Al-Muakhaat: Brotherhood Between Ansar and Muhajirun - Our Prophet 6 - Foundations Of Islamic State

Next we will examine something very important that happened in Madinah. The Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, realized that there are two challenges internally and externally. From an internal perspective, his companions came from very diverse backgrounds. You had the people of Madinah, you had the people of Makkah, the migrants, different tribes, different races, different mentalities and it was unusual in Arabia to have a community from so many different backgrounds, because Arabia was based on tribal lines. You lived among your tribe.

In Madinah, you had so many different tribes, people from so many different tribes. And this presented a challenge. How will they get along? This is the first time that you have such a diverse community. How are they going to get along? This was the internal challenge.

The external challenge were the Non Muslims who lived in Madinah and around Madinah, particularly the Jewish tribes. How will we unite with them? The Prophet did not want any divisions in Madinah and it was expected that soon there would be divisions amongst his companions, because they come from very diverse backgrounds and races, ethnicities, tribes and also divisions with the Jewish population. So, the Prophet, in order to address these two concerns as a responsible community leader, he does two things.

To address the internal challenge, the Prophet conducts the pact of brotherhood. Al-Mu'akhat bayn al-Muhajirina wa al-Ansar. Between the migrants who came from Madinah and the people of Madinah who are called the migrants who came from Makkah to Madinah and the people of Madinah who were called the Ansar. The Ansar literally means the helpers, those who helped the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi.

When did the pact of brotherhood happen? Some, like Ibn Sa'd in his Tabaqat, he is a historian, he says it was done right after the Prophet arrived Madinah, within days this happened. Other historians state it happened several months after, possibly five months or more after.

So, one of the major steps that the Prophet took was to conduct the pact of brotherhood. The pact meant that they were now forging this brotherhood based on truth, helping each other and they would be like brothers. In fact, the pact of brotherhood was so strong such that the companions were under the impression that they would inherit one another. So, if one of them dies, the one who was assigned as a brother to him would actually inherit him. Some scholars believe that, in fact, this was part of Shari'ah, in those first two years until Badr, first year or two. In fact, it was the Shari'ah of Islam that those whom the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, had assigned as brothers, they would inherit one another.

Then later, in Surat al-Anfal, in verse 75,[And those who later believed, migrated, and struggled alongside you, they are also with you. But only blood relatives are now entitled to inherit from one another, as ordained by Allah. Surely Allah has ˹full˺ knowledge of everything- 8:75] Allah abolishes this law and says no, inheritance is only between blood relatives, Ul ul-Arham- between your relatives. So, up until that point, before Allah revealed this verse, in fact they were under the impression that they would inherit one another.

So, scholars have two views about this. One group of scholars states in fact, this was the Shari'ah law that they would inherit one another. The second group of scholars state no, this was not Shari'ah law but they were under the impression that they would inherit one another, because the bonds of brotherhood were so strong between them. They felt as if they literally were brothers to the point where they would inherit one another.

So, this really reveals how significant this pact of brotherhood was. And remember, this was the second time the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, conducted this pact. When was the first time? We talked about it last year. When was the first time? In Makkah, right before the Hijrah, the Prophet gathered the Muhajirin, who would be Muhajirin, of course, the people of Makkah, his companions and he made a pact of brotherhood with them. It was much more limited. Now in Madinah, the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, makes the big one the most important one.

How many were they? Some historians state that those who were present when the Prophet conducted the pact were 90. 45 from the Muhajirin and 45 from the Ansar. So, you had a total of 90 amongst whom the Prophet made the pact of brotherhood. Other historians state a different figure. Some historians believe it was 300. 150 from the Muhajirin and 150 from the Ansar. So, we have these two historical reports. How do we reconcile them? Scholars have said this is how we reconcile them.

It seems that the pact of brotherhood actually continued for quite a long time. It was a continuous effort by the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi. So, the first time that the Prophet conducted the pact of brotherhood there were only 45 Muhajirin, who had come from Makkah. So, the Prophet assigned them to 45 from the Ansar. Then newcomers would be coming, right? Every day you had someone arriving from Makkah, someone coming from another place. So, the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, would assign the newcomer to a brother in Madinah.

So, yes, we had 300 people, but it did not happen on the first day. The first stage was 90: 45 from each side, then it went up to 300. So that is one way to reconcile these different reports.

So, basically what the Prophet would do, he would assign a member from the Muhajirin, he would tell him that this is your brother from the Ansar and he would assign them as brothers. This meant that they would help each other, they would stand in truth and they would be there for one another. Whenever they needed anything, they would be there.

So, it was an ongoing program that the Prophet instituted in Makkah. Now, by the way, the Prophet did not only assign men as brothers, we also have historical reports that he assigned women from the Muhajirin as sisters to women from the Ansar as well. So, this was not something limited to the men only. The Prophet extended this honour of the pact of brotherhood or let us call it sisterhood for the sisters to the women as well. So, if there was a woman from the Muhajirin, the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, would assign her as a sister to one of the women of the Ansar.