Hijrah: Resilience and resolve

It was 1430 years ago when Prophet Muhammadand his faithful
Companionsembarked on a journey that changed not only their future,
but the face of history as well. Finally, the Muslims found a place
where they can be free from the arrogance, discrimination and torture
of the Pagan Arabs of Makkah and safely worship Allaah, the God of
Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, may Allaah exalt their mention,
without fear of persecution.
This incident of Hijrah )Hegira(, as it came to be known, marks one of
the most significant milestones in human history, the beginning of a
great religion and civilization. In just a few decades after Hijrah,
Muslims were able to establish an Ummah )state( that had more races
and ethnicities and larger geographical areas than any previous
civilization. In this state, those who had become Muslims, as well as
those who kept their Christian or Jewish beliefs, enjoyed a justice
and peace unmatched under any other nation. The great purpose those
Muslims espoused and the astounding results they achieved, testify to
the divinity and truthfulness of the teaching of Islam. So significant
the Hijrah was for the Muslims they made it the starting point for
their Lunar Calendar, which begins with the current month, the month
of Muharram.
The word Hijrah is a Quranic term that has a set of active meanings,
all of which are important for us to remember and think about,
especially since our Ummah is clearly lacking in leadership as well as
its connection to the true teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. Hijrah
means to emigrate, to depart, to turn away from, and to quit, both in
the abstract and physical sense of the words. Hijrah is to change and
reform. These meanings were unambiguous in the main Hijrah incident.
Not only did the early Muslims leave their homes and towns, they also
gave up many of their beliefs and habits and replaced them with the
way of Islam.
To the early Muslims making the Hijrah meant giving up:
1.All forms of paganism and polytheism and believing in the One Allaah Alone.
2.Enslaving one another, and fully submitting to the Will of Allaah,
the Almighty, in servitude, and respecting one another, thus achieving
peace and happiness.
3.The superstition and the confusing ways of ignorance, and seeking
knowledge and guidance in the teachings that free the spirit and
respect the mind.
4.Fighting over resources and living in endless state of division and
discord, to abiding by the law, working for the common good and
achieving unity and harmony.
Hijrah replaced their fear with hope, their aimlessness with purpose,
and their statelessness with freedom and confidence in the future.
They rose to the challenges of life. They built Mosques for worship
and schools for education. And to insure freedom, peace and justice
for all people living in the Madeenah )Muslims, Jews and Christians as
well as others( the Prophetput together a constitution to establish
the intercommunity and interfaith relations, which was accepted by all
parties.
There are many aspects to the Hijrah that deserve discussion, but the
greatest lessons we should learn from it are that Muslims must do
their best to bring security and goodness to whatever land they live
in, and that they should not give up trying to achieve this goal. Our
history is full of examples showing that our Ummah managed to rise
every time it fell.