THE HIJRA 23Medina against outside attack. Although this document has been called
the first written constitution, it was really more of a multiparty treaty.
Mohammed also appointed one Yathribi Muslim to mentor and help
each family of Meccan Muslims. The native was to host the newcomer and
his family, get them settled, and help them start a new life. From this time
on, the Yathribi Muslims were called the Ansar, "the helpers."
The name of the city changed too. Yathrib became Medina, which sim-
ply means "the city'' {short for a phrase that meant "city of the prophet").
The emigration of the Muslims from Mecca to Medina, is known as the
Hijra {often spelled Hegira in English.) A dozen years later, when Muslims
created their own calendar, they dated it from this event because the Hijra,
they felt, marked the pivot of history, the turning point in their fortunes,
the moment that divided all of time into before the Hijra {BH) and after
the Hijra {AH).
Some religions mark their founder's birthday as their point of origin;
some, the day he died; and still others, the moment of their prophet's en-
lightenment or his key interaction with God. In Buddhism, for example,
the religion begins with Siddhartha Gautama's achievement of enlighten-
ment under the bodhi tree. Christianity attributes key religious signifi-
cance to Christ's death and resurrection {as well as his birth.) Islam,
however, pays little attention to Mohammed's birthday. Growing up as a
Muslim, I didn't know when he was born, because nothing special hap-
pened that day in Afghanistan. Some countries, such as Egypt, commem-
orate the day more elaborately, but still, there's no analog to Christmas in
Islam, no "Mohammedmas."
The revelation in the cave is commemorated as the most sacred night
in Muslim devotions: it is the Night of Power, Lailut al-Qadr, which falls
on or near the twenty-seventh day of Ramadan, the month of fasting. But
in the Muslim calendar of history, that event occurred ten years before the
really crucial turning point: the Hijra.
What makes moving from one town to another so momentous? The
Hijra takes pride of place among events in Muslim history because it
marks the birth of the Muslim community, the Umma, as it is known in
Islam. Before the Hijra, Mohammed was a preacher with individual fol-
lowers. After the Hijra, he was the leader of a community that looked to
him for legislation, political direction, and social guidance. The word hijra