The Muslims migrate to Madinah

The Second Pledge of Aqabah had changed the equation considerably for the Muslims. They now had a new refuge in Yathrib, and its people were ready to protect them. Soon the Prophet himself received revelation about migration to Yathrib. He told his Companions, “I have been informed that we will one day migrate from Makkah to a land of dates. I think that it is either Yamama or Hijr.” On another occasion he said, “I have been shown the place to which you will migrate. It lies between two hills of lava. It is either Hijr or Yathrib.”

Taking advantage of this new haven that had been offered to them, several Muslims migrated to Yathrib following the pledge. The first emigrant was Abu Salama Makhzoomi . The husband of Umm Salamah . He attempted to migrate with his wife and children the year before the Second Pledge of Aqabah, but his clan would not allow him to take his family, so he was forced to migrate by himself to Yathrib. A year later Umm Salamah was allowed to join her husband.

Amir bin Rabi’a, his wife Layla bint Abi Hathma, and Abdullah bin Umm Maktoom migrated after Abu Salamh. Getting away proved difficult though, because they had to slip out of Makkah past the watchful Quraysh. Umar bin Khattab, however, left Makkah in full view of the Quraysh, and no one dared to try to stop him. He also took twenty others with him. Soon, nearly all the Muslims in Makkah had migrated to Yathrib. Even the refugees in Abyssinia made their way there after hearing about the pledge at Aqabah. However, Abu Bakr, Ali, Suhayb and Zayd bin Haritha , stayed in Makkah together with those muslims who were unable to migrate. The Prophet stayed on in Makkah as well, awaiting Allah’s permission to leave.

He asked Abu Bakr to wait with him. Abu Bakr had two very fast camels, and he would feed them acasia leaves to make them even stronger and swifter. This way he and the Prophet could make a speedy escape, once Allah’s command to leave Makkah came.