Our beloved Prophet ﷺ had been calling people to Allah for nearly ten years. Through all of it, two people had stood beside him without wavering: his uncle Abu Talib, who sheltered and protected him, and his wife Khadijah رضي الله عنها, who believed in him from the very first moment. Then, within the same year, both of them were gone. Abu Talib fell gravely ill. Our beloved Prophet ﷺ sat with him one last time and gently invited him to accept Islam. The Quraysh were in the room too, and they kept whispering in his ear until the end. Abu Talib passed away without saying the words. Then Khadijah رضي الله عنها became ill and she too passed away. It was a very sad and painful time.

He was heartbroken but kept going.

Some time later, our beloved Prophet ﷺ travelled to the city of Ta’if, hoping the people there would listen. They did not. They threw stones at him and chased him out until he was hurt and bleeding. Allah sent Angel Jibril عليه السلام and the Angel of the mountains, who offered to crush the people of Ta’if between the hills. Our beloved Prophet ﷺ said no. “I hope one day they will worship Allah alone.” Many years later, they did.

The lesson pauses here with something simple and true: it is okay to feel sad sometimes. Even our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ felt sad.

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The Quraysh were watching Islam grow and they could not stand it. More and more people were accepting the truth, so they made a plan. They wrote three cruel rules onto a scroll and hung it inside the Kaʿbah: nobody will give the Muslims food or water, nobody will speak to them, and nobody will buy from them or sell to them. The Prophet’s ﷺ family, Banu Hashim, refused to abandon him. So together Muslims and family alike they left Makkah and moved into a small valley. Their food ran out. They drank rainwater. They chewed dry leaves to survive. Days became months. Months became years. Nearly three years passed like that. And through all of it, the Muslims stayed strong and kept praying to Allah.

Then something happened that the Quraysh could not explain. Our beloved Prophet ﷺ told his uncle Abu Talib: “Allah has informed me that insects have eaten the scroll, except for the name of Allah.” When the Quraysh went to check, it was exactly as he said. They were stunned. The cruel rules ended. The Muslims returned to Makkah.

The name of Allah was the only thing left. That says everything.

The lesson pauses here with a question that sits with young learners long after the page is turned: how can we be kind and help people who are being treated badly?

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When the disbelievers of Makkah begin hurting the Muslims and making it hard for them to worship Allah, our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is deeply upset. He wants them to be safe. He tells them: “Go to Abyssinia. A fair king rules there. No one is treated unfairly. Stay there until Allah makes things easier for you.” A small group slips away quietly and sails across the sea. A larger group follows. In Abyssinia, the king welcomes them warmly. He lets them worship Allah freely. When the disbelievers of Makkah come asking him to send the Muslims back, he refuses. He had heard the words of the Qur’an, and he turned their enemies away. The Muslims were thankful. They trusted Allah, and they knew He would always look after them.

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Angel Jibril brings more verses of the Qur’an to the Prophet ﷺ, who shares the message with those closest to him. Khadijah رضي الله عنها believes him at once. She knew he always spoke the truth. She becomes the first Muslim woman. ʿAli رضي الله عنه, the Prophet’s cousin, saw them praying one day and asks what they were doing. The Prophet ﷺ explains, and ten-year-old ʿAli رضي الله عنه replies: “I want to join you!” He becomes the first Muslim child. Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, the Prophet’s closest friend, hears the message and believes straight away. He becomes the first Muslim man. Then Allah commands the Prophet ﷺ to take the message further. He climbs Mount Safa and calls out to the people of Makkah: “Worship Allah alone!” Not everyone listens. Abu Lahab, the Prophet’s uncle, throws sand and turns away in anger.

The three activities stay close to the lesson’s heart. The first is a shahadah certificate: learners write their own name, trace the Arabic words of the shahadah, and a teacher signs at the bottom beneath the pledge “I will always follow the truth!” The second gives learners three award badges first Muslim man, first Muslim child, first Muslim woman and asks them to write the correct name in each. The third is a role-play: learners imagine telling their family “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad ﷺ is His Messenger,” then answer the questions their family asks back Who is Allah? Who is Muhammad ﷺ? What do you do to show you are a Muslim?

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Muhammad ﷺ used to climb Mount Nur and sit alone in the cave of Hira, thinking about Allah. He did this often. One day in Ramadan, when he was forty years old, something happened that he had never experienced before. Angel Jibril عليه السلام appeared before him. Muhammad ﷺ had never seen anyone like him. He felt afraid. Jibril عليه السلام commanded: “Read!” Muhammad ﷺ answered: “I don’t know how to read.” Jibril عليه السلام held him tightly, then let go, and commanded again. This happened three times. Then Jibril عليه السلام taught him the first words of the Qur’an and left.

Muhammad ﷺ ran home, terrified. “Cover me! Cover me!” he called out to Khadijah. She covered him, held him, and said what he needed to hear: “Allah will never let you down. You always help people.” Then she took him to her wise old cousin, Waraqah, who listened carefully and told him: that was the same angel Allah had sent to Prophet Musa عليه السلام. Muhammad ﷺ had become a Prophet of Allah.

The lesson pauses here with something worth saying to young learners: it is okay to feel scared. Allah takes care of those who do good.

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As a boy, Muhammad ﷺ took care of people’s sheep and goats. He led them across rocky hills, kept them safe, and made sure they all had enough to eat and drink. When he was twelve, he travelled with his uncle Abu Talib all the way to Syria to sell goods. The journey was long and tiring. He worked hard and helped his uncle the whole way. The people of Makkah watched him grow up and they gave him two names: as-Sadiq, the Truthful, and al-Amin, the Trustworthy. Not titles that were handed to him. Names that were earned.

When a kind and wealthy woman named Khadijah needed someone reliable to sell her goods, she hired him. Muhammad ﷺ worked hard, treated every customer with honesty and kindness, and her business flourished more than it ever had before. Khadijah was so moved by his character that she sent a friend to ask if he would marry her. He agreed. They built a home together, had two sons Abdullah and Qasim who passed away as babies, and four daughters Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah who grew up to be kind, wise, and strong.

The lesson everybody trusts Muhammad ﷺ closes with a question worth sitting with: what can we do to be truthful and trustworthy like Muhammad ﷺ?

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Years had passed since Prophet ʿIsa عليه السلام. The people of Makkah had drifted far from the teachings of Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام. Allah, the Most Kind, did not leave them without guidance. He sent Muhammad ﷺ. One Monday morning, baby Muhammad ﷺ was born to his mother Aminah, who held him close with love. His father, ʿAbdullah, had passed away before he arrived.

Following the custom of Makkah, baby Muhammad ﷺ was sent to the desert to grow up strong and healthy. Allah chose a gentle woman, Halimah as-Saʿdiyyah, and her family to care for him. From the day she took him home, blessings followed her goats gave more milk than before and her home felt different.

When Muhammad ﷺ was six, he travelled with his mother Aminah to visit family in Madinah. On the way back, Aminah became ill and passed away. Her kind maid, Barakah, brought him safely home to Makkah. He then lived with his grandfather, ʿAbdul-Muttalib, who loved him deeply. When Muhammad ﷺ was eight, his grandfather too passed away. His uncle, Abu Talib, and his wife took him in and raised him with great love.

He lost so much, so young. And yet Allah took care of him at every moment.

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Allah gave ʿIsa عليه السلام the Injil to guide his people. He was nothing like the rich and powerful around him. He sat with the weak, ate with the poor, helped the needy, and treated everyone the same. His message never changed: “Allah is my Lord and your Lord. Worship Him alone. This is the straight path.” And by Allah’s permission, he backed those words with miracles bringing the dead back to life, healing people with leprosy, making blind people see again, shaping clay into birds and breathing life into them, and telling people what they had eaten and stored at home. Signs that should have been impossible to ignore.

Many people still didn’t listen.

When the disbelievers came to kill him, Allah, The All-Aware, replaced him with someone who looked just like him. They thought they had succeeded. They had not. Allah raised ʿIsa عليه السلام to the heavens. He is there now and one day, he will return to help the Muslims. He is a Prophet and servant of Allah. Not God. Not the son of God. A Prophet.

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Zakariyya عليه السلام also looked after Maryam عليها السلام, a young girl from his relatives, whose mother had promised Allah she would live in the Masjid to worship Him. One day, he found fresh fruit with her, fruit that didn’t grow in that season. He asked where it came from. She replied: “They’re from Allah.” Something shifted in him. If Allah gives fruit out of season, He can also give me a child in my old age. His hair was white. His wife was old. But he made duʿa anyway: “O my Lord, bless me with a righteous child from You. You hear all duʿas.” While he was still praying, angels called out: “Allah gives you good news of Yahya!” Yahya عليه السلام grew up kind, wise, and deeply respectful of his parents. Together, father and son raced each other to do good deeds. The lesson ends with a line worth sitting with: good things take time, keep asking Allah and never lose hope.

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Yunus عليه السلام calls his people to worship Allah alone. He reminds them that Allah is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything within them. They laugh. Some call him a magician. They don’t listen. They don’t care. He tries and tries, until one day he gives up and leaves the city but not before warning them of Allah’s punishment.

Then the sky turns dark. The people tremble. They remember what Yunus عليه السلام said, and this time they believe it. They rush outside, raise their hands, and beg Allah to forgive them. They promise to worship Allah alone and do good. Allah, The Most Kind, forgives them and clears the sky. Then they ask for their Prophet to come back.

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