By Shaikh Ahmad Kutty – Hijrah is full of lessons for the believers as individuals and as a community. Before proceeding let me define the meaning of Hijrah: Hijrah has various shades of meaning such as forsaking, leaving, boycotting, emigrating, etc. As a term, it is used to refer to migrating to a safer place because of persecution to practice one’s faith in peace.
However, on a spiritual level, Hijrah means shunning the evil in all forms, in obedience to Allah. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said; “A muhajir is the one who shuns that which Allah has forbidden.” (Al-Bukhari)
As a technical term, the word Hijrah denotes the Prophet’s migration from Makkah to Madinah
Before Hijrah to Madinah, Muslims emigrated to Abyssinia twice to flee the persecution in Makkah.