Born in the Year of the Elephant (570 CE) in Makkah to the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh; his father 'Abdullah died before his birth and his mother Aminah when he was six. Raised first by his grandfather 'Abdul Muttalib, then his uncle Abu Talib. Worked as a shepherd and later a trader, earning the titles As-Sadiq (the truthful) and Al-Amin (the trustworthy) well before Prophethood. Married Khadijah (RA), a successful businesswoman fifteen years his senior, at age twenty-five.
At age forty, while in seclusion in the Cave of Hira, he received the first revelation through the Angel Jibril — the opening verses of Surah Al-'Alaq (96:1-5), beginning "Iqra" (Read/Recite). This marked the start of twenty-three years of revelation, thirteen in Makkah and ten in Madinah.
Thirteen years of preaching Tawheed amid escalating persecution — boycott (Shi'b Abi Talib), torture of early converts, and the "Year of Sorrow" (loss of Khadijah RA and Abu Talib). Included the Isra and Mi'raj (Night Journey and Ascension, 17:1) and two migrations to Abyssinia for persecuted followers.
The Hijrah (migration to Madinah, 622 CE) marks the start of the Islamic (Hijri) calendar. In Madinah he built the first Islamic state — see Prophet (PBUH) and the Formation of Community & Society. Major events include the Battles of Badr, Uhud and the Trench (see Prophet (PBUH) as a Military Strategist), the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, the Conquest of Makkah (8 AH), and the Farewell Pilgrimage and Sermon (10 AH, see Theme III).
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لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ
اردو ترجمہ: یقینا تمہارے پاس تم ہی میں سے ایک رسول آئے ہیں جن پر تمہاری تکلیف گراں گزرتی ہے۔
English: "There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves; grievous to him is what you suffer."
— Surah At-Tawbah 9:128
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى
اردو ترجمہ: پاک ہے وہ ذات جو اپنے بندے کو رات ہی رات مسجد حرام سے مسجد اقصی تک لے گیا۔
English: "Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa."
— Surah Al-Isra 17:1
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مَا رَأَيْتُ شَيْئًا أَحَسَنَ مِن خُلُقِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
اردو ترجمہ: میں نے رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم کے اخلاق سے بہتر کوئی چیز نہیں دیکھی۔ (انس بن مالک رضی اللہ عنہ)
English: "I never saw anything more beautiful than the character of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)." (Narrated by Anas ibn Malik RA)
— Sahih Muslim 2330
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The life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is not merely a biography to be narrated; it is the only historically documented, fully attested life of a founder of a world religion, and the Qur'an itself converts it into a normative standard: لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ — "There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent example" — (33:21). A 20-mark answer must therefore move from narration to argument: the Sīrah is the practical commentary (tafsīr ʿamalī) of the Qur'an, the proof that revealed ideals are humanly achievable, and a complete model spanning the private, familial, social, economic, judicial, diplomatic, military and spiritual dimensions of life.