Hijra and jihad are intimately linked, as can be seen in the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ:

«لا تنقطع الهجرة ما قُوتِلَ الكُفَّارُ»

“Hijrah will not cease so long as the disbelievers are being fought.”

Sahih an-Nasa’i, 4183

Hijra is a means to join and support jihad, and thus in a time of defensive jihad like our own, hijra becomes an individual obligation (fardh ‘ayn) like jihad. However, if we look at the seerah it is apparent that the Prophet ﷺ followed a particular methodology when it came to hijra, and it is upon us to follow this methodology.

لَّقَدۡ كَانَ لَكُمۡ فِی رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسۡوَةٌ حَسَنَةࣱ لِّمَن كَانَ یَرۡجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلۡیَوۡمَ ٱلۡءَاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِیرࣰا

“There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.”

33:21

لَقَدۡ مَنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَى ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِینَ إِذۡ بَعَثَ فِیهِمۡ رَسُولࣰا مِّنۡ أَنفُسِهِمۡ یَتۡلُوا۟ عَلَیۡهِمۡ ءَایَـٰتِهِۦ وَیُزَكِّیهِمۡ وَیُعَلِّمُهُمُ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلۡحِكۡمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا۟ مِن قَبۡلُ لَفِی ضَلَـٰلࣲ مُّبِینٍ

“Allah did confer a great favor on the believers when He sent among them a messenger from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the Signs of Allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in Scripture and Wisdom, while, before that, they had been in manifest error.”

3:164

And it is known from the mufasirin of ahl us-sunnah (rahimullah t’ala) that wisdom here means the sunnah.

Years passed between the time the Prophet ﷺ received the command to migrate and when he finally migrated himself. His method of migration involved careful planning and deliberation, and he showed the utmost care for the safety of his companions throughout this process. When there was a need, he showed no fear in facing death, but he never put his companions in danger without a clear need and benefit. This shows the high value he placed on their lives and safety.

One of the most miraculous things about the Prophet ﷺ and which can be found in almost no other figure in history is the love of his ummah for him ﷺ. This love is a reflection of his love for his ummah, and this love can be seen in the fact that he would stay up at night praying for us and weeping.

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَلَا قَوْلَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام رَبِّ إِنَّهُنَّ أَضْلَلْنَ كَثِيرًا مِنْ النَّاسِ فَمَنْ تَبِعَنِي فَإِنَّهُ مِنِّي الْآيَةَ وَقَالَ عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام إِنْ تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ وَإِنْ تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ فَرَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ وَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ أُمَّتِي أُمَّتِي وَبَكَى فَقَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ إِلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَرَبُّكَ أَعْلَمُ فَسَلْهُ مَا يُبْكِيكَ فَأَتَاهُ جِبْرِيلُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَام فَسَأَلَهُ فَأَخْبَرَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِمَا قَالَ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ فَقَالَ اللَّهُ يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ إِلَى مُحَمَّدٍ فَقُلْ إِنَّا سَنُرْضِيكَ فِي أُمَّتِكَ وَلَا نَسُوءُكَ

Abdullah ibn Amr, radhi Allahu anhu, reported: The Prophet ﷺ recited the saying of Allah Almighty about Ibrahim, alaihi asalam, “My Lord, the idols have misled many people, so whoever follows me is part of me,” (14:36). And the words of ‘Isa, alaihi asalam, “If You punish them, they are Your servants, but if You forgive them, You are the Almighty, the Wise.” (5:117). Then the Prophet ﷺ raised his hands and he said, “O Allah, my ummah, my ummah!” And the Prophet ﷺ wept. Allah Almighty said, “O Gabriel, go to Muhammad – and your Lord is most knowing – and ask him why he is crying.” Gabriel came to him and he asked him and the Prophet ﷺ told him about it, though Allah knows best. Allah said, “O Gabriel, go to Muhammad and say: Verily, We will please you regarding your nation and We will not disappoint you.”

Sahih Muslim, 202

عن عبد الله بن عمر قَالَ رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَطُوفُ بِالْكَعْبَةِ وَيَقُولُ مَا أَطْيَبَكِ وَأَطْيَبَ رِيحَكِ مَا أَعْظَمَكِ وَأَعْظَمَ حُرْمَتَكِ وَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ لَحُرْمَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ أَعْظَمُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ حُرْمَةً مِنْكِ مَالِهِ وَدَمِهِ وَأَنْ نَظُنَّ بِهِ إِلَّا خَيْرًا

Abdullah ibn Umar, radhi Allahu anhu, reported: I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ circling the Ka’bah and saying, “How pure you are and how pure is your fragrance! How great you are and how great is your sanctity! By the one in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the sanctity of the believer is greater to Allah than your sanctity, in his wealth, his life, and to assume nothing of him but good.”

Sunan Ibn Majah 3932

Recent history provides some examples of what can happen when Muslims heed the command of hijra without the deliberate planning and care for the wellbeing of the Muslims that characterize the sunnah of the Beloved of Allah ﷺ.

After the fall of the Dawla Uthmaniyya, the Muslims in Afghanistan went to war with British forces in British India. The results of the conflict were mixed, but it marked the formation of Afghanistan as a modern state independent of British influence. The conflict also gave a boost to guerilla resistance against the British authorities, especially in Waziristan. This gave some hope to the Muslims at a time where the last remnant of khilafa was being dismantled and the British were in the process of occupying Bait al Maqdis and laying the groundwork for a Zionist state in ash Sham.

As a result, many Muslims saw Afghanistan as the best hope for re-establishing khilafa, and calls for hijra began. Most of the ulema in India opposed this idea, but a number of rumors spread about the government in Afghanistan offering land to muhajireen and some preachers began vocally talking about the obligation of hijra. As a result, tens of thousands of Muslims in British India sold all of their property and set off to leave dar al kufr and migrate to what they thought was dar al Islam.

The movement was driven by emotion about the dire political circumstances, and those who embarked did so impulsively and without planning, thus going against the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. The leaders who called for this hijra were also not well aware of the conditions or the potential threats to the safety of the muhajireen, or the consequences of their leaving.

Many Indian Muslims rushed to sell their property all at the same time, causing the market prices to crash and allowing Hindus to buy up large amounts of land at ridiculously cheap prices, making huge profits in the process. The first Muslims who arrived were well received and welcomed by their Afghan brothers, and some of these families live in Afghanistan until today. However, as the number of muhajireen increased, the authorities realized they had no ability to host or provide for so many, so they started blocking them from entering. And so thousands of Muslims ended up stranded in the harsh mountain environment as winter was beginning to set in. They had no choice but to return to India, and thousands died of hunger and exposure, and many others were attacked by bandits and lost what little wealth they had remaining.

A similar scenario played out more recently in ash-Sham where many Muslims also hoped to re-establish khilafa. Most of the ulema that the time was not yet ripe and advised against hijra, especially for women, but none the less, there were even many calls for women to migrate without a mahram to accompany.

Many scholars argued that there was not sufficient stability or security to call women to migrate, but many ignored this advice and instead even misrepresented the situation to make it seem like the situation was better than it really was, for example, by distributing videos of well-stocked supermarkets with disposable diapers. As a result, tens of thousands rushed to migrate, including thousands of women.

As it turned out, it was eventually impossible to provide protection to many of the women, and many were killed and captured by kuffar. The muhajirat were not just made to suffer humiliation and abuse at the hands of the kuffar, many of them had their children taken away and given to the kuffar, and many others were put into fitna in “de-radicalization” programs, where the kuffar try to force them to turn away from their religion.

Many of the sisters still find themselves in this situation, and many others were forced to return to their country of origin. Many are now put on watch lists and not allowed freedom of travel, effectively trapping them in dar al kufr in the hands of the kuffar.

The large and sudden influx of muhajireen is also one of the major factors cited as leading to a war between the various groups that were fighting against the Nusayri Syrian army and militias who were on a rampage of rape and murder of the Sunni population.

By contrast, consider the migration to Medina. First, the Prophet ﷺ waited until he found a place where the people of authority were willing to give full support, and he could be assured that the polity of Medina would be fully supportive. He met with the leaders of Medina on more than one occasion and took pledges from them. Then, rather than sending all of the Muslims at once, he first sent Musa ibn ‘Umair, radhi Allahu anhu, to begin teaching and preparing the Ansar for further immigrants.

This action has multiple benefits: first, he needed to build up the aqeeda of the Ansar to prepare them for the difficulty of accommodating the muhajireen. However, at the same time, seeing how the Ansar treated Musa ibn ‘Umair was also a way to “test the waters.” If he was well received and treated well, it meant the authorities in Medina were sincere about upholding their pledge. When it became clear that was the cases, the Prophet ﷺ gradually sent more and more of the Muslims.

There was some danger involved in this, but the fact that they went in small groups meant that he was not “putting all the eggs in one basket.” There is additional wisdom in this, in that if he had rushed into hijra and sent all of the Muslims at once, it would have certainly alerted the mushrikeen of the Quraysh and made it much easier for them to prepare a response.

All of this deliberation, planning, and waiting happened in spite of the fact that the Muslims were suffering extreme persecution at that time. They were suffering starvation, imprisonment, beatings, torture, and death at the hands of the mushrikeen. Still, the Prophet ﷺ was patient and was careful not to put them into even greater trials.

So it is important to be aware of the obligation of hijra and to move toward fulfilling that obligation, but it is important to do so according to the sunnah, and this cannot be done except through consultation with the people of knowledge from ahl us-sunnah. There are many traps laid by the kuffar, both on the individual level and on the broader geopolitical level, and avoiding falling into these traps requires careful planning and deliberation. There are informants and entrapment schemes, with many munafiq spies posing as Muslims wanting to help facilitate the path of hijra and jihad. There are situations which will not actually help to strengthen or support the Muslims, but will rather lead us to destruction with little real benefit to the ummah, although the reward is assured for all those who go with pure intentions, in sha Allah.

We must be aware of these dangers on this path, and if we are not able to understand the situations, then we have to rely on the advice and guidance of those who are. And most importantly, we have to take care not to be carried away by emotions and desires, but rather to act in a deliberate and rational manner rooted in evidences from the Qur’an and sunnah and supported by understanding of present realities.

May Allah facilitate the path to hijra for the Muslims, and make it a means of establishing and supporting His law, and causing the rule of Allah to spread throughout the earth. And may prayer and peace be upon the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammed Mustafa ibn Abdullah, and upon his family and companions and those who follow them in righteousness until the Last Day.