Hijrah (Migration) - Part 11

[Guest guest]

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

Prophet For Our Time Glossary pg. 216].)

 

 

Hijrah (Migration) - Part 11

 

(p.121) Muslims must remember that every community had its own specially

revealed din [religion/way of life/moral law/reckoning], so they must not take

part in these pointless squabbles; if the People of the Book attacked their

faith, Muslims must behave with hilm [forbearance/patience/mercy/tranquility],

and courteously reply: " God knows best what you are doing. " [57]

 

To avoid this sterile controversy, Muhammad, like the hanifs, decided to return

to the " religion of Abraham, " who was neither a " Jew " nor a " Christian, " because

he had lived long before either the Torah or the Gospel. [58] After the hijrah,

the Qur'an started to apply the words " hanif " and " hanifiyyah " to the Muslims

and Islam, but gave them a new interpretation. For Muhammad, hanifiyyah simply

meant total submission to God; this had been the original, unadulterated message

of the prophets, before it had been corrupted by sectarian chauvinism. Abraham,

for example, had not belonged to an exclusive cult. He had simply been a muslim,

" one who surrendered himself " and a " man of pure faith " (hanif). [59] When

Abraham and Ishmael had rebuilt the Kabah [shrine dedicated to Allah] together,

they had not developed an exclusive theology, but had simply wanted to give

their lives entirely to Allah. " O our Sustainer! they had prayed, " Make us

surrender ourselves unto Thee, and show us our ways of worship. " (p.122) Muslims

had been driven out of Mecca because of religious intolerance, so they must

avoid all exclusivity. [60] Instead of stridently insisting that they alone had

the monopoly of truth, the true Muslims merely said: " Behold, my prayer, and

[all] my acts of worship and my living and my dying are for God [alone], the

Sustainer of all the worlds. " [61] It was idolatry to take pride in belonging to

a particular religious tradition rather than concentrating upon Allah himself.

 

Towards the end of January 624, Muhammad received a revelation while he was

leading the Friday prayers, and made the congregation turn around and pray in

the direction of Mecca instead of Jerusalem. They would now face the house built

by Abraham, the man of pure faith.

 

We have seen thee [O Prophet] often turn thy face towards heaven [for guidance],

and now We shall indeed make thee turn too in prayer in a direction which will

fulfil thy desire. Turn then thy face towards the Inviolable House of Worship;

and wherever you all may be, turn your faces towards it [in prayer]. [62]

 

It was a reminder that they were not following any of the established religions,

but God himself. It was a declaration of independence. Muslims need no longer

feel that they were following lamely in the footsteps of the older faiths. " Hold

them not in awe, " God said, " but stand in awe of me and [obey me]. " [63] (p.123)

The new qiblah [direction of prayer] delighted both the Emigrants and the

Helpers, and would bind them more closely together. They all loved the Kabbah,

which was more deeply rooted in Arab tradition than the distant city of

Jerusalem. But there was a problem. The Kabah was in Mecca, and relations with

the Quraysh had recently become more strained than ever before.

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 3, 'Hijrah', p. 121-123

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

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

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[57] Qur'an 2:67-68, Asad translation.

 

[58] Qur'an 3:65.

 

[59] Qur'an 3:67, in Arthur J. Arberry, trans. and ed., 'The Koran Interpreted'

(Oxford, 1964).

 

[60] Qur'an 6:159, Asad translation.

 

[61] Qur'an 6:161-3.

 

[62] Qur'an 2:144, Asad translation.

 

[63] Qur'an 2:150, Asad translation.