The Birth of Muhammad
Muhammad ibn Abdullah is born into the Quraysh tribe in Mecca, traditionally in the "Year of the Elephant".
- Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources — Martin Lings, George Allen & Unwin (1983)
- Muhammad — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam — Fred M. Donner, Harvard University Press (2010)
Muslim tradition places the Prophet’s birth in Mecca in the “Year of the Elephant”, when an Abyssinian army from Yemen, led by elephants, is said to have marched on the city and been turned back by God. Historians usually date this to around 570, though some argue the expedition happened a little earlier; the year is approximate.
- Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources — Martin Lings, George Allen & Unwin (1983)
- Muhammad — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam — Fred M. Donner, Harvard University Press (2010)
He was born into the Banu Hashim, a respected but not wealthy clan of the Quraysh, the tribe that controlled Mecca and its shrine, the Kaaba. His father, Abdullah, died before he was born and his mother, Amina, when he was about six. He was raised first by his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib and then by his uncle Abu Talib, a merchant.
- Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources — Martin Lings, George Allen & Unwin (1983)
- Muhammad — Encyclopaedia Britannica
The tradition remembers him as a young man known for honesty, nicknamed al-Amin, “the trustworthy”, who worked in the caravan trade. Around the age of 25 he married Khadija, a widowed businesswoman who had employed him.
- Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources — Martin Lings, George Allen & Unwin (1983)
- Islam: A Short History — Karen Armstrong, Modern Library (2000)
Our knowledge of his early life comes mainly from Muslim biographies (sira) written down more than a century later, above all Ibn Ishaq’s, which survives in a later edition by Ibn Hisham. Historians use them with care, but they are the story Muslims cherish.
- Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam — Fred M. Donner, Harvard University Press (2010)
- Muhammad — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Why it matters today
The Prophet's life is the model Muslims try to follow, and his humble start, orphaned and raised by relatives, is part of why care for orphans and the poor runs so deep in Muslim ethics. Many Muslims celebrate his birthday (Mawlid), though some consider the celebration an unwelcome innovation.