Hijrah (Migration) - Part 6

[Guest guest]

('Hijrah' - migration, especially the Muslims' migrations to Medina. [Muhammad

Prophet For Our Time Glossary pg. 216].)

 

 

Hijrah (Migration) - Part 6

 

(p.107) Muhammad had recently introduced some new practices. As a result of the

night journey, perhaps, Muslims now prayed facing the direction ('qiblah') of

Jerusalem, reaching out to the holy city of the People of the Book. Muhammad had

also instructed Mus'ab to hold a special prayer meeting on Friday afternoon

while the Jews were preparing for their Sabbath, and to fast with the Jews on

Yom Kippur. Muslims would now pray in the middle of the day, as the Jews did,

and observe a modified version of the Jewish dietary laws, similar to those

adopted by the early Christians. [23] Scholars used to think that Muhammad

introduced these new devotions in order to appeal to the Jews of Yathrib [called

'Medina' after the migration/hijrah], but this view has recently been

challenged. (p.108) Muhammad would not have expected the Jews to convert to his

religion, because they had their own revealed din [religion/way of life/moral

law/reckoning]. God had decreed that each community should have its own

messenger. [24] But it was natural for Muslims to pray and fast in the same way

as the other members of the Abrahamic family.

 

Glossary (for above paragraph):

 

Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr--The Muslim sent to instruct the Medinese before the 'hijrah'

(migration). Glossary, p. 226).

 

Yathrib--An agricultural settlement, some 250 miles north of Mecca, populated by

Arabs and Jewish tribes. After the 'hijrah', it became known as Medina, the city

of the Prophet. (Glossary, p.221).

 

In 622 a large party of pilgrims left Yathrib for the hajj [pilgrimage to

Mecca]. Some were pagans, but seventy-three of the men and two of the women were

Muslims. Yet again, Muhammad went out to greet them at 'Aqabah, but this time

the meeting took place at dead of night. On this occasion, there was a sense of

menace and of bridges being irrevocably burned. The Qur'an speaks of the

" scheming " of the Quraysh: perhaps Muhammad had reason to believe that the

kafirun were plotting to expel him and bar the Muslims from the Haram [sanctuary

surrounding the Kabah]. [25] At all events, Muhammad was now taking practical

steps to leave his tribe. Ibn Ishaq claims that this was a positive decision on

his part, but the Qur'an repeatedly claims that the Muslims were " expelled " or

" driven out " of Mecca. [26] The meeting was conducted in deadly secrecy. The

Muslims from Yathrib did not even mention it to the pagans in their party, in

case they gossiped and alerted the Quraysh to what was afoot.

 

Glossary (for above paragraph):

 

'Aqabah--The gully outside Mecca where Muhammad first met with pilgrims from

Yathrib. (Glossary, p.220).

 

Quraysh--Muhammad's tribe, rulers of Mecca. (Glossary, p.226).

 

kafir--(Plural: 'kafirun') Traditionally translated " unbeliever. " More

accurately it refers to somebody who ungratefully and aggressively rejects Allah

and refuses to acknowledge his dependence on the Creator. (Glossary, p.217).

 

Haram--Sacred; forbidden--hence " sanctuary, " especially the sanctuary

surrounding the Kabah where all violence was forbidden. (Glossary, p.216).

 

 

Muhammad was about to do something absolutely unprecedented. [27] He was asking

the Muslims of Mecca to make a 'hijrah' (migration) to Yathrib. This did not

merely involve a change of address. The Muslims were about to abandon their

kinsfolk and accept the permanent protection of strangers. (p.109) In Arabia,

where the tribe was the most sacred value of all, this amounted to blasphemy; it

was far more shocking than the Qur'anic rejection of the goddesses. There had

always been a system of confederation, whereby an individual or an entire group

could become honorary members of another tribe, but these were usually temporary

arrangements and had never entailed alienation from one's own people. The very

word 'hijrah' suggests a painful severance. The root 'HJR' has been translated:

" he cut himself off from friendly or loving communication or intercourse...he

ceased...to associate with them. " [28] Henceforth the Muslims who made the

'hijrah' to Yathrib would be called the 'Muhajirah', the Emigrants: this

traumatic dislocation was central to their new identity.

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 3, 'Hijrah', p. 107-109

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

ISBN-13 978-0-00-723248-2

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[23] Qur'an 5:5-7; cf. Acts of Apostles 15:19-21, 29.

 

[24] Qur'an 10:47.

 

[25] Qur'an 8:30, 27:48-51.

 

[26] Qur'an 60:1, 47-13.

 

[27] W. Montgomery Watt, 'Muhammad's Mecca: History of the Qur'an' (Edinburgh,

1988), 101-6; 'Muhammad at Mecca', 149-51.

 

[28] Watt, 'Muhammad's Mecca', 25.