Ansar

Ansar (Arabic: aiders, helpers or patrons) refer to the Muslim inhabitants of Medina, who welcomed the prophet Muhammad and the other Meccan Muslims when they migrated to Medina from Mecca (in an event known as the Hijrah. The sahabas, or companions of the Prophet, are divided into two categories; of muhajiroun, people who fled from Mecca; and the Ansar, those who welcomed and took in the muhajiroun. The Ansar are vital to Islamic history because they took the fledgling Muslim community in and joined it themselves, turning Islam into a city-state power. In Medina, each Ansar family took in a member of the muhajiroun and offered them a place to stay and protection.

They were the most important elements in the later Islamic campaigns against both the sassanid and Byzantine Empires.

Known for their piety and courage, some famous Ansars are Mua'az bin Jabal and Sa'ad bin Ubaadah, Sa'ad's great great grandchildren were the Nasrids kings of Granada in Spain from the 13th century to the 15th century.

A number of subsequent organizations have been known as Ansar:

• The followers of self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad in nineteenth century Sudan
• Ansar al-Islam, an accused terrorist group in northern Iraq