Seerah 5 — The Hijrah & the Madinan state السيرة

DECK The Hijrah marks the turning point in Islamic history and the beginning of the Islamic calendar. It is the transition from persecution to building a state, and the shift from individual worship to community organization.

VIDEO The Sheikh stresses how decisive it was: ʿUmar (RA) set the Islamic calendar to begin from the Hijrah — not from the Prophet's ﷺ birth, the first revelation, or his death. Out of all those events, this one was chosen. In about ten years a people in fear and persecution became a functioning state. He frames the whole episode for its ḥikmah and its modern leadership / community-development lessons — strategy, planning, institution-building, and unshakeable tawakkul.

DECK The reasons: severe persecution in Makkah; the boycott and social isolation; the assassination attempt on the Prophet ﷺ; the invitation from the people of Yathrib (Madinah); the pledges of ʿAqabah (1st and 2nd); and the need for a safe environment to practise faith.

VIDEO After 13 years of daʿwah only a small number believed, and the believers could not be protected in Makkah. The Sheikh notes every aspect of the Prophet ﷺ was attacked: he was called majnūn; his daughters' husbands (sons of Abū Lahab) were made to divorce them; and the boycott froze the community's trade and property in the ravine. The first community — the ṭalīʿah (the vanguard) — had to be protected and organised.

DECK The decisive factor was the invitation from Yathrib, secured through the two pledges of ʿAqabah in which the Madinans promised support and protection.

VIDEO The believers could have returned to Abyssinia, but Madinah was chosen for many reasons: the Madinans pledged “as we protect our own, we will protect you” (and at the second ʿAqabah he answered their question with “your blood is my blood… I am of you and you are of me”); an open ideological space unlike entrenched Christian Abyssinia; the Jews of Yathrib expected a prophet; a leadership vacuum (no Abū Jahl figure); strategic geography on the Makkah–Syria trade route; natural defences ringed by mountains; a softer, more receptive people; and Qur'anic preparation — verses of permission to emigrate. Every move was by waḥy, not mere tactics.

DECK Preparations: secret meetings with the Anṣār; planning the escape route (not the direct road); arrangements with Abū Bakr (RA); the guiding expertise of ʿAbdullāh ibn Urayqiṭ; and a support system of Asmāʾ (RA), ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Bakr, and ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayra.

VIDEO Behind the Hijrah lay “a formidable amount of planning” — no sudden flight. Abū Bakr prepared the mounts in advance. ʿAbdullāh ibn Urayqiṭ — a non-Muslim — was hired purely because he was the desert expert: ḥikmah — give precedence to competence in its proper place. Asmāʾ carried the food (earning the title Dhāt an-Niṭāqayn, “she of the two belts”); ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Bakr gathered intelligence; and ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayra grazed livestock over their footprints to erase the trail from desert trackers.

DECK Quraysh representatives surrounded the Prophet's house; ʿAlī (RA) slept in the Prophet's bed to buy time.

VIDEO The chiefs plotted that one man from every clan would strike together, so the blood-guilt would be spread and Banū Hāshim could not avenge a single killer. The Prophet ﷺ walked out reciting وَجَعَلْنَا مِن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ — “…We placed a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, and covered them so they cannot see” (Q 36:9, Yā Sīn); Allah veiled their sight. ʿAlī risked his life with no fear, and was entrusted to return the amānāt (deposits) — even to the very Makkans hunting the Prophet ﷺ. Ḥikmah: trusts are returned even while on the run.

DECK They hid three days in the Cave of Thawr; Quraysh trackers reached the cave entrance; the famous verse: “Allah is with us” (Q 9:40).

VIDEO Asmāʾ brought food; the spider's web screened the cave. When the searchers stood at the mouth, the frightened Abū Bakr was reassured: لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا — “Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us” (Q 9:40, at-Tawbah). The Sheikh: this is no ordinary statement — at the most extreme moment the Prophet ﷺ stayed completely calm, the peak of tawakkul: no army, no force, only “My Lord is with me”.

DECK The road featured Surāqah's pursuit and miraculous protection.

VIDEO Quraysh offered 100 camels for the Prophet ﷺ. Surāqah ibn Mālik pursued and closed in, but his horse sank into the ground. The Prophet ﷺ then promised him he would one day wear the gold bracelets of the kings of Kisrā (Persia) and told him to turn back. Fulfilment: under ʿUmar's caliphate the Persian empire fell, and ʿUmar placed the kings' gold bracelets on Surāqah before the Companions. Ḥikmah: the Companions kept even the Prophet's ﷺ promises.

DECK A warm reception by the people of Qubāʾ, and the establishment of Masjid Qubāʾ — the first mosque.

VIDEO He stayed at Qubāʾ about four days and built Masjid Qubāʾ — the first mosque, before Masjid an-Nabawī. The Qur'an itself marks it: لَمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوَىٰ مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ — “a mosque founded on taqwā from the first day” (Q 9:108, at-Tawbah). Praying there with proper intention earns a reward “like that of an ʿUmrah”.

DECK The city was renamed Madīnat an-Nabī — “the beginning of a new civilizational chapter”.

VIDEO The Prophet ﷺ disliked the name Yathrib and ordered it changed to Madīnat an-Nabī (the City of the Prophet). He let his she-camel choose where to kneel, and so lodged with Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī (RA), by whose home it stopped. From there the state-building phase began.

Foundation 1 — Masjid an-Nabawī (the spiritual base)

DECK The first major project of governance — a centre for education, shūrā, justice, and social care, and a symbol of unity and spiritual strength.

VIDEO Not merely a prayer room — everything happened there. It was an education centre (where great Companion scholars were formed, and later Imām Mālik taught), a court of justice, and a welfare hub: the Aṣḥāb aṣ-Ṣuffah (poor Companions) lived on its platform and were sustained by weekly charity. Great universities — al-Azhar, Zaytūna — later grew out of mosques. Modern lesson: restore the mosque as a community centre.

Foundation 2 — Brotherhood (Muʾākhāh)

DECK Brotherhood between Muhājirūn & Anṣār — historic social integration with shared property, responsibilities, and protection; a model of selflessness. It ended tribal rivalries: Aws and Khazraj were reconciled into a unified Ummah.

VIDEO The root is Qur'anic: إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ — “The believers are but brothers” (Q 49:10). The Prophet's ﷺ instruction was one line: “Your brothers have come; take care of them.” The selflessness reached such a height that an Anṣārī offered ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf half his wealth (he declined, asking only to be shown the market). The Sheikh: this is what we most need to revive — mutual respect across groups, salām to those you know and those you don't.

Foundation 3 — The Constitution of Madinah

DECK One of the world's earliest written constitutions: it defined rights and responsibilities, protected minorities (Jews and others), created a unified Ummah regardless of tribe, established the rule of law, and ensured collective defence.

VIDEO The Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīnah treated all communities — especially the Jews — as one nation. Its provisions: justice for all, defined rights, full protection of minorities, no alliance with hostile outside powers, and equality across tribes. The Sheikh calls it the first constitution built on coexistence.

Foundation 4 — Security & defence

DECK Formation of the first Islamic army; protection against Quraysh aggression; monitoring threats within and outside Madinah. The battles (Badr, Uḥud, Aḥzāb) were defence, not aggression.

VIDEO A state must have a defensive force. The army was organised for self-defence against Quraysh, not to conquer other lands. Small groups patrolled the borders of Madinah even before Badr.

Foundation 5 — Economic reforms

DECK Encouragement of trade, agriculture, and partnership; establishment of a market free from injustice; the gradual prohibition of ribā; and the structuring of the Zakāt system.

VIDEO He urged using land (leaving it idle is almost a sin) and promoted mushārakah / muḍārabah partnerships. Against the cheating of the old markets, he founded a separate, just market. He declared “the ribā of the Days of Ignorance is abolished”, structured zakāh, and added waqf, ṣadaqah jāriyah, and inheritance law.

Foundation 6 — Social welfare

DECK Caring for widows, orphans, and the poor; establishment of the Ṣuffah (residential learning); freeing slaves and granting rights; and women's rights and family laws.

VIDEO Built on charity, with a Bayt al-Māl treasury. Slavery was a defining issue of the age; the Prophet ﷺ made freeing a slave a great virtue (“whoever frees a slave, Allah frees him from the Fire”), so the wealthy raced to manumit.

Foundation 7 — Justice system

DECK Fairness regardless of tribe or status; application of law even on elites; emphasis on forgiveness, reconciliation, and due process.

VIDEO Judgment was evidence-based. When a Muslim stole and framed a Jew, Allah revealed Qur'an clearing the innocent man: وَمَن يَكْسِبْ خَطِيئَةً أَوْ إِثْمًا ثُمَّ يَرْمِ بِهِ بَرِيئًا — “whoever earns a fault or sin and casts it upon an innocent has borne slander and manifest sin” (Q 4:112). The system protected even a non-Muslim against a Muslim's false accusation.

DECK Leadership qualities: strategic planning · shūrā (consultation) · inclusiveness · visionary leadership · mercy and compassion · conflict resolution · integrity and fairness · community building. Outcomes: a united Ummah, a strong spiritual foundation, a clear governance system, social justice, expanded influence, peace agreements (Ḥudaybiyyah), and the foundations for future Islamic civilization.

VIDEO All of it rested on the Prophet's ﷺ leadership (forgive, reconcile) and produced a United Ummah — combining spiritual peace, a justice-based society, and economic reform. “Today we have lost this,” the Sheikh laments, broken into nations and parties; in Madinah it was one ummah.

DECK For leaders: build unity before expansion; justice is the foundation of leadership; inclusiveness creates stability. For communities: prioritise brotherhood; structure learning and worship; develop welfare systems. For organisations: a constitution / policies; clear roles & responsibilities; an ethical financial system; leaders with character.

VIDEO The Sheikh urges educating local leaders region by region and investing in the young generation — “today's youth are tomorrow's leaders” — and reaching even those who never come to the mosque.