In the year 622, on the occasion of the annual pilgrimage, about seventy of the converts from Medina arranged to hold a meeting with Mahomet at midnight a few miles from Mecca. The Prophet went thither in the company of his uncle 'Abbās, who was still an unbeliever,[1] but from the heathen public in general the matter was carefully concealed. Mahomet demanded of the Medinese a solemn promise that if he betook himself to their country they would protect him from attack as they would protect their own families. This they all swore to do. As soon as he had secured a place of refuge, the Prophet ordered his Meccan disciples to emigrate to Medina. Attempts were made by the chiefs of the Ḳuraish to prevent the departure of the Muslims, but nearly all succeeded in escaping and reached Medina a few weeks later in small parties. The Prophet himself, with Abū Bakr and Ali, remained behind for a short time, apparently awaiting news as to the manner in which the Emigrants had been received. It is related, on somewhat doubtful authority, that his departure was hastened by a plot to assassinate him in his bed. In any case he left Mecca secretly, accompanied by Abū Bakr, in the summer or early autumn of 622. For a few days they remained hidden in a cave[2] near Mecca, and then proceeded, as rapidly as possible, to Medina. Thus was accomplished the great event known as the Emigration (hijra, distorted by Europeans into hegira), which forms the starting-point of the Muslim era.[3]
On his arrival at Medina the Prophet was welcomed with enthusiasm by a large proportion of the natives; but he did not at once claim the position of a ruler. Those who acknowledged his divine mission could merely promise personal obedience. The people as a whole had not submitted to his authority; they were only his "Helpers" (Anṣār), pledged to defend him, for, according to Arabian notions, a guarantee of protection given by one member of a clan binds all the rest. It was by the gradual extension of his personal influence, not in virtue of any formal agreement, that he succeeded in making himself master of the place. The Meccan "Emigrants" (Muhājirūn) were, of course, entirely
- ↑ The presence of al-'Abbas at this meeting seems at first difficult to explain, since Mahomet was nominally under the protection of Muṭ'im ibn 'Adī. Probably the Medinese were afraid that they might afterwards be accused of having carried off Mahomet by force, and therefore required that some member of his family should be present to testify that the Prophet's departure was voluntary.
- ↑ Koran ix. 40.
- ↑ The Muslim era dates not from the precise moment of the Prophet's emigration but from the beginning of the Arabian year in which the Emigration took place, that is to say, from a point about 6 weeks earlier. Unfortunately, in consequence of the careless manner in which the heathen Arabs kept their calendar, it is not certain when the beginning of this year should be placed. According to the ordinary view, the year began on 16 July A.D. 622, and Mahomet arrived at Medina in the latter half of September; but Wellhausen makes the year begin in April.
