The Muslims migrate to Madinah

The Second Pledge of Aqabah had changed the equation considerably for the Muslims. They now had a new refuge in Yathrib, and its people were ready to protect them. Soon theProphet(ﷺ)himself received revelation about migration to Yathrib. He told his Companions, “I have been informed that we will one day migrate from Makkah to a land of dates. I think that it is either Yamama or Hijr.” On another occasion he said, “I have been shown the place to which you will migrate. It lies between two hills of lava. It is either Hijr or Yathrib.”

Taking advantage of this new haven that had been offered to them, several Muslims migrated to Yathrib following the pledge. The first emigrant was Abu Salama Makhzoomi . The husband of Umm Salamah . He attempted to migrate with his wife and children the year before the Second Pledge of Aqabah, but his clan would not allow him to take his family, so he was forced to migrate by himself to Yathrib. A year later Umm Salamah was allowed to join her husband.

Amir bin Rabi’a, his wife Layla bint Abi Hathma, and Abdullah bin Umm Maktoom migrated after Abu Salamh. Getting away proved difficult though, because they had to slip out of Makkah past the watchful Quraysh. Umar bin Khattab, however, left Makkah in full view of the Quraysh, and no one dared to try to stop him. He also took twenty others with him. 

Soon, nearly all the Muslims in Makkah had migrated to Yathrib. Even the refugees in Abyssinia made their way there after hearing about the pledge at Aqabah. However, Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) , Ali, Suhayb and Zayd bin Haritha , stayed in Makkah together with those muslims who were unable to migrate. TheProphet(ﷺ)stayed on in Makkah as well, awaiting Allah’s permission to leave. He asked Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  to wait with him. Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  had two very fast camels, and he would feed them acasia leaves to make them even stronger and swifter. This way he and theProphet(ﷺ)could make a speedy escape, once Allah’s command to leave Makkah came.

The council of Dar al-Nadwah 

 

The Quraysh were enraged that the Muslims had found a place in the Arabian peninsula itself where they would be able to thrive. They also feared the Muslims would become strong enough to control the northern trade routes and disrupt the pagans’ trade. Since the Makkans depended on the goods carried by caravans to and from northern Arabia and Syria, their fear was not unfounded. There was also the growing worry that theProphet(ﷺ)himself might escape any day to Yathrib, where his followers awaited him, and that he would set up a new power base, an eventuality which had to be avoided. 

To discuss their concerns, a special council was held at Dar Al-Nadwah. Most of the prominent chieftains of the Quraysh were present. Iblees (Satan) was also present disguised as Shaikh Jaleel of Najd. Abul Aswad opened the meeting by saying, “Let us drive Muhammad out of our territory and be rid of him. That will set the matter right.” 

Shaikh Jaleel didn’t like this idea. “Do you not see how sweet his words are, and how he wins the hearts of people? If we exile him, he will simply find another tribe and make them his followers. With their help, he will attack your city and deal with you as he pleases. Think of another plan.”

 “Let us imprison him until he dies. He will experience the same kind of death poets of old did,” Abu Bukhtari suggested. Shaikh Jaleel interjected once again, “By God, if you make him a captive, the news will surely reach his companions who love him more than their fathers and sons. They might raid your territory and conquer you! Think of another plan.” 

Finally, Abu Jahl, himself a rival of Satan, put forth his idea. “I have my own opinion,” he began. “I see that none of you has touched on it so far. We should select a strong and smart youth of noble birth from each tribe. Each youth will be given a sword, sharp and deadly. These young men will move toward theProphet(ﷺ)as one man and strike him as one man. Since all the clans will share his blood, Banu Abdu Munaf, Muhammad’s protectors, cannot take on all the Quraysh at one time. They will then have to accept blood money that we can pay off easily.” 

“This is the best plan of all,” Shaikh Jaleel declared approvingly. The council disbanded, relieved at having a solution at hand. Now it was time to make the necessary preparations.

Jibreel brings theProphet(ﷺ)happy news:

 

Meanwhile, Jibreel came to the Prophet(ﷺ)with the tidings that Allah had ordered the Prophet(ﷺ )to migrate. Jibreel told him the exact time he should depart and informed the Prophet(ﷺ) of the plot to assassinate him. “Don’t sleep in the bed you usually sleep in,” he advised the Prophet(ﷺ).

At noon, when everyone was napping, the Prophet(ﷺ)went to the house of Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  Siddeeq and told him the happy news. Quickly, they began to prepare both camels for the long journey. They also hired Abdullah bin Urayqat Laythi to lead them to Yathrib. Abdullah knew the area between Makkah and Yathrib well, and although he was not Muslim, he agreed to escort the Prophet(ﷺ) and Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  secretly. The Prophet(ﷺ) told Abdullah to meet them near Mount Thawr in three nights, Meanwhile, theProphet(ﷺ) began to engage himself in day to day activities so that no one would suspect that he was about to leave Makkah.

The Prophet(ﷺ)used to go to sleep after the evening prayer, and upon waking up around midnight he would go to the Ka’bah to perform supplimentary (Tahajjud) prayers. The night the Prophet ﷺ was to leave, he asked Ali to sleep in his bed after assuring him that no harm would come to him. When everyone had gone to bed, the assassins surrounded the Prophet ﷺ’s house. They saw Ali wrapped in the Prophet ﷺ ﷺ’s green mantle, lying in the Prophet ﷺ’s bed, and thought that he was Muhammad . The plan was for them to lie in wait for the Prophet ﷺ and fall upon him when he came out of his house. The Quraysh were unaware that just as they were plotting, Allah too was plotting:

“Remember how the unbelievers plotted against you to imprison you, to kill you, or to exile you from Makkah. They plot and plan, but Allah plans too, and the best of planners is Allah.” (8: 30)

The Prophet(ﷺ) leaves home:

 

Although Ali was in the Prophet’s ﷺ  bed, the Prophet (ﷺ) himself was still in the house surrounded by the assassins. The Prophet(ﷺ)came out of his house and took a handful of dust which he sprinkled above the young boys’ heads while reciting the following verse: “I have placed a barrier in front of them and a barrier behind them. I have covered them so they cannot see.” (39: 9)

The youths did not see theProphet(ﷺ)leave. He went swiftly to Abu Bakr (رضی اللہ عنہ )  and together they travelled, not toward Yathrib, but in the opposite direction toward Yemen. Before dawn, they had covered a distance of about five miles, and then they took refuge in a cave on Mount Thawr.

Unaware of the Prophet’s ﷺ  escape, the would-be assassins continued to wait for him to come out of his house. Only at dawn when Ali woke and came out did they realise that they had been tricked. They interrogated Ali about the Prophet’s ﷺ whereabouts, but he pleaded ignorance. They then dragged him to the Ka’bah and kept him captive there, but he divulged nothing. Then they rushed to Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) ’s house and found that he had also disappeared. However, they did find his daughter, Asmaa, who refused to tell them anything. Her calm defiance enraged them, and a furious Abu Jahl slapped her so hard that an ear-ring flew from her ear.

The Quraysh began searching for the Prophet(ﷺ)and Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  and annoucned that there was a reward of one hundred camels for each fugitive brought back dead or alive.

Three nights in the cave:

 

When the Prophet(ﷺ) and Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  arrived at the cave on Mount Thawr, Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  entered first to clear away anything that might injure the Prophet(ﷺ). He found a few holes and stuffed them with pieces of cloth. The Prophet(ﷺ) then entered and went to sleep with his head on Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) ’s lap. Suddenly, something stung Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) ’s foot, but he did not even twitch, fearing he would wake the Prophet(ﷺ). The pain was so intense that tears began to run down his cheeks and onto the Prophet’s ﷺ  face. The Prophet(ﷺ) woke up and saw that Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  was in pain. He then applied his spittle on the injury and the pain disappeared.

For three consecutive nights the Prophet(ﷺ) and Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  remained hidden in the cave. During this period, Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) ’s son, Abdullah, would pass his nights nearby. The clever young man would return to Makkah so early in the morning that the Quraysh had no idea that he had slept elsewhere. Each day in Makkah he collected information about the activities of the Quraysh, and each night he updated the Prophet(ﷺ) and Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) 

Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) ’s slave, Amir bin Fuhayrah , would graze Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) ’s goats near the cave so that both men could drink fresh milk. Early the next morning Amir would drive the goats back to Makkah along the same route that Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) ’s(رضی اللہ عنہ )  son took, to obscure his footprints.

Meanwhile the search party scoured the area south of Makkah where the Prophet(ﷺ) and Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  were hiding. Once the Quraysh even came upon the mouth of the cave, and had they looked down while standing at the edge of the cave, they would surely have found the men they were hunting. With the Quraysh so close to discovering their hiding place, Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  became very tense about the Prophet ﷺ ﷺ’s safety. The Prophet(ﷺ) reassured him, “How can you be apprehensive about two with whom is a third, especially when the third is Allah?”

On the way to Madinah:

 

On the first night of Rabi’ Al-Awwal, Abdullah bin Uraqat Laythi, the guide hired by the Prophet(ﷺ)to take them to Yathrib arrived in the valley of Mount Thawr with Abu Bakr’s (رضی اللہ عنہ )  two camels. Abu Bakr’s (رضی اللہ عنہ )  slave, Amir bin Fahayra, accompanied them. The guide first headed south toward Yemen, and then led the small group westward toward the Red Sea. Before reaching the sea, he veered north toward Yathrib, taking a seldom travelled route.

They journeyed all night and half of the next day. Then they stopped, and the Prophet(ﷺ) rested in the shade beneath a rock. Meanwhile, Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  found a herdsman who let him milk one of his goats. When the Prophet(ﷺ)awoke, Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  gave him fresh milk. Then they pushed ahead.

When the Prophet(ﷺ) and his Companions left Qadid, a man by the name of Suraqa bin Malik bin Ju’shum Madlaji spotted them. He thought he would capture the fugitives and take them back to collect the reward. As he charged ahead on his horse, it suddenly stumbled and he fell to the ground. Being superstitious, he drew an arrow to see how favourable the situation was. The arrow he drew was unfavourable, but, greedy for the bounty, he ignored the omen and mounted the horse again. This time his horse carried him close enough to the fugitives that he could hear theProphet(ﷺ)reciting the Qur’an. Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  nervously looked back, but the Prophet(ﷺ)was unconcerned. This time the forelegs of the horse sank into the sand, and again the rider tumbled to the ground.

Suraqa cursed the horse, and with great difficulty he managed to pull the horse’s legs our of the sand. But when he looked behind, he saw dust rising from the horse’s hoof prints like smoke. He quickly pulled out another arrow to find yet another bad omen. Now he was convinced that he would not be able to capture the Prophet(ﷺ). He then called to the Prophet (ﷺ)and surrendered. The travellers stopped and waited for him to come forward. Suraqa offered them food, but they refused his rations. The Prophet(ﷺ)did however, ask him not to tell the Quraysh of their whereabouts. Suraqa agreed, and asked to be given a letter of safe conduct for future security. The Prophet(ﷺ)asked Amir to write the letter on a piece of tanned leather.

Suraqa then returned toward Makkah. He told all of the bounty hunters he met to go back because he had already searched the area and the fugatives were nowhere to be found.

Arrival in Qubaa:

 

 Fourteen years after becoming a Prophet ﷺ on a Monday, the Prophet(ﷺ)arrived in Qubaa on the outskirts of Yathrib. The people of Yathrib (which was later named Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, the City of Light) had long awaited the Prophet(ﷺ), and each day they would go to Hira and wait for him until the sun became unberable. One day, the people returned to their homes after waiting a long time for the Prophet(ﷺ). A Jew happened to catch a glimpse of a small group of white-robed travellers in the distance. He called out, “O people of Arabia! What you have been waiting for has arrived!” The Muslims lifted their weapons and rushed to greet the Prophet(ﷺ). There was a great trumult as everyone ran to the edge of the desert to catch a glimpse of the travellers. The Prophet(ﷺ) then turned towards the right and came to Banu Amr bin Auf Qubaa. After reaching Qubaa, the Prophet(ﷺ) dismounted and sat in silence. Now those of the Ansar (literally the supporters, the name given to those in Al-Madenah who became Muslim) who had not seen theProphet(ﷺ)thought that Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  was the Prophet(ﷺ) because his hair had turned a little gray. But when they saw Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  shade the Prophet(ﷺ) with a sheet, they realised their mistake. The Prophet(ﷺ) stayed at Qubaa in the house of Kulthoom bin Hadam. Other sources, however say that he stayed in the house of Sa’d bin Khathima. He stayed there for four days, during which time he laid the foundation of Qubaa Mosque. That Friday he left Qubaa with Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  . He sent a message to Banu Najjar, the house of his maternal grandfather, His kinsmen came to Qubaa with their swords hanging from their sides, and joined the Prophet(ﷺ) on his way to Madinah. When he arrived at the settlement of Banu Salim bin Auf, it was time to perform the Friday congregational prayer. The Prophet(ﷺ) led a hundred Muslims in prayer.

The Prophet(ﷺ)enters Madinah 

 

After performing the Friday prayer, the Prophet(ﷺ) and his entourage left for Madinah. Jubilant crowds of men, women and children greeted him, and the narrow lanes of Madinah resounded with their happy voices. Women and children sang their welcome in a song that even now is sung by Muslims in memory of that happy day when, like the full moon, the Prophet(ﷺ)appeared among his people: “The full moon has appeared before us. We must give thanks when called to Allah. You, who have been sent to us, bring commands that will be obeyed.” As the Prophet(ﷺ) rode through the streets of Madinah, people would take hold of his camel’s halter and invite the Prophet(ﷺ) to stay with them. “Let the she-camel go her way,” the Prophet(ﷺ)would say. “She is guided by Allah.” Finally, the shecamel knelt, but the Prophet(ﷺ)did not dismount. The animal rose to its feet again, ambled ahead for some distance, and then turned back and knelt in the same place it had before. The Prophet’s ﷺ  Mosque (Masjid Al-Nabawi) was erected on this very spot.

Many people vied with each other to give shelter to the Prophet(ﷺ), but it was Abu Ayyub Ansari who hurried to lift the saddle from the she-camel and took it to his home. The Prophet(ﷺ) remarked humorously, “A man must follow his saddle,” and went along with Abu Ayyub. Asad bin Zurara took hold of the halter, so he was allowed to take care of the animal. The Ansar chiefs tried to outdo each other in welcoming the Prophet(ﷺ). Each night the Prophet(ﷺ) would receive at least three or four trays of food. Everyone wanted the Prophet(ﷺ) to know that he had found a new home among his followers.

Ali migrates

 

 Back in Makkah, Ali stayed on for three days after the Prophet(ﷺ)left. During this period he settled all of the Prophet’s ﷺ  affairs in Makkah. He then left on foot and met the Prophet(ﷺ)in Qubaa, where he stayed in the house of Kulthoom bin Hadam.

The Prophet’s ﷺ  family migrates 

 

Six months after the Prophet(ﷺ) had settled in Madinah, he sent Zayd bin Haritha and Abu Raf’i to Makkah. They came back with the Prophet’s ﷺ  family: Fatimah, Umm Kulthoom, Sauda, Umm Ayman, and Osama bin Zayd. Abdullah bin Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ )  also accompanied them along with the rest of Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) ’s family, Umm Ruman, Aishah and Asmaa.

The Prophet’s ﷺ  Mosque 

 

Soon after arriving in Madinah, the Prophet(ﷺ) began the process of setting up the first Muslim state. First, he launched the construction of a mosque. He bought the land where his shecamel had knelt down, about one hundred cubits in length and breadth. There were a few graves located on the land which had to be moved, as well as some date trees that had to be replanted. The mosque’s walls were made of earth and unbaked bricks; its roof was made from branches of date-trees, and tree trunks served as columns. Sand and pebbles were spread on the floor. The mosque had three doors and the Qiblah (a niche in the wall where the leader of the prayer stands) was made to face the direction of Bait Al-Maqdis (Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem). The Prophet(ﷺ) worked along with the Muhajireen (the Makkan immigrants) and the Ansar (the Muslims of Madinah) building the mosque. While they carried bricks, rocks and tree trunks, they chanted work songs to make their toil easier. Two apartments were also built near the mosque for the Prophet’s ﷺ wives, Saudah bint Zam’a and Aishah bint Abu Bakr(رضی اللہ عنہ ) , whom the Prophet(ﷺ) married soon after he arrived in Madinah. These apartments were built of stone, mud, and date palms.

The call to prayer

 At last the Muslims had a house of worship all their own. They no longer had to congregate surreptitiously as they had in Makkah at Bait Al-Arqam. In Madinah, they began to perform all five prayers in congregation in the Prophet’s ﷺ mosque. The only problem was that the people were unsure of when each prayer would begin. The Prophet(ﷺ) asked his followers for suggestions on how to solve this problem. Some suggested a shell or conch should be blown. Umar, ever direct, proposed that someone should be appointed to call out loudly, “Prayer is about to begin!” The Prophet(ﷺ) liked Umar’s idea and put it into practice.

Later, however, Abdullah bin Zayd bin Abdu Rabb Al-Ansari had a dream in which he heard a beautiful prayer call. He related his dream to the Prophet(ﷺ), who realised that the dream was meant to be fulfilled. He asked Abdullah to teach the words to Bilal bin Rabah, who had a strong and beautiful voice. Bilal learned the words and called out to the Muslims in Madinah: 

Allah is Most Great! Allah is Most Great! 

I testify that there is no deity except Allah!

 I testify that there is no deity except Allah! 

I testify that Muhammad is the Prophet(ﷺ) of Allah!

 I testify that Muhammad is the Prophet(ﷺ) of Allah!

 Come to the Prayer!

 Come to the prayer! 

Come to the Success! 

Come to the Success! 

Allah is Most Great!

 Allah is Most Great! 

There is no deity except Allah!

When Umar heard the new prayer call, he hurried to the mosque and said, “By Allah, I have heard this call in my dreams.” From that day onward, Muslims gathered at the mosque whenever they heard Bilal make the prayer call.

A new Qiblah

 

 On Sha’ban, 2 A.H., the Qiblah (direction Muslims pray toward) was changed from Bait Al-Maqdis in Jerusalem to the Ka’bah in Makkah. The change was announced by Allah in a verse in the Qur’an. TheProphet(ﷺ)and the sincere Muslims rejoiced over this change. The Hypocrites who had pretended to be Muslims, however, protested the change, and many of them 138 reverted to either Judaism or paganism, thereby purifying the ranks of Muslims.

Brotherhood between the Muhajireen and the Ansar:

 

The Ansar tried to outdo each other in making the Muhajireen comfortable in Madinah and put themselves and their possessions at the service of the newcomers. Their generosity is mentioned in the following Verse of the Qur’an: “The Ansar love the Muhajireen who sought refuge with them, and there is no jealousy in their hearts for what the Muhajireen have been given. The Ansar give the Muhajireen preference over themselves, although they were in need of what the Muhajireen received.” (59: 9)

The Prophet(ﷺ) helped create a strong bond between the forty-five immigrants and their hosts by assigning each immigrant to a particular family in Madinah. Each immigrant, therefore, was declared a member of the family he was assigned to. They were to share each other’s grief and suffering, and they were even allowed to inherit from each other. Later, however, the permission to inherit from each other was abrogated by a verse in the Qur’an limiting inheritance to blood kin.

The brotherhood that was born between the Ansar and Muhajireen was no superficial bond based on sufferance of the Prophet’s ﷺ  instructions, but a deep sense of kinship that is difficult to imagine today. The Ansar felt such a great responsibility for their Makkan protégés that once they even went to the Prophet(ﷺ) and offered to give half of their precious date groves to the Muhajirreen. When the Prophet(ﷺ) would not allow them to do so, they made a second suggestion: “The Muhajireen can do some work in the groves and receive a share of the profits as compensation.” The Prophet(ﷺ) accepted this proposal. Sa’d bin Rab’i was a wealthy Ansari (singular form of Ansar). He was paired with an immigrant, Abdul Rahman bin Auf. Sa’d not only offered Abdul Rahman half of his possessions, but also one of his wives. “I have two wives,” he said. “Tell me who is more pleasing to you and I shall divorce her so that you may marry her.”

Abdul Rahman did not take advantage of his host’s generosity. “May Allah bless your family and your possessions! Just tell me where the market is.” Like most Makkans, he was a skilled merchant, and soon he was able to support himself with his earnings from the market. Shortly thereafter, he married a woman from the Ansar.

REFERENCE:

BOOK: WHEN THE MOON SPLIT FINAL.

Compiled by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri

Edited and Translated by Tabassum Siraj – Michael Richardson Badr Azimabadi