The journey that started a calendar

1. Introduction

Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina begins the Muslim era and a new kind of community. In 622 CE, after years of persecution in his home city, the Prophet of Islam and his followers left Mecca for the oasis town of Yathrib, which came to be called Medina. According to Islamic tradition, this journey was no mere flight but a turning point: it marked the birth of the first Muslim polity and, later, the starting point from which Muslims would count the years.

3. Historical Background

According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad began preaching a monotheistic message in Mecca around 610 CE. His teaching drew growing hostility from the city's dominant tribe, the Quraysh, and his followers faced boycott and persecution [1][3]. An early group of Muslims is said to have sought refuge in Christian Abyssinia before the main migration [2]. Meanwhile, representatives of the Medinan tribes of Aws and Khazraj, seeking a leader who could mediate their conflicts, invited Muhammad to their city. In 622 CE Muhammad and his followers made the move that Islamic tradition calls the Hijra [1][3].

4. Timeline

1. c. 610 CE — According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad begins receiving revelations and preaching in Mecca [1].

2. c. 613–619 CE — Growing persecution of Muslims by the Quraysh; some believers emigrate to Abyssinia [2].

3. c. 620–622 CE — Members of the Medinan tribes of Aws and Khazraj pledge support and invite Muhammad [1][3].

4. 622 CE — The Hijra: Muhammad and his followers migrate from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina) [1][2].

5. c. 622 CE — Yathrib is renamed Medina; the first Muslim community is established there [3].

6. c. 622–624 CE — The Constitution of Medina defines the rights and duties of the city's communities [1][3].

7. 639 CE — The caliph Umar I introduces the Hijri era, counting year 1 from the migration [2].

5. Key Details

Background — Mecca was a major trading and pilgrimage center dominated by the Quraysh. Muhammad's monotheism challenged the established order, and his small community had little protection there [1][3].

Causes — The migration was driven by mounting persecution in Mecca combined with an opportunity in Yathrib, where feuding tribes invited Muhammad to serve as an arbiter and leader [1][3].

Main Events — According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad left Mecca and traveled to Yathrib together with his companion Abu Bakr; sources describe roughly two hundred followers making the migration [2][3]. On arrival the town was renamed Medina, and Muhammad set about organizing a community that united the emigrants from Mecca with local supporters [3].

Key Figures — Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam; Abu Bakr, his close companion; and the Medinan tribes of Aws and Khazraj, who invited and supported him [1][3].

Immediate Outcomes — For the first time the Muslim community existed as a self-governing sociopolitical body. Muhammad negotiated the Constitution of Medina, a document defining the rights and obligations of the city's groups, including its Jewish communities and other non-Muslims, and binding them into a single ummah for common defense [1][3].

Long-Term Consequences — The Hijra became the reference point for the Islamic calendar and a foundational event in Islamic memory. Under the second caliph, Umar I, the migration was chosen in 639 CE as the epoch of the new era, with the first year beginning in the month of Muharram [2]. Islamic New Year commemorates this migration rather than Muhammad's birth or the first revelation [2].

6. Significance

The Hijra marks the transition of the early Muslims from a persecuted minority into a defined community with its own leadership and law. Historians identify the Medinan period as the moment the ummah took shape as a sociopolitical entity, and the Islamic tradition treats the event as sacred and formative [1][3]. Its lasting mark on daily life is the calendar: Muslims worldwide still date their years from 622 CE [2].

7. Impact

8. Legacy & Modern Relevance

The Hijri calendar remains in use across the Muslim world for religious observance and, in some countries, civil affairs; because it is lunar, its months move about eleven days earlier each solar year [2]. The Constitution of Medina is frequently cited in modern discussions of pluralism and the relationship between religious communities under a shared political order [1][3]. The migration itself endures as a model in Islamic thought of leaving hardship to build a better community.

9. Interesting Facts

• 01

  Muslims count their years not from Muhammad's birth or first revelation but from the Hijra; the Islamic New Year commemorates the migration [2].

• 02

  The Hijri era was not established at the time of the migration itself but roughly seventeen years later, under the caliph Umar I in 639 CE [2].

• 03

  The town of Yathrib was renamed Medina in connection with the Prophet's arrival [3].

• 04

  Before the main migration, an earlier group of Muslims is traditionally said to have taken refuge in Christian Abyssinia [2].

10. Related Topics

• Islam (Religions × Middle Ages) — the faith whose community was reshaped by the Hijra.
• Umar ibn al-Khattab (People × Middle Ages) — the caliph who established the Hijri calendar in 639 CE.
• The Early Muslim Conquests (Conflict & Wars × Middle Ages) — the later expansion of the community founded at Medina.

11. Sources & Further Reading

1. Hijrah — Islam, Muhammad, Mecca, Medina, History, Definition, & Importance — Britannica — https://www.britannica.com/event/Hijrah-Islam
2. Islamic New Year Information Sheet — Islamic Networks Group (ING) — https://ing.org/resources/for-all-groups/calendar-of-important-islamic-dates/islamic-new-year-information-sheet/
3. Hijrah — Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijrah