The Hijra: Muhammad's migration to Medina
- Date
- 622 CE
- Category
- Religion & ideology
- Region
- Arabia (Hejaz, Medina)
- Era
- Post-Classical / Medieval
- Significance
In 622 CE Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to the oasis town of Yathrib, soon renamed Medina, to escape mounting persecution by the Quraysh. Invited to arbitrate among the town's feuding tribes, Muhammad became the leader of a new polity rather than merely a religious teacher.
The migration, known as the Hijra, marks the transition of the Muslim community from a persecuted minority into a self-governing society. There Muhammad established what later tradition calls the Constitution of Medina, an agreement defining the rights and obligations of the Muslim emigrants, local converts and the town's Jewish clans, and creating a unified community (umma). From this base he consolidated military and political control over much of Arabia, returning to capture Mecca peacefully in 630. The Hijra was so pivotal that the second caliph, Umar, later made it the starting point of the Islamic lunar calendar (Anno Hegirae), so that Muslim years are reckoned from 622. It represents the foundational moment at which Islam became both a faith and a state.
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Empires active in 622 CE
- Tang Dynasty618 CE – 907 CE
- Sassanid Empire224 CE – 651 CE
- Byzantine Empire330 CE – 1453 CE
- Classic Maya Civilization250 CE – 900 CE
- Kingdom of Aksum100 CE – 940 CE
- Tibetan Empire618 CE – 842 CE
Related religion & ideology events
- Muhammad's first revelation in the Cave of Hirac. 610 CE
- Official Introduction of Buddhism to Japan552 CE (traditional date; 538 CE in some sources)
- Adi Shankara and the Revival of Advaita Vedantac. 700-750 CE
- Church of the East Reaches Tang China (Alopen Mission)635 CE
- Bhakti devotional movement emerges in Tamil South Indiac. 6th–7th century CE
- Pope Gregory the Great and the Gregorian mission to England590–604 CE (mission 596–597)
Further reading
If you read one book
Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet
Bestselling, sympathetic life of the Prophet.
Get it on Amazon →Also worth reading
- The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad — Amazon →
The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad
Vivid, humane biography covering the Hijra and Muhammad's Medina years.
Get it on Amazon → - In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad — Amazon →
In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad
Warm, accessible life of Muhammad drawing lessons from the migration and after.
Get it on Amazon →
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