The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: A Clear Timeline for Beginners

The Prophet Muhammad lived about sixty-three years: forty before revelation, thirteen as a prophet in Makkah and ten in Madinah (Sahih al-Bukhari 3902). Britannica places his birth around 570 in Makkah and his death in 632 in Madinah.

All Gregorian years are approximate. Britannica notes that the customary chronology appears to have been worked out by later transmitters such as Ibn Ishaq, and the hadith count ages in lunar years, so the ages below are rounded.

Sources: [8] [1] [10] [31] [7] [11] [12] [34] [14] [15] [36] [13] [37] [16] [17] [18] [19] [21]

He was born into the clan of Hashim of the Quraysh in the Year of the Elephant, recalled in Surah Al-Fil (105). Jami at-Tirmidhi 3619, graded sahih (Darussalam) on sunnah.com, records a Companion saying that he and the Prophet were born that year, and in Sahih Muslim 1162b the Prophet says he was born on a Monday.

He grew up an orphan. In the traditional account summarised by Britannica, his father died before his birth, his mother when he was six and his grandfather when he was eight, after which his uncle Abu Talib raised him. Qur'an 93:6 recalls that Allah found him an orphan and protected him.

An IslamOnline article relates that the people of Makkah called him al-Amin, the trustworthy, and in Sahih al-Bukhari 4770 the Quraysh say they had only known him to be truthful. At about twenty-five he married Khadijah, a respected merchant; Britannica notes that he took no other wife while she lived.

Sources: [1] [32] [10] [9] [31] [5] [11] [3]

Revelation began when he was about forty. Aisha's account in Sahih al-Bukhari 3 says it started with dreams that came true and a love of seclusion; while he was worshipping in the cave of Hira near Makkah, the angel came and told him to read, then recited the opening of Surah Al-Alaq: read in the name of your Lord who created.

He returned shaken, and Khadijah reassured him that Allah would never disgrace him, since he kept ties of kinship, helped the poor and honoured guests. Her cousin Waraqa ibn Nawfal, a Christian, said this was the same angel Allah had sent to Moses. Britannica notes that Khadijah is often considered the first person to believe in his message.

Sources: [7] [30] [3]

After about three years of private invitation he began preaching openly, according to Britannica. When Qur'an 26:214 commanded him to warn his nearest kin, he called the clans of Quraysh from the hill of as-Safa (Sahih al-Bukhari 4770). Opposition grew as the message challenged idol worship: some Muslims sought refuge in Abyssinia, and the other clans boycotted his clan for some years.

Around 619 Khadijah and his uncle and protector Abu Talib both died, a period remembered as the Year of Grief or Year of Sorrow; Sahih al-Bukhari 3896 dates Khadijah's death to three years before the Hijrah. Britannica records that he then failed to win protection in Ta'if. In Sahih al-Bukhari 3231 he recalls being refused by Ibn Abd Yalil and, when an angel offered to crush his opponents, hoping instead that their descendants would worship Allah alone.

Qur'an 17:1 describes the Night Journey, when Allah carried His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, which Britannica identifies with Jerusalem. Sahih al-Bukhari 349 records that the five daily prayers were prescribed that night.

Sources: [1] [33] [11] [12] [6] [13] [34] [14]

The Hijrah was the Prophet's migration from Makkah to Yathrib, later called Madinah, in 622. Britannica relates that after people of Yathrib pledged to protect him, he left with Abu Bakr among the last of the Muslims, escaping a plot against his life; Qur'an 9:40 recalls the two of them in the cave.

In Madinah he built a house that also served as a place of prayer. Britannica describes a covenant, often called the Constitution of Madinah, that joined the believers of Quraysh and Yathrib and some of the town's Jewish tribes into one community, the emigrants (muhajirun) and their Madinan helpers (ansar) among them.

Sahih al-Bukhari 3934 reports that the Companions counted years from his arrival in Madinah, not from the start of his mission or his death. Britannica adds that the caliph Umar introduced this era in 639, beginning on the first of Muharram, which corresponds to 16 July 622.

Sources: [1] [35] [2] [15]

The Madinan decade brought several confrontations with the Quraysh and ended with the Prophet's return to Makkah. Britannica gives the dates, and the Qur'an and hadith refer to each event.

Britannica records that he declared an amnesty in Makkah, and Sahih Muslim 1780a reports his announcement that whoever entered the house of Abu Sufyan, the Quraysh leader, would be safe, before he circled the Ka'bah and struck at an idol beside it, saying that truth had been established and falsehood had perished.

• Badr, around 624: the Muslims defeated a Makkan force, and Qur'an 3:123 recalls that Allah gave them victory when they were weak.
• Uhud, around 625: a Makkan army attacked near Madinah, a day remembered for its hardship; Aisha later asked the Prophet whether he had known a harder one (Sahih al-Bukhari 3231).
• The Trench, around 627: a large army came against Madinah, which was defended by a trench (Qur'an 33:9-10).
• Al-Hudaybiyyah, around 628: stopped on the way to pilgrimage, he agreed a truce with the Quraysh; al-Bukhari's chapter on it includes the revelation of Surah Al-Fath (Sahih al-Bukhari 4177).
• Makkah, around 630: after allies of the Quraysh attacked allies of the Muslims, he marched on Makkah, which submitted.

Sources: [1] [36] [13] [37] [16] [38] [17]

After nine years in Madinah without performing Hajj, the Prophet led the Farewell Hajj in the tenth year, around 632, as Jabir describes in Sahih Muslim 1218a. At Arafah he declared lives and property sacred, abolished the blood feuds and usury of the pre-Islamic era, told the people to fear Allah regarding women, and said he had left them the Book of Allah, which would keep them from going astray if they held fast to it.

Sahih al-Bukhari 1739 records a similar sermon at Mina, telling those present to inform those absent, and Sahih al-Bukhari 45 notes that Qur'an 5:3, this day I have perfected your religion for you, was revealed while he stood at Arafah.

He died in Madinah a few months later, aged sixty-three (Sahih al-Bukhari 3902); IslamQA gives the most widely known date as 12 Rabi' al-Awwal 11 AH, and Britannica gives June 632. His last words, Aisha reports, were: O Allah, the highest companion (Sahih al-Bukhari 4463). Abu Bakr then reminded the grieving people that Allah is living and never dies, reciting Qur'an 3:144 (Sahih al-Bukhari 3667-3668).

Sources: [18] [19] [20] [39] [8] [4] [1] [21] [22] [40]

The Qur'an says he is of a tremendous nature (68:4), calls him a good example for whoever looks to Allah and the Last Day (33:21) and says he was sent only as a mercy for the peoples (21:107). Asked about his character, Aisha said that it was the Qur'an (Sahih Muslim 746a).

Those closest to him described it in practice. He was never obscene or coarse and taught that the best people are those with the best character (Sahih al-Bukhari 3559); he chose the easier of two options unless it was sinful and never took revenge for himself (Sahih al-Bukhari 3560); and he never struck a woman or a servant (Sahih Muslim 2328a). Anas served him for ten years without once being scolded (Sahih al-Bukhari 6038), and at home he helped his family until the time for prayer came (Sahih al-Bukhari 676).

Sources: [41] [42] [43] [26] [23] [24] [25] [27] [28]

Read a complete seerah with a qualified teacher, who can explain context, separate well-established events from weaker reports and recommend a sound full-length work for your level and language.

Britannica explains that most detail about his life comes from the seerah literature, above all Ibn Ishaq's work, which survives in later reworkings such as Ibn Hisham's. Hadith collections, such as al-Bukhari's Book of Military Expeditions, preserve many events with their chains of narrators, and Britannica's biography is a useful reference for historical context.

• Read each hadith cited here in full on its source page.
• Read the Qur'anic passages with a translation and a recognised tafsir.
• Study a full seerah with a teacher, one period of his life at a time.

Sources: [1] [29]

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