The details of the battles are not the subject of this page: it gives the milestones, their dates and their numbers, and says where the sources differ. The predictions made during these years are gathered in part 4, Fulfilled in his lifetime.
Badr, 2 AH
On Friday 17 Ramadan 2 AH (March 624), the date given by Abu Ja’far al-Baqir (Ibn Hisham, I, 626), the Muslims faced Quraysh at Badr. They numbered three hundred and fourteen according to Ibn Ishaq (Ibn Hisham, I, 706); “three hundred and ten-odd”, say those who were there, the number of the companions of Saul (Bukhari 3957). Facing them were between nine hundred and a thousand men, estimated from the number of animals slaughtered each day (Ibn Hisham, I, 617). Quraysh lost seventy killed and seventy captured (Bukhari 3986).
﴿ وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴾“God helped you at Badr, when you were weak. So fear God; perhaps you will be grateful.”
The Sira recalls this verse (Ibn Hisham, II, 106), and sura 8 returns to the battle.
Uhud, 3 AH
Shortly after Badr, in the middle of Shawwal 2 AH, the Banu Qaynuqa were expelled from Medina: see Medina: the community and the pact.
In Shawwal of 3 AH (around March 625), Quraysh attacked at Uhud (Ibn Hisham, II, 60). The Prophet ﷺ drew up his seven hundred men, among them fifty archers (Ibn Hisham, II, 65); Abd Allah ibn Ubayy had withdrawn with a third of the army (Ibn Hisham, II, 64). The martyrs numbered sixty-five according to Ibn Ishaq (Ibn Hisham, II, 126), seventy according to al-Bara (Bukhari 3986).
The Banu al-Nadir were expelled in their turn (Bukhari 4028; Ibn Hisham, II, 190), in 4 AH according to Ibn Ishaq: see the same page.
The Trench, 5 AH
The battle of the Trench, or of the Confederates, took place in Shawwal of 5 AH (February-March 627) according to Ibn Ishaq, Urwa, Qatada and al-Bayhaqi; in Shawwal of 4 AH according to al-Zuhri, through Musa ibn Uqba, and according to Malik. Al-Bayhaqi reconciles them: there is no real disagreement: what is meant is after four full years had passed and before the fifth was complete (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, III, 180).
Ten thousand confederates (Ibn Hisham, II, 219) faced three thousand Muslims (Ibn Hisham, II, 220). That Salman advised digging the trench, Ibn Hisham reports with an “it is said” (Ibn Hisham, II, 224). During the siege, the Banu Qurayza broke their pact: their fate is told on the page Medina: the community and the pact.
The slander against Aisha
On the way back from the expedition against the Banu al-Mustaliq, in 6 AH according to Ibn Ishaq, in 5 AH according to Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, who notes the disagreement (Ibn Hisham, II, 297; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 352), Aisha was slandered. The Qur’an settled the matter (Ibn Hisham, II, 303):
﴿ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ جَآءُو بِٱلْإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنكُمْ لَا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّا لَّكُم بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ لِكُلِّ ٱمْرِئٍ مِّنْهُم مَّا ٱكْتَسَبَ مِنَ ٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلَّذِى تَوَلَّىٰ كِبْرَهُۥ مِنْهُمْ لَهُۥ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ﴾“Those who came forward with the slander are a band from among you. Do not think it an evil for you: rather, it is good for you. Each one of them shall have what he has earned of the sin; and the one among them who took upon himself the greater part of it shall have an immense punishment.”
For a month, no revelation came concerning Aisha (research file v1, part 4): it does not come on command. This trait is taken up in The testimony of his person.
Hudaybiya, 6 AH
In Dhu al-Qa’da of 6 AH (March 628), the Prophet ﷺ set out for the pious visit to Mecca, the umra (Ibn Hisham, II, 308). They were seven hundred, with seventy sacrificial animals, according to Ibn Ishaq on the authority of al-Zuhri; one thousand four hundred according to Jabir (Ibn Hisham, II, 309; Bukhari 4154). Prevented from performing the umra, the believers took a pledge beneath the tree, at Hudaybiya (Ibn Hisham, II, 321):
﴿ لَّقَدْ رَضِىَ ٱللَّهُ عَنِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ يُبَايِعُونَكَ تَحْتَ ٱلشَّجَرَةِ فَعَلِمَ مَا فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ فَأَنزَلَ ٱلسَّكِينَةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَثَٰبَهُمْ فَتْحًا قَرِيبًا ﴾“God was pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you beneath the tree. He knew what was in their hearts: He sent down tranquillity upon them, and rewarded them with a near victory.”
A ten-year truce was concluded. Any man of Quraysh who came to the Prophet ﷺ without his guardian’s consent was to be returned to Quraysh; a Muslim who went over to Quraysh was not to be returned (Ibn Hisham, II, 317).
The letters to the kings, Khaybar and Mu’ta
After Hudaybiya (Ibn Hisham, II, 606), in 7 AH according to Ibn Sayyid al-Nas (Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 353), the Prophet ﷺ wrote to the kings: Heraclius, Chosroes, the Negus, the Muqawqis and others (Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 324-332). Al-Bukhari reports Abu Sufyan being questioned by Heraclius (Bukhari 7) and the letter to Chosroes, handed on by the governor of Bahrain (Bukhari 64). What became of that letter is told in part 4.
In Muharram of 7 AH (May 628) came Khaybar; Ja’far and the emigrants from Abyssinia then rejoined the Prophet ﷺ (Ibn Hisham, II, 328; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 353). In Jumada I of 8 AH (around September 629), at Mu’ta, Zayd ibn Haritha, Ja’far and Abd Allah ibn Rawaha fell as martyrs (Ibn Hisham, II, 373).
The conquest of Mecca, 8 AH
The Banu Bakr, allies of Quraysh, attacked the Khuza’a, allies of the Prophet ﷺ, in breach of the truce (Ibn Hisham, II, 389-390). The Prophet ﷺ set out on 10 Ramadan 8 AH (1 January 630), with ten thousand men (Ibn Hisham, II, 399-400; Bukhari 4276). The city was taken “ten nights before the end of Ramadan” (Ibn Hisham, II, 437), that is, around the 20th (11 January 630).
He ﷺ began striking the idols around the House with a stick he held in his hand, while reciting two verses (Bukhari 4287):
﴿ وَقُلْ جَآءَ ٱلْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ ٱلْبَٰطِلُ إِنَّ ٱلْبَٰطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا ﴾“And say: The truth has come, and falsehood has vanished. Falsehood is ever bound to vanish.”
﴿ قُلْ جَآءَ ٱلْحَقُّ وَمَا يُبْدِئُ ٱلْبَٰطِلُ وَمَا يُعِيدُ ﴾“Say: The truth has come; falsehood neither begins anything nor brings anything back.”
Ibn Ishaq reports, from “a scholar” he does not name, the words of the Prophet ﷺ: “Go, you are free” (Ibn Hisham, II, 412; Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, III, 570).
Hunayn and Tabuk, 8 AH and 9 AH
In Shawwal of 8 AH (January-February 630) came Hunayn, then the siege of Ta’if. The army numbered twelve thousand: the ten thousand of the conquest and two thousand Meccans (Ibn Hisham, II, 440). The Qur’an recalls that this great number availed them nothing (9:25; Ibn Hisham, II, 459).
In Rajab of 9 AH (October 630), the Prophet ﷺ led the expedition to Tabuk (Ibn Hisham, II, 515), with thirty thousand men according to Ibn Sayyid al-Nas (Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 268), more than thirty thousand according to Ibn Ishaq, in the version of Yunus ibn Bukayr (Ibn Kathir, al-Sira, IV, 11). Three believers stayed behind. One of them, Ka’b ibn Malik, tells his story himself (Bukhari 4418), up to the verse that concerns them (Ibn Hisham, II, 536; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 280):
﴿ وَعَلَى ٱلثَّلَٰثَةِ ٱلَّذِينَ خُلِّفُوا۟ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ أَنفُسُهُمْ وَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَن لَّا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّآ إِلَيْهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ﴾“And to the three who had been left behind: when the earth, vast as it is, closed in upon them, and their own souls closed in upon them, and they knew that there is no refuge from God except in Him, He turned to them so that they might turn to Him. It is God who accepts repentance, the Merciful.”
The year of the delegations, 9 AH
The year 9 AH was the year of the delegations; Thaqif came in Ramadan (Ibn Hisham, II, 537, 559; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 354). Ibn Ishaq links them to the conquest of Mecca, to Tabuk and to Thaqif’s acceptance of Islam (Ibn Hisham, II, 559). In the same year, Abu Bakr led the pilgrimage, and Ali proclaimed there the opening of sura 9 (Ibn Hisham, II, 543; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 354). The Negus died; the Prophet ﷺ announced it on the very day (Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 354; Bukhari 1245).
In 10 AH, Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet ﷺ, died. The sun was eclipsed that day, and people said it had been eclipsed for his death. The Prophet ﷺ denied it: the sun and the moon are not eclipsed for the death of anyone (Bukhari 1043; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, II, 354). He thus refused a wonder that the people were offering him.
How this page connects to the others
- The Jewish tribes of Medina: Medina: the community and the pact.
- What follows: The Farewell Pilgrimage and his death.
- The predictions of these years: Fulfilled in his lifetime.
- Revelation that does not come on command: The testimony of his person.
Sources for this page
- Qur’an: Tanzil text (Uthmani); translation of the meaning by the site.
- Hadiths: Bukhari 7, Bukhari 64, Bukhari 1043, Bukhari 1245, Bukhari 3957, Bukhari 3986, Bukhari 4028, Bukhari 4154, Bukhari 4276, Bukhari 4287, Bukhari 4418.
- Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, ed. al-Saqqa, al-Abyari and Shalabi, Cairo, 1955, I, 617, 626, 706; II, 60-559, 606.
- Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, Uyun al-athar, Beirut, 1993, II, 268, 280, 324-332, 352-354.
- Ibn Kathir, al-Sira al-nabawiyya, ed. Mustafa Abd al-Wahid, Beirut, 1976, III, 180, 570; IV, 11.
- Research file “The message and the Hijra”, v1.0, 2 November 2026, section 6; research file “The Prophet ﷺ Foretold”, v1.0, part 4.