HIJRAH OF THE HEART
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL
INTRODUCTION
HIJRAH literally means journey, migration, exodus. It is an action that involves tremendous sacrifices, intense exertion and resources, which may be risky – to achieve a peaceful mind and heart – which is the ability to submit to Allah completely.
Every year mosques are giving talks about Hijrah especially towards the end of the year. Most of these talks do not cover sufficient materials that will impact our daily lives. They usually ended up being remembered only for a few days perhaps without us knowing the practicalities of this word “Hijrah”.
Hijrah is
- A physical relocation of oneself to a place where one can practise Islam better.
It is difficult to justify this physical Hijrah in 2024 because many Muslim countries themselves are struggling to establish Islam as their principle law of the country. There so many injustice in today’s Muslim countries. Allah warned us:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأمُرُ بِالعَدلِ وَالإِحسانِ وَإيتاءِ ذِي القُربىٰ وَيَنهىٰ عَنِ الفَحشاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالبَغيِ ۚ يَعِظُكُم لَعَلَّكُم تَذَكَّرونَ
Verily, Allah enjoins Al-Adl (i.e. justice and worshipping none but Allah Alone – Islamic Monotheism) and Al-Ihsan [i.e. to be patient in performing your duties to Allah, totally for Allah’s sake and in accordance with the Sunnah (legal ways) of the Prophet SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam in a perfect manner], and giving (help) to kith and kin (i.e. all that Allah has ordered you to give them e.g., wealth, visiting, looking after them, or any other kind of help, etc.): and forbids Al-Fahsha’ (i.e all evil deeds, e.g. illegal sexual acts, disobedience of parents, polytheism, to tell lies, to give false witness, to kill a life without right, etc.), and Al-Munkar (i.e all that is prohibited by Islamic law: polytheism of every kind, disbelief and every kind of evil deeds, etc.), and Al-Baghy (i.e. all kinds of oppression), He admonishes you, that you may take heed.” 16: 90
Many Muslims countries are actually shamelessly turning towards the west for an exemplary lifestyle – concerts, sports that promote gambling, alcohol and free mixing, fashion shows, holiday resorts that encourage half naked bodies to be exposed as well as alcohol. They are not even promoting the true Islamic believes, lifestyle and principles in their advertisements for tourism.
Perhaps inshaAllah in 20 years time, more countries will implement the laws of Islam into their government practices – then one can truly do a physical hijrah to Muslim countries inshaAllah.
- Hijrah of the heart
Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim writes a beautiful verse of poetry:
“This hijrah requires an origin and a goal. A person migrates with his heart:
From loving other than Allah to loving Him;
From fearing and hoping and relying on other than Him to fearing and hoping and relying on Him;
From calling upon, asking, surrendering to, and humbling oneself before other than Him to calling upon, asking, surrendering to, and humbling oneself before Him.”
In short, he means that our hearts should make hijrah from other than Allah to Allah. So, while our bodies might be making hijrah for wealth, education or the promise of a better life, it is imperative that our heart remains with Allah.
No matter what we get in life, it is not worth losing Allah, and if we have Allah, then the world will follow. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever is concerned about the Hereafter, Allah will place richness in his heart, bring his affairs together, and the world will inevitably come to him. Whoever is concerned about the world, Allah will place poverty between his eyes, disorder his affairs, and he will get nothing of the world but what is decreed for him.”
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2465
Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani
This hijrah requires an origin and a goal. A person migrates with his heart:
· From loving other than Allah > loving Him;
· From fearing and hoping and relying on other than Him > fearing and hoping and relying on Him;
· From calling upon, asking, surrendering to, and humbling oneself before other than Him > calling upon, asking, surrendering to, and humbling oneself before Him.
This is precisely the meaning of “fleeing unto Allah”, as He ta’ala says:
فَفِرّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ
“…Flee unto Allah…” [Surah Adz-dzaariyaat 51:50]
And indeed, the tawhid required from a person is to flee from Allah unto Him! Under this heading of “from” and “to” falls a great reality of tawhid.
Fleeing unto Allah ta’ala includes turning to Him only for asking or worship or anything which proceeds from that. Thus, it includes the tawhid of Ilahiyyah which was the common point in the messages of all the messengers, may Allah bestows His praise and peace upon all of them.
Allah (Praised and Exalted be He) sent His Honorable Messengers to guide people to know Him, to call them to Tawhid (belief in the Oneness of Allah) and sincere and pure dedication of ‘Ibadah (worship) to Allah Alone, as Allah (Exalted be He) says:
وَلَقَد بَعَثنا في كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَسولًا أَنِ اعبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجتَنِبُوا الطّاغوتَ
“And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): “Worship Allâh (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Tâghût (all false deities i.e. do not worship Tâghût besides Allâh).”” [Al-Nahl: 36]
On the other hand, fleeing from Allah (unto Him) includes the tawhid of Rububiyyah and the belief in the Qadar (Allah’s Divine Measure & Decree). It is the belief that whatever one hates or fears or flees from in the universe takes place by the Will of Allah alone.
Allah Reminded us:
وَعَسىٰ أَن تَكرَهوا شَيئًا وَهُوَ خَيرٌ لَكُم ۖ وَعَسىٰ أَن تُحِبّوا شَيئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَكُم ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَعلَمُ وَأَنتُم لا تَعلَمونَ
“…and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.” 2: 216
TALK ABOUT YOUR OWN FAILED AMBITION – PILOT, DOCTOR, ETC
What should your reaction be with these disappointments? 2: 153
What He ta’ala wills will surely happen, and what He does not will never be and is impossible to happen.
Thus when a person flees unto Allah, he would be fleeing unto him from a thing that occurred by His Will. In other words, he would be fleeing from Him unto Him!
One who understands this well can then understand the meaning of the Messenger’s sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam words:
- “…I seek refuge in You from You…”
This hadith was narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh (751) from ‘Aa’ishah, who said: One night I noticed that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was not in his bed, so I reached out looking for him, and my hand touched the soles of his feet; he was in his prayer place and his feet were upright (i.e., he was prostrating), and he was saying,
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِرِضَاكَ مِنْ سَخَطِكَ، وَبِمُعَافَاتِكَ مِنْ عُقُوبَتِكَ، وأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْكَ، لَا أُحْصِي ثَنَاءً عَلَيْكَ، أَنْتَ كَمَا أَثْنَيْتَ عَلَى نَفْسِكَ
‘Allahumma a‘oodhu bi ridaaka min sakhatika wa bi mu‘aafaatika min ‘aqoobatika wa a‘oodhu bika minka. Laa uhsi thanaa’an ‘alayka anta kamaa athnayta ‘ala nafsika (O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath, and I seek refuge in Your protection (against sin) from Your punishment. I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot enumerate Your praise, You are as You have praised Yourself).’”
Al-Munaawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “wa a‘oodhu bika minka (I seek refuge in You from You)” means: I seek refuge in Your mercy from Your punishment, for what he sought refuge from stemmed from His will and His creation, by His leave and His decree. For He is the One Who is the cause of all causes, in terms of creating and bringing into existence, and he is the One Who grants refuge from them and wards off their evil and harm. End quote from Fayd al-Qadeer Sharh al-Jaami‘ as-Sagheer (2/176).
لَهُم عَذابٌ فِي الحَياةِ الدُّنيا ۖ وَلَعَذابُ الآخِرَةِ أَشَقُّ ۖ وَما لَهُم مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن واقٍ
“For them is a torment in the life of this world, and certainly, harder is the torment of the Hereafter. And they have no protector against Allah.” 13 34
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “wa a‘oodhu bika minka (I seek refuge in You from You)” refers to seeking refuge in the divine attribute of pleasure from the divine attribute of wrath, and in Allah’s protection (against falling into sin) from His punishment; thus it is seeking refuge in Him from Him on two counts. It is as if, when the worshipper seeks refuge in Him from Him, he is referring to what he has mentioned in the two previous sentences, for seeking refuge in Him from Him refers to the words that came before it. Moreover, this points to a great meaning, which is attaining perfect Tawheed, and acknowledging that what the individual is seeking refuge in and fleeing from is in fact the action, will and decree of Allah, for it is He alone Who has the control and decree; if He wills harm to befall someone, no one could protect him from it except Him, for He is the One Who willed something that could harm him, and He is the One Who willed the warding off of that harm from him. Thus Allah becomes the one with whom and from whom refuge is sought on the count of the two wills.
وَإِن يَمسَسكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلا كاشِفَ لَهُ إِلّا هُوَ ۖ وَإِن يَمسَسكَ بِخَيرٍ فَهُوَ عَلىٰ كُلِّ شَيءٍ قَديرٌ
“And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things. [al-An‘aam 6:17].
Thus it is He Who afflicts people with calamity and it is He Who relieves them of it; there is no god worthy of worship except Him, so there is no fleeing from Him except to Him, and there is no seeking refuge from Him except in Him, for there is no Lord besides Him and no one who controls people’s affairs except Him; He is the One Who controls man and directs him however He wills.
End quote from Tareeq al-Hijratayn wa Baab as-Sa‘aadatayn (1/431).
And:
- “…There is no shelter or escape from You except in You…”
اللّهُـمَّ أَسْـلَمْتُ نَفْـسي إِلَـيْكَ، وَفَوَّضْـتُ أَمْـري إِلَـيْكَ، وَوَجَّـهْتُ وَجْـهي إِلَـيْكَ، وَأَلْـجَـاْتُ ظَهـري إِلَـيْكَ، رَغْبَـةً وَرَهْـبَةً إِلَـيْكَ، لا مَلْجَـأَ وَلا مَنْـجـا مِنْـكَ إِلاّ إِلَـيْكَ، آمَنْـتُ بِكِتـابِكَ الّـذي أَنْزَلْـتَ وَبِنَبِـيِّـكَ الّـذي أَرْسَلْـت
Allāhumma aslamtu nafsī ilayk, wa fawwaḍtu amrī ilayk, wa wajjahtu wajhī ilayk, wa alja’tu ẓahrī ilayk, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilayk, lā malja’a wa la manjā minka illā ilayk, āmantu bikitābika ‘l-ladhī anzalt, wa bi-nabiyyika ‘l-ladhī arsalt.
O Allah, I submit myself to You, entrust my affairs to You, turn my face to You, and lay myself down depending upon You, hoping in You and fearing You. There is no refuge, and no escape, except to You. I believe in Your Book (the Qur’an) that You revealed, and the Prophet whom You sent.
Reference “Before you go to bed perform ablutions as you would for prayer, then lie down on your right side and say the above du’a
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Whoever says this and dies in his sleep, has died in a state of the natural monotheism (Fitrah).” Al-Bukhari, cf. Al-Asqalani, Fathul-Bari 11/113, Muslim 4/2081.
There is nothing in the universe that one would flee or seek protection from but is created and originated by Allah ta’ala. Hence, one would flee from that which emanates from Allah’s decree, will, and creation, to that which emanates from His mercy, goodness, kindness, and bounty. One is, therefore, fleeing from Allah unto Him, and seeking refuge in Him from Him!
Understanding these two matters causes one’s heart to stop being attached to other than Allah in fear, hope or love. He would then know that all that he flees from exists by the Allah’s will, power and creation. This would not leave in his heart any fear of other than his Creator and Maker. This in turn causes him to turn to Allah alone in fear, love and hope.
EXAMPLE – MY DAYS IN COURT
IMAGINE SOME PEOPLE WOULD GO TO FORTUNE TELLERS, BLACK MAGICIAN, ETC TO SEEK SOLACE PR EVEN PROTECTION.
Had it been that what one flees from were not under Allah’s Will and Power, one would then be excused to fear that thing instead of Allah. This would be like running away from a creature to a more powerful one, without being totally confident that the second creature is powerful enough to protect him from the first one.
This is quite different from the case of a person who knows that the One to whom he is running is the same as the One who decreed, willed, and created that from which he is fleeing. In the latter case, no interest in seeking other protectors should remain in the heart.
So, understand well this important meaning in the Prophet’s sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam words above. People have explained them in many different ways, yet very few have realised this meaning which is their core and moral. This facilitation [in understanding] is indeed from Allah.
Thus the whole matter resolves to fleeing from Allah unto Him. This is the meaning of the hijrah to Allah ta’ala. This further explains why the Messenger sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:
It is related on the authority of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As that the Messenger of Allah said:
“The true immigrant (muhajir) is a person who leaves behind everything that Allah has forbidden.”
This hadith was related by Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and Nasai
The Importance of Migrating to Allah
In conclusion, the hijrah to Allah includes abandoning what He hates and doing what He loves and accepts. The hijrah originates from feelings of love and hatred. The migrator from one place to another must have more love for the place to which he migrated than that from which he migrated, and these feelings are what led him to prefer one of the two places.
One’s nafs (self, soul), his whims and his devil keep calling him to that which is against what he loves and is satisfied with. One continues to be tested by these three things, calling him to avenues that displease his Lord.
At the same time, the call of Iman will continue to direct him to what pleases his Lord. Thus one should keep migrating to Allah at all times, and should not abandon this hijrah until death.
This hijrah becomes strong or weak [in the heart] depending on the state of the Iman. The stronger and more complete that the Iman is, the more perfect the hijrah. And if the Iman weakens, the hijrah weakens too, until one becomes unable to detect its presence or have the readiness to be moved by it.
What is surprising is that you might find a man talking at great length and going into very fine details regarding the [physical] hijrah from the land of disbelief (Dar al-Kufr) to the land of Islam (Dar al-Islam), and regarding the hijrah which ended with conquering Makkah, even though this type of hijrah is incidental, and he may never have to do a thing with it in his whole life. This applies mostly to a person who is already in a land of Islam, and who does not need to undertake this kind of physical hijrah.
But as for the hijrah of the heart, which continues to be required from him as long as he breathes, you find that he does not seek any knowledge regarding it, nor does he develop any intention to undertake it! Thus he turns away from that for which he has been created, and which – alone – can save him, and involves himself in that which, of itself, cannot save him. This is the situation of those whose vision has been blinded, and whose knowledge is weak regarding the priorities of knowledge and action.
Indeed, Allah is the One from Whom we seek help, and He alone does facilitate our matters. There is no god except Him and no Lord other than Him.
