وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةًۭ لِّلْعَٰلَمِينَ ﴿١٠٧﴾
And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.
Short answer
Muhammad ﷺ (about 570–632 CE) was born in Mecca and is the last prophet of God. At the age of 40 he received the first revelation of the Quran, and he spent the next 23 years calling people to worship God alone and to live with justice and mercy.
The fuller answer
He was an orphan, raised by his grandfather and uncle, and was known in Mecca as 'the Truthful' and 'the Trustworthy' long before he was a prophet. He worked as a merchant and married Khadijah, a businesswoman, who was the first person to believe in him.
His people persecuted him and his followers for thirteen years in Mecca. He then migrated to Medina, where he built a community, made treaties and, after the Muslims were attacked, defended them. Before he died, he returned to Mecca and forgave the people who had fought him. Muslims love him and follow his example, but they do not worship him: he was a human being and the servant and messenger of God.
From the Quran
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍۢ ﴿٤﴾
And indeed, you are of a great moral character.
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌۭ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْءَاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًۭا ﴿٢١﴾
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.
مَّا كَانَ مُحَمَّدٌ أَبَآ أَحَدٍۢ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ وَلَٰكِن رَّسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَخَاتَمَ ٱلنَّبِيِّۦنَ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمًۭا ﴿٤٠﴾
Muhammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah and last of the prophets. And ever is Allah, of all things, Knowing.
Please note
This answer follows the mainstream Sunni understanding and is general learning, not a fatwa. Where Muslims differ, the answer says so. Have a question of your own? Write to us.