Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
12. Emigration—From Makkah to Madinah
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tells of one expedition he made with the Prophet.
“There was only one camel between six of us. We
used to take turns to ride on it. The skin began
peeling off our feet from incessant walking, and we
used to bind them with rags. That was why the
expedition came to be known as
Dhat al-Riqa,
(riqa
meaning rags or patches).” Food rations used to run
so low that people used to suck dates rather than
eat them. Acacia leaves and locusts would make up
the rest of their diet. Added to this the Muhajirun
had to contend with a drastic change of diet. In
Makkah they had been used to a diet of meat and
milk in Madinah dates constituted the major
portion of their diet. Tabarani has related an
incident, which occurred one day when the Prophet
came to take the Friday congregational prayer. A
Makkan Muslim called out to him: “Prophet of God,
these dates have burnt our intestines. “
5
The emigration to Madinah was a watershed in
Islamic history. From a practical point of view,
Islam emerged from a purely missionary episode
and entered a period of active confrontation.
During the period when he was solely concerned
with preaching, the Prophet used to work according
