The brotherhood of the Muhajirun and Ansar

The Prophet established brotherhood between the Muhajirun and the Ansar in the house of Anas ibn Malik. There were ninety men, half from the Muhajirun and half from the Ansar, bound by mutual consolation (al-muwasah). After death they inherited from one another, to the exclusion of blood relatives, until the battle of Badr. Then inheritance by kinship was restored with the revelation of the verse on kinship ^{1 2}.

Muhammad al-Ghazali said that the meaning of this brotherhood was that the partisanship of the Jahiliyya melted away, so that zeal was only for Islam, and distinctions of lineage, colour and homeland fell away ^{3 4}. It was a binding pact tied to blood and wealth, not an empty word ³.

The Prophet made brothers of Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf and Sa'd ibn al-Rabi'. Sa'd offered to divide his property with him and to divorce one of his two wives for him. Abd al-Rahman prayed God's blessing on him. When he later married, the Prophet ﷺ asked him about his bridal gift, and he said: a nawa (a date-stone's weight) of gold ^{3 5}.

The Ansar asked the Prophet to divide the date palms between them and the Muhajirun. He said no. They said: then spare us the labour, and we will share the fruit with you. They said: we hear and we obey ^{3 6}.

• Ibn al-Qayyim mentions that a second brotherhood among the Muhajirun themselves was said to have taken place, but the book prefers the first ¹.