A starter route through the Sirah
Start with one short session: see the setting, read the source-based story and follow the next event.
This is a starter route of seven short sessions through the Sirah, from Makkah to Badr. It is not the whole story, and there is no schedule.
Session 1, Place Makkah in its setting, is about 3 to 5 minutes of reading plus a look at the map. The article, the map and the family tree open without an account. The short quiz under each article needs a free account, nothing more, and you can skip it.
Each session ends with one link to the next. Continue when you are ready; every session stays open to come back to.
- Session 1
Place Makkah in its setting
Objective
Locate Makkah and the Quraysh clans on the map and separate the valley's geography from the political power that later grew there.
Map
The in-article "Quraish Clans" location map, zoomed to the valley around the Ka'bah, and the Quraysh family tree embedded after the Qusai ibn Kilab section; header link "epoch map".
Reading
Whole article, about 3 minutes.
Reflection
Which feature of this setting will matter to the story?
- Session 2
Place the early years in order
Objective
Place the birth of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, his years with the wet nurse Halimah ﵂ and his early losses in sequence, and notice which details the article reports as narrated rather than dated.
Map
Open the epoch map from the article header and find Makkah; the event marker sits in the valley itself.
Reading
Whole article, about 5 minutes.
Reflection
What came before the first revelation?
- Session 3
Understand a turning point
Objective
Find the cave of Hira on the map and say, in the article's own words, what changed with the first verses of Surah Al-'Alaq.
Map
The in-article location map "Cave of Hira on Jabal al-Nur".
Reading
Whole article, about 3 minutes.
Reflection
What changed here, and what question do you have?
- Session 4
Follow the migration to Abyssinia
Objective
Identify Makkah (origin) and Abyssinia (destination) on the map and state, from the article, why Abyssinia was chosen and why the departure was secret, to compare with the Hijra in the next session.
Map
The in-article location map "The Migration to Abyssinia". The map shows the region between Makkah and Abyssinia across the Red Sea; it is approximate and does not draw the route.
Reading
Whole article, about 6 minutes; the second half ("The Second Migration and the Confrontation with Quraysh") is the longer part.
Reflection
Why Abyssinia, and why in secret? Keep your answer: the next session follows the Hijra to Madinah, and you will compare the two.
- Session 5
Place the Hijra in time
Objective
Trace the route from Makkah past the cave of Thawr and the tent of Umm Ma'bad to Quba and on to Madinah, and explain why the calendar counts from this journey rather than from the revelation or the birth.
Map
Open the epoch map from the article header. The marker for this event sits south-west of Makkah toward the coast, not at Madinah, so use it as the starting point of the journey.
Reading
Whole article, about 8 minutes; if shortened, the calendar section is the last heading ("The Islamic Calendar") and must not be skipped. The calendar counts from the year of this journey, a choice made years later under Umar ﵁, not on the day of arrival.
Reflection
Which journey is the calendar's reference, and why does that distinction matter?
- Session 6
See community-building in Madinah
Objective
Name two changes in how the community was organized after the arrival (the article's candidates: the mosque, the call to prayer, the first sermon, the bond of brotherhood) and place them after the Hijra.
Map
Open the epoch map from the article header; the marker for this event sits at Madinah.
Reading
Read from the start through "The Call to Prayer in Madinah" (about 6 minutes); that gives you two changes in how the community was organized, the mosque and the call to prayer. "The First Sermon of the Prophet ﷺ in Madinah" is about 3 minutes more and is optional. The closing section on the bond of brotherhood is about 7 minutes more and is offered as "Continue the full article".
Reflection
Which earlier event helps explain one of those changes?
- Session 7
Connect the story at Badr
Objective
Use the Badr battle map to connect the wells, the approach of the two armies and the Madinah context, and read the movements as historical explanation.
Map
The published Badr battle story, opened on its own page; its second phase covers the wells.
Reading
Read from the start through "Preparations" (about 8 minutes), then open the Badr battle map on its own page. The rest of the article is about 10 minutes more and is offered as "Continue the full article". The article opens by picking up an earlier expedition, the caravan from Dhil 'Ushayrah, so you can read straight on.
Reflection
Explain one connection between place and event without reopening the page.