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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 ben 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 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 Kabah

[granite shrine in the Haram], 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

[Muhammad's 'born' tribe/rulers of Mecca] 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.