Seerah · Chronology

The Makkan Period

610–622 · 28 events

The Makkan Period

610–622

610 (Ramazan, Kadir gecesi) Revelation #20

The first revelation: “Read!”

age 40 The cave of Hira

One night in the month of Ramadan, Jibril (Gabriel) came to him in Hira and said: “Read!” When he answered, “I do not know how to read,” the angel pressed him hard three times and conveyed the first five verses of Surah al-Alaq: “Read in the name of your Lord who created!” The Prophet ﷺ returned home trembling and said: “Cover me.” The sending down of the Quran began on this night; the Quran describes it as the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr), “better than a thousand months”. This event is regarded as the beginning of Islamic history.

610 Family #21

Khadijah's comfort and Waraqah ibn Nawfal

age 40 Makkah

When her husband came home in fear, Khadijah reassured him with these words: “Allah will never disgrace you; you keep ties with your relatives, you speak the truth, you guard what is entrusted to you, you honour your guests, and you help those who are wronged.” Then she took him to her elderly cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who knew the Torah and the Gospel. Waraqah said that the one who had come to him was Jibril, who had also come to Prophet Musa, that he would be the prophet of this nation, and that his people would drive him out of his homeland. Khadijah became the first person to believe.

610–611 Revelation #22

The pause in revelation (fatrah) and Surah al-Muddaththir

age 40 Makkah

After the first revelation, no revelation came for a time; this period grieved the Prophet ﷺ deeply. Then he saw Jibril seated on a throne between heaven and earth, and the first verses of Surah al-Muddaththir were sent down: “O you who are wrapped in your cloak! Arise and warn, and glorify your Lord.” With these verses the Prophet ﷺ was charged with warning humankind; from then on revelation continued without interruption and lasted twenty-three years.

610 Calling to Islam #23

The first Muslims

age 40 Makkah

After Khadijah, Ali (among the children), Zayd ibn Harithah (among the freed slaves) and Abu Bakr (among the free men) entered Islam. Through Abu Bakr's invitation, Uthman ibn Affan, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, Abdur Rahman ibn Awf, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Talhah ibn Ubaydullah became Muslims. They were followed by names such as Bilal al-Habashi, Ammar, Khabbab, Abu Dharr and Arqam. Most of the first Muslims were young people, slaves, and those without protection.

610–613 Calling to Islam #24

The period of secret calling and Dar al-Arqam

age 40 Makkah – Dar al-Arqam

For the first three years, the call to Islam was made secretly, one to one, to trustworthy people. The Muslims gathered in the house of Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam at the foot of the hill of Safa, where they learned the Quran and prayed. This house is regarded as the first centre of education in Islam; many Companions, up to Umar, embraced Islam there. In this period the number of Muslims reached forty.

613–614 Calling to Islam #25

The open call: the summons from the hill of Safa

age 43 Makkah – the hill of Safa

When the verse “Warn your nearest relatives first” (ash-Shu'ara 214) was revealed, the Prophet ﷺ climbed the hill of Safa and called out to the clans of the Quraysh. He asked those who gathered: “If I told you that an army was behind this mountain, about to attack you, would you believe me?” They said: “We have never heard a lie from you.” Then he said: “I am a warner to you before a severe punishment,” and called them to the oneness of Allah. His uncle Abu Lahab reacted: “Is this why you gathered us? May you perish!” Surah al-Masad (Tabbat) was revealed about this event.

614 Calling to Islam #26

The first Quran recited openly at the Kaaba: Ibn Mas'ud and Surah ar-Rahman

age 43 Makkah – the Kaaba

The polytheists could not bear to hear the Quran recited aloud at the Kaaba. When the Companions were discussing who would make the Quraysh hear the Quran openly, the weak and unprotected Abdullah ibn Mas'ud volunteered. He went to the Station of Ibrahim (Maqam Ibrahim) and began to recite Surah ar-Rahman; the polytheists tried to silence him by beating him, but he went on reciting. He is remembered as the first person after the Prophet ﷺ to recite the Quran openly in Makkah, and he earned the Prophet's ﷺ praise: “Whoever wishes to recite the Quran as it was revealed, let him listen to it from Ibn Umm Abd.”

614 Calling to Islam #27

The feast for his relatives and the appeals to Abu Talib

age 43 Makkah

The Prophet ﷺ invited the Banu Abdul Muttalib to his home, served them a meal and called them to Islam; only the young Ali promised him his support. As the call spread through Makkah, the leaders of the Quraysh went to Abu Talib and asked him to silence his nephew. When Abu Talib passed this on to him, the Prophet ﷺ gave this historic answer: “Uncle, if they placed the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I would still not give up this cause.” Abu Talib replied: “Say what you wish; I will never abandon you.”

614–615 Persecution and torture #28

Torture and the first martyrs

age 44 Makkah

The Quraysh inflicted severe torture on the Muslims who had no protection. Bilal al-Habashi was laid on the burning sand with a stone placed on his chest, and as he kept saying “Ahad, Ahad” (Allah is One), Abu Bakr bought him and set him free. Sumayyah, the mother of Ammar ibn Yasir, became the first Muslim martyr when she was killed by Abu Jahl's spear; his father Yasir was also tortured to death. The back of Khabbab ibn al-Aratt was branded with burning stones. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Be patient, O family of Yasir, for you have been promised Paradise.”

615 (Recep) Hijrah #29

The first migration to Abyssinia

age 45 Abyssinia (Aksum)

As the persecution grew, the Prophet ﷺ gave a group of Muslims permission to go to Abyssinia, saying: “There is a just king there, in whose land no one is wronged.” The first group of eleven men and four women included Uthman and his wife Ruqayyah; for this, Uthman was called “the first to migrate with his family since Prophet Lut”. This was the first hijrah in the history of Islam; the Muslims lived in safety in the land of the Negus.

615–616 Miracle #30

The splitting of the moon (Inshiqaq al-Qamar)

age 45 Makkah – Mina

The Quraysh asked the Prophet ﷺ for a miracle as proof of his prophethood. One night at Mina, the miracle took place: the moon split in two and appeared on either side of the mountain; the Companions and the polytheists witnessed it together. Surah al-Qamar begins: “The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split; yet if they see a sign they turn away and say: this is continuous magic.” The polytheists explained away what they had seen as magic and denied it.

616 Calling to Islam #31

Hamza embraces Islam

age 46 Makkah

Hamza, the Prophet's ﷺ uncle and foster brother, learned on his return from a hunt that Abu Jahl had insulted and attacked his nephew at Safa. In anger he went to the Kaaba, struck Abu Jahl on the head with his bow and said: “I too follow his religion.” The entry into Islam of Hamza, one of the bravest men of Makkah, gave the Muslims great strength; after this the Quraysh became wary of attacking the Prophet ﷺ. Hamza was the sword of Islam until he fell as a martyr at Uhud.

616 Calling to Islam #32

Umar embraces Islam

age 46 Makkah

Umar ibn al-Khattab set out to kill the Prophet ﷺ, but when he learned that his sister Fatimah and her husband had become Muslims, he went to their house. Hearing Surah Ta-Ha being recited there, his heart softened, and he went to Dar al-Arqam and embraced Islam. Umar's acceptance of Islam enabled the Muslims to pray together openly at the Kaaba for the first time; the Prophet ﷺ called him “al-Faruq” (the one who distinguishes truth from falsehood). With this event, which took place three days after Hamza's conversion, the number of Muslims passed forty.

616 Hijrah #33

The second migration to Abyssinia and Ja'far before the Negus

age 46 Abyssinia

As the persecution continued, eighty-three men and eighteen women migrated to Abyssinia under the leadership of Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. The Quraysh sent Amr ibn al-As with gifts to demand the return of the emigrants. Before the Negus, Ja'far described their condition in the Age of Ignorance and what Islam had brought them, and recited Surah Maryam; the Negus wept and said: “This and what came to Prophet Isa come from the same source,” and refused to hand over the Muslims. The emigrants lived there in safety for years.

616–619 Persecution and torture #34

The years of the boycott (Shi'b Abi Talib)

age 46 Makkah – the quarter of Abu Talib

The Quraysh wrote a pact banning all trade, marriage and contact with the Banu Hashim and the Banu Muttalib, and hung it inside the Kaaba. The Prophet ﷺ and his relatives, including those who were not Muslims, lived under siege in the quarter of Abu Talib for three years. The shortage of food became so severe that the crying of hungry children could be heard from Makkah; they could leave only during the pilgrimage seasons. Khadijah and Abu Bakr spent most of their wealth in these years.

619 Society #35

The end of the boycott

age 49 Makkah

Fair-minded men of the Quraysh such as Hisham ibn Amr, Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayyah and Mut'im ibn Adi could no longer bear such cruelty and decided to tear up the pact. At that time the Prophet ﷺ told his uncle that worms had eaten the document in the Kaaba and that only the part bearing the name of Allah remained; when the document was examined, it was found to be exactly so. The boycott was lifted and the Muslims left the quarter, but the years of hunger and hardship had taken a heavy toll on Khadijah and Abu Talib.

619 Passing away #36

The year of sorrow: the death of Abu Talib

age 49 Makkah

Shortly after the end of the boycott, Abu Talib, the uncle who had protected the Prophet ﷺ for more than forty years, fell gravely ill. At his deathbed the Prophet ﷺ asked him to say the words of faith, the testimony of Allah's oneness; but in the presence of Abu Lahab and Abu Jahl, his uncle did not turn from the religion of his forefathers. With the death of Abu Talib the Prophet ﷺ lost his strongest protector in Makkah, and the attacks of the Quraysh became reckless.

619 Society #37

Abu Bakr's attempt to migrate and the protection of Ibn ad-Dughunnah

age 49 Makkah

When the persecution became unbearable, Abu Bakr set out to migrate to Abyssinia. On the way he met Ibn ad-Dughunnah, the chief of the Qarah tribe, who said: “A man like you, who feeds the poor and keeps ties with his relatives, cannot be driven out of Makkah,” took him under his protection and brought him back. The Quraysh accepted the protection on condition that Abu Bakr worship secretly in his home; but when Abu Bakr prayed in the courtyard of his house and recited the Quran in tears, women and children gathered around him. When the Quraysh complained, he gave back the protection and said: “The protection of Allah is enough for me.”

619 (Ramazan) Passing away #38

The death of Khadijah

age 49 Makkah – Hajun

About a month after Abu Talib, Khadijah, his companion in life for twenty-five years and his greatest supporter, died at the age of sixty-five; she was buried in the cemetery of Hajun (Jannat al-Mu'alla). Because the Prophet ﷺ lost his two great pillars of support in the same year, this year was called “the year of sorrow” (am al-huzn). All his life he remembered Khadijah, saying: “She believed in me when everyone denied me, and she supported me with her wealth when everyone withheld it from me.” He also related that Jibril had brought her the glad tidings of a palace of pearl in Paradise.

619–620 (Şevval) Calling to Islam #39

The journey to Ta'if

age 49 Ta'if

When it became difficult to continue the call in Makkah, the Prophet ﷺ went to Ta'if with Zayd ibn Harithah and invited the leaders of the Thaqif tribe to Islam. He was mocked; the people of Thaqif incited their slaves and the rabble to stone him, and his feet were covered in blood. Taking shelter in a garden, he made the famous supplication of Ta'if, which begins: “O Allah, to You I complain of my weakness, my lack of means and my helplessness.” Addas, a Christian slave from Nineveh, offered him grapes and became a Muslim. When the angel of the mountains offered to crush Ta'if beneath them, he refused, saying: “Perhaps from their descendants there will come those who worship Allah.”

620 Society #40

Return to Makkah under the protection of Mut'im ibn Adi

age 50 Makkah

On the return from Ta'if, entering Makkah without protection would have meant death. The Prophet ﷺ sent word from Hira asking three men of the Quraysh for protection; Akhnas and Suhayl refused, but Mut'im ibn Adi, though a polytheist, accepted. Mut'im came to the Kaaba armed, together with his sons, had the Prophet ﷺ circle the Kaaba, and announced that he had taken him under his protection. After Badr, the Prophet ﷺ remembered this kindness, saying: “If Mut'im were alive and asked me for these prisoners, I would have given them to him.”

620 Miracle #41

The jinn listen to the Quran

age 50 The valley of Nakhlah

On the way back from Ta'if, while he was praying the night prayer and reciting the Quran at Nakhlah, a group of jinn listened to him, believed, and returned to their people as warners, saying: “We have heard a book sent down after Musa, guiding to the straight path.” Surah al-Ahqaf 29–32 and the opening verses of Surah al-Jinn relate this event. This statement of the Quran establishes that the Prophet ﷺ was sent to the jinn as well.

620 Family #42

Marriage to Sawdah and engagement to Aisha

age 50 Makkah

After the death of Khadijah, on the proposal of Khawlah bint Hakim, he married Sawdah bint Zam'ah, a widow who had migrated to Abyssinia; Sawdah took on the care of the household and of his four daughters. In the same period he became engaged to Aisha, the daughter of his closest friend Abu Bakr; the marriage to Aisha took place in Madinah after the Hijrah. Most of the Prophet's ﷺ later marriages were to women who had been widowed, who were without protection, or who formed bonds with the tribes.

620–621 (27 Recep) Miracle #43

The Isra and the Mi'raj

age 51 Makkah – Jerusalem – Sidrat al-Muntaha

One night the Prophet ﷺ was carried, in the company of Jibril and on the Buraq, from the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjid al-Haram) to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem (the Isra); there he led the prophets in prayer. He was then raised up through the heavens (the Mi'raj), met the prophets, saw Paradise and Hell, and reached Sidrat al-Muntaha. On this night the five daily prayers were made obligatory, the last two verses of Surah al-Baqarah were given, and the glad tidings were brought that those of his nation who did not associate partners with Allah would be forgiven. When he related the event in the morning, the polytheists mocked him; Abu Bakr said, “If he says so, it is true,” and received the title “as-Siddiq”. The first verse of Surah al-Isra relates the event.

620 (hac mevsimi) Calling to Islam #44

Calling the tribes in the pilgrimage season and the six Madinans at Aqabah

age 50 Makkah – Aqabah

In every pilgrimage season the Prophet ﷺ went from tent to tent among the tribes that came to Makkah, calling them to Islam, and most of them, incited by Abu Lahab, rejected him. In the pilgrimage season of the year 620 he met six men of the Khazraj tribe of Madinah at Aqabah. These men, who had heard from their Jewish neighbours that a prophet was to come, listened to him and became Muslims, then returned to Madinah and began to spread the call. The seeds of the Hijrah were sown in this meeting.

621 (hac mevsimi) Treaty #45

The First Pledge of Aqabah

age 51 Aqabah

The following year, twelve men of Madinah – ten from the Khazraj and two from the Aws – pledged allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ at Aqabah: not to associate anything with Allah, not to steal or commit adultery, not to kill their children, not to slander, and to obey him in what is good. The Prophet ﷺ sent Mus'ab ibn Umayr back with them to Madinah as a teacher of the Quran. Within a year Mus'ab had won over tribal leaders such as Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and Usayd ibn Hudayr; there was hardly a house left in Madinah that Islam had not entered.

622 (Zilhicce) Treaty #46

The Second Pledge of Aqabah

age 52 Aqabah

During the Hajj season, seventy-three men and two women from Madinah met the Prophet ﷺ secretly at night at Aqabah; his uncle Abbas was also present. The people of Madinah promised to protect the Prophet ﷺ just as they protected their own lives and families, and the Prophet ﷺ chose twelve representatives (naqibs) from among them. This pledge was the agreement that opened the way for the Muslims’ migration to Madinah and the founding of a community there. When the Quraysh heard of the pledge they were furious and increased their pressure on the Muslims.

622 (Zilhicce–Safer) Hijrah #47

The Muslims’ migration to Madinah

age 52 Makkah → Madinah

After the pledge of Aqabah, the Prophet ﷺ gave the Muslims permission to migrate to Madinah; the Companions left their property behind and set out secretly in small groups. Umar, however, circled the Kaaba and declared openly, “Whoever wants his mother to weep for him, let him follow me,” and migrated in broad daylight. Within two months no one remained in Makkah except the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr, Ali and the weak Muslims who were unable to leave. Those who migrated were called the Muhajirun, and the people of Madinah who welcomed them were called the Ansar.

About this chronology

The events are ordered by the dates widely accepted in the classical Seerah sources (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, al-Waqidi, Ibn Sa’d) and in the Encyclopedia of Islam of the Turkish Diyanet Foundation (TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi). The year of some events in the Meccan period differs by a year or two between sources; in such cases the most common date is given, marked “civarı” (circa) where needed. Hijri years are shown for events of the Medinan period; ages follow the lunar calendar.

You can read the same chronology offline in the Dua Kitaplığı app; events shared from the app link to the matching event on this page.

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The Makkan Period

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