What happened on the Hijra from Makkah to Madinah?
The Hijra is the pivot of the Prophet's ﷺ biography — the migration that began the Islamic calendar. Ibn Kathīr's <em>Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah</em> reconstructs it hour by hour: the plot in Makkah, the cave of Thawr, the camel, the arrival in Madinah.
10 passages from 9 books in the library
The cited passages frame the Hijra above all by the Prophet's ﷺ teaching that "actions are by intentions": whoever's migration was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to them, and whoever migrated for worldly gain has only that. The narrations note that he ﷺ later arrived in Madinah, "the abode of migration," and that the land sought through migration was the land of al-Sham. They also recall that he prayed toward Jerusalem for sixteen or seventeen months after the migration, and that pledging allegiance for migration was binding on the believers.
- Migration is judged by intention — for Allah and His Messenger, or for worldly gain
- The Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah, called "the abode of migration"
- Prayer continued toward Jerusalem for sixteen or seventeen months after the migration
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 9 books by Imam al-Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
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"his migration is to Allah and his messenger, and whoever's migration was for worldly gains"
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"and for each person is what he intended. So whoever's migration was to Allah and his messenger,"
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
· Provenance →
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"Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, also prayed towards it for 16 or 17 months after his migration"
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
· Provenance →
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"Allah has commanded me with them, the congregation, listening and obeying, migration and striving"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Ahmad and Ibn Hibban narrated from the hadith of Umm Salama regarding the story of the migration"
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
· Provenance →
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"The land he sought through migration was the land of Al-Sham, which Allah the Exalted mentioned,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"expressing that he had made his parents cry and was seeking to pledge allegiance for migration."
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
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"peace and blessings be upon him, arrived in the blessed city of Medina, the abode of migration,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Then he sat at the path of migration, questioning leaving one's land, but the person disobeyed"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"yet he remains patient until they are separated by death or migration, and a man who was with"
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