Beginning of Migration & Why Umm Salama Was Stopped - Our Prophet 5 - Road To Medina

So the gradual migration begins right after the 'Aqabah' allegiance. If you remember last time we talked about the 'Aqabah' allegiance. Right after the 'Aqabah' allegiance, three months before the migration is when the gradual migration begins. The Prophet gave permission to Muslims to start migrating and they did so gradually. He ordered them to go to Madinah, telling them that they have brothers there, they are awaiting them, they have a new home there. He himself was not given permission to migrate yet, but he tells them, slowly start migrating, and you see waves of Muslim very discreetly, in a low profile fashion, not to instigate the Makkans against them, they start going to Madinah.

So, the Prophet was not the first who migrated to Madinah. He actually had many of his companions go to Madinah and then he joined them later. In any case, the Quraysh, they realized that this migration is a very big threat to their future. So, they do try to stop some Muslims. That is why they had to leave discreetly because they did try to stop them from migrating.

One of those migrants who was initially stopped from migrating was Umm Salama. Umm Salama, this noble lady, this great and amazing lady whom the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, later in Madinah married her. We will examine that once we talk about the Prophet's life in Madinah.

Umm Salama, her name was Hind. Her father's name was Abu Umayyah. She came from the tribe of Bani Makhzum. She was born in Makkah. Her father, he was a distinguished member of Quraysh and he was known for his generosity. He had very good qualities. She is the cousin of Khalid Ibn Walid and also Abu Jahl; Abu Jahl, the very staunch enemy of the Prophet. She was actually a cousin of him. And she was the sister in nursing of 'Ammar Ibn Yasir, meaning she was breastfed by the one who breastfed 'Ammar Ibn Yasir. So she was a very respected and noble lady. She married Abu Salama Al-Makhzumi.

She was amongst the very early Muslims to embrace the religion of Islam during the first five years of the Be'that [proclamation of Prophethood]. And she was amongst the people who migrated to Habasha [Abyssinia latter day Ethiopia], if you remember, to Abyssinia and that migration, she was amongst those migrants. She migrated with her husband Abu Salama. So, they were like the first family to migrate together, the first couple to migrate together to Habasha.

And if you remember when we talked about the stories of Habasha, what happened there, what Ja'far Ibn Abi Talib said to the King of Habasha. Who narrated all these incidents? Umm Salama! She is actually the most important narrator of the events of the Habasha, of the migration to Abyssinia.

So, she stayed there for a while and they had their first son in Habasha. His name was Salama. Of course, that is how they acquired the name of Abu Salama and Umm Salama. Their son Salama was born in Ethiopia.

After some time, after spending a while, a few years in Habasha, they come back to Makkah and they go under the protection of Abu Talib. He takes them under his protection. Why? Because Abu Talib was the uncle of her husband, the 'Khalu' [maternal uncle] of her, the brother of her husband's mother. So, Abu Talib was basically the brother of her mother in law. So, they go in the protection of Abu Talib and that is how they stay a few years in Makkah.

Now, when the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, migrated, Abu Salama, along with his son and Umm Salama, they are about to migrate. Her tribe, the tribe of Umm Salama come to stop her. They tell Abu Salama, look, you want to migrate, we have no authority over you. Migrate! But we will not allow you to take her. She belongs to our tribe, she has to stay here. So, they prevent Umm Salama from migrating with Abu Salama. So, Abu Salama, he sees he has no choice, he leaves her behind, because his life was also threatened in Makkah. So, he leaves with his son and Umm Salama stays behind.

This deeply disturbs her, being separated from her husband, being separated from her son, being separated from the Muslims, from the Prophets, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi. So, what she would do every day, she would go outside, she would sit and cry. Day and night, she would just cry. She would weep over the separation.

About a year later, finally some of her relatives who had some mercy in their hearts, they come to the tribal leaders and say, look, she is just a lady, just a woman. Do you not see? She has been crying for an entire year. Let her go. What is the big deal? So, they soften towards her and they give her the permission to go to Madinah.

A man by the name of 'Uthman Ibn Talha, he tells her, I offer to take you to Madinah and I will come back. Because she did not have anyone to take her. So, he takes her to Yathrib and once they are close to the city limits, he says, I am going back to Makkah. And she goes and she joins her husband Abu Salama and her son. And then later on, we shall examine how the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, married her after her husband became a Shaheed [martyr] in one of the battles.

We will examine that in the future InshaAllah. Her husband, before he dies, he makes a prayer. He loved her very deeply and he said, 'Oh Allah, after I die, send someone to marry my wife who is better than me.' And Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala answers his prayer. And Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala does not just send someone who is better than him, but the best of His creation- he [the Prophet] marries Umm Salama. So, Umm Salamah was one of those migrants or woman who did migrate but it was about a year after that.

Next, Insha Allah, we will examine how the Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi, migrated and the assassination plot. There was a very powerful concise plot to assassinate the Holy Prophet, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa alihi. We shall examine that next time InshaAllah.