ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Muhammad The Prophet in Madina (622 A.D.) Yathrib Living in contact with the Jews, the Aws and the Khazraj tribes were not foreign to the idea of the unity of God. They had heard from the Jews that a Prophet was to come. Some of their people had come into contact with the Prophet at Mecca and had been deeply impressed by Him. The deputation (of three to five hundred referred to above) which they had sent to Mecca had returned entirely satisfied.

The disciples who had preceded the Prophet were spreading the message of Islam throughout Yathrib. Unlike the Meccans, the Yathribites had no vested interest standing in the way of their accepting the new religion. Islam had already taken roots in Yathrib thus before the Prophet arrived there on the invitation of the people of Aws and Khazraj. No wonder they gave the Prophet a tumultuous welcome at Yathrib. The name of the city was then changed to “Medinat al-Nabi’, the City of the Prophet.

Islam effaced the age-long enmity between the tribes of Aws and Khazraj and they were given the honourific designation of “Ansars’ (helpers or supporters). The immigrants, forty-five in number, were called “Muhajirun.’ The next task was to build a mosque in Medina like the one built in Quba. The place where Muhammad's she-camel had stopped was an open courtyard with some palm trees growing over it, and it belonged to two orphan brothers named Sahl and Suhayl.

When they came to know that the Prophet wanted to build a mosque on their property, they were elated and offered the property as a present to the Prophet. But the Prophet kindly declined their offer, paying them instead two mithqals [^1] in gold, the price settled for the plot. The plot was cleared of the trees, and a mosque 54 yards in width and 60 yards in length was built over it with clay bricks and mud. It was roofed with palm-wood rafters covered with palm branches, leaves and clay.

Actually, it was not sufficiently solid to keep rain out. The trunks of palm trees were used as pillars to support the roof. The construction of this mosque, “Masjid al-Nabi,’ (mosque of the Prophet), was distributed among the converts. The Prophet, too, had his share of the work, but he was seldom allowed to work as ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, one of the earliest converts to Islam and a faithful companion of the Prophet, used to accomplish the Prophet's share of work in addition to his own.