One of the most emotional and unique days of Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) life was the day his son Ibrahim died. Unique because that very day, the sun also eclipsed!

As Al-Mughirah ibn Shubah  رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ, one of his companions, narrated:

“The sun eclipsed in the lifetime of Allah’s Apostle on the day when Ibrahim died. So the people said that the sun had eclipsed because of the death of Ibrahim. Allah’s Apostle said, ‘The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death or life (i.e. birth) of someone. When you see the eclipse, pray and invoke Allah.’”

[Sahih Bukhari]

If you are an imposter acting as a person sent by God, that would have been the PERFECT moment to make up lies and take advantage of people. That day you can say, “Look, my son died and God has made it eclipse as a sign of my greatness!” Surely after that, many of those who still did not believe in Prophet Muhammad, would have been convinced. 

Staying silent would have sufficed as well. After all, it was a very difficult day. Yet, what did Prophet Muhammad do? As mentioned in the Hadith, he got out of his way to tell the people the truth and what to do instead. Why, though? Well, Prophet Muhammad was known for his high standard of character. He knows that he might have to answer to God for not clarifying to his people. Thus, despite grieving, he spoke up.

Thus, one has to ask him or herself – would an imposter have handled a day like that?

One may ask, “How is this a proof?” Great question! Well, if a person is a fraud, there are few possible reasons why he would claim to be a Prophet, right? Fame, power, and women are common ones.

Yes, he might just be crazy enough to make the claim for the greater good, unite his people, and make the world a better place. In his mind, he could’ve justified it.

BUT then why pray so much? As you may know, in Islam, it is mandatory for Muslims to pray the 5 daily prayers. That’s hard enough! Let’s excuse that and say, “Fine, that’s possibly to make human beings develop self-control.”

But how was Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)? Yes, like every other Muslim, he would make the 5 prayers and he would do it regardless of what was going on. But it was not just those. He would do a lot of voluntary prayers every day. And at night, when he could’ve lowered his guard, given up his disguise, or at least rested, he would sleep a little, wake up, and then pray for hours before dawn came about.Why would an imposter give up sleep for something he made up? He could’ve just prayed when he woke up. But nope! In fact, he would pray so much that his wife ‘Aisha (ra) is reported to have asked him why he’s praying so much that his feet would swell, after which he gave his famous response, “Should I not be a grateful servant?” [Sources: Sahih Bukhari 1078 & Sahih Muslim 2819]