al-Awwal 8, the 14thyear of Prophethood )corresponding to September
23, 622 CE( at noon.Quba' lies at a distance of a few miles from
Al-Madeenah and was generally taken as the locality of Al-Madeenah. It
was largely inhabited by Banu Amr bin Auf)an Arabic tribe( who had
already been enlightened by Islam. A few days before the departure of
the Prophetfrom Makkah, the news of his anticipated arrival in
Al-Madeenah was in the air. The "Ansar" )Supporters of the Prophet( of
Al-Madeenah would come out of their dwellings early in the morning and
kept waiting till noon everyday. Thus, when the Prophet "" arrived at
Quba' at noon, they had already gone back after waiting for sometime.
A certain Jew who was watching the crowds of Muslims coming out of
their settlement as if they were waiting for someone knew that
Muhammadwas approaching from Mecca. This Jew was then, by chance,
upstairswhen he witnessed the small caravan moving into Quba';
guessing it to be the caravan of the Prophethe cried at the top of his
voice: "O people of Arabia, O those taking rest at noon, there has
come your objectof love." Having heard this call, the people rushed
out of their dwellings and waves of joy gripped the whole atmosphere
ofQuba'. Hewas emerging froman orchard of dates. Bearing in mind that
the people might fall into confusion regarding the identification of
the ProphetAbu Bakrdrew himself back and shaded the Prophetwith his
mantle, thus making a clear distinction between the Prophet and the
companion.
The Prophetwas now entering Quba' and the young girls of the "Ansar"
were reciting in great fervor and boundless joy:
"On the hillside whence caravans are given a send-off,
The full moon comes up in the day.
All the while Allaah is praised.
We had better return ourthanks
The noble one, O you sentto us,
You have brought binding commands."
Building the Quba' Mosque
The Prophetentered Quba' onMonday and stayed there until Friday.
Hestayed in the houseof Khulthum bin Hadm while Abu Bakrstayed with
Habeeb bin Asaf. He would hold his assemblies in the house of Sa'd bin
Khaithamahand the people visited him at the same place. During this
short stay in Quba', he laid the foundation of amosque, which is the
first mosque ever built after the advent of Islaam. On Friday, the
12thof Rabi al-Awwal, heleftQuba' and made his entry to Al-Madeenah.
He was still in Quba'when Ali bin Abu Talibcame and joined him. Alihad
made this long and arduous journey on foot. While the Prophetwas
staying in Quba', Aliwho had been busy returning the deposits of the
people to their rightful owners )in Mecca( was blessed with the honor
of joining the Prophet. He had left Makkah at about the time the
Prophetwas leaving the cave of Thaur. But since he was traveling by
himself, Alimade his movements during the night and kept himself
hidden in the day. The Prophet "" avoided busy roads and reached Quba'
in eight days, while Ali undertook the journey by the well-known
routes, but was late by three or four days because of being on foot.
Entry into Al-Madeenah
Taking the leave of the people of Quba' and Banu Amr bin Auf)Banu
means tribe( on Friday, the Prophetmoved forward to make his stay in
Al-Madeenah. Every household of each locality expressed its strong
desire that the Prophetshould stay with them. He was in the locality
of Banu Saalim bin Auf when the time for Friday )jumu'ah( prayer drew
near. The Prophet "" led the prayer in the locality of Banu Saalim bin
Auf in a field with about a hundred men behind him. This was the first
Friday prayer of the Prophet "" in Al-Madeenah and the first time the
Friday sermon)Khutbah( was ever delivered. Later on, a mosque was
built at that place.
After offering the Friday prayer, the Prophet "" mounted his
she-camel. Banu Saalim bin Auf approached him and took hold ofhis
she-camel's rein requesting that he stay with them. People ofother
tribes and localities also came in groups and made the same request.
This led to a clash of words, which ended when the Prophet "" said to
one and all: "Let her go her way. She is guided by Allaah. I shall
stop where the animal sits down." The"Ansar" and
"Muhajireen")emigrants( followed the she-camel on all sides. He set
the reins loose and the she-camel moved ahead slowly. All eyes were
focused on the animal, and they were eagerly waiting for it to kneel
down.
When the she-camel entered the locality of Banu Biyadah, Ziyad
binLabid and Urwah bin Amrthe chieftains of the tribes wanted totake
hold of the reins but the Prophet "" forbade them saying: "Leave her
for she has already been commanded." Then,the she-camel stepped into
the locality of Banu Sa'idah and Sa'd bin Ubadah and Mundhir bin
Amrthe chieftains of Banu Sa'idahmade the same attempt but received
the same words from the Prophet. After this, she reached the locality
of Banu Al-Harith bin Al-Khazraj, and Sa'd bin Ar-Rabi', Kharijah bin
Zaid andAbdullah bin Rawahahstepped forward to stop her but received
the same reply. From there the she-camel made an entry into the
locality of Banu Adibin An-Najjar. Since Abdul Muttalib's mother,
Salma bint Amr, belonged to this clan, they made their claim for the
Prophetto stop there. Thus Salit bin Qais and Asirah bin Abu Kharija,
the chieftains of Banu Adi, took hold of the reins but heaskedthem to
leave it for the animal had prior instructions for herself. At last
the she-camel arrived at the locality of Banu Malik bin An-Najjar and
knelt down in a deserted and bare land for a while and then got up and
advanced a little, only to turn back and be seated on the same spot
again. This time she shook herself and then laid down on her neck
wagging her tail.
Close to this unpopulated land was the house of Abu Ayub Khalid bin
Zaid Ansari. He rushed to the spot with his face beaming with joy and
took the belongings of the Prophetto his house. Thus hestayed with him
in his house. The deserted land was the property of two orphan boys
Sahl and Suhail. It had a few date trees, some graves of polytheists
and a resting spot for herds of cattle."Who is the owner of this
land?" The Prophetenquired. Mu'adhbin Afra responded, "This piece
ofland belongs to two orphan boys related to me, and I take care of
them; I shall make them agree, you may take it for building a mosque."
But the Prophetasserted, "I want to buy it, and will not take it
without paying itsprice." Abu Bakr made the payment at once. With the
order of the Prophetthe date trees were cut, the graves leveled, and
the construction work of the mosque was started then and there. The
Prophetjoined the builders. The walls of the mosquewere constructed
with stone andclay, the roof with wood and leaves of the date palm.
Until his house was built, the Prophetcontinued to live with Abu Ayub
Ansarifor six months and a few days.
The mosque built during the timeof the Prophetsaw no changebefore the
caliphate of Umar. During his caliphate, it underwent an expansion for
the first time. Uthman bin Affanstrengthened it. During the time of
Walid bin Abdul-Malikit saw more expansion with the inclusion of the
dwellings of the noble wives of the Prophet.
The Prophetwas in the houseof Abu Ayub Ansari when he sent Zaid bin
Harithath and Abu Rafi tobring Fatimah, Umm Kulthum, Saudah bint
Zam'ah, Usamah bin Zaid and his mother, as well as Umm Aiman. Talha
bin Ubaidullah, along with Abdullah bin Abu Bakr, and his relatives,
also accompanied them. After the arrival of these people, the
Prophetmoved into his newly built home.
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