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Hegira Facts & Worksheets

Hegira was a religious journey taken by the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina.

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Hegira was a religious journey taken by the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in the year 622 to escape the persecution of their religious beliefs by the Meccans. It also marked the beginning of Islam.

See the fact file below for more information on the Hegira or alternatively, you can download our 28-page Hegira worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BACKGROUND

  • Hegira is an Arabic word meaning ‘departure’ or ‘migration’.
  • Medina was inhabited by Arabs and Jews. The Arabs consisted of two tribes, the Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj. With the two tribes at constant war, law and order and traditional rules became very dysfunctional, with no neutral party to mediate the unrest. (Medina is in western Saudi Arabia.)
  • Muhammad and some members of the Banu Khazraj tribe came together just outside of Mecca and put together the first doctrines of Islam and recited portions of the Quran, which led them to embrace Islam. During their pilgrimage in 621, five of them brought several others with them, which marked the beginning of the development of Islam in Medina.
  • The twelve pledged their allegiance to Muhammad, promising to accept him as a prophet, worship only one God, and renounce sins including theft, adultery, and murder, in what would become known as the first pledge of al-‘Aqabah.
  • In 622, a delegation of 75 Muslims consisting of Aws and Khazraj from Medina took the first pledge.

MIGRATION

  • Muhammad built Masjid Qubā’ Mosque when he arrived at Medina. Qubā was on the outskirts of Medina.
  • The night he departed, Muhammad’s house was attacked by men of the Quraysh, who were planning to kill him as soon as he left. Their plan failed as Muhammad owned various properties. Muhammad asked Ali to stay behind and fulfill his obligations on his behalf, asking him to wear his cloak and lie down in his bed, assuring him God’s protection. (Ali ibn Abi Talib was a cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.) The misdirection worked. Ali later moved to Medina with his mother, Fatima bint Asad, Muhammad’s daughters, Fatimah and Umm Kulthum, two other women, and Muhammad’s wife Sawda and Umm Ayman.
  • When Muhammad and Abu Bakr left the city, they took shelter in a cave on Thawr mountain, escaping the Quraysh, led by Suraqa bin Malik. After three days, they continued their journey to Medina.
  • Muhammad and Abu Bakr went to the Red Sea following the coastline up to Medina. They arrived at Quba on a Monday. While they were in Quba, Muhammad established a mosque there. After four days, they continued to Medina where they would practice their first Friday prayers along the way.

MUHAMMAD

  • Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570. He was in the care of his grandfather, who was the head of the Hashim clan. When he was six, his mother died, his grandfather died when he was eight, leaving him in the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of the Hashim clan.
  • At the age of 25, Muhammad married a wealthy widow 15 years his senior. For fifteen years, Muhammad was a merchant and fathered six children: two sons who died during childhood, and four daughters.
  • During 610, Muhammad had a vision on one of his overnight stays in Mount Hira, where he heard a voice tell him that he was the messenger of God. Later the messenger was identified as Angel Gabriel. The experience motivated him into a lifetime of religious studies, which he and others put together into the Qur’an (Koran).
  • Muhammad regarded himself as the last prophet of Judaic-Christian tradition, adopting aspects of the older religions while also introducing new doctrines. The religion was called Islam, which means ‘surrender’.
  • At the beginning of Muhammad’s preaching of Islam, his followers were only close friends and relatives. Muhammad became known as the founder of Islam.
  • Muhammad and his small group of Muslim followers faced challenges like torture, killing, and other forms of religious persecution by the Meccans.
  • By 615, Muhammad had gained around 100 converts in Mecca by speaking against wealthy merchants for their greed and denouncing the worship of idols and multiple gods.
  • When his uncle Abu Talib, who was a pagan, died in 619, his uncle Abu Lahib became the new clan leader and refused to protect Muhammad from persecution.
  • Without protection, the leaders of Mecca ordered that Muhammad be killed, and the order was to be carried out by 11 men with swords.
  • On September 24, 622, Muhammad completed his Hegira from Mecca to Medina. This marked the beginning of the Muslim calendar and when Islam began.

AFTERMATH AND LEGACY

  • The Meccan persecutors seized Muhammad’s followers’ wealth and belongings, leaving them in poverty after they fled to Medina.
  • In January 623, Muhammad led several raids against Meccan caravans that traveled along the eastern coast of the Red Sea.
  • In 629, Muhammad was allowed to lead a pilgrimage in exchange for a peace treaty, but rejected the treaty when they were attacked by allies of the Meccans.
  • Over the next few years, most of the peninsula Arab tribes came to him for an alliance. In exchange, they converted to Islam.
  • By the time he died on June 8, 632, Muhammad was the ruler of most of Arabia, promising growth for Syrian and Iraqi regions.
  • The first recorded Hegira occurred after Muhammad’s death, during the first year of the Islamic Calendar in 638.
  • Today, Islam is the second-largest religion in the world.

Hegira Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Hegira across 28 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Hegira worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Hegira which was a religious journey taken by the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in the year 622 to escape the persecution of their religious beliefs by the Meccans. It also marked the beginning of Islam.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Hegira Facts
  • Vocabulary
  • Wish You Were Here!
  • Fill in the Blanks
  • Let’s Cook!
  • Name the Site
  • Five Pillars of Islam
  • True or False?
  • Cartoon Strip
  • Name the Symbols
  • Find the Words

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Link will appear as Hegira Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, April 30, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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