News Right Now: 1442 AH: The Significance of the Hijrah

Welcome to this week's episode, ‘1442: The Significance of the Hijrah.'

Congratulations to the noble Ummah of Muhammed (saw) by the will of Allah we have lived to see another month of Muharram, and the start of another year in the Islamic calendar... may Allah swt make it a month of goodness and blessings and victories, Ameen.

The Hijrah of our beloved Prophet (saw) was a significant milestone in the course of Muhammed (saw) Prophethood. It was a turning point for his Dawah to Islam from being in a position of weakness, and dependence upon the protection of notable individuals or tribal ancestry to one becoming a political leadership, backed by material strength, and becoming a force to contend with in itself. The Hijrah marks the beginning of this great new period that saw the rapid expansion of the Deen and the lives of its followers transformed even further  and this is why Umar bin al Khattab and the Sahaba (radiallahu anhum) agreed to start the Islamic Hijri calendar from this landmark event.

As mentioned, before the Hijrah the Muslims were weak. In the absence of any support, the Muslims in Makkah were subjected to humiliation, torture and boycott in the hope that they’d abandon Islam and Muhammed (saw) and this lasted for around 13 years. Once the opportunity finally arrived to take power in Yathrib, which became known soon afterwards as Madinah - the Muslims were overjoyed. When arriving in Madinah the Prophet Muhammed (saw) unified the Aws and Khazraj outlined the Sahifa, or constitution of Madinah, based only on Quranic laws and the Sunnah. The message of Islam could really spread far and wide through the official delegations to nearby tribes and even distant empires and so cementing the Islamic state as a serious regional player. In just a few years the number of Muslims grew to over ten thousand and the complete application of the Shariah existed in political, social, economic and judicial matters, which attracted even more people to this just and honourable way of life.

The Islamic State rapidly grew to be an impending force against idolatry, and regular victories against the huge armies of the Byzantine and Persian empires became the norm. This allowed the beauty of the Islam to spread way beyond Arabia and ensure the authority and security of the state was always administered by Islam and Muslims alone. Today, however it is devastating to see how this Ummah of such noble beginnings has returned to a state of dependence.

The dismantling of the Islamic State and the authority and security being completely removed from the hands of the Muslims, cleared a path for the Ummah to be subject to intellectual and physical attacks from the belligerent colonial west, as well as from within. After the colonial period led by European forces officially ended, the US took over by recolonising the Muslim psyche and introducing international systems of governance to occupy the economies and resources of the now individual Muslim countries. Weakened by the post colonial authority, we have seen vast regions of Islamic land reduced by wars and invasions, massacres and interment. The destruction of Afghanistan, Kashmir, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen is testament to this. Likewise the annihilation of millions of Muslims in Bosnia, the Central African Republic, Myanmar and China is a stab in the heart of this Ummah.

The treacherous betrayal of our own rulers and leaders cannot be overlooked either. Decades of incompetent, agent rulers and corrupt politicians have successively surrendered the resources of the Muslim lands to their western co-conspirators and damaged our Muslim countries almost beyond repair. Without any semblance of a just, accountable, political Islamic leadership and given the silence of the majority of the scholars; even granting their approval in many cases. The Ummah today is treated even worse than the Quraysh did during the Makkan period.

Reduced to begging from her colonial masters, and agreeing to unfair deals and treaties that undermine every aspect of Islam in the society, and bringing about alien ideas like freedom and individualism, that don’t benefit the Muslims, and that keep us in a poverty trap and cycle of dependence. This is the state we are in today.

The great rewards of the Aws and Khazraj, who were the Ansar, meaning the helpers and supporters of Islam and the Muslims are documented in over 165 hadith, so their merits are never to be forgotten. Muhammed (saw) mentioned the high status of the Ansar and their place in Jannah for their obedience, sacrifice and love for their brothers. They welcomed the Muhajireen of Makkah in complete submission to the rules of Islam, and not only gave away entitlement to their land, but also their individual wealth to the immigrants from Makkah. Likewise, the Muhajiroon lived as brothers with gratitude and acceptance striving on the behalf of the Ansar as they would for their own families.

Despite the many challenges we face, the Muslism Ummah is like a giant, awakening to the idea of Islam as the only source of its success and many are studying the Islamic framework for holistic progress and development to occur in our lands. The speed and gradient of change is increasing, and very soon InshaAllah this giant will be charging against all the falsehood and betrayal, with the holistic and implemented return to Islam.

Allah swt says in the Quran

“And that day the believers will rejoice. In the victory of Allah. He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful” (Surah Ar-Rum: 4-5)

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