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Seerah 06 · 628–633 · after the move to Madinah · Ḥudaybiyah, Makkah, ʿArafah
Conquest, completion and farewell
Makkah was won back without a battle, the religion was declared complete, and the Prophet ﷺ gave his final sermon.
17 events · the Prophet ﷺ aged 58–63
What happened
From ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm
Standard — the chapter told properly, in paragraphs
The last five years: a treaty that looked like a defeat, a conquest without revenge, and a farewell. This chapter closes the arc — the religion is completed, the trust is delivered, and the community is left with the Book and the Sunnah.
The Treaty of ḤudaybiyahFourteen hundred set out in iḥrām for ʿumrah and were stopped at Ḥudaybiyah. The terms looked one-sided: go home this year, ten years of truce, anyone who leaves Makkah for him is returned but not the reverse. ʿUmar رضي الله عنه objected openly, and the companions hesitated to shave until he ﷺ did it first on Umm Salamah's advice. Sūrat al-Fatḥ called it a clear victory — and in the two years of peace more people entered Islam than in all the years of fighting.
Letters to the kingsDuring the truce he ﷺ sent sealed letters to the rulers around Arabia. Heraclius questioned Abū Sufyān — still an enemy — about his lineage, whether he had ever lied and whether his followers were growing, and concluded that a prophet was due. Chosroes tore his letter up.
Khaybar and the return of the Abyssinian migrantsIn the seventh year the fortresses of Khaybar were opened, with the banner given to ʿAlī رضي الله عنه and the reminder that guiding one man to Islam is better than red camels. The land was left with its people on a share of the crop. Jaʿfar رضي الله عنه returned from Abyssinia in the same days, and he ﷺ said he did not know which of the two delighted him more.
ʿUmrat al-Qaḍāʾ — the compensatory ʿumrahUnder the treaty, the Muslims enter Makkah for three days and Quraysh watch from the hills.
MuʾtahThree thousand met a far larger Byzantine force. The three commanders he had named were killed one after another — Zayd, then Jaʿfar, then ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah رضي الله عنهم — and he announced each death in Madinah as it happened. Khālid ibn al-Walīd took the banner and brought the army out intact.
The conquest of MakkahWhen Quraysh broke the truce he moved on Makkah with ten thousand. Abū Sufyān accepted Islam the night before, and it was announced that anyone in his house, or in the Sacred Mosque, or in his own home was safe. He entered with his head bowed to the saddle, cleared the idols reciting 'truth has come and falsehood has vanished', and told Quraysh: go, you are free.
'Go, for you are free'The city that drove him out is taken without a general battle and pardoned.
Ḥunayn and the hearts of the AnṣārWeeks after the conquest twelve thousand marched out, and some said they could not be beaten for lack of numbers. They were ambushed in the valley and the army broke, and only a small group held with him ﷺ before the day turned. Afterwards he gave the spoils to the newly Muslim chiefs of Makkah; when the Anṣār felt it, he asked them whether they were not content to go home with the Messenger of Allah while others went home with sheep. They wept.
Tabūk and the three who stayed behindIn the heat and hunger of the ninth year the army marched north, funded by ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه and by Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه giving everything he owned, and no fighting took place. Three men stayed behind with no excuse and refused to invent one, and the community was told not to speak to them for fifty nights. Kaʿb ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه said the earth grew narrow around him until Allah's acceptance was announced at dawn.
The mosque built to divideA mosque raised as a base against the community is pulled down.
Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه leads the Ḥajj and Barāʾah is announcedIn 9 AH the treaties with the idolaters are ended and the Ḥaram is closed to idolatry.
The Year of DelegationsAfter the conquest tribes came in from every direction to give allegiance and learn the dīn, and every delegation left with a teacher and arrangements for zakāh. Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه led the Ḥajj of the ninth year, where the opening of Sūrat at-Tawbah ended the practices of shirk at the Sacred House.
Najrān and Thaqīf come to MadinahA Christian delegation debates and is offered mubāhalah; Ṭāʾif finally submits.
The death of Ibrāhīm, and the eclipseHis infant son dies, the sun eclipses, and he ﷺ refuses the superstition.
The Farewell Ḥajj and the completion of the dīnIn the tenth year he ﷺ made the only Ḥajj of his prophethood, and over a hundred thousand heard him at ʿArafah. He made blood and property sacred, cancelled the blood feuds and interest of jāhiliyyah starting with his own family's claims, charged them concerning women, and left them the Book of Allah. After each part he asked, 'Have I conveyed?' and raised his finger: 'O Allah, bear witness.'
The army of UsāmahIn his last weeks he ﷺ appoints a young man over the elders and sends the army north.
The final illness and the passing ﷺHis final illness began with a headache. He asked his wives' permission to be nursed in ʿĀʾishah's room and told Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه to lead the prayer. On his last morning he drew the curtain back, saw them in rows, and smiled. When he died ʿUmar رضي الله عنه refused to accept it, until Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه said: whoever worshipped Muḥammad, he has died; whoever worshipped Allah, Allah is living and never dies.
Sūrat al-Fatḥ 48:1; Sūrat at-Tawbah 9:25–26, 117–118; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1218; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2731, 4280, 4452; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- al-Ḥudaybiyah
- Dhū al-Qaʿdah 6 AH — 1,400 in iḥrām; Sūrat al-Fatḥ 48:1
- Khaybar
- Muḥarram 7 AH
- The conquest of Makkah
- Ramaḍān 8 AH — about 10,000; general pardon
- Tabūk
- Rajab 9 AH — about 30,000, 'the army of hardship'
- The Farewell Sermon
- ʿArafah, 10 AH; Sūrat al-Māʾidah 5:3 revealed
- His death ﷺ
- Rabīʿ al-Awwal 11 AH, in Madinah, aged 63
Narration by narration (17)
- Established628 · Dhū al-Qaʿdah · Ḥudaybiyah
Terms that seemed humiliating are called a clear victory.
Fourteen hundred set out in iḥrām for ʿumrah and were stopped at Ḥudaybiyah. The terms looked one-sided: go home this year, ten years of truce, anyone who leaves Makkah for him is returned but not the reverse. ʿUmar رضي الله عنه objected openly, and the companions hesitated to shave until he ﷺ did it first on Umm Salamah's advice. Sūrat al-Fatḥ called it a clear victory — and in the two years of peace more people entered Islam than in all the years of fighting.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2731–2732; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1783
- Established628–629
He ﷺ writes to Heraclius, Chosroes, the Negus and the ruler of Egypt.
During the truce he ﷺ sent sealed letters to the rulers around Arabia. Heraclius questioned Abū Sufyān — still an enemy — about his lineage, whether he had ever lied and whether his followers were growing, and concluded that a prophet was due. Chosroes tore his letter up.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 7; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1773
- Established629 · Khaybar
The fortresses of Khaybar open, and Jaʿfar returns after years away.
In the seventh year the fortresses of Khaybar were opened, with the banner given to ʿAlī رضي الله عنه and the reminder that guiding one man to Islam is better than red camels. The land was left with its people on a share of the crop. Jaʿfar رضي الله عنه returned from Abyssinia in the same days, and he ﷺ said he did not know which of the two delighted him more.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4210; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2406
- Established629 · Dhū al-Qaʿdah · Makkah
Under the treaty, the Muslims enter Makkah for three days and Quraysh watch from the hills.
In Dhū al-Qaʿdah of 7 AH, a year after being turned back, the Muslims entered Makkah for the ʿumrah the treaty allowed. Quraysh emptied the city and watched from the hills of Qubays, saying the fever of Yathrib had weakened them. He ﷺ told the Companions to move briskly in the first three circuits and uncover the right shoulder. They stayed three days, Bilāl رضي الله عنه gave the adhān on the Kaʿbah, and they left as agreed. Khālid ibn al-Walīd and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ accepted Islam not long after.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1602, 4251; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Established630 · Jumādā al-Ūlā · Muʾtah
Three commanders fall in succession; Khālid brings the army out.
Three thousand met a far larger Byzantine force. The three commanders he had named were killed one after another — Zayd, then Jaʿfar, then ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah رضي الله عنهم — and he announced each death in Madinah as it happened. Khālid ibn al-Walīd took the banner and brought the army out intact.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4261
- Established630 · 20 Ramaḍān · Makkah
The city is entered almost without bloodshed and the idols are removed.
When Quraysh broke the truce he moved on Makkah with ten thousand. Abū Sufyān accepted Islam the night before, and it was announced that anyone in his house, or in the Sacred Mosque, or in his own home was safe. He entered with his head bowed to the saddle, cleared the idols reciting 'truth has come and falsehood has vanished', and told Quraysh: go, you are free.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4280; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1780
- Established630 · 20 Ramaḍān · Makkah
The city that drove him out is taken without a general battle and pardoned.
Entering Makkah with his head bowed to the saddle, he ﷺ went to the Kaʿbah, broke the three hundred and sixty idols while reciting 'Truth has come and falsehood has vanished,' and prayed inside. Then he stood at the door and asked Quraysh what they expected. They said: a noble brother, and the son of a noble brother. He said: 'Go, for you are free.' Even those with blood on their hands were pardoned, among them Hind bint ʿUtbah and later ʿIkrimah ibn Abī Jahl and Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah. Bilāl رضي الله عنه climbed the Kaʿbah to call the adhān.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4287; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1780; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Established630 · Shawwāl · Ḥunayn, Ṭāʾif
Numbers fail at Ḥunayn; the spoils test the community afterwards.
Weeks after the conquest twelve thousand marched out, and some said they could not be beaten for lack of numbers. They were ambushed in the valley and the army broke, and only a small group held with him ﷺ before the day turned. Afterwards he gave the spoils to the newly Muslim chiefs of Makkah; when the Anṣār felt it, he asked them whether they were not content to go home with the Messenger of Allah while others went home with sheep. They wept.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4321; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1059
- Established631 · Rajab · Tabūk
The hardest expedition, and a forty-day boycott that ends in fifty āyāt of mercy.
In the heat and hunger of the ninth year the army marched north, funded by ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه and by Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه giving everything he owned, and no fighting took place. Three men stayed behind with no excuse and refused to invent one, and the community was told not to speak to them for fifty nights. Kaʿb ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه said the earth grew narrow around him until Allah's acceptance was announced at dawn.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4418; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2769
- Traditional ordering631 · Madinah
A mosque raised as a base against the community is pulled down.
A group of hypocrites built a mosque at Qubāʾ and asked him ﷺ to pray in it, intending it as a meeting place to work against the Muslims and as a station for a man who had gone over to the Byzantines. He delayed until he returned from Tabūk, and revelation named it for what it was: a mosque of harm, disbelief and division. He sent men to pull it down.
Ibn Hishām; Tafsīr aṭ-Ṭabarī on 9:107; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Established631 · Dhū al-Ḥijjah · Makkah
In 9 AH the treaties with the idolaters are ended and the Ḥaram is closed to idolatry.
The Prophet ﷺ sent Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه as leader of the Ḥajj of 9 AH with three hundred men, then sent ʿAlī رضي الله عنه after him to recite the opening of Sūrat at-Tawbah to the people, since by Arab custom such an announcement was delivered by a man of the speaker's own clan. It was declared that no idolater would perform Ḥajj after that year, no one would circle the House naked, and existing treaties would be honoured to their term. The following year he ﷺ led the Ḥajj himself.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 369, 4655; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Strong report631–632 · Madinah
Tribes come from across Arabia to accept Islam.
After the conquest tribes came in from every direction to give allegiance and learn the dīn, and every delegation left with a teacher and arrangements for zakāh. Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه led the Ḥajj of the ninth year, where the opening of Sūrat at-Tawbah ended the practices of shirk at the Sacred House.
Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah; Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah
- Established631–632 · Madinah
A Christian delegation debates and is offered mubāhalah; Ṭāʾif finally submits.
Sixty men of Najrān came, prayed their own prayer in the mosque with his permission, and argued about ʿĪsā عليه السلام. When the argument was exhausted, the Qur'an offered mubāhalah — both sides invoking Allah's curse on the liars. They declined, made a treaty with protection for their churches and lives against a yearly payment, and went home. Thaqīf of Ṭāʾif, who had stoned him years earlier, came to accept Islam and asked to keep their idol al-Lāt a while and to be excused the prayer; he refused both, and said there is no good in a religion without prayer.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4380; Ibn Hishām; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Established632 · Madinah
His infant son dies, the sun eclipses, and he ﷺ refuses the superstition.
Ibrāhīm, his son by Māriyah رضي الله عنها, died in infancy in 10 AH. He ﷺ wept and said: 'The eye weeps and the heart grieves, and we do not say except what pleases our Lord. We are grieved by your parting, Ibrāhīm.' The sun eclipsed that day and people said it was for the boy's death. He led the eclipse prayer and told them plainly: the sun and moon are two signs of Allah, eclipsed for no one's death or life — when you see it, pray and call upon Allah.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1043, 1303; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2315; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Established632 · 9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah · ʿArafah
Over a hundred thousand hear the sermon at ʿArafah; 5:3 is revealed.
In the tenth year he ﷺ made the only Ḥajj of his prophethood, and over a hundred thousand heard him at ʿArafah. He made blood and property sacred, cancelled the blood feuds and interest of jāhiliyyah starting with his own family's claims, charged them concerning women, and left them the Book of Allah. After each part he asked, 'Have I conveyed?' and raised his finger: 'O Allah, bear witness.'
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1218
- Established633 · Ṣafar · Madinah
In his last weeks he ﷺ appoints a young man over the elders and sends the army north.
In Ṣafar of 11 AH he ordered an expedition towards the Byzantine frontier where Zayd ibn Ḥārithah رضي الله عنه had been killed, and appointed Zayd's son Usāmah, about eighteen, over an army containing senior Muhājirūn and Anṣār. Some objected to his age, and the Prophet ﷺ came out with his head bound in illness and defended the appointment as he had defended the father's before it. He died before the army left; Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه sent it out as one of his first acts, refusing to undo an order the Messenger ﷺ had given.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4469, 7187; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Established633 · Rabīʿ al-Awwal · Madinah
He dies in ʿĀʾishah's room; Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه steadies the community.
His final illness began with a headache. He asked his wives' permission to be nursed in ʿĀʾishah's room and told Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه to lead the prayer. On his last morning he drew the curtain back, saw them in rows, and smiled. When he died ʿUmar رضي الله عنه refused to accept it, until Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه said: whoever worshipped Muḥammad, he has died; whoever worshipped Allah, Allah is living and never dies.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4452, 4453, 4462