The Story of the Prophet Muhammad's ﷺ Birth
Rabi' al-Awwal — the month in which the best of creation ﷺ was born
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was born in Mecca in the Year of the Elephant — the year Allah destroyed the army that had come to demolish the Kaaba, as recounted in Surah al-Fil. His birth was on a Monday in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal; the best-known report places it on the 12th. Asked about fasting on Mondays, he ﷺ said: "That is the day on which I was born, and the day on which I was sent — or on which revelation first came to me." (Muslim)
He ﷺ was born an orphan: his father Abdullah died before his birth, and he was cared for by his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, then his uncle Abu Talib. He was nursed by Halima al-Sa'diyya in the desert of Banu Sa'd, and grew up known among his people as al-Sadiq al-Amin — the truthful and trustworthy — long before revelation came.
Allah says: "Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example" (al-Ahzab 33:21). The best way to honour the month of his birth ﷺ is to follow his Sunnah, send abundant salawat upon him, study his life, and listen to the Book that was revealed to him.