2. Bi‘that to Hijrat
Afewyearslater,whentheProphetwasendowedwiththeDivinegiftof
prophecyandforthefirsttimereceivedtheDivinerevelationinthecave
of Hira’, after Khadijah, ‘Alī was the first to declare his faith in the
Prophet’smission.Inthe samesermon quotedabove,‘Alīsaid,“Every
yearheusedtogoinseclusiontothehillofHirā’,whereIsawhimbut
nooneelsesawhim.InthosedaysIslamdidnotexistinanyhouseex-
ceptthatoftheProphetofAllahandKhadijah,whileIwasthethirdafter
thesetwo.Iusedtoseeandwatchtheeffulgenceofdivinerevelationand
message, and breathed the scent of prophethood.”
Forthefirstthreeyearsofthe mission,ProphetMuhammadhadnot
beenorderedtoinvitepeopletohismessageopenly.Whenfinallytheor-
dercame,firsttheProphetwasaskedtoinvitehisrelatives.Inthatgath-
ering,theProphetsaidthatthefirstpersontosupporthiscallwouldbe
his brother (akhi), inheritor (wasiyi) and vicegerent (khalifati). The only
persontorisefromhisplaceandacceptthecallwas‘AlīandtheProphet
acceptedhisdeclarationofsupportandfaith.Therefore‘Alīwasthefirst
manin Islamtoacceptthefaith andisthefirstamongthefollowersof
the Prophet to have never worshipped other than the One God.
‘Alīwasalways inthecompanyof theProphetuntil theProphetmi-
gratedfromMeccatoMedina.OnthenightofthemigrationtoMedina
(hijrah) when infidels had surrounded the house of the Prophet and
weredeterminedtoinvadethehouseattheendofthenightandcuthim
topieceswhilehewasinbed,‘AlīsleptinplaceoftheProphetwhilethe
ProphetleftthehouseandsetoutforMedina.Thissacrificeonthepart
of‘AlīwassomuchappreciatedbyAllahthatHerevealedthefollowing
versein his praise:“Andthere isone amongthe people who sells(i.e.,
sacrifice) his life to seek the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is kind to
people.”(2:207)Whenthe infidels entered the house andfound ‘Alī in
the Prophet’s place, they asked “Where has Muhammad gone?” ‘Alī
replied,“WhosaidthatIwasinchargetolookafterMuhammad?!”The
Prophet had safely left the house and was on his way to Medina.
After the departure of the Prophet, accordingto the Prophet’s wish,
‘Alīgavebacktothepeoplethetrustsandchargesthattheyhadleftwith
theProphet.ThenhewenttoMedinawithhismother, thedaughterof
the Prophet, and two other women.