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570
Birth of Muhammed
Mohammed was born around 570 CE in the city of Mecca, which is today in Saudia Arabia. His family was part of an important clan in the area, but their influence was declining. -
576
Death of Muhammad's Mother
By the time he was six, both Muhammad's mother and father were dead, leaving him in the care of his uncle Abu Talib who protected Muhammad until his death in 619. -
Jan 1, 605
Setting the Black Stone
Muhammad is asked to help set the Black Stone, one of the most sacred objects in the Kaaba. He arranges for different clan leaders to carry it on a cloth, thus resolving issues about who had the right to set the stone. -
Jan 1, 610
Muhammad's First Revelation
While praying alone in a cave, the angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammed and told him verses which would later become part of the Quran. This visit upset him greatly and no other revelations came for three years. -
Period: Jan 1, 610 to Dec 31, 632
Muhammad's Has Revelations that Form Quran
Muhammad's Revelations Documentary
After the first revelation in the cave, Muhammad continued to experience revelations. Originally these verses were memorized and recited by Muhammad and his followers. Either during his lifetime or soon after, these messages from Allah were combined into the Quran, the holy book of Islam. -
Jan 1, 613
Muhammad Begins to Preach
Muhammad starts to preach in Mecca, but is faced mainly with ridicule and anger who disliked his preaching of monotheism. The earliest converts to Islam were the disenfranchised in different ways. -
Jan 1, 620
Isra and Mi'raj
The angel Gabriel takes Muhammad first on a voyage to the "furthest mosque" in Jerusalem (Isra) and on one to heave and hell, where he meets the other prophets of the Abrahamic tradition (Mi'raj). -
Jan 1, 622
Hijra
Increasingly unsafe in Mecca due to the nature of his preaching, Muhammed and his followers move to the town of Medina in a journey now called the Hijra. In Medina he established the Constitution of Medina, which formed an Islamic state. -
Period: Jan 1, 622 to
Hostilities with Mecca
Beginning as raiding parties, Muslims in Medina and the people of Mecca fought back and forth for six years. This ended with the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah which affirmed peace and allowed for the first pilgrimage to Mecca the next year. -
Feb 11, 624
Praying Toward Mecca
Muhammad recieves a revelaation that he and his followers should be praying toward Mecca rather than Jerusalem, a tradition that contrinues to this day. -
Jan 1, 630
Muhammad Takes Mecca
After Meccans broke the peace established two years before, Mohammad emassed a force and conquered Mecca. Most Meccans then converted to Islam and the symbols of Arabian gods around the Kaaba were destroyed. Muhammad then went on to unify the Arabian peninsula under a single rule. -
Jan 1, 632
Final Pilgrimage
Muhammad undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca, which he understood to be his last. At Mount Arafat he delivered the Farewell Sermon. This was the only hajj (one of the Five Pillars of Islam, stating that all Muslims must make a pilgrimage to Mecca) that Muhammad undertok.
Farewell Sermon -
Jun 6, 632
Muhammad Dies
Muhammad dies and Abu Bakir becomes the leader of Islam. The site of Muhammad's death is later turned into the Mosque of the Prophet. -
Muhammad Marries
Muhammad marries his first wife, Khadijah, a wealth widow 15 years his elder who is one of his strongest supporters later.
