5. The Hijrah: the cards as text

Seerah. Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review.

1. Card 1

   An invitation, a murder plot, a cave, and a new city.

2. Card 2

   An invitation from Yathrib

   Pilgrims from Yathrib, a town torn by tribal war, meet the Prophet in secret and accept Islam. Over the next two years they make two pledges. In the second, they promise to protect him as their own families.

3. Card 3

   Lesson: Madinah invited the Prophet. He did not conquer it.

4. Card 4

   The cave of Thawr

   In Makkah, Quraysh plot to kill the Prophet. He leaves at night with Abu Bakr and hides three days in the cave of Thawr. The searchers come close. Abu Bakr is afraid. The Prophet tells him: "Do not grieve; Allah is with us."

5. Card 5

   Qur'an 9:40

   إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدۡ نَصَرَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِذۡ أَخۡرَجَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ ثَانِيَ ٱثۡنَيۡنِ إِذۡ هُمَا فِي ٱلۡغَارِ إِذۡ يَقُولُ لِصَٰحِبِهِۦ لَا تَحۡزَنۡ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَنَاۖ فَأَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُۥ عَلَيۡهِ وَأَيَّدَهُۥ بِجُنُودࣲ لَّمۡ تَرَوۡهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ ٱلسُّفۡلَىٰۗ وَكَلِمَةُ ٱللَّهِ هِيَ ٱلۡعُلۡيَاۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ ۝٤٠

   ⁴⁰ If you do not support the Prophet, Allah has already supported him when the disbelievers forced him out; when he was second of the two in the cave – saying to his companion, “Do not grieve; Allah is with us.” Thereupon Allah sent down His tranquility upon him, supported him with soldiers that you did not see, and rendered the word of the disbelievers the lowest, whereas the Word of Allah is supreme. And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.

6. Card 6

   Lesson: Even fleeing for his life, the Prophet returned what he was trusted with.

7. Card 7

   Arrival, and brotherhood

   The Prophet reaches Madinah in 622. One of his first acts is to build a simple mosque. He pairs each emigrant from Makkah with a host from Madinah as brothers, who share homes and wealth.

8. Card 8

   Qur'an 59:9

   وَٱلَّذِينَ تَبَوَّءُو ٱلدَّارَ وَٱلۡإِيمَٰنَ مِن قَبۡلِهِمۡ يُحِبُّونَ مَنۡ هَاجَرَ إِلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا يَجِدُونَ فِي صُدُورِهِمۡ حَاجَةࣱ مِّمَّآ أُوتُواْ وَيُؤۡثِرُونَ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ وَلَوۡ كَانَ بِهِمۡ خَصَاصَةࣰۚ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفۡسِهِۦ فَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ ۝٩

   ⁹ As for those who were settled in the city [of Madinah] and embraced Islam before them, they love those who migrated to them and find no covetous desire in their hearts for what they were given. Rather they give them preference over themselves even though they may be in dire need. Whoever is protected from the covetousness of their souls, it is they who are successful.

9. Card 9

   Lesson: The new community in Madinah was built on sharing, before anything else.

10. Card 10

    The Charter of Madinah

    Madinah was home to Muslims, Jewish tribes and others. The Prophet drafts an agreement among them: one community for mutual defence, each keeping its own religion and laws. The Islamic calendar counts from this year.

11. Card 11

    Lesson: The Islamic calendar starts not with a birth or a battle, but with a migration.

12. Card 12

    Reflect: Why does the Islamic calendar start in 622?

    Answer: The Hijrah to Madinah. It begins with the Hijrah, when the Muslims became a community in Madinah.

13. Card 13

    The end of 5. The Hijrah.

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