Q.

Give a detailed account of the problems and challenges faced by The

Holy Prophet (PBUH) right after his migration. Explain why did the Jews
accepted the leadership of The Holy Prophet (PBUH) after his migration
to Madina? How did Muhammad (PBUH) overcome these challenges?

Prophet Muhammad(S) had gained about 100 converts by 615, in Mecca. He spoke out
against rich merchants, who he criticized as immoral in their greed, and he denounced
the worshiping of idols and multiple gods, saying, “There is no god but Allah.” City
leaders became hostile to him, and in 619 his uncle Abu Talib(his Uncle) died and was
succeeded as head of the Hashim clan by another one of Prophet’s (S) uncles, Abu
Lahab. Abu Lahab refused to protect Prophet (S), and persecution of the prophet and
his Muslims increased.

In the summer of 621, an entourage of 12 men came to Mecca from Medina, an oasis
community 200 miles to the north. They were ostensibly making a pilgrimage to Mecca,
but they had actually come to meet with Prophet (S) and profess themselves as
Muslims. In 622, a larger group of converts from Medina came to Mecca and took an
oath to Prophet (S) to defend him as their own kin known as the pledge of Aqabah.
Prophet(S) immediately encouraged his followers in Mecca to make their way to
Medina in small groups. When city authorities learned that the Muslims had begun an
exodus, they plotted to have the prophet killed. Under this threat, Prophet (S) slipped
away unnoticed with a chief disciple and made his way to Medina, using unfrequented
paths. He completed the celebrated Hijrah on September 24, 622.

Brotherhood

Muslims of Medina (the Ansar) embraced with love and sincerity the Muslim migrants who
settled down in Medina, leaving everything they had behind for the sake of God. They (the
Ansar) did not and would not begrudge any kind of help they could offer to them. However,
the migrants were not familiar with Medina’s climate, customs and working conditions. They
did not bring anything with them while leaving Mecca. For this reason, they needed to be
familiarized with Medina’s working conditions and with Muslims of Medina, who came to be
called the Ansar (the helpers) because they offered all kinds of help to them.

Therefore, Prophet (S) gathered the Ansar and established a brotherhood among the
migrants. The brotherhood was based on mutual economic and psychological support and
the principle of being inheritors to each other, which in turn aimed to provide migrants with
support to get over the sorrow and misery they felt because of leaving their
homes.According to this foundation of brotherhood established, leaders of each family in
Medina would provide a Muslim family from Mecca with accommodation and share their
belongings with them, and they would work together.
 Thanks to this brotherhood, life expenses and accommodation problems of immigrants, who
left everything behind except for their love for God and His Messenger, were solved. This
was a brotherhood that outpaced biological brotherhood. It was the brotherhood based on
faith, religion. When a person from Medina passed away, his immigrant brother would be
one of his inheritors, together with his relatives. Again, thanks to this brotherhood, a large
social charity was established. Muslim immigrants were saved from economic problems.

Charter of Madina

After assuming a central role in Madina, the Prophet (S) recognized a few pressing needs,
which included:

 Determining the rights and responsibilities of the local population as well as the
immigrants from Makkah
 Making agreements with the non-Muslim population of Madina, especially the Jews,
to ensure peace and harmony
 Creating a strategy and plan to defend the city against invasions
 Making resources available for the immigrants to make a living

The strong need to create a centralized government in Madina to end the prevailing anarchy
culminated in the creation of the Charter of Madina. The text of the charter has been
preserved in its entirety by the scholars Ibn Ishaq and Abu Ubaid. It is divided into two parts;
the first part deals with the rules and regulations for Muslim migrants and Muslim natives
(Ansar) and the second part deals with the rights and responsibilities of the Jews of
Madina.This charter contains 47 clauses, which laid the foundations of a sovereign
nation-state comprising of Muslims, Jews and Pagans, having equal rights and
responsibilities under a common citizenship.
Many historians believe that the charter was developed in two stages: the first part was
written before the battle of Badr and the second part about relations with Jews, after Badr,
when Muslims had gained a much stronger standing. The salient features of this charter
include:

 All parties included in the charter, i.e. Muslims, people of the book (Jews and
Christians) and pagans, had freedom to practice their religion
 All citizens of the state had equal rights and responsibilities and were protected
against excess and oppression
 A system of financial aid was developed within each tribe and between
tribes. Communal funds were set up which were used in times of financial need such as to
pay ransom or blood-money
 In the event of a war or hostile attack from outsiders on one tribe, all tribes of
Madina (signatories of the charter) were required to come to the aid of the defending tribe
 In the event of a dispute among the signatories, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was the
final authority for settling the dispute
 The Quraish of Makkah were to be boycotted commercially by all signatories and
nobody was to extend any support to them
The Charter of Madina is a landmark document, not only in Muslim history but also in the
constitutional history of the world. This charter transformed all aspects of life in Madina
including political, religious and social life. Its biggest achievement was bringing belligerent
tribes together to form a polity and establishing long term peace among them. It put an end
to the prevailing anarchy and protected the life, liberty, property and religious freedom of all
people included in the accord. It created a state where equal rights and responsibilities were
truly provided for all citizens. The charter of Madina replaced the traditional tribal kinship
with a new social order and created a nation state with a new social fabric.

After the Messenger of God settled in Madina, Islam became more common in Madina.
People of Madina embraced Islam in groups.Meanwhile, another group appeared: A group
of munafiqs (hypocrites) that did not truly belive in the teachings of Muhammad (S) but
claimed to be believers.The tribes of Aws and Khazraj, which had been tired of the internal
clashes and fights that lasted for years between them, made an agreement and decided to
appoint Abdullah b. Ubay as their ruler just before the Prophet (S) came to Madina. But
upon the arrival of Prophet (S), he was made the leader of Madina and this situation upset
Abdullah b. Ubay.

Abdullah b. Ubay beacame the leader of the munafiqs. There were many accomplices
around him, and many people who followed him blindly due to reasons like kinship, being
allies, etc. It is not possible to give a definite number about them. However, the number of
people that left the Battle of Uhud on the order of Abdullah b. Ubay was about three
hundred. Which was one third of the Islamic army. It shows that they had an influence on
the political life of Madina.

After the Muslim victory at badr many Jews rejoiced and some converted to Islam and thus,
munafiqs appeared among Jews. Most of the Jewish munafiqs were Jewish scholars. They
were very clever and cunning. They were more mischievous and dishonest than the others.
They strived hard to humiliate Islam, demoralize Muslims and prevent the polytheists from
converting to Islam.

Munafiqs took part in the prayers and other kinds of worshiping seemingly but they tried to
do things secretly against Muslims. It is remarkable that they hid the signs of unbelief and
were not expelled from the Islamic community because they seemed Muslims. Therefore, it
was more important to maintain the solidarity and security against those internal enemies.
The internal enemies disperse the strength and decrease the courage; the external enemies
increase the solidarity and strength. Therefore, the Quran mentions the munafiqs a lot.
Muslims are warned by the Quran to be always alert against them and not to be deceived by
their tricks. The Prophet (S) knew about them because God Almighty informed him; however,
he did not reveal their names publicly. Nor did he taunt them.

This attitude was better for the interest of Islam and Muslims. As there was another
important reason why the Prophet treated them las such. It was the possibility of them
giving up their evil deeds and activities of mischief and sedition gradually. Because, if it is
revealed, it will arouse the fury of its doer and will increase his evil deeds. Perhaps the most
harmful act of the munafiqs during the period of the Prophet was to abandon Muslims in the
most critical moments. Thus, they wanted to weaken and demoralize them. A clear example
of it took place when they left the Islamic army during the Battle of Uhud. The number of
the munafiqs who left the Islamic army under the leadership of the ferocious was three
hundred; i.e, one third of the Islamic army. By doing so, the munafiqs decreased the number
of the Muslims and demoralized the mujahids. Due to their act, some Muslims felt uneasy
and even wanted to return. However, they kept marching forward.

The Prophet (S) started to face difficulties as soon as he reached Madina firstly the
accommodation of the migrants, the role of the people of Madina, hypocrites, etc and the
Prophet (S) devised incredible solutions to each of the problems faced. Prophet (S)
used his forward thinking along with strategic planning to counter and overcome these
challenges. The Charter of Madina arguably the first written constitution in history a
idea well ahead of its time outlining the role of the people along with the rights,
patient and optimistic approach towards the hypocrites and showing compassion,
defending the city of Madina from the Quraish o three different occasions using 3
different strategies rarely seen before showing the strategic excellence of the Prophet
(S).