Muhammad's Profile before His Prophethood Era

Muhammad was destined to be the best man in the world by Allah. There have been a variety of signs leading to that fact. He had been set to stay away from any evil or negative things.

Inside Muhammad's inner self, it was all about good and things. he was an ideal figure with the bright and pure mind and strong sharp analysis. He received his respectable position due to his intelligence, deep outlook, and his accuracy of choosing a medium to pursue his goals.

He liked to ponder long, observe, think, and learn a truth deeply. he loved to learn a human life story and social problems. He refused and avoided any khurafat. in getting along with other people, he always considered well the benefit of his and their business. if it brought goodness, he would surely join. Otherwise, he would prefer to exclude himself. 

He did not like to drink khamr (alcohol, something to drink that makes people drunk), he did not eat livestock meats which were slaughtered for the sake of the idols, he also never attended any idol worship ceremony. Moreover, he even had already hated this kind of ceremony since he was very young. He always got angry when he heard a swear upon the names of Lata and Uzza.

Destiny seemed to have kept him away from any mistake. When there was a time he had a desire to just know worldly pleasure or to follow something improper, Allah helped him by preventing him from those acts.

There was a time when Muhammad wanted to join his friends seeing a street music show or something like that. However, when he arrived at the place of the show, he fell asleep deeply so that he couldn't feel the pleasure. He was awoken when the show was already over. It was one of the examples of how Allah prevented him from anything which could have made any tiny stain upon his heart.

The Rennovation of The Kabah and A Fair Judgement

When Muhammad was 35, the Quraish initiated to rebuild the Kabah which at that time was still in the form of stone pile with the height of 4,5 metres. Since the age of Prophet Ismail PBUH Kabah was unroofed so that a thief can easily take out things inside.

As an old heritage building, Kabah had passed a very long period of time of existence and thus natural conditions could bring damage or even ruin it. Five years before the prophethood of Muhammad, Mecca was invaded by great flood which caused anxiety that Kabah may be ruined and destructed due to the massive amount of water sometime. Thus, a renovation with the purpose of maintaining its durability was inevitable.

The Quraish agreed they only used the good source of resources (funds) to restore the Kabah. It was only halal money which was used. Money as result of Riba and the result of tyrannical action was useless. Although everything was prepared, they were afraid of destructing the Kabah until Walid bin Mughirah initiated it with his axe. He prayed in advance, “O Allah, we want nothing but goodness (from this action).” When he began to destruct the Kabah, people of Quraish noticed nothing significant happened. They were then encouraged to follow Walid to destruct the Kabah together.

The old building of Kabah was destructed on the second day. They kept doing it and let the foundation lied by Prophet Ibrahim remain.

The renovation began afterwards and every clan had its own duty. They gathered stones together to build it. The man in charge of this renovation was a Roman architect called Baqum. The renovation process continued until it reached the restoration of Hajar Aswad (black stone).

Here, there was a long dispute over who deserved to restore the Hajar Aswad on its position. Every head had its own mind and they argued sturdily so that blood shedding almost happened. Finally, Abu Umayyah bin Mughirah al Makhzumi suggested that a man who reached Masjid al Haram first would be the person to restore Hajar Aswad to its position. Everyone agreed.

Surprisingly, the man who first arrived at Masjidil Haram was Muhammad. When people saw it, they concurred that Muhammad was the man in charge to restore the Hajar Aswad. Everyone looked satisfied and they accepted him. Due to this event, Muhammad was well-known as ‘Al Amin’ (the trustworthy one).

Muhammad then was appointed to restore the black stone from Heaven. However, he did not want to do it alone. He asked for a sheet of cloth, and put the Hajar Aswad upon it. Afterwards, he commanded every clan to grab its each end and bring it together. This solution satisfied all people. During his relatively young age, Muhammad showed a great personality which unified his people. It was a sign that he would be a great leader in the future.

Muhammad's Career and Marriage with Khadija

Like common people, Muhammad also worked. When he was a child, he used to work as a shepherd to goats owned by Bani Sa’ad with salary of some qirath. He changed his profession when he was an adolescent, from a shepherd to a trader.

At the age of 25, Muhammad traded to Syam (Now Syam consists of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq). Muhammad would sell goods belonging to Khadijah binti Khuwailid, a highly rich and respectable woman amongst The Quraish.

Whenever Muhammad did a transaction, he would always explain the thing the way it was. He was just an honest seller to everyone; he never lied, never cheated, not once. Because of his honesty and humbleness, and attractive personality, the goods he brought were always sold out.

Khadijah as the business owner was amazed by this fact. She then sent his maid named Maisarah to accompany Muhammad for the next trading trip. Khadijah ordered Muhammad to run her funds to trade in Syam again, but this time Khadijah promised him a bigger share for him. Muhammad agreed, and without he knowing it, he was under the monitor of Maisarah.

Muhammad went home to Mecca with great and satisfying result of profit. Khadijah was, again, astonished by his good work. Her sympathy for Muhammad grew greater after Maisarah told everything she monitored during their trip to Syam. Amongst them are Muhammad’s noble attitude, creative ideas, polite speech act, and the trustworthy way of selling.

Khadijah felt like she found a soul mate she had been looking for. At that time, however, many leaders of Quraish and noblemen intended to marry her, and she always refused. Khadijah finally shared her feeling of pride and impressions about Muhammad to one of her friends called Nafisah bint Munabbih. Nafisah immediately met Muhammad to deliver Khadijah’s proposal of marriage.

At first, Muhammad felt he had nothing to offer. He knew he was just an ordinary young man, not a nobleman, not even a leader of Quraish. He was just a usual man. No more. But Khadijah through Nafisah’s mouth insisted that she was serious about him, thus finally Muhammad agreed to marry Khadijah.

Muhammad then went to some of his uncles to talk about this matter. The Bani  Hasyim Famiily met Khadijah’s uncle to make an official proposal of marriage to Khadijah. The marriage was held two months after Muhammad’s homecoming from Syam, with the dowry of 20 young camels. Khadijah was 40 and Muhammad was 25 years old when they got married.

Muhammad never married another woman until Khadijah died. All of his children were born by Khadijah except Ibrahim. Muhammad’s children are Qasim, Zainab, Ruqayyah, Ummu Kultshum, Fathimah, and Abdullah (well-known as At-Thayyib and At-Thahir). All of Muhammad’s sons died when Muhammad was still alive, while his daughters stayed alive until their migration to Medina. Muhammad’s daughters died when their father was still alive except for Fathimah. Fathimah stayed alive and finally died 6 months after her father’s death.