Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

"Five months after his arrival in Medina, it was the Prophet's next task to find shelter and livelihood for the men who had accompanied him from Mecca. In their own home-town many of them were prosperous, but now they were all equally destitute. As a preliminary step, the Prophet enjoined the Muslims of Medina, now known as Ansar (the helpers) to adopt as brothers their co-religionists from Mecca, now known as Muhajir (the refugees), to share with them like their own kith and kin whatever they possessed, in prosperity and in want. He thus created in the house of Anas bin Malik a bond of brotherhood, known as "Fraternization" (muwakhah), comprising 45 (or according to another authority, 75) pairs between the Ansars and Muhajirs. It was made on the basis of right and of sharing (ala