The Most Special Person Who Ever Lived

Let us begin a journey.

It is a long and beautiful journey, and by the end of it you will feel like you know someone very, very special. We are going to learn about the greatest human being who has ever lived, the greatest person to ever walk on this earth. His name is Muhammad, and every time we say his name we add a little prayer after it, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, which means “may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.” In this book we will often write it as a small, beautiful sign: ﷺ.

Before we hear the story of his life; how he was born, where he grew up, and all the amazing things that happened to him, let us first find out why he is so special. Think of this chapter as a little taste of honey before a big, wonderful meal. Once you see how special he is, you will want to learn even more about him. You will be excited to hear every single part of his story.

So let us begin.

How Do You Describe Someone So Great?

Here is the hard part. How do you even begin to describe a person that Allah Himself loves so much?

Allah, our Creator, says in the Qur’an that He has raised up the name of the Prophet ﷺ. That means He made his name honoured and famous all over the world. And it is true! Almost every time we say “Allah,” we say the name of the Prophet ﷺ right after. When we pray, when we make du’a, when we give a talk - we praise Allah, and then we send our love and peace upon Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Allah even called him a mercy, a gift of kindness for the whole world. His message is kind. His teaching is kind. Following him brings kindness into our hearts.

So how can we ever describe someone this great? We cannot describe everything, but we can mention some things. And even a small taste will show us how wonderful he truly is.

His Beautiful Names

Let us start with his names.

The Prophet ﷺ had many, many names. Some clever scholars, who loved him and studied him for years, counted more than two hundred and fifty names for him! But the most special names are the ones that Allah gave him. He himself told us some of them. He said, “I have several names.”

Two of his names are the most famous, and both are in the Qur’an. They are Muhammad and Ahmad.

Both of these names come from one special word: hamd. Do you know what hamd means? It means praise, but a very special kind of praise.

Imagine someone gives you a gift, and you say “thank you.” That is nice, but it is like a trade: you got something, so you gave thanks back. Hamd is bigger than that. Hamd means praising someone not because they gave you anything, but simply because they are wonderful all by themselves. You praise them for who they are.

So the Prophet’s two most famous names both mean “the one who is praised”. That’s because he truly deserves praise, just for being who he is.

• Muhammad means the one who is praised again and again, all the time, without stopping.
• Ahmad means the one who is praised in the best and highest way.

One name is about how much he is praised. The other is about how beautifully he is praised. And he is both!

He told us some of his other names too:

• Al-Mahi : “the one who wipes away.” Through him, Allah wiped away disbelief and darkness from the world.
• Al-Hashir : “the gatherer.” All people will be raised up and gathered after him on the Day of Judgement, which we’ll learn about later.
• Al-’Aqib : “the last one.” He is the final prophet. No prophet will ever come after him.

The Most Praised Person in the World

Now here is something amazing to think about.

Right now, this very second, all around the world, huge numbers of people are praising Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Some are praying. Some are giving talks about him. Some are quietly sending peace upon him in their hearts. There is not a single second, not even the tiny blink of a second, when millions of people somewhere are not honouring him.

No one else in all of history has ever been praised this much. Not kings. Not heroes. No one.

And even people who did not believe in him still had to admit that the things he taught; kindness, honesty, gentleness, mercy, are beautiful and good.

A Day When Everyone Will Need Him

Let us tell you about a day that will come in the future. It is called the Day of Judgement. The day when every person who ever lived will stand before Allah.

On that day, people will be waiting for a very long time, and they will feel worried and tired. They will want everything to begin, but no one will feel brave enough to go and ask Allah to start.

So the people will go looking for help. First they will go to Adam, the first human, and say, “You are our father! Please ask Allah to help us.” But Adam will feel too shy and say, “Go to someone else.”

Then they will go to Nuh (Noah). He will also say, “Go to someone else.” Then to Ibrahim (Abraham), only to get the same answer. Then to Musa (Moses). Then to ’Isa (Jesus). Each great prophet will feel too humble and say, “I am not the one. Go to someone else.”

And then, everyone - believers and non-believers alike, will come to one person. They will come to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. They will beg him to speak to Allah for them, to be their helper and their voice.

And he will say, “This is my job. This is my responsibility.” And he will step forward for all of humankind.

Because of this, every single person will thank him and praise him. Allah will lift him to a special, honoured place called Al-Maqam Al-Mahmud or “The Praised Station.” Every angel, every human, every creature will praise him at that moment. There has never been, and never will be, a person more praised than him.

His Special Gifts

Allah gave the Prophet ﷺ many gifts that He gave to no one else. Scholars have listed about fifty of them! Here are some of the most amazing ones.

He is the final prophet. Many prophets came before him, including Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, ’Isa, and many others, peace be upon them all. But Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the last one. There will be no prophet after him. His message is complete.

He was chosen before the world even began. A companion once asked him, “When did you become a prophet?” He answered that Allah had already decided he would be a prophet even before Adam was fully created. Even before the very first human was finished. Imagine that! Long, long before he was born, Allah had already chosen him.

He was sent to everyone. Every prophet before him was sent to just one group of people, in one place. But Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was sent to all of humankind; every country, every colour, every time. And here is something even more amazing: he was sent not only to people, but also to the jinn (unseen creatures that Allah made from fire). There is a famous story about a night when a group of jinn came to learn about Islam from him. We will hear that story later in our journey.

Even his enemies felt awe. Allah helped the Prophet ﷺ in a special way: when he had to face enemies in battle, they would feel afraid of him even when he was still a whole month’s journey away. Allah placed a sense of awe in their hearts before he ever arrived.

He has the largest ummah (family of followers). The Prophet ﷺ told his companions that his followers would be more than all the prophets. He hoped that his ummah would be two-thirds of all the good people in Paradise! When he said this, there were only about 1,500 Muslims in the whole world, living in one small city. Today there are more than a billion Muslims. What he said came true.

He was given the greatest miracle: the Qur’an. Other prophets were given amazing miracles - like the sea splitting open, or bringing the dead back to life by Allah’s permission. But those miracles happened once, long ago, and we cannot see them today. The Qur’an is different. It is a living miracle. We can read it, hear it, and hold it in our hands right now, more than 1,400 years later. It is the greatest miracle of all, and it will last forever.

He travelled a journey no one else ever made. One night, Allah took the Prophet ﷺ on a wonderful journey up through the heavens, into a place so high and holy that even the great angel Jibril (Gabriel) said, “I cannot go any further. From here, you go alone.” No other human has ever been honoured with a journey like this. It is called the Isra and Mi’raj, and we will hear all about it later.

He is the leader of all people. The Prophet ﷺ told us, “I am the sayyid (the master and leader) of all the children of Adam.” He is the best of all human beings, and on the Day of Judgement he will lead everyone.

He will be first in the most beautiful ways. On the Last Day, his grave will be the very first to open. He will be the first to be brought back to life. He will be the first to cross the great bridge called the Sirat, leading his followers safely to Paradise. And he will be the very first to knock on the doors of Paradise.

When he knocks, the angel guarding the gate will ask, “Who is it?” He will answer, “Muhammad.” And the angel will say, “You are the one I was told to open the gate for. I cannot open it for anyone before you.” So his blessed foot will be the first to step into Paradise after our father Adam. And even though we, his followers, are the last people to come in history, we will be among the first to enter Paradise, all because we love and follow him.

He was given a pool and a river. In Paradise, the Prophet ﷺ has a huge, beautiful pool called Al-Hawd, so wide it would stretch across a whole land. He was also given the great river of Paradise called Al-Kawthar, from which all the other rivers of Paradise flow. It is as if everyone in Paradise will drink from his gift.

He was given the very highest place in Paradise. Paradise has many levels, and the higher you go, the more special it becomes. At the very top, just below the Throne of Allah, is one special place made for only one person. It is called Al-Wasilah. The Prophet ﷺ said, “I hope that I am that one person.” He said it humbly and gently, but there is no one else who deserves it. It is his.

Why We Ask for Him

Do you know that every day, when the call to prayer (the adhan) is finished, we say a little du’a asking Allah to give the Prophet ﷺ that highest place, Al-Wasilah, and the honour he deserves?

We do this because we love him. We ask Allah to raise him to the Praised Station, and to give him every good thing. On the Day of Judgement, everyone will praise him. Even those who once made fun of him will finally understand how great he truly is.

And that is just a small taste of how special Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is. There is so much more to tell. In the chapters ahead, we will begin his story from the very start. We’ll learn about who he was, how he lived, how he looked, how kind he was, and all the beautiful things he said and did.

So get ready. Our journey with the greatest human being who ever lived is just beginning.

“And We’ve raised high your mention and remembrance.” - Qur’an 94:4