The message that Muhammad spread during his lifetime was very similar to that of Abraham. He believed in the oneness of God; his God was the only one and created everything that is in existence. Muhammad told his followers to believe in all the prophets, but to accept himself as the last and final messenger sent by God. Also, the word of God was not only available through the Prophets, but Muhammad taught that the Qur'an was the written, infallible voice of God. Finally, Muhammad taught his followers to believe in the life after death, to prepare for the inevitable judgment day where we will all stand before God.
Aside from the messages that were exclusive to the Muslim people, Muhammad spread a message of peace, love, and understanding. While the previous teachings are important to the Muslim religion, the world over appreciates the Prophet Muhammad for these secondary messages that he spread. It is these messages that have been largely ignored by many Muslim extremists today.
Muhammad was born in Mecca, Arabia in 570 A.D. He spent much of his early years traveling with his uncle because his father died before he was even born. Muhammad married at age 25, became discontent with his life, and retreated to a cave for reflection and meditation. It was not until he was 40 years old that he received his first revelation and began his mission to spread the message God told him.
This prophet is known almost exclusively, not only for his spreading of God's message, but for founding the religion of Islam. Most notable was his journey from Mecca to Medina which called for the abandonment of all idols and for true belief in the only God. Because of the strong resistance he met in Mecca, Muhammad feared that his followers would be prosecuted and began a migration to Median. This pilgrimage is said to be a time of great miracles and prophesying.
Even though most all of the migrating Muhammad followers were treated extremely harshly as they traveled, this became an important point in Muslim history. The journey became known as the Hijra and is the beginning of the Muslim calendar. This event not only spread Muhammad's message further, but it also depicted the dedication of his followers. This dedication transformed it from a small group of outsiders, to a group that was prominent and influential.
Their influence became even greater when, years later, the Muslims took Mecca back as their own. Muhammad made another journey back to his home town where he would live out the rest of his life. Long after Muhammad passed away, his legacy lives on in the hearts and spirits of countless Muslim followers.
The words of Muhammad can still be read today in the form of the Qur'an. This is the main religious text for the Muslim people. However, Muhammad was simply the messenger; not the author. The angel Gabriel and God told Muhammad what the people needed to hear and learn, and Muhammad went on to dictate these words to another person because he was unable to write. While he neither thought up the words nor physically put them into an accessible form, Muhammad is given credit as the prophet through whom God used.
Currently, the Muslim religion which was founded by Muhammad is the faith with the second highest number of followers, only beneath Christianity. This means that 22% of the world's population follows the teachings of the Prophet. That equates to nearly 2 billion people worldwide. Recent studies have even shown that this number is growing by approximately 3% each year.
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The Muslim religion is often one with great controversy surrounding it. However, all the excitement that stems from this controversy often makes it a hot topic for satirical and social commentary cartoons. One such example is the televised cartoon series South Park. While there was not a single complaint reported from the Muslim clerics, American and British broadcasting companies feared having a comical Muhammad join forces with Jesus and Moses.
Another South Park episode depicted character of Chef going "Nanners" by adopting the Muslim religion. This episode more blatantly blasphemed Muhammad by explicitly stating how "crazy" Muslims act. Again, Muslims were not too concerned with the showing of South Park, but broadcasting companies required it to be censored.
A more recent controversy arose with the advent of Everyone Draw Muhammad day that quickly spread around the world with the force of the Social Networking site Facebook on the internet. It was created as a protest against those who threatened violence against artists who draw depictions of the prophet - which is forbidden in some hadith - or Islamic texts (strangely enough not even mentioned in the Qur'an) and as a protest against censorship of the aforementioned South Park episodes.
