Chapter on
[The Pledge at al-‘Aqabah and the Migration to Medina]

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, remained in Mecca with those Muslims who had stayed with him and had not migrated to Abyssinia, patiently enduring his people’s persecution until the Ansār pledged allegiance to him at al-‘Aqabah. He had met six of them at al-‘Aqabah during the pilgrimage season and invited them to Islam. By Allah’s providence, they were neighbours of the Jews and used to hear them mention that Allah would send a prophet whose time was drawing near. They said, “By Allah, this is the one with whom the Jews have been threatening us! Let no one precede us.” They believed, pledged allegiance, and returned to Medina, where they called people to Islam until it spread among them. Not a single household of the Ansār remained in which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was not spoken of.

The following year, twelve of their leading men—the representatives—came for the pilgrimage season and pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah at al-‘Aqabah. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent Ibn Umm Maktūm and Mus‘ab ibn ‘Umayr with them to teach those who had embraced Islam the Quran and the laws of Islam, and to invite those who had not yet accepted it to do so. In the third year, a large number of those who had embraced Islam came and pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, at al-‘Aqabah, undertaking to protect him as they protected themselves and their women, and agreeing that he would move to join them. Once their pledge to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had been concluded in secret from the unbelievers of Quraysh and the unbelievers among their own people, he instructed the Muslims who were with him to migrate to Medina. They departed in successive groups.

It is said that the first to leave was Abū Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Asad. His wife, Umm Salamah, was prevented from joining him for about a year, then was allowed to follow her husband and joined him. None of the Messenger of Allah’s Companions remained with him in Mecca except Abū Bakr al-Siddīq and ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, who stayed with him at his command. Some of his Companions were forcibly prevented from migrating by unbelievers among their people, so the reward of those who migrated was recorded for them.

When Quraysh saw that the Muslims had gone to Medina and that its inhabitants had embraced Islam, they said, “This is a troubling development that cannot be tolerated.” They therefore resolved to kill the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They lay in wait for him by night, watching at the door of his house throughout the night to kill him when he emerged. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib to sleep in his bed and prayed to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to conceal what he was doing from them