12.1
ʿAbd al-Razzāq, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, narrating a report from ʿUrwah:
When the Muslims increased in number and the faith became manifest, the Pagans from the infidel Quraysh began to deliberate on the matter of what to do with the members of their own tribes who believed, torturing them and even imprisoning them,167 for they desired to force them to abandon their religion.
He said: We were told that the Messenger of God said to those who had faith in him, “Seek out another land,” but they asked, “O Messenger of God! Where shall we go?” “There,” he said, and with his hand pointed toward Abyssinia. It was the land that the Messenger of God preferred above all others for their emigration. People thus emigrated in great numbers, some emigrating with their families and others by themselves, and they eventually arrived in Abyssinia.
12.2
Al-Zuhrī said: Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib emigrated with his wife, Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays al-Khathʿamiyyah, and so did ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān with his wife Ruqayyah, the daughter of God’s Messenger. Khālid ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ also left with his wife, Umaymah, the daughter of Khalaf, as did Abū Salamah with his wife, Umm Salamah, the daughter of Abū Umaymah ibn al-Mughīrah. Several Qurashī men left with their women. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar was born in Abyssinia. Born there too was the slave girl of Khālid ibn Saʿīd’s daughter, the mother of ʿAmr ibn al-Zubayr and Khālid ibn al-Zubayr. Among the people of the Quraysh born there was also al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥāṭib.
12.3
Al-Zuhrī said: ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr reported to me that ʿĀʾishah said:
12.3.1
There’s not a moment I can recall that my parents did not practice the true religion, and not a day would pass that the Messenger of God didn’t visit us twice per day, in the morning and in the evening.168 When the persecution of the Muslims began, Abū Bakr left Mecca to emigrate to Abyssinia. When he reached Birk al-Ghimād, Ibn al-Dughunnah, the chief of the Qārah tribe, met him and asked, “Where are you headed, Abū Bakr?” Abū Bakr replied, “My tribe has exiled me, so I intend to journey throughout the land and worship my Lord.” Ibn al-Dughunnah replied, “O Abū Bakr! A man such as you should not be exiled—indeed, you succeed where others fail; you cultivate the bonds of kinship and carry the weary; you act hospitably toward guests and aid your kinsmen in times of distress. I will act as your protector, so return to your tribe and worship your Lord in your homeland.”
Ibn al-Dughunnah embarked on the return journey to Mecca alongside Abū Bakr, and later Ibn al-Dughunnah made his rounds among the infidel Quraysh, saying, “Indeed, Abū Bakr has been exiled, but no one should exile a man such as him! Will you exile a man who finds success where others fail, who cultivates the bonds of kinship and bears all, who acts hospitably toward guests and aids his kinsmen in times of distress?” Thus the Quraysh recognized the protection of Ibn al-Dughunnah and granted Abū Bakr safe haven. They said to Ibn al-Dughunnah, “Order Abū Bakr to worship his Lord in his home and to pray there as he wishes, but also order him neither to trouble us nor to seek to make his prayers and scripture reading known anywhere outside his home,” and Ibn al-Dughunnah did so.
12.3.2
After these events, it occurred to Abū Bakr to build a mosque in the inner courtyard of his home. There he used to pray and recite the Qurʾan, but the Pagans’ women and children would stumble over one another to see him, and watched amazed. For indeed, Abū Bakr was a man much given to weeping, and he could not restrain his tears when reciting the Qurʾan.
These matters frightened the notables of the Quraysh, so they sent a message to Ibn al-Dughunnah. When Ibn al-Dughunnah arrived, they said, “We consented to provide Abū Bakr with a safe haven on the condition that he worship God in his house, but he has transgressed that condition by building a mosque in the inner courtyard of his house, and thus brought attention to all his praying and scripture reading. Indeed, we fear that he is beguiling our women and children, so go to him and order him as follows: If he will be content with going no further than worshipping God in his home, then he may do so; if he refuses to avoid bringing attention to this, then ask him to relieve you of your pact. For we have come to loathe your protection, and will not consent to allow Abū Bakr to bring attention to his faith.”
12.3.3
ʿĀʾishah said: Ibn al-Dughunnah then came to Abū Bakr and said, “Abū Bakr, you know the conditions on which I swore an oath to you: either choose not to go beyond their stipulations, or else relieve me of my pact. Indeed, I do not wish for the Arabs to hear that I violated an undertaking that I have granted to any man.” Abū Bakr replied, “In that case I relieve you of your oath of protection. I shall be content with the protection of God and His Messenger.”
That day the Messenger of God was in Mecca, and he said to the Muslims, “Truly I have seen the land of your emigration; indeed, I have been granted a vision of a marshy land full of date palms between the two black fields”—meaning the two fields of lava rock.169
Then those who emigrated to Medina undertook their Hijrah when the Prophet spoke of it, and many of those Muslims who had emigrated to Abyssinia returned to Medina. Abū Bakr made provisions to emigrate, but the Messenger of God said, “Not so fast. It would please me if you waited for my command.” Abū Bakr replied, “Would that truly please you, O Prophet of God?” “Yes,” he answered, so Abū Bakr held himself back for the sake of God’s Messenger in order to accompany him. Abū Bakr also began feeding two of his mounts acacia leaves and went on doing so for the next four months.
12.4
Al-Zuhrī said: ʿUrwah said: ʿĀʾishah continued:
12.4.1
One day while we were sitting in our house at the height of midday, someone said to Abū Bakr, “That’s the Messenger of God approaching, wearing a veil around his head!”—and this was an hour at which he was not accustomed to visit us. “My mother’s and father’s lives for his!” exclaimed Abū Bakr. “There is a reason that he has come at this hour.”
The Messenger of God arrived, sought permission to enter, and permission was granted. When he entered, the Prophet said to Abū Bakr, “Leave your home.”
“My father’s life for yours, O Messenger of God!” Abū Bakr replied. “They too are your people.”
“I have been granted permission to depart,” answered the Prophet.
“My father’s life for yours, O Messenger of God,” Abū Bakr continued. “And your Companions as well?”
“Yes,” the Prophet answered.
“My father’s and mother’s lives for yours, O Messenger of God! Take one of these two mounts of mine.”
“Only for its cost,” he replied.
12.4.2
ʿĀʾishah said: We gathered provisions and prepared them for the travelers as fast as we could, putting the supplies in a leather bag. My sister Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr cut off a piece of her leather belt to fasten the leather bag closed. For this reason was Asmāʾ called Dhāt al-Niṭāqayn, “The Woman with Two Leather Belts.”170 Then Abū Bakr and the Messenger of God took shelter in a cave on a mountain called Thawr. The two remained there for three nights.
Maʿmar said: ʿUthmān al-Jazarī reported to me that Miqsam, the slave-client of Ibn ʿAbbās, reported to him concerning God’s decree: «Remember when the disbelievers plotted to take you captive,»171 saying:
The Quraysh convened an assembly to consult one another in Mecca. One of them said, “When he awakes, let’s bind him in shackles”—by whom they meant the Prophet. Another said, “Rather, let’s murder him!” And another said, “Let’s cast him out!” But God informed his Prophet of all of this. ʿAlī passed that night sleeping in the Prophet’s bed, and the Prophet left to take shelter in the cave. The Pagans spent the night keeping guard over ʿAli, thinking he was the Prophet. When they awoke the next morning, they went to attack him but saw it was ʿAlī, and thus did God foil their plot. The Quraysh demanded, “Where is your companion?” “I do not know,” replied ʿAlī, so they began to follow the Prophet’s tracks. When they reached the mountain, they lost the trail. They ascended the mountain and came upon the cave, but saw a spiderweb at its mouth. Thus they said, “If he had entered here, then there would be no spiderweb at the mouth of the cave.” The Prophet remained inside the cave for three nights.172
12.6
Maʿmar said: Qatādah said:
12.6.1
The Quraysh entered the Assembly House to plot against the Prophet and said, “Let no one enter with you who isn’t one of you,” but Satan entered in the guise of an old man from Najd. Someone said, “You don’t need to be wary of this one—this is merely a man from Najd.”
Thus, they convened their assembly to consult one another. One of their men said, “I think we should mount him on a camel and then cast him out.”
“That’s a horrible idea!” Satan objected. “This man has already spread his corruption among you, even though he’s in your midst! How much more will he corrupt other people if you exile him? Then, once he has them on his side, they will make war with you!”
“This old man has spoken well,” they said. Someone then spoke out, “I think you should shut him up in a chamber, seal the door so he cannot escape, and leave him there until he dies!”
“That’s a horrible idea!” cried Satan. “Do you imagine that his people would ever leave him to die there? Certainly they would become furious and remove him.”
Abū Jahl then spoke out: “I think you should put forward a single man from each tribe, each of whom will then take his sword and strike him with one fell swoop. That way no one will know who killed him, and you all can pay his blood price!”
12.6.2
“Now that’s an excellent idea!” replied Satan.
But God apprised his Prophet of all these goings-on, so he and Abū Bakr left for a cave on the mountain called Thawr. ʿAlī slept in the Prophet’s bed, and the Quraysh kept watch over him all night long thinking that he was the Prophet. When they awoke in the morning, ʿAlī arose for the morning prayer. They rushed in after him, but they were surprised to find that it was ʿAlī, and asked, “Where is your kinsman?” “I don’t know,” ʿAlī replied. So they followed the Prophet’s tracks until they reached the cave. Afterward they returned, but the Prophet and Abū Bakr remained there for three nights.
12.7
Maʿmar said: al-Zuhrī said in his narrative from ʿUrwah:
The two remained in the cave for three nights. Abū Bakr’s son ʿAbd Allāh, a sharp and clever young man, spent the night with them and would leave them just before daybreak and wake up in the morning among the Quraysh in Mecca, as though he had passed the night there. Not a plot was hatched to entrap them without him uncovering it and bringing word of the plot back to them before dark. ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah, the slave-client of Abū Bakr, would herd a flock of sheep for them, leading the flock back from pasture once the first hour of the night had passed. Thus the two would spend the evening in the ease of the flock’s nourishment until ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah would call to the flock in the deep of night. He did so each of the three nights. The Messenger of God also hired a man from the Diʾl clan of the ʿAbd ibn ʿAdī tribe as a guide and a khirrīt—by khirrīt he means a skilled guide—who was bound by alliance to the people of al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil and was even an adherent of the religion of the infidel Quraysh. The two of them swore an oath to protect him and entrusted him with their two mounts, having agreed to meet at the Thawr cave after three nights; he came to their cave the day after the third night. They left on their mounts, and ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah, the slave-client of Abū Bakr, and the Diʾlī guide departed with them. He took them via the Adhākhir path, which is the path running along the coast.
12.8
Maʿmar said: al-Zuhrī said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mālik al-Mudlijī, the nephew of Surāqah ibn Juʿshum, reported to me that his father reported to him that he heard Surāqah say:
12.8.1
Messengers from the infidel Quraysh came to us offering a bounty for God’s Messenger and Abū Bakr,173 or for either one of them, to whoever either killed them or took them captive. While I sat in a meeting of my clan of the Mudlij tribe, a man approached and addressed us, saying, “Surāqah, I’ve just seen the faint outlines of people traveling along the coast. I reckon they’re Muḥammad and his companions.”
Surāqah said: I knew it was them, but I said, “That’s certainly not them; rather, you’ve seen so-and-so and so-and-so who set out in search of something or other.”
Surāqah continued: I remained at the meeting for a short time and then left to return home, where I ordered my servant girl to bring out my mare for me, for she was restraining it behind a hill. I took my spear and went behind my house, where I made markings on the ground with the iron butt of my spear. Keeping the tip of my spear low, I went to my mare and mounted her, and then spurred her to gallop off at a brisk pace so that I might see the distant outline of Muḥammad and his companion. Eventually I drew near enough to them that they were within earshot. My mare stumbled, and I fell from the saddle. I stood up and reached back to my quiver, pulling divining arrows174 from it. I then cast lots: Should I seek to harm them or not? Again I spurred my steed to gallop off at brisk pace and eventually I drew near enough to hear the Messenger of God reciting the Qurʾan. He did not turn to look about, but Abū Bakr did so constantly. Just then the forelegs of my steed sank into the ground up to her knees, and I was again thrown from the saddle. I scolded her and stood back up. Hardly had she pulled her forelegs out and straightened up when, all of a sudden, fumes, ʿuthān, billowing up to the sky like smoke, rose from the imprint made by her forelegs.
12.8.2
Maʿmar asked Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ, “What does ʿuthān mean?” He remained silent for a time, then said, “Smoke without flame.”
12.8.3
Maʿmar said: al-Zuhrī continued his narration, saying:
I cast lots using the divining arrows, and they landed on what I most feared: “Do not seek to harm them.” So I called out to them, assuring them I meant no harm. They stood up, and I rode my steed over to them. Because I had met with so many obstacles while trying to reach them, I knew in my heart that God’s Messenger would be victorious, so I said to him, “Your tribe has offered a bounty in exchange for your life,” and I went on to tell them the story of my journey and what certain people sought to do to them. I offered them provisions and other effects, but they took nothing from me, asking only that I conceal their whereabouts. I asked them to write a letter of safe conduct for me by which I might be protected. He ordered ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah to write it out for me on a strip of leather, which he did, and after that he went on his way.
12.9
Maʿmar said: al-Zuhrī said: ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr informed me that:
12.9.1
The Prophet encountered al-Zubayr and a number of Muslims riding their camels heading toward Mecca—for they had been traveling in Syria as a caravan of merchants for Medina—and they presented the Prophet and Abū Bakr with white garments. It is said that they wrapped them in the garments they had given them.
The Muslims in Medina heard word of the Messenger of God’s departure, so they would head out to the lava fields early in the morning to wait for him until they could no longer bear the midday heat. One day they turned back after having waited a long time for him. After they had returned to their homes, a Jewish man looked down from one of the Jews’ towering fortresses,175 hoping to catch sight of something, but he saw instead God’s Messenger and his companions clothed in white and hazy in the desert mirage. The Jew immediately cried out in his loudest voice, “O company of Arabs! This is the good fortune you’ve been expecting!” The Muslims rushed to grab their weapons and went to meet the Messenger of God. Eventually they came to the outer rim of the lava field. He turned off the path, veered to the right, and camped among the ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf clan. That was on Monday in the month of Rabiʿ I.176 Abū Bakr began to address the people, but the Messenger of God sat and remained quiet. Some of the Allies who came had never seen the Messenger of God, so at first they thought that Abū Bakr was he. Eventually, though, the sun shone down on the Messenger of God, and Abū Bakr drew near to shade him with his mantle. At that moment, the people recognized the Messenger of God. God’s Messenger stayed with the ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf clan for more than ten nights, and then he built the mosque established on piety177 and prayed therein.
12.9.3
After that, the Messenger of God mounted his riding camel and marched forward, and the people also walked alongside him, until his mount kneeled at the location of the Messenger’s mosque in Medina. That same day he and several of the Muslim men prayed there. That place was an expanse of land used for drying dates and belonged to Sahl and Suhayl, two orphan brothers in the care of Abū Umāmah Asʿad ibn Zurārah of the Najjār clan. When his riding camel kneeled there, the Messenger of God said, “This is the place, God willing.” Later, he summoned the two boys and bargained over the price for using the plot for a mosque. They said, “O Messenger of God, we wish to grant it to you as a gift,” but the Prophet refused to accept it as a gift and insisted on purchasing it from them. The Prophet then built the mosque—straightaway he began to carry the sunbaked bricks with the coat of his garment alongside the other Muslims, reciting:
This very load, not the load of Khaybar,178
our Lord, is most righteous and pure.
He also recited:
O Lord, the reward is the Hereafter,
so show Your mercy to the Allies and Emigrants.
The Messenger of God thus repeated the poetry of a Muslim man whose name I do not know, nor have I heard in the reports about the Prophet that the Messenger of God ever repeated a single complete verse of poetry except for these verses. His intent in doing so was to encourage them to build the mosque.179
12.9.4
When the Messenger of God waged war against the infidel Quraysh, the war prevented those who had emigrated to Abyssinia from coming to the Messenger of God, but eventually they were able to join him in Medina from the time of the Battle of Trench onward. Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays reported that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb used to reproach them for remaining in Abyssinia, but when they brought this to the attention of God’s Messenger—Asmāʾ claimed—the Messenger of God replied, “You are not as he says.” The first verse of the Qurʾān to be revealed concerning the waging of war was:
«Those who have been attacked are permitted to take up arms because they have been wronged—God has the power to help them.»180