Reaching Quba

on monday, 8th rabi‘ al-awwal, the fourteenth year of prophethood, i.e. september 23rd. 622, the messenger of allâh arrived at quba’.[rahmat-al-lil'alameen 1/102]

as soon as the news of muhammad’s arrival began to spread, crowds came flocking out of madinah . they would come every morning and wait eagerly for his appearance until forced by the unbearable heat of the midday sun to return. one day they had gone as usual, and after a long wait and watch they retired to the city when a jew, catching a glimpse of three travellers clad in white winding their way to madinah , shouted from the top of a hillock: "o you people of arabia! your grandfather has come! he, whom you have been eagerly waiting for, has come!" the muslims immediately rushed holding their weapons, (to defend him)[bukhari 1/555] . the joyful news soon spread through the city and people marched forward to greet their noble guest.

ibn al-qayyim said: "the shouts of ‘allâhu akbar’ (allâh is great) resounded in banu ‘amr bin ‘auf. muhammad’s [pbuh] elation correspondingly increased, but with rare sense of timing and propriety, called a halt. serenity enveloped him and the ٌevelation was sent down:[za'd al-ma'ad 2/54]

"... then verily, allâh is his maula (lord, master or protector), and gabriel, and the righteous among the believers, - and furthermore, the angels - are his helpers." [al-qur'an 66:4][za'd al-ma'ad 2/54; ibn hisham 1/493]

‘urwah bin az-zubair said: they received the messenger of allâh [pbuh] , and went with them to the right. there banu ‘amr bin ‘awf hosted him. that was on monday, rabi‘ al-awwal. he sat down silent, and al-ansar (the helpers), who had not had the opportunity to see him before, came in to greet him: it is said that the sun became too hot so abu bakr stood up to shade him from the hot sun rays.[bukhari 1/555] it was really an unprecedented day in madinah . the jews could perceive concretely the veracity of their prophet habquq, who said: ‘god has come from at-taiman, and the qudus one from faran mount.’

muhammad [pbuh] stayed in quba’ with kulthum bin al-hadm, a hospitable chief of the tribe of ‘amr bin ‘awf. here he spent four days: monday, tuesday, wednesday and thursday . it was during this period that the foundation of quba’ mosque was laid on the basis of pure piety. ‘ali hung back in makkah for three days to return the trusts, on behalf of the prophet [pbuh], to their respective owners. after that he started his emigration journey to catch up with him at quba’.[za'd al-ma'ad 2/54; ibn hisham 1/493]

on friday morning, the prophet [pbuh], sent for bani an-najjar, his maternal uncles, to come and escort him and abu bakr to madinah . he rode towards the new headquarters amidst the cordial greetings of his madinese followers who had lined his path. he halted at a place in the vale of banu salim and there he performed his friday prayer with a hundred others [bukhari 1/555] . meanwhile the tribes and families of madinah , the new name for yathrib and a short form of ‘the messenger’s madinah (city)’, came streaming forth, and vied with one another in inviting the noble visitor to their homes. the girls of the madinese used to chant beautiful verses of welcome rich in all meanings of obedience and dutifulness to the new messenger.