Migration (Hijrah)

By the end of the Makkan period, the Prophet (PBUH) lost two people who were dear to him. They were his most affectionate uncle, Abu Talib, and his faithful and loving wife, Khadijah. After their deaths, the Makkans felt free to do what they wanted to impose to the Prophet and his followers. In many Makkah was the Ka'bah (the Holy Mosque), which was built by Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) centuries before as a holy place to worship Allah (SWT), the One. But in the course of time, the place had been converted by unbelievers to the worship of objects other than Allah (SWT). People added to it many tradition of their own. They used to visit this place for a few months in a year for pilgrimage. They came from all parts of Arabia, representing various famous tribes. The pilgrimage, inspite of its religious bearing, constituted for the Arabs a yearly festival where people met and indulge in their cultural activities. The Prophet (PBUH) took this opportunity to spread Islam. Among those who were interested in his call, were a group of people from Yathrib (Madina) in the North of Arabia. They met secretly with the Prophet (PBUH) and a few Muslims from Makkah in a village called `Aqabah. After becoming Muslims, they took an oath of allegiance to protect Islam, the Prophet and the Makkan Muslims. The following year, the group of Muslims from Yathrib came again to Makkah. They met the Prophet (PBUH) at the same place where they previously met. This time, `Abbas bin Abd Al-Muttalib, the Prophet's uncle who was himself not a Muslim yet, was present at the meeting. They invited the Prophet (PBUH) and the Muslims from Makkah to emigrate to Yathrib. They promised to treat them as true brothers and sisters. A long dialogue was held between the Muslims of Yathrib with the Prophet's uncle to make sure that they really wanted to welcome the Makkan Muslims in their town. The Prophet (PBUH) agreed at the end to emigrate to the new land. Upon knowing that, the Muslims had planned to leave Makkah, the Makkan unbelievers tried to stop the immigration but the first group had already migrated to Yathrib. The Makkans had fear that the movement to Yathrib would give the Muslims a new base to spread Islam. Within two months nearly all Muslims of Makkah, except the Prophet, Abu Bakr, Ali and a few helpless people had migrated. The Makkans then decided to kill the Prophet (PBUH). They made a plan for this purpose, but Allah (SWT) had made another plan over them, to quote the Qur'an. With various tactics and a good planning, the Prophet finally arrived peacefully in Yathrib, which was later known as Madinat Ar-Rasul (The city of the Prophet).