Prophet Muhammad in Madinah

Islamic Religious Studies · WAEC and JAMB · SS2 and SS3

In Madinah the Muslim community became a state, with a mosque, a constitution, treaties and an army, and the period ends with the conquest of Makkah and the Farewell Pilgrimage. WAEC sets the Constitution of Madinah, the major battles, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and the Farewell Sermon most often, each with lessons.

What you need to know

On arrival Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) first stopped at Quba, where the first mosque in Islam was built, before entering Yathrib, which came to be called Madinat an-Nabi, the city of the Prophet. He let his camel choose the site of the main mosque, and Masjid an-Nabawi was built there with rooms attached for his family and a shaded area for the poor companions.
He established the bond of brotherhood, mu'akhah, pairing each Muhajir with an Ansari host who shared home, work and property with him. This solved the refugee crisis at once and bound two groups of different background into one community.
The Constitution of Madinah set out the terms on which the city would live. It declared the Muslims one community, guaranteed the Jewish tribes their religion and property as members of the same polity, required mutual defence of the city against attack, forbade separate alliances with Quraysh, and made the Prophet the final authority in disputes.
In the second year after the Hijrah the qiblah was changed from Jerusalem to the Ka'bah in Makkah, giving the Muslim community its own direction of prayer and marking its distinct identity.
The Battle of Badr was fought in 2 AH, about 624 CE, when a small Muslim force of about three hundred and thirteen met a much larger and better-equipped Quraysh army. The Muslims won decisively, Abu Jahl was killed, and prisoners were treated humanely, some ransoming themselves by teaching Muslims to read and write.
The Battle of Uhud followed in 3 AH, when Quraysh came for revenge. The Muslims had the advantage until the archers stationed on the hill left their posts to collect spoils, allowing Khalid ibn al-Walid, then still fighting for Quraysh, to attack from the rear. Hamzah the Prophet's uncle was killed and the Prophet himself was wounded; the lesson of obedience to command was learned at heavy cost.
The Battle of the Trench, al-Khandaq or al-Ahzab, came in 5 AH when a confederacy besieged Madinah. On the advice of Salman al-Farisi a trench was dug across the exposed side of the city, the siege failed, and a storm finally broke up the besieging camp. The affair of Banu Qurayzah, who broke their undertaking during the siege, followed, and judgement was given by Sa'd ibn Mu'adh at their own request.
The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was concluded in 6 AH when the Prophet set out for umrah and was stopped outside Makkah. Its terms included a truce of ten years, the postponement of the pilgrimage to the following year, the return of Quraysh members who came to Madinah without their guardian's permission while Muslims going the other way would not be returned, and freedom for tribes to ally with either side.
Many companions saw Hudaybiyyah as a humiliation, but it brought peace in which Islam spread rapidly by preaching rather than fighting, and the Qur'an called it a clear victory. In the period that followed the Prophet sent letters inviting rulers to Islam, including the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, the Persian emperor, the Negus of Abyssinia and the ruler of Egypt.
Khaybar was taken in 7 AH, and in the same period the Muslims performed the postponed umrah, the umrat al-qada. At Mu'tah in 8 AH a force sent north lost its three appointed commanders in turn, Zayd ibn Harithah, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and Abdullah ibn Rawahah, before Khalid ibn al-Walid, by then a Muslim, took the banner and withdrew the army safely.
Makkah was conquered in 8 AH, about 630 CE, after an ally of Quraysh attacked an ally of the Muslims in breach of the treaty. The Prophet entered with a large force and almost no fighting, declared a general amnesty in which even long-standing enemies were forgiven, cleared the idols from the Ka'bah, and had Bilal call the adhan from its roof.
Hunayn and the siege of Ta'if followed the conquest, and in 9 AH the expedition to Tabuk was mounted in difficult heat; the same year saw so many tribal delegations come to Madinah that it is called the Year of Delegations.
The Farewell Pilgrimage took place in 10 AH, in 632 CE, and at Arafah the Prophet delivered the Farewell Sermon. He declared the lives, property and honour of Muslims sacred to one another, abolished the blood feuds and the interest of the age of ignorance beginning with the claims of his own family, charged the men to fear Allah concerning women and to treat them well, stated that no Arab has superiority over a non-Arab nor a white over a black except by piety, and said that he left behind what would keep them from going astray if they held to it, the Book of Allah and his Sunnah.
He died in Madinah in Rabi al-Awwal of the eleventh year after the Hijrah, in 632 CE, in the apartment of Aishah, after a short illness during which he asked Abu Bakr to lead the prayers. When some refused to believe the news, Abu Bakr reminded the people that whoever worshipped Muhammad should know that he had died, but whoever worshipped Allah should know that Allah is ever-living, and he was buried in the place where he died.

Key terms

Ansar: The helpers; the Muslims of Madinah who received and supported the migrants from Makkah.
Mu'akhah: The pairing of each Makkan migrant with a Madinan helper as brothers, establishing mutual support.
Constitution of Madinah: The written charter defining the rights, duties and mutual defence obligations of the groups living in Madinah under the Prophet's authority.
Qiblah: The direction faced in prayer, changed in Madinah from Jerusalem to the Ka'bah.
Khandaq: The trench dug on Salman al-Farisi's advice to defend Madinah during the siege by the confederate armies.
Hudaybiyyah: The truce agreed with Quraysh in 6 AH which halted hostilities and opened the way for the rapid spread of Islam.
Shura: Consultation; the practice of taking counsel before decisions, seen in the adoption of the trench and the plan at Badr.

Worked examples

State the main provisions of the Constitution of Madinah and explain its significance.

Set the scene: a city of Muhajirun, Ansar, remaining pagan Arabs and Jewish tribes with a recent history of civil war.
List the provisions as separate points, covering community, religion, defence, justice and external alliances.
Then give the significance in separate points, including what it achieved politically.
Avoid claiming an exact number of clauses unless you are sure.

Answer: When the Prophet arrived in Yathrib the city held the Muhajirun who had just migrated, the Ansar of the tribes of Aws and Khazraj who had recently been at war with each other, some Arabs who had not accepted Islam, and the Jewish tribes. To order this mixed population he drew up a written charter. Its main provisions were: the Muslims, of whatever origin, form one single community distinct from other people; the Muhajirun and each clan of the Ansar remain responsible for their own blood money and the ransom of their captives according to custom; the Jewish tribes who joined the agreement are part of the same polity, retain their own religion and property, and are entitled to help and protection; all parties must contribute to the defence of Madinah if it is attacked, and bear their share of the cost of war; no party may make a separate peace or alliance with Quraysh or give them protection; a believer may not kill a believer, and the murderer of a believer is liable to retaliation unless the heirs accept compensation; the oppressed and the weak are to be supported; and any serious dispute among the parties is to be referred to Allah and to Muhammad for judgement. Significance: (i) it transformed a quarrelling town into a single political community with agreed rules, ending the long conflict between Aws and Khazraj; (ii) it is regarded as one of the earliest written constitutions in history, giving Islam a documented basis for governance; (iii) it granted the Jewish tribes freedom of religion and protection of property, establishing the principle that non-Muslims living under Muslim authority have defined rights; (iv) it made the Prophet the recognised head of state and final judge, so that Islam now had authority as well as a message; and (v) it provided for common defence, which proved essential when Quraysh attacked at Badr, Uhud and the Trench.

Give an account of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and state why it is regarded as a victory for the Muslims.

Explain why the Prophet set out and what happened when Quraysh blocked the way, including the pledge under the tree.
State the terms of the treaty plainly, including the ones the companions found hard.
Give the reaction of the companions and Umar's objection briefly.
Then give the reasons it proved a victory, with the conquest of Makkah as the outcome.

Answer: In the sixth year after the Hijrah Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) set out from Madinah with about fourteen hundred companions to perform umrah, wearing ihram and driving sacrificial animals, with no intention of fighting. Quraysh barred the road, and the Muslims halted at Hudaybiyyah outside the sacred precinct. Uthman ibn Affan was sent to negotiate, and when a rumour spread that he had been killed the Prophet took from his companions the pledge under the tree, known as Bay'at ar-Ridwan, to stand firm. Uthman returned safely and Suhayl ibn Amr came to make terms. The treaty provided for a truce of ten years in which neither side would attack the other; the Muslims would return to Madinah that year without performing the umrah and would come the following year, entering for three days with sheathed weapons; any person from Quraysh who went over to the Muslims without the permission of his guardian would be returned, while any Muslim who went over to Quraysh would not be returned; and the Arab tribes were free to enter into alliance with either party. Many companions were distressed by the terms, and Umar ibn al-Khattab questioned the Prophet about accepting what looked like a humiliation, and only after Abu Bakr's reassurance and the Prophet's firm instruction did the people shave and slaughter their animals. The treaty is regarded as a victory for these reasons: (i) Quraysh had for the first time dealt with the Muslims as an equal party in a formal agreement, which was recognition of the Muslim state; (ii) the truce ended armed pressure and allowed Muslims and Makkans to mix freely, so that Islam spread faster by preaching in those two years than in the preceding period, and many leading men including Khalid ibn al-Walid and Amr ibn al-As accepted Islam; (iii) it freed the Prophet to deal with other fronts such as Khaybar and to send letters of invitation to foreign rulers; (iv) the clause about returning fugitives worked against Quraysh in practice, as those turned back formed a group that interrupted Makkan trade until Quraysh themselves asked for the clause to be dropped; and (v) when Quraysh's allies broke the truce, the Muslims entered Makkah in the eighth year with overwhelming strength and almost no bloodshed. The Qur'an itself describes the treaty as a clear victory.

The mistake to avoid

Candidates place the battles in the wrong order or attribute the trench idea to the wrong person. The order is Badr, then Uhud, then the Trench, and the trench was proposed by Salman al-Farisi. Another regular error is saying the Muslims lost at Uhud outright; the Muslims suffered a serious setback after the archers abandoned their position, but Quraysh withdrew without taking Madinah. Candidates also confuse Khalid ibn al-Walid's role, forgetting that he fought against the Muslims at Uhud and for them at Mu'tah.

In the exam

For battle questions give the year in AH, the cause, the course and the outcome, then the lessons, because the examiner marks those four elements. For the Farewell Sermon, learn at least five of its provisions, as the question usually asks for the content and its relevance. Where a question asks for significance or lessons, number them and keep each to one or two sentences rather than writing a long paragraph.