Sirah
The First Pledge of al-Aqaba
The hill pass near Mina, 621 CE (1 BH)
1 BH / c. 621 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
Hill pass near Mina, east of Makkah
21.4117, 39.8939 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
The First Pledge of al-Aqaba (Bay'at al-Aqaba al-Ula) was a secret night meeting between the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and twelve men from Yathrib (later al-Madinah) at a hill pass on the route between Makkah and Mina during the Hajj season of c. 621 CE (the year before the Hijrah, 1 BH in the Sunni counting). The Sunni Sirah tradition (Ibn Hisham, al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir, al-Mubarakpuri) records that they were ten from the Khazraj tribe (including As'ad ibn Zurara, 'Awf ibn al-Harith, Rafi' ibn Malik, Qutba ibn 'Amir, 'Uqba ibn 'Amir, Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah, radiyallahu 'anhum) and two from the rival Aws tribe (Abu al-Haytham al-Tayyihan and 'Uwaym ibn Sa'ida, radiyallahu 'anhuma). The pledge bound the twelve to a list of obligations articulated by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): to associate nothing with Allah, to abstain from theft, fornication, infanticide, and slander, and to obey the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in righteousness. The same form would later be required of women emigrants in Q 60:12; the Sunni Sirah accordingly calls the First Pledge bay'at al-nisa', the women's pledge, because it imposed obligations on personal conduct rather than military fealty (the Second Pledge of al-Aqaba the following year added the obligation of military protection). On returning to Yathrib, the twelve sent word back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asking for a teacher; he sent Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr (radiyallahu 'anhu), one of the foremost Companions of the Makkan dawah, who taught Islam to the people of Yathrib over the year that followed. The Second Pledge of al-Aqaba (the following Hajj season, c. 622 CE, with seventy-three Ansar) followed, and the Hijrah itself within months after. This scene depicts the night meeting at al-Aqaba, a small group at a secret pass, the meeting concealed from the Quraysh. The visual ethics observed: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the named Companions are not individuated; the scene reads as a night vigil at a rocky hill pass.
What you see
A narrow rocky hill pass in the bare sandstone hills east of the shrine valley of Makkah, on the route to Mina, the al-Aqaba (the steep pass). The site is hidden from view of the valley by the surrounding ridges; ideal for a meeting that must be kept secret from the Quraysh.
A small night meeting between the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and a delegation of twelve men from Yathrib (later al-Madinah), come for the pilgrimage season. The Sunni Sirah names them: six from the Khazraj tribe (who had met the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the previous year), and six more, including two from the rival Aws tribe, the seed of the Ansar.
The light of a small fire or a single torch, the meeting is by night. No banners, no formal architecture, no announcement. The simplest of foundational moments: a verbal pledge from twelve men to abandon shirk, to abstain from theft, fornication, infanticide, and slander, and to obey the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in righteousness.
The first formal allegiance, bay'a, given to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by men outside Makkah, which would in the following years bring the Hijrah and the foundation of the Muslim community at al-Madinah. The Sunni Sirah calls this engagement bay'at al-nisa' (the women's pledge) because it imposed obligations on conduct rather than on military fealty.
The light is the cool light of a Hijazi night; the Hajj season is at its close, and the pilgrims have begun to disperse. The year in the Christian calendar is 621 CE, corresponding to the year before the Hijrah (1 BH in the Sunni counting), in the eleventh year of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) Makkan dawah.
The Pledge is preserved in the Sunni Sirah: Ibn Hisham (with the names of the twelve), al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir, al-Mubarakpuri. The same names recur in the report of the second Pledge of al-Aqaba the following year (621 → 622 CE) at which seventy-three Ansar pledged military protection.
Primary sources
The Qur'an, Surat al-Mumtahana 60:12: Preserves the form of the pledge required of women emigrants, the same form as the First Pledge of al-Aqaba according to the Sunni Sirah.
Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (early 9th c., transmitting Ibn Ishaq): The principal early Sunni biography. Preserves the names of the twelve men and the form of the pledge in detail.
Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra (early 9th c.): Sunni biographical compendium; biographical entries on the twelve men of the First Pledge.
al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk (early 10th c.): Cross-reference on chronology.
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya (14th c.): Standard Sunni history; synthesises the Sirah on the Pledge.
Further reading & cross-references
Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, al-Rahiq al-Makhtum (modern Sunni Sirah): Standard modern Sunni Sirah; convenient cross-reference for the twelve and the events of the year that followed.
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