Muhammed

Marries Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, a wealthy merchant widow fifteen years his senior. She had hired him to manage a trade caravan to Syria and was impressed by his honesty. She proposes to him. They are married for 25 years. She is his first and, during her lifetime, only wife. She later becomes the first convert to Islam.

According to Islamic tradition, the angel Jibril appears to Muhammad in a cave on Mount Hira, outside Mecca, and commands him to recite. He is 40 years old, illiterate, and terrified. He runs home to Khadijah trembling. She wraps him in a cloak. The revelations will continue for 23 years and become the Quran.

Begins preaching publicly in Mecca. His message of monotheism threatens the city's lucrative pilgrimage trade, which depends on the polytheistic shrine at the Kaaba. The Quraysh elite mock him, then persecute his followers. Some early converts are tortured. Others flee to Abyssinia.

Khadijah dies. She was his first believer, his financial backer, his confidant for 25 years. The same year, his uncle Abu Talib also dies. Abu Talib had protected him from the Quraysh. Muhammad calls it the Year of Sorrow.

The Hijra. Muhammad and his followers migrate from Mecca to Medina, 280 miles north, to escape persecution. He arrives in Medina and is invited to arbitrate disputes between the city's feuding tribes. The Islamic calendar begins with this migration, not with the first revelation. Year one.

The Battle of Badr. 313 Muslims, poorly armed, defeat a Quraysh force of roughly 1,000 near the wells of Badr. The victory is seen by the early Muslim community as divine confirmation. It transforms Muhammad from a refugee preacher into a military and political leader.

Signs the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah with the Quraysh, agreeing to a 10-year truce. His followers are furious. They came to make pilgrimage, not sign a treaty. The deal looks like a loss. Within two years, it proves to be a strategic masterstroke.

Leads an army of 10,000 into Mecca. The city surrenders without a battle. He enters the Kaaba and destroys the 360 idols inside it. He declares a general amnesty. Most of Mecca's population converts to Islam. Eight years earlier, they'd driven him out.

Delivers the Farewell Sermon on Mount Arafat during the Hajj pilgrimage. Over 100,000 followers listen. He speaks of equality, justice, and the rights of women. "All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab." It is his last public address.

Dies in Medina in the arms of his wife Aisha. He is approximately 62. He leaves no designated successor, which triggers an immediate succession crisis. Abu Bakr, his father-in-law and closest companion, is chosen as the first caliph. The split between those who accept Abu Bakr and those who believe Ali should have succeeded will eventually divide Islam into Sunni and Shia.