The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) had already been informed of the arrival
of this caravan. He came out in the night, took his uncle Abbâs bin
Abdul-Muttalib with him and reached the mountain pass of Aqabah. The caravan of
believers from Al-Madinah was waiting for him. The caravan also had comprised
some disbelievers with it as well. The polytheists from Al-Madinah were unaware
of that fateful meeting and they were sleeping in their dwellings. When the
people of Al-Madinah expressed their desire to take the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) to Al-Madinah, Abbâs
rose to say:
"O the people of Al-Madinah:
Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) is at present under
the protection of his family. Since you want to take him with you, keep in
mind, you are alone responsible for his safety and security. But his protection
is not easy. Take him with you if you are ready for a series of bloody fights,
otherwise abandon such a yearning right now."
Bara' bin Ma'rur (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) rose to answer and said, "Abbâs! We
listened to what you said. Now we want the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) also to say something." Thereupon he
(صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) recited some Verses
of the Quran and then brought home the rights of Allâh and His slaves and the
responsibilities to be thrust upon them on taking him to Al-Madinah. Having
heard the speech of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله
وسلم), Bara' bin Ma'rur (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) said, "We are prepared for all eventualities."
Following this, Abul-Haitham bin Taihân (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) said, "You please promise that you will not come back
leaving us in Al-Madinah." The Prophet (صلى الله
عليه وآله وسلم) said, "I shall live and die with you." At this,
Abdullah bin Rawâhah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
said, "O Prophet of Allah! What shall we get in return?" The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) replied,
"Heaven and the pleasure of Allâh!" Abdullah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) said, "Now the bargain is settled.
There will be no going back on both sides." In the wake of this, all of
them took the oath of allegiance and Bara' bin Ma'rur (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) was first. This is called the Second
Pledge of Aqabah. After the agreement was finalized, As'ad bin Zurârah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) said addressing
everyone, "O people! Bear in mind this mutual agreement implies that we
are prepared to face the entire world." All of them said, "Yes, we
know very well that we will have to confront the entire world." At the
end, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
chose twelve persons from among them and appointed them his proclaimers with
the duty of preaching Islam. The twelve are listed below:
(1) As'ad bin Zurârah, (2) Usaid bin
Hudair, (3) Abul-Haitham bin Al-Taihân, (4) Bara' bin Ma'rur, (5) Abdullah bin
Rawâhah, (6) Ubâdah bin Sâmit, (7) Saad bin Rabi', (8) Saad bin Ubâdah, (9)
Râfi' bin Mâlik, (10) Abdullah bin Amr, (11) Saad bin Kaithamah, and (12)
Mundhir bin Amr (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ).
Among these twelve chieftains, nine
belonged to the Khazraj tribe and three to the Aus. Addressing them, the
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said, "Like the
partisans of Jesus (AS), I assign you the responsibilities of educating your
people and I hold responsibility for you all." At the time the pledge of
Aqabah was taking its final form, a satan from the top of the mountain cried
loudly: "O Makkans! Behold, Muhammad and his party are holding
consultations against you." He and his party of believers paid no heed to
this call. When everything was finalized, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) left the issue of migrating to Al-Madinah
to the permission from Allâh the Almighty. Thereafter, they left the place in
ones and twos so that secrecy could be maintained. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and Abbâs bin
Abdul-Muttalib came to Makkah but the very next morning the Quraish were
informed of the meeting that took place the night before. They hurried to the
residence of the people from Al-Madinah and said, "Did Muhammad visit you
last night?" The non-Muslims or idolaters among them were themselves
unaware of such an assembly that was held the previous night.
Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul was one
of them who later on became the head of the hypocrites, he retorted, "How
can it be that the people of Al-Madinah finalized any deal without my
knowledge?" Thus the doubt in the mind of the Quraish was dispelled and
they left. The same moment the people from Al-Madinah started preparations for
their return journey and left for their destination. The Quraish came to know
of the event later through some other sources and they came out again armed
with their weapons. But, by then, the caravan had already traveled a long
distance.
Saad bin Ubâdah and Mundhir bin Amr
(رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) were left behind for
certain reasons. Mundhir (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
fled away but Saad bin Ubâdah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
was captured by the Quraish and they took him to Makkah beating him
mercilessly. Saad bin Ubâdah (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
relates, "When the Quraish were thrashing me relentlessly, a red and white
complexioned man appeared coming towards me and I thought he was the man among
the whole lot to treat me gracefully. But he slapped me violently dispelling my
hope of any good from those people. Meanwhile, another person came on the scene
and said, 'Are you acquainted with anyone from the Quraish?' I replied, 'I know
Jubair bin Mut'im and Hârith bin Umayyah, the grandsons of Abd Manâf.' He said,
'Why don't you call them by their names?' Telling me this much he left to
contact those two persons and said to them, 'A man from Khazraj tribe is being
beaten and he is calling you for help.' They said, 'What's his name?' He said,
'Saad bin Ubâdah.' They said, 'We are obliged to him, for we go to him with
business and stay under his protection.' Thus both of them came and got me out
of their clutches. Soon after being set free, I left for Al-Madinah
(Yathrib)." A long time before the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) was told by Allâh the Almighty that he
would have to emigrate. He was shown in a dream where he was destined to go. He
had dreamt that it was a land of date palm trees. The dream led him to think it
might be Yamâmah, for it too had a large number of date trees.
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