· The House of Al-Arqam ibn Abi Al-Arqam:This was a house in the suburbs of Makkah owned by Al-Arqam bin Abi Al-Arqam. In this house, the Prophet, , used to meet his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, to teach and instruct them far away from the spies of Makkah. There were about forty Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, who used to come to this house. It was in this house that `Umar bin Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him, embraced Islam.

· At-Taa`if:This is a town about eighty-five kilometers from Makkah. It used to be inhabited by the Thaqeef tribe. On the tenth year after the Prophetic Mission, the Prophet, , went to At-Taa`if to find new supporters after the Quraysh tribe had inflicted severe torture on him, especially after the death of his wife Khadeejah, may Allah be pleased with her, and his uncle Abu Taalib.

The Prophet, , went to some of its leaders and explained the principles of Islam and called them to believe in Allah The Almighty. Their answer was no more than to insult and humiliate him, and they refused to believe in his, , message. The Prophet, , spent ten days in At-Taa'if calling its people to embrace Islam but they remained arrogant and obstinate.

Furthermore, they expelled him from their town and incited the children and the dregs of the society to throw stones at him, while blood flowed from his feet and head. Then, the Prophet, , returned to Makkah to resume his call.

· The Cave of Thawr:This cave is located in Mount Thawr, south of Makkah, in which the Prophet, , and his faithful Companion, Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, may Allah be pleased with him, stayed for a while they were migrating to Madeenah.

The Prophet, , decided to migrate to Madeenah to spread his call after the people promised to support and protect him. Many of his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, migrated there before him. Noticing this, the disbelievers of Makkah became more afraid that Islam was winning new ground and they conspired to assassinate the Prophet, . In order to implement their conspiracy, they chose forty strong, young Makkan men from different tribes to kill the Prophet, , so that his tribe, Banu Haashim, would not be able to take revenge against all these tribes.

At night, the Prophet, , secretly left his home and went to the house of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. Together, they headed for the Cave of Thawr, where they hid for three days. The people of Quraysh were unable to reach him, because Allah The Almighty protected him. The Quran mentions this story; Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {If you help him (Muhammad ) not (it does not matter), for Allah did indeed help him when the disbelievers drove him out, the second of two, when they (the Prophet Muhammad and Abu Bakr) were in the cave, and he (SAW) said to his companion (Abu Bakr): "Be not sad (or afraid), surely Allah is with us." Then Allah sent down His tranquility upon him, and strengthened him with forces (angels) which you saw not, and made the word of those who disbelieved the lowermost, while it was the Word of Allah that became the uppermost, and Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.} [Qur’aan 9:40]

· Badr:This is a town located about 160 kilometers from Madeenah. It was here that the decisive Battle of Badr took place, on seventeenth Ramadan, 2 A.H. The Muslims, commanded by the Prophet, , defeated the Makkan polytheists, although the latter were much greater in terms of numbers and weaponry. The polytheists were about one thousand fighters whereas the Muslim forces were only one third of this number.

The Quran refers to this victory in the statement of Allah The Almighty (which means): {And Allah has already made you victorious at Badr, when you were a weak little force. So fear Allah much [abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden and love Allah much, perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained] that you may be grateful.}[Quran 3:123]

In the Footsteps of Prophet Muhammad - I

In the Footsteps of Prophet Muhammad - III