seerah
Session # 9
The First Aqabah Pledge
12th year of Prophet hood
• In the 12th year of prophet hood, a
group of twelve people came from
Madinah, ready to acknowledge
Muhammad (saw) as a Prophet.
• They avowed their faith in Muhammad
as a Prophet and swore:
– "We will not worship any one but one
Allah;
– we will not steal;
– neither will we commit adultery,
– nor kill our children;
– we will not utter slander, intentionally
forging falsehood
– we will not disobey you in any just matter
• When they had taken the pledge,
Prophet said: "He who carries it out,
Allâh will reward him; and who neglects
anything and is afflicted in this world, it
may prove redemption for him in the
Hereafter; and if the sin remains hidden
from the eyes of the men and no grief
comes to him, then his affair is with
Allâh. He may forgive him or He may
not.
The Muslim envoy in
Madinah
• After the Pledge, the Prophet sent
to Yathrib (Madinah) Mus‘ab bin
‘Umair Al-‘Abdari [R], the first
Muslim ‘ambassador’ to teach the
people there the doctrines of Islam,
give them practical guidance and
make attempts at propagating Islam
among those who still professed
polytheism.
• As‘ad bin Zurarah hosted him in
Madinah. So prepared was the
ground, and so zealous the
propagation that Islam spread
rapidly from house to house and
from tribe to tribe.
• Mus‘ab stayed in Madinah carrying
out his mission diligently and
successfully until all the houses
of Al-Ansar (the future Helpers) had
Muslim elements, men and women.
• Shortly before the approach of the
following pilgrimage season, i.e. the
thirteenth year of Prophethood, Mus‘ab
bin ‘Umair returned to Makkah carrying
to the Prophet (pbuh) glad tidings about
the new fertile soil of Islam in Madinah,
and its environment rich in the
prospects of good, and the power and
immunity that that city was bound to
provide to the cause of Islam.
The Second ‘Aqabah
Pledge
• The next year, thirteenth of
Prophethood, June 622 A.D., during
the pilgrimage season, over seventy
converts from Madinah came in the
trail of their polytheist people to
perform the rituals of pilgrimage in
Makkah
• The oft-repeated question amongst
them was "Isn’t it high time we
protect Muhammad instead of
leaving him forsaken, deserted and
stumbling in the hillocks of
Makkah?"
• Shortly after arrival, they conducted
secret contacts with the Prophet
and agreed to meet him secretly at
night in mid Tashreeq Days (the
11th, 12th and 13th days of Dhul
Hijja) in a hillock at Al-‘Aqabah, the
last year’s meeting place.
• One
of
the
leaders
of
the Ansâr (Helpers), Ka‘b bin Malik
Al-Ansari, gave an account of the
historic meeting which changed the
whole course of the struggle
between Islam and paganism.
• They waited for the Prophet until he
came in the company of his uncle
Al-‘Abbas bin ‘Abdul Muttalib (who
was not a Muslim at that time),but
was afraid of his nephew’s security,
he was the first one to speak:
• "O you people of the Khazraj (aws and khazraj)
you all know the position that Muhammad
holds among us. We have protected him from
our people as much as we could. He is honoured
and respected among his people. He refuses to
join any party except you. So if you think you
can carry out what you promise while inviting
him to your town, and if you can defend him
against the enemies, then assume the burden
that you have taken. But if you are going to
surrender him and betray him after having
taken him away with you, you had better leave
him now because he is respected and well
defended in his own place."
• One
of
the
leaders
of
the
Ansars(helpers) Ka’ab Bin Malik replied
“we have heard your words, and now, O
Messenger of Allah, it is for you to
speak and take from us any pledge that
you want regarding your Lord and
yourself.”
• It was a definite stance showing full
determination, courage and deep faith
to shoulder the daunting responsibility
and bear its serious consequences.
• The Prophet then preached the Faith, and the
pledge was taken.
– To listen and obey in all sets of circumstances.
– To spend in plenty as well as in scarcity.
– To enjoin good and forbid evil.
– In Allâh’s service, you will fear the censure of
none.
– To defend me in case I seek your help, and
debar me from anything you debar yourself,
your spouses and children from. And if you
observe those precepts, Paradise is in store for
you.
• All the men gave their pledge one
by one, by holding the hand of the
Prophet (pbuh).
• With respect to the two women, the
pledge was taken orally as the
Prophet (pbuh) had never shaken
hands with a strange lady.
• The Prophet (pbuh) then asked the
group to appoint twelve deputies to
preach Islam to their people in
Madinah, to shoulder the responsibility
of implementing the articles of this
pledge and to guide the respective men
of their own tribes in matters relating to
the propagation of Islam. The deputies
elected were nine from Al-Khazraj.
Three others were from Al-Aws.
• No sooner did Quraish hear of this
treaty, a kind of trouble-provoking
tumult began to mushroom in all
directions. They realized quite fully
that an allegiance of this sort is
bound to produce far-reaching
ramifications of direct impact on
their lives and wealth.
• The following day, they addressed
the Madinese: "O people of Khazraj,
it transpired to us that you have
come here to conclude a treaty with
this
man
(Muhammad)
and
evacuate him out of Makkah. By
Allâh, we do really hold in
abhorrence any sort of fight
between you and us."
• The Madinese polytheists having known
nothing about the secretly taken pledge,
began to swear by Allâh and answered
in good faith that there was no truth in
the report.
• ‘Abdullah bin Ubai, a Madinese
polytheist, refuted their allegations
denouncing them as null and void,
claiming that his people would never
initiate anything unless he gave them
clear orders.
• The Madinese Muslims, however,
remained silent neither negating
nor confirming. The Quraishite
leaders seemed to be almost
convinced by the arguments
presented by the polytheists, and
went back home frustrated.
• That is the story of the Second
‘Aqabah Pledge, later known as the
Great ‘Aqabah Pledge, effected in
an atmosphere of love, allegiance
and mutual support between
Madinese believers and weak
Makkan Muslims.
The Vanguard of Migration
(in the Cause of Allâh)
• After the endorsement of the
Second ‘Aqabah Pledge and the
establishment of a small Muslim
state in a vast desert surging with
disbelief and ignorance — the most
serious gain in terms of Islam — the
Prophet gave his leave for the
Muslims to migrate to Madinah, the
emerging Muslim state.
• Muslims began to migrate, while
the polytheists spared no effort in
hindering and debarring them,
knowing beforehand that such a
move implied unimaginable threats
and unthinkable destructive dangers
to their whole society.
An-Nadwah (Council)
House
The Parliament of Quraish
• The polytheists were paralyzed by
the carefully planned and speedy
movement
of
Muhammad’s
followers towards their new abode
in Madinah. They were caught in
unprecedented anxiety and got
deeply worried over their whole
pagan and economic entity.
• They, therefore, began to seek the most
effective method that could avert this
imminent danger. They convened a
meeting, two and a half months after
the Great ‘Aqabah Pledge. On that day,
“The Parliament of Makkah" held the
most serious meeting ever, with one
item on the agenda: How to stop that
tidal wave of immigration of new
muslims. Delegates representing all the
Quraishite tribes attended the meeting.
• On their way to An-Nadwah
House, Iblis (Satan) in the guise of a
venerable elderly man standing at
the door interrupted their talk and
introduced himself as a man from
Najd curious enough to attend the
meeting, listen to the debate and
wish them success to reach a sound
opinion. He was readily admitted in.
• There was a lengthy debate and
several proposals were put forward.
• Expulsion, Imprisonment for life and
assassination all possibilities were
discussed and rejected.
• The difficulty was at last solved by
Abu Jahl himself, who suggested that
a band of young men, one from each
tribe, should strike Muhammad
simultaneously with their swords so
that the blood-money would be
spread over them all and therefore
could not be exacted, and his people
would seek a mind-based recourse
for settlement.
• The
sinful
proposal
was
unanimously accepted, and the
representatives broke up the
meeting and went back home with
full determination for immediate
implementation.