At dawn in a boarding school in Jakarta, a student opens a classical Islamic text and studies how Prophet Muhammad performed ablution and prayer. Around the same time, a Muslim in Marrakesh applies perfume before leaving for work. At a university in Kairo, a student begins a presentation with a greeting of peace. Elsewhere, perhaps thousands of miles away, a child learns from a mother to eat with the right hand.
These people do not know one another. They live in different languages, nations, and cultures. Some live in major cities, while others live in small villages. Some were born into Muslim families that have practiced the faith for generations. Others discovered Islam only as adults.
Yet their lives share a common thread. In countless small ways, they are trying to follow a man who lived more than 14 centuries ago in the Arabian Peninsula.
That man was Muhammad ibn Abdullah.
For Muslims, following the Prophet can extend to remarkably ordinary details. It is not limited to worship. It can include how to eat, sleep, dress, speak, treat family members, visit the sick, receive guests, and conduct everyday life. Few figures in human history have been observed in such detail by their followers, especially centuries after their deaths.
Consider other towering figures of history. Alexander the Great is remembered as one of the ancient world’s greatest conquerors. Julius Caesar became a defining figure of Roman history. Genghis Khan built an empire that stretched across vast territories. The pharaohs of Egypt, Chinese emperors, and other rulers once commanded millions of people. They possessed armies, wealth, palaces, and political power that seemed nearly limitless in their time.
Yet political power does not necessarily create an intimate relationship between a ruler and generations that follow. We may still study Alexander’s military strategies or Caesar’s politics. Few communities, however, treat their personal habits as guides for everyday life. No large community studies how an ancient emperor ate, slept, spoke with his family, or cared for himself as a model to emulate.
A Life Preserved across Generations
Prophet Muhammad occupies a different place. Even during his lifetime, the people around Muhammad paid close attention to his conduct. His companions asked his wives about his life at home. They remembered his words and actions. They observed how he worshiped and interacted with others. That attention did not end with his death. What they knew was passed to the next generation and then to the generations that followed.
Over time, this process produced an enormous body of hadith literature.Muslims did not merely preserve stories about the Prophet. They also developed methods for evaluating them. Scholars examined who transmitted each report, how transmitters were connected, and whether the content could be accepted. From this effort emerged several branches of hadith scholarship, which became an important feature of Islamic intellectual tradition.
Not every report was considered equally reliable. Some were classified as sahih, or authentic; others as hasan, or sound; while some were considered weak or even fabricated. That distinction, however, underscores the seriousness with which Muslims approached the Prophet’s life. They did not simply accept a story because it had circulated for generations. Instead, they sought to establish where it came from and how it reached later generations.
All of this began with one fundamental conviction: the life of Muhammad mattered to those who came after him.
More than 14 centuries after his death, his example still appears in ordinary acts. A mother teaches her child to offer a greeting of peace. A Muslim tries to be honest while doing business. Someone visits a sick friend and prays for them. A young person tries to control their anger. Elsewhere, someone rises before dawn to perform the night prayer.
Each act may seem insignificant on its own. Yet when millions of people perform such acts across different places and pass them down through centuries, they become something much larger than personal habits.
This is where Muhammad’s influence becomes especially compelling.
Many historical figures left behind buildings, books, statues or territories. Some of those legacies remain visible today. Muhammad’s most enduring legacy, however, lives primarily through people. It moves from parent to child, teacher to student, and one generation to the next.
Islamic history certainly includes great kingdoms and caliphates. Muhammad’s influence, however, does not depend on the survival of any particular political dynasty. Governments change and empires collapse, while Muslims continue studying his life in homes, mosques, schools, boarding schools, and universities.
Why His Example Endures
This enduring influence is inherent in Muhammad’s position in Islam. For Muslims, Muhammad was not simply a great leader or an important figure in Arabian history. He was the Messenger of God. The Quran directly presents him as an example for believers:
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ
“Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example.” (QS. al-Ahzab [33]: 21)
The Quran also describes Muhammad as possessing an exalted character:
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
“And indeed, you possess an outstanding character.” (QS. al-Qalam [68]: 4)
These verses help explain why the Prophet’s life holds such importance for Muslims. Following him is not simply an expression of admiration for a remarkable historical figure. Rather, for believers, emulating Muhammad is part of putting God’s teachings into practice. Revelation came in the form of Quranic verses. Muhammad’s life, meanwhile, demonstrated how those teachings could be lived by a human being in different circumstances.
He lived as a child, husband, father, friend, merchant, religious leader, community leader, and head of state. He experienced loss, rejection, conflict, victory, grief, and happiness. His life unfolded amid the ordinary difficulties of human existence. He was a prophet who faced opponents, a husband who lived within a family, a father who lost children and a leader who had to make difficult decisions. He was also a human being navigating circumstances that did not always offer easy answers.
The world we inhabit may seem entirely different from Muhammad’s. We have smartphones, airplanes, the internet, artificial intelligence, and social media. Journeys that once took days can now take hours. News can travel around the world within seconds.
Technology, however, has not erased the fundamental questions of human life. We still feel fear and hope; we still lose people we love; we still become angry, disappointed, and discouraged; and we still fall, recover, make friends, build families, and search for meaning.
That is why Muhammad’s life continues to be studied. Scholars examine him to understand Islam. Historians study him to understand the profound changes that took place in Arabia. Thinkers examine how his teachings developed into a major civilization. Modern scholars can also approach his life through the lenses of leadership, education, family, communication, health, economics, and social organization.
Beyond Popularity: The Nature of Influence
Muhammad’s influence becomes even more striking when viewed against the modern world. We live in an age when popularity can be quantified. Followers, views, likes, and posts can appear to measure a person’s influence. A famous athlete can shape the clothing choices of millions. A singer can persuade millions of fans to buy the same product. A business leader can capture global attention with a single post.
History, however, repeatedly shows that popularity and influence are not the same.
Popularity can arrive quickly and disappear just as quickly. A name that dominates screens today may become little more than a memory within a few years. Deep influence works differently. It takes root in habits, values, ways of thinking, and the way people understand their lives.
That is where Muhammad’s influence becomes difficult to dismiss. His name continues to be spoken by people across the world, including communities far beyond territories once governed by Muslim political powers. His life remains a subject of study; his story continues to be told to children; his words and actions are still discussed in circles of learning. Muslims living centuries after his death continue to ask how they can understand and follow the way he lived.
