After the construction of the _mosque in Madinah, the next great step the Prophet ﷺ took was one of the most beautiful events in human history: the establishment of muʾākhāt—a covenant of brotherhood. This was more than hospitality, more than generosity; it was the weaving of lives into one family beyond ties of blood or marriage.

The Muhājirūn, who had left behind everything in Makkah, found in the Anṣār not mere hosts, but brothers. This was a covenant that gave not only shelter and support, but even a share of wealth and inheritance, as if they were bound by kin. In those early days, as the Qur’an testifies in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ (4:33), they were even granted rights of succession to one another despite the absence of family ties. It was only later, when the emigrants had become self-sufficient, that the law was revised, and in Sūrat al-Anfāl (8:75) inheritance was restricted once more to blood relatives.

Before Madinah, bonds of affection had already sprung up among the Companions—Abū Bakr with ʿUmar, Zayd ibn Ḥārithah with Ḥamzah, ʿUthmān with ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām with Ibn Masʿūd, ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith with Bilāl, Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr with Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, ʿUbayd with Sālim, and Saʿd ibn Abī Zayd with Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbaydillāh—examples of bonds formed through faith and sacrifice.

But in Madinah, this spirit was lifted to an entirely new scale. The Anṣār did not simply welcome the emigrants into their homes; they offered them their wealth, their land, and even their inheritance. They were prepared to divide everything they owned with their new brothers in faith.

In the house of Anas ibn Mālik, the Prophet ﷺ formally proclaimed this brotherhood. Companions were paired—Abū Bakr with Khārijah ibn Zuhayr, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb with ʿItbān ibn Mālik, Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ with Saʿd ibn Muʿādh, al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām with Salamah ibn Salāmah, Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbaydillāh with Kaʿb ibn Mālik, Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr with Abū Ayyūb Khālid ibn Zayd. Altogether, around ninety pairs of brothers were established, as recorded in the sources.

Thus the Muhājirūn were no longer wanderers seeking refuge; they were embraced as brothers, equal partners in building the new life of Madinah. This covenant of brotherhood stands as a luminous chapter in history, showing how faith can dissolve barriers and make strangers into family.