In fact, the essence of all the prophets’ messages is what Islam calls for: worshiping Almighty Allah alone and rejecting false deities. Before the advent of the Prophet’s mission, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was following the Abrahamic monotheism. He never worshiped idols, nor did he drink intoxicants, nor did he participate in the heinous vices that used to be committed in the Jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic days of ignorance). On the contrary, he was well known for his excellent ethics and morals.
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states the following: Arabs before Islam had been followers of the Prophet Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him), their ancestor and the father of Isma`il (peace and blessings be upon him), their progenitor. Although the Arabs had changed Ibrahim’s religion and turned it into a pagan cult, there were many who still held on to the Ibrahimic monotheism and his ways as they knew it. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was one of them. Thus he never worshiped idols, nor did he participate in any of the vices or pagan orgies of nudity or immolation rituals, etc., nor did he drink intoxicants. He was also well known for his excellent ethics and morals and had earned the honorific title of Al-Ameen (The Trustworthy). He was also known for his frequent spiritual retreats and fasts, a relic of the Ibrahimic religion. The men and women who steadfastly adhered to the Ibrahimic monotheism were known as hunafa (singular hanif). And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) declared, “I have been commissioned to restore the pure, and pristine Ibrahimic way.”