Prophets Life and
Mission as a Messenger
Mission as a Messenger
The importance of emigrating to Yathrib (old name for Madinah)
Allah ﷻ had chosen Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to deliver His message and guidance for humankind on earth. When he started preaching in Makkah, he was able to win many hearts to accept this guidance but at the same time, he and his followers faced much persecution from those who opposed the message of Islam. The opposition was much stronger and influential therefore a different place was required where hostility towards Islam was significantly less and where people welcomed Prophet and his followers to settle so that the mission of Islam could move further. Such place was none other than city of Yathrib, a month's journey from Makkah (at that time), which we know today as Madinah which means ‘city’ or Madinatun Nabi i.e. City of the Prophet. The warring tribes, mainly Aws and Khazraj, of this city were struggling for a long time to have peace amongst themselves. Having heard of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his mission of Islam, a delegation comprising members from tribes of Yathrib visited the city of Makkah to meet the Prophet in the pilgrimage year i.e. Hajj - a ritual of Ibraheem (Abraham) (a.s) that existed even before Islam, during the jahilliya (ignorant) times. Makkah was a central point for all trade caravans where tribes from all over the Arabian peninsula gathered during the yearly pilgrimage gathering. Once in Makkah, the Yathrib delegation also heard the message of Islam and met the Prophet ﷺ in whom they saw the leadership to bring about needed peace. Due to the hostility of his opponents in Makkah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ saw this as the best opportunity and decided to emigrate. At this point, it is necessary to mention that Prophet ﷺ already knew about his future journey to this city. Archangel Jibraeel (Gabriel) (a.s) informed him on the night of Isra Wa’al Miraj (Night Journey and Ascension) that this was going to be place of his emigration. Divine knowledge and assistance was already at work helping the Prophet ﷺ before he had received invitation from the Madinah delegation. In fact, during his journey many miracles happened, the enemies caught up with him twice but both times the divine assistance failed the plan of those who tried to assassinate him and his traveling companion Abu Bakr (r.a). These miracles have been further discussed, in detail, in the section of Miracle of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (still developing).
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AuthorZaid Shaw Archives
September 2019
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