620 Muhammad, known for his integrity and leadership, is visited by a six-member delegation from the northern city of Yathrib, inviting him to move there and lead their five fractious tribes.

622 Migrates to Yathrib. The journey is called Hijra (the flight), from which the Muslim calendar is dated. So, AD 2008 is 1429 AH (After Hijrah). Yathrib is named Madinat al-Nabi (City of the Prophet), shortened to Medina.

624 First battle against the Meccans; 313 Muslims defeat 1,000 Meccans.

625 Second battle against the Meccans; 1,000 Muslims are routed by 3,000 Meccans, who mutilate Muslim corpses. Muhammad is injured but salvages an honorable retreat.

627 Third battle against the Meccans; the Meccan army of

“Hear me, O People, for I know not if ever I shall meet with you in this place after this year,” he began, intending his words for more than those present. Instead of “O Muslims,” he called out “O People” and “O Mankind” a total of eight times.

Emphasizing the plurality of humanity, Muhammad cited the Qur’an:

10,000 lays siege to Medina but is unable to enter because of a ditch dug around the city. The Meccans run out of provisions in two weeks and leave.

628 Muhammad goes to Mecca with 1,600 pilgrims to visit the Ka’ba. He is not allowed to enter but negotiates a ten-year truce.

630 After the Meccans break the truce by murdering a tribe allied to Muhammad, he returns with an army of 10,000. The Meccans submit without battle and Muhammad announces a general amnesty: “May Allah pardon you. Go in peace.” He cleanses the Ka’ba of idols but does not force locals to convert to Islam, although many do.

631 Muhammad receives delegations from all over Arabia; they swear allegiance to him. He sends a delegation to Palestine and concludes a treaty with the Christians there.

632 Muhammad goes to Mecca for his farewell Haj and gives his last sermon. Two months later, on June 8, he dies in Medina, at age sixty-two, leaving several wives he had married after Khadijah’s death, one daughter and no sons.

Today There are more people in the world called Muhammad than by any other name.

O People, we created you from one male and one female, and made you into tribes and nations, so that you may know one another (49:13).

Muhammad proceeded to lay down a series of rules, which have since evolved into the basic principles of many civil societies today — the right to life, liberty and security of person (which have been guaranteed, for example, in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms), and the right to private property (entrenched in the American constitution).

Speaking of the sanctity of human life and the need to end tribal savagery, Muhammad said, “Each man’s life and possessions are sacrosanct. The blood feuds of pre-Islamic days are abolished. Every claim arising out of homicide is henceforth waived.” To set a personal example, he announced that he was giving up one such outstanding claim of his own clan.