Islam 101- Who is Muhammad?
Islam 101
Who is Muhammad?
Muhammad (PBUH) is, without a doubt, the most controversial figure in world history. No other personality throughout time has conjured up such overpowering emotion from the masses. On the Muslim side he is absolutely the most venerated and beloved man ever, a mercy sent to the entire world from God and the final prophet to all of mankind. The western view, however, has been anything but philanthropic. Rather, there has been a continuous “smear campaign” raged against this man from the very onset of the revelations and throughout the Middle Ages, perhaps most notably in the times of the Crusades. Accusations abound, some saying he copied the Bible, some saying he had hallucinations in the throws of an epileptic fit, and still others claiming that he was receiving false revelations from Satan himself.
So who was this man who today has more than 1.6 billion followers? Who was this man that Michael Hart named as the “most influential person in history” in his 1978 book, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History? What is it about him that continues to inspire so many people today in the west and afar, causing Islam to be the fastest growing religion in the world? Why is Muhammad the most common name in the world today?
Of course the answer is too broad to attempt in this short article, but perhaps we can have a brief introduction to this great prophet of God. His name was Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, which means Muhammad the son of Abd Allah the son of Abd al-Muttalib. He was born into the tribe of Quraysh and the family of Banu Hashim in Mecca around 570 CE, to a family standard that could be