Prophet MOHAMMAD(Peace Be Upon Him)
Hazrat-e Mohammad (Pbuh) is the last Prophet of God who brought a book and a set of laws and Moslems believe in his religion, Islam. Hazrat-e Mohammad(Pbuh) was born among Bani Hashim family of Quraysh which was known as the dearest Arab family, 53 years before Hegira, in Mecca.
His father's name was Abdullah and his mother's Aminah. He lost his father and mother in early childhood and his grandfather Abd Al-Muttalib took complete charge of him. Two years after the death of his mother, the orphan was bereaved once again, this t ime of his grandfather. When he was dying, Abd Al-Muttlib ceded guardianship of his grandson to his son Abu Taleb.
Mohammad's uncle, Abu Taleb, offered the same warm affection and kindness to his nephew Mohammad and protected him from his enemies of Quraysh. His wife, Fatimah Bint Assad, tried to be as kind as a boy's mother to him. His uncle took him sometimes with him on his travels and on one occasion when Mohammad was about twelve, they went along with a trade caravan as far as Syria.
Mohammad had passed his twentieth year, and as time went on he received more and more invitations to join travels abroad. Finally the day came when he was asked to take charge of the goods of a merchant who was unable to travel. One of the richest mercha nts of Mecca was a woman.
Her name was Khadeejah, the daughter of Khuwaylid. Now Mohammad had became known throughout Mecca as Al-Ameen, meaning, the reliable, the trustworthy, or the honest. This issue was initially because of the reports of those who had entrusted their mercha ndise to him on various occasions.
Khadeejah had also heard much good of Mohammad from her family sources. One day she asked him to take some of her merchandise to Syria. Mohammad accepted and set off with Khadeejah's goods for the north.
Mohammad's talent made that travel a very successful one. The lady proposed to marry the 25-year-old Mohammad. She bore him 8 children, 4 sons and 4 daughters. Their eldest child was a son named Qassem, but the boy died before his second birthday.
The next child was a daughter whom they named Zaynab, and she was followed by three other daughters, Ruqayah, Ummkalthoum, and the Holy Lady Fatimah(Pbuh).
Mohammad(Pbuh) used to go for spiritual retreats to a secluded cave on top of Mount Hira', not far from the outskirts of Mecca. He took with him provisions. There he prayed for a certain number of nights to God. He was ordained to Prophecy when he was 40 years old and there, the first Quranic Sura was descended to him. The religion was now established on the basis of the ritual purification and prayer. Prophet's faithful wife Khadeejah and his cousin Ali Ibn Abe Taleb at the age of only ten, were both the first to embrace Islam.
Prophet (Pbuh) was faced with a painful reaction from people, so he decided to call his relatives to Islam, in secret. But there was no end to this invitation. Thus the Prophet revealed his invitation, an issue which caused so many hard and painful tortu res by Mecca citizens to the Prophet and new converts.
Some groups of the Moslems left their homeland and immigrated to Ethiopia. Prophet(Pbuh) took refugee in Abu Taleb She'b (Abu Taleb Mountain-pass) in a very hard situation. No one did business and associate with them and they were not able to come out o f there. Mecca idolaters used all kinds of pressure, tortures, offenses and mockery on him.
Sometimes they tried to dissuade him, by promising wealth, and leadership but none of them were able to influence his endeavor and decision. His dear uncle, Abu Taleb, and his faithful wife passed away around 10 years of his ordainment. There was no other shelter for him. So he took a secret decision to immigrate to Yasreb (ancient name of Medina).
Hazrat-e Ali (Pbuh) slept on Prophet's bed, and Prophet passed through enemies lines by God's support and abided in a cave near Mecca. He went towards Yasreb after three days.
Yasreb people, who had believed in his teachings before, accepted him warmly and served him with their life and properties. The Hazrat established a small Islamic society in Yasreb City. He struck some treaties with the Jews and powerful Arab tribes. There he disseminated the teachings. So, Yasreb was famed as Medina Al-Rasoul City.
Islam was developed daily and the Moslems who were under pressure of Quraysh's oppression, left their homeland and immigrated to Medina in order to help the Prophet. They were called Emigrants as Prophet's Yasrebian companions were famed as Ansar (Helper s).
Islam was developing so encompassingly but Quraysh and the Jewish tribes of Hijaz didn't lift their sanctions. They caused new disasters for Moslems by the help of the hypocrite elements who were among Moslems. Finally, there took place so many wars, amo ng Islam, Arab and Jews. Prophet (Pbuh) attended all the big wars like Badr, Ohod, Khandaq and Kheybar, personally. Imam Ali (Pbuh) was the main reason of all the victories.
Islam expanded throughout the Saudi Arabia Peninsula, thanks to the Prophet's activity and Emigrants' and Ansar's self-sacrifices. Invitational letters were written to the kings of the other countries like Iran, Rome, Egypt and Ethiopia.
The Prophet lived among the poor. Never did he spend his time uselessly but he divided his life into 3 parts: One part belonged to God and prayer, the other part to himself, his family and the household. The third part belonged to people; Prophet (Pbuh) diffused and taught Islamic knowledge, governed Islamic society's affairs, removed the Moslem's needs and improved internal and external relations.