Calendar
Year
Until now the year of Prophethood
was being used to keep account of the time. It is notable that the name and the
order of the lunar months are the same as was the custom in Arabia from before.
Thus the first year of Prophethood elapsed just in a few months. This is the
reason why the entry of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه
وآله وسلم) into Al-Madinah is being reported in the month of Rabi'
Al-Awwal, the 14th year of the Prophethood, while his Prophethood was actually
spread over a span of 12 ½ years. Similarly, the Hijrah Calendar starts from
the Prophet's emigration to Al-Madinah. Since he (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) had come to Al-Madinah on Rabi' Al-Awwal
12, the first Hijrah year began from Muharram; Thus the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) stayed in the house
of Abu Ayub Ansâri (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
until the 2nd Hijrah year.
First
Year of Migration
Among the events of the first year
of migration, the construction of the Prophet's Mosque and his house, and the
arrival of the rest of the believers to Al-Madinah has already been mentioned.
The death of Abu Umâmah As'ad bin Zurârah (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) is worthy of mention here. Abu Umâmah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) was not suffering from any disease. All
of sudden he fell ill and passed away. When this sad news was given the Prophet
(صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), he remarked,
"The polytheists have got an opportunity to say, 'what kind of Prophet is
he that one of his Companions becomes the target of sudden death'." After
his death, the people of Banu Najjâr presented themselves to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and submitted,
"Abu Umâmah was our chief. Please choose for us another chief in his
place." The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
replied, "You Banu Najjâr are all my maternal uncles, so I belong to you.
Thus I am myself your chief." Hearing this, Banu Najjâr's joy knew no bounds.
Moreover, this device warded off the possibility of other candidates for chief
clashing over this matter. The courage and determination of the clan increased.
The first objective of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) was to achieve law
and order and good mutual relations among the people. He (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) felt right away that the Muhâjirin had
come from Makkah and so they must not become a source of constant mental stress
for the people of Al-Madinah. But he was equally conscious of the stark reality
that the Muhâjirin had migrated from Makkah sacrificing everything for their
faith, their homes, motherland, relatives, wealth, property, family and clan.
They should be treated in a manner that they were not overtaken by a deep sense
of loss, dejection and frustration. Thus the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) convened a meeting of the Muhâjirin and
the Ansâr and told them about the virtues of Islamic brotherhood. He then
established bonds of brotherhood between the Muhâjirin and the Ansâr, putting
them together in an atmosphere of mutual welfare. Each Ansâr took a Muhâjir as
his brother.
Abu Bakr's brother in faith was
Khârijah bin Zubair Ansâri and Umar bin Khattâb entered the bond of brotherhood
with Utbân bin Mâlik Ansâri, Abu Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah with Saad bin Mu'âdh
Ansâri, Abdur-Rahmân bin Auf with Saad bin Ar-Rabi', Zubair bin Al-Awwâm with
Salâmah bin Salâmah, Uthmân bin Affân with Thâbit bin Al-Mundhir Ansâri.
Similarly, Talhah bin Ubaidullah and Ka'b bin Mâlik, Mus'ab bin Umair and Abu
Ayub Ansâri, Ammâr bin Yâsir and Hudhaifa bin Al-Yamân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) mutually consolidated their bonds of
brotherhood.
The Ansâr remained faithful to this
arrangement with so much caution and sincerity that human history is unable to
give any other similar example. The Ansâr treated their Muhâjir brothers like
their own and entrusted to them their wealth and property in abundance. Some of
the Ansâr went to such an extent that they wanted to divorce one of their two
wives and to give one to their brother in faith to marry. But the Muhâjirin
also disliked being a burden on their Ansâri brothers and undertook a life of
sweat and toil to shoulder their own burden.
First
Political Document
One event worth mentioning after the
migration was a pact that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه
وآله وسلم) had drawn up for the inhabitants of Al-Madinah, including the
Jews and the polytheists. Included in it were a number of terms and conditions.
The main condition being that, in case of an attack on Al-Madinah launched by
outsiders, the people of Al-Madinah as a whole would raise arms together
against the enemies. Another condition being that the Jews of Al-Madinah would
not provide refuge to the Quraish of Makkah or their allies. None of the
citizens of Al-Madinah would put any hurdle in the way of anyone else's
religion, life or property. If two people of Al-Madinah had a falling-out on an
issue and were not able to find any solution to it by themselves, they would
have to abide by the decision made by the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) concerning it. The burden of the war
expenditures would be shared equally by all the people of Al-Madinah. The
Muslims of Al-Madinah would be considered as friends of the Jews, so also they
(the Jews) would have to treat as friend those tribes and clans who were in
alliance with the Muslims. All kinds of fighting and bloodshed would be treated
as prohibited in the territory of Al-Madinah. All the people of Al-Madinah were
to be considered bound to help the oppressed. This pact was signed by all the
tribes of Al-Madinah.
After the agreement was finalized,
the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
made an all-out effort to bring the clans around Al-Madinah into the fold of
this pact so that all kinds of disruptions, disorder and bloodshed were curbed
once and for all. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
was so eager to widen the scope of this pact that he made a special journey to
Banu Damrah bin Bakr bin Abd Manâf to bring them around to this recently signed
pact. He (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) won over their
chief, Amr bin Makhshi to the idea and he put his initials on the document. He
also got the people of Mount Buwât and of Dhul-Ushairah in Yanbu and Banu
Mudlij to accept the peace. treaty. The purpose of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) behind this peace
pact was to create an atmosphere of peace and order so that the people could be
at peace and be able to reflect on the message of Islam in an air of safety and
security. These peace efforts were yet to bring fruit when clandestine
activities in Al-Madinah and onslaughts from outside plunged Al-Madinah into
disorder once again.
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