Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
12. Emigration—From Makkah to Madinah
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The same reason lay behind the expedition under
Usamah, undertaken soon after the death of the
Prophet. Except for the tribes of Madinah the whole
of Arabia had risen in revolt when the Prophet died.
Suddenly the Muslims found themselves at odds
with all their Arab countrymen. It appeared
expedient at the time to preserve all strength in
Madinah, in order to counter the enemy within. But
rather than do this, Abu Bakr acted on a decision
taken by the Prophet. A force of 700 men was sent
to the Roman front under Usamah. Abu Hurayrah
explains the impact that this expedition had on the
rebellious Arab tribes:
“When Usamah’s force passed those tribes by
that were on the verge of apostasy, they
would exclaim: “If the Muslims did not have
great reserves of strength, they would never
have despatched a force like this. Let us leave
them to fight against the Romans.’ The
Muslims fought against the Romans and
defeated them, returning safely after doing
battle with them. Seeing this, those who had
been thinking of apostasy became firm in
Islam.”
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