Seventy-three pledge at ʿAqabah, plot to kill him, and he leaves for Yathrib.
His age
52–53
Where
Makkah to Madinah
Counted as
1 BH
The year
Seventy-three men and two women came from Yathrib in the pilgrimage season and pledged to protect him as they protected their own families. Al-ʿAbbās made them say out loud what it would cost — war with all the Arabs — and they answered that they knew. Twelve leaders were appointed from among them.
Permission to migrate followed and the Muslims left in small groups, often abandoning property; Ṣuhayb was let go only after surrendering all his wealth, and ʿUmar رضي الله عنه walked out in daylight daring anyone to follow. Quraysh met at Dār an-Nadwah and agreed on Abū Jahl's plan: a young man from every clan to strike together, so no single clan could be held responsible. ʿAlī رضي الله عنه slept in his bed and he ﷺ walked out through them.
With Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه he hid three nights in the cave of Thawr, close enough to see the feet of the search party, and Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه wept for him — 'What do you think of two, when Allah is the third of them?' They reached Qubāʾ in Rabīʿ al-Awwal. This is the year the Muslim calendar counts from: not a battle or a birth, but a community finally getting somewhere it could live.
What happened, event by event
The pledges at ʿAqabah
c. 2–1 BH · ʿAqabah, Minā
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.
Six men of Khazraj believed in one season. The next year twelve returned and gave the First Pledge — not to associate anything with Allah, not to steal, commit fornication, kill their children or slander. Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr رضي الله عنه was sent back with them as teacher and imam, and Islam spread through the houses of Yathrib. The following year seventy-three men and two women gave the Second Pledge, undertaking to protect him as they protect their own families.
A teacher was sent before a state existed — Muṣʿab's year of instruction made the Hijrah possible.
The first pledge was moral, the second political; the order is deliberate.
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.
Migration meant losing homes, trade and family — it was a real price, paid in advance.
Different temperaments served the same religion: Ṣuhayb's quiet trade, ʿUmar's open challenge.
Ibn Hishām; Musnad Aḥmad; ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm, al-Mubārakpūrī
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.
As believers slipped away to Yathrib, the chiefs met in their assembly house and considered imprisonment, exile and killing. Abū Jahl's proposal was accepted: a strong youth from each clan, striking as one man, so Banū Hāshim could not fight all of Quraysh and would accept blood money. That night ʿAlī رضي الله عنه lay in his bed, and he ﷺ left the house reciting Sūrat Yāsīn.
— 'And when those who disbelieved plotted against you, to restrain you or kill you or expel you.'
The Hijrah was an escape from an assassination plot, planned in detail and named in the Qur'an.
He took every material precaution — a decoy, a guide, a hidden route — alongside complete tawakkul.
He ﷺ and Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه left southwards to the cave of Thawr while the search went north, and hid three nights. Abū Bakr's son brought news, a shepherd covered their tracks, and Asmāʾ رضي الله عنها brought food. When the searchers stood at the cave mouth Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه was afraid, and he ﷺ said, 'What do you think of two whose third is Allah?'
They left southwards to Thawr, the opposite direction from Yathrib. ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Bakr carried news, ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah grazed sheep over their tracks, and Asmāʾ رضي الله عنها brought food. Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه, seeing the feet of the searchers at the mouth of the cave, said, 'If one of them looked down at his feet he would see us.' He ﷺ answered, 'What do you think of two whose third is Allah?' Surāqah pursued them for the bounty and his horse sank into the ground; he returned and concealed their route.
— The cave, the two of them, and the sakīnah sent down.
'Do not grieve, Allah is with us' was said in the tightest corner of the seerah, not in comfort.
The Hijrah was a planned operation: provisions, guide, decoy, timing — tawakkul with means.