Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
12. Emigration—From Makkah to Madinah
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Apprehensions that the whole of Arabia would
unite against the Muslims proved only too true.
This is how Ubayy ibn Ka’b, a companion of the
Prophet, describes the situation:
When the Prophet and his companions
arrived in Madinah and the Ansar gave them
asylum, the Arabs united against them The
Muslims used to remain in their armour,
night and day.
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The Quraysh declared economic sanctions against
the people of Madinah. All Arab tribes, following
the Quraysh’s lead, severed links with the city.
Internal resources ran far short of providing for the
considerably increased population of Madinah, and
the expense of defending the city pushed the
economy to its very limit. ‘Umar says that the
Prophet was restless with hunger all day in
Madinah. There were not even enough rejected
dates for him to eat his fill. In later years someone
asked ‘A’ishah if they had a lantern. “If we had had
oil to burn a lantern,” she said, “we would have
drunk it.” The Muslims used to go out on
expeditions with hardly any provisions. Abu Musa
