Laylat al-Mabīt (Arabic: لَـیْـلَـة ٱلْـمَـبِـیْـت) refers to the night in which the Islamic prophetMuhammad left Mecca for Yathrib, a city that would later to be renamed Medina in his honor. Forced by the prosecution of Meccan disbelievers, Muhammad's flight took place on the first night of Rabi' al-awwal in 622 CE. The term Laylat al-Mabit is often associated in the Islamic literature with the accounts about Muhammad's cousin, Ali, who risked his life for Muhammad's safe escape.
As the prosecution of early Muslims in Mecca continued, Muhammad asked his followers to emigrate to Yathrib, whose residents had pledged to protect Muhammad. To attract less attention, Muslims left Mecca in small groups, while Muhammad remained behind in Mecca to organize and encourage the emigration efforts. However, the dwindling number of Muslims in Mecca and the death of his influential uncle, Abu Talib, left Muhammad increasingly vulnerable to the vengeance of the Meccan elite, who were alarmed by the new developments. While their motive is disputed among the historians, it is well-documented that Meccan clan leaders decided to murder Muhammad and the plan was for a group a warriors, one from each Meccan clan, to kill Muhammad together in his sleep to avoid any potential retribution from Muhammad's clan, Banu Hashim.
An informant or, in other accounts, the angel Gabriel disclosed the assassination plot to Muhammad. His young cousin, Ali, volunteered to sleep in Muhammad's bed that night instead of him, knowing the risk of death. In the meantime, Muhammad left Mecca under the cover of the darkness, joined later by another companion, Abu Bakr. In a last-minute decision, however, the assassins changed their plans and waited until the next morning to attack. At dawn, the dismayed assassins found Ali in place of Muhammad. According to al-Tabari and a number of early sources, Ali's life was spared but he was beaten and temporarily detained, as disbelievers scrambled to catch up with Muhammad, who was well on his way to Yathrib.
After Muhammad's departure, Ali stayed behind for another few days to return the goods entrusted to Muhammad, who was respected in Mecca as the al-amin (trustworthy). Then Ali too escaped Mecca together with a few Muslim women, including his mother, Fatimah bint Asad, and Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah. It has been reported that Muhammad waited outside of Yathrib, in a small town named Quba, for Ali and the women to join him before entering Yathrib.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Shia and multiple early Sunni sources include reports that verse 2:207 of the Quran was revealed to Muhammad in recognition of Ali's selfless act.[8][9][10][11][12][13]