According to another Hadith, Allah Ta‘ala revealed the following to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), “Whichever one of these three cities you choose to settle in, it will be regarded as your Daar-ul-Hijrah (place of migration); (the three cities are) Madinah, Bahrain and Qinnasreen.”

Note: Just as various homes are offered to an honoured guest so that he may choose whichever one he wishes, similarly, as a mark of honour, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was shown and offered a number of locations for hijrah. However, ultimately, Madinah Munawwarah was chosen by Allah Ta‘ala as his place of hijrah.

After Bay’at-ul-Aqabah was complete (the pledge of the Ansaar to support Islam and shelter and protect the Muslims who come to Madinah Munawwarah), Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) commanded the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) to migrate to Madinah Munawwarah. As soon as they heard the instruction of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), they began to secretly leave Makkah on the journey of hijrah.

The first Sahaabi to make the intention of hijrah was the milk-brother of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), Hazrat Abu Salamah, Abd-ul-Asad Makhzoomi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), with his wife and son. However, performing hijrah was no easy task and was not without challenges. Any person who intended to perform hijrah would meet strong resistance from the Quraish. The Quraish would leave no stone unturned in preventing them from performing hijrah, because after all, besides these people, who else would they make their targets of oppression and persecution?

(Extracted from Seeratul Mustafa 1/351-352)