The March to Khaybar

The truce the holy Prophet had made with Mecca now made it possible to concentrate on the dangers which lay to their north. The greatest of these was the town of Khaybar, occupied by Jews who were for the most part implacably hostile to Islam.

The sorcerer Labid had almost certainly been bribed from there, though that could have been the work of an individual. But there were far more evident and general reasons for taking action against the exiled Bani Nadir and their Khaybarite kinsmen. Not that they were likely to invade Yathrib.

Except for one or two men, they had not taken any direct part in the campaign of the Trench, but it was they who had given Quraysh every encouragement to attack, and it was their influence which had induced their allies of Ghatafan to side with Quraysh on that occasion.

It was also largely through them that Ghatafan still remained virtually at war with the oasis. Medina could never know any fullness of peace while Khaybar remained as it was.

It had long been clear that something must be done, sooner or later, in that direction; and now the time had come, for the Prophet was certain that the near victory promised in the recent Revelation - a victory which would moreover be rich in spoils - could be nothing other than the conquest of the Jewish stronghold of Khaybar.

But this was not to be shared by all who professed Islam. The Revelation made it clear that those Bedouin who had failed to respond to his summons to make the Lesser Pilgrimage had been largely prompted by mercenary motives.

Since there was no hope of plunder on the Pilgrimage, it was not worth the effort. They were therefore not to be allowed to take part in the conquest of what was, without doubt, one of the richest communities in all Arabia.

This meant setting off with a smaller force, though it had the advantage that their plans could be kept secret until the last moment. But even when the project became known, it was passed from mouth to mouth as a pleasantry rather than a fact. The impregnable strength of Khaybar was almost proverbial.

Quraysh and the other enemies of Islam hoped that the news was true because, if so, Mohammad would at last receive a crushing defeat; but they feared it could not be true, for they knew he was not mad.

As for the men of Khaybar themselves their confidence was such that they refused to believe it. They did not even trouble to ask their allies for help until certain news came from Medina that Mohammad was about to set forth.

Only then did Kinanah, their virtual chief, make a speedy visit to Ghatafan, offering them half the date harvest for that year if they would send them reinforcements. The Ghatafan agreed to do so and promised a force four thousand men.

The Jews of Khaybar were in the habit of donning their armour every day and lining up their full strength of fighting men, ten thousand in all. The help of Ghatafan would bring the number up fourteen thousand; and according to the news from Medina, the invading army was of sixteen hundred men only.

Before the Prophet set out, one of the men of Aws known as Abu Abs came to him with a problem. He had a camel to ride, but his clothes were rags and he had no means of procuring any provisions to take on the march and nothing to leave for the upkeep of his family, let alone buying himself new garment.

There were many others in similar circumstances, though this was an extreme case. But much had been spent on the Pilgrimage, and everything that had been gained so far in the way of spoil was outweighed by the increasing number of poverty-stricken converts who came Medina from every direction.

The Prophet gave Abu Abs a fine long cloak all that was available for the moment; but on the march, a day or two later he noticed that he had on a much poorer cloak and he asked him:

"Where is the cloak I gave thee?"

Abu Abs replied,

"I sold it for eight dirhams. Then I bought two dirhams worth of dates as provision for myself, and left two dirhams for my family to live on, and bought a cloak for four dirhams."

The Prophet laughed and said:

"O father of Abs, thou and thy companions are poor indeed. But by Him in whose hand is my soul, if ye keep safe and live yet a little while, ye shall have abundance of provision and leave abundantly for your families. Ye shall abound in dirhams and slaves; and it will not be good for you!"

At one point on the march, between two camps, the Prophet halted army and called to a man of Aslam known as Ibin Al-Akwa, who had, as he knew, a beautiful voice.

"Dismount, and sing us a song of camel songs."

The Bedouin would sing to their camels as they rode from place to place. They would chant poems to old melodies, monotonous, haunting and plaintive; and to the sadly serene cadences of one of these Ibin Al-Akwa now chanted some words which the Prophet had taught the while they were digging the trench:

"God, but for Thee we never had been guided, Never had given aims, nor prayed Thy prayer."

So it began; and when he had finished the Prophet said to him:

"God have Mercy on thee."

One of the companions noted:

"Thou hast made it inevitable, O Messenger of God. Would thou hadst let us enjoy him longer!"

He meant, as they all knew, that the Prophet had foretold his early martyrdom, for they had come by experience to conclude that when he invoked Mercy upon anyone, that person had probably not long to live.

Harmony and Discord

The holy Prophet gave orders that his newly acquired courtyard should be into a mosque, and as in Quba they began work on it immediately.

Most of the building was done with bricks, but in the middle of the northern wall, that is, the Jerusalem wall, they put stones on either side of the prayer niche.

The palms in the courtyard were cut down and their trunks were used as pillars to support the roof of palm branches, but the greater part of the courtyard was left open.

The Muslims of Medina had been given by the Prophet the title of Ansar which means Helpers, whereas the Muslims of Quraysh and other tribes who had left their homes and emigrated to the oasis he called Muhijirah, that is, Emigrants.

All took part in the work, including the Prophet himself, and as they worked they chanted two verses which one of them had made up for the occasion:

"O God, no good is but the good hereafter, So help the Helpers and the Emigrants."

And sometimes they chanted:

"No life there is but life of the Hereafter. Mercy, 0 God, on Emigrants and Helpers."

It was to be hoped that these two parties would be strengthened by a third, and the Prophet now made a covenant of mutual obligation between his followers and the Jews of the oasis, forming them into a single community of believers but allowing for the differences between the two religions.

Muslims and Jews were to have equal status

If a Jew were wronged, then he must be helped to his rights by both Muslim and Jew, and so also if a Muslim were wronged.

In case of war against the polytheists they must fight as one people, and neither Jews nor Muslims were to make a separate peace, but peace was to be indivisible.

In case of differences of opinion or dispute or controversy, the matter was to be referred to God through His Messenger.

There was, however, no express stipulation that the Jews should formally recognise Mohammad as the Messenger and Prophet of God, though he was referred to as such throughout the document.

The Jews accepted this covenant for political reasons. The Prophet was already by far the most powerful man in Medina, and his power seemed likely to increase.

They had no choice but to accept; yet very few of them were capable of believing that God would send a Prophet who was not a Jew!

At first the Jews were outwardly cordial, whatever they may have said amongst themselves and however set they were in the consciousness of their own superiority, the immense and incomparable superiority of the chosen people over all others.

But though their skepticism with regard, the new religion was normally veiled, they were always ready to share with any Arab who might have doubts about the Divine origin Revelation.

Islam continued to spread rapidly throughout the clans of Aws and Khazraj, and some believers looked forward to the day when, thanks to the covenant with the Jews, the oasis would be one harmonious whole.

Revelation now gave warning of hidden elements of discord. It was this time that the longest Surrah of the Koran began to be revealed Al-Baqarak(the Heifer), which is placed at the beginning of the immediately after the seven verses of Al-Fatihah,(the Opening).

It starts with a definition of the rightly guided:

"Alif - Lam - Meem. This beyond doubt is the Book, a guidance unto the God fearing, who believe in the Unseen and perform the prayer and give of that which We have bestowed upon; and who believe in that which is revealed unto thee and in that which was revealed before thee, and who are certain of the Hereafter. These are they who follow guidance from their Lord and these are they who shall prosper."

Koran:II - verses:2/5

Then after mention of the disbelievers who are blind and deaf to the truth, a third body of people is mentioned:

"And of men there are some who say: 

We believe in God and in the last day, yet they are not believers... 

When they meet those who believe they say: 

We believe. And when a part unto their Satans, they say: 

Verily we are with you; we did but mock."

Koran:II - verses:8/14

These were the waverers and doubters and hypocrites of Aws and in all their varying degrees of insincerity; and their Satans, that inspirers of evil, were the men and women of the disbelievers who they could to sow the seeds of doubt

The Prophet was here warned of a problem by which he had been altogether untroubled in Mecca. There the sincerity of those who embraced Islam was never to be doubted. The reasons for conversion could only be spiritual, since as regards the things of this world a convert had nothing to gain and in many cases much to lose.

But now there were certain worldly reasons for entering the new religion and these were steadily on the increase. The days of the total absence of hypocrites from the ranks of the Muslims were gone for ever.

Some of the Satans referred to were of the Jews. The same Revelation also said:

"Many of the people of the Book long to bring you back into disbelief after your belief through envy that is in their souls."

Koran:II - verse:109

Eagerly the Jews had looked forward to the coming of the predicted Prophet, not for the sake of the spiritual enlightenment it would bring but so that they might regain their former supremacy in Yathrib and in Palestine; and now to their utter dismay and disgust they saw that it was a descendant of Ismaeel, not of Ishaq, who was proclaiming the truth of The One God, Allah, with a success which was truly suggestive of Divine support.

The Jews feared that Mohammad was indeed the promised Prophet, that they have long been promised in their Scriptures and urned for his coming. Whence their envy of the people to whom he was sent.

And, yet, in their hearts they hoped that he was not, and they sought continually to persuade themselves and others that he had not the true requisites of a Heavenly-sent-Messenger.

"Mohammad claimeth that tidings come to him from Heaven, yet he knoweth not where his camel is!"

Mockingly said by a man of the Jews on a day when one of the Prophet's camels had strayed.

"I only know what God giveth me to know, and this He hath shown me: she is in the glen that I will tell thee of, caught to a tree by her halter!"

Said the Prophet when it was revealed to him by God. And some of the Helpers rushed out to look at the glen he spoke of, and there they found her where he had said she was.

The Convenant 

Many of the Jews welcomed at first what seemed to be the end of all danger of a further outbreak of civil war in the oasis. There had none the less been advantages in that danger, for the division between the Arabs had greatly enhanced the status of the non-Arabs, who were much in demand as allies.

But the union of Aws and Khazraj made the old alliances unnecessary, while at the same time it gave the Arabs of Yathrib a formidable strength.

The covenant of the Jews with the Prophet made it possible for them to share in that strength. But it also meant incurring obligations for a possible war against the far greater Arab strength which lay beyond the oasis.

There might be other grave disadvantages for them in the new order of things, which was as yet untried, whereas the old order they knew and they were so well versed in its ways that many of them soon longed to return to it.

The Jews Exploiting the Discord Between The Arab Tribes 

One elderly Jewish politician of the Bani Qaynuqa, a master in the art of exploiting the discord between the Arab tribes, felt particularly frustrated by the new friendship between the Aws and the Khazraj.

He therefore instructed a youth of his tribe who had a beautiful voice to go and sit amongst the Helpers when they were assembled together and to recite to them some of the poetry which had been composed by men of both tribes immediately before and after Bu'ath, the most recent battle of the civil war - poems in revilement of enemies, glorying in deeds of prowess, elegies for the dead, threats of revenge.

The youth did as he was told, and he quickly held the attention of all who were there, transporting them from the present into the past. The men of Aws vehemently applauded the poetry of the Aws and those poetry of the Khazraj; and then the two sides began to argue with each other, and to boast, and to shout abuse and threats, until, finally the cry burst forth:

"To arms! To arms!"

And they went out into the lava tract, bent on fighting the fight once again. When the news reached the Prophet he gathered together all the Emigrants who were at hand and hastened out to where the two hosts were already drawn up in battle order. The Prophet said to them:

"O Muslims! Allah! Allah! Will ye act, as in the days of Ignorance, what though I am with you, and God hath guided you unto Islam, and honoured you with it, and there by enabled you to break with the pagan ways, and there by saved you from disbelief, and there united your hearts?"

At once they realised that they had been deliberately been led astray, and they wept, and embraced each other, and returned with the Prophet back to the city, attentive and obedient to his wise words.

The Prophet choses Ali as his Brother 

In order to unite the community of believers still further, and to underline the importance and closeness of his cousin Ali to himself.

The Prophet now instituted a pact of brotherhood between the Helpers an Emigrants, so that each of the Helpers would have an Emigrant brothers, who was nearer to him than any of the Helpers, and each Emigrant would have a Helper brother who was nearer to him than any Emigrant.

But he made himself and his Family an exception, for it would have be invidious for him to choose as his Brother anyone else present in Medina, be it one of the Helpers or be it anyone from the Emigrants from Mecca.

So the only logical choice for his stature and character would be his beloved and devoted cousin and son in law Ali Ibin Abe Taleb, who happened to be the closes of all present in his likeness in manner and in his character as to the holy Prophet Mohammad(pbuh&hf).

So the holy Prophet took his young cousin Ali by the hand and outstretched it up high in the air significantly and said out loudly to all before him:

"This is my Brother, Ali!"

And then the holy Prophet made his uncle the formidable Hamzah the brother of his own adopted son Zayd. He then turn and ordered the people gathered before him to chose a brother.

"Now you chose amongst you a brother."

Amongest the people standing before the Prophet and witnessing the brotherhood of the Prophet and Ali, and that of Hamzah, and that of Zayd were both Abu Bakir, and Umar, who felt left out of the priverlage of having a brother as their equal from Quraysh. So they being Emigrants themselves, reluctantly saw that they had no choice but to chose their brother of one of the Helpers of Medina.

Chief Adversaries to Islam 

Were two cousins, the sons of two sisters, but of two different tribes. One being of the clan of Aws and the other being of the clan of Khazraj through their fathers, each being of a great influence in his own tribe.

The man of Aws, Abu Ameer, was sometimes called "the Monk" 

Because he had long been an ascetic and had been known to wear a garment of hair. He was answered in the words of the Revelation which had more than once defined it as the religion of Ibraheem.

He claimed to be of the religion of Ibraheem, and had acquired a certain religious authority amongst the people of Yathrib. He came to the Prophet soon after his arrival, ostensibly to ask him about the new religion. He was answered in the words of the revelation which had more than once defined it:

"....as the religion of Ibraheem."

"But I am of it!"

Said Abu Ameer and persisting in the face of denial he accused the Prophet of having falsified the Abrahamic faith. The Prophet said:

"I have not! But I have brought it white and pure."

Said Abu Ameer.

"May God let the liar die outcast exile!"

The Prophet replied,

"So be it! May God do that unto him who is lying."

Abu Ameer soon saw that his authority was rapidly losing weight was still further embittered by his son Hanzalah's devotion to the Prophet. It was not long before he decided to take his remaining followers, about ten in all, to Mecca, seemingly unaware that this was the beginning of self-imprecated exile.

The man of Khazraj was Abd Allah Ibin Ubayy 

Who also felt himself to have been frustrated by the coming of the Prophet and robbed not just of spiritual authority but of the chief temporal power in the Yathrib oasis. He likewise had the bitterness of seeing his own son Abd Allah altogether won over by the Prophet, as well as his daughter Jameelah.

But unlike Abu Ameer, Ibin Ubayy was prepared to wait, thinking that sooner or later the newcomer's overwhelming influence would begin to ebb. Meantime it was his policy to be as non-committal as possible, but he sometimes betrayed his feelings despite himself.

One such occasion was when another chief of Khazraj, Sa'ad Ibin Ubadah, was ill and the Prophet went to visit him. All the rich men oasis had their houses built as fortresses, and on his way he passed by Muzaham, the fortress of Ibin Ubayy, who was sitting in the shadow of its walls surrounded by some of his clansmen and other men of Khazraj.

Out of courtesy to this chieftain, the Prophet dismounted from his ass and went to greet him. He sat for a while in his company, reciting the Koran and inviting him to Islam. When the Prophet had said all that he felt moved to say, Ibin Ubayy turned to him and said:

"Naught could be better than this discourse of thine, were it but true. Sit then at home, in thine own house, and who so cometh unto thee, preach unto him thus, but who so cometh not, burden him not with thy talk, nor enter into his gathering with that which he liketh not!"

"Nay!"

Said a voice.

"Come unto us with it, and visit us in our gatherings and our quarters and our houses, for that do we love, and that hath God given us of His Bounty, and thereunto hath He guided us."

The speaker was Abd A11ah Ibin Rawahah, a man whom Ibin Ubayy had thought he could count on for support at every turn. The disappointed chieftain now sullenly uttered a verse to the effect that when one is deserted by one's friends one is bound to be overcome. He had learned more clearly than ever that it was useless to resist.

As to the Prophet, he went away deeply saddened, despite Abd Allah's glowing tribute; and when he entered the sick man's house the rebuff he had received was still as it were written on his face.

Sa'ad immediately asked what was troubling him, and when he was told about Ibin Ubayy's impenetrable disbelief he said:

"Deal gently with him, O Messenger of God, for when God brought thee unto us, even then were we fashioning for him a diadem where with to crown him; and he seeth that thou hast robbed him of a kingdom."

The Prophet never forgot these words; and as to Ibin Ubayy, he soon saw that his influence, once so great, was rapidly dwindling and that if he did not enter Islam it would vanish altogether.

On the other hand he knew that a nominal acceptance of Islam would confirm him in his authority, for the Arabs were averse to breaking their old ties of allegiance unless there was a great reason for doing so.

It was therefore not long before he decided to enter Islam; but although he formally pledged himself to the Prophet and regularly there after attended the prayers, the believers never came to feel quite sure of him.

There were others about whom they were equally doubtful, but Ibin Ubayy was different from the majority of lukewarm or insincere converts by reason of his far-reaching influence, which made him all the more dangerous.

Prophet's Companion As'ad Dies 

During the first months, while the Mosque was still being built, the community suffered a great loss in the death of As'ad, the first man in the oasis to pledge himself to the Prophet.

It was he who had been the host of Mus'ab, and who had worked so closely with him during the year between the two Aqabahs. The Prophet said:

"The Jews and the Arab hypocrites, now will surely say of me:

'If he were a Prophet, his companion would not have died!'

And indeed my will availeth nothing for myself or for my companion against the Will of God."

The Seal of Prophecy 

It was perhaps at the funeral of As'ad that the second meeting of Salman Al-Farisi with the Prophet took place.

Salman the Persian, had known the Prophet would be there, and he contrived to absent himself from his work in time to reach the cemetery after the burial.

While the Prophet was still sitting there with some of the Emigrants and the Helpers. For Salman himself described this meeting in later years to the son of Abbass, saying:

"I went to the Messenger of God when he was in the Baqi Al-Gharqad, the cemetery located at the south-cast end of Medina, whither he had followed the bier of one of his Companions.

I greeted him, and then I circled round behind him in the hope that I might be able to look upon the Seal.

And he knew what I desired, so he grasped his cloak and threw it off his back, and I beheld the Seal of Prophecy even as my Master had described it unto me. I stooped over it and kissed it and wept.

Then the Messenger of God bade me to come round and I went and sat in front of him, and told him my story, and he was glad that his Companions should hear it. Then I entered Islam."

But Salman was kept hard at work as a slave among the Bani Qurayzah, and for the next four years he was able to have little contact with his fellow Muslims.

Another man of the people of the Book who embraced Islam at this time was a Jewish learned Rabbi of the Bani Qaynuqa, Husayn Ibin Sallam. He came to the Prophet in secret and pledged allegiance to him.

The Prophet thereupon gave him the name Abd Allah, and the new convert suggested that before his Islam became known his people should be questioned about his standing amongst them.

The Prophet concealed him in his house and sent for some of the leading men of Qaynuqa. They said in answer to his question

"He is our chief! And the son of our chief; he is our Rabbi and our man of learning."

Then Abd Allah came out of hiding to them and said:

"O Jews, Fear God! And accept that which He hath sent unto you, for ye know that this man is the Messenger of our Lord God."

Then he affirmed his own Islam and that of his household; and his people reviled him, and denied his good standing amongst them which they had previously affirmed.

Islam was now firmly established in the oasis. The Revelation prescribed the giving of alms and the Fast of the month of Ramadan, and laid d own general what was forbidden and what was allowed.

Call to Prayer 

The Five daily Prayers were regularly performed in congregation, and when the time for each prayer came the people would assemble at the site where the Mosque was being built.

Everyone judged of the time by the position of the sun in the sky, or by the first signs of its light on the eastern horizon or dimming of its glow in the west after sunset; but opinions could differ, and the Prophet felt the need for a means of summoning the people to when the right time had come.

At first some of the his companions thought of appointing a man to blow a horn like that of the Jews, and some even suggested to use a wooden clapper, such as the Oriental Christians used at that time, and two pieces of wood were fashioned together for that purpose.

But they were never destined to be used; for the Prophet refused both suggestions. The Prophet had other ideas. That is ideas from Allah the Almighty Creator.

What simply natural and better, than the sound of a man's voice filling the surrounding flowing air over roof tops and desert land but with the magnification of his Creator's name, of Allaho Akbar and the call to prayer of His faithful worshippers. Five times a day.

So the holy Prophet orderes to Bilaal to show the people what he had taught him:

Al-Athan - translated to mean - The Call to Prayer

The Prophet taught Bilaal, the Athan or The 'Call to Prayer', because he was a most faithful follower and who had an excellent voice.

The highest house in the neighbourhood of the Mosque belonged to a woman of the clan of Najjar, and Bilaal would come there before every dawn and would sit on the roof waiting for the daybreak far over the horizon.

When he saw the first faint light in the east he stretched out his arms and said aloud to himself a sincereprayer of supplication to Allah for the Leaders of Quraysh:

"O God I praise Thee, and I ask Thy Help for Quraysh, that they may accept Thy religion."

Then Bilaal would stand on the roof, and lift both of his hands to cup his mouth and utter the Call to Prayer, to awaken the Muslim worshippers for Prayer.

The Annulment

The ban was formally revoked, and a body of Quraysh went to give the good news to the Bani Hashim and the Bani Al-Muttalib. 

There was much relief in Mecca after the ban was lifted, and for the moment hostilities against the Muslims were relaxed.

Exaggerated reports of this soon reached Abyssinia, whereupon some of the exiles immediately set about making preparations to return to Mecca while others, Jafar Ibin Abe Taleb amongst them, decided to remain for a while where they were.

Quraysh's Compromise

Meantime the leaders of Quraysh concentrated their efforts on trying to persuade the Prophet to agree to a compromise.

This was the nearest approach they had yet made to him. Waleed and other chiefs proposed that they should all practise both religions. The Prophet was saved the trouble of formulating his refusal by an immediate answer which came directly from Heaven in a surah of six verses:

"Say: O disbelievers, I shall not worship that which ye worship, nor will ye worship that which I worship, nor have I worshipped that which ye worship, nor have ye worshipped that which I worship. For you your religion and for me mine."

As a result, the momentary good will had already much diminished by the time the returning exiles reached the edge of the sacred precinct. Except for Jafar and Ubayd Allah Ibin Jahsh, all the Prophet's cousins returned. With them came also Uthman and Ruqayyah.

Another Shamsite who returned with Uthman was Abu Hudhayfah. He could rely on his father Utbah Ibin Al-Waleed to protect him.

Protection from Abu Taleb

But Abu Salamah and Umm Salamah could hope for nothing but certain persecution from their own clan, so before they entered Mecca Abu Salamah sent word to the Hashimite chief and uncle Abu Taleb, asking for his protection w

The Hijrah

As the Prophet had planned, he escaped into the desert with a help from a bedouin guide. And when they had made a little way beyond the precincts of Mecca, the Prophet halted his camel Qaswa, and looked back and saddly said:

"Of all God's earth. Thou art the most dearest unto me and the most dearest unto God, and had not my people driven me from thee I would not have left thee."

The Prophet had with him also a shepard called Ameer Ibin Fuhayrah. He was a slave brought by the Prophet from his tormentors and set free. He told the shepard to follow him with his flock of sheep so that his sheep would be used to cover up the large camel tracks on the sand.

Even though the Prophet knew that the average Bedouwin could see at a glance, the remains of the larger prints of the camel hoof prints or even the camel dung in the sands which the multitude of smaller prints had all but obliterated them.

However later that day on their way, they met Abu Bakir who had escaped earlier from Mecca on the desert road to Yathrib. Abu Bakr pleaded to the Prophet if he could join him on the dangerous route to the north. The Prophet agreed for he wanted his escape to be kept secret as long as possible, and the possiblity of Abu Bakr being captured and in the chance of him telling Quraysh of his where abouts would uncomprimise his plan of escape and put him in danger.

The Prophet then quickly ordered Ameer, the shepard to make haste for a cave in the Mount of Thawr a little to the south, on the way to the Yemen.

For the Prophet knew that as soon as his absence was discovered. Search parties would be sent out to cover all the northern outskirts of the city.

When they had reached the cave, the Prophet turned to Ameer the shepard to go with their camels with his flock of sheep back to Mecca, for the cave wasn't large enough and there was no other place to hide them.

When he was in Mecca the Prophet told him that he should listern to what was said in Mecca the next day when the Prophet's escaped was discovered and to bring with them enough provisions for their long journey.

Ameer reached Mecca and soon discovered that Quraysh had discovered the Prophet's absence and was now desperate to find Mohammad. They had offered a grand reward of a hundred camels to anyone who could find him and bring him back to Mecca, dead or alive.

Horsemen were already following every northern route from Mecca to Yathrib, hoping to overtake the Prophet - for they assumed that the Prophet, would make for Yathrib to take refuge with his other muslim followers who had left Mecca earlier in the weeks leading to the Prophet's escape, and now dwell in the northern Arabian city of Yathrib.

But others, thought most likely that they must hiding, in one of the numerous caves in the hills around Mecca. Moreover the Arabs of the desert are good trackers: even when a flock of sheep followed in the wake of two or three camels.

To others it seemed quite unlikely that the Prophet would be to the south of the city; but for such a generous reward every possibility should be tried; and camels had certainly preceded the sheep on those tracks which led in the direction of Mount Thawr.

Ameer the faithful shepard was told by the Prophet to pasture his sheep as usual with the other shepards at the foot hills of the mountain during the day and at night and secretly to bring them provisions of food and water and the important news of what Quraysh was up to!

The Spider's Web

However on the third day the silence of their mountain sanctuary was broken, the sound of birds - a pair of rock doves they thought - were cooing loudly and fluttering their wings outside near to the cave.

The sounds of the birds alerted the men attention up towards the small mountain towards the half hidden cave. They drew their swords and scurried up the slope.

Then after a while the fugitives within the cave heard the faint sound of men's voices, at some distance below them but gradually growing louder and louder as the men were climbing up the side of the mount.

The voices were now not far off. There were five or six men at least, and they were still approaching with drawn swords. The Prophet quickly took a glance at Abu Bakr sitting at the far most back of the cave. The Prophet saw Abu Bakr's face turn pale, and feared he might cry out. So he reassured Abu Bakr:

"Grieve not. Lo! Allah is with us!"

Koran:9:40

They could now hear the sound of steps, which drew nearer and then stopped at the mouth of the cave: the men now were standing outside and the cave. Then they spoke decisively, all in agreement that there was no real need to enter the cave, since no one could possibly be in there. Then they turned back the way they had come.

When the sound of their retreating steps and voices had died away, the Prophet went to the mouth of the cave. There in front of it, almost covering the entrance, was an acacia tree, about the height of a man, which had not been there that morning; and over the gap that was left between the tree and the wall of the cave a spider had woven its web.

"...Then Allah caused His peace of reassurance to descend upon him and supported him with hosts ye cannot see, and made the word of those who disbelieved the nethermost, while Allah's Word it was that became the uppermost. Allah is Mighty, Wise."

Koran:9:40

The Prophet looked out through the silky web, and there in the hollow of a rock, even where a man might step as he entered the cave, a rock dove had made a nesting place and was sitting close as if she had eggs, with her mate perched on a ledge not far above. The same birds that had alerted Quraysh to investigate.

Later in the day as the sun was setting. The Prophet heard the shepard approaching at the expected agreed hour, and he gently drew aside the spider's web that had been his safeguard, and taking care not to disturb the dove, he went to meet Ameer, outside the cave.

Ameer had come, this time without his flock. But as entrusted had brought for them camels, provosions and a bedouwin guide for their journey.

The shepard then informed the Prophet that the guide he brought was not yet a believer, but he could be relied on to keep their secret and also to guide them to their destination by such out-of-the-way paths as only a true son of the desert would know. The guide was patiently waiting in the valley below with the Prophet's favourite camel Qaswa and two more.

They left the cave and descended the slope, with Ameer helping the still some what pale and shaken Abu Bakr to walk down the slope, and help him mount his camel.

The Prophet bade farewell to Ameer the shepard, who now was to return to Mecca once again, but this time to inform Ali of the Prophet's successfull escape.

Then their guide took them away from Mecca to the west and a little to the south until they came to the shores of the Red Sea. Yathrib is due north of Mecca, but it was only at this point that any north came into their direction.