The Prophet paired Muslims from Makka and from Madina after the migration (hijra). Give examples to show the character of the relationship between various Emigrants and Helpers.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2015). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [10] Candidates should be able to say who the al-Ansar (Helpers) were and who the al-Muhajirun (Emigrants) were. Good answers will be able to write about the first Muslim community in Madina, giving brief details about the emigrants and their difficulties in Makka. They could mention how the emigrants arrived in Madina without many belongings. The Muslims of Madina (mainly from the Aws and Khazraj tribes), who had invited the Prophet to their city, were happy to welcome the migrating Muslims. To unite the two groups, the Prophet made them brothers, pairing each of the Ansar with the Muhajirun. The Prophet took ‘Ali as his brother. Sa'd bin ar-Rabi and Abdur Rahman bin Awf were made brothers and Sa'd was willing to share half his property and divorce his wife for Abdur Rahman to marry. He refused, preferring to work himself. The Ansar wanted to share their date palms with the Muhajirun but the Muhajirun refused, so the Ansar offered them to work in their orchards and in return they were given dates. In this way the Madinans gave protection and material assistance to their Makkan brothers and the Makkans came with their faith to share and spread in Madina. Candidates should give details of this relationship using examples of what they shared, and how their relationship developed. Candidates could also make reference to any Qur'anic ayats relating to these events (9:20; 9:100; 9:117; 59:8-9). The best answers will write about the character of the relationship in terms of cooperation and selflessness, etc.
2. [4] Candidates can provide any examples that are relevant but should develop the answers they give and not just provide statements. They could say that Muslims should look to people coming to their country and neighbourhood from other places, especially if they have had to leave their belongings behind, e.g. from Afghanistan or Syria, and should help provide them with food and shelter if they can. Muslims should always look to what they have and what they can offer other people who are in need, like warm clothes in the winter. Giving up extra items has more reward than keeping them and will create better relations in the community.