . Nomadic survival was also dependent on raiding caravans or oases , the nomads not viewing this as a crime . Politically Arabia at the time was divided between two tribal confederations , the Banu Qais , loosely allied with Byzantium and who were originally powerful in Northern and Western Arabia , and the Banu Kalb , who had originally come from Yemen , and were loosely allied with Sassanid Persia . These rivalries were suppressed by Islam but continued to influence events in the Middle East and North Africa in post - Islamic times . In pre - Islamic Arabia , gods or goddesses were viewed as protectors of individual tribes , their spirits being associated with sacred trees , stones , springs and wells . As well as being the site of an annual pilgrimage , the Kaaba shrine in Mecca housed 360 idol statues of tribal patron deities . Three goddesses were associated with Allah as his daughters : Allāt , Manāt and al - ‘ Uzzá . Monotheistic communities existed in Arabia , including Christians and Jews . Hanif s – native pre - Islamic Arabs who " professed a rigid monotheism " – are also sometimes listed alongside Jews and Christians in pre - Islamic Arabia , although their historicity is disputed amongst scholars . According to Muslim tradition , Muhammad himself was a Hanif and one of the descendants of Ishmael , son of Abraham . Life . Life in Mecca . Muhammad was born in Mecca and lived there for roughly the first 52 years of his life ( c . 570 – 622 ) . This period is generally divided into two phases , before and after declaring the prophecy . Childhood and early life . Muhammad was born about the year 570 and his birthday is believed to be in the month of Rabi ' al - awwal . He belonged to the Banu Hashim clan , one of the prominent families of Mecca , although it seems not to have been prosperous during Muhammad ' s early lifetime . The Banu Hashim clan was part of the Quraysh tribe . Tradition places the year of Muhammad ' s birth as corresponding with the Year of the Elephant , which is named after the failed destruction of Mecca that year by the Aksumite king Abraha who had in his army a number of elephants . 20th - century scholarship has suggested alternative dates for this event , such as 568 or 569 . His father , Abdullah , died almost six months before Muhammad was born . According to Islamic tradition , soon after Muhammad ' s birth he was sent to live with a Bedouin family in the desert , as the desert life was considered healthier for infants . Muhammad stayed with his foster - mother , Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb , and her husband until he was two years old . Some western scholars of Islam have rejected the historicity of this tradition . At the age of six , Muhammad lost his biological mother Amina to illness and he became fully orphaned . For the next two years , he was under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather Abd al - Muttalib , of the Banu Hashim clan , but when Muhammad was eight , his grandfather also died . He then came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib , the new leader of Banu Hashim . According to Islamic historian William Montgomery Watt , because of the general disregard of the guardians in taking care of weak members of the tribes in Mecca in the 6th century , " Muhammad ' s guardians saw that he did not starve to death , but it was hard for them to do more for him , especially as the fortunes of the clan of Hashim seem to have been declining at that time . " While still in his teens , Muhammad accompanied his uncle on trading journeys to Syria gaining experience in commercial trade , the only career open to Muhammad as an orphan . Islamic tradition states that when Muhammad was either nine or twelve while accompanying the Meccans ' caravan to Syria , he met a Christian monk or hermit named Bahira who is said to have foreseen Muhammed ' s career as a prophet of God . Little is known of Muhammad during his later youth , and from the fragmentary information that is available , it is difficult to separate history from legend . It is known that he became a merchant and " was involved in trade between the $ 3 and the Mediterranean Sea . " Due to his upright character he acquired the nickname " al - Amin " ( Arabic : الامين ) , meaning " faithful , trustworthy " and " al - Sadiq " meaning " truthful " and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator . His reputation attracted a proposal in 595 from Khadijah , a 40 - year - old widow who was 15 years older than he . Muhammad consented to the marriage , which by all accounts was a happy one . Several years later , according to a narration collected by historian Ibn Ishaq , Muhammad was involved with a well - known story about setting the Black Stone in place in the wall of the Kaaba in 605 CE . The Black Stone , a sacred object , had been removed to facilitate renovations to the Kaaba . The leaders of Mecca could not agree on which clan should have the honour of setting the Black Stone back in its place . They agreed to wait for the next man to come through the gate and ask him to choose . That man was the 35 - year - old Muhammad , five years before his first revelation . He asked for a cloth and put the Black Stone in its centre . The clan leaders held the corners of the cloth and together carried the Black Stone to the right spot , then Muhammad set the stone in place , satisfying the honour of all . Beginnings of the Quran . Muhammad adopted the practice of praying alone for several weeks every year in a cave on Mount Hira near Mecca . Islamic tradition holds that during one of his visits to Mount Hira , the angel Gabriel appeared to him in the year 610 and commanded Muhammad to recite verses which would later be included in the Quran . After returning home , Muhammad was consoled and reassured by Khadijah and her Christian cousin , Waraqah ibn Nawfal . Upon receiving his first revelations , he was deeply distressed and resolved to commit suicide . He also feared that others would dismiss his claims as being possessed . Shi ' a tradition maintains that Muhammad was neither surprised nor frightened at the appearance of Gabriel but rather welcomed him as if he had been expecting him . The initial revelation was followed by a pause of three years during which Muhammad further gave himself to prayers and spiritual practice s . When the revelations resumed he was reassured and commanded to begin preaching : " Thy Guardian - Lord hath not forsaken thee , nor is He displeased . " Sahih Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing the revelations as " sometimes it is ( revealed ) like the ringing of a bell " . Aisha reported , " I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead ( as the Inspiration was over ) " . According to Welch these descriptions may be considered genuine , since they are unlikely to have been forged by later Muslims . Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages . According to the Quran , one of the main roles of Muhammad is to warn the unbelievers of their eschatological punishment ( Quran , Quran ) . Sometimes the Quran does not explicitly refer to the Judgment day but provides examples from the history of some extinct communities and warns Muhammad ' s contemporaries of similar calamities ( Quran ) . Muhammad is not only a warner to those who reject God ' s revelation , but also a bearer of good news for those who abandon evil , listen to the divine word and serve God . Muhammad ' s mission also involves preaching monotheism : The Quran commands Muhammad to proclaim and praise the name of his Lord and instructs him not to worship idols or associate other deities with God . The key themes of the early Quranic verses included the responsibility of man towards his creator ; the resurrection of the dead , God ' s final judgment followed by vivid descriptions of the tortures in Hell and pleasures in Paradise ; and the signs of God in all aspects of life . Religious duties required of the believers at this time were few : belief in God , asking for forgiveness of sins , offering frequent prayers , assisting others particularly those in need , rejecting cheating and the love of wealth ( considered to be significant in the commercial life of Mecca ) , being chaste and not to kill newborn girls . Opposition . According to Muslim tradition , Muhammad ' s wife Khadija was the first to believe he was a prophet . She was soon followed by Muhammad ' s ten - year - old cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib , close friend Abu Bakr , and adopted son Zaid . Around 613 , Muhammad began his public preaching ( Quran ) . Most Meccans ignored him and mocked him , while a few others became his followers . There were three main groups of early converts to Islam : younger brothers and sons of great merchants ; people who had fallen out of the first rank in their tribe or failed to attain it ; and the weak , mostly unprotected foreigners . According to Ibn Sad , the opposition in Mecca started when Muhammad delivered verses that condemned idol worship and the Meccan forefathers who engaged in polytheism . However , the Quranic exegesis maintains that it began as soon as Muhammad started public preaching . As the number of followers increased , he became a threat to the local tribes and the rulers of the city , whose wealth rested upon the Kaaba , the focal point of Meccan religious life which Muhammad threatened to overthrow . Muhammad ' s denunciation of the Meccan traditional religion was especially offensive to his own tribe , the Quraysh , as they were the guardians of the Ka ' aba . The powerful merchants tried to convince Muhammad to abandon his preaching by offering him admission into the inner circle of merchants , and establishing his position therein by an advantageous marriage . However , he refused them both . Tradition records at great length the persecution and ill - treatment towards Muhammad and his followers . Sumayyah bint Khabbab , a slave of a prominent Meccan leader Abu Jahl , is famous as the first martyr of Islam , having been killed with a spear by her master when she refused to give up her faith . Bilal , another Muslim slave , was tortured by Umayyah ibn Khalaf who used to place a heavy rock on his chest to force his conversion . Apart from insults , Muhammad was protected from physical harm as he belonged to the Banu Hashim clan . In 615 , some of Muhammad ' s followers emigrated to the Ethiopia n Aksumite Empire and founded a small colony there under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian emperor Aṣḥama ibn Abjar . Muhammad desperately hoping for an accommodation with his tribe , either from fear or in the hope of succeeding more readily in this way , pronounced a verse acknowledging the existence of three Meccan goddesses considered to be the daughters of Allah , and appealing for their intercession . Muhammad later retracted the verses at the behest of Gabriel , claiming that the verses were whispered by the devil himself . This episode known as " The Story of the Cranes " ( translation : قصة الغرانيق , transliteration : Qissat al Gharaneeq ) is also known as " Satanic Verses " . Some scholars argued against its historicity on various grounds . While this incident got widespread acceptance by early Muslims , strong objections to it were raised starting from the 10th century , on theological grounds . The objections continued to be raised to the point where the rejection of the historicity of the incident eventually became the only acceptable orthodox Muslim position . In 617 , the leaders of Makhzum and Banu Abd - Shams , two important Quraysh clans , declared a public boycott against Banu Hashim , their commercial rival , to pressure it into withdrawing its protection of Muhammad . The boycott lasted three years but eventually collapsed as it failed in its objective . During this , Muhammad was only able to preach during the holy pilgrimage months in which all hostilities between Arabs were suspended . Isra and Mi ' raj . Islamic tradition relates that in 620 , Muhammad experienced the " Isra and Mi ' raj " , a miraculous journey said to have occurred with the angel Gabriel in one night . In the first part of the journey , the " Isra " , he is said to have travelled from Mecca on a winged steed ( " Buraq " ) to " the farthest mosque " ( in Arabic : " masjid al - aqsa " ) , which Muslims usually identify with the Al - Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem . In the second part , the " Mi ' raj " , Muhammad is said to have toured heaven and hell , and spoken with earlier prophets , such as Abraham , Moses , and Jesus . Ibn Ishaq , author of the first biography of Muhammad , presents this event as a spiritual experience whereas later historians like Al - Tabari and Ibn Kathir present it as a physical journey . Some western scholars of Islam hold that the oldest Muslim tradition identified the journey as one traveled through the heavens from the sacred enclosure at Mecca to the celestial " al - Baytu l - Maʿmur " ( heavenly prototype of the Kaaba ) ; but later tradition identified Muhammad ' s journey as having been from Mecca to Jerusalem . Last years in Mecca before Hijra . Muhammad ' s wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib both died in 619 , the year thus being known as the " year of sorrow " . With the death of Abu Talib , the leadership of the Banu Hashim clan was passed to Abu Lahab , an inveterate enemy of Muhammad . Soon afterwards , Abu Lahab withdrew the clan ' s protection from Muhammad . This placed Muhammad in danger of death since the withdrawal of clan protection implied that the blood revenge for his killing would not be exacted . Muhammad then visited Ta ' if , another important city in Arabia , and tried to find a protector for himself there , but his effort failed and further brought him into physical danger . Muhammad was forced to return to Mecca . A Meccan man named Mut ' im ibn Adi ( and the protection of the tribe of Banu Nawfal ) made it possible for him to safely re - enter his native city . Many people were visiting Mecca on business or as pilgrims to the Kaaba . Muhammad took this opportunity to look for a new home for himself and his followers . After several unsuccessful negotiations , he found hope with some men from Yathrib ( later called Medina ) . The Arab population of Yathrib were familiar with monotheism and were prepared for the appearance of a prophet because a Jewish community existed there . They also hoped , by the means of Muhammad and the new faith , to gain supremacy over Mecca , as they were jealous of its importance as the place of pilgrimage . Converts to Islam came from nearly all Arab tribes in Medina ; and by June of the subsequent year , there were seventy - five Muslims coming to Mecca for pilgrimage and to meet Muhammad . Meeting him secretly by night , the group made what was known as the " " Second Pledge of al - ` Aqaba " " , or in orientalists ' view , the " " Pledge of War " " Following the pledges at Aqabah , Muhammad encouraged his followers to emigrate to Yathrib . As with the migration to Abyssinia , the Quraysh attempted to stop the emigration . However , almost all Muslims managed to leave . Hijra . The Hijra is the migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE . In September 622 , warned of a plot to assassinate him , Muhammad secretly slipped out of Mecca , moving with his followers to Medina , 320 kilometres ( 200 mi ) north of Mecca . The Hijra is celebrated annually on the first day of the Muslim year . Migration to Medina . A delegation consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans of Medina invited Muhammad as a neutral outsider to Medina to serve as chief arbitrator for the entire community . There was fighting in Yathrib mainly involving its Arab and Jewish inhabitants for around a hundred years before 620 . The recurring slaughters and disagreements over the resulting claims , especially after the Battle of Bu ' ath in which all clans were involved , made it obvious to them that the tribal conceptions of blood - feud and an eye for an eye were no longer workable unless there was one man with authority to adjudicate in disputed cases . The delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow - citizens to accept Muhammad into their community and physically protect him as one of themselves . Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina until virtually all his followers left Mecca . Being alarmed at the departure of Muslims , according to the tradition , the Meccans plotted to assassinate Muhammad . With the help of Ali , Muhammad fooled the Meccans who were watching him , and secretly slipped away from the town with Abu Bakr . By 622 , Muhammad emigrated to Medina , a large agricultural oasis . Those who migrated from Mecca along with Muhammad became known as " muhajirun " ( emigrants ) . Establishment of a new polity . Among the first things Muhammad did to settle down the longstanding grievances among the tribes of Medina was drafting a document known as the Constitution of Medina , " establishing a kind of alliance or federation " among the eight Medinan tribes and Muslim emigrants from Mecca , which specified the rights and duties of all citizens and the relationship of the different communities in Medina ( including that of the Muslim community to other communities , specifically the Jews and other " Peoples of the Book " ) . The community defined in the Constitution of Medina , " Ummah " , had a religious outlook but was also shaped by practical considerations and substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes . It effectively established the first Islamic state . Several ordinances were proclaimed to win over the numerous and wealthy Jewish population . But these were soon rescinded as the Jews insisted on preserving the entire Mosaic law , and did not recognize him as a prophet because he was not of the race of David . The first group of pagan converts to Islam in Medina were clans who , lacking their own great leaders , had been subjugated by hostile leaders from outside clans . This was followed by the general acceptance of Islam by the pagan population of Medina , apart from some exceptions . According to Ibn Ishaq , this was influenced by the conversion of Sa ' d ibn Mu ' adh ( a prominent Medinan leader ) to Islam . Those Medinans who converted to Islam and helped the Muslim emigrants find shelter became known as the " ansar " ( supporters ) . Then Muhammad instituted brotherhood between the emigrants and the supporters and he chose Ali as his own brother . Beginning of armed conflict . Following the emigration , the Meccans seized the properties of the Muslim emigrants in Mecca . Economically uprooted and with no available profession , the Muslim migrants turned to raiding Meccan caravans , initiating armed conflict with Mecca . Muhammad delivered Quranic verses permitting the Muslims to fight the Meccans ( see sura Al - Hajj , Quran ) . These attacks allowed the migrants to acquire wealth , power and prestige while working towards their ultimate goal of conquering Mecca . On 11 February 624 according to the traditional account , while praying in the Masjid al - Qiblatain in Medina , Muhammad received a revelation from God that he should be facing Mecca rather than Jerusalem during prayer . As he adjusted himself , so did his companions praying with him , beginning the tradition of facing Mecca during prayer . According to Watt , the change may have been less sudden and definite than the story suggests – the related Quranic verses ( – ) appear to have been revealed at different times – and correlates with changes in Muhammad ' s political support base , symbolizing his turning away from Jews and adopting a more Arabian outlook . In March 624 , Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan . The Muslims set an ambush for them at Badr . Aware of the plan , the Meccan caravan eluded the Muslims . Meanwhile , a force from Mecca was sent to protect the caravan , continuing forward to confront the Muslims upon hearing that the caravan was safe . The Battle of Badr began in March 624 . Though outnumbered more than three to one , the Muslims won the battle , killing at least forty - five Meccans with only fourteen Muslims dead . They also succeeded in killing many Meccan leaders , including Abu Jahl . Seventy prisoners had been acquired , many of whom were soon ransomed in return for wealth or freed . Muhammad and his followers saw in the victory a confirmation of their faith as Muhammad ascribed the victory to the assistance of an invisible host of angels . The Quranic verses of this period , unlike the Meccan ones , dealt with practical problems of government and issues like the distribution of spoils . The victory strengthened Muhammad ' s position in Medina and dispelled earlier doubts among his followers . As a result the opposition to him became less vocal . Pagans who had not yet converted were very bitter about the advance of Islam . Two pagans , Asma bint Marwan and Abu ' Afak , had composed verses taunting and insulting the Muslims . They were killed by people belonging to their own or related clans , and no blood - feud followed . Muhammad expelled from Medina the Banu Qaynuqa , one of three main Jewish tribes . Although Muhammad wanted them executed , Abd - Allah ibn Ubaiy chief of the Khazraj tribe did not agree and they were expelled to Syria but without their property . Following the Battle of Badr , Muhammad also made mutual - aid alliances with a number of Bedouin tribes to protect his community from attacks from the northern part of Hijaz . Conflict with Mecca . The Meccans were now anxious to avenge their defeat . To maintain their economic prosperity , the Meccans needed to restore their prestige , which had been lost at Badr . In the ensuing months , the Meccans sent ambush parties on Medina while Muhammad led expeditions on tribes allied with Mecca and sent out a raid on a Meccan caravan . Abu Sufyan subsequently gathered an army of three thousand men and set out for an attack on Medina . A scout alerted Muhammad of the Meccan army ' s presence and numbers a day later . The next morning , at the Muslim conference of war , there was dispute over how best to repel the Meccans . Muhammad and many senior figures suggested that it would be safer to fight within Medina and take advantage of its heavily fortified strongholds . Younger Muslims argued that the Meccans were destroying their crops , and that huddling in the strongholds would destroy Muslim prestige . Muhammad eventually conceded to the wishes of the latter , and readied the Muslim force for battle . Thus , Muhammad led his force outside to the mountain of Uhud ( where the Meccans had camped ) and fought the Battle of Uhud on 23 March . Although the Muslim army had the best of the early encounters , indiscipline on the part of strategically placed archers led to a Muslim defeat , with 75 Muslims killed including Hamza , Muhammad ' s uncle and one of the best known martyrs in the Muslim tradition . The Meccans did not pursue the Muslims further , but marched back to Mecca declaring victory . This is probably because Muhammad was wounded and thought to be dead . When they knew this on their way back , they did not return because of false information about new forces coming to his aid . They were not entirely successful , however , as they had failed to achieve their aim of completely destroying the Muslims . The Muslims buried the dead , and returned to Medina that evening . Questions accumulated as to the reasons for the loss , and Muhammad subsequently delivered Quranic verses which indicated that their defeat was partly a punishment for disobedience and partly a test for steadfastness . Abu Sufyan now directed his efforts towards another attack on Medina . He attracted the support of nomadic tribes to the north and east of Medina , using propaganda about Muhammad ' s weakness , promises of booty , memories of the prestige of the Quraysh and use of bribes . Muhammad ' s policy was now to prevent alliances against him as much as he could . Whenever alliances of tribesmen against Medina were formed , he sent out an expedition to break them up . When Muhammad heard of men massing with hostile intentions against Medina , he reacted with severity . One example is the assassination of Ka ' b ibn al - Ashraf , a chieftain of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir who had gone to Mecca and written poems that helped rouse the Meccans ' grief , anger and desire for revenge after the Battle of Badr . Around a year later , Muhammad expelled the Banu Nadir from Medina to Syria allowing them to take some of their possessions because he was unable to subdue them in their strongholds . The rest of their property was claimed by Muhammad in the name of God because it was not gained with bloodshed . Muhammad surprised various Arab tribes , one by one , with overwhelming force which caused his enemies to unite to annihilate him . Muhammad ' s attempts to prevent formation of a confederation against him were unsuccessful , though he was able to increase his own forces and stop many potential tribes from joining his enemies . Siege of Medina . With the help of the exiled Banu Nadir , the Quraysh military leader Abu Sufyan had mustered a force of 10 , 000 men . Muhammad prepared a force of about 3 , 000 men and adopted a new form of defense unknown in Arabia at that time : the Muslims dug a trench wherever Medina lay open to cavalry attack . The idea is credited to a Persian convert to Islam , Salman the Persian . The siege of Medina began on 31 March 627 and lasted for two weeks . Abu Sufyan ' s troops were unprepared for the fortifications they were confronted with , and after an ineffectual siege lasting several weeks , the coalition decided to go home . The Quran discusses this battle in sura Al - Ahzab , in verses . During the battle , the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza , located at the south of Medina , had entered into negotiations with Meccan forces to revolt against Muhammad . Although they were swayed by suggestions that Muhammad was sure to be overwhelmed , they desired reassurance in case the confederacy was unable to destroy him . No agreement was reached after the prolonged negotiations , in part due to sabotage attempts by Muhammad ' s scouts . After the coalition ' s retreat , the Muslims accused the Banu Qurayza of treachery and besieged them in their forts for 25 days . The Banu Qurayza eventually surrendered ; according to Ibn Ishaq , all the men apart from a few who converted to Islam were beheaded , while the women and children were enslaved . Walid N . Arafat and Barakat Ahmad have disputed the accuracy of Ibn Ishaq ' s narrative , however . Arafat believes that Ibn Ishaq ' s Jewish sources , speaking over 100 years after the event , conflated their account with memories of earlier massacres in Jewish history ; he notes that Ibn Ishaq was considered an unreliable historian by his contemporary Malik ibn Anas , and a transmitter of " odd tales " by the later Ibn Hajar . Ahmad argues that only some of the tribe were killed , while some of the fighters were merely enslaved . Watt finds Arafat ' s arguments " not entirely convincing " , while Meir J . Kister has contradicted the arguments of Arafat and Ahmad . In the siege of Medina , the Meccans exerted their utmost strength towards the destruction of the Muslim community . Their failure resulted in a significant loss of prestige ; their trade with Syria was gone . Following the Battle of the Trench , he made two expeditions to the north which ended without any fighting . While returning from one of these ( or some years earlier according to other early accounts ) , an accusation of adultery was made against Aisha , Muhammad ' s wife . Aisha was exonerated from the accusations when Muhammad announced that he had received a revelation confirming Aisha ' s innocence and directing that charges of adultery be supported by four eyewitnesses ( sura 24 , An - Nur ) . Truce of Hudaybiyyah . Although Muhammad had already delivered Quranic verses commanding the Hajj , the Muslims had not performed it due to the enmity of the Quraysh . In the month of Shawwal 628 , Muhammad ordered his followers to obtain sacrificial animals and to make preparations for a pilgrimage ( " umrah " ) to Mecca , saying that God had promised him the fulfillment of this goal in a vision where he was shaving his head after the completion of the Hajj . Upon hearing of the approaching 1 , 400 Muslims , the Quraysh sent out a force of 200 cavalry to halt them . Muhammad evaded them by taking a more difficult route , thereby reaching al - Hudaybiyya , just outside of Mecca . According to Watt , although Muhammad ' s decision to make the pilgrimage was based on his dream , he was at the same time demonstrating to the pagan Meccans that Islam does not threaten the prestige of their sanctuary , and that Islam was an Arabian religion . Negotiations commenced with emissaries going to and from Mecca . While these continued , rumors spread that one of the Muslim negotiators , Uthman bin al - Affan , had been killed by the Quraysh . Muhammad responded by calling upon the pilgrims to make a pledge not to flee ( or to stick with Muhammad , whatever decision he made ) if the situation descended into war with Mecca . This pledge became known as the " Pledge of Acceptance " ( ) or the " Pledge under the Tree " . News of Uthman ' s safety , however , allowed for negotiations to continue , and a treaty scheduled to last ten years was eventually signed between the Muslims and Quraysh . The main points of the treaty included the cessation of hostilities ; the deferral of Muhammad ' s pilgrimage to the following year ; and an agreement to send back any Meccan who had gone to Medina without the permission of their protector . Many Muslims were not satisfied with the terms of the treaty . However , the Quranic sura " Al - Fath " ( The Victory ) ( Quran ) assured the Muslims that the expedition from which they were now returning must be considered a victorious one . It was only later that Muhammad ' s followers would realise the benefit behind this treaty . These benefits included the inducing of the Meccans to recognise Muhammad as an equal ; a cessation of military activity posing well for the future ; and gaining the admiration of Meccans who were impressed by the incorporation of the pilgrimage rituals . After signing the truce , Muhammad made an expedition against the Jewish oasis of Khaybar , known as the Battle of Khaybar . This was possibly due to its housing of the Banu Nadir who were inciting hostilities against Muhammad , or to regain some prestige to deflect from what appeared to some Muslims as the inconclusive result of the truce of Hudaybiyya . According to Muslim tradition , Muhammad also sent letters to many rulers of the world , asking them to convert to Islam ( the exact date is given variously in the sources ) . Hence he sent messengers ( with letters ) to Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire ( the eastern Roman Empire ) , Khosrau of Persia , the chief of Yemen and to some others . In the years following the truce of Hudaybiyya , Muhammad sent his forces against the Arabs on Transjordania n Byzantine soil in the Battle of Mu ' tah , in which the Muslims were defeated . Final years . Conquest of Mecca . The truce of Hudaybiyyah had been enforced for two years . The tribe of Banu Khuza ' a had good relations with Muhammad , whereas their enemies , the Banu Bakr , had an alliance with the Meccans . A clan of the Bakr made a night raid against the Khuza ' a , killing a few of them . The Meccans helped the Banu Bakr with weapons and , according to some sources , a few Meccans also took part in the fighting . After this event , Muhammad sent a message to Mecca with three conditions , asking them to accept one of them . These were : either the Meccans would pay blood money for those slain among the Khuza ' ah tribe ; or , they should disavow themselves of the Banu Bakr ; or , that they should declare the truce of Hudaybiyyah null . The Meccans replied that they would accept only the last condition . However , soon they realized their mistake and sent Abu Sufyan to renew the Hudaybiyyah treaty , but now his request was declined by Muhammad . Muhammad began to prepare for a campaign . In 630 , Muhammad marched on Mecca with an enormous force , said to number more than ten thousand men . With minimal casualties , Muhammad took control of Mecca . He declared an amnesty for past offences , except for ten men and women who were " guilty of murder or other offences or had sparked off the war and disrupted the peace " . Some of these were later pardoned . Most Meccans converted to Islam and Muhammad subsequently destroyed all the statues of Arabian gods in and around the Kaaba . According to reports collected by Ibn Ishaq and al - Azraqi , Muhammad personally spared paintings or frescos of Mary and Jesus , but other traditions suggest that all pictures were erased . The Quran discusses the conquest of Mecca . Conquest of Arabia . Soon after the conquest of Mecca , Muhammad was alarmed by a military threat from the confederate tribes of Hawazin who were collecting an army twice the size of Muhammad ' s . The Banu Hawazin were old enemies of the Meccans . They were joined by the Banu Thaqif ( inhabiting the city of Ta ' if ) who adopted an anti - Meccan policy due to the decline of the prestige of Meccans . Muhammad defeated the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes in the Battle of Hunayn . In the same year , Muhammad made the expedition of Tabuk against northern Arabia because of their previous defeat at the Battle of Mu ' tah as well as reports of the hostile attitude adopted against Muslims . With the greatest difficulty he collected thirty thousand men , half of whom , however , on the second day after their departure from Mecca , returned with Abd - Allah ibn Ubayy , untroubled by the damning verses which Muhammad hurled at them . Although Muhammad did not make contact with hostile forces at Tabuk , he received the submission of some local chiefs of the region . He also ordered the destruction of remaining pagan idols in Eastern Arabia . The last city to hold out against the Muslims in Eastern Arabia was Taif . Muhammad refused to accept the surrender of the city until they agreed to convert to Islam and let his men destroy their statue of their goddess Allat . A year after the Battle of Tabuk , the Banu Thaqif sent emissaries to Medina to surrender to Muhammad and adopt Islam . Many bedouins submitted to Muhammad to be safe against his attacks and to benefit from the booties of the wars . However , the bedouins were alien to the system of Islam and wanted to maintain their independence , their established code of virtue and their ancestral traditions . Muhammad thus required of them a military and political agreement according to which they " acknowledge the suzerainty of Medina , to refrain from attack on the Muslims and their allies , and to pay the Zakat , the Muslim religious levy . " Farewell pilgrimage . In 632 , at the end of the tenth year after the migration to Medina , Muhammad carried through his first truly Islamic pilgrimage , thereby teaching his followers the rites of the annual Great Pilgrimage , known as " Hajj " . After completing the pilgrimage , Muhammad delivered a famous speech , known as The Farewell Sermon , at Mount Arafat east of Mecca . In this sermon , Muhammad advised his followers not to follow certain pre - Islamic customs . He declared that an Arab has no superiority over a non - Arab , nor a non - Arab has any superiority over an Arab . Also a white has no superiority over black , nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action . He abolished all old blood feud s and disputes based on the former tribal system and asked for all old pledges to be returned as implications of the creation of the new Islamic community . Commenting on the vulnerability of women in his society , Muhammad asked his male followers to " be good to women , for they are powerless captives ( " awan " ) in your households . You took them in God ' s trust , and legitimated your sexual relations with the Word of God , so come to your senses people , and hear my words . . . " He told them that they were entitled to discipline their wives but should do so with kindness . He addressed the issue of inheritance by forbidding false claims of paternity or of a client relationship to the deceased , and forbade his followers to leave their wealth to a testamentary heir . He also upheld the sacredness of four lunar months in each year . According to Sunni tafsir , the following Quranic verse was delivered during this event : " Today I have perfected your religion , and completed my favours for you and chosen Islam as a religion for you " ( Quran ) . According to Shia tafsir , it refers to the appointment of Ali ibn Abi Talib at the pond of Khumm as Muhammad ' s successor , this occurring a few days later when Muslims were returning from Mecca to Medina . Death and tomb . A few months after the farewell pilgrimage , Muhammad fell ill and suffered for several days with fever , head pain , and weakness . He died on Monday , 8 June 632 , in Medina , at the age of 62 or 63 , in the house of his wife Aisha . With his head resting on Aisha ' s lap , he asked her to dispose of his last worldly goods ( seven coins ) , then murmured his final words : He was buried where he died , in Aisha ' s house . During the reign of the Umayyad caliph al - Walid I , the Al - Masjid al - Nabawi ( the Mosque of the Prophet ) was expanded to include the site of Muhammad ' s tomb . The Green Dome above the tomb was built by the Mamluk sultan Al Mansur Qalawun in the 13th century , although the green color was added in the 16th century , under the reign of Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent . Among tombs adjacent to that of Muhammad are those of his companions ( Sahabah ) , the first two Muslim caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar , and an empty one that Muslims believe awaits Jesus . When bin Saud took Medina in 1805 , Muhammad ' s tomb was stripped of its gold and jewel ornaments . Adherents to Wahhabism , bin Sauds ' followers destroyed nearly every tomb dome in Medina in order to prevent their veneration , and the one of Muhammad is said to have narrowly escaped . Similar events took place in 1925 when the Saudi militias retook — and this time managed to keep — the city . In the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam , burial is to take place in unmarked graves . Although frowned upon by the Saudis , many pilgrims continue to practice a ziyarat — a ritual visit — to the tomb . Although banned by the Saudi , the first ever photos from inside of the tomb of Muhammad and his daughter ' s ( Fatemeh ) house were published on October 2012 demonstrating it was constructed in a very simple way , decorated in green . Post Muhammad . Muhammad united the tribes of Arabia into a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the last years of his life . With Muhammad ' s death , disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community . Umar ibn al - Khattab , a prominent companion of Muhammad , nominated Abu Bakr , Muhammad ' s friend and collaborator . Others added their support and Abu Bakr was made the first caliph . This choice was disputed by some of Muhammad ' s companions , who held that Ali ibn Abi Talib , his cousin and son - in - law , had been designated the successor by Muhammad at Ghadir Khumm . Abu Bakr ' s immediate task was to make an expedition against the Byzantine ( or Eastern Roman Empire ) forces because of the previous defeat , although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode referred to by later Muslim historians as the Ridda wars , or " Wars of Apostasy " . The pre - Islamic Middle East was dominated by the Byzantine and Sassanian empires . The Roman - Persian Wars between the two had devastated the region , making the empires unpopular amongst local tribes . Furthermore , in the lands that would be conquered by Muslims many Christians ( Nestorians , Monophysite s , Jacobites and Copt s ) were disaffected from the Christian Orthodoxy which deemed them heretics . Within only a decade , Muslims conquered Mesopotamia , Persia , Byzantine Syria , and Byzantine Egypt , and established the Rashidun Caliphate . Early reforms under Islam . According to William Montgomery Watt , for Muhammad , religion was not a private and individual matter but rather “ the total response of his personality to the total situation in which he found himself . He was responding [ not only ] … to the religious and intellectual aspects of the situation but also to the economic , social , and political pressures to which contemporary Mecca was subject . " Bernard Lewis says that there are two important political traditions in Islam – one that views Muhammad as a statesman in Medina , and another that views him as a rebel in Mecca . He sees Islam itself as a type of revolution that greatly changed the societies into which the new religion was brought . Historians generally agree that Islamic social reforms in areas such as social security , family structure , slavery and the rights of women and children improved on the status quo of Arab society . For example , according to Lewis , Islam " from the first denounced aristocratic privilege , rejected hierarchy , and adopted a formula of the career open to the talents " . Muhammad ' s message transformed the society and moral order of life in the Arabian Peninsula through reorientation of society as regards to identity , world view , and the hierarchy of values . Economic reforms addressed the plight of the poor , which was becoming an issue in pre - Islamic Mecca . The Quran requires payment of an alms tax ( zakat ) for the benefit of the poor , and as Muhammad ' s position grew in power he demanded that those tribes who wanted to ally with him implement the zakat in particular . Appearance . Ali gave the following description of Muhammad ' s physical appearance : The " seal of prophecy " between the Prophet ' s shoulders is generally described as having been a type of raised mole the size of a pigeon ' s egg . Another description of Muhammad was provided by Umm Ma ' bad , a woman he met on his journey to Medina : Descriptions like these were often reproduced in calligraphic panels ( " hilya " or , in Turkish , " hilye " ) , which in the 17th century developed into an art form of their own in the Ottoman Empire . Household . Muhammad ' s life is traditionally defined into two periods : pre - hijra ( emigration ) in Mecca ( from 570 to 622 ) , and post - hijra in Medina ( from 622 until 632 ) . Muhammad is said to have had thirteen wives or concubines . ( There are differing accounts on the status of some of them as wife or concubine . ) All but two of his marriages were contracted after the migration to Medina . At the age of 25 , Muhammad married the wealthy Khadijah bint Khuwaylid who was 40 years old at that time . The marriage lasted for 25 years and was a happy one . Muhammad relied upon Khadija in many ways and did not enter into marriage with another woman during this marriage . After the death of Khadija , it was suggested to Muhammad by Khawla bint Hakim that he should marry Sawda bint Zama , a Muslim widow , or Aisha , daughter of Um Ruman and Abu Bakr of Mecca . Muhammad is said to have asked her to arrange for him to marry both . Traditional sources dictate that Aisha was six or seven years old when betrothed to Muhammad , with the marriage not being consummate d until after she had reached puberty at the age of nine or ten years old . While the majority of traditional sources indicate Aisha was 9 ( and therefore a virgin ) at the time of marriage , a small number of more recent Shia writers have variously estimated her age at 12 to 24 . After migration to Medina , Muhammad ( who was now in his fifties ) married several women . These marriages were contracted mostly for political or humanitarian reasons . The women were either widows of Muslims who had been killed in battle and had been left without a protector , or belonging to important families or clans whom it was necessary to honor and strengthen alliances with . Muhammad did his own household chores and helped with housework , such as preparing food , sewing clothes and repairing shoes . He is also said to have had accustomed his wives to dialogue ; he listened to their advice , and the wives debated and even argued with him . Khadijah is said to have had four daughters with Muhammad – ( Ruqayyah bint Muhammad , Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad , Zainab bint Muhammad , Fatimah Zahra ) – and two sons – ( Abd - Allah ibn Muhammad and Qasim ibn Muhammad ) – who both died in childhood . All except one of his daughters , Fatimah , died before him . Some Shi ' a scholars contend that Fatimah was Muhammad ' s only daughter . Maria al - Qibtiyya bore him a son named Ibrahim ibn Muhammad , but the child died when he was two years old . Nine of Muhammad ' s wives survived him . Aisha , who became known as Muhammad ' s favourite wife in Sunni tradition , survived him by many decades and was instrumental in helping bring together the scattered sayings of Muhammad that would form the Hadith literature for the Sunni branch of Islam . Muhammad ' s descendants through Fatimah are known as " sharif s " , " syeds " or " sayyid s " . These are honorific titles in Arabic , " sharif " meaning ' noble ' and " sayed " or " sayyid " meaning ' lord ' or ' sir ' . As Muhammad ' s only descendants , they are respected by both Sunni and Shi ' a , though the Shi ' a place much more emphasis and value on their distinction . Zayd ibn Harith was a slave whom Muhammad bought , freed , and then adopted as his son . He also had a wetnurse . Muhammad owned other slaves as well , whom he bought usually to free . Legacy . Muslim views . Following the attestation to the oneness of God , the belief in Muhammad ' s prophethood is the main aspect of the Islamic faith . Every Muslim proclaims in the " Shahadah " that " I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God , and I testify that Muhammad is a Messenger of God " . The Shahadah is the basic creed or tenet of Islam . Ideally , it is the first word a newborn will hear , and children are taught as soon as they are able to understand it and it will be recited when they die . Muslims must repeat the shahadah in the call to prayer ( " adhan " ) and the prayer itself . Non - Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the creed . In Islamic belief , Muhammad is regarded as the last of a series of Prophets sent by God for the benefit of mankind . states that " . . . it ( the Quran ) is a confirmation of ( revelations ) that went before it , and a fuller explanation of the Book – wherein there is no doubt – from The Lord of the Worlds . " . Similarly states " . . . And before this was the book of Moses , as a guide and a mercy . And this Book confirms ( it ) . . . " , while commands the believers of Islam to " Say : we believe in God and that which is revealed unto us , and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes , and that which Moses and Jesus received , and which the prophets received from their Lord . We make no distinction between any of them , and unto Him we have surrendered . " Historian Denis Gril believes that the Quran does not overtly describe Muhammad performing miracles , and the supreme miracle of Muhammad is finally identified with the Quran itself . However , Muslim tradition credits Muhammad with several miracles or supernatural events . For example , many Muslim commentators and some Western scholars have interpreted the Surah as referring to Muhammad splitting the Moon in view of the Quraysh when they began persecuting his followers . The Sunnah represents the actions and sayings of Muhammad ( preserved in reports known as Hadith ) , and covers a broad array of activities and beliefs ranging from religious rituals , personal hygiene , burial of the dead to the mystical questions involving the love between humans and God . The Sunnah is considered a model of emulation for pious Muslims and has to a great degree influenced the Muslim culture . The greeting that Muhammad taught Muslims to offer each other , " may peace be upon you " ( Arabic : " as - salamu ` alaykum " ) is used by Muslims throughout the world . Many details of major Islamic rituals such as daily prayers , the fasting and the annual pilgrimage are only found in the Sunnah and not the Quran . The Sunnah also played a major role in the development of the Islamic sciences . It contributed much to the development of Islamic law , particularly from the end of the first Islamic century . Muslim mystics , known as sufis , who were seeking for the inner meaning of the Quran and the inner nature of Muhammad , viewed the prophet of Islam not only as a prophet but also as a perfect saint . Sufi orders trace their chain of spiritual descent back to Muhammad . Muslims have traditionally expressed love and veneration for Muhammad . Stories of Muhammad ' s life , his intercession and of his miracles ( particularly " Splitting of the moon " ) have permeated popular Muslim thought and poetry . Among Arabic odes to Muhammad , the Qaṣīda al - Burda ( " Poem of the Mantle " ) by the Egyptian Sufi al - Busiri ( 1211 – 1294 ) is particularly well known , and widely held to possess a healing , spiritual power . The Quran refers to Muhammad as " a mercy ( " rahmat " ) to the worlds " ( Quran ) . The association of rain with mercy in Oriental countries has led to imagining Muhammad as a rain cloud dispensing blessings and stretching over lands , reviving the dead hearts , just as rain revives the seemingly dead earth ( see , for example , the Sindhi poem of Shah ʿAbd al - Latif ) . Muhammad ' s birthday is celebrated as a major feast throughout the Islamic world , excluding Wahhabi - dominated Saudi Arabia where these public celebrations are discouraged . When Muslims say or write the name of Muhammad , they usually follow it with " Peace be upon him " ( Arabic : " sallAllahu ` alayhi wa sallam " ) . In casual writing , this is sometimes abbreviated as PBUH or SAW ; in printed matter , a small calligraphic rendition is commonly used instead of printing the entire phrase . Islamic depictions of Muhammad . In line with the hadith prohibition against creating images of sentient living beings , which is particularly strictly observed with respect to God and Muhammad , Islamic religious art is focused on the word . Muslims generally avoid depictions of Muhammad , and mosques are decorated with calligraphy and Quranic inscriptions or geometrical designs , not images or sculptures . Today , the interdiction against images of Muhammad – designed to prevent worship of Muhammad , rather than God – is much more strictly observed in Sunni Islam ( 85 % – 90 % of Muslims ) than among Shias ( 10 % – 15 % ) . While both Sunnis and Shiites have created images of Muhammad in the past , Islamic depictions of Muhammad are rare . They have , until recently , mostly been limited to the private and elite medium of the miniature , and since about 1500 most depictions show Muhammad with his face veiled , or symbolically represent him as a flame . The earliest extant depictions come from 13th - century Anatolian Seljuk and Ilkhanid Persian miniature s , typically in literary genres describing the life and deeds of Muhammad . During the Ilkhanid period , when Persia ' s Mongol rulers converted to Islam , competing Sunni and Shi ' a groups used visual imagery , including images of Muhammad , to promote their particular interpretation of Islam ' s key events . Influenced by the Buddhist tradition of representational religious art predating the Mongol elite ' s conversion , this innovation was unprecedented in the Islamic world , and accompanied by a " broader shift in Islamic artistic culture away from abstraction toward representation " in " mosques , on tapestries , silks , ceramics , and in glass and metalwork " besides books . In the Persian lands , this tradition of realistic depictions lasted through the Timurid dynasty until the Safavids took power in the early 16th century . The Safavaids , who made Shi ' i Islam the state religion , initiated a departure from the traditional Ilkhanid and Timurid artistic style by covering Muhammad ' s face with a veil to obscure his features and at the same time represent his luminous essence . Concomitantly , some of the unveiled images from earlier periods were defaced . Later images were produced in Ottoman Turkey and elsewhere , but mosques were never decorated with images of Muhammad . Illustrated accounts of the night journey ( " mi ' raj " ) were particularly popular from the Ilkhanid period through the Safavid era . During the 19th century , Iran saw a boom of printed and illustrated " mi ' raj " books , with Muhammad ' s face veiled , aimed in particular at illiterates and children in the manner of graphic novels . Reproduced through lithography , these were essentially " printed manuscripts " . Today , millions of historical reproductions and modern images are available in some Muslim countries , especially Turkey and Iran , on posters , postcards , and even in coffee - table books , but are unknown in most other parts of the Islamic world , and when encountered by Muslims from other countries , they can cause considerable consternation and offense . Non - Muslim views . Non - Muslim views regarding Muhammad have ranged across a large spectrum of responses and beliefs , many of which have changed over time . Historical Western views . The earliest documented Christian knowledge of Muhammad stems from Byzantine sources . They indicate that both Jews and Christians saw Muhammad as a " false prophet " . Another Greek source for Muhammad is the 9th - century writer Theophanes . The earliest Syriac source is the 7th - century writer John bar Penkaye . According to Hossein Nasr , earliest European literature often refers to Muhammad unfavorably . A few learned circles of Middle Ages Europe – primarily Latin - literate scholars – had access to fairly extensive biographical material about Muhammad . They interpreted that information through a Christian religious filter that viewed Muhammad as a person who seduced the Saracens into his submission under a religious guise . Popular European literature of the time portrayed Muhammad as though he were worshipped by Muslims in the manner of an idol or a heathen god . In later traditions , Muhammad came to be seen as a schismatic : Brunetto Latini ' s 13th - century " Li livres dou tresor " represents him as a former monk and cardinal , and Dante ' s " Divine Comedy " ( Inferno , Canto 28 ) , written in the early 1300s , puts Muhammad , together with Ali , in Hell " among the sowers of discord and the schismatics , being lacerated by devils again and again . " Cultural critic and author Edward Said wrote in " Orientalism " regarding Dante ' s depiction of Muhammad : Empirical data about the Orient . . . count for very little ; . . . What . . . Dante tried to do in the " Inferno " , is . . . to characterize the Orient as alien and to incorporate it schematically on a theatrical stage whose audience , manager , and actors are . . . only for Europe . Hence the vacillation between the familiar and the alien ; is always the imposter ( familiar , because he pretends to be like the Jesus we know ) and always the Oriental ( alien , because although he is in some ways " like " Jesus , he is after all not like him ) . However , Ibn Warraq has challenged Said ' s assessment of Dante ' s work as seriously flawed , writing : " Said does not come across as a careful reader of Dante and his masterpiece , " The Divine Comedy " " . Warraq argues first that Said is oblivious to the allegorical content of " The Divine Comedy " ; second , that Said ignores the historical context of Dante ' s work ( i . e . , Dante and some of his contemporaries believed that Muhammad was a schismatic Christian who intended to usurp the Pope and was thus a heretic ) ; and third that Said misinterprets Dante ' s placing of three notable Muslims ( Avicenna and Averroes and Saladin ) in the outer circle of hell : " these illustrious Muslims were included precisely because of Dante ' s reverence for all that was best in the non - Christian world , and their exclusion from salvation , inevitable under Christian doctrine , saddened him and put a great strain on his mind " . After the Reformation , Muhammad was often portrayed in a similar way . Guillaume Postel was among the first to present a more positive view of Muhammad . Boulainvilliers described Muhammad as a gifted political leader and a just lawmaker . Gottfried Leibniz praised Muhammad because " he did not deviate from the natural religion " . Thomas Carlyle in his book " Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in History " ( 1840 ) describes Muhammed as " [ a ] silent great soul ; [ . . . ] one of those who cannot " but " be in earnest " . According to William Montgomery Watt and Richard Bell , recent writers have generally dismissed the idea that Muhammad deliberately deceived his followers , arguing that Muhammad " was absolutely sincere and acted in complete good faith " and that Muhammad ' s readiness to endure hardship for his cause when there seemed to be no rational basis for hope shows his sincerity . Watt says that sincerity does not directly imply correctness : In contemporary terms , Muhammad might have mistaken his own subconscious for divine revelation . Watt and Bernard Lewis argue that viewing Muhammad as a self - seeking impostor makes it impossible to understand the development of Islam . Alford T . Welch holds that Muhammad was able to be so influential and successful because of his firm belief in his vocation . Michael H . Hart in his first book " " ( 1978 ) , chose Muhammad as the first person on his list , attributing this to the fact that Muhammad was " supremely successful " in both the religious and secular realms . He also credits the authorship of the Quran to Muhammad , making his role in the development of Islam an unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence which entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history . Criticism . Criticism of Muhammad has existed since the 7th century . He has been attacked by his non - Muslim Arab contemporaries for preaching monotheism , as well as for his multiple marriages , possession of slaves and military expeditions across the Middle East .