Muhammad - Proof of Prophethood

The life of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺis full of miracles. The more we study his life the more we discover how great a human being he was. The more we read about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ the more we realise that he truly is a prophet and a messenger of Allah. The more we speak about him, our love for him increases manifold. However, some people do not like the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and make up lies about him. They accuse him of not being a prophet and say that he made up the Quran. So, in today’s Khutbah, I will share some of the proofs that Muhammad ﷺ is actually a prophet and a messenger of Allah and I hope that we will in our own time read more about the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.  

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was a simple man who could not read or write. His parents died when he was very young, and therefore he grew up as an orphan. Even though he went through so much difficulty and was surrounded by bad people and bad practices, he was the perfection of every possible good characteristic. Did I say he just had good characteristics? No, I said he perfected all good characteristics. For example, when it came to generosity, people around him would cheat and steal from each other, whereas the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would give a lot of charity. It was narrated by Ibn Abbas that “the Prophet was the most generous amongst the people, and he used to be more so in the month of Ramadan” (Bukhari). When it comes to kindness, even though people were harsh to others, the Prophet ﷺ was extremely kind. When it comes to bravery, he won almost every single battle even though his army was much smaller than their opposing army. So, the conclusion is that only a prophet, who was supported by Allah, could be surrounded by so much evil and yet master all good characteristics. It is impossible for history to produce another man like the Prophet ﷺ. Show me one man that went through all the challenges of life and achieved what the Prophet ﷺ achieved. So the first proof of prophethood is the actual character and the  remarkable achievements of the Prophet ﷺ.  

The second proof that Muhammad ﷺ is a prophet and messenger of Allah is that he performed many physical miracles in front of people. For example, 1400 years ago, when there were no planes or aircrafts, the Prophet ﷺ went from Makkah to Masjidul Aqsa and then from Masjidul Aqsa back to Makkah all in one night.  

Allah says,
 سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا 
“Glory to Him, Who carried His servant by night from Masjidul Haram to Masjidul Aqsa whose surroundings we have blessed, to show him of Our signs.” (17:1) 

Just so you can understand, according to today’s map, it is like saying the Prophet ﷺ travelled from Saudi Arabia to Palestine and then back to Saudi Arabia all in one night. At that time, a journey to Masjidul Aqsa would take at least one month and one month to come back to Makkah. However, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did it in one night. When the people challenged the Prophet ﷺ to prove his claim of going to Masjid al Aqsa, the Prophet described the design of Masjid al Aqsa and he was found to be very accurate in his description. People were amazed with how precise and accurate his description was. Only a prophet with the permission of Allah could have performed this physical miracle. Some of the people who heard this accepted Islam, when they realised that this was in fact a miracle.  

Another proof of the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ is that the content of his message is similar to all the previous prophets and messengers who came before him. Prophet Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Isa and the other 124,000 prophets all had the same message, which was to worship Allah alone. How is it possible for people who have never met to have the same message? The only way that is possible is because Allah sent the same message to all of the prophets and messengers. If the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was not a prophet then his message would have been different to the previous prophets and messengers.  

The greatest miracle given to the Prophet ﷺ and one that can never be matched is the Qur’an. There are loads of miracles found within the Qur’an, but the main miracle of the Qur’an is linked to its style. Since we do not know Arabic, we might not be able to appreciate the style, the language, and the uses of words and rhythm. We might not be able to appreciate the linguistic miracles of the Qur’an, but it is enough to say that the best Arabic speaking people and the most talented Arab poets have testified that the Qur’an is a written miracle.  

However, when it comes to the content of the Qur’an, we can all still appreciate that it is the Word of Allah. So, for example, 1400 years ago, the Qur’an mentioned that the Earth is round.  


Allah says, 
وَالْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ دَحَاهَا 
“And we have made the earth egg shaped.” (79:30) 

1400 years ago, it was impossible for anyone to know this as they did not have any means of checking the shape of the Earth. Hundreds of years after the Qur’an was revealed did the scientists prove that the Earth is in fact spherical when in 1577 Sir Francis Drake proved that the Earth is spherical. Furthermore, the Qur’an mentions that the universe is expanding. Allah says, 
وَالسَّمَاءَ بَنَيْنَاهَا بِأَيْدٍ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ 
 “We have created the universe with strength, and we expand it.” (51:47) 

The expansion of the universe was discovered by the scientist Edwin Hubble around 1929, hundreds of years after the Qur’an had revealed the very same fact. It is impossible for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to guess these things, but the reason why he knew about the shape of the Earth, the expansion of the universe and all the other details is because Allah told him through the Qur’an. The Qur’an also talks about various other topics such as embryology, history and has mathematical miracles, but time does not permit to talk about them. It is enough to say that all of these miraculous topics truly indicate that the Quran is from Allah and it was revealed to our Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ.   

Another unique feature of the Qur’an is its predictions about the future. Every prediction in the Quran came true. For example, during the life of the Prophet ﷺ, the Romans and Persians went to war. The Persians were winning the war and the Romans were heavily defeated. However, the Qur’an predicted that the Romans were going to dominate again within 10 years. The Quraysh laughed at this prediction as it was almost impossible for the Romans to defeat the Persians. Did the Quranic prediction of the Romans becoming victorious come true? Yes. The Romans won as predicted in the Qur’an. Once again, the fact that all the predictions in the Qur’an came true proves that Muhammad ﷺ is a prophet of Allah, because Allah revealed future events to him. It is impossible for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, an illiterate man, from barren lands, to get all his predictions right. By the permission of Allah, only a prophet and messenger of Allah can get it right.  

In conclusion, there are many proofs that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is actually a prophet. He perfected all good characteristics, he invited people to the same message as the prophets and messengers who preceded him and he performed many miracles, the biggest one being the Qur’an. So, anyone who tries to accuse Muhammad ﷺ of not being a prophet is definitely wrong and we can present various proofs to them. I hope we can spend some time every week to read more about the life of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. If you do not enjoy reading, there are so many videos about the life of the prophet you can watch. Once we know about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, we can tell others about him. 

May Allah give us the tawfeeq and the ability to study the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and use it to better our own lives. Ameen.