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Seerah 04 · 617–621 · before the move to Madinah · Ṭāʾif, Makkah, Minā
The journey to Ṭāʾif and the Night Journey (al-Isrāʾ)
Driven out of the nearby town of Ṭāʾif, he ﷺ was then taken by night to Jerusalem and raised through the heavens.
11 events · the Prophet ﷺ aged 49–53
What happened
From ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm
Standard — the chapter told properly, in paragraphs
With no protector left, this chapter takes him ﷺ to his lowest human moment at Ṭāʾif and then to the greatest honour given to any human being. It closes with strangers from Yathrib pledging to protect him, which is how a road out of Makkah appears.
The journey to ṬāʾifHe ﷺ walked some sixty miles to Ṭāʾif and spent ten days offering Islam to its leaders. They mocked him and set their slaves and children to stone him along the road until his sandals filled with blood. The angel of the mountains offered to crush the town; he refused, and hoped instead that their children would one day worship Allah alone.
The vineyard and ʿAddāsHe sat in a vineyard and made the du'ā of Ṭāʾif, complaining of his own weakness and not of the people. A Christian slave named ʿAddās brought him grapes, heard him say 'Bismillāh', and found that this stranger knew of Yūnus ibn Mattā عليه السلام from his own town of Nineveh. On the hardest day of his life, one man believed.
Return under the protection of al-MuṭʿimHe could not re-enter Makkah without protection. Several men refused before al-Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdī agreed, armed his sons and stood with him at the Kaʿbah until he had made ṭawāf. He never forgot it: after Badr he said that if al-Muṭʿim had been alive and asked for the captives, he would have released them for him.
Sawdah رضي الله عنها, and the betrothal to ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنهاAfter Khadījah's death, the household is rebuilt.
Al-Isrāʾ — the Night JourneyIn one night he ﷺ was carried from the Sacred Mosque to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, where he led the prophets in prayer. Offered milk and wine, he chose the milk, and Jibrīl said he had been guided to the fiṭrah. In the morning Quraysh demanded proof; he described Jerusalem and their own caravans on the road, and Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه said, 'If he said it, he told the truth.'
Al-Miʿrāj and the five prayersHe was then raised through the seven heavens, meeting prophet after prophet, until Sidrat al-Muntahā. Fifty prayers were prescribed, and on Mūsā's عليه السلام repeated advice he returned to ask for relief until they were five to perform and fifty in reward. The last āyāt of al-Baqarah were given there.
Presenting Islam to the tribesEvery Ḥajj season he went from camp to camp asking who would take him to his people, because Quraysh had blocked him from delivering his Lord's words. One tribe offered support in exchange for power after him; he refused. Abū Lahab followed him through the camps contradicting him.
Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr رضي الله عنه, teacher of YathribAfter the first pledge, a young Makkan is sent ahead to teach the new Muslims.
The pledges at ʿAqabahSix men from Yathrib believed in one season. The next year twelve came back and pledged to worship Allah alone and to keep clear of theft, adultery, killing their children and slander — and Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr رضي الله عنه went back with them as teacher. The year after that, seventy-three men and two women pledged to protect him as they protected their own families.
The Companions leave for YathribFamily by family the Muslims slip out of Makkah; ʿUmar رضي الله عنه walks out in daylight.
The plot at Dār an-NadwahAs the believers slipped away to Yathrib, the chiefs of Quraysh met and settled on Abū Jahl's plan: a young man from every clan would strike together, so no single clan could be held to account. That night ʿAlī رضي الله عنه lay in his bed while he ﷺ left the house.
Sūrat al-Isrāʾ 17:1; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3231, 349; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 162; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Ṭāʾif
- About 10 BH, with Zayd ibn Ḥārithah رضي الله عنه; refused and stoned
- The Night Journey
- Makkah → al-Masjid al-Aqṣā → the heavens; Sūrat al-Isrāʾ 17:1
- What was given
- The five daily prayers, weighed as fifty
- First pledge of ʿAqabah
- 12 men; Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr رضي الله عنه sent to teach
- Second pledge of ʿAqabah
- 73 men and 2 women, pledging protection
Narration by narration (11)
- Established619 · Ṭāʾif
He ﷺ is driven out and stoned, and refuses to have the town destroyed.
He ﷺ walked some sixty miles to Ṭāʾif and spent ten days offering Islam to its leaders. They mocked him and set their slaves and children to stone him along the road until his sandals filled with blood. The angel of the mountains offered to crush the town; he refused, and hoped instead that their children would one day worship Allah alone.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3231; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1795
- Traditional ordering619 · Ṭāʾif
A Christian slave from Nineveh kisses his head and believes.
He sat in a vineyard and made the du'ā of Ṭāʾif, complaining of his own weakness and not of the people. A Christian slave named ʿAddās brought him grapes, heard him say 'Bismillāh', and found that this stranger knew of Yūnus ibn Mattā عليه السلام from his own town of Nineveh. On the hardest day of his life, one man believed.
Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah (via Ibn Isḥāq)
- Established619 · Makkah
Unable to re-enter Makkah unprotected, he ﷺ is given sanctuary by a non-Muslim.
He could not re-enter Makkah without protection. Several men refused before al-Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdī agreed, armed his sons and stood with him at the Kaʿbah until he had made ṭawāf. He never forgot it: after Badr he said that if al-Muṭʿim had been alive and asked for the captives, he would have released them for him.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3139; Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah
- Established619–620 · Makkah
After Khadījah's death, the household is rebuilt.
About a year after Khadījah رضي الله عنها died, Khawlah bint Ḥakīm suggested he ﷺ marry again. He married Sawdah رضي الله عنها bint Zamʿah رضي الله عنها, a widow whose husband had died after the migration to Abyssinia, and she took charge of his daughters. In the same period ʿĀʾishah bint Abī Bakr رضي الله عنها was betrothed to him, and the marriage was consummated in Madinah after the Hijrah. Through her, more of the Prophet's ﷺ private practice and teaching reached the ummah than through almost anyone else.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3894; Ibn Saʿd; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Established620–621 · Makkah to Jerusalem
He ﷺ is carried by night from the Sacred Mosque to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā.
In one night he ﷺ was carried from the Sacred Mosque to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, where he led the prophets in prayer. Offered milk and wine, he chose the milk, and Jibrīl said he had been guided to the fiṭrah. In the morning Quraysh demanded proof; he described Jerusalem and their own caravans on the road, and Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه said, 'If he said it, he told the truth.'
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3887; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 162
- Established620–621
The ascension through the heavens; ṣalāh is made obligatory.
He was then raised through the seven heavens, meeting prophet after prophet, until Sidrat al-Muntahā. Fifty prayers were prescribed, and on Mūsā's عليه السلام repeated advice he returned to ask for relief until they were five to perform and fifty in reward. The last āyāt of al-Baqarah were given there.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 349; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 162
- Strong report620–621 · Minā
Season after season he ﷺ offers the message to pilgrim tribes at Minā.
Every Ḥajj season he went from camp to camp asking who would take him to his people, because Quraysh had blocked him from delivering his Lord's words. One tribe offered support in exchange for power after him; he refused. Abū Lahab followed him through the camps contradicting him.
Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah; Musnad Aḥmad
- Established620–621 · Yathrib
After the first pledge, a young Makkan is sent ahead to teach the new Muslims.
After twelve men of Yathrib pledged at ʿAqabah not to associate anything with Allah, not to steal, not to commit indecency, not to kill their children and not to disobey in what is right, the Prophet ﷺ sent Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr رضي الله عنه back with them. Muṣʿab had been the best-dressed youth in Makkah and was now living on very little. He taught the Qur'an, led the prayer, and through his calm answer to an armed and angry Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr and then Saʿd ibn Muʿādh, the whole clan of ʿAbd al-Ashhal accepted Islam in a day. He returned to Makkah with seventy-three believers for the second pledge.
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3925; Ibn Hishām; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Established620–621 · ʿAqabah, Minā
Men of Yathrib pledge allegiance in two successive years.
Six men from Yathrib believed in one season. The next year twelve came back and pledged to worship Allah alone and to keep clear of theft, adultery, killing their children and slander — and Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr رضي الله عنه went back with them as teacher. The year after that, seventy-three men and two women pledged to protect him as they protected their own families.
Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 18
- Strong report621 · Makkah to Yathrib
Family by family the Muslims slip out of Makkah; ʿUmar رضي الله عنه walks out in daylight.
Permission to migrate was given and the Muslims left in small groups, quietly, often leaving property behind; Abū Salamah was first, and Ṣuhayb ar-Rūmī was allowed to leave only after surrendering all his wealth, at which the Prophet ﷺ said, 'Ṣuhayb has profited.' ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه did the opposite: he circled the Kaʿbah, prayed, and announced that whoever wished to bereave his mother should meet him behind the valley. Nobody followed him. Within about two months few Muslims remained in Makkah except the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه, ʿAlī رضي الله عنه, and those imprisoned or unable to leave.
Ibn Hishām; Musnad Aḥmad; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
- Strong report621 · Makkah
Quraysh resolve to kill him with a young man from every clan, to divide the blood.
As the believers slipped away to Yathrib, the chiefs of Quraysh met and settled on Abū Jahl's plan: a young man from every clan would strike together, so no single clan could be held to account. That night ʿAlī رضي الله عنه lay in his bed while he ﷺ left the house.
Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah; al-Ṭabarī on 8:30