Who is Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and what was his character like?

Muslims believe that Muhammad ﷺ is the final Prophet in a long chain of Prophets sent to call people to the worship of God alone. This chain includes Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and many others (peace be upon them all).

Just as Moses was sent with the Torah and Jesus with the Gospel, Muhammad ﷺ was sent with the Qur'an to demonstrate how its teachings should be applied in daily life. When his wife Aisha was asked to describe his character, she replied: 'His character was a reflection of the Qur'an' — meaning he meticulously lived out its noble teachings.

The Prophet's character can be understood through several defining qualities:

Mercy: The Qur'an describes him as 'a mercy for mankind' (21:107). He said: 'He who does not show mercy to others will not be shown mercy.' When people asked him to curse the disbelievers, he replied: 'I have not been sent as one to curse but as a mercy.'

Forgiveness: He was the most forgiving of people, especially when he had the power to retaliate. No amount of personal offense was too great for him to forgive. The Qur'an commanded: 'Keep to forgiveness, enjoin kindness, and turn away from the ignorant' (7:199).

Equality: He declared in his farewell sermon: 'All humanity is from Adam and Adam is from clay. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor for a black over a white; except through piety.' When a companion insultingly called another man 'Son of a black woman,' the Prophet became angry and said: 'You still have within you traces of ignorance from the pre-Islamic period.'

Gentleness: A companion who served him for ten years said: 'When I did something, he never questioned my manner of doing it; and when I did not do something, he never questioned my failure to do it. He was the friendliest of all men.' He taught: 'If gentleness is found in something, it beautifies it, and when it is taken out from anything, it makes it deficient.'

Humility: He sat wherever there was space, never sought elevated positions, dressed simply, mixed with the poor and needy, and was fearful of being worshipped — warning: 'Do not exceed bounds in praising me as the Christians do in praising Jesus, Son of Mary. I am only the Lord's servant; then call me the Servant of Allah and His Messenger.'

Mahatma Gandhi remarked about him: 'It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle.'

George Bernard Shaw declared: 'After looking into the story of this man I found it to be an amazing and a miraculous one, and I came to the conclusion that he was never an enemy of Christianity, and must be called instead the saviour of humanity.'