Give an account of the hijra of the Prophet from Makka to Madina.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2014). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. (a) For this answer an account should be given about the events of the actual journey; only brief mention should be made about events before the Prophet left Makka and his arrival in Madina. Year is 622; in Makka there was a plot to assassinate the Prophet; Quraysh met at Dar al-Nadwa; a man from each tribe was sent to kill the Prophet; Jibril came giving the Prophet God's permission to migrate; Muslims had started to migrate; Abu Bakr, ‘Ali and the Prophet were left; the Quraysh came to the Prophet's house to kill him at night, v8.30; the Prophet told 'Ali to sleep in his bed; the Prophet came out of his house and threw dust at the assassins, v36.9; Abu Bakr went with him; they took refuge in Cave Thawr; Abu Bakr went in to make sure it was clean and safe; Abu Bakr's foot was stung by an insect; they stayed in the cave three nights; Abu Bakr's son and daughter visited them; the Quraysh set a price of 100 camels for their capture; some reached the mouth of the cave; the Prophet reassured Abu Bakr; Suraqa almost caught up with them but his horse kept stumbling; they stopped in Quba; stayed there for four days; they established a mosque; 'Ali caught up with them here; they arrived in Madina and the people welcomed the Prophet; he stayed with Ayyub al-Ansari; his camel showed them the place to build his mosque. The best answers will be able to expand and give depth to these events, and whilst not all of the above needs to be mentioned, highest level answers will describe and elaborate on most of these details.
2. (b) Mosques are the centre of a community; they allow people to meet and to worship God; the Prophet established a mosque in Quba to emphasise this; it was also because they were now free to worship together and in the open, unlike in Makka; establishing a mosque in Madina provided a focal point for the Muslims.