Scholarly opinions concerning the date of the Prophet’s birth and death, and which is most likely to be correct
What are the dates of the birth and death of the
Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)? I have seen many
opinions concerning that; which is the correct opinion and what is the
evidence in the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah?
Praise be to Allah
Firstly:
The biographers and historians
differed concerning the day and month of the birth of the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him). This is something for which there is good
reason, as it was not known what status this newborn would achieve; his
situation was like that of any other newborn. Hence no one can state with
certainty the date of his birth (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).
Dr. Muhammad at-Tayyib
an-Najjaar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Perhaps the reason for this
difference of opinion is that when he was born, no one expected that he
would attend such a status. For that reason, he did not live in the
spotlight from the beginning of his life. When Allah decreed that the
Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) should begin to convey
His message forty years after he was born, people began to seek out whatever
memories they had about this Prophet, and they asked one another about every
detail of his life. They were helped in that by what the Messenger
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) himself narrated about incidents
that he had experienced from his birth, as well as the reports narrated by
his Companions and those who had also gone through those events with him.
At that time the Muslims began
to collect everything that they had heard about the life story of their
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in order to transmit it
to the people down throughout the ages
Al-Qawl al-Mubeen fi Seerat
Sayyid al-Mursaleen, p. 78
Secondly:
Among the matters on which
there is consensus with regard to his birth (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) is the definition of the year and the day.
1.
With regard to the year:
It was the Year of the
Elephant. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
There is no difference of
opinion concerning the fact that he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) was born in Makkah, and that his birth was in the Year of the
Elephant.
Zaad al-Ma‘aad fi Hadiy
Khayr al-‘Ibaad, 1/76
Muhammad ibn Yoosuf as-Saalihi
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Ibn Ishaaq (may Allah have
mercy on him) said: (It was) the Year of the Elephant.
Ibn Katheer said: This is the
well-known view of the majority.
Ibraaheem ibn al-Mundhir
al-Hizaami, the Shaykh of al-Bukhaari, said: This is the opinion concerning
which none of the scholars has any doubt. Khaleefah ibn Khayyaat, Ibn
al-Jazzaar, Ibn Dihyah, Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn al-Qayyim went further and
narrated that there was consensus on this matter.
Subul al-Huda wa’r-Rashaad
fi Seerat Khayr al-‘Ibaad, 1/334, 335
Dr. Akram Diya’ al-‘Umari (may
Allah guide him) said:
In fact the reports that say
otherwise all have flawed isnaads; they suggest that he was born ten years,
or twenty-three years, or forty years, after the Year of the Elephant. But
the majority of scholars are of the view that he was born in the Year of the
Elephant. This is supported by the modern study undertaken by both Muslim
and Orientalist researchers who stated that the Year of the Elephant
corresponds to the year 570 CE or 571 CE.
As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah
as-Saheehah, 1/97
2.
With regard to the day:
It was a Monday. He (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) was born on a Monday, his mission began on a
Monday and he died on a Monday.
It was narrated that Abu
Qataadah al-Ansaari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was asked about fasting on
Mondays and he said: “That is a day on which I was born and on it my mission
began – or Revelation came to me.”
Narrated by Muslim, 1162.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:
Those who say that he was born
on Friday 17th Rabee‘ al-Awwal were mistaken.
This was narrated by al-Haafiz
Ibn Dihyah from what he read [?] of the book I‘laam ar-Wara bi A‘laam
al-Huda by one of the Shi‘ah. Then Ibn Dihyan stated why it was da‘eef
(weak), and it deserves to be classed as da‘eef because it is contrary to
the text.
As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah,
1/199
Thirdly:
With regard to the point on
which there is scholarly disagreement, that has to do with defining the
month and the day of the month. We have come across many opinions concerning
that, including the following:
1.
That he was born on 2nd
Rabee ‘ al-Awwal.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:
It was said that he was born on
the second of the month. This was stated by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in
al-Isti‘aab, and was narrated by al-Waaqidi from Abu Ma‘shar Nujayh ibn
‘Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Madani.
As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah,
1/199
2.
It was said that he was born on
8th Rabee‘ al-Awwal.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:
It was said that he was born on
the eighth of the month. This was narrated by al-Humaydi from Ibn Hazm, and
was narrated by Maalik, ‘Aqeel, Yoonus ibn Yazeed and others from az-Zuhri
from Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mut‘im. Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr narrated that the
historians regarded it as saheeh; it was stated definitively by al-Haafiz
al-Kabeer Muhammad ibn Moosa al-Khawaarizmi, and was regarded as most likely
to be correct by al-Haafiz Abu’l-Khattaan ibn Dihyah in his book
at-Tanweer fi Mawlid al-Basheer an-Nadheer.
As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah, 1/199
3.
It was said that he was born on
10th Rabee ‘ al-Awwal.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:
It was said that he was born on
the tenth of the month. This was narrated by Ibn Dihyah in his book, and was
narrated by Ibn ‘Asaakir from Abu Ja‘far al-Baaqir. It was also narrated by
Mujaalid from ash-Sha‘bi.
As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah,
1/199
4.
It was said that he was born on
12th Rabee ‘ al-Awwal.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:
It was said that he was born on
the twelfth of the month. This was stated by Ibn Ishaaq. It was narrated by
Ibn Abi Shaybah in his Musannaf from ‘Affaan from Sa‘eed ibn Meena’
that Jaabir and Ibn ‘Abbaas said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) was born in the Year of the Elephant on Monday
12th Rabee‘ al-Awwal; on Monday his mission began, on Monday he
was taken up to heaven, on Monday he migrated, and on Monday he died.
This is the well-known opinion
according to the majority. And Allah knows best.
As-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah,
1/199
It was also said that he was
born in Ramadan or in Safar or some other month.
What appears to us to be the
case is that the strongest opinion concerning the birth of the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is that he was born between the
eighth and the twelfth of Rabee‘ al-Awwal. Some Muslim mathematicians and
astronomers have determined that the Monday in question was the ninth of
Rabee‘ al-Awwal. It may be that this is another opinion, and it has some
merit. That corresponds to 20th April 571 CE. This is what the
authors of some modern books on Seerah (Prophet’s biography) regard as most
likely to be correct, including Professor Muhammad al-Khudari and Safi
ar-Rahmaan al-Mubaarakfoori.
Abu’l-Qaasim as-Suhayli (may
Allah have mercy on him) said:
The mathematicians say that his
birth occurred in the solar month of April, on the twentieth of that month.
Ar-Rawd al-Unuf,
1/282
Prof. Muhammad al-Khudari (may
Allah have mercy on him) said:
The Egyptian astronomer Mahmoud
Basha (d. 1885 CE) who was well-versed in astronomy, geography and
mathematics, and wrote several books based on his research stated that it
was on the morning of Monday 9th Rabee‘ al-Awwal, which
corresponds to 20th April 571 CE. That corresponds to the first
year following the elephant incident. He was born in the house of Abu Taalib
in Shi‘ab Banu Haashim.
Noor al-Yaqeen fi Seerat
Sayyid al-Mursaleen (p. 9). See also ar-Raheeq
al-Makhtoom (p. 41).
Fourthly:
With regard to the date of the
death of our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him),
there is no difference of opinion concerning the fact that it occurred on a
Monday. The report narrated from Ibn Qutaybah, saying that it occurred on a
Wednesday, is not correct. Perhaps what he meant is that the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was buried on Wednesday, which is
correct.
With regard to the year of his
death, there is no difference of opinion concerning the fact that it was in
11 AH.
With regard to the month of his
death, there is no difference of opinion concerning the fact that it was in
Rabee‘ al-Awwal.
With regard to the date of his
death in that month, there is a difference of opinion among the scholars.
1.
The majority are of the view
that it occurred on 12th Rabee‘ al-Awwal.
2.
al-Khawaarizmi was of the view
that it occurred on 1st Rabee‘ al-Awwal.
3.
Ibn al-Kalbi and Abu Makhnaf
were of the view that it occurred on 2nd Rabee‘ al-Awwal.
As-Suhayli was inclined to favour this view and al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may
Allah have mercy on him) regarded it as most likely to be correct.
The most well-known view is
that of the majority, which is that the death of the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) occurred on 12th Rabee‘ al-Awwal 11
AH.
See ar-Rawd al-Unuf by
as-Suhayli (4/439, 440); as-Seerah an-Nabawiyyah by Ibn Katheer
(4/509); Fath al-Baari by Ibn Hajar (8/130).
And Allah knows best.
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