The Planning Behind the Hijrah

A further point concerns the elaborate planning that went into the hijrah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Number one, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) visits Abū Bakr at noontime — people are in a siesta because of the heat of Arabia, people do not venture out of their houses. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was out at that time so that nobody would notice him, and in case somebody did notice him, he was masked, he covered his face. Number two, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came in to the house of Abū Bakr, he asked him to clear his house — ukhruj man ʿindaka yā Abā Bakr — so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) wanted to keep it a secret. Number three, he had ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib sleep on his bed. Number four, the camels were already prepared. Number five, they left under the cover of darkness and from a back door. Number six, they hired the guide. Number seven, Madīnah is north of Makkah, while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and Abū Bakr went by another route, to deceive the disbelievers. Number eight, they went into hiding for three days in the cave. Number nine, ʿAbdullāh ibn Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, would come to them with information; he would gather information during the day and come and present it to them at night. Number ten, ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah brought them food.

So a lot of planning went into the hijrah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and that is how Islamic work should be conducted — not by simply saying that Allah will take care of everything and Allah will give barakah, and just doing whatever is easiest. Doing what one can does not mean that one does not have to do a lot; doing what one can means doing one's best. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) made sure that he did his best in the planning for hijrah, even though Allah (swt) had already promised him with protection — he is the Messenger of Allah, Allah will take care of him, Allah will support him, Allah will honor him, so he did not have to do all of this, but he did it to teach that a Muslim has to do his best. A Muslim has to do his best, and this is iḥsān.