The Migration (Hijrah) Of Prophet Muhammad

By end of the Makkan period, the Prophet 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 death , the Makkan felt free to do what they wanted to do to the Prophet and his followers . In Makkah there is the Ka'bah, which was built by the Prophet Ibrahim centuries before as a holy place to worship Allah , the One. But in course of times, the place had been converted by unbelievers to worship object other than Allah. People added to it many traditions 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, in spite of its religious norm, constituted for the Arab a yearly festival where people met and indulged in their cultural activities. The Prophet took this opportunity to spread Islam. Among those who were interested to his call, were a group of people from Yathrib in the North of Arabia. They met secretly with the Prophet and a few Muslims from Makkah in a village called' Aqabah . After being 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 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 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 agreed at the end to make a mass exodus to the new land. On learning the Muslims had planned to leave Makkah, the Makkan unbelievers tried to stop the exodus but the first group had already migrated to Yathrib. The Makkans had feared that the migration to Yathrib would give the Muslims a new base to spread Islam. Within two months nearly all Muslims from Makkah, except the Prophet, Abu Bakr, Ali and a few helpless people had migrated. The Makkans then decided to kill the Prophet. They made a plan, but Allah had made another plan over them, to quote the Quran . With various tactics and a good planning, the Prophet finally arrived peacefully in Yathrib which was later known as Madinah Ar - Rasul ( The city of the Prophet ).