The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Life of the Prophet
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THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET
The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn
Abdul Muttalib, who was born in Makkah in 570
A.D. and died in Madinah in 632 A.D. received the
prophethood at the age of forty. We give here a
brief sketch of his life.
Muhammad, may peace be upon him, was still in
his mother’s womb when his father Abdullah died.
A few years after his birth, his mother too passed
away. In accordance with the ancient Arab custom,
he was looked after by a Bedouin woman, Haleema
Sadia. Being an orphan, he was taken charge of by
his grandfather, Abdul Muttalib. After the latter’s
death, Muhammad’s uncle, Abu Talib, who was a
merchant, became his guardian. The Prophet
accompanied him on certain trading journeys. At
the age of twenty-five he married a Makkan widow,
Khadijah bint Khowailid, who was forty years old
at the time.
When the Prophet was forty years old, he received
his first revelation from God, in the cave of Hira
near Makkah, where he often used to go in search of
