AyaSeerah

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

The conquest of Makkah

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

His age
60
Where
Muʾtah, Makkah, Ḥunayn
Counted as
8 AH

The year

At Muʾtah three thousand met a vastly larger Byzantine force. Zayd, then Jaʿfar, then ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah were killed in turn, and Khālid took the banner and brought the army out intact — the Prophet ﷺ named him the sword of Allah. Then Quraysh's allies attacked a tribe allied to Madinah, breaking the treaty, and the last of Ḥudaybiyah's conditions fell away.

Ten thousand marched on Makkah and the city fell almost without fighting. He entered with his head bowed to the saddle, broke the idols reciting 'Truth has come and falsehood has vanished,' and asked Quraysh at the door of the Kaʿbah what they expected of him. They said: a noble brother. He said: 'Go, for you are free.' Men who had tortured and killed Muslims were pardoned, and Bilāl رضي الله عنه — once pinned under a rock in that city — climbed the Kaʿbah to give the adhān.

Weeks later, at Ḥunayn, an army of twelve thousand was routed in the first minutes by ambush and had to be called back one by one. When the spoils were shared and the new Makkan Muslims were given generously, the Anṣār felt it, and he asked them: would you not rather go home with the Messenger of Allah than with sheep and camels? They wept and said yes.

What happened, event by event

Muʾtah

8 AH · Jumādā al-Ūlā · Muʾtah

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.

Chapter: Conquest, completion and farewell

The conquest of Makkah

8 AH · 20 Ramaḍān · Makkah

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.

Chapter: Conquest, completion and farewell

'Go, for you are free'

8 AH · 20 Ramaḍān · Makkah

The city that drove him out is taken without a general battle and pardoned.

Chapter: Conquest, completion and farewell

Ḥunayn and the hearts of the Anṣār

8 AH · Shawwāl · Ḥunayn, Ṭāʾif

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.

Chapter: Conquest, completion and farewell

The Qur'an alongside this year

  • 110. An-Naṣr — An-Naṣr — the victory and people entering Allah's religion in crowds.
  • 9. At-Tawbah — At-Tawbah 25–26 recalls Ḥunayn and the illusion of numbers.

People in this year

Answer from memory