I am a college student and Roman Catholic by religion. I am writing an essay on Muhammad (sws) and looking closely at whether he was a political leader. Is it a conventional idea or is it rarely thought about?

Muhammad (sws) was primarily a Messenger of God, like Moses (sws), Jesus (sws) and many others. Neither was he a political leader in the conventional sense, nor was his mission the outcome of some conventional or conceived idea. His mission was to warn people of the Hereafter. It needs to be appreciated that the Messengers of God were destined to prevail over their enemies, as the Qur’ān states:

Indeed, those who show hostility to Allah and His Rasūl are bound to be humiliated. The Almighty has ordained: ‘I and my Rusul shall prevail’. (58:20)

However, the nature of this dominance was different for different Messengers. In case of Prophet Muhammad (sws) , his dominance was achieved though political supremacy over his enemies. In other words, it was in line with his primary duty that he was also required to discharge his responsibilities as a head of state. That is why some historians record his name among political leaders. He may be called so, but in reality he was nothing but a Messenger of God.