As a child I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and wished that I had been born in her time. It was such a simple time, full of family values and happiness. I was sure I had been born in the wrong era. As an adult I read the sīrah of the Prophet (s) and wish that I had been born in that time. I imagine hearing his voice, smelling his musk as he walks along the street, and following him from place to place. It is during this season of the hijrah that I feel the longing most acutely. The status of the muhājirīn is a coveted position for me; with the anṣār a close second and while almost everything they did during their lives is available for us to emulate – the emigration (hijrah) of the muhājirīn and the welcoming and support of the anṣār is no longer. The Prophet (s) said, “There is no hijrah after fat’h (the opening of Makkah) but rather jihād and intention”
Thus it is that the physical hijrah – following the Prophet (s) from Mecca to Medina in obedience and sacrifice – is no longer available for us to emulate; a spiritual hijrah is still, however, available. The Prophet (s) also said, “The hijrah is not over until tawba (repentance) is over, and tawba is not over until the sun rises from the west.”
Alhamdulilah! A chance for the coveted label of ‘muhājir’ and/or ‘anṣār’.
The hijrah that we must embark upon today is a hijrah that takes us:
From ignorance to knowledge
From forgetting (ghaflah) to remembering (dhikr)
From the gatherings of dunya to gatherings upon which mercy and blessings descend
From distance from Allah to closeness to Allah
From people of bad deeds and no awareness of God to people of good deeds and taqwa
Form stinginess (material and emotional) to
generosity and giving in every way
From shallowness to depth
From wasted time to work
From laziness to energy
From lack of a goal to determination to achieve a goal
From despair to hope
From all that is evil,
negative and worldly to all that is good,
positive and pious.
If we are able to make this trip we will inshAllah be written among the muhājirīn and if we also link arms with others and help them in piety and righteousness then we will be written among the ansār . Such it is that we have an opportunity to become of both the muhājirīn and the ansār – To Allah belongs all Glory! I was indeed born in the right era after all.
Those who believed and emigrated and struggled in the way of God and those who gave them refuge and help; they are the true believers. Theirs is forgiveness and an honorable sustenance. (an Anfāl: 74)