Yathrib Answers

Who Will Shelter Me?

Makkah had said no. Ta'if had said no. But every year, Arabs from all over the peninsula came to Makkah for the pilgrimage and to the great markets nearby. So the Prophet ﷺ went to them.

Jabir ibn Abd Allah reported that for years the Prophet ﷺ followed people to their camps at the markets of Ukaz and Majannah and in the pilgrimage season at Mina, saying: “Who will shelter me? Who will support me, so that I can deliver the message of my Lord?”Musnad Ahmad 14456 · Ibn Hajar: hasan; al-Hakim: sahih

Tribe after tribe turned him away. He kept going.

A Tired City

Far to the north was a city of date palms called Yathrib. Its two great Arab tribes, Aws and Khazraj, had been fighting each other for years. Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah 1:435

Aishah later explained that the Battle of Bu'ath, their last great war, left their leaders divided and many of their chiefs killed or wounded. “Allah had arranged the day of Bu'ath for His Messenger,” she said, because it prepared them to accept Islam. Bukhari 3777 A tired, broken city was ready for someone who could bring its people together.

The First Pledge

Historians reportHistorians report that one pilgrimage season, a few men from Yathrib listened to the Prophet ﷺ and believed, and the next year they came back with more. Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah 1:435 Ubadah ibn al-Samit was one of them. He remembered twelve men making a bay'ah to the Prophet ﷺ at a place called al-Aqabah, near Mina. Musnad Ahmad 22754 · al-Arna'ut: sahih

Ubadah reported what they promised: Bukhari 3892

1. To worship Allah alone and associate nothing with Him
2. Not to steal
3. Not to commit adultery (relations outside marriage)
4. Not to kill their children
5. Not to make up lies and accusations against people
6. Not to disobey him in anything good

Look at that list. Only one item is about belief. All the others are about how you treat other people. In Islam, faith and good behaviour belong together.

Two Teachers

The new believers needed someone to teach them. Historians reportHistorians report that the Prophet ﷺ sent Mus'ab ibn Umayr back with them to teach the Qur'an and explain Islam, and that he stayed with As'ad ibn Zurarah. Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah 1:435

Al-Bara ibn Azib, who grew up in Yathrib, remembered: “The first to come to us were Mus'ab ibn Umayr and Ibn Umm Maktum, and they used to teach people the Qur'an.” Bukhari 3925 Ibn Umm Maktum was blind. Allah had once revealed the opening of Surah Abasa about him Tirmidhi 3331 · sahih chain, and now he was one of the first teachers of Islam in Madinah.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “The best of you are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it.”Bukhari 5027 In one year, the teachers helped Islam spread from house to house in Yathrib.

The Second Pledge

The next year, a much bigger group came. Jabir, who was there, said that seventy men came from Yathrib and arranged to meet the Prophet ﷺ in the pass of al-Aqabah, gathering there one or two men at a time. Musnad Ahmad 14456 Two women were also there: Nusaybah bint Ka'b, known as Umm Umarah, and Asma bint Amr, known as Umm Mani'. Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari 7:261–262

This time the promise was bigger. In Jabir's account, they pledged: Musnad Ahmad 14456

1. To listen and obey, whether they felt energetic or tired
2. To spend for Allah in hard times and easy times
3. To command what is good and forbid what is wrong
4. To speak the truth for Allah, not fearing anyone's blame
5. To protect the Prophet ﷺ when he came to them, as they protected themselves, their wives and their children

And their reward? Paradise.

“Slowly, People of Yathrib!”

Before anyone shook hands, one of the youngest of them, As'ad ibn Zurarah, took the Prophet's ﷺ hand and stopped them. “Slowly, people of Yathrib!” he said. He reminded them what this promise would cost: all of Arabia would turn against them, their best men might be killed, and swords would strike them. “Either you can bear that, and your reward is with Allah, or you are afraid, so say so now, and that will be an excuse for you before Allah.” Musnad Ahmad 14456

They answered that they would never break this pledge. Then, one by one, they gave their hands.

As'ad wanted them to understand the promise before they made it. A promise is not just words. The Qur'an says: “Fulfil your commitments, for you will surely be held accountable for them.”Qur'an 17:34

A Land of Palms

The Prophet ﷺ said: “I saw in a dream that I was migrating from Makkah to a land with date palms. I thought it was al-Yamamah or Hajar, but it was Madinah, Yathrib.” Bukhari 3622

Now the believers of Makkah began to leave for Yathrib, quietly, in small groups, while the Prophet ﷺ waited for Allah's permission. Bukhari 3905 Umm Salamah later remembered that her husband Abu Salamah's family was the first household to emigrate to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Muslim 918

The people of Yathrib who welcomed them would soon have a new name. Anas was once asked: “Did you call yourselves al-Ansar, or did Allah name you that?” He answered: “Allah named us.” Bukhari 3776