The Last Prophet

Abu l-Qasim Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Hashimi al-Qurashi is the central human figure of the religion of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as the messenger and prophet of God (Arabic: الله‎ Allāh), the last and the greatest in a series of prophets of Islam. Muslims consider him the restorer of the uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Noah and other prophets of Islam. He was also active as a diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, reformer, military general, and, according to Muslim belief, an agent of divine action. Born in 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, he was orphaned at a young age and was brought up under the care of his uncle. He later worked mostly as a merchant, and was first married by age 26. Discontented with life in Mecca, he retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for meditation and reflection. According to Islamic beliefs it was here, at age 40, in the month of Ramadan, where he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit. islām) is the only way (dīn) acceptable to God, and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and other prophets in Islam.

At the end of the tenth year after the migration to Medina, Muhammad carried through his first
truly Islamic pilgrimage thereby teaching his followers the regulations of the various ceremonies
of the annual Great Pilgrimage (hajj).[14]
After completing the pilgrimage rituals, Muhammad delivered a famous speech known as the
Farewell Speech (Arabic: Khutbat al-Wadaa'). In this sermon, Muhammad advised his follower
not to follow certain pre-Islamic customs such as adding intercalary months to align the lunar
calendar with the solar calendar. Muhammad abolished all old blood feuds and disputes based on
the former tribal system and asked for all old pledges to be returned as implications of the
creation of the new Islamic community. Commenting on the vulnerability of women in his
society, Muhammed asked his male followers to “Be good to women; for they are powerless
captives (awan) in your households. You took them in God’s trust, and legitimated your sexual
relations with the Word of God, so come to your senses people, and hear my words ...”. He also
told them that they were entitled to discipline their wives but should do so with kindness.
Muhammad also addressed the issue of inheritance by forbidding false claims of paternity or of a
client relationship to the deceased and also forbidding his followers to leave their wealth to a
testamentary heir. He also upheld the sacredness of four lunar months in each year.[134] [135]
According to Sunni Tafsir the following Qur'anic verse was delivered in this incident: “Today I
have perfected your religion, and completed my favours for you and chosen Islam as a religion
for you.”(Qur'an 5:3)[14] while according to Shia ones it refers to appointment of Ali ibn Abi
Talib as the successor of Muhammad in pond of Khumm which happened while Muslims
returned from Mecca to Medina, few days later.

A few months after the farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and suffered for several days
with head pain and weakness. He succumbed on Monday,
is buried in his tomb (which previously was in his wife Aisha's house) which is now housed
within Mosque of the Prophet in
empty tomb that Muslims believe awaits Jesus.