Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his Companions, and those who follow him. To proceed:
Investigating the truthfulness of a prophet should not be based merely on emotion. Rather, it should involve examining his claim, his life, the content of his message, and the evidence he presented for it.
When studying the life and message of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Muslims point to a number of evidences that they believe collectively demonstrate the truth of his Prophethood.
Before examining miracles, it is important to examine the person making the claim.
Before his Prophethood, Muhammad ﷺ was known among his people for honesty and trustworthiness. After declaring his Prophethood, he endured many years of persecution, boycott, loss of loved ones, and conflict with his people.
He remained committed to his message when he was weak, and he continued to uphold it after he gained strength and victory over his opponents.
This leads the researcher to ask: What motive could explain a person continuing such a mission throughout his life if he knew that his claim was false?
This alone does not prove Prophethood, but it is an important factor when evaluating the sincerity of the claimant.
Among the evidences cited by Muslims are predictions in the Qur’an and the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ concerning future events that later occurred.
One of the best-known examples is the Qur’an’s prediction that the Romans would defeat the Persians after having suffered a major defeat.
Allah says:
“The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land. But after their defeat, they will triumph within a few years.” [Ar-Rum 30:2–4]
The balance of the war later shifted in favor of the Romans during the following years, after the Byzantine Empire had suffered severe defeats at the hands of the Persians.
Other reports in the Sunnah also describe future events that Muslims regard as having been fulfilled and therefore as evidence for his Prophethood ﷺ.
When the Prophet ﷺ debated the Christian delegation of Najran concerning Jesus, peace be upon him, the Qur’an called them to Mubahalah: both parties would pray to God to place His curse upon whoever was lying.
Allah says:
“Come, let us call our children and your children... then let us earnestly pray and invoke Allah’s curse upon the liars.” [Aal ‘Imran 3:61]
Islamic sources report that the delegation of Najran did not accept the challenge of Mubahalah.
Muslims cite this event as evidence of the Prophet’s ﷺ confidence in the truth of his message and his willingness to enter such a serious religious challenge.
The Prophet ﷺ reported that he was taken by night from the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to Al-Aqsa Mosque and then ascended through the heavens.
The people of Makkah challenged his account and questioned him about Jerusalem. Authentic Islamic narrations state that he accurately described what they asked him about.
The Night Journey and Ascension are fundamentally religious miracles known through revelation and Islamic narrations. Therefore, a distinction should be made between independently verifiable historical evidence and a miracle whose acceptance depends upon evaluating the reliability of prophetic transmission.
Muslims believe that the splitting of the moon was one of the physical miracles granted to the Prophet ﷺ.
Allah says:
“The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has split.” [Al-Qamar 54:1]
Multiple reports in the books of Hadith describe Companions witnessing this event.
Within the Islamic framework, it is cited as evidence based on the authenticity of these Hadith reports. For a non-Muslim historical evaluation, however, the methodology of Hadith transmission and the sources of the Prophetic biography would first need to be examined.
Muslims believe that previous prophets foretold the coming of the final Prophet ﷺ.
Allah says:
“Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written in the Torah and the Gospel with them...” [Al-A‘raf 7:157]
Throughout history, Muslim scholars have discussed passages in the Bible that they understand as references or prophecies concerning a prophet who would come after Jesus, peace be upon him.
However, using such passages as evidence requires examining each text in its original language, historical context, Muslim interpretation, and the corresponding Jewish or Christian interpretations, so that the investigation remains fair.
Muslims regard the Qur’an as the greatest evidence for the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ because it is not merely a miracle associated with a past historical event. It is a text that still exists and can be examined today.
The Qur’an challenged the Prophet’s ﷺ contemporaries, who were highly skilled in Arabic eloquence, to produce something comparable to it, then ten chapters like it, and finally even a single chapter like it.
Allah says:
“Say, ‘If all humans and jinn were to come together to produce the equivalent of this Qur’an, they could not produce its equal.’” [Al-Isra 17:88]
Muslims cite several aspects of the Qur’an as evidence, including its language and literary structure, the content of its message, the coherence of its theology, its historical influence, and the manner in which it has been transmitted and preserved.
The Prophet ﷺ referred to the special nature of the Qur’an as his enduring miracle when he said:
“There was no prophet except that he was given signs by which people believed in him. What I have been given is revelation that Allah revealed to me.”
Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Establishing Prophethood does not necessarily depend on one isolated argument. Rather, one can examine a cumulative body of evidence:
The Prophet’s ﷺ character and honesty, his life before and after Prophethood, his steadfastness in his mission, the content of his message, the Qur’an he conveyed, predictions of future events, reports concerning his miracles, and the extraordinary historical impact of his message.
The more independent lines of evidence converge and support one another, the stronger the overall argument becomes.
The evidence Muslims use to establish the Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ is not limited to a single argument. Rather, it consists of a collection of arguments and supporting indications, including his character and biography, the content of his message, certain predictions of future events, miracles reported in Islamic sources, prophecies that Muslims understand to exist in previous scriptures, and above all, the Qur’an itself.
For a non-Muslim researcher, the best approach is neither to begin by assuming Islam is true nor by assuming it is false. Instead, each argument should be examined individually, distinguishing between what can be investigated historically, what depends upon the reliability of transmitted reports, and what rests upon rational or linguistic arguments.
In this way, the question of Muhammad’s ﷺ Prophethood can be investigated through evidence and careful examination rather than emotion or preconceived conclusions.
And Allah knows best.