READING 2: The Essence of Hijrah

Hijrah, as Ismail Raji al-Faruqi explains in his the Hijrah: The Necessity of
its iqamat or Vergenwartigug  (1981), literally means “emigration,” or self-separation
from one’s fellow or country. Technically, i.e., as an Islamic term, it means the
departure of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.From Makkah al-
Mukarramah to Yathrib, from that time to be known as Madinat al-Nabiyy or
Madinah al Munnawwarah, and his arrival there on September 24, 622 A.C. under
the Caliphate of ‘Umar ibn Khattab, the Hijrah – in the technical sense was resolved
to be the most crucial event in the history of Islam and its date was declared the
beginning of Islamic history.

Hijrah is indeed not restricted to those historical events to which it applies both
a linguistic and as technical terms. The term has acquired several figurative
meanings having religious and moral content. The holy Qur’an has used
conjugations of the term Hijrah in the command to avoid evil, to turn away from the
disobedient wife, to lend no ear to and hence, to flout the Qur’an, to leave the
unbelieving parent with becoming dignity and decorum rather than offence, to
return to Allah in expectation of receiving His guidance, to leave one’s place or
condition for sake Allah. All these are new meanings invested to the root term of ‘h-
j-r’ and its derivatives by Islam. In Muslim minds, thus, the eticoreligious meanings
have overshadowed the linguistic lateral meaning of the verb ‘hajara’, to emigrate.

Hijrah became the greatest religious exercises, namely, forsake the piety
pursuits of this world for disciplines of piety, the commitment one’s energies to self-
purification and ennoblement, to the study of the science of the faith, to a life of
service to Allah, knowledge and mankind. In any one of these meanings, one chould
‘hijrah’ or ‘emigrate’ without ever leaving his own house.

Important Vocabulary:

Emigration      –           Imigrasi

Fellow             –           Teman, Saudara

Departure        –           Keberangkatan

For the sake of –          Demi untuk Allah

Arrival             –           Kedatangan

Caliphate         –           Kekhalifahan

Turn away       –           Berpaling

Caliph              –           Khalifah

Peity                –           Kesalehan

Sense               –           Pengertian, makna

Peace be upon him (P.B.U.H) – Shallahu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam’ (SAW)

Restricted        –           Terbatas

Dinity              –           Martabat

Overshadow    –           Dibayangi

Acquired         –           Memperoleh

Content           –           Kandungan, Isi

Question to Answer?

1. What is the technical meaning of hijrah?

2. When did the Prophet Muhammad pbuh arrive at Madinah al Munawarah?

3. Could you give one or figurative meaning of hijrah?

4. Does one have to leave his/her own village to do hijrah?

5. What is the Arabic root of hijrah?