Muhammad was subjected to insults, to personal violence, and to the bitterest persecution, and his converts were most relentlessly oppressed, persecuted, and tortured. The fury of the people of Makkah knew no bounds. They were, therefore, seriously alarmed and became actively hostile towards Muhammad. The Quraysh tribe were the guardians of the Ka`bah, which was a source of great prestige and profit to their city, Makkah. The Prophet began by preaching his mission secretly first among his intimate friends, then among the members of his own tribe, and thereafter publicly in the city and suburbs. Muhammad then communicated his experience to his cousin `Ali, his adopted son Zayd, and his intimate friend Abu Bakr. Khadijah was the first to accept the truth of Islam. He declared that the heavenly message that had come to Moses had now come to Muhammad, and that he was chosen as a prophet of Allah. She later consulted her kinsman, Waraqah ibn Nawfal. Muhammad rose trembling and hastened home to seek rest and solace in Khadijah’s tender care, and she calmed and comforted him. One night, while lying absorbed in his thoughts in the solitude of the cave, Muhammad was commanded by a mighty voice to go forth and preach. It was on one of these occasions, when he was 40 years of age, that Muhammad received the call. Solitude became a passion with him, and every year he would retire to the cave for the whole month of Ramadan to mediate. There his soul tried to peer into the mysteries of creation, of life and death, of good and evil, to find order out of chaos. Whenever the iniquities of his people oppressed him, Muhammad retired to the solitude of a cave in Mount Hira’ outside Makkah. He continued to take an ever-increasing interest in public affairs and to exert himself in the service of the poor, the helpless, and the weak. His fairness further enhanced his reputation as “Al-Amin” (The Trustworthy). Muhammad continued to work as a merchant. Their 26 years of married life were singularly happy. Muhammad had felt drawn to Khadijah, and so matters were soon arranged. On his return, Khadijah was so pleased with his successful management of her business and was so attracted by his noble character that she sent her sister to offer the young man Khadijah’s hand. Thus Muhammad found himself at the age of 25 in charge of a caravan conveying merchandise to Syria. Muhammad was content to work as a shepherd, but his uncle Abu Talib desired something better for him and obtained him employment with a rich widow, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid ibn Asad.
At the age of twelve, he accompanied his uncle in a merchant’s caravan to Syria. He died when Muhammad was eight, and the boy was then brought up by his uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad then went to his paternal grandfather, `Abdul Muttalib. At the age of five, Muhammad returned to the care of his mother, Aminah bint Wahb, but she died a year later. The infant Muhammad was handed to a Bedouin wet nurse to be brought up by her in the healthy atmosphere of the desert.
Muhammad was born in Makkah on Rabi` Awwal 12, 570 CE.
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