The plot and the night
By the thirteenth year of the mission the Quraysh had resolved to kill the Prophet (s): a man from every clan would strike at once so that no single tribe could be held to account. Informed of the plan, the Prophet asked Ali (a) to sleep in his bed under his green cloak so that the watchers at the door would believe him at home. Ali (a), then about twenty-three, did so without hesitation; the Shia read Qur'an 2:207 — the one who "sells his soul seeking the pleasure of God" — as revealed in his honour. That night, remembered as Laylat al-Mabit, is dated to the first of Rabi al-Awwal.
The journey
The Prophet (s) left Makkah with Abu Bakr and hid three days in the cave of Thawr while the Quraysh searched the roads, then travelled to Quba on the outskirts of Yathrib, where he stayed until Ali (a) — having returned the goods entrusted to the Prophet — followed with the women of the family, including Fatima (a) and Fatima bint Asad. The oasis town was renamed Madinat al-Rasul, the city of the Messenger.
Why it matters
The Hijrah turned a persecuted community into a polity, and when the calendar was fixed in the caliphate of Umar its year was chosen as year 1. Shia devotional literature honours the night of the bed as the first great act of self-sacrifice for the Prophet (s) by the man he would name his successor.
Written for Shia Online Community. Dates and facts are checked against the references listed under Research & books; where the tradition records more than one date, all are given.
