Muhammad ﷺ was born in Makkah and known among his people for his truthfulness and trustworthiness before prophethood. At the age of forty, revelation began when the angel Jibril came to him with the first words of the Qur'an: "Read in the name of your Lord who created" (96:1-5). Allah addressed him, "O you who covers himself, arise and warn" (74:1-2).
He called his people to worship Allah alone and abandon idols, and for this he and the early believers endured persecution in Makkah. The Qur'an affirms his lofty character: "And indeed, you are of a great moral character" (68:4), and that he does not speak from desire, for the revelation is inspired to him (53:3-4).
Allah honoured him with the Night Journey and Ascension (Isra and Mi'raj), taking His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to the Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem (17:1), and from there raising him through the heavens to the Lote Tree of the Farthest Boundary (53:13-18), where the five daily prayers were prescribed (Sahih al-Bukhari 349, 3887; Sahih Muslim 162-163). After years of hardship, he migrated (Hijrah) to Madinah, where the Muslim community was established and the message flourished.
Allah declares his universal mission: "We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds" (21:107), and "We have not sent you except comprehensively to all mankind" (34:28). He is the seal of the prophets, after whom there is no prophet: "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets" (33:40).
Through him Allah perfected the religion, declaring, "This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you, and have approved for you Islam as religion" (5:3). The Qur'an revealed to him is Allah's final Scripture, preserved by Allah Himself (15:9), confirming and completing the guidance sent to all the prophets before him.