Laylat al-Mabit

As the persecution of early Muslims in Mecca continued, or perhaps with the hope of better prospects,[1] Muhammad asked his followers to emigrate to Yathrib,[1] whose residents had pledged to protect Muhammad there.[2] To attract less attention, Muslims left Mecca in small groups,[3][4] throughout the summer of 622,[5] while Muhammad remained behind in Mecca to organize and encourage the emigration efforts, or perhaps to ensure an independent position in Yathrib upon his arrival.[3] Alarmed by the new developments,[3][6] the Meccan clan leaders decided to murder Muhammad. The plan was for a group of warriors, one from each Meccan clan, to kill Muhammad together in his sleep to avoid any potential retribution from Muhammad's clan, the Banu Hashim.[3][7]

An informant[8] or elsewhere the angel Gabriel[9][10] disclosed the assassination plot to Muhammad. To foil their plans, his young cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib risked his life and slept in Muhammad's bed that night instead of him.[11][12][13] Alternatively, Ibn Ishaq (d. 767) writes that Muhammad reassured Ali of his safety in advance.[14] In the meantime, Muhammad left Mecca under cover of darkness, joined later by another companion named Abu Bakr.[14] In a last-minute change of plans, however, the assassins waited until the next morning to attack.[9] At dawn, they broke into the house and found Ali, whose life they spared.[9][15]

After Muhammad's departure, Ali stayed behind for a few days to return the goods entrusted to Muhammad,[12] who was respected in Mecca as the al-Amin (lit. 'the trustworthy').[16] Then Ali too escaped Mecca together with a few Muslim women, including his mother Fatima bint Asad and Muhammad's daughter Fatima.[17][12] Muhammad is said to have waited outside of Yathrib in Quba for Ali to join him before entering the city[18] on 27 September 622.[19] Yathrib was later renamed Medinat al-Nabi (lit. 'city of the prophet') or simply Medina in his honor.[15]

Some authors give this incident as the reason for the revelation of verse 2:207 of the Quran,[20] "But there is also a kind of man who gives his life away to please God, and God is most compassionate to his servants."[21] These include Muhammad's cousin and early exegete Ibn Abbas (d. 687),[21] the Sunni al-Tha'labi (d. 1035-6),[20] al-Razi (d. 1209),[22] and al-Haskani,[23] the Shia al-Tabarsi (d. 1153),[22] al-Hilli (d. 1325),[23] al-Balaghi (d. 1933),[16] and the Mu'tazilite Ibn Abi'l-Hadid (d. 1258).[16]

• Hijrah
• Ali in the Quran