A
New World

The Messenger of Allah r arrived in Yathrib (two hundred and fifty miles
north of Makkah) on Monday, Rabi‘ I, 1 A.H., the fourteenth year of prophethood,
named from that day onward Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah [the Luminous City], the
new world, and the first Muslim State.

There, in his new world, the Messenger of Allah r supplicated for all the emigrants who forsook
their land, homes, families, and wealth for the sake of their faith, and dwelt
in Al-Madinah, saying, “O Allah, make us love Al-Madinah as we love Makkah
or even more.”1
“O Allah, bestow on Al-Madinah twice the blessings You bestowed on Makkah.”2

Prophet Muhammad r
had spent thirteen years in Makkah before Allah U
ordered him and his followers to immigrate to Al-Madinah, due to the growing
opposition of the Quraish and the receptive attitude shown by some Yathrib
pilgrims to Makkah at that time.

Ibn ‘Abbas t said, “The
Messenger of Allah r
started receiving the Divine Revelation at the age of forty. He r stayed in Makkah for
thirteen years receiving the Divine Revelation. Then he r was ordered to
emigrate, and he r
immigrated to Al-Madinah and lived there for ten years. Then he r died at the age of
sixty-three.”3

The Prophet of Islam r still had another ten
years of struggle ahead of him, a message to convey outside Makkah, a Muslim
State to build, new challenges to meet, one victory after another to achieve, and
an Ummah of Muhammad r that follows his
example until the Last Hour.

The
Six Youths

It all started with six youths from the
Khazraj tribe in Yathrib, who came to Makkah during the Hajj season in the
eleventh year of prophethood.

The Prophet r used to come out at
night to invite the tribes to Islam, as a counteraction to the enmity of the Quraish
and their debarring people from the Way of Allah.

The Prophet r
came out one night in the company of Abu Bakr t and ‘Ali t.
When he passed by ‘Aqabat Mina, he heard some men talking, so he r went to them. They
were: ‘As‘ad bin Zurarah, ‘Awf bin Al-Harith, Rafi‘ bin Malik, Qutbah bin
‘Amir, ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir, and Jabir bin ‘Abdullah.

The Messenger of Allah r
approached them and asked, “Who are you?”

They said, “A company from Khazraj.”

He r said, “From the allies of the Jews?”

They said, “Yes.”

He r said, “Would you sit down so that I can
talk to you?”

They said, “Yes.”

At that time the people of Yathrib always heard the Jews in
their land say, whenever some conflict arose between them, that a Prophet was
about to rise whom they would follow, and along with him they would exterminate
them as the people of ‘Ad and Iram had been exterminated.

The Messenger of Allah r explained to the youths the truth of Islam and its message, then
invited them to believe in Allah U and recited for them the Noble Qur’an. The
youths said to one another, “O people! You know, by Allah this is the Prophet
whom the Jews ever threaten you with. Do not let them precede you to him.”
They believed in the Messenger’s Call and embraced Islam.

The youths from Yathrib
spoke to their Messenger r of their land, which had been ravaged by civil
wars fought with unabated violence between the two tribes of Aws and Khazraj.
They expressed their hope that his Message would bring an end to war and unite
their people. They said, “We have left our people and there is not worse
enmity and evil between any people than that between them. We hope that Allah
unites them through you. We shall go to them and invite them to your cause, and
present to them this religion which we have accepted from you. If Allah unites
them through it, no man shall be dearer than you.”

The youths returned to Al-Madinah full of faith, and conveyed
the Message of Islam until there was hardly a house in Al-Madinah that was not
talking about the Messenger of Allah r.4

The
First ‘Aqabah Pledge

In the following Hajj season, the
twelfth year of prophethood, twelve men came from the Ansar (the
Supporters). Five among them were the six who had met the Prophet r the year before, and the other seven were: Mu‘adh
bin Al-Harith, Dhakwan bin ‘Abd Qais, ‘Ubadah bin As-Samit, Yazid bin
Tha‘labah, Al-‘Abbas bin ‘Ubadah bin Nadalah, Abul Haitham bin At-Taihan, and ‘Uwaim
bin Sa‘idah.

The last two were Aws and all the
rest from Khazraj. They met the Messenger of Allah r at Al-‘Aqabah in Mina to
give him their pledge of allegiance.

The Messenger of Allah r,
surrounded by a group of his Companions on the night of the ‘Aqabah
Pledge, said, “Give me your pledge of allegiance that you will not associate
anything with Allah, that you will not steal, that you will not commit Zina
(sexual intercourse outside marriage), that you will not kill your children,
that you will not bring forth a slander you fabricate between your hands and
feet, and that you will not disobey what is right. Whoever among you fulfills
this (pledge), his reward is due from Allah. Whoever commits anything of this and
is punished in this world, it shall be for him an expiation. And whoever
commits anything of this and Allah shields him (i.e. covers his sin), his
matter will rest with Allah: if He so wills, He will pardon him; and if He so
wills, He will punish him.”

‘Ubadah bin As-Samit t said, “So we pledged
allegiance to him for these (conditions).”5

After swearing allegiance, the Messenger of Allah r sent Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair t, the first Muslim
ambassador, to Yathrib (Al-Madinah) with the pledgers to teach the people there
the laws of Islam, recite the Qur’an for them, instruct them in religion, and
propagate Islam.

Mus‘ab stayed in the house of ‘As‘ad bin Zurarah t,
calling people to Islam until every house of the Ansar sheltered
under its roof Muslim men and women.6

The
Second ‘Aqabah Pledge

The
Muslims in Yathrib anxiously asked themselves, “Until when
shall we leave the Messenger of
Allah r to be pursued in the mountains of Makkah?” They decided that it was time to stand by the
Messenger of Allah r, body and soul.

Jabir bin ‘Abdullah t said, “The
Messenger of Allah r stayed in Makkah for ten years7, following the people to their homes in ‘Ukaz
and Mijannah (markets) and during the (Hajj) seasons in Mina, while saying, ‘Who
will shelter me? Who will support me until I deliver the Message of my Lord and
for him will be (the reward of) Paradise?’
It went as far as any man traveling from Yemen or Mudhar being warned
against him by their people, who would come to the travelers and say, ‘Beware
of the lad of Quraish. Let him not deceive you.’ He r used to walk among
their men with fingers pointed at him until Allah sent us to him from Yathrib.
We sheltered him and believed in him. Any man who set out from us believed in
him, and he r
taught him the Qur’an. Then he would return to his family who would embrace
Islam by his Islam, until there no longer remained a house of the Ansar
that did not have inside it a group of Muslims who championed Islam. Then people
consulted together and we said, ‘Until when shall we leave the Messenger of Allah r to be
pursued in the mountains of Makkah and afraid?’ Upon that, seventy men from among us
departed and came to him during the (Hajj) season. They arranged to meet
him at the mountain pass of Al-‘Aqabah.”8

In the thirteenth year of
prophethood (one year after the First ‘Aqabah Pledge) during the Hajj season, over seventy Muslims
from Yathrib came to Makkah, among them two women: Nusaibah bint Ka‘b and Asma’
bint ‘Amr.

After a third of the night had elapsed, they secretly gathered
at the mountain pass near Al-‘Aqabah and waited for the Messenger of Allah r until he came accompanied by his uncle, Al-‘Abbas bin ‘Abdul
Muttalib t.

Although his uncle still followed the religion of the Quraish,
he wanted to be assured of his kindred’s safety. He was the first to speak and
said, “He (Muhammad r)
insists on siding with and joining you. If you think you can fulfill for him
what you have invited him to and you will defend him against his opponents,
assume the responsibility which you have taken. And if you think that you may
surrender him and desert him after he r has departed with
you, you had better leave him from now, because he is honored and well defended
by his people and town.”9

Musnad Imam Ahmad reported that Al-‘Abbas t further said, “Let your spokesman speak and be
brief, for the Mushrikin keep a sharp eye on you. If they learn about
you, they will expose you.”

Abu Umamah ‘As‘ad bin Zurarah, their speaker, said, “Ask, O
Muhammad, for your Lord whatever you wish, then ask for yourself and your
companions whatever you wish, then tell us the reward due to us from Allah U and you if we do this.”

He r said, “I ask for
my Lord, the Exalted and the Glorious, that you worship Him (Alone) and
associate nothing with Him. I ask for myself and my Companions that you shelter
us, support us, and defend us against whatever you defend yourselves.”

They asked, “What shall we have if we do this?”

He r
said, “Yours shall be Paradise.”

They said, “You have that.”10

In response, Allah U revealed11: (Verily, Allah has
purchased from the believers their lives and their properties; for (the price)
that theirs shall be the Paradise.)12