It was the practice of the Prophet (a.

It was the practice of the Prophet (a.s) that during the Hajj, he used to meet the persons coming from far away places to give them the Message of Islam. Those pilgrims, who were of receptive nature, embraced Islam. It was the Hajj on the tenth year after the Annunciation when a group from Yathrib visited Makkah. When the Prophet (a.s) during a trip of propagation reached Mina, he came across six persons near `Uqbah. He went near them and asked about the tribe to which they belonged.

They said that they were from Yathrib and they belonged to the Tribe of Khazraj. The Prophet (a.s) sat down with that group and recited to them some Verses from the Holy Qur’an and invited them to embrace Islam. They were much influenced by the Islamic Principles and they readily embraced it. Now, this was the beginning of the spread of Islam in Yathrib. During the next Hajj, twelve persons came from Yathrib and embraced Islam.

The following year a contingent of seventy-three persons arrived and embraced Islam at the hands of the Prophet (a.s) these persons said that it was their desire that the Prophet (a.s) changed his residence to Yathrib and made it the head quarters for his Mission. They promised him all cooperation and protection. In Makkah, there were many hurdles in the way of propagating the Faith. He informed to the Muslims that he intended to migrate to al-Madinah.

The Muslims were already fed up of the ill treatment meted out to them by the Quraysh. When they found a place of peace, they started migrating one after another. When the Quraysh saw that the Muslims have gained support and protection of the people of Yathrib, they feared that if the Prophet (a.s) too migrated, his disturbed group might consolidate and rise against them. Therefore, the Quraysh started creating hurdles in the way of those migrating to al-Madinah.

They withheld the families and children of some migrants, snatched away the money from some and threatened some others. But all these schemes of the Quraysh were of no avail and barring a few persons all the intended migrants succeeded in changing their residence. When the Quraysh failed in their efforts to curb the migration, they called together a council in which all the major families excepting the Banū-Hashim participated.