HOW PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH) REACHED MEDINA

REFUTATION OF THE CLAIM THAT THE PROPHET TOOK OVER THE MEDINA AND ENTERED FORCEFULLY

It was the Prophet’s wise practice to meet the delegates of the Arabian tribes by night so
that the hostile Makkans would not debar him from achieving his objectives. In pursuit of
the same objective of spreading the message of Islam, the Prophet and his Companions
passed by Aqabat Mina where they heard people talking. They went at their heels until they
encountered six men from Yathrib (the old name of Medina), all of whom from Khazraj tribe.
Prophet gave them the message of Islam and all of them accepted Islam as the Madinese
(the people of Medina) always heard the Jews say that a Prophet was about to rise.

It was the pilgrimage season in the eleventh year of Prophet Hood. Those six men from
Medina promised to communicate the Message of Islam to their townsfolk.

The following year, on the occasion of the pilgrimage, a group of twelve disciples from
Medina ready to acknowledge Muhammad as their Prophet avowed their faith in Muhammad
[pbuh] as a Prophet and swore: "We will not worship anyone but one Allah; we will not
steal; neither will we commit adultery, nor kill our children; we will not utter slander,
intentionally forging falsehood and we will not disobey you in any just matter." This pledge
was called “The First ‘Aqabah Pledge”.

After the Pledge the Prophet [pbuh] sent to Mus‘ab bin Umair (pbuh) to Medina, the first
Muslim ‘ambassador’ to teach the people there the doctrines of Islam, give them practical
guidance and make attempts at propagating the Islam among those who still professed
polytheism.

As‘ad bin Zurarah hosted him in Medina. So prepared was the ground, and so zealous the
propagation that the Islam spread rapidly from house to house and from tribe to tribe in
Medina.

The next year, thirteenth of Prophet Hood, June 622 A.D., during the pilgrimage season,
over seventy converts from Medina came in the trail of their polytheist people to perform
the rituals of pilgrimage in Makkah. The oft-repeated question amongst them was "Isn’t it
high time we protect Muhammad instead of leaving him forsaken, deserted and
stumbling in the hillocks of Makkah?"

Shortly after arrival, they conducted clandestine contacts with the Prophet [pbuh] and
agreed to meet him secretly at night in mid Tashreeq Days (the 11th, 12th and 13th days of
Dhul Hijja) in a hillock at Al-‘Aqabah, the last year’s meeting place.

They waited for the Messenger of Allah [pbuh] until he came in the company of his uncle
Al-‘Abbas bin ‘Abdul Muttalib who (though himself not a Muslim), adjured us not to draw his
nephew away from the protection of his own kindred unless we were fully prepared to
defend him even at the risk of our lives. He was the first to speak:

"O you people of the Khazraj (the Arabs used to call the Ansâr (Helpers) Khazraj,
whether from Khazraj or Aws), you all know the position that Muhammad holds
among us. We have protected him from our people as much as we could. He is
honored and respected among his people. He refuses to join any party except you.
So if you think you can carry out what you promise while inviting him to your
town, and if you can defend him against the enemies, then assume the burden that
you have taken. But if you are going to surrender him and betray him after having
taken him away with you, you had better leave him now because he is respected
and well defended in his own place."

Ka‘b replied: "We have heard your words, and now O Messenger of Allah, it is for you to
speak and take from us any pledge that you want regarding your Lord and yourself.

The Messenger of Allah then preached the Faith, and the pledge was taken. Al-Imam
Ahmad, on the authority of Jabir, gave the following details: The Ansâr (Helpers) asked the
Messenger of Allah about the principles over which they would take a pledge. The Prophet
answered:
1. To listen and obey in all sets of circumstances.
2. To spend in plenty as well as in scarcity.
3. To enjoin good and forbid evil.
4. In Allah’s service, you will fear the censure of none.
5. To defend me in case I seek your help, and debar me from anything you debar yourself,
your spouses and children from. And if you observe those precepts, Paradise is in store for
you.

This pledge was called “The Second ‘Aqabah Pledge”. And then the prophet migrated to
Medina.

Conclusion:

It is clear that when Islam approached to the people of Medina, they thought that we cannot
leave the prophet in between the prosecutions and dangers of the Quraish in Mecca, so they
took the custody of the prophet and the Muslims, and brought them to Medina. That is why
they are called Ansar, the Helpers.