The Most Beautiful Day

The blessed group had continued on with their journey and had finally reached the village of Quba, a little south of Medina. The Messenger of Allah decided to stay in the village of Quba for a couple of days with his group. They built a small mosque there right away. The Messenger of Allah and the believers accompanying him took off towards Medina the following Friday. As they were passing through the valley of Ranuna they realized that it was time for the Noon Prayer. They stopped for a while; the Messenger of Allah delivered a sermon and led the believers in the very first congregational Friday Prayer. After the Prayer, they started once again towards Medina.

The people of Medina had long heard of the news that our Prophet had started his journey. Everyone was full of excitement, waiting the moment of his arrival. Every day, they would gather atop a hill overlooking the surroundings, waiting for the travelers to arrive. At the end of the day, seeing that no one was arriving yet, they would go off in their separate ways. It was on one of these days that the people of Medina finally rejoiced with the unity they had all been yearning for. Every one of them rushed to Thaniyyati’l-Wada, or the valley of Al-Wada, as soon as they heard that the blessed group had arrived, our blessed Prophet had finally honored the city with his arrival.
The joy of the believers was at its peak as he entered their city. The blessed Messenger of Allah had risen over the people of Medina just like the moon rising over the black night. Women, men, children, servants, everyone was out in the streets rejoicing. This was truly to be their grandest festival. The believers were crying tears of joy and were reciting poetry. “O the white moon rose over us from the Valley of Wada! And we owe it to show gratefulness, where the call is to Allah! O Messenger, chosen from amongst us! You have surely come with the word to be obeyed.” These were the verses rising over the skies of Medina. The Muslims in Medina had never rejoiced over anything as much as they rejoiced over the arrival of Allah’s Messenger. Everyone called out, “Come to our home, O Messenger of Allah,” and invited him to stay at their home. As they tried to take a hold of his camel’s rein and direct it towards their own home, our Prophet said to them, “Let go of the camel’s rein for the camel too has its own duty. It will go in whichever direction Allah commands him to go.”
Our Prophet’s camel was named Qaswa. Qaswa started walking. It reached a field that belonged to two orphans, Sahl and Suhayl, and knelt down in the field. A short while later, though, it got back on its feet and continued to walk. Qaswa knelt down once again, this time right beside the home of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari from the tribe of the Banu Najjar. At last, it was decided where our Prophet would be staying. Our Prophet stayed in that home for seven months.