Moment 2 of 3
Which year is it?
Madinah, during his caliphate, when the territory under Muslim rule had grown large.
MadinahDuring his caliphate, 13–23 AH approximate1 min read
As the administration grew, a practical problem appeared: letters and instructions were arriving without a usable date on them. Arabia had dated things by memorable events — the year of this drought, the year of that delegation — which works within a single town and fails completely across an empire.
So a decision had to be made about where to start counting. The histories record several suggestions being weighed before one was settled on — though those histories were compiled long afterwards, and they are describing the debate rather than transcribing it.
What was chosen was the Hijrah: the year the Muslims migrated from Makkah to Madinah.
It is worth noticing what was not chosen. Not a birth. Not a victory. Not the year any ruler came to power. The calendar was set to begin at the moment a community left its home for the sake of its faith and had to start again from nothing.
That decision is why every Islamic date you will ever read is counted from that migration, and why the years in SahabaMate's timelines are written as AH — after the Hijrah.
Quick recall
What event was chosen as year one of the Muslim calendar?
Sources & review
Draft content — undergoing reviewThis content was written for SahabaMate and has not yet been checked by a reviewer against the works below. Treat it as a starting point, not a citation.
Tarikh ar-Rusul wa'l-Mulukتاريخ الرسل والملوك
Classical history · Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari
Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabirالطبقات الكبرى
Classical biography · Ibn Sa'd
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