
Photo Credit: flickr[dot]com/photos/horizon
With the beginning of each Islamic year, our scholars and Imams remind us of the story of the momentous Hijrah (migration) of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companion Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) from Makkah to Medina which they undertook over 1400 Years ago. This Migration was a very special journey and a turning point for Islam and Muslims in that it was chosen to mark the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
Although there are many lessons that one can extract from the Hijrah, I just wanted us to focus on some of the productivity-related lessons one can learn from the Hijrah.
Perhaps the first lesson that strikes me, and is often not talked about, is the difficulty and magnitude of the decision to migrate itself. We tend to think that this migration was a simple 3-day journey by camel between 2 cities, and don’t give much thought to its implications in those days. Living amidst the globalised tourist industry, we tend to forget the difficulty of taking a journey to a completely new territory which you’re not accustomed to the terrain, culture, or people. By all scales, the migration itself as an act was not that easy. How many of us are truly ready to leave our homes, our families, our businesses and just go to a new town and start from scratch?
So, the question is why? Why did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) migrate? The standard answer is that the migration occurred to escape persecution from Makkah and save the Prophet’s life (peace be upon him) from an evil assassination plot. But I believe there’s another reason, one that derives an important lesson about the Hijrah: staying in Makkah with the persecution from the Makkan people was unproductive for the Prophet (peace be upon him) because the environment was not conducive for the message which he (peace be upon him) carried, Islam. The Prophet (peace be upon him) had to find a way out, he (peace be upon him) had to find a venue for his message to flourish. In essence, the migration was not about saving his life, but it was about saving the message and fulfilling his mission! The evidence of this is that immediately after reaching Madinah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) didn’t relax but immediately went through an all-embracing process to establish a faithful and strong society by building a mosque, establishing a market, managing the politics of the new town, and so on.
So there’s a deep lesson here about the Hijrah that is subtle but important – it is that the Hijrah is a process of transfer to a better situation to enable you to be productive and active vicegerent on Earth. It is not meant to be a means to find a comfortable place where one would relax and stop being productive. Rather, it is a search for an environment more favorable to continuous and constructive productivity for Allah’s sake.
Think how you can apply the above to your life? What do you need to ‘migrate’ from in order to live a productive lifestyle in conformity with your purpose of worshipping Allah (Subhanhu wa Ta’ala)? It doesn’t have to be migration from place to place, but it could be migration from a non-halal job to a halal one, or migration from sins to repentance, or from evil deeds to good deeds.
There are other lessons of productivity from the Hijrah including the relationship between trust in Allah (Subhanhu wa Ta’ala) and taking the required action and using the means Allah has provided, but we’ll tackle this in our next post about the Hijrah insha’Allah!
Continued in Productivity Lessons from the Hijrah (Part 2)
A productive article .. thnx alot
Jazakum ALLAHu kula khayr ..
I love that lesson, Ma shaa ALLAH =)
JazakAllahu khair. Another lesson from hijrah is the need for being sensitive and responsive to happenings in our environments, and being mindful of their impacts on our goals and activities. This need was typified by the couple as they engaged a close family member who shared in their vision, to regularly feed them back on happenings and sayings in Makkah while they were in the cave. May Allah grant all it takes to succeed here and in the hereafter, amiin.
Assalam-o-Alaykum Akhi
I agree with you about the reason for migration because that is exactly why our Prophet SAW migrated. We all have been taught that he migrated to escape the persecution and that his life was under a threat. He had been ordered by Allah SWT to move the Dawah to the second stage, the stage where Islam was implemented as a system, as a state (for which it was always intended). This is the reason why he had started going to different tribes to seek Nusrah. there is a long list of tribes he approaced, Taif we all know so well, but “the sealed nectar” has names of quite a few tribes. For the same reason the people of Aus and Khazraj were approached and they agreed to give Nusrah and protection to Islam (as in the second pledge of Aqabah, also known as the pledge of war). In Medina he entered as the head of the new Islamic state, Abdullah bin Ubai was taken by surprise and his slave prevented him from making any move.
So whats the lesson in it for me? To work for what Prophet Mohammed Saw worked for 13 years without tiring, without losing hope i.e. to establish Islam on this Earth (which can only be done in its complete form through the establishment of an Islamic state).
I’m very agree with you, but the very real essence of it is dedicating all effort, action, creative for Allah. Goooo!, with Hijra in all aspect of muslim’s life, muslim people will arise. Allahu Akbar!!!!
ONE UMAH SHALL WIN !!!!!!!!!!
MashaAllah, this was sent to be when I most needed it.after reading the article it was like d teaching was for me and Alhamduilah It really had an impact on my present life..May Allah keep guiding us to the right path…ameen
Assalamalaikum Akhi,
That’s a wonderful article , Subhan Allah . I learnt a very good lesson from it . May Allah SWT reward you immensely for your work . Ameen.
Salam. May Allah (SWT) reward you abundantly for your insights and untiring efforts in the cause of the Deen.
Salam alaykum, that’s a nice article.
For me, it’s definitely not just about the prophet’s hijrah but hijrah on every individuals part, hijrah in the form of reformation of the soul, reflection on ibadah and lifestyle and a new resolution for this hijrah year such as migrating from sins to repentance and to a lot of good deeds.
Keep up the good work – muslimproductive and I pray Allah makes this new hijrah year full of his mercies, blessings and forgiveness on everyone of us.
Jazakallah for such a nice initiative on sharing thoughts about Hijrah.May Allah bless us & make us productive
Muslim Ummah.
“In essence, the migration was not about saving his life, but it was about saving the message and fulfilling his mission! ”
Very good though. Need to think deeplu about it . Waiting eagerly for “Productivity Book ” From Abu.
We need to learn complete Biography of Prophet S.A .
May Allah give us strength to be more productive by all means.
Jazakallah khair for the useful article..It is very easy to read and understand this information.But it is hard when it comes upto action…As we know,its our purpose that to be a productive muslim/muslimah,we should apply this in our life..That is migration from wrong to good or sins to repentance..May Allah swt help us to apply this in our life and to be a productive muslim or muslimah..
hi
Can i copy some of the word and share it will my friend in FB
Assalamalaikum mashallah nice article never thought of this about hijrah
AssalamuAlaikum, what an eye-opener! I had something like that in mind about this topic of hijrah in order to aim for productivity for the sake of Allah (s.w.t). I’m so glad that I learned from this article. I appreciate it.
Jazak Allah khair brother.
Masha Allah May Allah (SWT) enable us to make these crucial migrations in order to be better Muslims this year. Amiin
Assalam o Alikum,
Really its a great article, and eye opening towards another important point,
May Allah give you best reward ameen,
Waslam.
Adnan
Assalam Valekum
Masha Allah nice article
Jazakhallah. May ALLAH strengthen your health and gives more energy to continue educating the ummah.Ameen.
MashaAllah a very instructive and comforting article. Actually the day before I did my kind of Hijrah, I left my job as Manager. This job was starting to have a negative impact on my life in general and yesterday was my last day in the company. Alhamdulillah I am now trying to become a more productive Muslimah.
The decision of leaving my job was taken after reading on the Hijrah of the Holy Prophet (SAW) and what a surprise to have an article on the Hijrah as well.
Excellent article.
I really liked it.what a master piece.subhan Allah………….
..
I’ve never looked at it (Hijrah) from this perspective. Jazakum Allahu Khairan…
jazakAllah khair. A wonderful perspective and interpretation of migration. thank you.It really helped me to think what i need to migrate for.
this is really an eye opener words.keep it up
Jazakum Allah Khayran. Extremely useful,reflective and to the point.
Such a concise, inspiring and powerful article, thank you, jazakullah. We don’t often contemplate on what we should move away from in order to be more productive. May Allah guide us all to the right path and help us make the right decisions. Ameen.
MashAllah really outstanding lessons
And inshAllah you shall achieve your goal in this world and better in hereafter
Ameen
MA SHA ALLAH, INSPIRATIONAL AND WELL SAID
Yes there is a lot to learn from the Hijrah. I found this two short clips on this topics. very enlightening. PLEASE WATCH
Oppression of the Muslims in Mecca, and migration to Abyssinia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpzQyInc8M&index=13&list=PLuItTHxlUy9lAWoRu_ObTF7WCLVHG4mii
The attitudes of the Aanser and Muhajir https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvSXhytn5MA&index=18&list=PLuItTHxlUy9lAWoRu_ObTF7WCLVHG4mii
This really helped me for an Islamic Studies Project thank you may allah reward you