Who is Muhammad ibn Abdullah, Peace Be upon Him?

Before talking about the manners of Prophet Muhammad, PBUH, first we should introduce this unique exceptional character.

Who is Muhammad ibn Abdullah, Peace Be upon Him?

He is Muhammad ibn (son of) Abdullah ibn Abdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn Abd Munaf ibn Qusayy ibn Kilab ibn Murrah ibn Ka’b ibn Ghalib ibn Fahr ibn Malik ibn Nadar ibn Kinanah ibn Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah ibn Ilyas ibn Mazar ibn Nazar ibn Ma’ad ibn Adnan ibn Isma’eel (Ishmael) ibn Ibrahim (Abraham), peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his progeny, and righteous ancestors, especially his great grandfathers Isma’eel and Ibrahim.

Muhammad is a man from the best tribe, house and parents to give birth to a Prophet.[1]

His family is the Hashimite family, a name derived from his great-grandfather Hashim ibn Abd Manaf who was responsible for giving water and food to the pilgrims, from Bani Abd Manaf. Hashim was generous, respectful and rich man, held by people in great honor and nobility. He was given the nickname Hashim, in Arabic it is derived from “hashama” that means “to break into crumbs”, and thus “hashim” means ‘one who crumbles or breaks into crumbs’. He was given that name because he initiated the practice of providing crumbled bread in broth for the pilgrims to the Ka'aba in Mecca. When the month of Thul Hajja came, he made a speech before the people of Mecca encouraging them to serve the pilgrims who came to the Kaaba. He rested his back to the Qab’ah and said: “O people of Quraysh, you are masters of the Arabs, the best of them in notability, the greatest in reason, and the noblest in lineages. O people of Quraysh, you are neighbors of the House of Allah. He has honored you with His guardianship and favored you with His neighborhood away from the rest of the offspring of Ishmael. The visitors of Allah come to you to glorify His House and so they are your guests, and the worthiest to entertain the guests of Allah are you. Entertain His guests and the visitors of His House! By the Lord of this Building, if I had money enough for that, I would not ask you to that. I will take out of my lawful property, which no kinship has been deserted in, not been obtained by oppression, and not included any unlawful bit. Let whoever of you, who likes to do that, do that. I ask you by the sanctity of this House that let no anyone of you spend from his property on the entertainment of the visitors of the House of Allah except lawful money that has not been obtained wrongfully, and no kinship has been deserted by it, and has not been obtained by force.” So, Quraish was being generous to the guests and pilgrims, they gave part of their wealth for this purpose depositing it in Dar al-Nadwa. He initiated and established the two great trade caravan journeys of Quraish from Mecca, the Caravan of Winter to Yemen and the Caravan of Summer to north-west Arabia, and beyond it to Palestine and Syria.

Hashim married Salma bint Amr, the daughter of Amr of Banu Najjar clan. Hashim visited Madinah and stayed there, his wife Salma bore Abul-Muttilib ibn Abd Manaf, the grandfather of the Messenger, Peace Be upon Him. Abul-Muttilib was of a great honor and respect among his people. Quraish used to call him al-Fayyadh, which means the abundant for his generosity. The father of Muhammad, Peace Be upon Him, was Abdullah, the best and most beloved son for Abul-Muttilib because he was the most chaste and kindest among his sons. He was called the Slaughtered, his father gave a ransom of a hundred camels to redeem him from being sacrificed to fulfill an oath he took on himself that if Allah gives him ten sons he will sacrifice the tenth, which it was Abdullah.

“The mother of Prophet Muhammad, PBUH, is Aminah bint Wahb ibn Abd Manaf ibn Zahra ibn Kilab. Back then, she was considered the best women in Quraish in lineage and status. Her father was the master of Bani Zahra and best of them in terms of lineage and honor.” [2]^-[3]

As for the Prophet, Peace Be upon Him, he was: “a man that no one else shares his qualities and manners. No other man equals or comes near to his virtues that prepared him to this spiritual message which was hoped for in the city, the Arabian Peninsula and the entire world…. He is of a noble lineage, he is not of a humble or low background. He was poor and not rich so the power of the nobles and the rich did not make him a tyrant or heartless like what happens to some people when they have excessive power and wealth. He was an orphan among merciful people, so he was neither spoiled person with no willpower, seriousness and independence, nor abandoned or forsaken child that cruelty killed in him the spirit of hope, self-worth, aspiration and the virtue of being kind to others. He had good experience in terms of all what Arabs go through living in the desert and urbanized areas. He was raised in the desert, grew up in the city, grazed sheep, worked in trading, witnessed wars, treaties and was near to the well-to-do[4] but not far from the poor… He was the peak of the Arabic nature and the best it can be. He was in touch with the lifestyle that his people were living, he was not ignoring or abandoning it, yet he was not indulging himself in it. He was the best man from the best house at the best time to deliver the expected salvation message, while the expected world for this message did not know then….”[5]

 “This was Muhammad ibn Abdullah, Peace Be upon Him, the perfect human and role model, the holder of a Message that is considered the culmination of goodness, beauty and righteousness for the entire world. Ever since the dawn of this Message, everything about Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be upon Him, and everything about the Message of Islam, are connected to the world events and their shifts in the east and the west.

Before Muhammad was assigned with carrying the Message of Islam, humanity was tripping in a very long, crocked and dark path. When the Almighty sent the Prophet with the right Message, this path was straightened, paved and illuminated. Mankind progressed by Him and His Call to the status of humanity. Ever since that day, today or the faraway tomorrow, whenever humanity goes astray, confused or lost, it would seek guidance in the Prophet’s history, wisdom and Message of light, goodness and righteousness. Just like the nations and peoples seek the experience of a nation that emerged in a quarter of a century, and ruled the world in less than a century.

Moreover, the rulers seek to know the experience of the leader who directed the tribes and freed it from ignorance and empowered it by faith and justice, just as they aspire to learn from him courageousness, pride, integrity of the human character and all the attributes of love, sincerity, loyalty, honesty and power in all his manners and behaviors, Peace Be upon Him.

This life is short in terms of the number of years, they are not more than twenty four years for people, twenty four after He was assigned to carry the Message of Islam, yet they changed the face of the world in a way that is still influential and present. The successive centuries are increasing its strength and spread, and the world is gaining more understanding and faith in that Message.

“Yes, the life of Muhammad, PBUH, and His Message changed the standards of life, it altered the direction of history and gave humanity its enormous human flow that still pushes it forward till this day, and it will do the same for the future generations towards righteousness and goodness.”[6]

Prophet Moses was succeeded by about three hundred Prophets, they had tried to reform the children of Israel over a thousand years, one after another, and when their reformation failed, they were denied the descending of heavenly Messages on them for good.

“Have not Muhammad, Peace Be upon Him, changed the Arabian Peninusla entirely by the support of the Lord? In less than quarter of a century, the earth has changed totally. The earth that was thirsty for a long time suddenly became overflowed with civilization, watered by life, giving it justice and mercy. All of a sudden, the people of the desert became the teachers of the people of Rome, Athens and major cities, teaching them about human rights, cultural landmarks and standards of knowledge.”[7]

As expressed by William Moyer, the English historian, in his book “The Life of Muhammad”: "Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be upon Him) is distinguished by the clarity of his words and the facility of his religion. He accomplished amazing deeds. History has never known a reformer who roused souls; revived noble manners and elevated virtue in such a short time as did Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam."[8]