A major milestone in the history of Islam is the decision by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him - ﷺ) to migrate from Makkah to Media, then called Yathrib. The decision was not easy or entirely by the prophet himself, but it was rather forced upon him due to the ever increasing treacheries of the non believers of Makkah since the open proclamation of Islam by the prophet. The poor newly converted Muslims were the main target of the non believers who where and when found were subjected to extreme torture and their house ransacked.
In the meantime, there was a parallel development taking place in the city of Yathrib in the form of power politics. The state of unrest was mainly due to a long ongoing dispute between the local Arabs and the Jews, which had resulted into many bloody clashes costing precious lives. Thus a delegation from Yathrib elders visited Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) in Makkah and requested him to be their arbitrator to bring peace to the community.
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) thus decided to migrate to Yathrib to find him a breathing space away from the hostile non believers of Makkah and thus asked his followers to slowly and gradually to head for Yathrib.
The non believers came to know of plan of migration of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and decided to assassinate him before he too left. They thus planned the raid on the night before move of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). Sensing the danger, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) had already left his cousin Ali ibn Talib and surreptitiously left Makkah along with his trusted friend and companion Abu Bakr. The presence of Ali in the house of the prophet frustrated the non believers and they sent out armed horsemen to follow Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and his companion on the route to Yathrib.
By dawn Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr had reached a cave called Thawr and decided to take shelter in there to avoid detection. They stayed there for three days. One day one of the armed teams reached the mouth of the cave and both Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and his companions could hear their voices outside. This rather scared Abu Bakr, but at that time Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) assured him of Allah's protection and said: “How can you be apprehensive about two with whom is a third, especially when the third one is Allah (ﷻ)?” And true to assurance of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the team after some time retracted and went back.
Unknown to both, Allah (ﷻ) had sent a spider that built its web on the mouth of the cave and a pair of doves came and made a nest near the cave mouth and laid eggs. The armed team when saw these two signs thought no one could have entered the cave from the intact web and disturbing the doves. The miracle of Allah thus saved the two.
The episode of Thawr is mentioned in Qur'an as under:
If ye help not (your leader), (it is no matter): for Allah did indeed help him, when the Unbelievers drove him out: he had no more than one companion; they two were in the cave, and he said to his companion, “Have no fear, for Allah is with us”: then Allah sent down His peace upon him, and strengthened him with forces which ye saw not, and humbled to the depths the word of the Unbelievers. But the word of Allah is exalted to the heights: for Allah is Exalted in might, Wise.“ [Surah Al Taubah 9:40]
Once reassured of their safety, the prophet and his companion left of Yathrib on the fourth day. Back in Yathrib, the Muslims who had earlier migrated from Makkah along with locals eagerly waited for the prophet. They would queue up at the mouth of Makkah - Yathrib route awaiting for their revered guests.
Upon their arrival, they were greeted by the locals and everyone wanted the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) to stay with them. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) who was riding his white camel "Qiswa" said that whereever her camel stops, he would stay with that household. The camel kept wandering in the streets followed by the crowd wanting to know who the blessed host of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) would be. Finally the camel sat in front of the house one Abu Ayub Ansaari. Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) stayed with his host till his abode was ready and shifted there.The house of Abu Ayub Ansaari is part of Masjid e Quba.
The life at Yathrib and the later part of life of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) will be covered in the next post.
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