The timeline
A first set of milestones, each shown with its source. We are adding to this carefully, one verified account at a time.
Seed content, under scholarly review.
Mecca
Muhammad ﷺ is born in Mecca into the clan of Banu Hashim of Quraysh, in the year remembered as the Year of the Elephant. His father, Abdullah, had died before his birth.
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Cave of Hira, near Mecca
In the cave of Hira the angel Jibril brings the first words of the Qur'an, the opening verses of Surah al-Alaq, beginning with the command 'Read'.
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Mecca
After years of private teaching, the Prophet ﷺ calls the people of Mecca to Islam openly. The early Muslims meet rising hostility from the leaders of Quraysh.
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Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
To escape the persecution in Mecca, a group of early Muslims crosses the sea to Abyssinia, where the Christian king, the Negus, gives them refuge.
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Mecca
The leaders of Quraysh impose a social and economic boycott on the Prophet's clan, Banu Hashim, which lasts about three years and brings real hardship.
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Mecca
Within a short time the Prophet ﷺ loses both his wife Khadija, his closest support, and his uncle Abu Talib, his protector. The year is remembered for its grief.
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Mecca to Jerusalem, and the heavens
The Prophet ﷺ is taken by night from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to the Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem, and then raised through the heavens. The five daily prayers are established.
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Mecca to Yathrib (Medina)
The Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims migrate from Mecca to Yathrib, which becomes known as Madinat al-Nabi, the City of the Prophet. The Islamic calendar later counts its years from this migration.
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Medina
The Prophet ﷺ draws up a written compact among the people of Medina, its Muslim emigrants and helpers and its Jewish tribes, setting out shared duties and the terms of common defence.
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Badr, near Medina
The first major battle between the Muslims of Medina and the army of Quraysh ends in a decisive Muslim victory, despite their far smaller numbers.
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Mount Uhud, near Medina
Quraysh return to fight the Muslims at Uhud. An early advantage is lost when a group of archers leaves its post, and the Muslims suffer painful losses, a hard lesson after Badr.
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Medina
Facing a large confederate army, the Muslims dig a trench around the exposed side of Medina. The siege fails, and it marks a turning point in the city's safety.
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Hudaybiyyah, outside Mecca
The Muslims and Quraysh agree a ten-year truce at Hudaybiyyah. Though its terms seemed hard at first, it opened a period of peace in which Islam spread widely.
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Mecca
The Prophet ﷺ enters Mecca with little resistance, declares a general amnesty for its people, and clears the Kaaba of its idols.
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Arafah, near Mecca
On his only Hajj, the Prophet ﷺ delivers the Farewell Sermon at Arafah, affirming the sanctity of life and property and the equal worth of people.
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Medina
The Prophet ﷺ dies in Medina in the home of Aisha. Abu Bakr is chosen as the first of those who would lead the community after him.
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