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After 3 nerve racking days like this, the Prophet
and his companion started for Yathrib. They went by
little known and perilous mountain tracks, far from
the usual road to Yathrib (they had hired a Bedouin
guide). And yet, one skilled tracker got on to their
trail. He examined the dung of Abu Bakr's camels and
found date stones in it. He correctly concluded that
these were city reared camels and not Bedouin camels
(who usually had only Camel thorn to eat and not dates).
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He caught up with the Prophet's party; and then there
took place another one of those incidents, which do
not have a simple natural explanation. He just let
them go.
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Prophet migrated from Makkah on the 18th of June 622
CE it has been the practice for long to refer to the
years of the Gregorian calendar as AD. This came into
vogue during the many years when the European Christians
dominated the world scene, but AD is the acronym for
'Anno Domini' or 'year of God'. The God being referred
to here is Jesus Christ. Muslims revere Jesus Christ
as one of the principal Prophets of Islam (Monotheism)
and acknowledge that God had given him the gift of
miracles but they find the concept of Christ as the
Son of God absolutely unacceptable. God does not beget
children.
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The
Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God
either. The vast multitudes of China and India also
attach no particular significance to the birth of
Jesus. Hence in most of the world today, the acronym
CE (Common Era,or even Christian era) is used instead
of AD. As a matter of fact, if a Muslim uses the term
AD, he is unwittingly committing blasphemy (Surah
Al Ikhlas 112/3).
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He reached Qoba, the southern most settlement of Yathrib
on the 28th. Since 3 days were spent in the cave,
it means that the journey of nearly 300 miles was
completed in 7 days; i.e. 40 miles a day, in the June
heat of Hejaz, where temperatures exceed 50C everyday!
(The road distance between Makkah and Madina is a
little over 200 miles, but the Prophet's party had
gone south for a few miles, then turned towards the
coast and traveled through the mountain trails of
the Tihamat range. Mountain trails are not only much
longer than a straight track but the up and down of
the mountain travel adds to the distance. Night travel
much more sensible in those climes is not possible
along the hazardous mountain paths either, which adds
considerably to the discomfort. Ali, who reached Yathrib
later, traveled by night and yet it took 2 weeks).
Interested readers should refer to Muhammad Hayakal's
excellent biography 'Hayat Muhammad', to fully appreciate
the travails of this nightmarish journey.
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Finally the ordeal was over and for the first time
in his life, the Prophet could preach in peace and
safety. Islam has never looked back since then. So
much is the significance attached to this transition
- from harassment and vicissitude to peace and tranquility
- for the pursuit of one's faith, that Muslims date
their calendar 'Hijri' from the event (Hijr means
emigration).
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