Part 61

There he prayed the Prayers which now consist of four rak'ahs with two rak'ahs. Then when he migrated to al-Madeenah the travellers Prayer remained like that, whilst the Prayer of the resident was increased. Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, ordered His Prophet Muhammad to migrate to al-Madeenah since the people of Makkah prevented him from giving his call. So in the month of Rabee'ul-Awwal of the thirteenth year of Messengership the Prophet reached al-Madeenah. He migrated from Makkah, the land where the Revelation first came down and the most beloved land to Allaah and His Messenger. He left Makkah migrating with the permission of his Lord after calling the people in Makkah for thirteen years, propagating the Revelation sent to him by his Lord and calling to that upon clear proof. But from most of Quraysh and from their leaders he received nothing but rejection, renunciation, and severe harm at their hands for himself and those who believed in him. Then the matter reached the stage that they were prepared to carry out their treacherous plan to kill the Prophet. Their heads gathered in Daarun-Nadwah to consult one another about what should be done with Allaah's Messenger. They saw that his Companions had migrated to al-Madeenah and that he would be sure to join them and thus find the help and the assistance of the Ansaar - those who had given their pledge to him that they would defend him just as they would defend their own sons and womenfolk. So if this were to come about, then a great force would have been established against Quraysh. This being the situation the enemy of Allaah Aboo Jahl put forward the idea that each tribe should choose one strong youth, gather them, give each youth a sharpened sword, and that together they should attack Muhammad and strike at him together. In doing so they would be free of him. Furthermore responsibility for shedding his blood would be shared equally amongst the tribes, so that Banoo ' Abd Manaaf - the kinsfolk of the Prophet, would be unable to fight against all of them to exact revenge. Therefore they would have to be pleased with accepting blood-money which could be given to them. So Allaah informed His Prophet of what the mushriks intended to do, and He granted him permission to migrate to al-Madeenah. Aboo Bakr, radiyallaahu 'anhu, had previously prepared to migrate to al-Madeenah, but the Prophet had told him to wait as he himself hoped for permission to migrate. So Aboo Bakr, radiyallaahu 'anhu, remained in order to accompany the Prophet. ’Aai'shah, radiyallaahu 'anhaa, said: "So whilst we were in the house of Aboo Bakr at the time of the heat of midday, Allaah's Messenger came knocking at the door. So Aboo Bakr said: 'May my mother and father be a ransom for him, by Allaah, something serious must have caused him to come at this hour.' So the Prophet entered, and said to Aboo Bakr: "Cause whoever is with you to leave." So he said: "It is just your family (wife) - may my father and mother be ransom for you." So the Prophet said: "Permission has been given to me to depart." So Aboo Bakr said: "Am I to accompany you, O Messenger of Allaah?" He replied: "Yes." He said: "O Messenger of Allaah, then take one of these two riding beasts of mine." So the Prophet said: "With payment." So Allaah's Messenger departed along with Aboo Bakr, and they remained in a cave of the mountain of Thawr for three nights. 'Abdullaah ibn Abee Bakr who was an intelligent and alert youth used to stay with them during the nights and then return to Makkah towards the end of the night in order to be amongst Quraysh during the daytime. So he would not hear anything spoken about the Prophet and his companion except that he would remember it, and then when night fell he would go and report it to them. So Quraysh began to search everywhere for the Prophet and strove to capture him by any means. They even declared that anyone who brought them, or one of them would receive the reward of his blood-wit - of a hundred camels. But Allaah was with them, protecting and guarding them. The Quraysh even stood at the entrance to the cave but did not see the two of them. Aboo Bakr, radiyallaahu 'anhu, said: I said to the Prophet when we were in the cave: "If one of them were to look down towards his feet he would see us." So he replied "Do not be distressed, for Allaah is with us. What do you think, 0 Aboo Bakr, of two when the third is Allaah." So when the search was relaxed a little the two of them left the cave, after three nights, and headed towards alMadeenah by the coastal route. So when the people of al-Madeenah, the Muhaajirs and the Ansaar, heard that Allaah's Messenger had left Makkah they began to go out every morning to the volcanic lava plain to await the arrival of Allaah's Messenger and those who accompanied him. So they would only return to their houses when the heat of the sun drove them back.