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Lineage and Birth
Muhammad ﷺ was born in Makkah into the noble clan of Banu Hashim of Quraysh, a descendant of the Prophet Ismail, in the Year of the Elephant.
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A noble lineage from the line of Ismail
He was Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, of the clan of Banu Hashim of the tribe of Quraysh in Makkah, and a descendant of the Prophet Ismail ibn Ibrahim (peace be upon them). The Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah chose Kinanah from the children of Ismail, Quraysh from Kinanah, Banu Hashim from Quraysh, and He chose me from Banu Hashim.” Genealogists agree on his line back to Adnan; the links between Adnan and Ismail are not agreed upon, so scholars mention them with caution.
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The Year of the Elephant
Around 570 CE, the sirah books record, Abrahah, the Abyssinian ruler of Yemen, marched on Makkah with an army that included elephants in order to destroy the Kaaba. The Quran recounts that Allah sent flocks of birds against them, pelting them with stones of baked clay, and left them like eaten straw. Makkah was spared, and the Arabs dated events from this year. The sirah books record that the Prophet ﷺ was born in this year, or within a short time of it; most scholars say about 570 or 571 CE.
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Born on a Monday
The Prophet ﷺ was born in Makkah on a Monday. When he was asked about fasting on Mondays, he said: “On it I was born, and on it revelation was sent down to me.” The sirah books add that his father Abdullah had died before his birth, and that his mother Aminah bint Wahb gave birth to him; they differ over the exact date, and the one most often given is 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, with others giving the 2nd, 8th or 9th. His grandfather Abd al-Muttalib named him Muhammad, a name then rare among the Arabs.
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His blessed names
The Prophet ﷺ said: “I have five names: I am Muhammad and Ahmad; I am al-Mahi, through whom Allah erases disbelief; I am al-Hashir, at whose feet people will be gathered; and I am al-'Aqib.” The Quran uses the names Muhammad, for example in Surah al-Fath (48:29), and Ahmad, which Isa (peace be upon him) gave as glad tidings of a coming messenger (61:6). Both come from the root of praise: “the one who is much praised.”
How the sources are used
Sources are chosen in this order: the Quran first, then the hadith collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and then other collections such as al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, an-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Malik. The sirah books, mainly Ibn Ishaq as transmitted by Ibn Hisham, are used only for details not found in the hadith, and these are marked as “recorded in the sirah books.” Dates in the Christian era are approximate, and hadith numbers follow the hadith library of this website.
Hadith numbers follow the hadith library on this site, and each source opens its hadith there. Details that are not in the hadith collections are marked as coming from the sirah books.
General information for learning, not a fatwa. For your own situation, ask a qualified scholar.