Eid See holidays; id al-adha; id al-fitr.
Emigrants (Arabic: muhajirun)
The emigration, or hiJra, of mUhammad and his
first followers from mecca to medina is consid-
ered to be the foundational event in the history
of the early Muslim community. Beginning in 622
and continuing until the conquest of Mecca in
630, small groups of supporters, men and Women
alike, abandoned their old homes to escape per-
secution and took up residence in Medina (then
known as Yathrib). These people are remembered
in Islamic tradition as the Emigrants. They were
converts from different tribes and classes in Mecca
and tribes outside Mecca who joined Muhammad
in Medina. Aside from members of Muhammad’s
immediate family, the Emigrants also included his
cousin and son-in-law ali ibn abi talib (d. 661)
and the other men who would become the first
caliphs after Muhammad’s death—abU bakr (d.
634), Umar ibn al-khattab (d. 644), and Uth-
man ibn aFFan (d. 656). According to early his-
torical sources, not every Emigrant was of Arabian
descent; one was bilal, a former slave from Ethio-
pia, and another was Salman, a Persian convert.
It is estimated that the total number of Emigrants
was less than 400.
Together with the ansar (helpers), Arab con-
verts to Islam from Medina, the Emigrants held a
place of honor in early Islamic society. Muham-
mad formed a brotherhood between them when
they first arrived in Medina, and he soon con-
cluded a series of agreements with other Arab and
Jewish groups that ensured that the Emigrants
would enjoy protection and solidarity in their
new home. They participated in the early battles
against Muhammad’s opponents in Mecca and
Medina and were given priority in the distribu-
tion of the booty. Both the Emigrants and the
Ansar would later be remembered for the roles
they played in collecting, reciting, and comment-
ing on the qUran. They also played an important
role in the transmission of the hadith. Although
the status of the Emigrants remained high after
Muhammad’s death, their political influence in
the community shifted to leaders of the qUraysh
tribe in Mecca, who had once led the opposition
against Muhammad. Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) relied
on the Quraysh, who had converted to Islam after
630, for support in his claim to become the first
caliph and for assistance in keeping the commu-
nity unified. This laid the basis for the eventual
rise of the Umayyad caliphate, which was led by
descendants from the Banu Umayya, a leading
Quraysh clan.
In the 20th century, other Muslims would be
called Emigrants. These included those who moved
to Turkey from Russia and southeastern Europe to
avoid being ruled by non-Muslim governments, as
well as Indian Muslims who moved to pakistan as
a result of the 1947 partition of india.
See also caliphate; companions oF the
prophet.Further reading: Michael Lecker, Muslims, Jews, and
Pagans: Studies on Early Islamic Medina (Leiden: E.J.
Brill, 1995); W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet
and Statesman (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1964).emigration See hijra.
Enoch See idris.
eschatology (Greek eschatos, “last”)
In the comparative study of religions, eschatology
is a term used for beliefs and doctrines concerning
last things—death, the end of the world, and the
aFterliFe. Muslims all share certain expectations
for the end times, but there are significant differ-
ences between Sunni and Shiite expectations, as
well as cases of difference between scholarly and
popular interpretations within the same sect. All
Muslims believe that time is linear, having beguneschatology 213 J