Who is Muhammad and Do Muslims Worship Him?

Muhammed is considered to be the founder of Islam, and for Muslims he is the messenger of God who was sent to preach the faith to the world. In Islam he is considered to be the final prophet sent by God, and Muhammed himself acknowledged many of the religious figures in Jewish and Christian scriptures as prophets too. Muslims understand his role to be the final prophet in a line of prophets sent to share the word of God. Until he was forty years old, he lived a relatively quiet life in Mecca, where he was married to his with and raised his children. The story is told that one night when he was about forty years old, he was on a spiritual retreat when the angel Gabriel appeared before him and informed him that he was to be the messenger of God. Muhammed fled in terror, concerned that the vision was an evil spirit, but he was visited by more visions, and soon instructed that it was time to begin sharing his revelations about the one true God. This is how Muhammed began to preach the word of God, and gain followers for his new faith. 

For Muslims he is known as the Prophet Muhammed, and his name is often followed with the honorific ‘peace be upon him’.  The Prophet Muhammed lived at the end of the sixth century and the beginning of the seventh century, from the years 570 – 632 CE. He was born in the city of Mecca, and he died in the city of Medina, both of which are major holy cities in the Muslim faith. Muhammed led his followers through war and expansion of empire, and he had a number of wives and children. As a prophet, Muhammed would receive revelations from Allah throughout his life, which he would teach to the people as the word of God. These revelations form the verses of the Quran today. Muhammed is a revered figure in Islam, and his behaviors and actions during his lifetime have been carefully recorded as lessons and guidelines for future behavior by Muslims. He is considered to have led an ideal life, and so his actions are taken as guidance for how one today should live his or her life. 

Do Muslims Worship Muhammed?

Muhammed is not worshipped in Islam. For Muslims, the most fundamental belief of their faith is the belief in one God, and the gravest sin in Islam is ‘shirk’ or associating other powers with God, or Allah. To worship a human being would be considered a serious sin, even if the human being is one considered so worthy of admiration as the Prophet Muhammed. Muslims also do not pray to images of Muhammed, or otherwise treat him as a divine entity. For many Muslims, the death of Muhammed is firm proof that while he was an extraordinary prophet, he was also simply a man, and should most certainly not be worshipped. 

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