Islam and Islamic History:
The Hijrah (Migration)
After Muhammad had preached publicly for more than a decade,
the opposition to him reached such a high pitch that, fearful for their safety,
he sent some of his adherents to Ethiopia, where the Christian ruler extended
protection to them, the memory of which has been cherished by Muslims ever
since. But in Mecca the persecution worsened. Muhammad's followers were
harassed, abused, and even tortured. At last, therefore, Muhammad sent seventy
of his followers off to the northern town of Yathrib, which was later to be
renamed Medina ("The City"). Later, in the early fall of 622, he
learned of a plot to murder him and, with his closest friend, Abu Bakr
al-Siddiq, set off to join the emigrants.
In Mecca the plotters arrived at Muhammad's home to find that
his cousin, 'Ali, had taken his place in bed. Enraged, the Meccans set a price
on Muhammad's head and set off in pursuit. Muhammad and Abu Bakr, however, had
taken refuge in a cave where, as they hid from their pursuers, a spider spun its
web across the cave's mouth. When they saw that the web was unbroken, the
Meccans passed by and Muhammad and Abu Bakr went on to Medina, where they were
joyously welcomed by a throng of Medinans as well as the Meccans who had gone
ahead to prepare the way.
This was the Hijrah - anglicized as Hegira - usually, but
inaccurately, translated as "Flight" - from which the Muslim era is
dated. In fact, the Hijrah was not a flight but a carefully planned migration
which marks not only a break in history - the beginning of the Islamic era- but
also, for Muhammad and the Muslims, a new way of life. Henceforth, the
organizational principle of the community was not to be mere blood kinship, but
the greater brotherhood of all Muslims. The men who accompanied Muhammad on the
Hijrah were called the Muhajirun - "those that made the Hijrah" or the
"Emigrants" - while those in Medina who became Muslims were called the
Ansar or "Helpers."
Muhammad was well acquainted with the situation in Medina.
Earlier, before the Hijrah, the city had sent envoys to Mecca asking Muhammad to
mediate a dispute between two powerful tribes. What the envoys saw and heard had
impressed them and they had invited Muhammad to settle in Medina. After the
Hijrah, Muhammad's exceptional qualities so impressed the Medinans that the
rival tribes and their allies temporarily closed ranks as, on March 15, 624,
Muhammad and his supporters moved against the pagans of Mecca.
Photo: A
colonnade of lofty arches surrounds the courtyard at the Prophet's Mosque in
Medina, after Mecca the second holiest city of Islam.
The first battle, which took place near Badr, now a small town
southwest of Medina, had several important effects. In the first place, the
Muslim forces, outnumbered three to one, routed the Meccans. Secondly, the
discipline displayed by the Muslims brought home to the Meccans, perhaps for the
first time, the abilities of the man they had driven from their city. Thirdly,
one of the allied tribes which had pledged support to the Muslims in the Battle
of Badr, but had then proved lukewarm when the fighting started, was expelled
from Medina one month after the battle. Those who claimed to be allies of the
Muslims, but tacitly opposed them, were thus served warning: membership in the
community imposed the obligation of total support.
A year later the Meccans struck back. Assembling an army of
three thousand men, they met the Muslims at Uhud, a ridge outside Medina. After
an initial success the Muslims were driven back and the Prophet himself was
wounded. As the Muslims were not completely defeated, the Meccans, with an army
of ten thousand, attacked Medina again two years later but with quite different
results. At the Battle of the Trench, also known as the Battle of the
Confederates, the Muslims scored a signal victory by introducing a new defense.
On the side of Medina from which attack was expected they dug a trench too deep
for the Meccan cavalry to clear without exposing itself to the archers posted
behind earthworks on the Medina side. After an inconclusive siege, the Meccans
were forced to retire. Thereafter Medina was entirely in the hands of the
Muslims.
The Constitution of Medina - under which the clans accepting
Muhammad as the Prophet of God formed an alliance, or federation - dates from
this period. It showed that the political consciousness of the Muslim community
had reached an important point; its members defined themselves as a community
separate from all others. The Constitution also defined the role of non-Muslims
in the community. Jews, for example, were part of the community; they were
dhimmis, that is, protected people, as long as they conformed to its laws. This
established a precedent for the treatment of subject peoples during the later
conquests. Christians and Jews, upon payment of a yearly tax, were allowed
religious freedom and, while maintaining their status as non-Muslims, were
associate members of the Muslim state. This status did not apply to polytheists,
who could not be tolerated within a community that worshipped the One God.
Photo: The
Ka'bah, spiritual axis of the Muslim world, stands in the courtyard of Mecca's
Sacred Mosque.
Ibn Ishaq, one of the earliest biographers of the Prophet,
says it was at about this time that Muhammad sent letters to the rulers of the
earth - the King of Persia, the Emperor of Byzantium, the Negus of Abyssinia,
and the Governor of Egypt among others - inviting them to submit to Islam.
Nothing more fully illustrates the confidence of the small community, as its
military power, despite the battle of the Trench, was still negligible. But its
confidence was not misplaced. Muhammad so effectively built up a series of
alliances among the tribes his early years with the Bedouins must have stood him
in good stead here- that by 628 he and fifteen hundred followers were able to
demand access to the Ka'bah during negotiations with the Meccans. This was a
milestone in the history of the Muslims. Just a short time before, Muhammad had
to leave the city of his birth in fear of his life. Now he was being treated by
his former enemies as a leader in his own right. A year later, in 629, he
reentered and, in effect, conquered Mecca without bloodshed and in a spirit of
tolerance which established an ideal for future conquests. He also destroyed the
idols in the Ka'bah, to put an end forever to pagan practices there. At the same
time Muhammad won the allegiance of 'Amr ibn al-'As, the future conqueror of
Egypt, and Khalid ibn al-Walid, the future "Sword of God," both of
whom embraced Islam and joined Muhammad. Their conversion was especially
noteworthy because these men had been among Muhammad's bitterest opponents only
a short time before.
In one sense Muhammad's return to Mecca was the climax of his
mission. In 632, just three years later, he was suddenly taken ill and on June 8
of that year, with his third wife 'Aishah in attendance, the Messenger of God
"died with the heat of noon."
Photo: Devout
Muslims from all over the world gather for the pilgrimage to Mecca, for nearly
fourteen centuries one of the most impressive religious gatherings in the world.
The death of Muhammad was a profound loss. To his followers
this simple man from Mecca was far more than a beloved friend, far more than a
gifted administrator, far more than the revered leader who had forged a new
state from clusters of warring tribes. Muhammad was also the exemplar of the
teachings he had brought them from God: the teachings of the Quran, which, for
centuries, have guided the thought and action, the faith and conduct, of
innumerable men and women, and which ushered in a distinctive era in the history
of mankind. His death, nevertheless, had little effect on the dynamic society he
had created in Arabia, and no effect at all on his central mission: to transmit
the Quran to the world. As Abu Bakr put it: "Whoever worshipped Muhammad,
let him know that Muhammad is dead, but whoever worshipped God, let him know
that God lives and dies not."
The above article was reproduced with permission of
IslamiCity (http://www.islamicity.com)