His enemies now held a council of war, and decided that eleven men, each belonging to one of the most influential families in the city, should simultaneously attack and murder Mohammed, and by thus dividing the responsibility, avoid the deserved penalty, as the clan of the prophet would not be sufficiently powerful to avenge themselves upon so many families. Mohammed, however, received a warning of their design, and giving Alī his mantle, ordered him to pretend to be asleep on the couch usually occupied by himself, and thus divert the attention of his enemies. In the meantime Mohammed and Abū Bekr escaped from a back window in the house of the latter, and hid themselves in a cavern of a mountain more than a mile from Mecca, before their absence was discovered. A vigorous search was at once instituted, and for three days they lay concealed, while tradition claims that a spider wove a web across the mouth of the cave and the pursuers, thinking that no one had entered it, passed by in their search. At length they ventured out once more, and succeeded in reaching Yaṭ[h.]rib in safety. Here they were soon joined by Alī, who had been allowed to leave after a few hours’ imprisonment. This was the celebrated Hi_g_rah or “flight,” from which the Mohammedan era is dated.[209] As soon as possible after he was established at Medīna, Mohammed built a mosque and proceeded to institute regular rites. He also appointed Bilāl, an Abyssinian slave, to call the believers to five daily prayers. He tried to conciliate the Jews of Medīna by adapting his religion as far as possible to their own, but when it became evident that they would never accept him as their prophet, he withdrew his concessions, and instead of turning his face toward Jerusalem while in prayer, he turned toward the Kaābah at Mecca. As soon as he felt sufficiently strong, he began to agitate the idea of a crusade against the city of his birth, which had compelled him to fly from her borders, in order to save his life. After some petty raids upon their property he decided to attack a rich caravan which was returning from Syria laden with valuable merchandise. The returning Arabians were, many of them, influential men of Mecca, and they sent a swift messenger to the city for aid. Their call was responded to by nearly a thousand men, but although the contest was long and bitter, the Muslims won the victory; some of Mohammed’s bitterest foes were slain, many prisoners were captured and rich booty was taken. Of the captives six were executed by Mohammed’s order, some embraced his views and others were ransomed by their friends. This victory[210] gave Mohammed so much military prestige that he lost no time in following up the advantage thus gained. The Jews were the first people upon whom his vengeance was visited, and his first victim amongst them was a woman, who was put to death, and soon afterward a whole Jewish tribe was attacked, their property confiscated and the people sent into exile.