The migration of the Prophet Muhammad is one of the key events in Islam, helping the religion spread to new borders in Madinah. The event of the migration when the villagers of Makkah started getting angry with the prophet as he wanted to bring about a new religion of worshiping only the One God (Almighty Allah), adherence to peace, justice, and equality, qualities and beliefs that were not found before in those areas.
The Holy Prophet ﷺwas completely aware of the fact that the people of Makkah were indulged in superstition, prejudice, worshiping man-made idols and had their hearts filled with ignorance and hatred towards the Muslims. Migration to the city of Yathrib (Madinah) was a real struggle for the Prophet ﷺ and for the Muslims of Makkah as well.
It was plain to see that eradicating all evils from the society and spreading Islam required extreme struggle, hardships and sincere sacrifices to save mankind and guide them to the right path. The believers of Allah were facing a lot of trouble from the non-Muslims and it became very hard for them to survive in such an environment.
Allah Almighty’s Permission for Migration
The Prophet ﷺcame to his companion Abu Bakar Siddiq (R.A) and told him about the permission that Allah gave them to migrate from Makkah to Madinah. The people of Makkah had propaganda prepared against the Muslims and the Holy Prophet ﷺ.
On the other hand, these people were also familiar with the nobleness, truthfulness and the trustworthiness of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that they themselves admired. Yet they were convinced to plot against him ﷺ. Thus, it was decided that the Muslims of Makkah will have to migrate to the city of Yathrib (Madinah) to spread the things of the religion to new people and escape from the torture and hardships that the people of Makkah dealt upon them.
Plot to Murder (نَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ) the Prophet (P.B.U.H)
The people of Makkah had decided to kill lنَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ) the Holy Prophetﷺ and had surrounded his ﷺ house before dawn. Allah Almighty revealed on The Prophet ﷺthat he should leave Makkah by the night.
On the basis of this revelation, he ﷺknew what was going to happen, that’s why he ﷺ decided to leave his ﷺ beloved homeland and migrate to Madinah to spread the
teachings of Islam to newer lands.
The Sacrifice of Imam Ali (A.S) for the Prophet (P.B.U.H)
The Prophet ﷺdisclosed the blessed revelation to Imam Ali (A.S) and asked Imam Ali (A.S) to sleep on his bed while he ﷺmigrated to Yathrib (Madinah). Although, Imam Ali (A.S)’s life was on stake but he did not hesitate to do this favor for his beloved Prophet ﷺ and was very delighted to do this for him ﷺ. Imam Ali (A.S) said he had the best sleep on the eve of the night of the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺhijrat to Yathrib (Madinah).
As Allah Almighty was the supporter of the Prophet ﷺ thus, escaping them was not hard for him ﷺ. While coming out of his ﷺ house that night, he ﷺ threw some sand at the men waiting to kill him ﷺ. Meanwhile, Imam Ali (A.S) was lying on the bed and Prophet ﷺ made his journey out from Makkah towards Madinah.
When dawn began, the people who were ready to kill the Holy Prophet ﷺ were waiting for him to come out of the house to pray. But all their efforts and cruel intentions went in vain as they kept waiting but no one came out. Being tired of waiting they rushed inside the house and found Imam Ali (A.S) instead. Upset and outraged, they asked him where was the Holy Prophet ﷺ on which they were told by Imam Ali (A.S) that he ﷺ had left the city while they intended to have cruel intentions about him ﷺ.
The Rest in the Ghar-e-Suhr (the Cave of Suhr) With Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (R.A)
The Holy Prophet ﷺ met his companion Abu Bakar Siddiq (R.A) on the way to Yathrib (Madina) and they both reached Ghar-e-Suhr and resided there for 3 days and nights. Before entering the cave, the Holy Prophet and his companion were chased by the idolaters of Makkah, who intended to capture him.
Here one of the miracles in Islam happened, when one of the idolaters got close to the entrance of the cave, a spider acting on Allah Almighty’s orders spun a weathery and old looking web along its entrance, to make it appear to the pursuer that the cave had not been entered by someone for some time.
During their stay, food was supplied to them by Abu Bakar Siddiq (R.A)’s son and Imam Ali (A.S) visited them on one of the nights. During one of the visits, Imam Ali (A.S) was directed by Prophet ﷺ to pay back all the loans and return all the belongings to the people of Makkah. After dealing with this, they all took off on foot for the migration to Madinah.
