Islam, and they returned to their people after the pilgrimage season and called them to Allah. The next season an even larger group came than the first: men from the Ansar arrived and gave the Prophet ﷺ the Second Pledge of al-ʿAqaba, that is, at the stone pillar of al-ʿAqaba. They pledged themselves to Islam, to support him once he emigrated to them, and to protect him as they protected their own lives and children.

After this blessed pledge, the Prophet ﷺ ordered the Muslims who were still in Mecca to emigrate to Medina. Those who could do so left, while the Messenger ﷺ remained with some of his Companions until Allah granted him permission to depart. When Quraysh heard that the Companions had reached Medina and learned of the pledge between him and the Ansar, they feared that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would join his followers, gain strength, and become firmly established.

On the very night the Prophet ﷺ intended to leave, they came and besieged the house, standing at the door with their weapons, intent on killing the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Allah informed His Prophet of their plot, so the Prophet ﷺ told ʿAli to sleep in his bed so that the idolaters would see him and think it was the Prophet ﷺ. ʿAli—may Allah ennoble his face—lay down in the Messenger of Allah’s bed and pulled the cover over himself