wonderful memory honored by many annually. But, itis only the wise who
recognize itsfull magnanimity: as a victory for the believers and
their escape from a life of injustice and subjugation to a free and
respectable one. It marked a newphase in the struggle between Islam
and disbelief, and between truth and falsehood, hence only fit to
signify the start of the Muslim calendar.
And for us to appreciate it so, we must go back in history more than
ten centuries, to the thirteenth year after Muhammad, , was given the
mission of Prophethood. It was a time whenMuslims were permitted to
leave Makkah and escape persecution; many succeeded, managing to
overcome the obstacles put in their way by Quraysh, to hinder them
from reaching Yathrib (the former name of Madeenah). When they
arrived, they found their brothers from the Ansaar (their supporters
among the locals) welcoming them warmly, opening up their hearts and
homes to them. That greatly boosted their morale, so much sothat only
a few believers remained in Makkah, and only because they were
oppressed or captured.
Sensing their vulnerability, the Quraysh believed the situation could
only be restored if they managed to prevent the emigration of the
Prophet, , by any means possible.
As a result, conspirators secretly agreed to eliminate him, , before
he was able to leave for refuge in Madeenah. On a Thursday of the
month of Safar , the disbelievers assembled at Daar -un-Nadwah to
decide on the best course of action. One suggestion expressed the
necessity of killing the Prophet, , while others advocated either
imprisonment or exile.
However, the consensus was to murder him in a manner that the tribe of
the Prophet, , Banu Haashim, could not retaliate. Their strategy was
to handpick the best young man from all the tribes of Quraysh and
order them to strike the Prophet, , simultaneously with their swords,
so that every clan would be culpable for the crime. Clearly, Banu
Haashim could not engage them all in battle and would be obliged to
only accept blood money as settlement. Allaah The Almighty mentions
this, Saying (what means): {And [remember, OMuhammad], when those who
disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict
you [from Makkah]. But they plan,and Allaah plans. And Allaah is the
best of planners.} [Quran 8:30]
The Quraysh, however, were unaware that Allaah The Almighty had
already given permission for the Prophet, , to emigrate; so, while
they were still weaving their plots, he was preparing to travel to
Madeenah. While disguised as a necessary precaution, he, , went to the
house of Abu Bakr unusually at the noon, to inform him of theorder to
depart Makkah imminently.
Fearing that he would not be blessed to accompany the Prophet, , Abu
Bakr sought permission to travel with him and was granted it. He shed
tears of joy; he hired a non-Muslim man from Banu Ad-Dayl, called
'Abdullaah ibn Urayqit, to take care of two camels he had preemptively
readied for the journey and bring them to him three nights later at
the Thawr cave. His daughters, 'Aa'ishah and Asmaa̓ prepared all the
necessary gear and supplies, and put food in a container. Asmaa̔ would
later be known as "the one with two waistbands", as she would tear her
waistband in half, tying abundle of food on one end and a water skin
container on the another, to take to the two travelers.
Then, the awaited moment arrived and the Prophet, , andAbu Bakr set
out to leave through the backdoor of the house. Before that, he, ,
ordered 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib to stay behind in order to return to
people possessions they had entrusted to him. He, , also told the
young man to lie down in his bed, wearing his clothes, inorder to
stymie Quraysh.
Hence, the Prophet, , and Abu Bakr succeeded in evading the
disbelievers, who did not even notice they had left until thefollowing
morning, when 'Ali ibn Taalib emerged from the house. Enraged, they
surrounded him, asking him about the Prophet, , but he pretended to be
astonished and unaware of his whereabouts.
Knowing that Abu Bakr was the confidante of the Prophet, , they rushed
to his house to extract information, only to find he had left, too.
They questioned Asmaa̓ about her father, butshe feigned ignorance. So,
Abu Jahl, one of the chiefs of Quraysh, became enraged and slapped her
face, cutting her ear with her earring in the process.
Having been stonewalled, the Quraysh exerted all their efforts to hunt
down the two men, placing everyone in Makkah underclose surveillance
and announcing a valuable prize for anyone who caught the Prophet, ,
dead or alive. They commissioned experts in tracking and rushed north
in the hope of finding any trail of the Prophet, .
However, the Prophet, , had already outdone them, by having cleverly
taken an unfamiliar and indirect route to Madeenah. He, , headed
south, threading through rugged mountains till hereached an
inaccessible cave called Thawr , where he stayed with Abu Bakr until
the hunt simmered down.
However, a massive manhunt led the Quraysh to that very cave and they
drew quite near to its entrance, so much so that Abu Bakr could hear
their footsteps; so, he whispered to the Prophet, : "What if they were
to look through the crevice and spot us?" Filled with trust and
confidence in the promise of Allaah The Almighty (to protect him and
His Message), the Prophet, , calmly replied: "AbuBakr! What do you
think [can happen to] two with whom the Third is Allaah?"
Needless to say, the firm belief of the Prophet, , in Allaah The
Almighty was verified; the Quraysh ruled out the possibility of them
being anywhere near that place and left without having achieved any
success.
On to Madeenah
The Prophet, , stayed three nights in the cave of Thawr , during which
he received daily reports of the non-believers in Makkah, from
'Abdullaah ibn Abi Bakr . Another man, 'Aamir ibn Fuhayrah, would hide
his trailwhen he would bring sheep, so the Prophet, and Abu Bakr could
drink some milk. Then, at the appointed time, 'Abdullaahibn ̓Urayqit
brought the camels, as per the agreement.
On a Monday night in the month of Rabee'ul-Awwal , the Prophet, , and
Abu Bakr headed to Madeenah, taking the coastal route. They rode all
day long, andAbu Bakr rode with the Prophet, , beside, in front
andbehind him, shielding him continuously, fearing the Qurayshwould
attack. At noon, they stopped to rest, taking shelter behind a huge
rock. Abu Bakr evened the place out for the Prophet, , to lie down. In
the meantime, a shepherd, driving his herd, seemed to be heading their
way; when he came closer, Abu Bakr asked: "Who is your master?" The
slave boy replied: "I am a slave of a master from Makkah." He
inquired: "Do your sheep have milk? " The boy answered in the
affirmative, so Abu Bakr milked some for theProphet, , who was able to
quench his thirst.
However, danger lurked, as a disbeliever had caught a glimpse of the
Prophet, , from afar. Hehastened to Makkah and told people of two
figures he spotted riding on their camels, along the coast. One man,
Suraaqah ibn Maalik, realized he was right to assume they must have
been Muhammad, , and his Companion, but convinced the informant
otherwise, so he couldclaim the prize money for himself. He stayed for
an hour, then sneaked away, so he would not call the attention of
anyone. He took his spear and rushed on his horse to where he thought
the Prophet and his Companion were.
But, when he drew close, his horse stumbled and he fell to theground.
He briefly considered it an ill omen, before mounting his ride again
and rushing forward, only for his horse to trip once more. Suraaqah
became apprehensive, but his desire for the prize money made him
overlook his reservations. But, when he came closer to the Prophet, ,
his horse's hooves sank into the sand until it came to its knees and
smoke rose frombetween them; that is when he realized that the men he
was pursuing were being protected by Allaah The Almighty. Therefore,
he asked them for security (fearing Muslims would take revenge for his
action), promising not to divulge their whereabouts. The Prophet, ,
wrote him a note, granting him that and Suraaqah, on his part,
fulfilled his promise and diverted any other person in pursuit of
theProphet, , to look elsewhere, concealing his location, until he
safely approached Madeenah.
On their way, the Prophet, , and his Companion also stopped at the
tent of Umm Ma'bad and asked her for some food. She, however, had
nothing to offer, but a dry boney goat. So,the Prophet, , took it,
touched its udders, invoked the blessings of Allaah The Almighty and
miraculously milked it. And, as they all drank from the milk, this
remarkable incident led Umm Ma'bad and her husband to embrace Islam.
For all its difficulties, the journey finally came to a good end, with
the Prophet, , reaching Madeenah safely, where he was received by the
many Companions who had previously emigrated from Makkah and by his
Muslim brothers who were hosting him in their city.
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