In retreat on Mount Hira outside Mecca, Muhammad receives the first revelation, the opening verses of what becomes Surah al-Alaq; Khadija and her cousin Waraqa confirm the experience, and the preaching that follows begins Islam.
Tagged: Ibadi Islam Muslim Sunni Islam Twelver Shia Islam
The Event
- Date
- 610 (traditional)
- Era
- Prophetic; Standard periodization of Islamic history
- Location
- Mount Hira, Mecca; today Mecca, Saudi Arabia
- Traditions
- Islam
- Streams
- Sunni Islam, Twelver Shia Islam, Ibadi Islam
- Key figures
- Muhammad, Khadija
- Key texts
- Qur'an 96:1-5
Primary Sources
- Qur'an 96
- Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah
Secondary Sources
- Berkey, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800 (Cambridge, 2003)
- Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path (Oxford, 4th ed. 2011)
Provenance: HIST-0202; confidence 0.8; accessed 2026-10-27.
Related on This Site
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- Battle of Siffin; the Kharijite secession History Event
- Birth of Muhammad History Event
- Caliphate of Abu Bakr History Event
- Conquest of Mecca History Event
- Death of Muhammad History Event
- Hijra to Medina History Event
- Uthmanic recension of the Qur'an History Event