The Emigration to Madinah
The mission of the Prophet of Islam was that of monotheism, that is, to replace the ideology of polytheism with the ideology of monotheism throughout the world. The Prophet began his mission in ancient Makkah in 610 AD. At that time, the culture of polytheism was prevalent there, the leaders of which had gained a position of dominance in every respect. After a period of opposition for thirteen years, these leaders finally gave an ultimatum to the Prophet that he and his Companions should either leave Makkah, or they would be killed.
For the Prophet this was a moment of crisis, but he did not adopt the way of reaction. Rather he judged the circumstances objectively and decided to leave Makkah quietly for Yathrib, that is, Madinah, one of the three major cities of ancient Arabia, which was about five hundred kilometers from Makkah. When the Prophet of Islam decided to leave Makkah, he said to his Companions, as recorded in the books of Hadith: “I have been commanded to emigrate to a township which will engulf all townships. People call it Yathrib and it is Madinah.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 1871)
On perusing this tradition of the Prophet, we find that in essence, the emigration to Madinah meant the re-planning of the mission.
When the Prophet reached Madinah, he did not adopt a negative attitude towards the Makkans. Rather by ignoring their behavior, he carried out the new planning of his mission in a totally positive manner. (For details, see the book of the writer: “Muhammad—A Prophet for All Humanity” [English] and “Paighambar-e-Inquilab” and “Seerat-e Rasool” [Urdu].) For instance, he sent dawah delegations in great numbers to the tribes living in Arabia and sent dawah letters to the Kings and Emperors outside of Arabia, negotiating peace treaties by accepting unilateral conditions. The Quraysh wanted to embroil him in war by attacking unilaterally, but the Prophet very wisely managed to reduce their attacks to mere skirmishes. All this was done so that the process that had been initiated for the re-planning of the mission might continue unhampered.
This re-planning of his mission was fully successful in the eighth year of Hijra. The result was miraculous. The Muslims entered Makkah once again as victors but without waging any war.
When the Prophet conquered Makkah and the Makkan chieftains were brought before him as prisoners of war, he did not engage in any retaliation against them. Rather he forgave them by saying, “I will say what the Prophet Yusuf said to his brothers, ‘I don’t lay any blame on you. May God forgive you, He is very merciful.’” The narrators said that when they left the Kabah, it seemed as if they had come out of their graves and they all entered the fold of Islam (Sunan Al-Kubra al Bayhaqi, Hadith No.18275).
The chieftains of Makkah knew that they were guilty of oppression. In spite of that, the Prophet of Islam forgave them unilaterally. As a result of such behavior on the part of the Prophet, it was but natural that they felt ashamed of themselves and surrendered before him. On the contrary, had the Prophet adopted the path of revenge, then certainly they would also have reacted in the same coin. A chain reaction would then have set in. Both the parties would have set about seeking revenge. According to the laws of cause and effect, the peaceful mission of the Prophet of Islam would in the very first instance have found itself in unnecessary difficulties. But thanks to his noble behavior, the Prophet’s mission continued unabated.
