sourceFile: Sirah Transcript by Yasir QadhiRamadan
Ibn Kathir (ابن كثير) (d. 774 AH) in his al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya (البداية والنهاية) said, "The majority opinion is that the Prophet ﷺ was born in Rabi' al-Awwal. But others have other months as well. The scholars differed with regards to the date of his birth. One group said he was born on the 2nd of Rabi' al-Awwal — this is the opinion of Abu Ma'shar al-Sindhi (أبو معشر السندي) (d. 171 AH), Ibn Abd al-Barr (ابن عبد البر) (d. 463 AH), and al-Waqidi (الواقدي) (d. 207 AH) [three very early authorities]. Another opinion is that he was born on the 8th of Rabi' al-Awwal — this is the opinion of Ibn Hazm (ابن حزم) (d. 456 AH), Imam Malik b. Anas (مالك بن أنس) (d. 179 AH), Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (ابن شهاب الزهري) (d. 128 AH), and Muhammad b. Jubayr b. Mut'im (محمد بن جبير بن مطعم) (d. ~100 AH). A third opinion is the 10th of Rabi' al-Awwal — this is the opinion of Ibn Asakir (ابن عساكر) (d. 571 AH) and Ja'far al-Sadiq (جعفر الصادق) [the descendant of the Prophet ﷺ] (d. 148 AH). The fourth opinion is the 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal — this is the opinion of Ibn Ishaq, but there is no isnad on this matter [note: and Ibn Kathir does say this is the most popular opinion in his time]. The fifth opinion is the 17th of Rabi' al-Awwal. The sixth opinion is the 22nd of Rabi' al-Awwal. The seventh opinion is not even in Rabi' al-Awwal but in Ramadan (رمضان) — this is the opinion of al-Zubayr b. Bakkar (الزبير بن بكار) (d. 256 AH). [And there are other opinions as well.]"
Firstly, we know for a fact that the revelation of the Quran began in Ramadan [see Quran, 97:1].
In some narrations, it's mentioned that on one of the Saturdays of Ramadan, the Prophet ﷺ saw a light and heard a sound, so he looked around — but he couldn't find anything. And on Sunday, the same thing happened. And then on Monday, Jibril AS came to him. Indeed, as we have discussed before [see episode 6, the Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith in Sahih Muslim, "On a Monday I was born, and on a Monday the revelation began."
So the revelation began in the last 10 days of Ramadan on a Monday —which, by the way, marks Laylat al-Qadr (ليلة القدر - the Night of Glory/Decree/Power)—: The angel Jibril came to the Prophet ﷺ and told him, "Iqra (اقرأ - read)." And the Prophet ﷺ said, "I cannot read." Then Jibril squeezed him so tight that the Prophet ﷺ said he lost all energy, then Jibril let him go. And Jibril said again, "Iqra." And the Prophet ﷺ said again, "I cannot read." And Jibril squeezed him again. And this repeated until Jibril said the first 5 verses of Surah al-Alaq (سورة العلق).
This is the version reported in Sahih Bukhari, thus the most authentic. And it says in this hadith, that in the month of Ramadan (the month is not mentioned in Bukhari, but we learn this from Ibn Ishaq), in the 5th year of the dawah, the Prophet ﷺ recited Surah al-Najm in its entirety. It's a very powerful and eloquent surah. The momentum and the excitement builds up especially towards the end. The power of the Quran affected the entire congregation, Muslim and non-Muslim, such that when the Prophet ﷺ recited the last verse, "Prostrate to Allah and worship Him," the Muslims fell into sajdah, and the Quraysh were so emotional that they too fell into sajdah. For the first time, Muslim and non-Muslim ALL united behind the Prophet ﷺ. Except for al-Walid b. al-Mughirah (or in another version Umayyah b. Khalaf) who put sand to his head and said, "This is good enough for me." By the time this news reached the 15 sahaba in Abyssinia, the rumor had been exaggerated.
Moving on, the death of Khadija followed. She passed away on the 10th Ramadan, less than 40 days after the death of Abu Talib. And when Khadija passed away, the salah had not yet been revealed, so there was no janazah performed over her. But the Prophet ﷺ took charge himself of burying her. He himself put her in the grave. And the sahaba report after her death, "We didn't see the Prophet ﷺ smile for months." And indeed these two were so important to the Prophet ﷺ. Abu Talib protected him externally; Khadija RA protected him internally and gave him support inside the house. And the death of these two caused the Prophet ﷺ immense grief that the whole year was called the Year of Sorrow. And there are so many narrations which show how much the Prophet ﷺ loved Khadija RA. E.g. When her sister Hala visited the Prophet ﷺ later in Madinah, the Prophet ﷺ jumped up and you could see the fluster on his face because he remembered Khadija RA. Aisha RA saw this so when Hala left the house, out of jealousy she said, "O Messenger of Allah, for how long are you going to remember an old... [and Aisha used words that are not appropriate to describe Khadija RA]. Allah has given you someone better than her!" The Prophet ﷺ responded, "No, by Allah. Allah has not given me someone better than her. She supported me when no one did, she comforted me when the world gave me grief, she spent on me when everyone boycotted me, and Allah gave me children through her when Allah deprived all of my other wives of this blessing."
As for the month, there are no opinions amongst the early scholars. All the opinions began after the first 200 years. This clearly shows therefore that we don't know which month it happened in. Some scholars said Rabi' al-Awwal, some said Rabi' al-Thani, some said Rajab, some said Ramadan, and some said Shawwal, but none of these opinions have any authentic basis from the sahaba or tabi'un. So forget the day, we don't even know the month.
So there are references to Islam having reached Yathrib before anything (treaty etc.) happening. But the main conversion takes place in the 10th year of the dawah, the same year Abu Talib died. Abu Talib died around Ramadan or Shawwal, therefore the next month, say Dhu al-Qa'dah or Dhu al-Hijjah, the Prophet ﷺ is making his rounds in Mina looking for help and protection. Of course he is concentrating on the big tribes (Banu Kindah, Banu Hanifa, etc.), but he didn't ignore the smaller ones. So when he sees a small tribe at Aqaba (place where the stones are thrown, close to what is now Masjid al-Khayf), he asked, "من القوم؟/Who are you?" They said, "We are from the Khazraj." So the Prophet ﷺ thinks, "Which Khazraj?" And here Abu Bakr is not there to help him out. And he asks them, "Are you the neighbors of the Jews from Yathrib?" They said, "Yes." And then the Prophet ﷺ said, "May I speak with you?" They said, "Yes." So the Prophet ﷺ sat down and explained to them the teachings of Islam, recited the Quran, explained tawhid, warned against shirk, etc. all with the same passion, sincerity, and zeal as if he was speaking to one of the massive tribes like the Banu Hanifa, even though they were but six people without a tent. This isn't one of the rich tribes! (Note the Khazraj were a more poorer tribe, compared to the Aws. They consisted more of farmers and laborers while the Aws were more so the businessmen.)
When did the Prophet ﷺ emigrate? Everybody loves to quote 12th of Rabi' al-Awwal for everything, e.g. for the birth date of the Prophet ﷺ, for the first date the Quran came down (which obviously cannot be true, since it came down in Ramadan), but really we don't know the exact date. It was however most likely the first week of Rabi' al-Awwal, which corresponds to September 622 CE.
The Prophet ﷺ eventually built a roof above the whole masjid; but it was a roof that was only to protect them from the sun (not coldness, rain, etc.). We know this for sure, because in Sahih Bukhari, it's stated that on the 22nd of Ramadan, probably in the 8 year of the Hijrah, it rained, and the entire masjid got muddy, but the Prophet ﷺ still did full sujud, and when he came up, there was the traces of mud on his forehead and nose. This shows that the roof was leaking - it wasn't a solid roof.
So Umar RA called a gathering of the sahaba to sort this out. One or two suggested, "We'll follow the calendar of the Romans or the Persians," but this was immediately rejected because the Muslims realize they had their own civilization now - you don't need to be following others. They then decide to have their own calendar. Umar RA asked, "Which year should we begin with?" The sahaba differed. One of them said: with the death of the Prophet ﷺ. Another said: with the birth of the Prophet ﷺ. Another said the Battle of Badr... Ali b. Abi Talib said, "The year of the Hijrah shall be the first year of the calendar because this was the one decisive thing that changed the Muslims from being humiliated to being honored." The sahaba all agreed to this. Umar RA said, "This is the wisest opinion." (Note: Later scholars tried to read in a Quranic evidence for this [from [9:108]], but Allah knows best.) The second issue is: Which month should be taken as the first month? People differed again. Some said Ramadan as it's the holiest month; others said Dhu al-Hijjah, Rajab, etc. until Uthman b. Affan said, "It shall be Muharram." Why Muharram? Scholars have differed. Two reasons have been given:
The People of the Suffa have a special status in our Sirah books. They have entire chapters dedicated to them. Why? Because they are—in many cases—the elite of the sahaba - they possessed exemplary Iman. They had basically given up everything and lived in a public shelter in the masjid of the Prophet ﷺ. Note, the Suffa was probably built around Ramadan; and it was only after Badr this concept of the People of the Suffa was known. Up until Ramadan, every Muhajir or convert could be accommodated—the Prophet ﷺ assigned them to a sahabi and they took those people on as their guests—but eventually it got too crowded; the houses that could cater for people were full, and so the Prophet ﷺ built this Suffa. And so the Prophet ﷺ spent a lot of energy on these people.
As soon as the Prophet ﷺ immigrated, one by one the major commandments came down - within a year, pretty much the entire shariah of worship had been revealed (except for Hajj, it was revealed in the 9th year of the Hijrah - it was delayed because Makkah was still enemy territory). The Ramadan of the year of immigration, nothing happened (there's no shariah for fasting); next Muharram, on the 10th, the Prophet ﷺ made the fast of the 10th of Muharram wajib (obligatory), "Whoever ate breakfast in the morning, let him not eat anything for the rest of the day." So the first obligatory fast was a stepping stone —1 day only— to let the Muslims get used to it. Then that Ramadan (the 2nd year), Allah AWJ revealed in the Quran verse 185 of Surah al-Baqarah, "Whoever is present in the month (i.e. not traveling), then he should fast that month" [see Quran, 2:185]. And some scholars say, even the first Ramadan was encouraged - Allah knows best, but it wasn't made wajib for sure (by unanimous consensus, Ramadan became wajib in the 2nd year - and at that point in time, the 10th of Muharram became sunnah. So Ramadan becomes wajib, 10th of Muharram then becomes sunnah for the next year). In Ramadan, Zakat al-Fitr (زكاة الفطر) is revealed and became wajib too. And as we know, Zakat al-Fitr is the easier of the zakat - in our days, it's about $7-$10 - again, to make them used to the concept of zakat. Then within a few months, the same year, Zakat al-Mal (زكاة المال) came down i.e. 2.5% of your wealth. And of course, at this point in time, the basic rulings of the salah (صلاة) had been perfected; the Prophet ﷺ said, "Pray as you see me pray." In Makkah, all of the salah were two rak'at, and as we said, when he moved to Madinah, then Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha increased in length (4, 4, 3, 4). Also how you do taharah (طهارة), wudu (وضوء), the laws of janaba (جنابة) and ghusl (غسل), etc. all of these came down within these first two years i.e. by the time the second Ramadan finishes, all of these laws have been ordained. And insha'Allah we will talk about the spiritual development as well later on. But the point is a lot was happening in Madinah.
Ghazwat al-Ushayra took place in Jumada al-Awwal of the 2nd year of the Hijrah. The Prophet ﷺ went to the area of Ushayra (he didn't go to Badr) and he camped there for a few days, and he stayed there until the very first few days of Jumada al-Thani, and then he returned back to Madinah. When the time came that they expected the caravan back (and this is now in Ramadan), the Prophet ﷺ began sending multiple spies to see where has the caravan reached. And we have at least 2 or 3 ahadith that mention different spies - so this means basically that over the course of every few days, he is sending out another few people. For example, in Sahih Muslim, Anas b. Malik says that when the time came for the caravan's return, the Prophet ﷺ sent a spy to inform him about the advent of the caravan; and when the spy returned, the Prophet ﷺ made sure that nobody was sitting in the room except for Anas (he was excused because he was a 7 year old child), and the sahabi (spy) informed him about the whereabouts of the caravan.
It seems we can guesstimate the Prophet ﷺ left Madinah on the 12th of Ramadan in 2 AH. And he put in charge of Madinah Ibn Ummi Maktum (عبد الله بن أم مكتوم) - and subhan'Allah this sahabi was blind, but he was still put in charge. This shows Islam does not discriminate against people with disability. And this isn't the only instance. The Prophet ﷺ put Ibn Ummi Maktum in charge of Madinah at least a dozen times. Why? Because he was a wise and sensible man. And his blindness did not come in the way of him being, in effect, the temporary mayor of Madinah.
The Prophet ﷺ arrived at Badr before the Quraysh, preceded them by a day. He came to the Plains of Badr on the 16th Ramadan, 2 AH. And he immediately set up his camp and tents on the outskirts of the plains. Before he had set up camp, one of the scouts, al-Hubab b. al-Mundhir (الحباب بن المنذر) asked him, "Ya Rasulullah, this place that you have decided for us to camp, is this something Allah has told you to do such that we are not allowed to move one inch forward or backward, or is it your own opinion based on tactics and strategies of war?" The Prophet ﷺ said, "No, this is my own strategy." So he said, "In that case, ya Rasulullah, I suggest we don't camp at the corner of the plain, rather we should proceed until we are beyond midpoint, and therefore the wells of Badr will be behind us. In this case, we shall have plenty of water, and they (the enemy) will have to rely on their jugs and canisters." And of course to not have access to water is a big demoralizing factor. The Prophet ﷺ followed this advice and said, "You have directed us to the better opinion." In one narration it's said Jibril AS came down to tell the Prophet ﷺ, "Follow the advice of al-Hubab." So the Prophet ﷺ proceeded onward until the Muslims had blocked all of the wells and camped there. The Prophet ﷺ put all the wells behind him, and blocked the smaller wells after taking water out and putting the water into the big well. And the biggest well was positioned such that it was in the center of the Muslim camp.
And it's narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad that the Prophet ﷺ spent the whole night awake making du'a to Allah SWT and making prolonged sajdah. And he said, "O Allah, if You destroy this group, You are not going to be worshiped on earth" - because he ﷺ is the final prophet. And in the middle of the night, light rain began to fall, and the people had to take their belongings and shelter themselves under trees, shrubs, and maybe in the shade of their camels. And the Prophet ﷺ continued to pray and make du'a until finally the dawn broke. And he was the one who said, "O people, time for salah." And thus began the 17th of Ramadan in the second year of the Hijrah. According to modern historians, this is March 17th 624 CE, and it was a Friday.
Did the Prophet ﷺ himself fight in Badr? There is some controversy here. The majority opinion is the Prophet ﷺ did not fight in most of the battles; he was a military commander maintaining the order etc.; but as for Badr, it appears to be he was physically fighting. What Ibn Hajar opine is he would fight, and then go back to his tent to make du'a, and then would repeat. This is based on a narration by Ali RA in Musnad Imam Ahmad, "On the Day of Badr, we saw the Prophet ﷺ was the closest of us to the enemy, and when the fighting got tough, we would seek protection through him" i.e. coming close to him. And Ali RA said, "The Prophet ﷺ was the most aggressive/brave of us on that day." Now, Ali RA himself narrates he came to see what the Prophet ﷺ was doing in his tent and he found him in sajdah saying, "Ya Hayyu ya Qayyum, ya Hayyu ya Qayyum (يا حي يا قيوم ، يا حي يا قيوم)," so he went away to fight. And then he came back again to find the Prophet ﷺ still in sajdah, so he went away. And then he came back for the third time and the Prophet ﷺ was still in sajdah. After this, Allah wrote victory for them, so he didn't come back for the fourth time. So Ali RA narrates both of these narrations (that the Prophet ﷺ was in the tent, and that he ﷺ was in the front of the army) thus the only way to reconcile is that the battle lasted multiple hours, therefore the Prophet ﷺ was alternating between fighting and making du'a. Remember the battle was on a Friday, 17th Ramadan 2 H. And Abu Bakr RA would stay with him wherever he went; Abu Bakr RA guarded him while he made du'a. This is what Ibn Kathir and Ibn Hajar mentioned.
The Prophet ﷺ left from the Plains of Badr on Monday, the 20th of Ramadan. And the Muslims in Madinah were waiting patiently to find out what happened. The rumors had come but they couldn't firmly believe until Zayd b. Harithah, the 'adopted son' of the Prophet ﷺ, returned. The Prophet ﷺ sent him on his own camel, al-Qaswa (القصواء), which everyone recognized, as a sign that Zayd is telling the truth. And they all saw Zayd shouting in excitement, "Allahu'akbar!" And he starts mentioning the names of all those who had been killed. And it's a list of every single famous person of the Quraysh.
Ibn Ishaq tells us that as soon as Abu Sufyan returned with the caravan of Badr and the news of Badr returned, he immediately made up his mind at that point in time that he has to go and fight. Badr took place 17th Ramadan 2 AH; Uhud will take place Shawwal 3 AH. So an entire year of planning went into this. Abu Sufyan took with him Safwan b. Umayyah and Ikrimah b. Abu Jahl (both had lost their fathers) and knocks on every single door of the Quraysh household that contributed to the caravan of Badr, and tells them to return the profits they got from the caravan. (Recall the actual Badr caravan came back to Makkah safe and sound. And now Abu Sufyan goes to each and every person to get the money back.) Allah references this in the Quran, in Surah al-Anfal:
Another incident that happened at around this time was the birth of the first grandson of the Prophet ﷺ, al-Hasan b. Ali b. Abi Talib (الحسن بن علي بن أبي طالب) RA. Most authorities say Hasan was born in Shaban of the 5th year of the Hijrah, but some say no, it was Husayn (حسين) who was born in Shaban 5th year of the Hijrah, which means Hasan was born Ramadan 4th year of the Hijrah, and they deduce this from narrations that say: Between Hasan and Husayn was 10-11 months. Literally as soon as Fatima RA finished her postpartum bleeding from giving birth to Hasan, she became pregnant with Husayn. When Hasan was born, the Prophet ﷺ said to Ali RA, "Show me my son," and then he asked, "What did you name him?" Ali RA said, "Harb (حرب)" meaning "War." It's a common pre-Islamic name, but the Prophet ﷺ said, "No, he is not War, rather he is Beauty (i.e. Hasan)."
The beginning of the 8th year of Hijrah. (So the very next major incident will be the Conquest of Makkah which took place Ramadan 8 AH.)
Before we begin the Conquest of Makkah which occurred in Ramadan in 8 AH, we will discuss a few incidents that took place between Mu'tah and the Conquest. And note when we mention the smaller battles, what is really beneficial for us is not the politics of which tribe was conquered, rather, the incidents that occurred in these battles and the benefits that we can derive from them, to gain small but important moral benefits, theological benefits, and fiqh benefits. So we begin with the most significant of these minor battles, the Sariyya of Dhat al-Salasil (not to be confused with the Battle of Dhat al-Salasil which refers to the downfall of the Persian Empire during the reign of Umar RA; which had Khalid b. al-Walid on one side and Rustum & Yazdegerd on the other side. And that was the end of the Sassanid Empire — so it's very important, but it's beyond the scope of the Sirah. What we will discuss is the Dhat al-Salasil during the Prophet's ﷺ time.)
The Muslims arrived in the swiftest manner possible. The Prophet ﷺ left Madinah on the 10th of Ramadan of the 8th year of the Hijrah, and arrived on the outskirts of Makkah on the 19th of Ramadan. That is 9 days, which is amazing for 10,000 people. It's truly a miracle.
Today's lesson is primarily about conversions before the actual Conquest. The Prophet ﷺ departed Madinah on the 10th of Ramadan 8 AH, and arrived in Makkah on the 18th or 19th. He leaves one of the sahaba in charge of Madinah who was not very famous, Abu Rihm Kulthum b. al-Husayn (ابو رهم كلثوم بن الحصين); and all major sahaba went to Makkah.
It was Ramadan, so the Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims were all fasting; but as we know, of the permissible reasons for one to break his fast in Ramadan is traveling (and you are required to make up for the missed days afterward [see Quran, 2:184]), so as soon as the Prophet ﷺ and the sahaba reached an area called Qudaid, they broke their fast. And this shows us a simple and important fiqh point: The fiqh ruling of travel does not begin from within the city. You cannot break your fast or shorten your prayer from within your home city if you haven't left yet. So for example, if it's Ramadan and your flight is at 4 PM, you are not allowed to break your fast before that time, nor to make the intention to not fast that day knowing that you are going to do safar. You have to begin the fast that day, remain fasting until you board your plane, the plane departs, and you are outside the city limits, *then* you may break the fast and start praying jama'/qasr.
So we are now on the 20th Ramadan, 8 AH, and it is the morning of the Conquest of Makkah. And the people of Makkah still do not know the army is an hour away. Subhan'Allah. The Prophet ﷺ made a du'a that, "O Allah, conceal my plan from the Quraysh," and Allah answered. It is humanly impossible to conceal 10,000 people from the city. Yet because of that du'a, Allah did not allow the plans of the Prophet ﷺ to be exposed literally to the minute that the army of the Muslims walked in. It is truly a miracle that it was kept under such secrecy.
And thus Makkah was finally conquered on the 20th of Ramadan in the 8th year of the Hijrah with barely any loss of life. After 21 years of difficulty, the Prophet ﷺ returned to the place of his birth as the undisputed conqueror. The people of Makkah could not possibly put up a fight, so the Prophet ﷺ entered Makkah. And he entered it on his camel from the area that in today's time is called Kuday (كدي), and he was dressed in his armor (not ihram). And he had a red turban on him on this day, and it was flung underneath his beard. And Ibn Ishaq mentions that the Prophet ﷺ lowered his head all the way down to the camel, so much so that his forehead was almost touching the back of the camel. And he was praising and glorifying Allah immensely and reciting Surah al-Fath:
The Prophet ﷺ left Makkah on the 6th of Shawwal. As we said, the Prophet ﷺ stayed in Makkah for 19 days, as reported in Bukhari — other scholars and sources say 10, some say 2 weeks, etc., but we will stick with 19. For those who said less than 19, they say he left Makkah on the 28th of Ramadan; but we will stick with Bukhari, so we say he left on the 6th of Shawwal, and arrived in Hunayn on the 10th. There were around 12,000 people — 10,000 sahaba and 2,000 from Makkah most of whom are Muslims but not all. They arrived in a valley in Hunayn. Why Hunayn and not Ta'if? Because the people of Ta'if had already camped in that region.
Recall we discussed in length the Conquest of Makkah which occurred Ramadan 8th Hijrah. We mentioned of the most important product of the Conquest is that the entirety of the Quraysh converted to Islam; some of them immediately, others it took a while, such as Safwan b. Umayyah, Suhayl b. Amr, et al. [see episode 80. After the Conquest, the Prophet ﷺ also destroyed all the idols in the neighboring tribes. He then heard of an offensive by the tribe of Thaqif who had allied with their cousins Hawazin — which are two tribes that rival the Quraysh in Makkah. They decided they will launch an offensive, so the Prophet ﷺ decided he will engage with them in war. And so the Ansar, Muhajirun, and all the new converts from Makkah, engaged in the Battle of Hunayn [see episode 82].
— Such as the penalty for breaking your oath, committing zihar (ظهار), or having intercourse with your wife during the day of Ramadan; one of the ways to pay the penalty for these is to free an abd [see Quran, 5:89 & 58:2-4] [see Sahih Bukhari, Book 51, Hadith 34. In fact, Islam legislated zakat money for abds — one of the 8 categories of zakat is for [freeing] abds [see Quran, 9:60]. This is not something to be taken lightly. In fact, not only zakat and penalty; freeing an abd is one of the highest virtues in Islam: There are chapters written —even in the book we are reading on a daily basis, which is Imam al-Nawawi's Riyad al-Salihin (رياض الصالحين - the Meadows of the Righteous)— on the virtues of freeing an abd or an ama (أمة - female abd). Allah gives so much reward to those who free abds, so much so Aisha RA and others used to look for abds to free. Indeed, the Prophet ﷺ said one of the ways to free yourself from Hellfire is to free an abd [see Sahih Muslim, Book 20, Hadith 26.
Then the delegates said, "Ya Rasulullah, between us and you is the tribe of Mudar, a pagan tribe, and they are fighting us, so we can only come to you in the Sacred Months (i.e., we won't be able to come until next year), so tell us something that will cause us to enter Jannah and we can teach our people when we go back." Clearly, this is an intelligent tribe; they are asking the right questions. This hadith is in Bukhari and Muslim so it is fully authentic, and it's a very famous hadith which has a lot of theological implications: the Prophet ﷺ responded, "I command you to have Iman in Allah; and do you know what is Iman in Allah? That you say the shahada, you pray the prayers, you fast Ramadan, and you pay zakat." And he ﷺ stopped there — he didn't mention Hajj because it's the 5th year of the Hijrah and there is no Hajj.
According to some narrations, this is the same man whose hadith we always hear about, that he said, "Do I have to pray anything more than the fard 5 prayers?" And the Prophet ﷺ said, "No, unless you want to." And then he said, "Do I have to pay one bit more zakat?" "Do I have to fast one day outside of Ramadan?" etc., and to these, the Prophet ﷺ replied, "No, unless you want to." And at the end of the hadith, the man said, "I swear by the One who has sent you with the Truth that I shall follow this and not increase one bit or decrease one bit," and he went back to his people. And the Prophet ﷺ said to the sahaba, "If he is true, then he shall enter Jannah," i.e., this is the bare minimum of Islam — if you do all this and avoid the major sins, you have done your job.
So this delegation came to Madinah and this took place in Ramadan of the 9th year of the Hijrah. When they reached Madinah, either they contacted their relative al-Mughira b. Shu'ba, or he just happened to see them — Mughira begins rejoicing that his tribe is coming to embrace Islam. And they tell him, "We will only embrace with conditions. We will make sure we are satisfied." Mughira literally runs back to the masjid. On the way, Abu Bakr sees him and says, "What's going on?" Mughira says, "The tribe of Thaqif has come, and I want to give the bishara (بشارة - good news) to the Prophet ﷺ." Abu Bakr says, "I ask you by Allah, let ME give the good news to the Prophet ﷺ." And Mughira allowed. This shows us how eager the sahaba were to gain the favor of the Prophet ﷺ. Because when you give someone good news, you bring happiness to the person. So every sahabi wanted to be that person who brought happiness to the Prophet ﷺ. Abu Bakr rushed back and said, "The tribe of Thaqif is here to embrace Islam!" The Prophet ﷺ is overjoyed and asked the tribe to be brought in.
Ibn Ishaq mentions the Thaqif stayed in Madinah for 15 days. Probably on the 10th day, they embraced Islam. Recall it's Ramadan, and so they actually fasted with the Prophet ﷺ for the remaining 5 days. And they had iftar and suhur with the Muslims; Bilal RA would bring them suhur and they said, "We can't eat. The sun has already risen." But Bilal said, "I have just come and [even] the Prophet ﷺ is [still] eating." And when Bilal brought the iftar, they said, "No, not yet. The sun has not yet set." And Bilal said, "I have come to you only after the Prophet ﷺ broke his fast." (Side note: So we learn from this that The Prophet ﷺ would delay the suhur and expedite the iftar.)
Now, when was the Conquest of Makkah? Ramadan of the 8th year of the Hijrah. In the 8th year, could the Prophet ﷺ and Muslims have performed Hajj? Yes, of course. Because they conquered Makkah in Ramadan. Yet there was no concerted effort to do so. Why? If we say the Prophet ﷺ was too busy with delegations, then we are saying that a wajib/fard is being delayed because of delegations; so that is nonsensical. The Battle of Hunayn was in Shawwal of the 8th year, so they could have come back for Hajj in the 8th year if they wanted to. So why didn't they? Because Makkah is not yet fully safe. Remember the Thaqif; Ta'if is literally the next neighboring city with a huge population that is very hostile. Therefore, the reason why the Prophet ﷺ did not make an effort to do Hajj in the 8th year was because it simply was not feasible. There were security threats. Thus, in the 8th year of the Hijrah, there was no special Hajj delegation coming from Madinah.
In Tirmidhi, the Prophet ﷺ said, "Fear Allah, pray your 5 prayers, fast your month of Ramadan, give your zakat, and obey your rulers, and you shall enter the Jannah of your Lord."
Aisha RA narrates that when they first arrived in Makkah (4th of Dhu al-Hijjah), the Prophet ﷺ entered in her tent and she was crying. The Prophet ﷺ said, "What is the matter? Have you started your menses?" And indeed, she was crying because her menses had begun and she is literally right outside of Makkah. (Note 21: So for the sisters who get their menses during the blessed times [e.g., last 10 days of Ramadan, Umrah, Hajj], take solace in knowing that Aisha RA also experienced this.) The Prophet ﷺ said, "Don't worry, this is something Allah has written/ordained for all of the daughters of Adam. Do everything the hujjaj do except for tawaf."
Therefore clearly, the Quran is giving these indications. Not only the Quran, but even the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. In Ramadan of the 10th year of the Hijrah, two months before he left for Hajj, the first perhaps premonition began. What was that? Jibril AS would come to the Prophet ﷺ every Ramadan and recite the Quran to him once, but this year, Jibril came and recited it twice (without telling him the reason or giving anything away). So the premonition came to the Prophet ﷺ that something is different. (And this, by the way, also shows us, Allah did not tell the Prophet ﷺ explicitly that he is going to die at this stage, so he ﷺ himself did not know for sure; but there was premonition and intuition. Allah is indirectly suggesting.)
A few months later, when the Prophet ﷺ had passed away, Aisha says to Fatima again, "Now tell me." Fatima says, "Now I can tell you: When I went to the Prophet ﷺ to visit him, he whispered and told me that Jibril had come to him twice that year for Ramadan, even though for other years he would only come once — and he ﷺ said, 'There is no other explanation except that my time has come.' So I began to cry. And he then whispered to me, 'You shall be the first of my family to meet me, and you shall be the leader of the women of Jannah,' so I smiled out of joy."