Why would others migrate?
Another question that comes to one’s mind when the issue of migration is mentioned:
Why could not the Prophet leave alone?
He could have gone to find support in Madinah and let the Makkan Muslims stay in Makkah among their tribes. So, why the trouble?
Same answer, the effort needed to shoulder this responsibility is beyond the effort of the Prophet alone. It is beyond the effort of the few in Madinah.
It requires the effort of everyone: men and women, Makkan Muslims and others.
That is why it was required that every Muslim should migrate to Madinah unless the Prophet explicitly asked him not to.
That is why we see whole tribes coming to join Madinah.
We take the migration process lightly. Imagine; you lead a normal life, you have kids and a family, you have businesses and wealth. Imagine that you have to leave all this and migrate.
Some of these Companions left behind their whole family. Others left behind the savings of their life. Some left behind their houses and a lot of memories.
They left to a place where they knew no one and had no place to stay in. They left to a different climate where most of them got sick.
Prime Examples
The most interesting part is that they did all that very quickly and very willingly.
Two interesting stories show themselves regarding this point: The first was the story of the family of Abu Salamah and his wife, Umm Salamah. Without getting into the details of the sad story, migration for Abu Salamah meant leaving his beloved wife.
It meant also leaving his very young child. For Umm Salamah, it meant losing her husband and her son. It meant traveling alone to Madinah after two years for about 500 kilometers
The second story was about a Roman young man, Suhaib, who came to Makkah when young and made a lot of money. When he decided to migrate, the Makkans told him, “You came to us as a poor boy and you made a lot of money. You can’t leave.”
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He made a deal with them to tell them about the place where he had hidden his wealth in recompense for letting him leave. They agreed and he traveled.
Allah revealed Qur’anic verses about this story and the Prophet received him saying, “O Abu Yahia, what a successful transaction! What a successful transaction!”
Are we ready to migrate?
Are we ready to sacrifice for Islam the same way these people did?
How much of life comfort are we willing to give up in support of our message?
Are we ready to spend money, expend effort, and lose loved ones for the sake of Allah?
Are we willing to put our life as servants of this religion and workers for this cause?
These are the questions we need to ask if we want to leave behind a remarkable event such as the Hijrah.
Source: Excerpted, with slight modifications, from Lectures and Thoughts.
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