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Birth in the Year of the Elephant
Born on Monday, 12 Rabi al-Awwal, in the Shi'b of Makkah.
جارٍ التحميل…
Birth, trade, and retreat in Hira
The Prophet ﷺ was born in the Year of the Elephant, into Banu Hashim of Quraysh. He was raised by his grandfather 'Abd al-Muttalib, then his uncle Abu Talib. Known as 'the Trustworthy' before his prophethood, he married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. He would retreat to the Cave of Hira to reflect and worship.
Born on Monday, 12 Rabi al-Awwal, in the Shi'b of Makkah.
He married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid at age 25.
Revelation, secret then public call, persecution
Revelation descended on the Prophet ﷺ in the Cave of Hira when he was forty. The call was secret for three years, then made public; persecution intensified against the believers. The migration to Abyssinia and the boycott in the Shi'b were among its hardest chapters. Then came the Night Journey, the two Pledges of 'Aqaba, and the Hijrah to Madinah.
"Read in the name of your Lord who created" — the first verses revealed.
The Prophet ﷺ was carried by night from the Sacred Mosque to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, then ascended through the heavens.
The Ansar pledged to support and protect the Prophet ﷺ if he migrated to them.
From Makkah to Madinah via Thawr and the coast
The Prophet ﷺ set out with Abu Bakr under cover of darkness, hid in the Cave of Thawr, then took the coastal route to escape Qurayshi pursuit. They reached Quba, where he founded the first mosque. He then entered Madinah; his she-camel knelt at the site of the future Masjid an-Nabawi, and the foundations of the Islamic state were laid.
The Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr sheltered there for three nights from Quraysh's pursuit.
The first mosque built in Islam; the Prophet ﷺ would visit it on foot and on mount.
Brotherhood, Constitution, the great battles
The Prophet ﷺ paired the Muhajirun with the Ansar in brotherhood, and drew up the Constitution of Madinah governing the city's communities. Then came the great battles: Badr, Uhud, the Trench, and the Treaty of Hudaybiyya — a peace that paved the way for the conquest of Makkah and the spread of Islam across the peninsula.
The first major encounter; the Muslims prevailed despite their small numbers, by Allah's leave.
Seventy Companions fell, among them the Prophet's ﷺ uncle Hamza, master of the martyrs.
The Muslims dug a trench around Madinah on Salman al-Farisi's counsel; the Confederate forces could not breach it.
The "manifest victory" named in the Qur'an; it opened the door for Islam to spread across Arabia.
The general amnesty, the universal sermon, the passing
The Prophet ﷺ entered Makkah victorious twenty years after he left it pursued, and granted its people a general amnesty: "Go, for you are free." He then performed the Farewell Pilgrimage and delivered his universal sermon, before returning to his Lord in Rabi al-Awwal of the eleventh year.
He entered with his head bowed in humility before Allah, and broke the idols around the Ka'bah.
"Today I have perfected your religion for you" — the Prophet ﷺ bade farewell to his Ummah from 'Arafat.
He returned to his Lord in the chamber of 'A'isha, and was buried where he passed.
May Allah's peace and blessings be upon you, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ
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