Early Muslims

From 613 to 619 CE, the Islamic prophet Muhammad gathered in his hometown of Mecca a small following of those who embraced his message of Islam and thus became Muslims. The first person who professed Islam was his wife, Khadija. The identity of the first male Muslim, after Muhammad himself, is disputed between the Shia and Sunni branches. Shia and some Sunni sources identify Ali as the first male Muslim, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, who was a child at the time. Other sources report that the first male Muslim was Abu Bakr, Muhammad's father-in-law, or Muhammad's foster son, Zayd ibn Haritha. While it is difficult to establish the chronological order, the identities of early Muslims are known with some certainty.

Depiction of Muhammad and his wife Khadija performing the first ritual ablution wudu, from the Siyer-i Nebi
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