When Did Islam Begin? History, Timeline, and Islamic View

From a historical point of view, Islam began in 610 CE, when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received the first Quranic revelation near Makkah. This is the date commonly used by historians when describing the beginning of Islam as a distinct religious community. Standard historical timelines place the first revelation in 610 CE and the Hijrah to Madinah in 622 CE.

Islamic theology gives a broader answer. The Quran teaches that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not bring a completely new belief in one God. Earlier prophets, including Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, and Isa, also called people to submit to Allah. In that theological sense, Muslims understand Islam as the continuation of the same basic monotheistic faith taught by earlier prophets.

The Historical Answer: Islam Began in 610 CE

When historians ask when Islam began, the usual answer is 610 CE.

According to Islamic tradition, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was about 40 years old when the first revelation came to him while he was spending time in the Cave of Hira outside Makkah.

Sahih al-Bukhari 3 reports from Aisha that the Prophet ﷺ used to spend periods in seclusion in the Cave of Hira. The angel came to him there and commanded him to read or recite.

The first revealed passage is traditionally identified as the opening verses of Surah Al-Alaq:

Surah Al-Alaq 96:1-5 begins with the command to read in the name of the Lord who created.

It is important to distinguish the sources here. The Quran contains the revelation itself, but it does not give the Gregorian date 610 CE or name the Cave of Hira in these verses. Those historical details come from hadith and early Islamic biography.

Modern historical sources also commonly use 610 CE as the beginning of Muhammad’s prophetic mission and, in historical terms, the beginning of Islam.

A Timeline of the Beginning of Islam

The rise of Islam took place over more than two decades. It did not go from the first revelation to a large Muslim community overnight.

The dates from 610, 613, 622, 624, 630, and 632 appear in standard historical timelines.

The early migration to Abyssinia is commonly dated to around 615 CE, although details about the number and timing of migrations vary in historical sources.

The Isra and Mi’raj took place before the Hijrah, but scholars have differed over its exact date. A commonly cited traditional date places it around 621 CE, so it is better not to present the exact Gregorian date as certain.

What Happened in 610 CE?

The first revelation changed the course of Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ life.

Sahih al-Bukhari reports that the Prophet ﷺ had developed a love of seclusion and would spend time worshipping in the Cave of Hira. During one of these retreats, the angel came to him with the command to recite.

After the experience, Muhammad ﷺ returned to his wife Khadijah, who comforted him. She later took him to her relative Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who recognized the experience as connected with the tradition of earlier prophets.

Revelation later continued, and the Prophet ﷺ began calling people to worship Allah alone.

Historical accounts generally place his more public preaching around 613 CE.

Did Islam Begin Only With Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?

This depends on whether the question is historical or theological.

Historically: Yes, as a Distinct Seventh-Century Community

Historians generally use the early seventh century to describe the emergence of Islam as a recognizable religious movement centered on the revelations received by Muhammad ﷺ in Arabia.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example, describes Muhammad as receiving his first revelation in 610 CE and the Hijrah taking place in 622 CE.

So if the question is:

“When did the religion known historically as Islam appear?”

The answer is the seventh century CE, beginning around 610 CE.

Theologically: Islam Is Connected With Earlier Prophets

The Quran uses the idea of submission to Allah much more broadly.

In Arabic, the word Islam is connected with submission or surrender to Allah, while Muslim means one who submits.

Surah Ali ‘Imran 3:67 describes Prophet Ibrahim as neither Jewish nor Christian, but as an upright person who submitted to Allah and was a Muslim in this Quranic sense.

Surah Ash-Shura 42:13 states that Allah ordained for Muhammad ﷺ the religion also enjoined upon Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, and Isa.

Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:44 also refers to earlier prophets who had submitted themselves to Allah.

This is why Muslims may say that Islam did not begin only in the seventh century.

They mean that the basic faith of worshipping and submitting to the one God was taught by the prophets before Muhammad ﷺ.

This theological statement should not be confused with saying that people thousands of years earlier belonged to the same seventh-century political and historical Muslim community.

What Was Arabia Like Before Islam?

Understanding pre-Islamic Arabia helps explain the setting in which Islam appeared.

Much of the Arabian Peninsula had polytheistic religious traditions. At the same time, Jewish and Christian communities also lived in parts of Arabia.

Makkah and the Kaaba

Makkah was already an important religious center before Islam.

The Kaaba was a place of pilgrimage, and by the time of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, idols were associated with the sanctuary. Makkah also had a commercial role because of its connections with regional trade.

Islamic tradition connects the Kaaba much earlier with Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail and teaches that it was originally connected with the worship of Allah.

Islam therefore presented Muhammad’s ﷺ message as a return to the worship of the one God associated with Ibrahim, rather than the creation of a new deity.

Jews and Christians in Arabia

Arabia was not completely isolated from Judaism and Christianity.

Historical evidence shows Jewish and Christian communities in the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding regions before Islam.

The Quran itself frequently discusses earlier revelation, Musa, Isa, Ibrahim, the Torah, and the Gospel.

What Were Hanifs?

Early Islamic literature also uses the term Hanif for people associated with pure monotheism outside the dominant Arabian polytheistic system.

The Quran applies the term directly to Ibrahim, including in Surah Ali ‘Imran 3:67.

The exact history of individual pre-Islamic Hanifs is mainly known through later Islamic historical and biographical traditions, so specific stories about them should not all be treated as equally certain.

Why Was the Hijrah in 622 CE So Important?

In 622 CE, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his followers migrated from Makkah to Yathrib, which became known as Madinah.

This migration is called the Hijrah.

The Hijrah was a turning point because the Muslims moved from being a persecuted group in Makkah to an organized community in Madinah.

PBS’s historical timeline places the migration in 622 CE and describes Muhammad ﷺ building the early Muslim community in Madinah after his arrival.

Because of its importance, the year of the Hijrah later became the starting point for the Islamic calendar.

Did the Islamic Calendar Begin in 622 CE?

Yes and no.

The Hijri era is counted from 622 CE, the year of the Hijrah.

However, the formal system of numbering years from that event was adopted later.

Historical and Islamic sources report that Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab standardized the calendar around 637-638 CE. The year containing the Hijrah was chosen as 1 AH.

This gives us three different dates that are easy to confuse:

• 610 CE: First revelation and beginning of the prophetic mission
• 622 CE: Hijrah and beginning of the Hijri era
• c. 637-638 CE: Formal adoption of the Hijri year-counting system under Umar

The Hijri calendar is lunar and contains 12 lunar months.

Why Does the Islamic Calendar Start With the Hijrah Instead of the First Revelation?

The early Muslim community did not choose 610 CE as year one.

Instead, the Hijrah became the calendar’s starting point because it marked a major change in the life of the Muslim community.

The Muslims established themselves in Madinah, organized community life, and entered a new phase of Islamic history.

When the calendar was standardized under Caliph Umar, the Hijrah was selected as its epoch.

Islam Compared With Judaism and Christianity

The answer changes depending on whether we are discussing historical religious communities or the Islamic theological understanding of prophecy.

Historically, Jewish religious tradition predates Christianity, and Christianity predates the seventh-century Muslim community. Judaism developed from ancient Israelite religion, while Christianity arose from the first-century movement around Jesus.

Islamic theology does not deny this historical order of named communities. Instead, it teaches that the prophets shared a basic message of worshipping and obeying Allah.

Did Islam Originate in Africa?

No, not historically.

Islam’s prophetic mission began in Makkah on the Arabian Peninsula around 610 CE.

However, Africa played an important role very early in Islamic history.

Around 615 CE, some Muslims fled persecution in Makkah and crossed the Red Sea to the Christian Kingdom of Aksum in Abyssinia, a region connected with present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.

This happened before the Hijrah to Madinah.

So Islam did not originate in Africa, but Africa became a place of refuge for some of the earliest Muslims.

How Do Historians Know About the Beginning of Islam?

Historians work with several kinds of evidence.

These include:

• The Quran
• Early Islamic historical traditions
• Hadith collections
• Biographies of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
• Inscriptions
• Coins
• Papyri and administrative documents
• Accounts written by people outside the early Muslim community

There is an important limitation.

Much of the detailed narrative literature about Islam’s earliest years was written down after the events themselves. Contemporary documentary evidence from the first decades is more limited. Modern historians therefore compare different types of evidence and sometimes disagree about specific details.

This does not mean historians know nothing about early Islam. Early inscriptions, documents, papyri, and other evidence provide important information, but the details of some events remain subjects of study and debate.

For a general timeline, however, 610 CE for the beginning of Muhammad’s ﷺ prophetic mission and 622 CE for the Hijrah remain the standard historical reference points.

Conclusion

Historically, Islam began around 610 CE, when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received the first Quranic revelation near Makkah. The Hijrah to Madinah followed in 622 CE and later became the starting point of the Hijri calendar.

Islamic theology adds another layer. The Quran teaches that the basic religion of submitting to Allah was taught by earlier prophets, including Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, and Isa. Muslims therefore see Muhammad ﷺ as the final messenger in a much older prophetic tradition.

Keeping these two meanings separate gives the clearest answer: 610 CE is the historical starting point of Islam as the community and revelation associated with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, while submission to Allah is understood in Islam as a message that goes back to earlier prophets.

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