The account of the Prophet’s emigration to Madinah:
ʿUqayl reported: Ibn Shihāb said: ʿUrwah told me that ʿĀʾishah, the Prophet’s wife, said, “I do not recall a time when my parents were not followers of this religion, and not a single day passed but that the Messenger of Allah would visit us at both ends of the day—morning and evening.
When the Muslims were subjected to persecution, Abū Bakr set out to emigrate toward Abyssinia. When he reached Bark al-Ghimād, he was met by Ibn al-Daghinah, the chief of al-Qārah, who asked, ‘Where are you heading, Abū Bakr?’ He replied, ‘My people have driven me out, so I wish to roam the earth and worship my Lord.’ Ibn al-Daghinah said, ‘A man like you must not leave, nor should he be expelled. You provide for the destitute, maintain kinship bonds, bear the burdens of others, entertain guests, and assist in every just cause. I grant you my protection; return, then, and worship your Lord in your own land.’
Ibn al-Daghinah travelled back with Abū Bakr and went round to the nobles of Quraysh, declaring, ‘Someone like Abū Bakr must not depart, nor be driven out. Would you expel a man who provides for the destitute, maintains kinship ties, bears the burdens of others, entertains guests, and assists in every just cause?’ Quraysh accepted the protection offered by Ibn al-Daghinah and said to him, ‘Tell Abū Bakr to worship his Lord in his house. Let him pray and recite whatever he wishes there, but let him not do so publicly, for we fear he may lead our sons and our womenfolk astray.’
Ibn al-Daghinah conveyed this to Abū Bakr, who accordingly worshipped his Lord, keeping his prayer and recitation private within his house. Later, however, Abū Bakr reconsidered and built a small mosque in the courtyard of his home; he emerged to pray there and to recite the Qur’an. The women and children of the polytheists would gather around him, marvelling and gazing at him, for Abū Bakr could scarcely restrain his tears when he recited. This alarmed the nobles of Quraysh, so they sent word to Ibn—