Birth of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Muhammad ibn Abdullah was born in Makkah into the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh, orphaned of his father, Abdullah, before birth, and of his mother, Aminah, by the age of six. Tradition places his birth on 12 Rabi’ al-Awwal (scholars differ over the exact day) in what became known as the “Year of the Elephant,” named for the Abyssinian governor Abraha’s failed march on the Kaaba with war elephants that same year — the episode referenced in Surah Al-Fil.
First Revelation, Cave of Hira
At the age of 40, while in retreat and reflection in the Cave of Hira on Jabal al-Nur near Makkah, Muhammad ﷺ received the first revelation through the angel Jibril, who commanded him to “Iqra’” (“Read!”). This moment, recorded in the opening verses of Surah Al-Alaq, marks the beginning of his prophethood and the start of the Quran’s revelation, which continued over the next 23 years.
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ ٱقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلْأَكْرَمُ ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
“Read in the name of your Lord who created — created man from a clinging clot. Read, and your Lord is the most Generous, who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not.”
Start of Public Preaching
After roughly three years of quiet, private invitation to close family and friends, the revelation of Surah Ash-Shu’ara commanded the Prophet ﷺ to warn his nearest kindred openly. He ascended Mount Safa and called the clans of Quraysh together, declaring himself a warner of a coming punishment — the moment public opposition to his message began, led by his own uncle Abu Lahab.
وَأَنذِرْ عَشِيرَتَكَ ٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ
“And warn, [O Muhammad], your closest kindred.”
Migration to Abyssinia
As persecution of the small Muslim community in Makkah intensified, the Prophet ﷺ advised a group of followers to seek refuge across the Red Sea in the Christian Kingdom of Aksum (Abyssinia). An initial group of twelve men and four women left first; a larger group of roughly eighty, led by Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, followed soon after. The Negus (ruler) of Aksum heard their explanation of the faith and refused Quraysh’s demand to hand them over, granting the migrants his protection.
Isra and Mi’raj — the Night Journey and Ascension
In a single night, the Prophet ﷺ was taken from the Masjid al-Haram in Makkah to the Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem (the Isra), and from there ascended through the heavens (the Mi’raj), an event during which the five daily prayers were made obligatory. No authentic hadith fixes the exact date; scholars place it roughly a year to sixteen months before the Hijrah, and that approximate placement is followed here.
سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِۦ لَيْلًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْأَقْصَا ٱلَّذِى بَـٰرَكْنَا حَوْلَهُۥ لِنُرِيَهُۥ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَآ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ
“Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.”
Hijrah — Migration to Madinah
Facing an assassination plot in Makkah, the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr
slipped out of the city and hid for three days in the Cave of Thawr while
Quraysh search parties combed the hills for them, before travelling on to
Yathrib (soon renamed Madinah), where the Muslims of Makkah were welcomed
by the Ansar. The Hijrah transformed the Muslim community from a
persecuted minority into a self-governing polity, formalised soon after
in the Constitution of Madinah.
Why the Islamic calendar starts here: around 17–18 AH (638–639 CE),
Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab needed a fixed reference point to date official
correspondence and, on the Companions’ counsel, chose the year of the
Hijrah — not the Prophet’s birth or the first revelation — as
year 1, since it marked the founding of the first Muslim community with
its own independent society and governance. See the
Hijri calendar explainer
for more on how the calendar itself works.
إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِذْ أَخْرَجَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ثَانِىَ ٱثْنَيْنِ إِذْ هُمَا فِى ٱلْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَـٰحِبِهِۦ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَنَا ۖ فَأَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُۥ عَلَيْهِ وَأَيَّدَهُۥ بِجُنُودٍۢ لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلسُّفْلَىٰ ۗ وَكَلِمَةُ ٱللَّهِ هِىَ ٱلْعُلْيَا ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
“If you do not aid the Prophet — Allah has already aided him when those who disbelieved had driven him out [of Makkah] as one of two, when they were in the cave and he said to his companion, ‘Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us.’”
Battle of Badr
The first major armed confrontation between the Muslims of Madinah and the Quraysh of Makkah, fought near the wells of Badr. A Muslim force of around 313, lightly equipped, met a Quraysh army of roughly 1,000 and won a decisive victory, killing several of the Quraysh’s leading figures. Badr is remembered as the turning point that secured the young Madinan state’s survival.
وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍۢ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌۭ ۖ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
“And already had Allah given you victory at Badr while you were few in number. Then fear Allah; perhaps you will be grateful.”
Battle of Uhud
A year after their defeat at Badr, the Quraysh returned with about 3,000 men to avenge it. The Muslims initially held the advantage until a group of archers left their assigned post on a nearby hill to join the spoils, exposing the Muslim flank to a cavalry charge led by Khalid ibn al-Walid (then still fighting for Quraysh). The battle turned into a costly reversal; the Prophet’s uncle Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib was among some seventy companions martyred.
وَإِذْ غَدَوْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ تُبَوِّئُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَقَـٰعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“And [remember] when you, [O Muhammad], left your family in the morning to post the believers at their stations for the battle [of Uhud] — and Allah is Hearing and Knowing.”
Battle of the Trench (Khandaq)
A confederation of roughly 10,000 fighters from Quraysh and allied tribes besieged Madinah. On the suggestion of the Persian companion Salman al-Farisi — a defensive tactic unfamiliar to Arabian warfare — the Muslims dug a trench around the city’s exposed side, neutralising the besiegers’ cavalry. After roughly three weeks, a fierce storm scattered the confederates’ camp and the siege collapsed without a pitched battle.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَآءَتْكُمْ جُنُودٌۭ فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًۭا وَجُنُودًۭا لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا
“O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you when armies came to you and We sent upon them a wind and armies [of angels] you did not see.”
Treaty of Hudaybiyyah
The Prophet ﷺ led some 1,400–1,500 pilgrims toward Makkah intending only to perform Umrah. Quraysh blocked their entry, and negotiations at Hudaybiyyah produced a ten-year truce whose terms looked, to many Muslims at the time, like a one-sided concession. The Quran instead named it a clear victory: the calm that followed let Islam spread peacefully through the peninsula over the next two years far faster than warfare had.
إِنَّا فَتَحْنَا لَكَ فَتْحًۭا مُّبِينًۭا
“Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], a clear conquest.”
Conquest of Makkah
After Quraysh allies broke the Hudaybiyyah truce, the Prophet ﷺ marched on Makkah with some 10,000 men. The city fell almost without bloodshed; entering the Kaaba, he had the idols inside destroyed and declared a general amnesty to the Quraysh who had persecuted him for over a decade — “Go, for you are free.” Mass conversions to Islam followed across Arabia.
إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْفَتْحُ وَرَأَيْتَ ٱلنَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًۭا فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَٱسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ تَوَّابًۢا
“When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest, and you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes, then exalt [Him] with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.”
Farewell Sermon (Hajjatul Wada’)
On his only and final Hajj, the Prophet ﷺ addressed more than 100,000 Muslims gathered at Mount Arafat. He declared the sanctity of life and property, abolished the usury and blood feuds of pre-Islamic Arabia, affirmed the rights of women, and stated that no Arab has superiority over a non-Arab, nor a white person over a black person, except by piety. The verse completing the religion is understood to have been revealed around this same pilgrimage.
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ وَٱلْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَٱلْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَٱلْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَٱلنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَآ أَكَلَ ٱلسَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى ٱلنُّصُبِ وَأَن تَسْتَقْسِمُوا۟ بِٱلْأَزْلَـٰمِ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ ۗ ٱلْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَٱخْشَوْنِ ۚ ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمَ دِينًۭا ۚ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ فِى مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍۢ لِّإِثْمٍۢ ۙ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ
“… This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion …”
Death of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Weeks after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet ﷺ fell ill and passed away in the chamber of his wife Aisha, adjoining what is today the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, where he was buried. His death closed the era of revelation and opened the era of the Rashidun ("Rightly-Guided") Caliphate that preserved and carried his teaching forward.
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq — 1st Caliph
The Prophet’s closest companion and father-in-law was chosen as the first caliph. His defining achievement was holding the fledgling Muslim state together through the Ridda ("apostasy") Wars, when several Arabian tribes renounced allegiance to Madinah after the Prophet’s death.
Compilation of the Quran into a Single Mushaf
After the Battle of Yamama (12 AH / 633 CE) killed a number of companions who had memorised the Quran, Umar urged Abu Bakr to have the text formally collected. Zayd ibn Thabit gathered it from written fragments and the memories of huffaz into a single master copy, kept afterward by Hafsa bint Umar. Roughly two decades later, as Islam spread and recitation differences began to surface among new, non-Arab Muslims, Caliph Uthman commissioned a committee, again led by Zayd, to produce one standardised written mushaf and distribute copies to the major cities of the growing empire — the text that underlies the Quran read today.
Umar ibn al-Khattab — 2nd Caliph
Under Umar the caliphate expanded rapidly, bringing the Levant, Egypt, and the Sasanian Persian Empire under Muslim rule. His defining achievement domestically was building the administrative backbone of the early Islamic state — including the diwan (public treasury and stipend register) and, around 17 AH, the formal start of the Hijri calendar itself.
Uthman ibn Affan — 3rd Caliph
Uthman’s reign continued the caliphate’s expansion, but his defining, lasting achievement was commissioning the standardised Uthmanic mushaf described above, which fixed a single written text of the Quran for the entire Muslim world and ended growing disputes over regional recitation differences.
Ali ibn Abi Talib — 4th Caliph
The Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law became the fourth caliph during a period of internal conflict within the Muslim community, including the Battles of the Camel and Siffin. He is remembered above all for his justice, eloquence, and closeness to the Prophet, whose household he had belonged to since childhood.