Dear Members, Al-salaamu alaykum wa rahmat-Allaahi wa barakaatuhu (Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allaah and His blessings). The Concept of Hijrah. Since today Friday(15/3/02) is the start of the new Hijri year(1423)I would like to take this opportunity to dispel some of the pernicious propaganda by the enemies of Islam inferring that Prophet Muhammad(On Whom be the peace and blessing of Allah),fled from Mecca to Medina because of persecution.That they(Prophet and His Companions) ran away from the insult,injury and atrocities committed against them.It is foolish to propose such a flimsy prediction to an event which had been decreed by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala had guaranteed him protection and ordained that Islam would flourish. The concept of Hijra was part of the Almighty plan for Islam,since Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala knows all things.He had warned the prophet of the conspiracy of the confederacy of pagans to murder him.The Qureish were determined to silence the preaching of the prophet which ran counter to their interest.Having been forewarned,the prophet escaped their evil machinations,and even when they were pursued he calmly assured his companion Abu Bakar that Allah was with them. With foreknowledge of what was to come in terms of the Hijra,the prophet took preparatory steps,illustrated by the his ordering some persecuting Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia(Present day Ethiopia).He also established the fraternity of Muslims in Mecca by uniting in brotherhood Zayd Bin Harith and his uncle Hamza and Abu Ubaida to Salim Mawla of Abu Hudhaifa and Ubaida Bin Al Harith to Bilal Mawla of Abu Bakr.Though this process achieved protection for the helpless and the weak from among the nascent Muslim Society the Prophet aimed to pave the way for the wider reformation of society which abolished the class system that prevailed in Arabia at the time.The Prophet achieved this by dismantling the tribal loyalty and allegiance Arabs normally held paramount in their daily lives.These loyalties and allegiancies were to be transformed into loyalty to Islam as an idelogy and allegiance to other muslims in brotherhood. These steps were in conformity with the grand design the Prophet had for the Muslims. When he migrated to Al-Madina he reinforced these concepts by creating the fraternity between the Muhajireen and the Ansar where each Ansari became the brother of a Muhajir shared with him his wealth and property and by which the fraternal bond was considered equivalent to blood kinship even in matters of inheritance. An additional significance of this fratenity was that the Muhajirs were ordered to similarly reciprocate with a share of their earnings.This helped and afforded to the Muhajireen rehabilitation and a smooth absorption into the new society.since not all of Madina at that time was Muslim,the cohesion of the fraternity guaranteed them safety in Madina from those who had not yet accepted Islam. To remedy the socio-political system prevailing in Madina the Prophet(PBUH)promulgated the 'The Constitution of Medina'(Al-Sahifah)which established harmony amongst the inhabitants of the city,both Muslims and Non-Muslims.it is also significant to note that this was the first time that the concept of 'Ummah' was advocated,which destroyed the old concepts of tribal divisions,loyalties and class dissensions. With the very best of good wishes, Musa Amadu Pembo Glasgow, Scotland UK. [log in to unmask] Da’wah is to convey the message with wisdom and with good words. We should give the noble and positive message of Islam. We should try to emphasize more commonalities and explain the difference without getting into theological arguments and without claiming the superiority of one position over the other. There is a great interest among the people to know about Islam and we should do our best to give the right message. May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,guide us all to His Sirat Al-Mustaqim (Righteous Path).May He protect us from the evils of this life and the hereafter.May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,grant us entrance to paradise . We ask Allaah the Most High, the All-Powerful, to teach us that which will benefit us, and to benefit us by that which we learn. May Allaah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant blessings and peace to our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions..Amen. _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~