THE TURNING POINT

 THE TURNING POINT
 Those who embraced the faith, and migrated from their homes, And have strived hard in the cause of Allah with their possessions and their lives, They have the highest rank in the sight of Allah.  It is they who shall triumph.
  The Turning Point
 The turning point in the struggle of the Prophet of Allah (PBUH) came in the eleventh year of his mission.  By then, the call of Islam had been heard far across the desert wastes.  Small communities of Muslims had begun to establish themselves in many of Arabia's oases and market towns.
 At the season of annual pilgrimage in 621 AD, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) came upon a small group of men who heard him gladly.  They had come from Yathrib, a city more than three hundred kilometers away, which is now known as Al-Madinah, "The City par excellence".
 At Yathrib there were Jewish tribes with learned "rabbis", who had often spoken to the pagans of a Prophet soon to come among the Arabs, with whose support they would destroy them, as the tribes of Aad and Thamud had been destroyed of old for their idolatry.  When the men from Yathrib saw Mohammad (PBUH), they recognized him as the Prophet whom the Jewish 
 rabbis had described to them.  On their return, they told what they had seen and heard.  This generated a lot of interest in the new religion, with the result that at the next season th pilgrimage in July 620 A.D.  A deputation of twelve persons came from there, purposely to meet the Prophet (PBUH).  They had a secret meeting at night time with the Messenger of Allah at a hill called "Aqabah outside Makkah. After having convinced themselves of the truth of the Prophet, they swore allegiance to him. "Not to worship any deity other than Allah, not to steal, not to commit adultery and not to kill their children and to obey the Messenger of Allah in all that is good". This is called the First Pledge of Aqabah. After this pledge they returned to Yathrib with a Muslim teacher.  Musaab bin Umair (RAH) in their company, and soon "there was not a house in Yathrib in which there was no mention of the Messenger of Allah" (11).
 After about a year Musaab (RAH) came to Makkah and submitted a report on the progress of Islam in Yathrib to the Prophet of Allah (PBUH) and gave the happy news that a large body of Muslims from there will call on him during the period of Haj.
 Oath of Allegiance
 On the occasion of the annual pilgrimage in 622 A.D., in the thirteenth year of prophethood, seventy two of Yathrib's Muslims came to formally declare their allegiance to the Prophet (PBUH) in Makkah.  They embraced Islam and invited him to come and settle in their city.  During the parleys, Abu-al-Haitham bin Tiahan from Yathrib asked the Prophet (PBUH), "When Allah grants you victory and dominance; would you leave us in lurch and return to your own people?"  On hearing, this Messenger of Allah smiled and said:
 "Wherever you shed your blood, there I too will shed my blood. I am of you and you are of me. Whoever you fight, I shall join you, and with whomsoever you are at peace, I shall also be his ally".
 They further inquired, "In supporting you we shall sacrifice our lives, property and our families. What will be our reward for all this?"  Gracefully the Messenger of Allah replied, "PARADISE".  After these parleys, the people of Yathrib extended their hands to pledge on the following points:
 Not to wrong anyone, to speak the truth at all times and to fear the censure of none in the service of Allah.
 To obey the Prophet of Allah under all circumstances.
 To spend their money in the cause of Allah.
 To fight with their lives to protect the religion of Allah.
 .  And to protect the Prophet of Allah (PBUH) from his enemies at all costs.
 This is called the "Second Pledge of Aqabah".  On this occasion the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was accompanied by his uncle Abbas-bin-Abdul Muttaleb, who was secretly a Muslim.  Abbas was a man of great wisdom.  To clarify the consequences of this oath, he told the people from Yathrib, Ansaars (as they are now called), that by pledging like that they had invited the enmity of the whole of Arabia.  Hearing this warning, the Ansaar replied, "We are honorable people and men of word. We would fight in the defense of the Holy Prophet as we defend our children, and we clearly understand the consequences of what we have pledged to the Prophet of Allah (PBUH)" (19).
 After the pledge had been made, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) asked them to elect twelve men out of them to take responsibility of their affairs, even as the companions of Jesue
 Christ (PBUH) were responsible.  They were approved by him as his deputies in Yathrib.  With their appointment, the Messenger of Allah also established the Islamic principle of "Shura" governing by mutual cooperation and consensus.  And thus the Messenger of Allah laid the foundation of the political order of Islam for building up an organized society.  This is called Khilafat (Caliphate) It is a type of democracy in which representatives of the people are elected on the criteria of fitness and piety, to implement the law of Allah, given in the Holy Quran, and as practiced by the Prophet of Allah (PBUH) and the four Righteous Caliphs i.e. his successors.