AD 610

Muhammad

Traditional first revelation to Muhammad, retrospectively dated

The date 22 December 609 comes not from an early chronicle but from a modern attempt to reverse-convert a proposed Ramadan date through an uncertain pre-Islamic calendar.

Where the precise date comes from

22 December 609 is one retrospective calendar computation, attributed to Muhammad Hamidullah, for 17 Ramadan thirteen years before the Hijra. It is not a generally established anniversary; most modern summaries place the traditional first-revelation account approximately in 610 while acknowledging the date is disputed.

Retrospective conversion is especially difficult here: the pre-Islamic Arabian calendar may have used intercalation, and the Hijri system had not yet been instituted.

What the sources actually say

In the canonical account, Muhammad was alone on retreat at Hira when an angel commanded him to read or recite and delivered the opening of Quran 96. He reportedly returned to Khadija in fear, asked to be covered, and was reassured before she took him to consult Waraqa ibn Nawfal.

Quran 97 says the Quran was sent down on the Night of Decree, but the text supplies no Common Era date and does not name Hira or narrate the cave encounter. Islamic traditions also disagree about the precise Ramadan night and about whether Quran 96 or Quran 74 came first.

One event, two database entries

This record and the site's 610 entry are competing dates for the same traditional encounter, not two separate beginnings of revelation.

Two further cautions belong with this date: reports of bell-like revelation and sweating describe revelation generally rather than this cave encounter, and the canonical narrative depicts Muhammad alone and names no companion as a witness.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 8 sources 3 audit passes Date disputed

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

Date disputed. Sources disagree; the research places it at ~0610.

What the sources leave uncertain

The exact date is unknown. 22 December 609 is one proposed conversion, while many scholarly and reference works use approximately 610.
Retrospective conversion is especially difficult because the pre-Islamic Arabian calendar may have used intercalation and the later Hijri system had not yet been instituted.
Islamic traditions disagree about the precise Ramadan night and about whether Quran 96 or Quran 74 was the first revelation.
The detailed cave narrative is preserved in later transmitted literature rather than contemporary documentation.