subject	Occasions
topic	Immigration to Medina
grade	Nine
time	30 minutes
objective	To enable students to understand the importance of the immigration to Medina.
instructional material	Info Sheet 9B – Immigration to Medina.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Prophet Muhammed’s journey to Medina, is called the “Hijrah”, and it marks the beginning of the Islamic calender.  The reason is because he proclaimed the establishment of the first Islamic state when he arrived in Medina.  Many miracles took place during this journey, and to Muslims it proves the strength of the Will of God.  A look at the story will be interesting…

 

DEVELOPMENT

 

Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4, and let each group read a section of the Info Sheets.

 

REINFORCING ACTIVITIES

 

Let one person from each group summarise what the group read.

 

FOLLOW UP

Summarize the story.
INFO SHEET 9B – Immigration to Medina

 

Prophet Muhammed’s journey to Medina, is called the “Hijrah”, and it marks the beginning of the Islamic calender.  The reason is because he proclaimed the establishment of the first Islamic state when he arrived in Medina.  Many miracles took place during this journey, and to Muslims it proves the strength of the Will of God.  Look at the story :

 

When Prophet Muhammed first started spreading the word about Islam in Mecca, he had very little followers, mostly his family and friends.  But when the number of followers started to increase, the people in power, mostly the Qureish Tribe and others, felt threatened, and began their wave of persecution.  They tortured, and killed many Muslims in the hope that others would give up their faith.  Eventually the situation worsened so much that the Prophet decided to take his followers to neighbouriing Yathrib (now called “Medina”).  He ordered them to leave secretly, in small groups, so that no one would notice them.

 

When those in power found out about this slow emigration, they worried about the spread of Islam in Yathrib, so they decided to kill the Prophet.  A note to remember is that at that time, people were very loyal to their tribes.  Members would defend each other with their lives even if they were wrong!  Prophet Muhammed was a member of the Qureish Tribe, which was the strongest tribe in the area, and so since the beginning of his message about Islam, no one dared to hurt him in any way, because they feared revenge from the Qureish Tribe.  By the same token, even though the Qureish Tribe did not believe in Islam, they protected the Prophet, since he was a member of their tribe.  So to protect themselves from revenge, those in power decided to ask each tribe to choose one person to kill the Prophet.  They would all to go the Prophet’s house, and kill him together, so that no single tribe could be blamed for it later on.

 

Prophet Muhammed learned about the plan to kill him from God;  he was asked to leave for Yathrib (this was the first miracle).  He and his dearest friend Abu Bakr began to prepare themselves for the journey.  Then Angel Gabriel came one evening and told him not to sleep in his own bed that night.  The Prophet had arranged that his cousin Ali would sleep in his bed, while they escape.  That night, the young men from the different tribes hid around the Prophet’s home and waited for him to come out.  Eventually they became tired and some even slept; the Prophet and Abu Bakr quietly slipped out of the house.  Morning came, and the men decided to storm the Prophet’s home; when they did they found Ali sleeping in his bed.  The frantic search began!

 

There was a reward offered for the Prophet, dead or alive, and many people joined in the search.  Prophet Muhammed and Abu Bakr had made it to a cave, just before some searchers did.  Before they arrived at the mouth of the cave, a spider spun a web at the opening such that if anyone had entered, it would have been broken.  The searchers, when they saw the web, surmised that the Prophet and Abu Bakr couldn’t have entered the cave, and walked away.  This was the second miracle.

 

Finally the search was over, but one man found their tracks and was riding up to them.  Suddenly, his horse threw him to the ground!  The man thought that this was a message from God, so he asked for their forgiveness and declared his belief in Islam.  Then he rode back to Mecca and told the people that he could not find the Prophet.

 

After seven days, Prophet Muhammed and Abu Bakr reached a village called “Qiba”, which was not far from Yathrib.  They stayed there for four days, during which the Prophet helped build the first Mosque for Muslims.