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Seerah 06 · 6–11 AH · 10 events
Conquest, completion and farewell
Ḥudaybiyah, Makkah, ʿArafah · the Prophet ﷺ aged 58–63
The chapter, narration by narration
What happened, and who reported it
Every event is graded by the strength of the report behind it, and can be added to your spaced-repetition queue the way an āyah or a root can.
The Treaty of Ḥudaybiyah
Established6 AH · Dhū al-Qaʿdah · Ḥudaybiyah
Terms that seemed humiliating are called a clear victory.
Fourteen hundred set out in iḥrām for ʿumrah and were blocked at Ḥudaybiyah. Under the tree they gave the Pledge of Riḍwān. The terms agreed: return this year without ʿumrah, ten years of truce, anyone leaving Makkah for Muḥammad ﷺ is returned, anyone leaving him is not. ʿUmar objected openly; the Companions hesitated to shave until Umm Salamah advised the Prophet ﷺ to do it first, and they followed. Sūrat al-Fatḥ came down on the return naming it a manifest victory — and in the two years of truce more entered Islam than in all the years before.
- Qurʾān 48:1–18'Indeed We have granted you a clear victory' and the Pledge of Riḍwān.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2731–2732; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1783
Letters to the kings
Established6–7 AH
He ﷺ writes to Heraclius, Chosroes, the Negus and the ruler of Egypt.
In the truce he sent envoys with sealed letters. Heraclius questioned Abū Sufyān — then still an opponent — about the Prophet's ﷺ lineage, whether he had ever lied, whether his followers were increasing, and concluded that a prophet was due. Chosroes tore his letter. The letter to Heraclius is preserved at the opening of Bukhārī.
- Qurʾān 3:64'O People of the Scripture, come to a word common between us and you.'
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 7; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1773
Khaybar and the return of the Abyssinian migrants
Established7 AH · Khaybar
The fortresses of Khaybar open, and Jaʿfar returns after years away.
In the seventh year the fortresses of Khaybar were taken after the banner was given to ʿAlī رضي الله عنه, with the instruction that guiding one man to Islam is better than red camels. The land was left with its people on a share of the produce. Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib arrived from Abyssinia at the same time, and he ﷺ said he did not know which delighted him more.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4210; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2406
Muʾtah
Established8 AH · Jumādā al-Ūlā · Muʾtah
Three commanders fall in succession; Khālid brings the army out.
Three thousand met a far larger Byzantine and Arab force. Zayd ibn Ḥārithah was killed, then Jaʿfar, then ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah رضي الله عنهم; the Prophet ﷺ announced their deaths in Madinah as they happened. Khālid ibn al-Walīd took the banner and withdrew the army intact, and was named the Sword of Allah.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4261
The conquest of Makkah
Established8 AH · 20 Ramaḍān · Makkah
The city is entered almost without bloodshed and the idols are removed.
When Quraysh broke the truce by aiding Banū Bakr against Khuzāʿah, he ﷺ moved with ten thousand. Abū Sufyān accepted Islam on the eve of entry, and it was announced that whoever entered his house, or the Sacred Mosque, or Abū Sufyān's house, was safe. He entered with his head lowered to the saddle in humility, broke the three hundred and sixty idols reciting 'Truth has come and falsehood has vanished', and said to Quraysh, 'Go, for you are free.'
- Qurʾān 17:81'Truth has come and falsehood has vanished.'
- Qurʾān 110:1–3An-Naṣr, revealed near the end: victory, then people entering in crowds, then istighfār.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4280; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1780
Ḥunayn and the hearts of the Anṣār
Established8 AH · Shawwāl · Ḥunayn, Ṭāʾif
Numbers fail at Ḥunayn; the spoils test the community afterwards.
Weeks after the conquest, twelve thousand marched on Hawāzin and some said, 'We will not be defeated today for scarcity of numbers.' Ambushed in the valley, the army broke and only a small group held with him ﷺ before they returned and prevailed. He then gave the spoils generously to the newly Muslim chiefs of Makkah. The Anṣār felt it, and he gathered them: 'Are you not content that the people return with sheep and camels, and you return with the Messenger of Allah?' They wept.
- Qurʾān 9:25–26'On the day of Ḥunayn, when your great numbers pleased you but availed you nothing.'
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4321; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1059
Tabūk and the three who stayed behind
Established9 AH · 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; ʿUthmān equipped a third of it and Abū Bakr gave all he had. No fighting occurred. Kaʿb ibn Mālik and two others had no excuse and told the truth rather than offer one; the Muslims were ordered not to speak to them for fifty nights. Kaʿb described the earth becoming narrow upon him, until the announcement of Allah's acceptance came at dawn. He said afterwards that Allah had never blessed him with anything greater than his truthfulness that day.
- Qurʾān 9:117–118'And upon the three who were left behind, until the earth closed in upon them.'
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4418; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2769
The Year of Delegations
Strong report9–10 AH · Madinah
Tribes come from across Arabia to accept Islam.
After the conquest, deputations arrived continually — Thaqīf, Banū Tamīm, ʿAbd al-Qays, Najrān and many others — to give allegiance and learn the dīn. Teachers and collectors of zakāh were sent out with them. Abū Bakr led the Ḥajj of the ninth year, and Sūrat at-Tawbah's opening was proclaimed at Minā, ending the arrangements of shirk at the Sacred House.
- Qurʾān 110:1–3Victory, crowds entering, and the command to glorify and seek forgiveness.
Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah; Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah
The Farewell Ḥajj and the completion of the dīn
Established10 AH · 9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah · ʿArafah
Over a hundred thousand hear the sermon at ʿArafah; 5:3 is revealed.
In the tenth year he ﷺ performed the only Ḥajj of his prophethood. At ʿArafah he declared blood and property inviolable, abolished the blood feuds and ribā of jāhiliyyah beginning with those of his own family, charged the people concerning women, and said, 'I have left among you that which, if you hold to it, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah.' After each section he asked, 'Have I conveyed?' and they said yes, and he raised his finger to the sky: 'O Allah, bear witness.' There 'Today I have perfected for you your religion' was revealed.
- Qurʾān 5:3'Today I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you.'
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1218
The final illness and the passing ﷺ
Established11 AH · Rabīʿ al-Awwal · Madinah
He dies in ʿĀʾishah's room; Abū Bakr steadies the community.
His illness began with a headache; he asked permission of his wives to be nursed in ʿĀʾishah's room and ordered Abū Bakr to lead the prayer. On the last morning he drew back the curtain and saw them in rows, and smiled. He passed on a Monday in Rabīʿ al-Awwal, aged sixty-three. ʿUmar refused to believe it until Abū Bakr came out and said, 'Whoever worshipped Muḥammad — Muḥammad has died. Whoever worshipped Allah — Allah is living and never dies,' and recited: 'Muḥammad is but a messenger; messengers have passed away before him.'
- Qurʾān 3:144'Muḥammad is but a messenger; messengers have passed away before him.'
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4452, 4453, 4462