Brotherhood between the Muhajireen and the Ansar

The Ansar tried to outdo each other in making the Muhajireen comfortable in Madinah and put themselves and their possessions at the service of the newcomers. Their generosity is mentioned in the following Verse of the Qur’an: “The Ansar love the Muhajireen who sought refuge with them, and there is no jealousy in their hearts for what the Muhajireen have been given. The Ansar give the Muhajireen preference over themselves, although they were in need of what the Muhajireen received.” (59: 9).

The Prophet helped create a strong bond between the forty-five immigrants and their hosts by assigning each immigrant to a particular family in Madinah. Each immigrant, therefore, was declared a member of the family he was assigned to. They were to share each other’s grief and suffering, and they were even allowed to inherit from each other. Later, however, the permission to inherit from each other was abrogated by a verse in the Qur’an limiting inheritance to blood kin.

The brotherhood that was born between the Ansar and Muhajireen was no superficial bond based on sufferance of the Prophet’s instructions, but a deep sense of kinship that is difficult to imagine today. The Ansar felt such a great responsibility for their Makkan protégés that once they even went to the Prophet and offered to give half of their precious date groves to the Muhajirreen. When the Prophet would not allow them to do so, they made a second suggestion: “The Muhajireen can do some work in the groves and receive a share of the profits as compensation.” The Prophet accepted this proposal.

Sa’d bin Rab’i was a wealthy Ansari (singular form of Ansar). He was paired with an immigrant, Abdul Rahman bin Auf. Sa’d not only offered Abdul Rahman half of his possessions, but also one of his wives. “I have two wives,” he said. “Tell me who is more pleasing to you and I shall divorce her so that you may marry her.”

Abdul Rahman did not take advantage of his host’s generosity. “May Allah bless your family and your possessions! Just tell me where the market is.” Like most Makkans, he was a skilled merchant, and soon he was able to support himself with his earnings from the market. Shortly thereafter, he married a woman from the Ansar.