The Year of the Elephant and the Birth (570 CE)
The year of the Prophet’s birth was marked by a miraculous event that became a reference point in Arabian time. Abraha al-Ashram, the Christian Abyssinian king of Yemen, built the Cathedral of San’a’ (al-Qalis) and wanted to redirect Arabian pilgrimage from the Ka’ba to his cathedral. When Qurayshi resistance occurred, he marched on Mecca with an army that included war elephants — an unprecedented military spectacle in Arabia.
The elephant leading the army, Mahmud, reportedly knelt and refused to advance toward the Ka’ba while moving freely in any other direction. Then ababil birds (sent by Allah, described in Surah al-Fil) pelted the army with stones of baked clay (sijjil), destroying the army with a disease (possibly smallpox or another infectious illness).
This event — perhaps the most remarkable in Arabia in living memory — is the backdrop of Muhammad’s birth. The Quraysh understood it as divine protection of the Ka’ba; Islamic theology understands it as part of the preparation of the world for the coming revelation.
The birth: His father ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib had died during a trading journey to Medina while Amina was pregnant. Muhammad (SAW) was born an orphan — “Did He not find you an orphan and give [you] refuge?” (93:6).
The Desert Years (570-576 CE)
According to Arab custom, particularly for noble Meccan families, newborn infants were sent to Bedouin wet nurses in the desert — for cleaner air, better health, and acquisition of pure classical Arabic.
Halima al-Sa’diyya: The nursing mother who took Muhammad (SAW) was from the Banu Sa’d tribe of Hawazin. She initially hesitated — he was an orphan (and wet nurses preferred children whose fathers could pay well). But after taking him, she and her family noticed extraordinary blessings: her previously dry she-camel gave milk, her flock prospered, her children were healthy. She was so reluctant to return him that she kept him beyond the normal weaning period.
The Opening of the Chest (Sharh al-Sadr): When Muhammad (SAW) was approximately 4 years old, while playing with other children, Jibril (AS) came to him. The hadith (Muslim) describes: two men in white took him, opened his chest, removed his heart, extracted a black clot from it, washed the heart with Zamzam water in a gold basin, and returned it. His playmate ran in fright to Halima; when Halima came, she found him standing — pale-faced but unharmed.
The Quran references this twice: “Did We not expand for you [O Muhammad] your breast?” (94:1) and “Whoever Allah wants to guide, He expands his breast to [accept] Islam.” (6:125).
Halima returned him to his mother after this, fearing for his safety.
The Death of His Mother and Grandfather (576-578 CE)
His mother Amina died at Abwa’ (between Mecca and Medina) when Muhammad (SAW) was approximately 6 years old — she had taken him to visit his father’s grave in Medina. His slave-guardian Umm Ayman (Baraka) accompanied them; she returned with him to Mecca.
His grandfather ‘Abd al-Muttalib — the patriarch of the Banu Hashim clan, who had been responsible for rediscovering the Zamzam well and was the leading figure of Mecca — became his guardian. He loved his grandson with extraordinary affection, reportedly allowing the young Muhammad to sit beside him on his mat — an honor normally reserved for elders.
Two years later, ‘Abd al-Muttalib died (approximately 578 CE). Muhammad (SAW) was 8 years old — an orphan without both parents and grandfather. His uncle Abu Talib (his father’s full brother) became his guardian.
Under Abu Talib — The Trade Journeys (578-595 CE)
Abu Talib was generous but poor by Qurayshi standards. He took the young Muhammad with him on trade caravans.
The Bahira encounter (approximately 582 CE): On a journey to Syria, the caravan stopped near a Christian monk named Bahira who had never before shown interest in caravans. This time he invited them all to a meal. He observed Muhammad intensely and examined him — recognizing signs of prophethood described in his religious books: the seal between his shoulders (khatam al-nubuwwa — a physical mark), clouds that shaded him while traveling, the way trees bowed. He urged Abu Talib: “Take your nephew back and guard him against the Jews. By Allah, if they see what I see in him, they will harm him.”
Al-Amin — The Trustworthy (595-610 CE)
During his 20s and 30s, Muhammad (SAW) built an extraordinary reputation in Mecca. Two events stand out:
The Hilf al-Fudul (Pact of the Virtuous): Approximately 590 CE, a conference was called among Meccan clans to establish a pact protecting foreigners and oppressed people in Mecca. Muhammad (SAW) participated and later said: “I witnessed a pact in the house of ‘Abdullah ibn Jud’an that I would not exchange for red camels. If I were called to it today in Islam, I would respond.” — showing the continuity between his pre-Islamic moral commitments and Islamic values.
The Placement of the Black Stone (605 CE): When the Ka’ba was being rebuilt after a flood, the tribes quarreled over who would have the honor of placing the Black Stone. They agreed to let the next man who entered decide. The next man was Muhammad (SAW). He placed the stone in his cloak, had representatives of each tribe hold a corner, and he placed the stone in position — satisfying all tribes simultaneously. This wisdom earned him universal respect.
The marriage to Khadijah (595 CE): See [[khadijah]]. His reputation for al-amana (trustworthiness) and sidq (truthfulness) — his two defining pre-prophetic qualities — led Khadijah to seek him as a trading partner and then as a husband.
The 15 years before prophethood: He married at 25 (595 CE); prophethood came at 40 (610 CE). During these 15 years, he continued as a merchant, husband, father of 6 children, and public figure — “He was the most honorable of them in character, the most generous of them in disposition, the best of them as a neighbor, the most gentle of them in temper.” (Ibn Hisham) — The community called him simply al-Amin, the Trustworthy.
See also: Prophet Muhammad, Khadijah, Seerah Mecca, Seerah Pre Islam, Kaaba Ibrahim, Israa Miraj