Seerah

Year by year, the way it is taught in class.

One page per year, from before prophethood to the year he ﷺ passed away.

Each year carries both labels — year of prophethood and BH or AH — so you can follow whichever your teacher uses. Datings follow ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, and where the sources differ the page says so.

Arabia before his ﷺ birth · The lineage map · Or read the six chapters instead

Makkah — before the move

Before prophethood · 570–610 CE

Before prophethood

Forty years of being known as truthful, before a word of revelation came.

Year 1 of prophethood · 13 BH (610 CE)

The first revelation

Iqraʾ in the cave, Waraqah's warning, and then silence.

Year 2 of prophethood · 12 BH (611 CE)

Arise and warn

Revelation returns with a job attached, and the first believers come in.

Year 3 of prophethood · 11 BH (612 CE)

The quiet years in the house of al-Arqam

About three years of teaching in private before anything is announced.

Year 4 of prophethood · 10 BH (613 CE)

Going public

He warns his own clan first, then all of Quraysh from Ṣafā — and Quraysh turn on him.

Year 5 of prophethood · 9 BH (614 CE)

The persecution

Those without clan protection are tortured; Sumayyah رضي الله عنها is killed.

Year 6 of prophethood · 8 BH (615 CE)

Abyssinia, Ḥamzah رضي الله عنه and ʿUmar رضي الله عنه

A group escapes to a just Christian king, and two strong men enter Islam.

Year 7 of prophethood · 7 BH (616 CE)

Offers, insults, and the boycott begins

Bribes are refused, the Qur'an is publicly labelled magic, and Banū Hāshim are cut off.

Year 8 of prophethood · 6 BH (617 CE)

The first year in the valley

Hunger in the ravine — and a correction over a blind man who wanted to learn.

Year 9 of prophethood · 5 BH (618 CE)

The second year in the valley — and the moon

The siege continues while a sign is given at Minā and dismissed.

Year 10 of prophethood · 4 BH (619 CE)

The boycott is broken

Five men tear up the document — and it has already been eaten by termites.

Year 11 of prophethood · 3 BH (620 CE)

ʿĀm al-Ḥuzn — the year of sorrow

Abū Ṭālib and Khadījah رضي الله عنها die, Ṭāʾif rejects him, and he returns under a stranger's protection.

Year 12 of prophethood · 2 BH (621 CE)

The Night Journey, and Yathrib begins to listen

He is taken to Jerusalem and above the heavens, the prayers are given, and twelve men pledge at ʿAqabah.

Year 13 of prophethood · 1 BH (622 CE)

The Hijrah

Seventy-three pledge at ʿAqabah, Quraysh plot to kill him, and he leaves for Yathrib.

Madinah — after the move

Year 1 after the Hijrah · 1 AH (622–623 CE) · year 14 of prophethood

Building the city

A mosque, a brotherhood, a written constitution and the call to prayer.

Year 2 after the Hijrah · 2 AH (624 CE) · year 15 of prophethood

The qiblah, the fast, and Badr

Direction, obligation and the first battle — all in one year.

Year 3 after the Hijrah · 3 AH (625 CE) · year 16 of prophethood

Uḥud

A victory lost by fifty archers leaving a hill.

Year 4 after the Hijrah · 4 AH (626 CE) · year 17 of prophethood

The year of the reciters

Two groups of teachers are betrayed and killed, and Banū an-Naḍīr are expelled.

Year 5 after the Hijrah · 5 AH (627 CE) · year 18 of prophethood

The trench and Banū Qurayẓah

Ten thousand besiege Madinah and go home with nothing.

Year 6 after the Hijrah · 6 AH (628 CE) · year 19 of prophethood

The slander, and the treaty that looked like a defeat

A month of rumour about ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها, then terms at Ḥudaybiyah the Companions could hardly accept.

Year 7 after the Hijrah · 7 AH (629 CE) · year 20 of prophethood

Khaybar and the ʿumrah kept to the letter

The northern fortresses fall, and the Muslims enter Makkah for three days as agreed.

Year 8 after the Hijrah · 8 AH (630 CE) · year 21 of prophethood

The conquest of Makkah

Three commanders die at Muʾtah, Makkah is taken and pardoned, and Ḥunayn tests the new Muslims.

Year 9 after the Hijrah · 9 AH (631 CE) · year 22 of prophethood

Tabūk and the year of decision

A hard march north, the three who stayed behind, and the end of idolatrous Ḥajj.

Year 10 after the Hijrah · 10 AH (632 CE) · year 23 of prophethood

Delegations and the Farewell Ḥajj

Arabia comes to Madinah, and the religion is declared complete at ʿArafah.

Year 11 after the Hijrah · 11 AH (632 CE) · year 23 of prophethood

The final illness and the passing ﷺ

He appoints a teenager over the elders, orders Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه to lead the prayer, and dies on a Monday.