Bearing in mind that we have little to no documentary evidence of his early life (we don’t have much at all, tbqh), we are told that he was illiterate. This is probably inaccurate as, being a trader, he would have needed to be able to deal with some method of record keeping.

The society of 7th century Hijaz (the region of western Arabia where Mecca is) didn’t have formal education; like other premodern societies, boys and girls learned from their parents. Boys were expected to go into their father’s trade, women were expected to marry young and have children. Boys were also trained how to ride horses (and camels) and how to fight. There was a lot of inter-tribal conflict in Arabia. Life expectancy was very low.

Muhammad was orphaned at a young age-his father died before he was born, his mother a few years later, and he was raised by an uncle, Abi Talib (whose young son, Ali, would eventually become Muhammad’s foster son and the fourth caliph). His tribe, the Quraysh, ruled Mecca, but his particular clan, the Banu Hashim, weren’t one of the more wealthy or powerful among them. He learned Abi Talib’s trade (caravans) and was entrusted with running them himself. When he was a little older, he came into the employ of a rich widow who needed someone to manage her caravans, and eventually they married (this was Khadijah).

He probably would have spent his life as a respectable, moderately wealthy business owner had he not had a vision one night in the cave of al-Hira during the month of Ramadan in the year 610, or so the story goes ...