Emigration—From Makkah to Madinah

enquired on seeing him, “would you like all these cattle?” Safwan said that he would. “It’s all yours,” the Prophet told him. “No one but a Prophet could be so generous,” Safwan replied. He immediately accepted Islam and testified that there was no one worthy of being served to save God and that Muhammad was His servant and Prophet.147 The Prophet’s numerous marriages were also part of this policy. Prime importance was attached in the tribal system to relationships through marriage. This gives us insight into the marriages the Prophet entered after emigrating to Madinah. They established relationships with countless people whose hearts then mellowed towards his mission. The Prophet’s first marriage was with Khadijah, a widow almost twice his age. Except for that one marriage, his other marriages were entered into for the political and missionary advantages that accrued to Islam from them. The year after the Peace of Hudaybiyyah (A.D. 628), the Prophet and 2000 Muslims went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Ka’bah. During his three-day stay in Makkah, he married a widow named Maymunah bint al Harith. She had eight sisters, all married into distinguished Makkan families. By marrying her, the Prophet became related to all these eight families. Khalid ibn al-Walid was Maymunah’s nephew, and she had brought him up as a son. So Khalid, the Quraysh’s greatest warrior, became the Prophet’s stepson. After this, Khalid did not