‎ليلة الهجرة..غار ثور

The Night of the Migration

On the night of the migration, the Prophet’s house was surrounded. They wanted to kill him, but the Prophet was reciting the Qur’an:

“And We placed before them a barrier and behind them a barrier…”

He threw dust upon their heads, yet they neither saw him nor heard him.

He then went toward the house of Abu Bakr after leaving Ali ibn Abi Talib sleeping in his bed.

Ali Sleeping in the Prophet’s Bed

The Quraysh waited outside for a long time. Whenever they looked through the cracks of the door, they saw a man covered in blankets lying down, so they assumed it was Muhammad.

But they became suspicious because Ali kept turning in the bed due to anxiety and fear for the Prophet. They knew that when the Prophet slept, he would lie calmly on his right side without moving much.

They whispered among themselves:

“Should we storm the house?”

Others replied:

“How can we do that? It would be shameful among the Arabs to break into a home where women and daughters are inside.”

So they decided to wait until dawn prayer.

Just before dawn, after the Prophet had already left in the middle of the night, Satan came to them disguised as an ordinary man and said:

“What are you waiting for?”

They answered:

“We are waiting for Muhammad to come out so we can kill him.”

He said:

“How foolish you are! Muhammad left long ago, and he placed dust on every one of your heads. Check yourselves!”

They touched their heads and found dust upon them.

Shocked, they cried:

“How did he get out?”

The man replied:

“He left while you stood there.”

Confused and arguing, they finally waited until dawn. Then Ali rose from the bed to prepare for prayer.

When they saw him, they shouted in surprise:

“It’s Ali!”

They forced the door open and demanded:

“Where is Muhammad?”

Ali calmly replied:

“I do not know.”

And indeed, Ali truly did not know the Prophet’s exact hiding place, because the Prophet had shared the migration plan only with Abu Bakr.

The Quraysh knew that the companions of Muhammad did not lie. So when Ali said he did not know, they believed him.

One of them said angrily:

“We suspected that it was not Muhammad in the bed. Muhammad does not move around like that, but you deceived us!”

Then they left Ali and scattered to search for the Prophet.

The Prophet Leaving Mecca with Abu Bakr

As the Prophet left Mecca with Abu Bakr, he stopped at the edge of the city, looked back at it, and said:

“By God, you are the best land of God and the most beloved land to God. Had I not been forced to leave you, I would never have left.”

The Prophet and Abu Bakr then headed toward Mount Thawr, where the Cave of Thawr was located.

The mountain was named “Thawr” because from a distance it resembled the head of a bull.

Climbing it was extremely difficult and took around three hours.

During the climb, God revealed verses reminding the Prophet of Moses:

“And a man came running from the farthest part of the city saying: ‘O Moses, the leaders are plotting to kill you, so leave. I am truly advising you.’”

And God comforted the Prophet with another promise:

“Indeed, the One who ordained the Qur’an upon you will surely return you to your place of return.”

Meaning: God promised him that he would one day return to Mecca.

The mountain path was rough and rocky. Abu Bakr later said:

“When we reached the cave, I looked at the feet of the Messenger of God and saw that they were bleeding.”

Quraysh Searches for the Prophet

When Quraysh discovered that Muhammad was not in the house, they became furious and began searching throughout Mecca.

They hired expert trackers who could follow footprints.

The trail led them toward Mount Thawr.

They were astonished.

Why Mount Thawr?

Anyone traveling from Mecca to Madinah would normally head north, but Mount Thawr lay in the opposite direction.

The trackers followed the footprints carefully:

* From the Prophet’s house to Abu Bakr’s house there was one trail.
* From Abu Bakr’s house onward there were the tracks of two men.

The trail stopped at Mount Thawr.

Abu Jahl became enraged.

Unable to climb the mountain easily, they instead went to Abu Bakr’s house and pounded violently on the door.

Asma bint Abu Bakr later said:

“I opened the door and found Abu Jahl standing there in anger.”

He demanded:

“Where did your father go?”

She replied truthfully:

“By God, I do not know.”

At that moment she genuinely did not know the exact location.

Overcome with rage, Abu Jahl slapped her hard across the face.

Asma and the Cave of Thawr

The Prophet and Abu Bakr stayed in the cave for three days.

Once Asma learned where they were, she secretly brought them food every day.

Why Asma specifically?

Because she was seven months pregnant at the time, so no one would suspect her movements.

She was carrying Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, who would later become the first Muslim child born after the migration in Madinah.

Asma became known as “The Woman of the Two Belts.”

When preparing food and water for the Prophet and Abu Bakr, she found nothing to tie the containers with, so she tore her waist belt into two pieces:

* one piece to tie the food,
* the other to secure the water skin.

When she arrived at the cave without her belt and struggled to walk properly, the Prophet said to her:

“O Asma, by the One in whose hand is my soul, God has replaced your belt with two belts in Paradise.”

This was glad tidings for Asma that she would enter Paradise.