The hadiths in question are:
Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet (ﷺ) was neither conspicuously tall, nor short; neither, very white, nor tawny. His hair was neither much curled, nor very straight. Allah sent him (as an Apostle) at the age of forty (and after that) he stayed for ten years in Mecca, and for ten more years in Medina. (Bukhari 5900)
Narrated Ibn Abbas: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) started receiving the Divine Inspiration at the age of forty. Then he stayed in Mecca for thirteen years, receiving the Divine Revelation. (Bukhari 3902)
Ibn Abbas reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) stayed in Mecca for fifteen years (after his advent as a Prophet) (Sahih Muslim 2353e)
Ibn Hajar reconciles the three main reports on how long the Prophet stayed in Mecca after prophethood—10 years, 13 years, and 15 years and he says about the reports:
Ten years
- This refers to the period after the pause in revelation ended, when revelation resumed with “O you who is covered up” (al-Muddathir).
- So, those who said “ten years” were not counting from the first revelation, but from the start of public daʿwah or resumed revelation.
- This is also why it doesn’t contradict the Prophet’s reported age of 63, when seen this way.
Thirteen years
- This is the majority view, including companions like Ibn ʿAbbas and ʿIkrimah, and scholars like Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, al-Shaʿbi, and Mujahid.
- It counts from the very beginning of revelation when the angel first came to him—making the period in Mecca 13 years and 10 years in Madinah, totaling 63 years of life.
- This is the most consistent and widely accepted report.
Fifteen years
- This was reported by Ibn ʿAbbas in one narration, and Ibn Hajar says it may include the entire period from the first subtle experiences of revelation or early stages before full prophethood was public.
- He treats this view as weak or based on a different starting point, and says it contradicts stronger reports unless interpreted that way.
- 13 years = from first revelation
- 10 years = from resumed/public revelation
- 15 years = possibly includes pre-prophethood signs or early hidden phase
This way, the reports are not contradictory when their starting points are understood.
Ibn Hajar said: The Prophet’s statement: “He remained in Mecca for ten years, during which the Quran was revealed to him, and in Madinah for ten years,” contradicts what is reported from ʿAʾishah right after it—that he lived for sixty-three years—unless it is interpreted as omitting the fraction of a year, as was said about the hadith of Anas earlier in the chapter on the Prophet’s description from the Book of Virtues (3547).
The longest age reported for him is sixty-five years, as narrated by Muslim (2353/122) through the route of ʿAmmar ibn Abi ʿAmmar from Ibn ʿAbbas. The same is reported by Ahmad (1846) from Yusuf ibn Mihran from Ibn ʿAbbas. But this differs from the hadith in the chapter, because its apparent meaning is that he lived sixty years—unless we interpret it as omitting the fraction, or rely on the view of those who said that he was sent as a prophet at the age of forty-three. This is indicated by the narration of ʿAmr ibn Dinar from Ibn ʿAbbas: that he stayed in Mecca for thirteen years and died at sixty-three.
In the narration of Hisham ibn Hassan from ʿIkrimah from Ibn ʿAbbas: “He stayed in Mecca for thirteen years, was sent at forty, and died at sixty-three.” This agrees with the view of the majority. This has already been discussed in the chapter on the Prophet’s Hijrah (3902 and 3903).
The conclusion is: every Companion who reported something different from the well-known age of sixty-three also reported the well-known view. These include Ibn ʿAbbas, ʿAʾishah, and Anas. There is no disagreement in the narrations from Muʿawiyah that he lived for sixty-three years. The same was affirmed by Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, al-Shaʿbi, and Mujahid. Ahmad said: “This is the sound view with us.”
Al-Suhayli reconciled the two well-known reports with another approach: that whoever said thirteen years included the period from when the angel first came to him with prophethood, while whoever said ten years counted from after the pause in revelation and the resumption with O you who is covered up (al-muddathir). This is based on the authenticity of the report from al-Shaʿbi which I quoted from the Tārīkh of Imam Ahmad regarding the beginning of revelation. But the narration of Ibn ʿAbbas in Ibn Saʿd’s work contradicts this, as I explained in the commentary on the hadith of ʿAʾishah on the beginning of revelation, reported in the Book of Dreams (6982) from the narration of Maʿmar from al-Zuhri, concerning the additional passage which al-Zuhri transmitted as a mursal report.
Among the rare narrations is what ʿUmar ibn Shabbah transmitted—that the Prophet lived for sixty-one or sixty-two years, and did not reach sixty-three. Ibn ʿAsakir also reported from another route that he lived for sixty-two and a half years. This is possible according to those who say he was born in Ramadan. But we have already explained in the mentioned chapter that this is a strange view.
Some tried to reconcile the famous narrations by saying that those who said sixty-five years were rounding up the fraction. But this is problematic, because rounding up from sixty-four would only yield sixty-four, and very few have paid attention to this.
His statement: “Ibn Shihab said: Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib told me the same”—this is connected to the chain just mentioned. His statement “the same” could mean that he narrated it to him from ʿAʾishah or as a mursal report. The intended similarity refers to the content only. Al-Ismaʿili narrated it from the route of Yunus from al-Zuhri from Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib from ʿAʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her. I had suggested earlier that it might be connected, when I explained this hadith at the beginning of the chapter on the Prophet’s description, and I have now found it, as I had clarified—praise be to Allah.
Fath Al Bari By Ibn Hajar (12/779-780)
