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The Hijra to Medina
AD 622 (year 1 of the Islamic calendar)· Event· Judaism, Christianity & Islam
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina in 622, which Muslims count as year 1 of the Islamic calendar.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
After the deaths of his wife Khadija and his protector, his uncle Abu Talib, Muhammad and his followers faced growing persecution in Mecca. Tribes from Yathrib, an oasis about 340 km (210 miles) north, invited him to come as arbiter of their feuds. His followers left in small groups, and he slipped out with Abu Bakr. Yathrib became Medina, 'the city' of the Prophet, where a pact often called the Constitution of Medina bound Muslims, Jews and Arab clans together.
Why it matters
It turned a persecuted group into a self-governing community with leaders, laws and an army; from then on Islam was both a faith and a polity.
Sources and history
The Constitution of Medina, preserved in Ibn Ishaq's biography; later Muslim histories; and Caliph Umar's adoption of the Hijra as the calendar's starting point around 638.
Questions and debates
Scholars debate the exact dates of the journey and whether the Constitution of Medina is one document or several agreements later combined.
Connections (2)
▸Muhammad led The Hijra to MedinaHistorical record
The connection
Facing a plot on his life, Muhammad sent his followers ahead to Yathrib in small groups and left last, with his friend Abu Bakr. Tradition says they hid three days in a cave on Mount Thawr while Meccan pursuers searched, then took a back route north, reaching Quba, near Medina, in September 622.
When and where
From Mecca to Yathrib (Medina), about 340 km north, in 622, with Abu Bakr; by tradition his cousin Ali slept in Muhammad's bed as a decoy.
Historical evidence
Early biographies by Ibn Ishaq and others, and the Quran's reference (9:40) to the Prophet as 'the second of two' in the cave.
Questions and debates
Exact dates and vivid details, like the spider web said to have hidden the cave's entrance, come from later tradition and cannot be independently confirmed.
▸The Hijra to Medina starts the calendar of IslamHistorical record
The connection
Muslims count years AH, 'after the Hijra', because 622 marked the founding of an independent Muslim community. The Islamic calendar is purely lunar, about 11 days shorter than the solar year, so Ramadan and the Hajj move through all the seasons over about 33 years.
When and where
Adopted by Caliph Umar around 638 (year 17 AH), counting from the start of the lunar year in which the Hijra occurred.
Historical evidence
A Greek-Arabic papyrus dated year 22 (AD 643) already uses the Hijri era, and dated coins and inscriptions follow.
Questions and debates
Why Umar chose the Hijra over Muhammad's birth or first revelation rests on later accounts; the calendar's 1 Muharram is not the Hijra's actual date, which came months later.