Michael H. Hart notes in his The 100: Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History in 1978: “My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level.”

You shot me in the heart, set me on fire,
The only rose of my fate, sweet musk-scented hair

Whenever I commemorate You, all else fades from my mind,
Your phantasm treads on the hills of my mind;
Although a mirage, it assuages my affliction,
Whenever I commemorate You, all else fades from my mind.

Theologically speaking, the universality of the Prophet Muhammad’s message, peace and blessings be upon him, comes from the concept of one God who is the God of all, not only the God of Muslims. God describes Himself in the first chapter of the Qur’an, which is recited by all Muslims around the world in their five daily prayers; He is the God of all creation, “Rabb al-Alamīn.” Whether humans are aware of this fact or not, God is the God of all mankind—Muslims, Christians, atheists, etc.—regardless of their differences. God is the creator of everything, with no exception. The Qur’an declares that a gigantic star and an atom are shoulder to shoulder, worshipping the same God; a fly and an elephant are brothers and sisters; all of creation is here to help us understand the meaning and the mystery of the universe.