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]

Think of the psyche of an imposter prophet. If he or she is asked questions, especially relating to the supernatural, what kind of answers do you expect? Made up ones, of course! “Prophet, how many angels are there?” “John, there are 5 trillion angels.” “Why does the sun set?” “Because it’s humbling itself towards me.” Whatever you can imagine.

But let’s take an incident of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) that’s mentioned in the Qur’an:

“They ask you [O Muhammad] concerning the Ruh (Soul). Say: ‘It is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given very little.”

[Qur’an 17:85]

If he was an imposter and the author of the Qur’an, rather than God Himself, why expose himself by saying that he doesn’t know the answer? What would have been the loss for making something up? Would his followers ever find out if it was true or not? Obviously not. 

In another incident, he was asked by someone, “When will the Hour (Day of Judgment) be established?” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “The one who is asked about it does not know more than the questioner does…” [Sahih Bukhari]

Think about that – he could’ve said anything! Could’ve said “5,000 years” and all his followers would’ve been gone by then. Still he didn’t. Why?