At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
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In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Shortly before the Hijra, men from Yathrib — the town that became Medina — heard the Prophet ﷺ and believed in him. At a rocky pass called al-Aqaba they met him twice and promised to believe him and protect him in their town. Those promises were the start of a new home for the Muslims.
At the pilgrimage season of 621 CE the Prophet ﷺ met twelve men of Yathrib at al-Aqaba near Mina, and they pledged what is called the Pledge of the Women: not to associate anything with God, not to steal, not to commit immorality, and not to disobey him in what is right. Mus'ab ibn Umayr went back with them to teach Yathrib. At the next season, in 622 CE, seventy-five men and two women came and pledged to hear and obey and to protect him as they protected their own families, and the Prophet asked for twelve chiefs among them. Through these two pledges his message gained a political refuge in Yathrib and the Hijra began.
Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.
Al-Aqaba, a narrow pass near Mina, saw the decisive political turn of the mission: two pledges between the Prophet ﷺ and people of the Aws and Khazraj of Yathrib. In the pilgrimage season of the twelfth year (July 621 CE) twelve men pledged the so-called Pledge of the Women — no association with God, no theft, no adultery, no killing of children, no slander, no disobedience in right — and Mus'ab ibn Umayr returned with them as teacher, through whom Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and Usayd ibn Hudayr (may God be pleased with him) came to Islam. The following year (622 CE) seventy-five men and two women — among them Nusayba bint Ka'b — pledged hearing and obeying in ease and hardship, spending on the right, and protection: 'we protect you as we protect ourselves and our families'. The Prophet asked for twelve chiefs, who were chosen, and his uncle al-Abbas asked what they pledged for. With this pledge the road of the Hijra opened; the companions emigrated, then the Prophet. Historians read in it the moment the call moved from a persecuted group to a community with a home.
Before the first Pledge of al-Aqaba (The Sealed Nectar pp. 135-136)
Before the pledge, the Prophet met six men of the Khazraj at the Aqaba of Mina during the pilgrimage season. They embraced Islam and promised to call their people to it (six men of Yathrib). 1 2
The two pledges in detail (The Sealed Nectar pp. 143-152)
The first pledge took place in the season of the twelfth year of the mission, and the second in the season of the thirteenth year. The details of each are in its own entry: the first Pledge of al-Aqaba and the second Pledge of al-Aqaba. 3 4
Encyclopaedia of Islam account
The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.), unsigned article on al-'Aqaba, explains that the word means a mountain road or a steep ascent, and that there are many places of that name. The best known lies between Mina and Mecca, where Muhammad, according to tradition, had secret meetings with men from Medina at the pilgrimages of 621 and 622. In 621 twelve men were present and gave the pledge known as the pledge of the women; in 622 seventy-three men and two women promised to defend Muhammad by arms, the pledge of war. 5
Some Western writers held that there was only one meeting at al-'Aqaba, since al-Tabari mentions only one, and that the wording of the women's pledge is taken from a later Qur'anic passage. The article judges that such delicate negotiations would need more than one meeting. 5
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Connections
- Had participant
- Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram· Abdullah ibn Unays· Abu Lubaba ibn Abd al-Mundhir· al-Abbas ibn Ubada· al-Bara ibn Ma'rur· Jabir ibn Abdullah ibn Ri'ab· Jabir ibn Abdullah· Mu'adh ibn Jabal· Nusayba bint Ka'b (Umm Umara)· Rafi' ibn Malik ibn al-Ajlan· Sa'd ibn Khaythama· Sa'd ibn Ubada· Ubada ibn al-Samit· Ubayy ibn Ka'b· Umm Muni' (Asma bint Amr)· Uqba ibn Amir ibn Nabi· Usayd ibn Hudayr· The Ansar· Muhammad· Mus'ab ibn Umayr· As'ad ibn Zurara· al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib
- Led to
- The Hijra· The plot at Dar al-Nadwa
- Occurred at
- Mecca· Medina
- Part of
- The Prophetic Era
People and things also explored
The Ansar· Medina· The Battle of Badr· First encounter with the six Ansar at al-Aqaba· The Battle of Uhud· The second pledge of al-Aqaba· The Hijra· Mecca
Sources
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.135
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.136
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.143
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.147
- Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 1 p. 336
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham
- Sahih al-Bukhari
- Musnad Ahmad
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Pledges of Aqaba”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/pledges-of-aqaba/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.