THE HIJRAH:

After Muhammad had preached publicly for more than a decade, the opposition to him reached such a high pitch that, fearful for their safety, he sent some of his adherents to Ethiopia, where the Christian ruler extended protection to them, the memory of which has been cherished by Muslims ever since. But in Mecca the persecution worsened. Muhammad's followers were harassed, abused, and even tortured. At last, therefore, Muhammad sent seventy of his followers off to the northern town of athrib, which was later to be renamed Medina !"#he City"$. %ater, in the early fall of &'', he learned of a plot to murder him and, with his closest friend, Abu Ba(r al)*iddi+, set off to ,oin the emigrants. -n Mecca the plotters arrived at Muhammad's home to find that his cousin, 'Ali, had ta(en his place in bed. Enraged, the Meccans set a price on Muhammad's head and set off in pursuit. Muhammad and Abu Ba(r, however, had ta(en refuge in a cave where, as they hid from their pursuers, a spider spun its web across the cave's mouth. .hen they saw that the web was unbro(en, the Meccans passed by and Muhammad and Abu Ba(r went on to Medina, where they were ,oyously welcomed by a throng of Medinans as well as the Meccans who had gone ahead to prepare the way. #his was the /i,rah ) anglici0ed as /egira ) usually, but inaccurately, translated as "1light" ) from which the Muslim era is dated. -n fact, the /i,rah was not a flight but a carefully planned migration which mar(s not only a brea( in history ) the beginning of the -slamic era) but also, for Muhammad and the Muslims, a new way of life. /enceforth, the organi0ational principle of the community was not to be mere blood (inship, but the greater brotherhood of all Muslims. #he men who accompanied Muhammad on the /i,rah were called the Muha,irun ) "those that made the /i,rah" or the "Emigrants" ) while those in Medina who became Muslims were called the Ansar or "/elpers." Muhammad was well ac+uainted with the situation in Medina. Earlier, before the /i,rah, the city had sent envoys to Mecca as(ing Muhammad to mediate a dispute between two powerful tribes. .hat the envoys saw and heard had impressed them and they had invited Muhammad to settle in Medina. After the /i,rah, Muhammad's exceptional +ualities so impressed the Medinans that the rival tribes and their allies temporarily closed ran(s as, on March 23, &'4, Muhammad and his supporters moved against the pagans of Mecca. Photo: A colonnade of lofty arches surrounds the courtyard at the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, after Mecca the second holiest city of Islam. #he first battle, which too( place near Badr, now a small town southwest of Medina, had several important effects. -n the first place, the Muslim forces, outnumbered three to one, routed the Meccans. *econdly, the discipline displayed by the Muslims brought home to the Meccans, perhaps for the first time, the abilities of the man they had driven from their city. #hirdly, one of the allied tribes which had pledged support to the Muslims in the Battle of Badr, but had then proved lu(ewarm when the fighting started, was expelled from Medina one month after

the battle. #hose who claimed to be allies of the Muslims, but tacitly opposed them, were thus served warning5 membership in the community imposed the obligation of total support. A year later the Meccans struc( bac(. Assembling an army of three thousand men, they met the Muslims at 6hud, a ridge outside Medina. After an initial success the Muslims were driven bac( and the 7rophet himself was wounded. As the Muslims were not completely defeated, the Meccans, with an army of ten thousand, attac(ed Medina again two years later but with +uite different results. At the Battle of the #rench, also (nown as the Battle of the Confederates, the Muslims scored a signal victory by introducing a new defense. 8n the side of Medina from which attac( was expected they dug a trench too deep for the Meccan cavalry to clear without exposing itself to the archers posted behind earthwor(s on the Medina side. After an inconclusive siege, the Meccans were forced to retire. #hereafter Medina was entirely in the hands of the Muslims. #he Constitution of Medina ) under which the clans accepting Muhammad as the 7rophet of 9od formed an alliance, or federation ) dates from this period. -t showed that the political consciousness of the Muslim community had reached an important point: its members defined themselves as a community separate from all others. #he Constitution also defined the role of non)Muslims in the community. ;ews, for example, were part of the community: they were dhimmis, that is, protected people, as long as they conformed to its laws. #his established a precedent for the treatment of sub,ect peoples during the later con+uests. Christians and ;ews, upon payment of a yearly tax, were allowed religious freedom and, while maintaining their status as non)Muslims, were associate members of the Muslim state. #his status did not apply to polytheists, who could not be tolerated within a community that worshipped the 8ne 9od. Photo: The Ka'bah, spiritual axis of the Muslim world, stands in the courtyard of Mecca's acred Mosque. -bn -sha+, one of the earliest biographers of the 7rophet, says it was at about this time that Muhammad sent letters to the rulers of the earth ) the <ing of 7ersia, the Emperor of By0antium, the =egus of Abyssinia, and the 9overnor of Egypt among others ) inviting them to submit to -slam. =othing more fully illustrates the confidence of the small community, as its military power, despite the battle of the #rench, was still negligible. But its confidence was not misplaced. Muhammad so effectively built up a series of alliances among the tribes his early years with the Bedouins must have stood him in good stead here) that by &'> he and fifteen hundred followers were able to demand access to the <a'bah during negotiations with the Meccans. #his was a milestone in the history of the Muslims. ;ust a short time before, Muhammad had to leave the city of his birth in fear of his life. =ow he was being treated by his former enemies as a leader in his own right. A year later, in &'?, he reentered and, in effect, con+uered Mecca without bloodshed and in a spirit of tolerance which established an ideal for future con+uests. /e also destroyed the idols in the <a'bah, to put an end forever to pagan practices there. At the same time Muhammad won the allegiance of 'Amr ibn al)'As, the future con+ueror of Egypt, and <halid ibn al).alid, the future "*word of 9od," both of whom embraced -slam and ,oined Muhammad. #heir conversion was especially noteworthy because these men had been among Muhammad's bitterest opponents only a short time before.

-n one sense Muhammad's return to Mecca was the climax of his mission. -n &@', ,ust three years later, he was suddenly ta(en ill and on ;une > of that year, with his third wife 'Aishah in attendance, the Messenger of 9od "died with the heat of noon." Photo: !e"out Muslims from all o"er the world #ather for the pil#rima#e to Mecca, for nearly fourteen centuries one of the most impressi"e reli#ious #atherin#s in the world. #he death of Muhammad was a profound loss. #o his followers this simple man from Mecca was far more than a beloved friend, far more than a gifted administrator, far more than the revered leader who had forged a new state from clusters of warring tribes. Muhammad was also the exemplar of the teachings he had brought them from 9od5 the teachings of the Auran, which, for centuries, have guided the thought and action, the faith and conduct, of innumerable men and women, and which ushered in a distinctive era in the history of man(ind. /is death, nevertheless, had little effect on the dynamic society he had created in Arabia, and no effect at all on his central mission5 to transmit the Auran to the world. As Abu Ba(r put it5 ".hoever worshipped Muhammad, let him (now that Muhammad is dead, but whoever worshipped 9od, let him (now that 9od lives and dies not."