Muhammad's life

Muhammad is born

570

Muhammad is born in Mecca in around 570 CE to a family, which was part of the Banu Hasim tribe.

Early life

576

Muhammad was sent by the surviving members of his family to live with a nomadic Bedouin family.

Journeys through the Middle East

Period: 580 to 594

Muhammad accompanied his uncle on many different trading journeys between Arabia and Syria.

Mariage

595

Muhammad married a wealthy widow called Khadijah. He had worked for her previously.

Return to Mecca

605

Muhamad returned to Mecca to act as a peacemaker between the leaders of the city. There he noticed that many of the town's most powerful citizens were beginning to ignore the poor of the city.

Encounter with archangel Gabriel

610

Muhammad began to travel to a cave north of Mecca, where, Muslims believe, he was visited by the angel Gabriel who told him to begin speaking in the name of one god.

Ideas start spreading

613

In this year Muhammad started publicly sharing his message, that there was just one god (Allah) with the people of Mecca. His ideas started spreading in the lower sections of society.

617: Attempt to stop Muhammad

617

In 617 Mecca's leaders stopped trading with the members of his tribe, in an attempt to withdraw Muhammad's protection. This attempt failed but they put their plans to a halt.

A bad year in the life of Muhammad

619

Both Muhammad's wife and his uncle died in this year. Furthermore, the next leader of the tribe, who was bitterly opposed to the new Muslim community, withdrew his protection.

From Mecca to Medina

621

In 621 an agreement between Muhammad and the leaders of the city of Medina for the Muslim community to move there. The town already had a small Muslim as well as Christian and Jewish communities.

Hegira

622

In 622 the journey known to Muslims as the Hegira started. Muhammad's followers started leaving the city of Mecca to reach Medina. When leaving Mecca, they were attacked by the leaders of the city. Many Muslims had to leave their possessions in Mecca and were therefore forced into poverty. This event became the first year in the new Islamic calendar.

War (for the faith of Islam) 1

Period: 624 to 625

In March of 624, the Muslims wanted to do something they often did since moving to Medina: raid a Meccan caravan. This time though, they were ambushed by Meccans, which outnumbered them by three to one. Still, they managed to win and took many prisoners.
This was seen as a confirmation of their faith for Muhammad and his followers. Islam had started attracting many converts.

War (for faith of Islam) 2

Period: 624 to 625

One year after the first battle, the Meccans responded sending an army of 3000 men to fight the Muslims. This time they won but retreated too early thinking Muhammad was already dead.
After recovering, Muhammad started many campaigns against those tribes, which had fought against him. These often ended with massacres of those refusing to convert to Islam.

An unclever move

627

The Meccans sent 10000 men to capture Medina. Because Muhammad's men had dug trenches around the city, the Meccans weren't able to capture Medina. This resulted in a big loss of support in the population as well as trade.

The peace treaty

628

In 628 a contract between Muhammad and the leaders of Mecca was signed to allow Muslims to visit Mecca and the Kaaba shrine.

The peace treaty is cancelled

629

After a tribe allied with Mecca attacked one allied with the Muslims Muhammad sent a letter telling Mecca's leaders to either pay compensation to the families of those killed, cancel their alliances or to declare the peace treaty was no longer in operation. Mecca's leaders declared the peace treaty was cancelled.

The fall of Mecca to the Muslims

629

After being informed the peace treaty was cancelled, Muhammad assembled an army of 10000 men to march towards Mecca.
In December, the Muslims entered Mecca and destroyed many Arabian statues of their gods. As a consequence, many converted to Islam.

Where did Islam spread?

Period: 629 to 632

After the conquest of Mecca, Islam was spread through northern and western Arabia by Muhammad. This forced many tribes to convert to Islam.

The final journey

632

On his last journey to Mecca, in February 632 Muhammad tried to convince the members of the Muslim community to see themselves as one big group rather than as members of the many different tribes of Arabia during his speech on Mount Arafat.

Muhammad's death

Jun 8, 632

In Medina, on 8th June 632, Muhammad suddenly fell and died.
Then, the life of one of the greatest leaders through history died. His work has and will however still remained an important part of our world for many centuries.