Table of Contents
Full Moon Has Shone
Waraqah: I wish I would be still alive at the time when your people would turn you out.
Muhammad ﷺ: Will they turn me out?
Waraqah: Yes, never did a man come with the like of what you have come with but he was treated with hostility. If I were to live until your day (when you shall be turned out), I would support you strongly.1
This was the way with all his fellow Prophets from Ibrahim ﷺ to ‘Isa ﷺ; they were treated with hostility. They suffered persecution while preaching the Message. Their towns rejected them, and they emigrated from them.
The infidels of Quraish were unremitting in their hostility to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They conspired to kill him, expel him, or imprison him. Therefore, the Divine Command of Hijrah to Al-Madinah was revealed with Words of comfort, assurance, and support; a supplication for an honorable entrance to Al-Madinah and an honorable exit from Makkah2:
﴾Say, ‘O my Lord, let my entry be by the gate of truth and honor, and my exit by the gate of truth and honor, and grant me from Yourself a supporting authority.’﴿3
Upon hearing the news of the departure of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Makkah (towards Al-Madinah), the Muslims of Al-Madinah started going to the Harrah (a rocky land in Al-Madinah) every morning to keep watch for him ﷺ until the blazing noon heat forced them to return home.
One day, after waiting for a long time, they returned home. After they had entered their houses, a Jew who ascended to one of the forts of his people looking for something saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companion dressed in white clothes, dispelling the mirage.
The Jew could not help shouting at the top of his voice, “O you Arabs! Here is your grandfather whom you have been waiting for.” The Muslims rushed to pick up their weapons and received the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the summit of Harrah. He ﷺ led them to the right and alighted with them at the quarters of Banu ‘Amr bin ‘Awf, on Monday Rabi‘ I.
Abu Bakr ؓ stood up and received the people while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat silent. Some of the Ansar who came and had not seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ before began greeting Abu Bakr, but when the sunshine fell on the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Abu Bakr came forward and shaded him with his garment, the people recognized him as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.4
‘Abdullah bin Salam ؓ, the learned Jewish rabbi, narrated, “The people hurried quickly to meet the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he arrived in Al-Madinah. They cried, ‘The Messenger of Allah has arrived! The Messenger of Allah has arrived!’ I came out along with the people to see him. When his face was clear to me, I realized that his face was not that of a liar. The first thing I heard him saying was, ‘O people, spread Salam (the greeting of peace: peace be upon you), give food, join the ties of the wombs, and pray (at night) while people are sound asleep (negligent), and you will enter Paradise in peace.’”5
Al-Bara’ ؓ said, “I never saw the people of Al-Madinah so happy with anything as they were with his arrival. I even saw the little boys and girls saying, ‘Here is the Messenger of Allah; he has come!’”6
Anas bin Malik ؓ said, “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Al-Madinah, the Abyssinians played out of joy for his coming. They played with spears.”7
He ؓ further said, “I was running among the boys who were repeating, ‘Muhammad has come!’ I ran but saw nothing. Again, they called out, ‘Muhammad has come!’ so I ran but still I saw nothing until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companion, Abu Bakr, truly arrived. We were then at some rocky ground in Al-Madinah, so we sent a man from Al-Madinah to inform the Ansar. Nearly five hundreds of the Ansar went out to receive them. The Ansar said, ‘Go ahead, safe and obeyed.’ Thus surrounded by them, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companion drew near, whereupon (all) the people of Al-Madinah came out, to the extent that even the maidens were on the housetops trying to catch sight of him, wondering, ‘Which of them is he? Which of them is he?’ Truly, we have never before seen a sight like the one we saw on that day.”8
Dressed in their best clothes and filled with longing, every part of Al-Madinah was colored with joy for the arrival of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and the Ansari girls happily sang:
The full moon has shone on us from the paths of Wada’
And thanking became due on us as long as callers invite to Allah
O Messenger sent to us, you have come with the command to obey9
The Ansar were not wealthy people, yet every one of them wished that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would be his guest. Every house of the Ansar by which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed gripped the reins of his camel and said, “O Messenger of Allah, stay with us to have company, provision, and protection.” He ﷺ kindly said to them, “Release it (i.e. the camel), for it is commanded (by Allah).”
The camel moved onward until it reached the site that is today Al-Masjid An-Nabawi [the Mosque of the Prophet ﷺ] and knelt down. The Prophet ﷺ did not dismount until it rose up again, walked a little further, turned back, and then returned to kneel down at the very same spot.10
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “This, by the Will of Allah, is the landing place.”11 A most blessed place: ﴾And say, ‘My Lord, cause me to land at a blessed landing place. You are the Best of those who bring to land.’﴿12
The Prophet ﷺ alighted in a quarter inhabited by Banu An-Najjar, his maternal uncles. The people again began inviting him to stay with them, but Abu Ayub Al-Ansary ؓ hurried to take the Prophet’s luggage inside his house; so the Prophet ﷺ gently excused himself by saying to the people, “The man should be with his luggage.” ‘As‘ad bin Zurarah ؓ then stepped forward and took the reins of the Prophet’s camel and lodged it in his place.13
From that day Al-Madinah became the City of the Prophet ﷺ, a new Muslim world having the mercy that Allah has sent to mankind on its land. By his presence every corner of Al-Madinah became blessed, every corner of it just shone.
Anas bin Malik ؓ said, “On the day (Monday) the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered Al-Madinah, every part of it shone; and on the day (Monday) the Messenger of Allah ﷺ died, every part of it darkened.”14
1 Narrated by Lady ‘Aishah: Sahih Al-Bukhary, Book of Bid’ Al-Wahy, Hadith no. 3; similar versions of the Hadith are also reported by Al-Bukhary (4572, 6467), Muslim (231), and Ahmad (24681, 24768).
2 Circumstances of revelation: Sunnan At-Tirmidhy, Book of Tafsir Al-Qur’an, Hadith no. 3064.
3 Translated meanings of Al-Isra’ 17: 80.
4 Narrated by ‘Aishah: Sahih Al-Bukhary, Book of Al-Manaqib, Hadith no. 3616.
5 Sunnan At-Tirmidhy, Book of Sifat Al-Qiyamah wa Ar-Raqa’iq wa Al-Wara‘ (Description of the Day of Resurrection, Softening of Hearts, and Piety), Hadith no. 2409; similar versions of the Hadith are also reported by Ad-Darimy (1424) and Ibn Majah (1324, 3242).
6 Sahih Al-Bukhary, Tafsir Al-Qur’an, Hadith no. 4560; similar versions of the Hadith are also reported by Al-Bukhary (3632) and Ahmad (17779, 17833).
7 Sunnan Abu Dawud, Book of Al-Adab, Hadith no. 4277; a similar version of the Hadith is also reported by Ahmad (12188).
8 Musnad Ahmad, Book of Al-Mukthrin, Hadith no. 12840.
9 Safi-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum, Hijrah of the Prophet: Entering Al-Madinah; Sheikh Muhammad Al-Khudari, Nur Al-Yakin fi Sirat Sayyid Al-Mursalin, Arrival in Al-Madinah.
10 Safi-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum, Hijrah of the Prophet: Entering Al-Madinah; Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah, Zad Al-Ma‘ad, The Arrival of the Prophet ﷺ and His Companion in Al-Madinah, vol. 2; Ibn Hisham, As-Sirah An-Nabawiyyah, The Tribes Intercepting the Messenger ﷺ to Have Him as Their Guest, vol. 2.
11 Sahih Al-Bukhary, Book of Al-Manaqib, Hadith no. 3616. Sheikh Muhammad Al-Khudari, Nur Al-Yakin fi Sirat Sayyid Al-Mursalin, Lodging at Abu Ayub.
12 Translated meanings of Al-Mu’minun 23: 29.
13 Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah, Zad Al-Ma‘ad, The Arrival of the Prophet ﷺ and His Companion in Al-Madinah, vol. 2; Safi-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum, Hijrah of the Prophet ﷺ: Entering Al-Madinah.
14 Sunnan At-Tirmidhy, Book of Al-Manaqib, Hadith no. 3551; similar versions of the Hadith are also reported by Ibn Majah (1621), Ahmad (12834, 13034, 13328), and Ad-Darimy (88).
Al-Madinah consisted of various communities, principally Muslim Arabs from Makkah (the Muhajirun or Emigrants), Muslim Arabs from Yathrib (the Ansar or Supporters), the Jews from Yathrib, and other people who were at that time still pagans. The Prophet ﷺ set a precedent and promulgated for its plural society the Constitution of Al-Madinah, the first written democratic constitution in the world,1 giving equal rights as well as equal responsibilities to citizens, and establishing the principle of consultation with the people as a method of government. ﴾Pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the affairs. And when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah.﴿2
The concept of constitution certainly brought about a revolutionary change to Arabia by providing the people with a public legal entity for seeking justice, in place of everyone seeking it with the power of his own hand or, at best, that of his family. It brought an end for all time to the chaos of tribalism and laid the basis for a wider institution, namely, a State.
The Prophet ﷺ set another precedent by inviting the Jews to join this new society as an independent community within the Muslim State. The Jews accepted, and the agreement known as the Covenant of Al-Madinah (Constitution of Al-Madinah) was signed in 622 A.C. where they became equal citizens of the new society of Al-Madinah.
It was a giant leap for humanity that established the basis for treatment of non-Muslim minorities within the Muslim State, which was far superior to the norms of the time.
The Constitution of Al-Madinah guaranteed for all the parties of the covenant equality and freedom of religion; emphasized the sanctity of Al-Madinah, life, and individual possessions; and prohibited crime.
The Constitution of Al-Madinah stressed the importance of showing belonging and patriotism to the society. All residents of Al-Madinah, according to the articles of its Constitution, should cooperate in establishing justice, support one another in combating aggression, and help one another do righteous acts.
The charter made it clear that this is a general duty shared by all, regardless of creeds, races, or complexions. The charter stipulated the following:
1. They (those who sign the treaty) should support one another in combating the attacks waged against any of them.
2. They, together, should back up the oppressed.
3. They, together, should fight against any enemy attacking Yathrib (Al-Madinah).
The early Muslim community that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ built blossomed into a group of people who cooperated with people of other religions, with whom they lived in the same society of Al-Madinah, and fought with against whoever tried to destabilize their community.
Mutual cooperation in worldly affairs encompassed all citizens of Al-Madinah, who shared a common destiny, neighborhood, and sometimes kinship, and extended to include economic and commercial fields, thus promoting tolerance, understanding, mutual respect, and peaceful coexistence within their society.3
Presidency
For ten years, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was not only the leader of the emerging Muslim Ummah in Arabia, but also the political head of Al-Madinah.
As the leader of Al-Madinah, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ exercised jurisdiction over Muslims and non-Muslims within the city.
The legitimacy of his rule over Al-Madinah was based on his status as the Prophet of Islam ﷺ and on the basis of the Covenant of Al-Madinah.
As the Prophet of Allah ﷺ he held sovereignty over all Muslims by Divine Decree, so profoundly manifest in the statement of the Testimony of Faith: There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
But Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not rule over the non-Muslims of Al-Madinah because he was the Messenger of Allah. They did not recognize this particular credential of his.
He ﷺ ruled over them by virtue of the tripartite covenant that was signed by the Muhajirun (Muslim emigrants from Makkah), the Ansar (indigenous Muslims of Al-Madinah), and the Jews. Thus, the Jews were constitutional partners in the making of the first Islamic state.
In simple terms, the first Islamic state established in Al-Madinah was based on a social contract, constitutional in character, and the ruler ruled with the explicit written consent of all the citizens of the state.4
1 The First Written Constitution in the World, Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore, 1968. First published in England, 1941.
2 Translated meanings of Al-‘Imran 3: 159
3 Details of the Constitution of Al-Madinah are adapted from content excerpted from: Kassim Ahmad, A Short Note on the Medina Charter; Professor M. Hamidullah, The First Written Constitution; Zuleyha Keskin, Fear and Fascination: The Other in Religion; European Council for Fatwa and Research, Elections in non-Muslim Countries: Role of Muslims. Islamonline.net.
4 Adapted from content excerpted from M. A. Muqtedar Khan, The Compact of Medina: A Constitutional Theory of the Islamic State.