Every fact below is tied to a hadith on sunnah.com or an ayah on quran.com. Where historians differ, we say so instead of picking one.
Desert road at dawn — illustration.
Timeline — tap a moment
before 570 CE
1Arabia before the Prophet ﷺ
Makkah was a trading town built around the Ka'bah, which Ibrahim and Isma'il had raised for the worship of Allah alone — but by now it was filled with idols. Tribes were bound by kinship, poetry was prized, and Quraysh lived from the winter and summer caravans that Surah Quraysh recalls.
per the classical sira sources (Ibn Ishaq / Ibn Hisham) needs scholar review
“And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], "Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.”
He was born in Makkah in the Year of the Elephant (around 570 CE). He himself said he was born on a Monday; the day of the month is reported differently by historians. His father died before his birth and his mother Aminah when he was a small child, so he was raised by his grandfather and then his uncle Abu Talib — an orphan whom Allah sheltered (93:6).
أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَـَٔاوَىٰ ﴿٦﴾
“Did He not find you an orphan and give [you] refuge?”
He herded sheep for the people of Makkah and later traded, earning the name al-Amin, the trustworthy. Khadijah, a respected merchant, employed him and then proposed marriage; reports differ on her age at the time. He loved her all his life and kept honouring her friends after her death.
per the classical sira sources (Ibn Ishaq / Ibn Hisham) needs scholar review
Around the age of forty he began retreating to the cave of Hira. There the angel Jibril came with the first words of the Qur'an: “Read in the name of your Lord who created.” He returned trembling to Khadijah, who comforted him: Allah would never disgrace him, for he kept ties of kinship and helped those in need.
“Recite in the name of your Lord who created Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous - Who taught by the pen Taught man that which he knew not.”
When “warn your nearest kin” (26:214) was revealed, he climbed the hill of Safa and called the clans of Quraysh. They admitted they had never known him to lie — yet Abu Lahab cursed him, and Surah al-Masad was revealed. Persecution followed, and some believers emigrated to Abyssinia.
Abu Talib and Khadijah died in the same period, leaving him without his protector and his closest support. He went to Ta'if seeking help and was rejected and driven out. When the angel of the mountains offered to crush the town, he refused, hoping that from their descendants would come people who worship Allah alone.
In one night he was taken from Makkah to Jerusalem and raised through the heavens. The five daily prayers were made obligatory on that journey — a gift that every believer now carries.
“Exalted is He who took His Servant [i.e., Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ)] by night from al-Masjid al-Ḥarām to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.”
With the believers of Yathrib pledging support, he left Makkah with Abu Bakr, hid three nights in the cave of Thawr, then travelled a less-used route to Quba and Madinah. In the cave he said: “What do you think of two, the third of whom is Allah?”
“If you do not aid him [i.e., the Prophet (ﷺ)] - Allāh 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 [i.e., Muḥammad (ﷺ)] said to his companion, "Do not grieve; indeed Allāh is with us." And Allāh sent down His tranquility upon him and supported him with soldiers [i.e., angels] you did not see and made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the word of Allāh - that is the highest. And Allāh is Exalted in Might and Wise.”
His first acts were to build the mosque and to pair emigrants with helpers as brothers. A written covenant organised relations between the city's communities; its text comes to us through Ibn Ishaq.
per the classical sira sources (Ibn Ishaq / Ibn Hisham) needs scholar review
“And [also for] those who were settled in the Home [i.e.,al-Madīnah] and [adopted] the faith before them. They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what they [i.e., the emigrants] were given but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be the successful.”
A little over three hundred and ten believers met a much larger Makkan force at the wells of Badr. They prayed, and Allah answered with help (8:9). It became known as the Day of Criterion.
“[Remember] when you were asking help of your Lord, and He answered you, "Indeed, I will reinforce you with a thousand from the angels, following one another.”
The Makkans returned seeking revenge. Fifty archers were told not to leave their hill whatever happened; when some left early, the battle turned. The Prophet ﷺ was wounded — and the Qur'an answered with gentleness and consultation rather than blame (3:159).
“So by mercy from Allāh, [O Muḥammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allāh. Indeed, Allāh loves those who rely [upon Him].”
A confederation of tribes marched on Madinah. The believers dug a trench, hungry, the Prophet ﷺ digging with them with a stone tied to his belly. At Jabir's house a small meal fed the diggers — about a thousand — by Allah's blessing. A wind and unseen forces ended the siege (33:9).
“O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allāh upon you when armies came to [attack] you and We sent upon them a wind and armies [of angels] you did not see. And ever is Allāh, of what you do, Seeing.”
About 1,400 set out for 'Umrah and were stopped outside Makkah. He accepted terms that looked unfavourable, and kept them even when it was painful — then Allah called it “a clear victory” (48:1).
إِنَّا فَتَحْنَا لَكَ فَتْحًا مُّبِينًا ﴿١﴾
“Indeed, We have given you, [O Muḥammad], a clear conquest”
After the truce was broken he marched with ten thousand. He announced safety for whoever stayed home or laid down arms, cleared the idols from the Ka'bah reciting “Truth has come and falsehood has vanished” (17:81), and met old enemies with mercy.
“When the victory of Allāh has come and the conquest, And you see the people entering into the religion of Allāh in multitudes, Then exalt [Him] with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of Repentance.”
At the Farewell Pilgrimage he declared lives, property and honour sacred. Soon after, he fell ill and died on a Monday at the age of sixty-three; the date in the month is reported differently. Abu Bakr reminded the people: Muhammad was a messenger, and Allah is Ever-Living (3:144).
“Muḥammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. So if he was to die or be killed, would you turn back on your heels [to unbelief]? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allāh at all; but Allāh will reward the grateful.”
When 'Aishah was asked about his character, she said: his character was the Qur'an. He never struck a servant, chose the easier of two lawful options, and never took revenge for himself.
