Muhammad

Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 and died in Medina in 632. Muslims hold that from about 610 he received revelations from God through the angel Gabriel, collected as the Quran. Facing opposition in Mecca, he and his followers migrated to Medina in 622, the Hijrah, which begins the Islamic calendar. By his death much of Arabia had accepted Islam.

Muslims revere him as the final prophet. Historians date the Quran to his lifetime; early manuscript leaves have been radiocarbon-dated to the seventh century. Details of his life come mainly from biographies and hadith collected in the following two centuries.

Surah 17:1 refers to a night journey from the sacred mosque to the 'farthest mosque.' Hadith expand this into the Isra and Mi'raj: Muhammad rides the winged mount Buraq to Jerusalem and ascends through the seven heavens, meeting earlier prophets, including Idris, often identified with Enoch, in the fourth heaven. Muslims differ on whether it was bodily or a vision; most hold it was bodily.