Muhammad in Mecca - Birth

Birth

Main article: Year of the Elephant See also: Family tree of Muhammad

Muhammad was born in the month of Rabi' al-awwal. Tradition places the year of Muhammad's birth as 570, corresponding with the Year of the Elephant, which is named after the failed destruction of Mecca that year by the Aksumite king Abraha who had in his army a number of elephants. Recent scholarship has suggested alternative dates for this event, such as 568 or 569. The precise date of Muhammad's birth is considered by Sunni Muslims to have been the 12th day of the month of Rabi'-ul-Awwal, while Shi'a Muslims believe it to have been the dawn of 17th day of same month (April 26, 570). Muslim tradition reports various miracles in connection with Muhammad's birth.

Muhammad was born into the family of Banu Hashim, one of the prominent families of Mecca, although the family seems to have not been prosperous during Muhammad's early lifetime. His parents were Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, from Banu Hashim, and Aminah bint Wahb, the sister of the then-chief of the Banu Zuhrah. According to Ibn Ishaq, the early biographer of Muhammad, Aminah named her child "Muhammad", a name quite unknown at that time in the Arabian peninsula, after she had a vision while pregnant.

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