MUSLIM TRADITION is very much preoccupied with the chronology of Muḥammad's life. The biographical and historiographical sources contain chapters about the chronology of his Meccan and Medinan periods, about the chronology of his first revelation, and about the chronology of his birth and death. Similar chapters are to be found in several mu ṣannaf compilations of ḥadīth. Already in previous chapters occasional allusion has been made to the chronology of Muḥammad's life. In what follows we shall discuss further aspects of this theme, which places Muḥammad's Meccan period within a larger framework encompassing his entire life.

Modern Islamicists, like Jones for example, have treated these traditions of chronology with a view to revealing the historical reality that they supposedly preserve. Our goal, however, is different. In accordance with the general atti- tude followed throughout this book, we shall examine the textual dynamics of the material, rather than the extent to which it reflects the actual chronology of events in the Prophet's life. This material seems to be built upon some basic symbolic numerical patterns. Some general observations concerning the symbolism of numbers in the sira and other Islamic texts have already been made by certain scholars,6 but no comprehensive study of the symbolism of the chronology of Muḥammad's life has yet been attempted. It will be shown here that this material forms part of the theme of attestation.

I

Chronology is a key theme in the vita of any prominent biblical king, or patriarch, or prophet; this is frequently based on a harmonic numerical framework, implying the divinely ordained course of the leader's life. In the case of Muḥammad this harmony is reflected in the recurrence of the same date— Monday, 12 Rabi’ al-awwal-for each and every key event of his life. Tradition asserts that this was the date of his birth, his first revelation, his night journey and ascension to heaven, and his hijra, as well as his death. The most prevalent traditions are those indicating this date as that of the Prophet's death.

It may well be that the selection of Rabi’ al-awwal reflects a Jewish tradition about Moses. This prophet was born and died in the same month, Adar. In the converted Islamic version of this tradition, Adar was replaced by its most natural equivalent in the Arabian calendar, Rabi’ al-awwal.