political early-islam

Hijrah (Migration to Medina)

622 CE (September)

The migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, escaping persecution and establishing the first Islamic community. This event was so pivotal that it marks Year 1 of the Islamic calendar, transforming Islam from persecuted minority to established polity and launching a new phase of history.

The Context in Mecca

Persecution Intensifies

Early Years in Mecca (610-622 CE):

  • Muhammad preached monotheism for 12 years
  • Called Meccans to abandon idols
  • Challenged tribal gods and economic system (pilgrimage to idols profitable)
  • Met with mockery, then hostility, then violence

Escalating Opposition:

  • Quraysh leaders opposed message
  • Threatened clan system (Islam emphasized ummah over tribe)
  • Economic threat (Kaaba pilgrimage)
  • Social boycott of Muslims
  • Physical persecution of followers
  • Torture of slaves who converted

The Year of Sorrow (619 CE):

  • Khadijah (Muhammad’s wife) died
  • Abu Talib (protective uncle) died
  • Muhammad lost personal and political protection
  • Persecution worsened
  • Situation in Mecca untenable

The Plot to Kill Muhammad

Quraysh Conspiracy:

  • Leaders from each clan selected one young man
  • All would strike Muhammad simultaneously
  • Blood guilt spread among all clans
  • Banu Hashim (Muhammad’s clan) couldn’t seek revenge from all
  • Planned for night Muhammad would migrate

Divine Warning:

  • Allah informed Muhammad of plot (Quran 8:30)
  • “When the disbelievers plotted against you to imprison you, or to kill you, or to evict you”
  • Commanded to leave Mecca
  • Escape plan enacted

The Migration

Preparation

The Pledge of Aqabah:

  • Men from Yathrib (later Medina) met Muhammad at Hajj
  • Invited him to their city
  • Pledged protection and support
  • First Pledge (621 CE): Small group
  • Second Pledge (622 CE): 73 men and 2 women
  • Agreed to accept Muhammad as arbiter of disputes

Why Medina?:

  • City torn by tribal warfare (Aws and Khazraj tribes)
  • Needed neutral mediator
  • Jewish tribes present (more familiar with monotheism)
  • Agricultural economy (more stable than trade-dependent Mecca)
  • Opportunity for Islamic community to establish itself

Muslims Begin Migrating:

  • Muhammad sent followers ahead in small groups
  • Avoided suspicion
  • Over 70 families migrated
  • Called Muhajirun (emigrants)
  • Left behind property, homes, livelihoods

The Escape

The Night of Hijrah:

  • Assassins surrounded Muhammad’s house
  • Ali (cousin) slept in Muhammad’s bed as decoy
  • Wore Muhammad’s green cloak
  • Muhammad slipped out unseen

With Abu Bakr:

  • Muhammad’s closest companion accompanied him
  • Left Mecca at night
  • Headed south (opposite direction from Medina) to throw off pursuers
  • Hid in Cave of Thawr

Cave of Thawr:

  • Small cave in mountain south of Mecca
  • Stayed three days
  • Quraysh searched for them
  • Pursuers came to cave entrance

The Spider and Dove (traditional account):

  • Spider spun web across cave entrance
  • Dove nested there
  • Pursuers saw web and nest, assumed no one inside
  • Miracle or natural providence?
  • Divine protection

Abu Bakr’s Fear:

  • Worried they’d be found
  • Muhammad reassured: “Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us”
  • Quran 9:40: “If you do not aid him, Allah has already aided him when those who disbelieved drove him out…when they were in the cave…when he said to his companion, ‘Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us‘“

The Journey

To Medina:

  • After three days, headed north
  • Traveled away from main routes
  • Guide led them through desert paths
  • About 250 miles
  • Journey took 8-14 days (accounts vary)

Arrival at Quba:

  • Stopped at Quba, outskirts of Medina
  • Muhammad’s camel (named Qaswa) led the way
  • Built first mosque (Masjid Quba)
  • Stayed few days

Entry to Medina:

  • Arrived on Monday, 12 Rabi’ al-Awwal (September 24, 622 CE)
  • Greeted with joy and celebration
  • People lined streets
  • Young girls sang: “The full moon rose over us from the valley of Wada’…”
  • Various clans invited Muhammad to stay with them
  • Let his camel decide where to stop
  • Built mosque where camel knelt (site of Prophet’s Mosque/Masjid al-Nabawi)

Establishing the Community

The Constitution of Medina

First Written Constitution:

  • Charter between Muslims, pagan Arabs, Jews
  • Defined rights and duties
  • Established ummah (community) transcending tribes
  • Muhammad as final arbiter of disputes
  • Religious freedom guaranteed
  • Collective defense agreement
  • Revolutionary political document

Key Principles:

  • Muslims form one ummah regardless of tribe
  • Jews and Muslims mutual allies
  • All parties defend Medina together
  • Muhammad settles disputes
  • Individual religious freedom
  • Collective political unity

Brotherhood (Muakhat)

Pairing Emigrants and Helpers:

  • Muhajirun (emigrants from Mecca): Left everything
  • Ansar (helpers in Medina): Welcomed them
  • Muhammad paired each emigrant with helper
  • Shared homes, property, livelihood
  • Created bonds stronger than kinship
  • Economic and social integration

Building the Mosque

Masjid al-Nabawi:

  • Muhammad’s camel stopped at date-palm grove
  • Belonged to two orphan boys
  • Muhammad purchased land
  • Muslims built mosque together
  • Simple structure: palm trunks, clay, stones
  • Became center of community
  • Prayer, education, governance, justice
  • Muhammad’s house adjacent

New Society

Changed Calendar:

  • Year 1 AH (After Hijrah): 622 CE
  • New era begins
  • Time measured from Hijrah, not Muhammad’s birth or first revelation
  • Shows event’s centrality

Changed Qibla:

  • Initially prayed toward Jerusalem (like Jews)
  • Later, command to face Kaaba in Mecca
  • Symbol of distinct identity
  • Honoring Abraham’s house

New Laws Revealed:

  • Many Medinan surahs about community, law, governance
  • Prayer, fasting, charity, Hajj regulations
  • Marriage, divorce, inheritance laws
  • Criminal justice, warfare ethics
  • Building complete religious-political system

Theological Significance

From Weakness to Strength

Meccan Period:

  • Persecution, mockery, powerlessness
  • Message of patience, perseverance, afterlife
  • Spiritual focus, moral reform
  • No political power

Medinan Period:

  • Community, authority, political entity
  • Message of law, governance, jihad (struggle/warfare)
  • Social legislation
  • Islamic state emerges

Trust in Allah

Quran 9:40 Lesson:

  • “Allah is with us” - Divine presence
  • Even in cave, surrounded by enemies
  • Trusting God’s plan
  • Providence in seeming defeat

Brotherhood Transcending Tribe

Radical Concept:

  • Faith over blood
  • Ummah over clan
  • Universal community vs. tribal loyalty
  • Arab culture: tribe was everything
  • Islam: Belief created new family

The Islamic Calendar

Hijri Calendar:

  • Lunar calendar
  • Year 1 AH = 622 CE
  • Based on Hijrah, not Muhammad’s birth or first revelation
  • Shows Hijrah’s importance
  • Community establishment more significant than individual events
  • Islam as political-social reality, not just religion

Current Year (as of 2024 CE):

  • Approximately 1446 AH
  • Lunar year ~11 days shorter than solar
  • Hijri years gain on Gregorian gradually

Historical Significance

Birth of Islamic State

Before Hijrah:

  • Islam was religious movement
  • Persecuted minority
  • No political authority
  • Spiritual message only

After Hijrah:

  • Islamic polity established
  • Governance system
  • Territory controlled
  • Complete civilization emerging

Changed History

Immediate Impact:

  • First Muslim city-state
  • Base for expansion
  • Safe haven for believers
  • Center of new civilization

Long-term Impact:

  • Within century, empire from Spain to India
  • Islamic civilization flourished
  • Preserved and advanced knowledge
  • Shaped world history fundamentally

Christian and Jewish Perspectives

Christian View:

  • Historical event acknowledged
  • Political rather than spiritual significance from Christian view
  • Beginning of Islam as distinct religion
  • Not seen as divine mission

Jewish Perspective:

  • Historical migration acknowledged
  • Initial relations with Muhammad mixed (some supported, some opposed)
  • Later conflicts (Battle of Khaybar, etc.)
  • Different theological understanding

Modern Observance

Islamic New Year:

  • 1 Muharram (first month)
  • Marks beginning of Hijri year
  • Commemorates Hijrah
  • Public holiday in many Muslim countries
  • Quieter than other celebrations (reflective, not festive)

Lessons Emphasized:

  • Sacrifice for faith
  • Trust in Allah
  • Community over individual
  • Patience in adversity
  • Strategic wisdom

Significance

The Hijrah was more than a journey; it was a revolution. When Muhammad left Mecca under cover of night, hiding in a cave while assassins searched for him, Islam was a persecuted minority. When he arrived in Medina to joyous celebration, Islam became a community, a polity, a civilization.

The spider’s web across the cave entrance—whether miracle or providence—symbolizes how the fragile became strong, how the hunted became protected, how divine plan transcends human plots. “Do not grieve; Allah is with us,” Muhammad told the fearful Abu Bakr. And Allah was with them—in the cave, on the journey, in Medina, and through the centuries that followed.

Hijrah means more than migration. It means sacrifice, leaving comfort for faith, choosing Allah over everything. The Muhajirun left property, homes, families, livelihoods. The Ansar shared everything with strangers. Together they built a society where faith mattered more than tribe, where brotherhood transcended blood, where an ummah replaced jahiliyyah.

The Hijrah marks Year 1 not because it was the first revelation (that was 610) or Muhammad’s birth (570) or his death (632). It marks the moment Islam stopped being just an idea and became a reality—a community, a state, a way of life comprehensive and complete.

From Medina, Islam would spread. Within ten years, Muhammad would return to Mecca victorious. Within a century, Islamic empire would stretch from the Atlantic to China. Within centuries, Islamic civilization would preserve Greek philosophy, advance mathematics, transform architecture, revolutionize science while Europe stumbled through its dark ages.

All because one man fled Mecca in the night, hid in a cave for three days, journeyed through the desert, and arrived in an oasis city where people sang “The full moon rose over us.” The moon that rose that day has never set. The Hijrah that began in 622 CE continues wherever Muslims establish community, practice faith, and choose Allah over all.

One migration changed history. One journey launched a civilization. One decision to trust Allah and move forward despite danger transformed the world.

The Islamic calendar doesn’t count from creation, or from a prophet’s birth, or from a revelation. It counts from the Hijrah. Because that’s when Islam truly began—not as message alone, but as community, as polity, as way of life. Year 1. Everything starts here. The migration that made history.