June 8, AD 632

Muhammad

Death of Muhammad in Medina

Aisha softened Muhammad's final tooth-cleaning stick with her own teeth; in her account he used it moments before dying against her chest.

A Monday in 632

The conventional chronology places Muhammad's death in Medina on Monday, 8 June 632, following a brief final illness; Aisha's transmitted report explicitly identifies the weekday as Monday. The precise conversion from the early Islamic calendar remains disputed, and modern reconstructions have proposed alternatives including 25 May 632.

The sources describe fever and physical decline but do not establish a medically certain cause of death.

The account from inside the room

In Aisha's account, Muhammad died in her room while supported against her chest, shortly after using a softened tooth-cleaning stick and invoking the 'highest companions.' He was reportedly shrouded in three pieces of white cotton cloth.

These are later transmitted traditions, preserved especially in ninth-century hadith collections, rather than contemporary eyewitness documents.

Shock, then a verse

Some followers were so stunned that Umar initially insisted Muhammad had not died. Abu Bakr returned from al-Sunh, viewed and kissed the body, then steadied the gathering by reciting Quran 3:144 to affirm that Muhammad had died.

The community had lost both its prophetic and political leader, and a succession meeting at the Saqifa followed almost immediately. The traditional age of 63 rests on lunar-year chronology; because the birth year is itself approximate, civil-calendar ages of 61 or 62 also appear in modern references.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 8 sources 3 audit passes Traditional date

How this was checked

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Traditional date. This date is the conventional one, not one fixed by a contemporary record.

What the sources leave uncertain

8 June 632 is the conventional civil date, but early reports disagree over the corresponding Hijri day. Modern calendar reconstructions have proposed alternatives including 25 May 632.
The traditional age of 63 is based on lunar-year chronology. Because Muhammad's birth year is itself approximate, civil-calendar ages such as 61 or 62 also appear in modern references.
Accounts of the final moments cited here are later transmitted traditions, especially those preserved in ninth-century hadith collections, not contemporary eyewitness documents.
Sunni and Shia traditions interpret the legitimacy and meaning of Abu Bakr's succession differently.