100224L - ACTION PLANNING: THE HIJRA and YEAR 1 AT MADINA

Presented at the Ministry of Water and Electricity Riyadh on 24^th February 2010 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard)

I. BACKGROUND READING

The main events in the first year at Madina were:

1. Promulgation of the Madina constitution

2. Building mosque

3. Brotherhood between ansar and muhajirin Hashr:9, Anfal: 72

4. Brotherhood among all Muslims Anfal:63

5. Ghazawat and saraya: Haj: 39-40, Anfal: 39

II. TEXT ANALYSIS: TABARI’S ACCOUNT

Hijra

First year at Madina

III. DISCUSSION: A HYPOTHETICAL ACTION PLAN

Using back ward thinking, draw up a one year action plan for (a) the hijra and (b) the first year at Madinah.

BACKGROUND READING

TEXT ANALYSIS

INSTRUCTIONS: READ OUT EACH TEXT ALOUD TWO TIMES. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE MAIN POINTS RAISED. WRITE DOWN THE MAIN LESSON(S) YOU HAVE LEARNED FROM THE TEXT

HIJRA

'Amir b. Fuhayrah was a half‑breed from the tribe of Azd belong ing to al‑Tufayl b. 'Abdallah b. Sakhbarah  who had the same mother as Abu Bakr's daughter 'A'ishah and his son 'Abd al‑Rahman. Amir b. Fuhayrah became a Muslim while he was their slave, and Abu Bakr bought him and set him free. He was a good Muslim. At the time when the Prophet and Abu Bakr set out, Abu Bakr had the rights to the milk of a flock of sheep which used to come to his family in the evening. Abu Bakr sent 'Amir with the sheep to Thawr, and he used to bring them in the evening to the Messenger of God in the cave there Which is the cave named by God in the Qur'an. Tabari 6:146

They sent ahead with their mounts a man from the Banu 'Abd b. 'Adl, a confederate of the family of al‑'As b. Wa'il of Banu Sahm of Quraysh. At that time, this man 'Adi was a polytheist, but they hired him as a guide for the journey. During the nights which they spent in the cave 'Abdallah b. Abi Bakr used to come to them in the evening and bring them all the news of Mecca, and then re­turn to Mecca by morning. 'Amir would bring the sheep every evening so that they could milk them, and would then drive them to pasture at daybreak, and spend the morning with other peo­ple's shepherds, so that nobody realized what he was doing. Tabari 6:146

The Messenger of God and Abu Bakr spent three days in the cave. When Quraysh realized that he was missing, they offered a hundred she‑camels for whoever would bring him back to them. 'Abdallah b. Abi Bakr spent his time among Quraysh listening to what they were plotting and to what they were saying about the Messenger of God and Abu Bakr. Then he would come to them in the evening and give them the news. 'Amir b. Fuhayrah, Abu Bakr's mawla, pastured his flocks among the other Meccan shep­herds, and brought Abu Bakr's sheep to the cave in the evening, when the two men would milk them and slaughter jone of 1 them. When 'Abdallah b. Ahl Bakr left for Mecca the following morning, 'Amir b. Fuhayrah would follow after him with the sheep in order to erase his trail.

When the third day had gone past, and the people's interest in the two had died down, the man whom they had hired brought them their camels and Asma' brought them their travelling pro­visions. She had forgotten to bring them a strap, and when they set off, she went to attach the travelling provisions and found that there was no strap. She took off her girdle and used that as a strap to attach the provisions. Thereafter she was known as "She of the two girdles" on account of this incident. When Abu Bakr brought the two riding camels to the Messenger of God, he gave him the better of the two and said, "Mount, may my father and mother be your ransom." The Messenger of God replied, "I will not ride a camel which does not belong to me." "It is yours, O Messenger of God whom I value more than my father and mother," he said. "No," said the Messenger of God. "What is the price which you paid for it?" He named the price, and the Messenger of God said, "I will take it for that price." Abu Bakr said, "It is yours, O Messenger of God." They mounted and set off, and Abu Bakr mounted behind himself his mawla 'Amir b. Fuhayrah, who was to serve them during the journey. Tabari 6:149

When the clamor about Muhammad and Abu Bakr died down and news came to them that people were no longer talking about them, their guide brought them their camels and they set off, taking with them 'Amir b. Fuhayrah to serve them and assist them. Abu Bakr mounted him behind him and shared the saddle with him by turns. There was nobody with them but 'Amir b. Fuhayrah and the brother of the Banu 'Adi, who guided them along the road. He took them through the Meccan lowlands, then along a route parallel to the coast below 'Usfan, then across country, rejoining the road after Qudayd, then along the al‑Kharrar path, then across the pass of al‑Marah, and then along a road called al‑Mudlijah, be­tween the 'Amq road and the Rawha' road. He then met the 'Arj road, coming to a spring called al‑Ghabir to the right of Rakubah, and then ascended the Batn Ri'm, finally arriving, one day at high noon, at the quarter of the Banu 'Amr b. 'Awf in Ithe south of) al ­Madinah. I have been told that the Messenger of God only stayed among them for two days, although the Banu 'Amr b. 'Awf assert that he stayed among them for longer than that. Then he led his camel, which followed him to the quarter of the Banu al‑Najjar. There the Messenger of God showed them a drying floor in the midst of their dwellings. Tabari 6:147

Their guide brought them to Quba' in the quarter of the Banu 'Amr b. 'Awf on Monday, the twelfth of Rabi' I [September 24, 622] when the heat of the forenoon had grown intense and the sun had almost reached its midpoint in the sky Tabari 6:150

The Messenger of God remained at Quba' among the Banu 'Amr b. 'Awf for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and founded their mosque. Then God caused‑him to leave them on Friday. The Banu 'Amr b. 'Awf assert that he remained among them longer than that, but God knows best. Some say that his stay at Quba' lasted for ten days or so. Tabari 6:152

FIRST YEAR AT MADINA

(a) Building mosque and house: According to Ibn Humayd--Salamah--Ibn Ishaq: The Messenger of God mounted his she‑camel and let her reins hang loose. The inhabitants of every settlement of the Ansar (the Muslims of Medina) which she went past invited him to stay with them, say­ing, "Come, O Messenger of God, to a settlement which has many defenders and is well‑provisioned and impregnable." He would say to them, "Let go her reins, for she is commanded (by God)." Finally he reached the present site of his mosque, and his camel knelt down where the door of his mosque is. At that time this place was a drying‑floor for dates and belonged to two orphan boys of Banu al‑Najjar under the guardianship of Mu'adh b. 'Afra'; their names were Sahl and Suhayl, sons of 'Amr b. 'Abbad b. Tha'labah b. Ghanm b. Malik b. al‑Najjar. When the camel knelt down, the Messenger of God remained on her. After a little she got up and went a short distance, while the Messenger of God let go her reins and did not direct her with them. Then she turned round, went back to the place where she had knelt first, and there knelt and laid down her neck. When the Messenger of God dis­mounted from her, Abu Ayyub took his saddle into his house. Others of the Ansar invited him to stay with them but the Mes­senger of God said to them, "The man goes with his saddle," and stayed with Abu Ayyub Khalid b. Zayd b. Kulayb among the Banu Ghanm b. al‑Najjar. According to Abu Ja'far (al‑Tabari): The Messenger of God asked to whom the drying‑floor belonged, and Mu'adh b. 'Afra' told him, "It belongs to two orphans under my guardianship, whom I will compensate for it." The Messenger of God ordered that a mosque should be built there, and stayed with Abu Ayyub until the mosque and his living‑quarters had been completed. It is said that the Messenger of God bought the site of his mosque and then built upon it, but the correct version in our Opinion is this, according to Mujahid b. Musa-Yazid b. Ha­run-Hammad b. Salamah-Abu al‑Tayyah-Anas b. Malik The site of the mosque of the Prophet belonged to Banu al‑Najjar and contained palm trees, cultivated land and pre‑lslamic graves. The Messenger of God said to them, "Ask me a price for it," but they said, "We do not want a price for it, but only the reward we shall receive from God. " The Messenger of God then gave orders concerning the site; the palm trees were cut down, the cultivated land levelled, and the graves dug up. Before this mosque was com­pleted the Messenger of God used to pray in sheep‑enclosures or wherever the time of prayer overtook him.

 According to Abu Ja'far (al‑Tabari): He himself joined in the work of building his mosque, together with his companions from the Emigrants and the Ansar. Tabari 7:4-5

(b) Muslim women brought to Madina

In this year the Prophet sent Zayd b. Harithah and Abu Rafi' to his daughters and his wife Sawdah bt. Zam'ah, and they brought them from Mecca to Medina. It is said that when 'Abd Allah b. Urayqit' returned to Mecca he informed 'Abd Allah b. Abi Bakr of the situation of his father Abu Bakr, and the latter brought his father's family to him. The party included Umm Ruman, the mother of 'A'ishah, ('A'ishah herself ) and 'Abd Allah b. Abi Bakr, and they were accompanied to Medina by Talhah b. 'Ubayd Allah. Tabari 7:8

(c) Expedition led by Hamza: Al‑Waiqidi asserts that in this year, in Ramadan, seven months af­ter the Hijrah (about March 623), the Messenger of God entrusted a white banner to Hamzah b. 'Abd al‑Muttalib with the command of thirty men of the Emigrants. Their aim was to intercept the caravans of Quraysh. Hamzah met Abu Jahl at the head of three hundred men. Majdi b. 'Amr al‑Juham intervened between them, and they separated without a battle. The banner of Hamzah was carried by Abu Marthad.

Tabari 7:10-14

(d) Expedition Led by 'Ubaydah: (He also says that) in this year, eight months after the Hijrah, in Shawwal (April 623), the Messenger of God entrusted a white banner to 'Ubaydah b. al‑Harith b. al‑Muttalib b. 'Abd Manaf and ordered him to march to Batn Rabigh. His banner was carried by Mistah b. Uthathah. He reached the pass of al‑Marah, which is near al‑Juhfah, at the head of sixty Emigrants without a single Ansan (Muslim of Medina) among them. They met the polythe­ists at a watering place called Ahya'; they shot arrows at one another but there was no hand‑to‑hand fighting. There is a difference of opinion as to who was the commander of the (Meccan) expedition; some say that it was Abu Sufyan b. Harb and some that it was Mikraz b. Hafs. Al‑Waqidi says: I consider the true account to be that it was Abu Sufyan b. Harb, and that he was at the head of two hundred polytheists.

(e) Expedition Led by Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas: In this year, in Dhu al‑Qa'dah, the Messenger of God entrusted to Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas a white banner (for an expedition) to al­Kharrar It was carried by al‑Miqdad b. 'Amr. According to Abu Bakr b. Isma'il-his father-'Amir b Sa'd-his father: I set out on foot at the head of twenty men (or twenty‑one men). We used to lie hidden by day and march at night, until we reached al‑Kharrar on the fifth morning. The Mes­senger of God had enjoined me not to go beyond al‑Kharrar, but the caravan had got to al‑Kharrar a day before me; there were sixty men with it. Those who were with Sa'd were all from the Emigrants. According to Abu Ja'far (al‑Tabari): Ibn Ishaq's account of all these expeditions differs from that of al‑Waqidi, which I have just related, and places them all in year 2.

(f) Expedition Led by Muhammad to al‑Abwa': According to Ibn Humayd--Salamah b. al‑Fadl--Muhammad b. Ishaq: The Messenger of God came to Medina on the twelfth of Rabi' al‑Awwal (September 24, 622), and remained there for the rest of Rabl' al‑Awwal, Rabi' al‑Akhir, the two Jumadas, Rajab Sha'ban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dhu al‑Qa'dah, Dhu al‑Hijjah--the pilgrimage in that month was directed by the polytheists--and Muharram. In Safar (which began August 4, 623), nearly twelve months after his arrival in Medina on the twelfth of Rabl' al ­Awwal, he went out on a raid as far as Waddan, searching for Quraysh and the Banu Damrah b. Bakr b. 'Abd Manat b. Kinanah. This was the expedition of al‑Abwa', in the course of which the Banu Damrah made a treaty of friendship with him; their fellow ­tribesman and chief, Makhshi b. 'Amr, acted on their behalf. Then the Messenger of God returned to Medina without any fighting, and remained there for the rest of Safar and the begin­ning of Rabi' al‑Awwal.

(g) Further Details About Expeditions: During this stay he sent 'Ubaydah b. al‑Harith b. al‑Muttalib at the head of eighty or sixty horsemen from the Emigrants without a single Ansan among them. He got as far as Ahya', a watering place in Hijaz, below the pass of al‑Marah.26 There he met a great band of Quraysh, but there was no fighting between them, except that Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas shot an arrow on that day, which was the first arrow shot in Islam. Then the two groups separated from one another, the Muslims leaving a rearguard. Al‑Miqdad b. 'Amr al­Bahram, the confederate (halif) of the Banu Zuhrah, and 'Utbah b. Ghazwan b. Jabir, the confederate of the Banu Nawfal b. 'Abd Manaf, fled from the polytheists to the Muslims. They were Mus­lims, but they had gone to try to effect a reconciliation between the unbelievers and the Muslims. The commander of the Meccan detachment was 'Ikrimah b. Abi Jahl.

 Muhammad (b. Ishaq) says: The banner of 'Ubaydah, I have heard, was the first banner which the Messenger of God entrusted to a Muslim in Islam.

According to Ibn Humayd--Salamah--Muhammad b. Ishaq: Some of the scholars assert that the Messenger of God sent him out while he was returning from the raid of al‑Abwa', before he reached Medina.

During this stay he sent Hamzah b. 'Abd al‑Muttalib at the head of thirty horsemen from the Emigrants, without a single Ansari among them, to Sif al‑Bahr, near al‑'Is, which is in the territory of Juhaynah. He met Abu Jahl b. Hisham on the coast there at the head of three hundred Meccan horsemen. Majdi b. 'Amr al­Juham intervened between them, being on friendly terms with both parties, and the two sides separated without a battle.

Some say that the banner of Hamzah was the first banner which the Messenger of God entrusted to a Muslim. This is be­cause he sent him and 'Ubaydah b. al‑Harith at the same time, so that there is confusion on this point.

What we have heard from scholars to whom we have spoken is that the banner of 'Ubaydah b. al‑Harith was the first banner to be entrusted in Islam.

(h) Expeditions Led by Muhammad

Then the Messenger of God led an expedition in Rabl' al‑Akhir [....] in search of Quraysh. He went as far as Buwat in the region of Radwa and then returned without any fighting.

He stayed in Medina for the rest of Rabl' al‑Akhir and part of Jumada al‑Ula (which began October 3I, 623) and then led an­other expedition in search of Quraysh. He took the mountain track of the Banu Dinar b. al‑Najjar (of Medina) and then crossed the desert of al‑Khabar, halting beneath a tree in the Batha' Ibn Azhar called Dhat al‑Saq. He prayed there, and his mosque is there. Food was prepared for him there, and he and those with him ate. The site there of the stones on which his cooking‑pot was supported is still well‑known. Water was brought to him from water called al‑Mushayrib. Then he set off, leaving al­Khala'iq on the left and going through a pass, now called Shu'bat 'Abd Allah. From that point, he went down to the left until he reached Yalyal, halting where Yalyal adjoined al‑Dabu'ah. Water was brought to him from a well at al‑Dabu'ah. Next, he went through the plain of Malal until he joined the road at Sukhayrat al‑Yamam, then kept to the road until he halted at al‑'Ushayrah in the Batn Yanbu'. He stayed there for the rest of Jumada al‑Ula and a few days of Jumada al‑Akhira (which began November 30, 623). During this time, the Banu Mudlij and their confederates from the Banu Damrah made a treaty of friendship with him. Then he went back to Medina without any fighting. In the course of this expedition he made certain remarks to 'Ali b. Abi Talib.

The Messenger of God had only spent a few days in Medina, less than ten, after coming back from the expedition to al‑'Ushay­rah, before Kurz b. Jabir al‑Fihn raided the herds of Medina. The Messenger of God went out in pursuit of him and reached a valley called Safawan in the region of Badr, but Kurz eluded him and was not caught. This was the first expedition of Badr.

Then the Messenger of God returned to Medina and stayed there for the rest of Jumada al‑Akhirah, Rajab and Sha'ban (De­cember 623 to February 25, 624). Among other expeditions he sent out at this time was one under Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas at the head of eight men.

Tabari 7:10-14