Why does the media call Mohammed "the prophet"?

To be clear, I am not suggesting that this is some conspiratorial “creeping Shariah” infecting American newsrooms. In fact, I think the reason behind this is the same deadly combination that infects most everything that Americans loathe about our mainstream media: It’s insipid political correctness mixed with intellectual laziness.

Someone, somewhere started using the term “the Prophet Muhammad” because they wanted to sound more inclusive, sensitive, and informed. Others heard it and started a sort of chain-reaction copy-paste that often happens in the media. Suddenly everyone was talking the same way and using the same phrases and none of them really pay attention to what they are saying.

Here’s the deal: Muhammad is a “prophet” if you believe in Islam. If you do not, then he is not a “prophet,” he is just an historical figure. Members of the media should not be obliged to label him a prophet in the same way they are not obliged to call Jesus the “Savior,” Mary the “Blessed Virgin,” or Abraham, Moses, or Samuel “prophets.”