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The name Muhammad (/mʊˈhæməd, -ˈhɑːməd/) means "praiseworthy" and appears four times in the Quran. The Quran addresses Muhammad in the second person by various appellations; prophet, messenger, servant of God (' abd), announcer (bashir)[Quran 2:119]|undefined, witness (shahid),[Quran 33:45]|undefined bearer of good tidings (mubashshir), warner (nathir),[Quran 11:2]|undefined reminder (mudhakkir),[Quran 88:21]|undefined one who calls [unto God] (dā‘ī),[Quran 12:108]|undefined light personified (noor)[Quran 05:15]|undefined, and the lightgiving lamp (siraj munir)[Quran 33:46]|undefined. Muhammad is sometimes addressed by designations deriving from his state at the time of the address: thus he is referred to as the enwrapped (al-muzzammil) in Quran 73:1and the shrouded (al-muddaththir) in Quran 74:1. In Sura Al-Ahzab 33:40 God singles out Muhammad as the "Seal of the Prophets", or the last of the prophets. The Quran also refers to Muhammad as Aḥmad "more praiseworthy" (Arabic: أحمد‎‎, Sura As-Saff 61:6).

Quran
A folio from an early Quran, written in Kufic script (Abbasid period, 8th–9th century)

The Quran is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe it represents the words of God revealed by the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad. The Quran, however, provides minimal assistance for Muhammad's chronological biography; most Quranic verses do not provide significant historical context.

Early biographies
Main article: Sirah Rasul Allah

An important source may be found in the historic works by writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries of the Muslim era (AH – 8th and 9th century CE). These include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad (the sira literature), which provide additional information about Muhammad's life.

The earliest surviving written sira (biographies of Muhammad and quotes attributed to him) is Ibn Ishaq's Life of God's Messenger written c. 767 CE (150 AH). Although the work was lost, this sira was used verbatim at great length by Ibn Hisham and Al-Tabari. Another early history source is the history of Muhammad's campaigns by al-Waqidi (death 207 of Muslim era), and the work of his secretary Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi (death 230 of Muslim era).

Many scholars accept the earliest biographies as accurate, though their accuracy is unascertainable. Recent studies have led scholars to distinguish between the traditions touching legal matters and purely historical events. In the former sphere, traditions could have been subject to invention while in the latter sphere, aside from exceptional cases, the material may have been only subject to "tendential shaping".

Hadith
Main article: Hadith

Another important source may be found in hadith collections, accounts of the verbal and physical teachings and traditions of Muhammad. Hadiths were compiled several generations after his death by followers including Muhammad al-Bukhari, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi, Abd ar-Rahman al-Nasai, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah, Malik bin Anas, al-Daraqutni.

Some Western academics cautiously view the hadith collections as accurate historical sources. Scholars such as Madelung do not reject the narrations which have been compiled in later periods, but judge them in the context of history and on the basis of their compatibility with the events and figures. Muslim scholars on the other hand typically place a greater emphasis on the hadith literature instead of the biographical literature, since hadiths maintain a verifiable chain of transmission (isnad), whereas the lack of such a chain for the biographical literature makes it less verifiable in their eyes.