03. Hijrat-e-Nabwi se pehlay ke waaqiaat [ Events that took place prior to the Migration of the Prophet(ﷺ)]

 Events that took place prior to the Migration of the Prophet(ﷺ)

 

When Allah the Almighty, the All-Powerful willed that His religion should triumph and that His Prophet(ﷺ)  be strengthened and His Promise to him be fulfilled, Allah’s Messenger(ﷺ)  went out in the (Hajj) season, during which he met the men from among the Ansar[53] and he presented himself to the Arab tribes as he did every season and while he was at Al-‘Aqabah, he met a group from Al-Khazraj and Allâh willed good for them, so when the Messenger(ﷺ) met them, he said to them: “Who are you?” They replied: “We are a group from Al-Khazraj.” He asked: “From those who have a treaty with the Jews?” They said: “Yes.” He asked: “Will you not sit so that I may speak to you?” They said: “Certainly.” So, they sat with him and he invited them to Allah the Almighty, the All-Powerful and presented Islam to them and recited the Qur’ân to them.

And one of the factors which encouraged them to embrace Islam was that the Jews were with them in their city and they were People of the Scripture and people of knowledge, while they (the Arabs) were polytheists and idolaters. And they had defeated them, and whenever any disagreement occurred between them, they (i.e., the Jews) would say to them: “A Prophet is going to be sent now, his time is near; we will follow him and we will kill you with him, as the people of ‘Ad and Iram were killed.” So, when Allah’s Messenger(ﷺ) spoke to them and called them to Allah, they said to each other: “You know for certain, by Allah, that he is the Prophet with whom the Jews threaten you. So, do not let them precede you in coming to him.” So, they responded his call by believing him and accepting what he preached to them from Islam. And they said to him: “We have left our people and there is no people among whom there is such enmity and evil as exists between them, so we hope that Allah will unite them through you, so we will approach them and invite them to this matter (i.e., religion) of yours and present to them what we have accepted from you of this religion. And Allah unites them upon it, there will be no man more dear than you.” Then they left Allah’s Messenger(ﷺ)  and returned to their home, having accepted Faith and believed.

And according to what has been said, they were six persons from Al-Khazraj: As’ad bin Zurarah, ‘Awfbin ‘Afra’ and ‘Afra’was his mother, his father’s name was Al-Harith bin Rifa’ah – Rafi’ bin Malik Az-Zurqi, Qutbah bin ‘Amir As-Sulami and ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir-and it was said that instead of’ Uqbah, it was Mu’awwidh bin ‘Afra’ – and Jabir bin ‘Abdullah.[54]

✿The First Pledge of Allegiance at Al-‘Aqabah

When they reached Al-Madinah and their people, they told them about Allah’s Messenger(ﷺ) , so that when the next year came around, twelve men from the Ansar showed up and he met them at Al-‘Aqabah and this was the first pledge of allegiance at Al- ‘Aqabah and they pledged their allegiance to Allah’s Messenger(ﷺ)  with the same pledge that the women had made, and that was before war was made incumbent upon them.[55]

And Abu Idrees ‘A’idhullah bin ‘Abdullah said that ‘Ubadah bin As- Samit was one of

those who fought at the Battle of Badr with Allah’s Messenger(ﷺ)  and he was one of his Companions on the night of Al-‘Aqabah and he informed him that Allah’s Messenger(ﷺ)  said and there were a group of his Companions around him:

“Pledge your oath to me that you will not associate any partners with Allâh, that you will not steal, that you will not commit acts of unlawful sexual intercourse, that you will not kill your children, that you will not utter slander, intentionally forging falsehoods and do not disobey in Ma’ruf (Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam ordains) and whoever among you lives up to his vow, his reward is with Allah and whoever commits any such thing, then Allah hides it, then it is for Allâh: If He wills, He may forgive it and if He wills, He may punish him.”

And upon this we pledged our allegiance to him. “[56]

✿Al-Mu’allim (The Teacher)

The teacher referred to is Mus’ab bi ‘Umair(رضي الله عنه); after the first pledge of allegiance, Allah’s Messenger(ﷺ)  sent him to Al- Madinah with those who had embraced Islam and he ordered him to teach them to recite the Qur’an and to teach them Islam and to make them understand the religion. And Mus’ab(رضي الله عنه)was known in Al-Madinah as Al-Muqri[57] and he stayed with As’ad bin Zurarah(رضي الله عنه). And in the presence of Mus’ab(رضي الله عنه) Al-Madinah and his outstanding ability to convince, Sa’d bin Mu’adh (رضي الله عنه)embraced Islam and he was the maternal cousin of As’ad bin Zurarah(رضي الله عنه) and a leader who commanded Obedience among his people like wise usaid bin hudair (رضي الله عنه) embraced islam and their Islam was the start of Islam in Al-Madinah and islam spread in Al-Madinah and there was no house which did not have a muslim in it.

✿The Second Pledge of Allegiance at Al-qabah

Allah’s Messenger  (ﷺ) remaind in Makkah for ten years following the people in their homes, such as Ukaz and Mijannah and in the (Hajj) season in Mina, he said:

“Who will give me refuge? Who will support me, so that I may spread the Message of my Lord, for Paradise be with Him?

And his people came to him and said: “Beware O son of Quraish! Do not let them put you into trial!” while he was walking through their camps and they were pointing at him with their fingers. And the Ansar said: “Until when shall we leave Allâh’s Messenger banished in the mountains of Makkah and in fear?” And so seventy men from among them went to him and approached him in the (Hajj) season and they arranged to meet with him on the road near Al-‘Aqabah and they gathered there in ones and twos until their numbers were complete and they said: “O Messenger of Allah! Upon what should we pledge our allegiance to you?” He said:

“Pledge to me that you will hear and obey in times of activity and inactivity, to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and to speak for Allah’s sake and not to fear the censure of anyone, and to support me and protect me when I come to you from all that from which you protect yourselves, your wives and your children and in return you will have Paradise.”

So, they stood up for him and pledged their allegiance to him.

And As’ad bin Zurarah-who was the youngest of them – took his hand and said: “Slowly, O people of Yathrib! We did not travel to him without knowing that he is Allah’s Messenger and to accept him now is a challenge to all of the Arabs; it is the killing of the best of you and the clashing of your swords. So, either you are a people who will patient accept that and then your reward will be with Allah, or else you will fear for your lives; so, admit that plainly and it wll be an excuse for you before Allâh.” They said: “Withdraw from us, O As’ad, for by Allah, we shall never abandon this pledge, nor shall we withdraw from it.” So, they pledged allegiance to him and he accepted it from them and made conditions for them and thereby he gave them Paradise.[58]

And in confirmation of this pledge, Al-Bara’ bin Ma’rur took him by the hand and said: “Yes, by Him Who sent you as a Prophet with the truth, we will protect you from whatever we protect our families from, so accept our pledge, O Messenger of Allah, for by Allah, we are sons of war and people of weapons and we inherited them from our forefathers.” And those who had made the pact had revealed their fear that the Prophet(ﷺ)  would leave them if Allah helped him and granted him victory and return to his people; so he(ﷺ)  said to them:

“No, my covenant of protection is your covenant of protection and my inviolability is your inviolability. I am from you and you are from me. I will fight whoever you fight and I will make peace with whomever you make peace.”

And Allah’s Messenger(ﷺ)  said:

“Select twelve leaders from among you who represent your people.”

So, they selected twelve leaders from among them nine from Al-Khazraj and three from Al-Aws.[59]

[53: Ansar. Those citizens of Al-Madinah who helped the migrants (Muhajirun) from Makkah when they first arrived.]

[54: Tarikh At-Tabari (2/245-246).]

[55: Tarikh At-Tabari (2/246).]

[56: Al-Bukhari and Muslim.]

[57: Al-Muqri’: The Qur’an teacher.]

[58: Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah (4/396-398).]

[59: Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah (4/104,402)]

REFERENCE:

Book: “History of Madina Munawwarah”

Prepared by a group of Scholars  under the supervision of  Shaikh Safir ur Rahman Mubarak puri. (Darussalam)