The Hijrah — Migration to Madinah
Suggest editIntroduction: The Turning Point of History
The Hijrah (هجرة) — the migration of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his Companions from Makkah to Madinah in 622 CE — is the most pivotal event in early Islamic history. It marks the boundary between the Makkan and Madinan periods of revelation, the transition from a persecuted minority community to a nascent state, and the founding of a society governed by divine revelation. The Islamic lunar calendar (al-hijri) takes its starting point from this event — not from the birth of the Prophet ﷺ or the first revelation, but from the Hijrah — because the Companions recognized it as the moment when the Muslim ummah as a community formally began.
The Context: Persecution in Makkah
The thirteen years of the Makkan period were characterized by severe persecution of the early Muslim community. Enslaved Companions like Bilal ibn Rabah, Ammar ibn Yasir, and his parents Yasir and Sumayyah were tortured for their faith; Sumayyah is recognized as the first martyr in Islam. The Quraysh boycotted the Prophet's clan, the Banu Hashim, for three years — a period of severe deprivation in which the community was confined to a mountain pass outside Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ himself was mocked, pelted with refuse, and physically harmed. The year 619 CE — known as the "Year of Grief" — saw the deaths of both his wife Khadijah and his uncle and protector Abu Talib, removing his two most important sources of emotional and social support. When attempts to find alternative patrons in Taif failed — the Prophet ﷺ was driven out by the city's inhabitants and pelted with stones — the migration became a necessity.
The Night of Migration
Allah gave permission for the Hijrah after the Ansar (the people of Madinah) had pledged their allegiance to the Prophet ﷺ at the Second Pledge of Aqabah in 621 CE. The Quraysh, learning of the planned migration, hatched a plot to assassinate the Prophet ﷺ — sending representatives from each tribe so that the blood-guilt would be spread across all of them, preventing reprisal from the Banu Hashim. The Quran records that Allah thwarted this plan: "And when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you, they were plotting and Allah was planning. And Allah is the best of planners" (8:30). The Prophet ﷺ instructed Ali ibn Abi Talib to sleep in his bed and return the property entrusted to him to its owners — an act that demonstrated the Prophet's ﷺ continued honesty even with his enemies — then slipped out of the house at night. He and Abu Bakr hid in the Cave of Thawr for three days while the Quraysh searched for them. It was in this cave that Abu Bakr expressed fear, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us" (9:40).
The Journey and the Arrival in Madinah
After three days, the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr set out south, then turned north along the Red Sea coast to avoid the main routes, guided by the skilled tracker Abdullah ibn Urayqit. The journey took approximately fourteen days. Their arrival in Madinah was met with extraordinary joy. The people of Madinah — both the Ansar (the Helpers, the Madinans who had pledged allegiance) and the Muhajirun (the Emigrants from Makkah) who had preceded the Prophet ﷺ — came out to greet him. Children and women reportedly sang in celebration. The Prophet ﷺ first stopped at Quba, where he established the first mosque in Islamic history — the Mosque of Quba, whose prayer carries a reward equivalent to Umrah according to hadith (Tirmidhi). He then entered the city of Madinah and famously allowed his camel to choose the site for his mosque — the site of the Masjid al-Nabawi, the Prophet's Mosque, which remains one of the holiest sites in Islam.
The Significance of the Hijrah
The Hijrah was not merely a physical relocation but a theological and sociological revolution. In Madinah, the Prophet ﷺ established the Sahifat al-Madinah (the Constitution of Madinah), a remarkable document creating a formal agreement among the Muhajirun, the Ansar, and the Jewish tribes of Madinah — establishing mutual obligations, rights, and a framework for governance. The Prophet ﷺ created the brotherhood (mu'akhat) between the Muhajirun and the Ansar — pairing each emigrant with a Madinan host who shared their wealth and welcomed them as family. This act of structured solidarity built the social foundation for the Muslim community. In Madinah, revelation continued with the major legislative revelations: the obligation of Zakah, fasting in Ramadan, the Hajj, and the detailed rulings of Islamic law. The Hijrah is thus the moment when Islam became not only a faith but a complete way of life with a communal, legal, and political dimension.