The Prophet, peace be upon him. His full name was Abul Qasim Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn al Muttalib ibn Hashim. The founder of Islam was born in Makkah. He was the posthumous son of Abdullah who was from a prominent Quraish clan. His mother Amna died when Hazrat Muhammad,peace be upon him, was only six years old, and he was taken care of, first by his grand father, Abd Al Muttalib and later on by his paternal uncle, Abu Talib. He spent his early years with his Bedouin nurse, Halima, as was the tradition in respectable Quraish families, living near the mountainous region of Makkah. When he grew up he started going with the caravans, which the Maccan tradesmen organised regularly to Syria and Yemen. At the age of twenty-five he married Hazrat Khadija who had entrusted him with the management of her trading. Though fifteen years older than him, she was her confidant, his only wife till her death and the first convert to Islam. About 610, when he was about forty years old, he had formed the habit of withdrawing into the mountains near Makkah to meditate. One night on Mount Hira the words of Allah were revealed to Hazrat Muhammad, peace be upon him, by the archangel Gabriel. Thus, Hazrat Muhammad, peace be upon him, by 613 he was convinced that he had a message to convey, and he started preaching. His message was simple. There was only one Allah and he was His messenger. Every man and woman was responsible for the conduct of his and her own life, and that Allah will summon all his creatures for judgement on the day of resurrection. It must be understood here that Makkah where he initially preached was a trading centre (with no agricultural resources) and the Ka'bah was a place of profitable pilgrimages. Prophet Muhammad's, peace be upon him, preaching was an attack on the establishment of the time because Makkahns worshipped many idols as Gods and the whole society was corrupt and unjust. Prophet Muhammad's, peace be upon him, message was social justice and human rights. The opposition to him reached to such height that in 615 he advised some of his followers to take refuge in the Christian land of Ethiopia. In the year of the mourning, in 619, he lost his wife Hazrat Khadija and his uncle Abu Talib. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was still in Makkah when the Makkahns plotted to assassinate him, but he managed to escape and reached Madinah in 622. Thus began the Hegira. The Muslims count era from this year 622. Unlike Makkah, (Yasrab) was not a trading centre. The population there lived by cultivation and there was a conflict between different tribes of Aws and Khazraj, who were vying for dominance. It seemed that only arbitration by some one, unconnected with the two clans, could settle the matters. Hazrat Muhammad,peace be upon him, proved to be that arbiter. In 622, by an agreement known as the pact of Aqaba, the new converts to Islam, took an oath of fidelity. The Muslims started settling in small groups. The pact of Hudaibiya in 628 enabled the Muslims to come to Makkah for pilgrimage in 629. In 630, nearly all Makkahns accepted Islam. By general amnesty and other acts of generosity, Hazrat Muhammad, peace be upon him, won the hearts and minds of the Makkahns. The concentration of power in the hand of Hazrat Muhammad, peace be upon him, threatened the position of Taif, which had been a rival to Makkah in the past. Muslim Makkah was threatened by a confederation of Bedouin tribes called Hawazin, but they were decisively defeated at the battle of Hunayn in 630. Around 630-631 Islam was firmly established in the Arabian Peninsula. In 632, Hazrat Muhammad, peace be upon him, performed the farewell pilgrimage, returned to and died there on 8 June 632. Few men have exercised so lasting an influence on this world. 'He was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both religious and secular levels.' In less than 20 years, Islam had shaken two great powers, the Byzantine empire and Sassanid empire. 'Today thirteen centuries after his death his influence is still powerful and pervasive' and one seventh of the world's population follows his religion. 'The Arab conquests of the seventh century have continued to play an important role in human history down to the present day. It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence' which qualifies Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, 'to be considered the most influential single figure in human history.'