Reports on the emigration of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and the arrival of those who came

Sayyidah Asma' (may Allah be pleased with her) relates: When he (peace and blessings be upon him) decided to emigrate to Madinah, I prepared a provision bag for him (peace and blessings be upon him) in the house of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). She relates: We could not find anything with which to tie the provision bag and the water skin of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I said to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr: By Allah, I find nothing to tie them with (rope or the like) except my waistband. She said: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq said: Tear it (the waistband) into two parts. Tie the water skin with one and the provision bag with the other. For this reason Sayyidah Asma' became known by the name Dhat al-Nitaqayn.

Umayr bin Ishaq narrates: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) set out for Madinah, Sayyiduna Suraqah bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) went after them. When he reached them he began to say: These are the two men whom Quraysh are seeking. If only I could return to Quraysh the men they seek. The narrator said: He drove his horse towards these two, and the horse sank into the ground. Suraqah said: Both of you, pray to Allah to bring the horse out, and I will not come near you. The narrator said: So the horse came out, and Suraqah repeated what he had done before, until this happened two or three times. The narrator said: Then Suraqah stopped. Then he began to say: Come, take these provisions and this mount. They replied: We do not want them and we have no need of them.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) bought a camel saddle from Sayyiduna Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) for thirteen dirhams. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr said to Sayyiduna Azib: Tell al-Bara' to carry it to my saddle. Sayyiduna Azib said to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq: No, not until you tell us what you and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did when you left and the polytheists were searching for you. 2. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr said: We departed from Makkah and travelled on, staying awake a night and a day, until midday came upon us and the sun was at its height. I cast my gaze about to see whether any shade could be seen in which we might take shelter, and suddenly a rock appeared to me, so we made for it. Some of its shade remained. I looked at what remained of its shade and levelled (the spot), then I spread a skin for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in that shade. Then I said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), lie down. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) lay down. Then I began to keep watch around me to see whether any pursuer could be seen, and suddenly I saw a shepherd driving his goats towards that same rock. He wanted from the rock what I had wanted. I asked him; I said: O boy, whom do you belong to? He replied: To a man of Quraysh. Abu Bakr said: The boy named the man and I recognised him. 3. I asked: Is there milk among your goats? He replied: Yes. I said: Will you milk for me? He said: Yes. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr said: I ordered him, and he caught hold of one goat from his goats. Then I ordered him to shake the dust from the goat's udder. Then I ordered him to shake off his palms. He said: Like this? And he struck one of his hands with the other, and then milked a little milk. I had with me, for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), a water container with a cloth tied over its mouth. I poured it over the milk until it became cool at the bottom. Then I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and found that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had woken up. I said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), please drink. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) drank until I was content. 4. Then I said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the time to depart has come. Then we departed while the people were searching for us. None of them caught up with us except Suraqah bin Malik bin Ju'shum, who was riding his horse. I said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), this pursuer has reached us. And (saying this) I wept. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: What is making you weep? I said: By Allah, I am not weeping for myself (out of fear), but I am weeping for you. Abu Bakr said: Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed against Suraqah and said: O Allah, suffice us against him in whatever way You will. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr said: Then Suraqah's horse sank into the ground up to its belly. Suraqah leapt off the horse. Then he said: O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), I know that this is your doing. So pray to Allah to rescue me from this calamity. By Allah, I will surely keep (this matter) hidden from the pursuers behind me. And this is my quiver; take an arrow from it. You will soon pass by my camels and goats at such-and-such a place, so take whatever you need from them too. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: We have no need of your camels. Then he turned back from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for him. Suraqah went back to his companions. 5. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept going and I was with him (peace and blessings be upon him), until we reached Madinah at night. The people began to dispute over him (peace and blessings be upon him), as to whose house he (peace and blessings be upon him) would stay in. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Tonight I will stay with Banu al-Najjar, the maternal uncles of Abd al-Muttalib, and thereby honour them. The people came out, until he entered Madinah; and in the road and on the houses were the boys and servants, (saying): Muhammad has come, the Messenger of Allah has come. When morning came, he set off and stayed where Allah commanded him. 6. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had prayed towards Bayt al-Maqdis for sixteen or seventeen months, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) loved to be turned towards the Ka'bah. So Allah revealed: "We have seen the turning of your face towards the sky, so We will surely turn you towards a qiblah that pleases you. So turn your face towards al-Masjid al-Haram." [Surah al-Baqarah: 144] He said: So he was turned towards the Ka'bah. And the foolish among the people said: "What has turned them away from their qiblah which they used to face? Say: To Allah belong the east and the west; He guides whom He wills to a straight path." [Surah al-Baqarah: 142] He said: A man prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and then left after he had prayed. He passed by some of the Ansar who were bowing in the Asr prayer towards Bayt al-Maqdis, and he said: He bears witness that he prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and that he has been turned towards the Ka'bah. He said: So the people turned until they faced the Ka'bah. 7. Sayyiduna al-Bara' said: The first of the Muhajirun to stay with us was Sayyiduna Mus'ab bin Umayr (may Allah be pleased with him), the brother of Banu Abd al-Dar bin Qusayy. We said to him: What has the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) done? He said: He is in his place, and his companions are coming after me. Then after him came to us Sayyiduna Amr bin Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him), the blind man, the brother of Banu Fihr. We said to him: What have those behind you done, the Messenger of Allah and his companions? He said: They are coming after me. Then after him came to us Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir, Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud and Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with them). Then after them Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us with twenty riders. Then after them the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us, and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr with him. He did not reach us until I had read some of the surahs of the Mufassal. Then we set out to intercept the caravan, and we found that they had become wary.

Abu Ishaq said: I heard Sayyiduna al-Bara' (may Allah be pleased with him) say: The first of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to come to us were Sayyiduna Mus'ab bin Umayr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him), and these two began to teach the people the Qur'an. Then Sayyiduna Ammar, Sayyiduna Bilal and Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with them) came. Then Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came with a party of twenty riders. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came. The narrator said: I have never seen the people of Madinah so delighted over anything as they were over this. Sayyiduna al-Bara' said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) had not (yet) arrived before I had read "Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High" among the surahs of the Mufassal.

It is narrated from al-Hasan that Sayyiduna Suraqah bin Malik al-Mudliji (may Allah be pleased with him) told the people that Quraysh had set forty uqiyahs on the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: I was sitting when a man came to me and said: The two men about whom Quraysh have made their announcement (of a reward) are near you, at such-and-such a place. He said: I came to my horse while it was grazing. I ran with it, then I took my spear. He said: I mounted it. And I began to drag the spear, out of fear that the people of the water might join me in the matter of these two. He said: When I caught sight of the two of them, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr said: This is a pursuer seeking us. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned towards me and said: O Allah, suffice us against him however You will. Suraqah said: My horse sank into the ground even though I was on hard ground. I fell onto a stone and rolled over, and I said: Pray to the One who did to my horse what I see, that He may bring it out from here. And he pledged to him not to disobey him. He said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for Suraqah and the horse came out. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Are you giving this to me as a gift? I said: Yes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then remain right here. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Keep our situation hidden from the people. 2. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took the coastal route alongside the sea. He said: At the start of the day I was their pursuer, and at the end of the day I was their guard. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: When we have settled in Madinah, then if you see fit, come to us. Suraqah said: Then when he (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) gained victory over the people of Badr and the people of Uhud, and the people and those around him (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted Islam, Suraqah said: It reached me that he (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to send Sayyiduna Khalid bin al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) to Banu Mudlij. He said: I came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): I remind you of the favour (you promised). The people began to say: Stop! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Leave him. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: What do you want? I said: It has reached me that you intend to send Khalid bin al-Walid to my people, and I would love for you to make a covenant with them. Then if their people believe, they too will believe; and if their people do not believe, the hearts of their people will not be hardened against them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took the hand of Sayyiduna Khalid bin al-Walid and said to him: Go with him and deal in the way he wishes. 3. So Sayyiduna Khalid bin al-Walid went to Banu Mudlij and took a pledge from them that they would not help against him (peace and blessings be upon him), and that if Quraysh accepted Islam, they too would accept Islam with them. (Upon this) Allah Almighty revealed these verses: "They wish that you would disbelieve as they have disbelieved," up to: "except those who join a people between whom and you there is a treaty, or who come to you with their hearts constrained from fighting you or fighting their own people. And had Allah willed, He would have given them power over you, and they would have fought you." [Surah al-Nisa: 89-90]

Al-Hasan said: Those whose hearts were constrained are Banu Mudlij. So whoever else reached Banu Mudlij would be under a covenant like theirs.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) told him: When we were in the cave, I said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): If any one of them were to look towards his feet, he would surely find us beneath his feet. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Abu Bakr, what do you think of two men whose third is Allah?

Hisham narrates from his father that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) used to take food to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) while the two of them were in the cave.

It is reported from Mujahid, concerning the explanation of "If you do not help him" [Surah al-Tawbah: 40], that he mentioned the state of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at the beginning, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent, and said: Allah, the Pure, will do that for him. Allah is his helper, just as He helped him when he was the second of two.

It is reported from Mujahid that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) stayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the cave for three (days).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the two of them (the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abu Bakr) reached the cave, he said: There was a hole there. The narrator said: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr put his foot into that hole and said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), if there is anything that bites or stings, it will reach me.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), in the explanation of "You are the best nation brought forth for mankind" [Surah Al Imran: 110], said: These are the people who emigrated to Madinah with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Sayyiduna Maslamah bin Mukhallad (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was born when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived, and I was ten years old when he (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madinah, I was ten years old, and when he (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, I was twenty years old. My mothers used to urge me to serve him (peace and blessings be upon him).

Hisham bin Urwah narrates from his father: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Amir bin Fuhayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) emigrated to Madinah, he said: A gift from Sayyiduna Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) reached Sayyiduna Abu Bakr on the way, in which there were white clothes. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr entered Madinah in those clothes.

Sayyidah Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that she emigrated to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while she was carrying Sayyiduna Abdullah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) in her womb. She delivered him at Quba. She did not nurse the newborn until she reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and brought him to him (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) took him and placed him in his blessed lap. The people began to look for a date in order to perform tahnik on him, until they found one and performed tahnik on him. So the first thing to enter his stomach was the saliva of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And he (peace and blessings be upon him) named him Abdullah.

Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah relates that Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The first of this Ummah to emigrate were two young men of Quraysh.

Qatadah relates concerning Sa'id bin al-Musayyib: I asked him: What is the dividing line between the first Muhajirun and the later Muhajirun? He replied: The dividing line between them is the two qiblahs. So whoever prayed facing both qiblahs with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is among the first Muhajirun.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) rode behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from Makkah to Madinah. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr used to travel back and forth to Syria, so he was recognised, whereas the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was not recognised. So people would ask: O Abu Bakr, who is this young man in front of you? Sayyiduna Abu Bakr would say: He is a guide who shows me the way. The narrator said: When the two of them drew near Madinah, they stopped at al-Harrah. Someone was sent to the Ansar, and they came. Sayyiduna Anas said: I saw him (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day he (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Madinah, and I never saw a day more beautiful or brighter than the day he (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us. And I was also present on the day he (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, and I never saw a day uglier or darker than the day on which he (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away.