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Birth: Abu Bakr al-Siddiq — c. 573 CE
Close companion of the Prophet and the first caliph (r. 632–634 CE); his succession is understood differently in Sunni and Shia tradition.
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The three years of the secret call — c. 610 CE
The first stage of the call to Islam — individual and secret for three years — in which the first band believed: Khadija, Ali, Zayd and Abu Bakr on the first day, then those whom Abu Bakr called, then a company Ibn Hisham numbers at over forty from every clan of Quraysh; during it prayer was first prescribed.
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The Isra and Mi'raj — c. 621 CE
The miraculous nocturnal journey of Prophet Muhammad from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, and his ascent through the seven heavens, where the five daily prayers were ordained. ونص رحلة المعراج كاملاً عند البخاري في حديث مالك بن صعصعة .
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The Hijra — c. 12 September 622 CE · c. 29 Safar 1 AH†
The migration of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, the event from which the Islamic calendar is counted.
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After Badr: the dead, the captives, the spoils, and the news in Mecca and Medina — c. March 624 CE · c. Ramadan 2 AH†
Fourteen Muslims were martyred, about seventy Meccans were killed and about seventy taken captive; the dead were thrown into a well, Mecca received the news of the rout, the Prophet sent two messengers to Medina, the spoils were divided after a dispute, the captives were ransomed, and fasting and zakat al-fitr were prescribed.
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The Battle of Badr — 13 March 624 CE · 17 Ramadan 2 AH
The first major battle between the Muslims of Medina and the Quraysh of Mecca, fought at the wells of Badr on 17 Ramadan 2 AH.
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The day of Badr: the lines, the duels and the victory — c. 17 March 624 CE · c. 21 Ramadan 2 AH†
On the Friday of 17 Ramadan in the second year of the Hijra the two armies met at Badr; the Prophet prayed to his Lord at the height of the fighting, the angels came down, God routed the Meccan army, and their chiefs fell after duels whose first were between Hamza, Ali and Ubayda and Utba, Shayba and al-Walid; Iblis fled in the form of Suraqa.
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The Incident of the Slander (Hadith al-Ifk) — c. December 627 CE · Sha'ban 6 AH
On the return from the Expedition of al-Muraysi', Aisha was accidentally left behind when searching for a lost necklace and was escorted back to Medina by Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal; Abdullah ibn Ubayy orchestrated a malicious slander campaign that troubled the community for a month until verses of Surat al-Nur established her innocence.
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Abu Sufyan's mission to Medina — 629 CE · 8 AH
Frightened by what had been done at al-Watir, Quraysh sent Abu Sufyan ibn Harb to Medina to stiffen the pact and extend its term. The Prophet gave him no answer; Abu Bakr and Umar declined to intercede; Ali advised him to grant protection himself, which he did and returned home empty-handed.
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The siege of Ta'if — January 630 CE · Shawwal 8 AH
After Hunayn, the Muslims besieged the fortified town of Ta'if, home of the Thaqif; the siege was lifted without taking it, and the Thaqif accepted Islam the next year.
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The expedition to Tabuk — October 630 CE · Rajab 9 AH
The Prophet led a large expedition north toward the Byzantine frontier as far as Tabuk; no battle took place. وفي صحيح البخاري يروي كعب بن مالك قصة تخلفه عنها بلسانه: المسير في الحر الشديد والمفازة البعيدة، وأن النبي كان يوري بغير الغزوة حتى جلاها هذه المرة، وأن المسلمين كانوا «كثيراً ولا يجمعهم كتاب حافظ» ، وعدّها يعلى بن أمية «أوثق أعمالي» .
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The Ridda Wars — c. 632 CE · c. 11 AH
In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr succeeded, groups of the Arabs apostatized and withheld the alms, some saying 'we keep the prayer but will not pay the zakat', whereupon Abu Bakr said 'if they withheld from me a hobbling-cord — some say a she-goat kid — I would fight them', the 'iqal being a year's alms; Abdullah ibn Masud said the Muslims had stood after the Prophet at a station where they nearly perished had God not graced them with Abu Bakr: they had all agreed not to fight over a young she-camel or a weaned camel 'and to eat the Arab villages' yield and worship God until certainty came to us', but God resolved him to fight, and he accepted from them only the humiliating condition or the annihilating war — the first that they confess their slain are in the Fire and return what they took of Muslim property, the second that they leave their homes; in Tariq ibn Shihab's report he offered the Buzakha delegation the choice of the annihilating war or the humiliating peace: surrender of armour and mounts, return of what was taken, blood-money for the slain Muslims, their own slain in the Fire; Aisha said 'when the Prophet died there befell my father what would have crushed the firm mountains — hypocrisy reared its head in Medina and the Arabs apostatized'; Abu Bakr went out to al-Qassa directing the columns against the apostates, was attacked by Kharija ibn Hisn and Manzur ibn Zabban the Fazaris who were routed with Talha ibn Ubaydillah pursuing them to lower Thaniyyat Awsaja, then appointed Khalid ibn al-Walid over the army and Thabit ibn Qays over the Ansar, beginning with Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid at Buzakha, followed by the affairs of Yamama, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Hadramawt, Mecca, Tihama and Iraq.
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The Farewell Pilgrimage — March 632 CE · Dhu al-Hijja 10 AH
The only pilgrimage the Prophet led, during which he gave the sermon known as the Farewell Sermon.
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The meeting at Saqifa — 8 June 632 CE · 12 Rabi' I 11 AH
After the Prophet's death, leaders of the Ansar and Muhajirun met in the hall of the Banu Sa'ida and chose Abu Bakr as leader of the community. ونص الاجتماع كاملاً عند البخاري من رواية عمر: اجتماع الأنصار في السقيفة، ومشي أبي بكر وعمر وأبي عبيدة إليهم، والخطابان، ويدا عمر وبشير بن سعد، فالبيعة .
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The Conquest of Syria — c. 633 CE · c. 12 AH
In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr finished with the apostates he dispatched the armies to Syria, binding three banners — for Khalid ibn Sa'id (whom he deposed), Shurahbil ibn Hasana and Amr ibn al-As — directing them and Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan by the Ayla and Tabuk roads until their number completed at twenty-four thousand; their first fighting came at Dathin and al-Araba, and al-Waqidi's account assigns Amr Filastin, Shurahbil al-Urdunn and Yazid Dimashq; Khalid ibn al-Walid then marched from Iraq reaching them in Rabi' al-Akhir year 13, and they made him commander in every battle; the great battle of Ajnadayn fell on Monday twelve nights remaining of Jumada I year 13, Busra fell by treaty, Shurahbil conquered al-Urdunn by force save Tabariyya, the battle of Fihl came five months into Umar's caliphate with Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah commanding by Umar's investiture, the day of Marj al-Suffar at the new moon of al-Muharram year 14, and then the conquest of Damascus and Bayt al-Maqdis.
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Death: Abu Bakr al-Siddiq — August 634 CE · Jumada II 13 AH
Close companion of the Prophet and the first caliph (r. 632–634 CE); his succession is understood differently in Sunni and Shia tradition.
