Ten years had passed since the Prophet’s first revelations, and it was increasingly clear that Mecca was not going to have a change of heart regarding the new beliefs.
Toward the end of this time, six men from the oasis of Yathrib, to the north of Mecca, met with Muhammad secretly during their pilgrimage. These six adopted the new beliefs and returned home. The following year, a much larger group came to Muhammad, and this time, they made a formal (though verbal) contract with him. In this agreement, they gave military and other protection to Muhammad and his followers, as if he were of their own kin. In turn, he promised that he would become the judge, effectively an uncrowned king, and that he would not later abandon them if the Meccans grew friendlier.
The oasis of Yathrib lay between some hills and two ancient lava beds. It had one central town, called al-Madina, “the city,” and some smaller villages at the edges of the oasis. The oasis was covered with date palms and other agriculture. In the city, the important clan leaders had built houses that were like personal fortresses. (more pictures of Medina)
There were five main clans, two of Arabs and three of Arabicized Jews (or Jewish Arabs). The two Arab clans (Aws and Khazraj) had been carrying on a feud that rose to the level of pitched battles. The battles were growing larger and bloodier, so that the city’s population would be at risk soon if they weren’t stopped. The oasis was isolated, and apart from travelers, it functioned as its own complete marketplace. A population drop would risk the whole economy collapsing.
That is why some of the men had reached out to Muhammad. The clan system had become a dead end, so they were open to something new. They needed a ruler who could be impartial among the clans. Moving from Mecca to Medina would bring an entirely new lifestyle to Muhammad’s followers, too. In Medina, the set of beliefs that they may have referred to as something like “the Abrahamic Way” came into final form as the religion we know as Islam. In Medina, the Prophet had the opportunity to make laws that supported Islam.
The process of moving to Yathrib oasis and Medina is known as the hejira. It’s often spelled Hegira in English, and it’s often capitalized. It is the founding year of the Muslim calendar, abbreviated in English “AH,” Anno Hegirae.
At first, only some of the Muslims quietly moved to Medina. We have to remember that in Mecca, they lived in their paternal-line clan quarters where they were constantly around everyone they knew. If a clan realized that ten of its families were selling their houses and moving away, it would stop them. The Arab way of life was not individualistic or isolated; moving away would be viewed as an aggression against the family. As it turned out, some families did notice what was happening. They sent armed men to stop the travelers, and they brought back their relatives under close guard. Others were able to travel light, perhaps under pretense of visiting relatives, and just not return.
Muhammad himself stayed put with his second wife and younger children, and Abu Bakr and family also stayed. Muhammad’s daughter Zaynab’s husband decided to stay, but neither had he yet embraced Islam. Uthman, who had married Muhammad’s second daughter Ruqayya, went to Medina with her. Umar, another leader, and Muhammad’s cousin Hamza and adopted son Zayd also went, though at first without their families. The plan was that as many men would get out as could, before the top leaders made a move. They tried to move as many households as possible within two months.
One day, Muhammad heard that some Quraysh men were planning to kill him at his house that night. He and Abu Bakr quickly left town, leaving Ali and the women to keep up the appearance of normality. Expected to go north, they went south, staying a few days in a cave near Mecca. Search parties fanned out for them, since a bounty of a hundred camels was on their heads. When the coast was clear, they went to Medina by taking a very long way around. At the oasis, an armed honor guard escorted Muhammad into the city as its new ruler.
The move was not complete until the last of Muhammad’s and Abu Bakr’s households had paid off debts and moved as well. Meanwhile, the Meccans tried to fit into Medina. They were from different tribes themselves, and now they had to fit in with Medina’s clans and tribes. Cross-tribal bonding became a hallmark of Islam, beginning here. Muhammad termed the native Medinans who were volunteering “the Helpers” (al-Ansar), and the Meccans, “the Emigrants.” He set up a buddy system in which one Helper was paired with one Emigrant as new-made brothers, with responsibilities to each other as though they were actually related. The buddy system didn’t work well in the long run, but it set a good tone in this first year.