|Date||Thursday 17 June — Friday 2 July 622 Julian calendar|
|Also known as||The Flight of Muhammad; The Migration; Hijrah; Hijra|
|Participants||Muhammad and his followers|
|Outcome||Renaming Yathrib as "the City (of the Prophet)" (Medina);
Enmity between the Aus tribe and Khazraj tribes ended;
Muhammad made political leader and united the new Muslims
The Hegira or Hijrah (Arabic: هِجْرَة), also romanized as Hijra and Hejira, is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina, in the year 622 CE. In June 622 CE, after being warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly left his home in Mecca to emigrate to Yathrib, 320 km (200 mi) north of Mecca, along with his companion Abu Bakr. Yathrib was soon renamed Madīnat an-Nabī, literally "the City of the Prophet", but an-Nabī was soon dropped, so its name is "Medina", meaning "the city".
The Hegira is also often identified erroneously with the start of the Hijri calendar which was set to Julian 16 July 622.
The first Hegira is dated to 615 or Rajab (September-October) 613 when a group of Muslims counseled by Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca arrived at the court of a Christian king, the Negus in Ethiopia (who ruled Abyssinia at the time). Muhammad himself did not join this emigration. In that year, his followers fled Mecca's leading tribe, the Quraysh, who sent emissaries to Ethiopia to bring them back to Arabia. The nascent movement faced growing opposition and persecution. When Muhammad and his followers received an invitation from the people of Yathrib, they decided to leave Mecca.
In Mecca, at the pilgrimage season of 620, Muhammad met six men of the Khazraj tribe from Medina, propounded to them the doctrines of Islam, and recited portions of the Quran. Impressed by this, the six embraced Islam, and at the Pilgrimage of 621, five of them brought seven others with them. These twelve informed Muhammad of the beginning of gradual development of Islam in Medina, and took a formal pledge of allegiance at Muhammad's hand, promising to accept him as a prophet, to worship none but one God, and to renounce certain sins such as theft, adultery, and murder. This is known as the "First Pledge of al-Aqaba". At their request, Muhammad sent with them Mus`ab ibn `Umair to teach them the instructions of Islam. Biographers have recorded the considerable success of Mus`ab ibn `Umair in preaching the message of Islam and bringing people under the umbrella of Islam in Medina.
The next year, at the pilgrimage of 622, a delegation of around 75 Muslims of the Aws and Khazraj tribes from Medina came, and in addition to restating the formal promises, they also assured Muhammad of their full support and protection if the latter would migrate to their land. They invited him to come to Medina as an arbitrator to reconcile among the hostile tribes. This is known as the "Second Pledge of al-`Aqaba", and was a 'politico-religious' success that paved the way for his and his followers' immigration to Medina. Following the pledges, Muhammad encouraged his followers to migrate to Medina, and in a span of two months, nearly all the Muslims of Mecca migrated to Medina.
During the early seventh century, Medina was inhabited by two types of population: the Jews and the pagan Arabs. The Jews there had three principal clans – Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Nazir, and Banu Qurayza. The Arab pagans had two tribes – Aws and Khazraj. At that time, the Jews there had the upper hand with their large settlement and huge property. Before the encounter between Muhammad and the six men from Medina in 620, there ensued a terrible battle between Aws and Khazraj, known as the Battle of Bu'ath, in which many leading personalities of both the sides died and left Yathrib in a disordered state. Traditional rules for maintaining law and order became dysfunctional, and, without a neutral man with considerable authority over things, stability seemed unlikely. As the pagan Arabs of Medina lived in close proximity of the Jews, they had gained some knowledge about their scriptures,and had heard the Jews awaiting the arrival of a future prophet. It is because of this knowledge, taken together with their need for an adjudicator, that the six men who met Muhammad at the pilgrimage season of 620 readily accepted his message, lest the Jews should steal a march over them.
According to Muslims tradition, when he received divine direction to depart from Mecca, Muhammad began taking preparation and informed Abu Bakr of his plan. On the night of his departure, Muhammad's house was besieged by men of the Quraysh who planned to kill him in the morning. At the time, Muhammad possessed property of the Quraysh given to him in trust, so he handed it over to Ali and directed him to return it to its owners, and asked him to lie down on his bed assuring him of God's protection. It is said that when Muhammad emerged from his house, he recited the ninth verse of sura Ya-Seen of the Quran and threw a handful of dust at the direction of the besiegers, causing the besiegers to be unable to see him. Soon Muhammad joined Abu Bakr, left the city, and the two took shelter in a cave outside the city. Next morning, the besiegers were frustrated to find Ali in Muhammad's place. Fooled and thwarted by Muhammad's plan, they rummaged the city in search for him, and some of them eventually reached the threshold of the cave, but success eluded them. When the Quraysh came to know of Muhammad's escape, they announced heavy reward for bringing Muhammad back to them, alive or dead. Unable to resist this temptation, pursuers scattered in all directions. After staying for three days, Muhammad and Abu Bakr resumed their journey and were pursued by Suraqa bin Malik. But each time he neared Muhammad's party, his horse stumbled and he finally abandoned his desire of capturing Muhammad. After eight days' journey, Muhammad entered the outskirts of Medina around June 622 CE, but did not enter the city directly. He stopped at a place called Quba', a place some miles from the main city, and established a mosque there. After a fourteen-days' stay at Quba', Muhammad along with Abu Bakr continued their migration to Medina, participated in their first Friday prayer on the way, and upon reaching the city, were greeted cordially by its people.
Dates of events
The Muslim year during which the Hegira occurred was designated the first year of the Islamic calendar by Umar in 638 or 17 AH (anno hegirae = "in the year of the Hegira"). The following table lists the dates of various events of Muhammad's Hegira as mentioned by Fazlur Rehman Shaikh and F.A. Shamsi in their works. It should be noted that Fazlur Rehman in his work has listed other dates for the arrival of Muhammad in Quba', as proposed by modern scholars, ranging from 31 May 622 to 22 November 622.
|Day||Julian and Islamic dates
by F. A. Shamsi
|Julian and Islamic dates
by Fazur Rehman Shaikh
|9 September 622
26 Safar AH 1
|17 June 622
1 Rabi' al-Awwal AH 1
|conference of the Quraysh leaders and Muhammad's departure from Mecca|
1 Rabi' al-Awwal
5 Rabi' al-Awwal
|departure from the Cave of Thawr|
8 Rabi' al-Awwal
12 Rabi' al-Awwal
|arrival in Quba'|
12 Rabi' al-Awwal
16 Rabi' al-Awwal
|entry into Yathrib (Medina)|
22 Rabi' al-Awwal
|finally settles in Medina|
Al-Biruni alone is in disagreement with Alvi, Ibn Sa'd, Abu Ja'far and Ibn Hisham on the above dates. The hypothetical dates in the retro-calculated Islamic calendar extended back in time differ from the actual dates as they were on the Julian Calendar. Annual celebration of the Hegira has long been assigned to 1 Muharram, the first day of the Muslim year, causing many writers to confuse the first day of the year of the Hegira with the Hegira itself, erroneously stating that the Hegira occurred on 1 Muharram AH 1 (which would be 19 April 622 in Fazlur Rehman Shaikh's system) or even the hypothetical Gregorian date from retro-calculating 26 Rabi' I in AH 1 to 16 July 622 (not to be confused with Julian 16 July 622, the retro-calculated start date for of the regular Hijri calendar system) even though the first visit to Medina for Friday prayers actually occurred on 16 Rabi' I (i.e., 2 July 622).
Thus it is important to remember that whenever the tabular Islamic calendar invented by Muslim astronomers is extended back in time it changes all these dates by about 88 days or three lunar months as the first day of the year during which the Hegira occurred, 1 Muharram AH 1, would be mistaken from Monday 19 April 622 to Friday 16 July 622. The Muslim dates of the Hegira are those recorded in an original lunisolar Arabic calendar that were never converted into the purely lunar calendar to account for the three intercalary months inserted during the next nine years until intercalary months were prohibited during the year of Muhammad's last Hajj (AH 10).
The Islamic prophet Muhammad's followers suffered from poverty after fleeing persecution in Mecca and migrating with Muhammad to Medina. Their Meccan persecutors seized their wealth and belongings left behind in Mecca.
Beginning in January 623, some of the Muslims resorted to the tradition of raiding the Meccan caravans that traveled along the eastern coast of the Red Sea from Mecca to Syria. Communal life was essential for survival in desert conditions, as people needed support against the harsh environment and lifestyle. The tribal grouping was thus encouraged by the need to act as a unit. This unity was based on the bond of kinship by blood.[clarification needed] People of Arabia were either nomadic or sedentary, the former constantly traveling from one place to another seeking water and pasture for their flocks, while the latter settled and focused on trade and agriculture. The survival of nomads (or Bedouins) was also partially dependent on raiding caravans or oases, thus they saw this as no crime.
According to Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar), a modern Islamic hagiography of Muhammad written by the Indian Muslim author Safi ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, Muhammad ordered the first caravan raid led by Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib (Muhammad's uncle) seven to nine months after the Hegira. A party of thirty to forty men assembled at the seacoast near al-Is, between Mecca and Medina, where Amr ibn Hishām (Abu Jahl), the leader of the caravan was camping with three hundred Meccan riders.
- Shaikh, Fazlur Rehman (2001). Chronology of Prophetic Events. London: Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd. pp. 51–52.
- "Dates of Epoch-Making Events", The Nuttall Encyclopaedia. (Gutenberg version)
- Mahomet is an archaism used for Muhammad... See Medieval Christian view of Muhammad for more information.
- Moojan Momen (1985),An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism, Yale University Press, New edition 1987, p. 5.
- F. A. Shamsi, "The Date of Hijrah", Islamic Studies 23 (1984): 189-224, 289-323 (JSTOR link 1 + JSTOR link 2).
- Fazlur Rehman Shaikh (2001). Chronology of Prophetic Events. London: Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd. pp. 91
- Sell, Edward (1913). The Life of Muhammad (PDF). Madras: The Christian Literary Society for India. p. 70. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- Holt, P. M.; Lambton, Ann K. S.; Lewis, Bernard (2000). The Cambridge History of Islam. Cambridge University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-521-21946-4.
- Shibli Nomani. Sirat-un-Nabi. Vol 1. Lahore
- Khan (1980), p.70
- Holt, Lambton, and Lewis (2000), p. 40
- Sell (1913), p. 71.
- Hitti, Philip Khuri (1946). History of the Arabs. London: Macmillan and Co. p. 116.
- Holt, et al (2000), p. 40
- Khan (1980), p. 73.
- Sell (1913), p. 76.
- Holt, et al (2000), p. 39
- Holt, et al (2000), p. 39-40
- Ibn Kathir (2001). Stories of the Prophet: From Adam to Muhammad. Mansoura: Dar Al-Manarah. p. 389. ISBN 977-6005-17-9.
- "Ya-Seen Ninth Verse". Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- Muir (1861), vol. 2, p.258-9
- Al Mubarakpuri, Safi ur Rahman (2002). "On the Road to Madina". Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum-The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet. Darussalam. ISBN 9960-899-55-1. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
- Caussin de Perceval writing in 1847 as reported in 1901 by Sherrard Beaumont Burnaby, Elements of the Jewish and Muhammadan calendars (London: 1901) 374–5.
- John Esposito, Islam, Expanded edition, Oxford University Press, p.4-5
- Watt (1953), pp. 16-18
- Loyal Rue, Religion Is Not about God: How Spiritual Traditions Nurture Our Biological,2005, p.224
- Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar (Free Version), p. 127.
- Mubarakpuri, When the Moon Split, p. 147.
- Haykal, Husayn (1976), The Life of Muhammad, Islamic Book Trust, pp. 217–218, ISBN 978-983-9154-17-7
- Hawarey, Dr. Mosab (2010). The Journey of Prophecy; Days of Peace and War (in Arabic). Islamic Book Trust. Book contains a list of battles of Muhammad in Arabic. English version here
|Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Hejira.|