The Hegira or Hijrah , also romanized as Hijra and Hejira, is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina, in the year 622 CE. In June 622 CE, after being warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly left his home in Mecca to emigrate to Yathrib, north of Mecca, along with his companion Abu Bakr. Yathrib was soon renamed Madinat an-Nabi, literally "the City of the Prophet", but an-Nabi was soon dropped, so its name is "Medina", meaning "the city".