Islam Spreads to Yathrib (Madinah

nothing more dangerous than that. So they resolved to remove the danger once and for all. They said: “Kill Muhammad, and Islam will die with him.” (Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah - Ibn Hisham, Vol. 1, p. 482) The Makkans then plotted against the Prophet’s life, and the young men with whom the Quraysh had planned to carry out the murder collected on that fateful night to put their plan into action. However, God had another plan—and who can overrule the plan of God? And that was to command the Prophet to leave for Yathrib. So the Prophet first called Ali, gave him the people’s deposits, and asked him to return them to the depositors. Then he made Ali lie in bed while leaving the house at midnight. The Prophet had already informed Abu Bakr, his closest friend, of the plan to emigrate, to be conducted in total secrecy. So they left Makkah before dawn, riding on two camels which Abu Bakr had kept ready to carry them across the desert. About five miles from the city, they took shelter in a cave called Thawr.