Which religion did our Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, follow before Allaah selected him as a Prophet?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds.  I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The truth about which there is no doubt is that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not prostrate to an idol, associate anything or anyone with Allaah The Almighty, commit fornication or adultery, or drink any kind of intoxicant. This was the case with all the prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, as they were infallible and safeguarded from ignoring the existence of Allaah The Almighty and His attributes or doubting them, even before revelation came to them.

However, the scholars differed in their opinion whether or not the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was following a given religion before the revelation. Some of them denied that he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, followed any religion. Some others remained silent about the issue, and some others are of the view that he was following a given religion, but then differed whether he followed the religion of the Prophet Ibraaheem (Abraham) while others said that he followed the religion of Moosa (Moses) .

Imaam Al-Qurtubi said, “All of our scholars [of the Maaliki School] rejected all the above views, as they are contradictory and do not have an absolute evidence, even if our mind accepts all this. Our authoritative decision is, however, that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was not a follower of any other prophet, may Allaah exalt their mention, to an extent that makes him one of their nation or required him to act according to their religion (legislation)… But the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was a believer in Allaah.”

Allaah Knows best.