Hijrah - yes or no?

Bismillah, alhamdulillah



A verse in the Quran talks about emigrating or hijrah. Hijrah or emigration from non-Muslim lands to Muslim lands. This had been a topic of much conversation in Muslim circles around a decade ago especially in the West. The enthusiasm and zeal for this idea seems to have died down over the last few years as the reality of emigrating and its hardships has set in bolstered by counter arguments over the overall benefit of hijrah.

Hijrah is not as easy, palatable and in some circles not strictly relevant or a priority in the current climate. At times like this when the pendulum of discussion swings between 'yes' and 'no' the casual observer is lost in the complex mesh of argument and counter-argument. Is hijrah or emigrating an obligation, an obligation that cannot be met hence hence excused, or the opposite as hijrah can lead to worse consequences. The debate naturally occurs at a variety of levels from the scholastic to the common. At times like this contemplation of God's book is a vital source of strength:

وَمَن يُهَاجِرْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ يَجِدْ فِي الأَرْضِ مُرَاغَمًا كَثِيرًا وَسَعَةً وَمَن يَخْرُجْ مِن بَيْتِهِ مُهَاجِرًا إِلَى اللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ثُمَّ يُدْرِكْهُ الْمَوْتُ فَقَدْ وَقَعَ أَجْرُهُ

Whoso migrateth for the cause of Allah will find much refuge (muraaghaman)and abundance (sa'ah) in the earth, and whoso forsaketh his home, a fugitive unto Allah and His messenger, and death overtaketh him, his reward is then incumbent on Allah. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful. (Surah An-Nisaa 4: 100)

The above is Picktall's rendition of this verse in English. The brackets are mine showing the two words that he has translated which should interest the reader. I thought I would dip into the classical commentaries and see what I could glean.

The easier of the two words is the second سعة sa'ah. It literally means breadth or vastness. The commentators of the Quran further explain this vastness as vastness in wealth and general ease of circumstances.

Back to the first word مراغما muraaghaman, this word is more challenging and consequently more replete with meaning. For those with some grammatical background in Arabic it is worth pointing out that though the word resembles the passive participle of the Form IV verb أرغم arghama it is in fact not a passive participle. Instead it is a  اسم المكان والزمان  or a 'noun of place and time'. These are a class of nouns which describe the place or time an action is performed. Another example of such a word is مسجد masjid. The word مسجد masjid is derived from the word سجد sajada (to prostrate). Hence the word masjid literally means 'a place where prostrations are performed' in other words a mosque or masjid.

Bearing the above grammatical discussion in mind let us proceed to see what the classical commentators say about this word. Imam Qurtubi says: 'There is a dispute in the interpretation of the word muraaghman. Mujahid said that is was a place of displacement. Ibn Abbas said it was a place of escape or a place that is gone to. Ibn zayd said it was a place of hijrah.'

Sayid Tantawi offers a useful summary and further analysis of the etymology of the word: 'All of these commentaries are explanations of the different shades of meaning within this word. The word is the name of a place from which raaghama is done. The word raaghama is derived from the word raghaam or 'dust'. The link between these two words and the meaning of this word can be found in the Arabic expression raghama anf (may one's nose be rubbed in dirt i.e. despite his humiliation).  To raaghama someone is to boycott and oppose them. All these further explain the meaning of the word muraaghaman. As for the word itself it is the place where muraagahaman is done i.e. a place where each opponent humiliates his opponent by prevailing over him and preventing his opponent reaching his objective.

In the context of the early Muslims, when the Muslims where making hijrah from Makkah ruled by the hostile and at that time non-Muslim Quraysh tribe, it is as if the Quraysh who had been humiliating the Muslims by forcing them stay in Makkah had the tables turned on them. By emigrating from Makkah the Muslims had managed to raaghama the Quraysh by achieving the ability to resist, this very ability to resist is their muraaghaman. Taking this into consideration the verse could then be more fully rendered as follows:

Whoever emigrates leaving his country of abode to raise the word of God and to honour His religion will find on the earth many places where he will be safe from the plotting and oppression of his enemies, there he will find good, bounty and expanse in his provision which further enhance the sense of humiliation of the enemies he has left due to his profound dislike of their ugly company and their bad behaviour.'

Fakhr Al-Din Ar-Razi adds: Once a person leaves his country and goes to a foreign country, remains steadfast in his decision to stay there the news will eventually reach his people and cause them to be ashamed of their bad behaviour to him. This is a further source of humiliation for them. Putting this all together it is as if God is saying: 'O man, you dislike emigrating from your country because you fear the difficulty, the move and the misfortune but do not fear God will provide for you from His copious bounty and award you a high rank in the place that you emigrate to which will become a source of humiliation to your enemies and will be a source of increase in your provisions.' Another point to observe that Allah has mentioned increase in provision alongside the humiliation of the enemies since the happiness of a man who has emigrated from his family and land due to their oppression of him with his wealth will become a source of further humiliation for them.'

Of course all the above is predicated by one condition which is present within the ayah: ومن يهاجر في سبيل الله whoever emigrates for the sake of Allah. If you have reached this far in this article you may be wondering what to do. This article does not attempt to answer the fiqh of whether hijrah in the current world situation is an obligation or not. Sometimes the complexity of such answers can be avoided by changing the question to 'Is hijrah haraam?' - of course the answer is clearly negative. So we are left with deciding whether it is obligatory or recommended. In either case especially the latter contemplating over this verse will I hope help in answering the question: 'Is it worth it?'