Succession To Muhammad The succession to Muhammad is the central issue that split the Muslim community into several divisions in the first century of Islamic history, with the most prominent among these sects being the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam. Sunni Islam maintains that Abu Bakr was the legitimate successor to Muhammad on the basis of election. Shia Islam holds that Ali ibn Abi...
Farewell Pilgrimage The Farewell Pilgrimage (حجة الوداع) was the last and only Hajj pilgrimage Muhammad, The Prophet of Islam, participated in 632 CE (10 AH). The Muslims observed every move, act, and gesture of Muhammad on this occasion, and everything that he did became a precedent to be followed by Muslims all over the...
The Event Of Ghadir Khumm The event of Ghadir Khumm (واقعه غدیر خم) is an event that took place in March 632. While returning from the Hajj pilgrimage, the Islamic prophet Muhammad gathered all the Muslims who were with him and gave a long sermon. In the sermon, Muhammad announced...
Expedition To Tabuk The Expedition to Tabuk, also known as the Expedition of Usra, was a military expedition, which, was initiated by Muhammad in October, AD 630, AH 8. Muhammad led a force of as many as 30,000 north to Tabuk in present-day northwestern Saudi Arabia. A well-known town about 800 kilometers north of Madinah to which...
Battle Of Hunayn The Battle of Hunayn (غَـزوة حُـنـيـن, Ghazwat Hunayn) was fought by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his followers against the Bedouin tribe of Hawazin and its subsection the Thaqif, in 630 CE, in the Hunayn valley, on the route from Mecca to At-Ta’if. The battle ultimately ended in a decisive victory for the Muslims, who captured enormous spoils. It...
Muhammad After The Conquest Of Mecca The period of Muhammad after the conquest of Mecca started with the Conquest of Mecca in 630 and ended with his death in 632. Muhammad led the Conquest of Mecca in Ramadan of the Islamic year 8 AH (corresponding to Dec. 629/Jan. 630). The Quraysh in Mecca was Muhammad’s final major rival in the Arabian Peninsula,...
Conquest Of Mecca The Conquest of Mecca ( فتح مكة, Fatḥ Makkah) was the capture of the town of Mecca by Muslims led by the Islamic prophet Muhammad on December 629 or January 630 AD (Julian), 10–20 Ramadan, 8 AH. The conquest marked the end of the wars between the followers of Muhammad and the Quraysh tribe. Dates Ancient sources vary as to the...
Treaty Of Hudaybiyyah The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (صلح الحديبية) was an event that took place during the formation of Islam. It was a pivotal treaty between the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, representing the state of Medina, and the Quraysh tribe of Mecca in March 628 (corresponding to Dhu al-Qi’dah, 6 AH)....
Battle Of The Trench The Battle of the Trench (غزوة الخندق, Ghazwat al-Khandaq), also known as the Battle of Khandaq (معركة الخندق, Ma’rakah al-Khandaq) and the Battle of the Confederates (غزوة الاحزاب, Ghazwat al-Ahzab), was a 27-day-long defense by Muslims of Yathrib (now Medina) from Arab and Jewish tribes. The strength of the confederate armies is estimated at around 10,000 men with...
Battle Of Uhud The Battle of Uhud (غَزْوَة أُحُد Ġazwat ‘Uḥud) was a battle between the early Muslims and their Qurayshi Meccan enemies in 625 CE in the Hejazi region of the Arabian Peninsula. Many Muslims were killed and the battle was considered a setback for the Muslims. The battle was fought on Saturday, 23 March 625 (7 Shawwal AH...
Battle Of Badr The Battle of Badr (غزوة بدر), fought on Tuesday, 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH in the Islamic calendar) in the Hejaz region of western Arabia (present-day Saudi Arabia), was a key battle in the early days of Islam and a turning point in Muhammad‘s struggle with his opponents among the Quraish in Mecca. The battle has...
List Of Expeditions Of Muhammad The list of expeditions of Muhammad includes the expeditions undertaken by the Muslim community during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Some sources use the word ghazwa and its plural maghazi in a narrow technical sense to refer to the expeditions in which Muhammad took part while using the...
Constitution Of Medina The Constitution of Medina (دستور المدينة, Dustūr al-Madīnah), also known as the Charter of Medina (صحيفة المدينة, Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīnah; or: ميثاق المدينة, Mīthāq al-Madīnah), was drawn up on behalf of the Islamic prophet Muhammad shortly after his arrival at Medina (then known as Yathrib) in 622 CE (or 1 AH), following the Hijra from Mecca. The preamble declares...
Muhammad In Medina The Islamic prophet Muhammad came to Medina following the migration of his followers in what is known as the Hijra (migration to Medina) in 622. He had been invited to Medina by city leaders to adjudicate disputes between clans from which the city suffered. He left Medina to return to and conquer Mecca in December...
Isra And Mi’raj The Isra and Mi’raj (الإسراء والمعراج, al-’Isrā’ wal-Miʿrāj) are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islam, the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632) took during a single night around the year 621. Within Islam, it signifies both a physical and spiritual journey. A brief sketch of the story is in the Quran surah al-Isra,...
Hegira Or Hijrah The Hegira or Hijra (هِجْرَة) is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him Medina, in the year 622. In June 622, after being warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly left his...
Persecution Of Muslims By Meccans This article covers Persecution of Muslims by Meccans. In the early days of Islam at Mecca, the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution. The persecution lasted for 12 years beginning from the advent of Islam to Hegira. Muhammad preached Islam secretly for 3 years. Then, he openly...
Jahiliyyah The Jahiliyyah (age of ignorance, جَاهِلِيَّة, jāhilīyah, lit. ‘ignorance’) is an Islamic concept referring to the period of time and state of affairs in Arabia before the advent of Islam in 610 CE. It is often translated as the “Age of Ignorance“. The term jahiliyyah is derived from the verbal root jahala “to be ignorant or stupid, to act stupidly”. In...
Pre-Islamic Arabia The phrase Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to the Arabian Peninsula prior to Muhammad’s preaching of Islam in the early 7th century CE. Some of the settled communities developed into distinctive civilizations, and are limited to archaeological evidence, accounts written outside of Arabia, and Arab oral traditions later recorded by Islamic scholars. Among the most prominent...
Historicity Of Muhammad The historicity of Muhammad refers to the study of Muhammad as a historical figure and critical examination of sources upon which traditional accounts are based. The earliest Muslim source of information about the life of Muhammad, the Quran, gives very little personal information and its historicity is debated. Prophetic biography, known as sīra, along...