The Song That May Be the Oldest in Islam

Tala al-Badru Alayna, the full moon has risen over us, is by tradition the song with which the people of Medina greeted the Prophet Muhammad on his arrival there after the emigration (hijra) from Mecca in 622, and if that tradition is correct it is the oldest surviving Islamic hymn. The account is carried in the biographical (sira) literature rather than in the Quran, and the dating of the words as we have them is uncertain, so scholars treat the attribution with appropriate caution; what is clear is that the song is very old and has been sung for centuries as a welcome and a praise of the Prophet.

Its imagery is simple and warm: the arriving Prophet is likened to the full moon rising over the city, a light and a cause of gratitude, and the singers pledge their obedience. The hymn belongs to the large and much-loved genre of devotional song in praise of Muhammad, which flourishes especially in Sufi and popular piety and which some stricter currents of Islam regard with reserve. Sung at celebrations, at the Prophet's birthday (mawlid), and at welcomes of all kinds, Tala al-Badru remains one of the most widely known melodies in the Muslim world, carried far beyond its Medinan origin.