on friday morning, the prophet [pbuh], sent for bani an-najjar, his maternal uncles, to come and escort him and abu bakr to madinah . he rode towards the new headquarters amidst the cordial greetings of his madinese followers who had lined his path. he halted at a place in the vale of banu salim and there he performed his friday prayer with a hundred others [bukhari 1/555] . meanwhile the tribes and families of madinah , the new name for yathrib and a short form of ‘the messenger’s madinah (city)’, came streaming forth, and vied with one another in inviting the noble visitor to their homes. the girls of the madinese used to chant beautiful verses of welcome rich in all meanings of obedience and dutifulness to the new messenger.

though not wealthy, every ansar (helper) was wholeheartedly eager and anxious to receive the messenger in his house. it was indeed a triumphal procession. around the camel of muhammad [pbuh] and his immediate followers, rode the chiefs of the city in their best raiment and in glittering armour, everyone saying: "alight here o messenger of allâh, abide by us." muhammad [pbuh] used to answer everyone courteously and kindly: "this camel is commanded by allâh, wherever it stops, that will be my abode."

the camel moved onward with slackened rein, reached the site of the prophetic mosque and knelt down. he did not dismount until it rose up again, went on forward, turned back and then returned to kneel down in the very former spot. here, he alighted in a quarter inhabited by banu najjar, a tribe related to the prophet [pbuh] from the maternal side. in fact, it was his wish to honour his maternal uncles and live among them. the fortunate host, abu ayyub al-ansari, stepped forward with unbounded joy for the divine blessing appropriated to him, welcomed the noble guest and solicited him to enter his house. [za'd al-ma'ad 2/55]

a few days later, there arrived the prophet’s spouse sawdah, his two daughters fatimah and umm kulthum, usama bin zaid, umm aiman, ‘abdullah — son of abu bakr with abu bakr’s house-hold including ‘aishah [r]ا. zainab was not able to emigrate and stayed with her husband abi al-‘as till badr battle. [bukhari 1/556]

‘aishah [r]ا said: "when the messenger of allâh [pbuh] arrived in madinah , both abu bakr and bilal fell ill. i used to attend to their needs. when the fever took firm grip of abu bakr he used to recite verses of poetry that smacked of near death; bilal, when the fit of fever alleviated, would also recite verses of poetry that pointed to clear homesickness." ‘aishah [r]ا added:

"i briefed the prophet [pbuh] on their grave situation, and he replied: o allâh, we entreat you to establish in our hearts a strong love for madinah equal to that we used to have for makkah, or even more. o allâh, bless and increase the wealth of madinah and we beseech you to transmute its rotten mud into wholesome edible fat." [bukhari 1/588]