The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 315
IX - Exile 315 and many homes in Makkah were abandoned. Finally, only the Holy Prophet sa , Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra , Ḥaḍrat ‘ Alī ra , their families, or those weak people who were unable to migrate, or those who the Quraish prohibited from leaving, were left behind. All of these Muḥājirīn stayed as guests in various homes belonging to the A nṣār in Madīnah, and remained as such until the Holy Prophet sa himself arrived to Madīnah and separate homes could gradually be arranged for the Muhājirīn. The people of Madīnah, who are referred to as the ‘A nṣār’ on account of their helping and giving protection to the Muhājirīn of the Holy Prophet sa , welcomed the Muhājirīn very passionately and treated them greater than their own brothers. As such, when the Holy Prophet sa migrated to Madīnah, he found all the Muhājirīn full of praise for the A nṣār. 1 The Prophet of God the Almighty in the Outfit of an Immigrant Now we come to that magnificent occurrence through which a new era began in Islām, that is, the departure of the Holy Prophet sa from his beloved homeland and migration to Yathrib. The Islāmic Year, known as Hijrī , begun from this very revolutionary date. When all the Muslims had migrated to Madīnah, due to their previous actions, the Quraish suspected that the exile of all the Muslims in this way will surely bring about progress. In addition to this, they were also furious that this ‘prey’ had slipped their hands. Therefore, in their own manner, they thought that such a plan should be employed as will expunge this dispensation once and for all, so that retaliation to their cruelties no longer remains a possibility. The Holy Prophet sa was still in Makkah awaiting the permission of Allāh the Exalted to migrate. The Makka ns thought of this as a perfect opportunity, that all the Muslims have left and Muḥammad [sa] is as if all alone without support. Therefore, they thought, such a plan should be devised as puts an end to his life As such, with this thought, they gathered in their national place 1 * As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Malik bin Hishām, pp. 332, 339, Bābu Dhikril- Muhājirīna ilal-Madīnah, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) - (A summary) * Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Muḥammad bin ‘Abdul-Bāqī Az- Zarqānī, Volume 2, pp. 89-93, Bābu Hijratil-Muṣṭafā wa Aṣḥābihī ilal-Madīnah, Dārul-Kutubil- ‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) - (A summary) * Tārīkhul-Khamīs, By Ḥusain bin Muḥammad bin Ḥasan Dayār Bakrī, Volume 1, p. 320, Dhikru Hijratil-Aṣḥābi ilal-Madīnah, Muwassasatu Sha‘bān, Beirut