| Muhammad in Mecca | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 570 – 622 AD | |||
| Location | Hejaz, Arabian Peninsula | ||
| Including |
| ||
| Key events | Emergence of Islam | ||
Chronology
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Muhammad, the final Islamic prophet, was born and lived in Mecca for the first 53 years of his life (c. 570–622 CE) until the Hijra. This period of his life is characterized by his proclamation of prophethood. Muhammad's father, Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, died before he was born. His mother would raise him until he was six years old, before her death around 577 CE at Abwa'. Subsequently raised by his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, and then his uncle, Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, Muhammad's early career involved being a shepherd and merchant. Muhammad married Khadija bint Khuwaylid after a successful trading endeavour in Syria. After the death of Khadija and Abu Talib in the Year of Sorrow, Muhammad married Sawdah bint Zam'a and Aisha.
Muslims believe Muhammad began receiving revelation sometime in the year 610 CE. Initially, the ranks of the Muslims only included Muhammad and some of his close friends and relatives. However, as more members of the Quraysh and other Arab tribes respected his words and accepted his message, the vast majority of them, including tribal leaders and some of his relatives, such as Abū Lahab, opposed, ridiculed and eventually boycotted his clan, the Banu Hashim, and Muhammad and his followers were harassed, assaulted and forced into exile in Abyssinia. After experiencing the Isra and Mi'raj in 620 and receiving delegations from Medina and pledges of protection from the two Arab tribes that lived in the city at al-'Aqabah, Muhammad instructed his companions to gradually migrate to the city, before doing so himself in 622.
The Quran, early biographies of Muhammad (seerah), and hadith literature are some of the primary sources used by both early and modern historians in portraying this period of Muhammad's life. While questions have been raised regarding the certainty of some of these sources, most academics have come to accept these along with some of their revisions as the definitive sources for Muhammad's early life in Mecca.