Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca. Because the climate of Mecca was considered to be unhealthful, he was given as an infant to a wet nurse from a nomadic tribe and spent some time in the desert as a wanderer. By the time he was eight he lost both his mother and his grandfather. Muhammad came under the care of a famous trader named Abu Talib, and is reputed to have accompanied him …showed first 75 words of 288 total…

…showed last 75 words of 288 total…as messenger of God ( or Allah), or Prophet. From this time, at frequent intervals until his death, he received "revelations". Sometimes these were kept in memory by Muhammad and his followers, and sometimes they were written down. About 650 they were collected and written in the Qur'an (or Koran, the sacred scriptures of Islam), in the form that has endured through time. Muslims believed the Qur'an is divine revelation, written in the words of God himself.