بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
News Right Now: The Significance of Hijrah
Welcome to the episode... ‘The Significance of Hijrah’
Congratulations to the noble Ummah of Islam as we enter the new Hijri year 1444! May Allah (swt) enter us into it, in security, faith, and His (swt’s) pleasure and protection from Shaitan. Ameen!
The Hijrah has a right upon us, to commemorate its occurrence every year, with our celebrating it because it is the day on which the dawn of our place in history began. It is the day on which our happiness shone brightly and we had a stable abode of pride, reminding us of how the banner of Islam was raised and how Islam assumed greatness. It also enlightens as to how the glory of Islam was etched into the annals of time, shining amongst all that which is valued. It reminds of us of how Islam builds the edifice of glory, raises the banner of truth and perpetuates the legacy of honour.
The Hijrah of our beloved Prophet (saw), marked the incineration of falsehood in the fiery blaze of truth, as our master Muhammed (saws), the perfect man and the greatest reformer of society began the most fundamental phase of his mission, which was to implement the laws of Islam upon a society of Muslims, Jews, Christians and even pagans, to save humanity from the dark abyss of misguidance, extricating it from the travesty of falsehood, ridding it of the arid desert of backwardness, reviving it from the death of barbarism and brutality and extinguishing the thirst of ignorance. He saws steered humanity from the embrace of corruption to the exaltation of righteousness, the illumination of truth, the path of progress, the life of true civilization, the path of knowledge and the repose in righteousness.
The struggle for Islam began when for three years after the first revelation, Muhammed (saw) preached Islam in private, strengthening his companions intellectually and spiritually. But when the Dawah reached the public stage and Rasool Allah saws was commanded by Allah swt to openly preach the pure message of Islam, it was inevitably met with resistance from the polytheistic leaders of the Qureshi tribes.
Muhammad (saw) and his followers were belittled and ridiculed by Qureysh, but soon abuse and persecution towards them grew, and the band of Muslims came to be deeply oppressed and brutalised for departing from Makkah’s traditional tribal ways. During the height of oppression and hatred against the Muslims and Muhammed (saw), 83 men and 19 women were fortunate to be able to escape to Abyssinia and take refuge with the just Christian Negus there. However the weakest of the Muslims, including slaves and those without a powerful lineage to defend them, were ritually beaten and tortured in a campaign by the Qureysh leaders to scare people away from Islam and Muhammed (saw).
After this they were turned out from their homes along with Rasool Allah saws, his family and all the other believers in Makkah, to be cruelly subjected to an economic and social boycott which lasted for three years. Many including Rasool Allah (saw) beloved wife Khadija (RA) passed away during this time due to the severe conditions, starvation and sickness which the boycott had inflicted upon them. Throughout the 12 years of persecution the Nussrah, which is the victorious material support for Islam, was sought by Rasool Allah (saw) and his closest companions throughout the Arabian peninsular.
This Nussrah was essential to secure the Deen of Islam in society, and to allow it to exist beyond the hearts of the believers and thrive among humanity through the practical implementation of its divine laws. After visiting at least 48 separate tribes in the region throughout this period, with the aim of taking leadership over the people there with the establishment of an Islamic rule and a promise of providing security, peace and progress in return, Rasool Allah (saw) and the Muslims had displayed immense levels of constancy, steadfastness and patience in striving for Islam.
The great news then came to the Muslims that the Ansar of Yathrib, which is now Madinah, had pledged their support to Muhammed saws in the first treaty of Aqaba. One year later after Musab ibn Umair had delivered the message of Islam to the house of every Muslim in Yathrib, the second pledge of Aqaba affirmed the unstinting material and unifying support of the Ansar of Madinah for the Muslim Muhajiroon from Makkah - and thus the Nussrah for Islam had successfully been secured.
When Umar bin al Khattab was Khaleefah, it was decided that the Islamic Hijri calendar which correlates to 622 of the Christian Era; the first month of the Islamic calendar being Muharram, would mark the exact date of the migration to Yathrib by the Muslims to Dar-al-Islam, the abode of Islam! As such, the Islamic New Year commemorates the long awaited victory, and declaration of the establishment of the first Islamic State!
The Hijrah is not only a notable part of the Seerah of the Prophet (saw), but it was a great event that required a framework of concepts and actions which made it an integral part of the Sunnah of our beloved Rasool Allah (saw) and in this way it is just as much a part of the revelation as the Qur’an is. After a careful study of it, we can extract a very specific method for carrying out the Da’wah to resume the Islamic way of life, and if our aim is to please Allah swt, then it is our obligation to adhere to this method step by step, through each and every phase of Dawah.
It is critical for us, the Muslims, to realize that this event not only marked the beginning of our calendar, but more importantly it commemorated the establishment of the first Islamic state. Hundreds of years, this state epitomized a high level of Islamic rule and through it a huge breadth and depth of Islamic learning, lifestyle and civilisation based on the Ahkam Sharia emerged across the world. The Medinan, and the subsequent Islamic States would engulf neighboring lands, liberating one oppressed people after another, bringing them the guidance and Mercy from Allah (swt). The essential nature of the Hijrah marks the time when Islam as an Ideology was transformed from idea to practice, so we must remember that these steps, or phases, in the Da’wah mission were meant for us to follow, and to not follow them is a disobedience to Allah (swt).
After understanding the significance of the Islamic New Year and the Hijrah in particular - it follows that we realise that carrying the call to Islam in its holistic form, as an ideological state with support and solutions for the Muslim world and all of humanity - is a collective obligation, a Fard Kifayah – meaning that it is obligatory upon every capable person to exert whatever effort they can to contribute towards its establishment.
This is because Allah swt says in the Quran...
(ٱنفِرُوا۟ خِفَافًۭا وَثِقَالًۭا وَجَـٰهِدُوا۟ بِأَمْوَٰلِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ)
“Go forth, whether you are light or heavy, and strive in the way of Allah” [Surah At-Taubah: 41]
< وَمَن مَاتَ وَليسَ في عُنُقِهِ بَيْعَةٌ، مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً >
“Whoever dies without having a pledge (Bay’ah) on his neck, he dies the death of Jahiliya”. Muslim
These are just a few examples of the decisive request of the legislator, Allah swt – which indicate that neglecting this duty is a sin. He (swt) says
(وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُم فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ)
“Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good that He will certainly make them successors in the land, as He did with those before them; and will surely establish for them their faith which He has chosen for them; and will indeed change their fear into security—˹provided that˺ they worship Me, associating nothing with Me. But whoever disbelieves after this ˹promise˺, it is they who will be the rebellious.” [Surah An Nur v 55]
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