Seerah

1. Session # 10 Seerah

2. Migration of the Prophet 14 th year of Prophet hood

3. When the wicked decision to kill the Prophet had been made, Gabriel (as) was sent down to reveal to the Prophet Quraish’s plot and give him his Lord’s Permission to leave Makkah.

4. Monitoring the Home of Allah’s Messenger

5. To make the necessary preparations for the implementation of their devilish plan, the chiefs of Makkah had chosen eleven men from different tribes.

6. All were on the alert, as night advanced, they posted assassins around the Prophet’s house. Thus they kept vigil all night long, waiting to kill him the moment he left his house early in the morning, peeping now and then through a hole in the door to make sure that he was still lying in his bed.

7. Quran quotes the incident • "And (remember) when the disbelievers plotted against you (O Muhammad (pbuh)) to imprison you, or to kill you, or to get you out (from your home, i.e. Makkah); they were plotting and Allâh too was planning, and Allâh is the Best of the planners." [Al-Qur'an 8:30]

8. Prophet Escapes from the House

9. At that critical time the plans of Quraish utterly failed despite the tight siege they laid to the Prophet’s house. The Prophet and ‘Ali were inside the house. He told ‘Ali to sleep in his bed and cover himself with his green mantle and assured him full security under Allâh’s protection and told him that no harm would come to him. The Prophet then came out of the room and cast a handful of dust at the assassins and managed to work his way through them.

10. He proceeded directly to the house of Abu Bakr, who immediately accompanied him. They both set out southwards, clambered up the lofty peak of Mountain Thawr, and decided to take refuge in a cave.

11. The assassins who laid siege to the house were waiting for the zero hour when someone came and informed them that the Prophet had already left. They rushed in and to their utter surprise, found that the person lying in the Prophet’s bed was ‘Ali not Muhammad. This created a stir in the whole town. The Prophet had thus left his house. 

12. Knowing already that Quraish would mobilize all its potentials to find him, the Prophet played a clever trick on them and instead of taking the road to Madinah at the north side of Makkah, as the polythiest would expect, he walked along a road lying south of Makkah, leading to Yemen. He walked for 5 miles until he reached a rough rocky mountain called Thawr.

13. The Events at the Cave of Thawr

14. Abu Bakr [R] carried him up the mountain to a cave called Cave Thawr. Abu Bakr first entered to explore the cave and be sure that it was safe, closed all holes with pieces torn off from his clothes, cleaned it and then asked the Prophet to step in.

18. The Prophet went in and immediately laid his head in Abu Bakr’s lap and fell asleep. Suddenly Abu Bakr’s foot was stung by a poisonous insect. It hurt so much that his tears fell on the Prophet’s face. The Prophet immediately applied his saliva on Abu Bakr’s foot and the pain went away immediately. They confined themselves to this cave for three nights.

19. Quraish were quite baffled and annoyed when the news of the escape of the two companions was confirmed. They brought ‘Ali to Al-Ka‘bah, beat him brutally and confined him there for an hour attempting desperately to make him reveal the secret of the disappearance of the two ‘fugitives’, but to no avail. They then went to see Asma’, Abu Bakr’s daughter, but here also their attempts went in vain. While at her door Abu Jahl slapped the girl so severely that her earring broke up

20. Makkans convened an emergency session to determine the future course of action and explore all areas that could help arrest the two men. • They decided to block all avenues leading out of Makkah • imposed heavy armed surveillance over all potential exits. • A price of 100 camels was set upon the head of each one.

21. Horsemen, infantry and tracers of tracks scoured the country. Once they even reached the mouth of the cave where the Prophet and Abu Bakr were hiding. When he saw the enemy at a very close distance, Abu Bakr whispered to the Prophet: "What, if they were to look through the crevice and detect us?" The Prophet in his God-inspired calm replied:

22. "Silence Abu Bakr! What do you think of those two with whom the Third is Allâh." • Quran quotes the incident: •  ”when they two were in the cave, when he said unto his comrade: Grieve not. Lo! Allah is with us.” (9:40)

23. On the Road to Madinah

24. After staying three days in the cave, they started their journey to Madinah on camels. • The Prophet, Abu Bakr,‘Amir bin Fuhairahand their guide ‘Abdullah bin Uraiquitdeparted. • The little caravan travelled through many villages on their way to Madinah.

25. Some Interesting and Important Incidents Along the Way

26. Whoever asked Abu Bakr(R) about the identity of his honourable companion, he would reply that he was a man who guided him on his way. • Suraqah bin Malik found them on his way to earn reward on Prophet’s head but Allah showed him signs and he became a believer. • Prophet’s short stay at Umm and Abu Ma’bad’stent and their admiration for the Prophet.

27. Entering Madinah

28. As soon as the news of Muhammad’s arrival began to spread, crowds came flocking out of Madinah . They would come every morning and wait eagerly for his appearance until forced by the unbearable heat of the midday sun to return.

29. Upon hearing the joyful news of his arrival, Muslims immediately rushed to receive him. • The girls of Madinah used to chant beautiful verses of welcome, rich in all meanings of obedience and dutifulness to the new Messenger.

30. Though not wealthy, everyAnsar (Helper) was wholeheartedly eager and anxious to receive the Messenger in his house. everyone saying: "Alight here O Messenger of Allâh, abide by us." Muhammad used to answer everyone courteously and kindly: "This camel is commanded by Allâh, wherever it stops, that will be my abode."

31. The camel moved onward with slackened rein, reached the site of the Prophetic Mosque and knelt down. He did not dismount until it rose up again, went on forward, turned back and then returned to kneel down in the very former spot. • The fortunate host , Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari, was related to the prophet’s maternal tribe, BanuNajjar.

32. A few days later, there arrived the Prophet’s spouse Sawdah, his two daughters Fatimah and Umm Kulthum, Usama bin Zaid, Umm Aiman, ‘Abdullah — son of Abu Bakr with Abu Bakr’s house-hold including ‘Aishah, who was prophet’s wife at that time.

33. Aishah said: "When the Messenger of Allâh arrived in Madinah , both Abu Bakr and Bilal fell ill. I used to attend to their needs. When the fever took firm grip of Abu Bakr he used to recite verses of poetry that smacked of near death; Bilal, when the fit of fever alleviated, would also recite verses of poetry that pointed to clear homesickness."

34. ‘Aishah [R] added: "I briefed the Prophet on their grave situation, and he did dua: O Allâh, we ask You to establish in our hearts a strong love for Madinah equal to that we used to have for Makkah, or even more. • And Allah swt accepted that dua.

35. Here ends this phase of life, completing the phase of Islamic call, that is the Makkan phase