The Hijrah (Emigration to Madinah)
The Emigration to Madinah, 1 AH; start of the Hijri calendar.
Hijri 1 AH (departed 26/27 Safar; arrived Rabi' al-Awwal) CE September 622 CE
The migration of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the Muslims from Mecca to Yathrib/Madinah — the event that begins the Hijri calendar and the Medinan phase of the seerah. The Prophet ﷺ departed on Monday 26/27 Safar and reached the area of Madinah in Rabi’ al-Awwal, September 622 CE, having been one of the last adult Muslims to leave.
The plot at Dar al-Nadwa (EP 027)
Quraysh assembled (representatives of all clans except Banu Hashim and Mut’im); a mysterious old man of Najd — reported to be Iblis — rejected imprisonment and exile. Abu Jahal’s plan prevailed: one youth from every clan would strike together, so the blood would be on all and Banu Hashim could not retaliate (cf. Quran 8:30, “they plot, and Allah plots”). Jibril warned the Prophet ﷺ to leave that night.
- Ali (ra) slept in the Prophet’s ﷺ bed as a decoy (and stayed behind to return the trusts). Per Ibn Ishaq (no isnad — affirmable, not asserted), the Prophet ﷺ walked out reciting Ya-Sin, throwing dust, unseen.
The Cave of Thawr (EP 027–028)
- The Prophet ﷺ went with Abu Bakr (ra) — his companionship affirmed by Allah in the Quran, “the second of two” (9:40) — to Ghar Thawr, south, the opposite direction from Madinah, hiding three days.
- Provisioned by Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr (news), Amir ibn Fuhayra (erasing tracks with sheep), and guided later by Abdullah ibn Urayqit via a back-route.
- When Quraysh reached the cave mouth, Abu Bakr feared; the Prophet ﷺ said, “What do you think of two, whose third is Allah?” The spider’s web is the most authentic of the concealment reports (Musnad Ahmad); the tree and pigeons are weaker.
- Asma bint Abi Bakr tore her belt to bind their provisions — Dhat al-Nitaqayn.
The road to Madinah (EP 027–028)
- Suraqa ibn Malik chased the 100-camel bounty; his horse sank thrice; he sought (and received) a written pledge of safety, and was foretold he would one day wear Kisra’s bracelets — fulfilled under Umar.
- Umm Ma’bad: the Prophet ﷺ milked her barren goat, filling it with milk; she and her husband later accepted Islam, and she left one of the classic physical descriptions of him ﷺ.
- Even in flight he ﷺ gave da’wah and converted others along the way.
Arrival (EP 029–030)
The Ansar waited daily at Quba; a Jew spotted them first — “O Arabs, your king has come!” Over 500 armed Ansar escorted him in. He let his camel choose the site of Masjid al-Nabawi, lodged with Abu Ayyub al-Ansari for ~6 months, and built the mosque first — before his own house.
Significance & the ruling of Hijrah
Hijra to Madinah was fard ayn for that generation until the Conquest of Mecca (“no Hijra after the Conquest”, Bukhari). Quran later rebuked those who stayed behind without excuse (4:97), excusing only the genuinely weak (4:98–99). See Hijrah (Emigration) — the concept & its rulings for the enduring fiqh of living in non-Muslim lands. The Hijra is the supreme case-study in Tawakkul (Reliance on Allah): total preparation, then total trust.
Cross-references
Muhammad ﷺ · Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (ra) · Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) · Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) · Abu Jahal (Amr ibn Hisham) · Cave of Thawr (Ghar Thawr) · Suraqa ibn Malik (ra) · Mecca · Madinah (Yathrib) · Masjid al-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque) · Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (ra) · The Second Pledge of Aqabah (Bay'at al-Aqaba al-Thaniya) · Hijrah (Emigration) — the concept & its rulings · Tawakkul (Reliance on Allah) · The Muhajirun (the Emigrants) · The Ansar (the Helpers of Madinah) · Seerah Timeline
Sources
- S005 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 026–030. Draws on Sahih Bukhari (A’ishah, Anas) & Muslim, Musnad Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Ishaq/Ibn Hisham, al-Baladhuri, Ibn Abd al-Barr, Ibn Kathir.