Hijrat(Migration) for God’s sake

One of the other traits of the Prophet’s genuine companions, which was mentioned in the fourth supplication, was migration and leaving one’s family behind in order to spread the words of truth.

Those who migrated for financial reasons and those who cooperated with the infidels upon their migration, and those who joined those who were not believers, were deprived of Allah’s favors.”

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أُوْلَئِكَ يَرْجُونَ رَحْمَةَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ  [1]

“Surely those who believed and those who fled their home and strove hard in the way of Allah, these hope for the mercy of Allah and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”

فَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا وَأُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ وَأُوذُوا فِي سَبِيلِي وَقَاتَلُوا وَقُتِلُوا لَأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَلَأُدْخِلَنَّهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ثَوَابًا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حُسْنُ الثَّوَابِ  [2]

“They, therefore, who fled and were turned out of their homes and persecuted in My way and who fought and were slain, I will most certainly cover their evil deeds, and I will most certainly make them enter gardens beneath which rivers flow; a reward from Allah, and with Allah is yet better reward.”

There is an important narration, accepted by both Shiites and Sunnis, which states: Any body who goes astray from God’s path after he has recognized God and His Apostle, has committed a major sin.

Based on some historical sources, a group of the Prophet’s special companions suffered from such lack of obedience towards Allah’s commands. Some others, however, manifested resistance in the face of social storms to the last moment of their lives. They fought with their parents, children, brothers and uncles to advance their faith.

In his fifty-fifth sermon of Nahjul Balga, Imam Ali(a.s) refers to this issue:

وَلَقَدْ كُنّا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللهِ3 نَقْتُلُ آباءَنا وَأبْنائَنا وَإخْوانَنا وَأعْمامَنا، ما يَزيدُنا ذلِكَ إلاّ إيماناً وَتَسْلِيماً وَمُضِيّاً عَلَى اللَّقَمِ وَصَبْرَاً عَلى مَضَضِ الألَمِ وَجِدّاً فِي جِهادِ الْعّدُوِّ.

وَلَقَدْ كانَ الرَّجُلُ مِنّا وَالآخَرُ مِنْ عَدُّوِنا يَتَصاوَلانِ تَصاولَ الْفَحْلَينِ، يَتَخالَسانِ أنْفُسَهُما أيُّهُما يَسْقِي صاحِبَهُ كَأْسَ الْمَنُونِ، فَمَرَّةً لَنا مِنْ عَدُّونا، وَمَرَّةً لِعَدُّونا مِنّا.

فَلَمّا رَأْى اللهُ صِدْقَنا أنْزَلَ بعَدُّونَا الْكَبْتَ، وَأنْزَلَ عَلَينا النَّصْرَ، حَتّى اسْتَقَرَّ الإسْلامِ مُلْقياً جِرانَهُ وَمُتَبَوئاً أوْطانَهُ. وَلَعَمْرِي لَوْ كُنّا نَأتِي ما أتَيْتُمْ ما قامَ لِلدِينِ عَمُودٌ وَلا اخْضَرَّ لِلإيمانِ عُودٌ. وَأيْمُ اللهِ لَتَحْتَلِبُنَّها دَماً وَلَتُتْبِعُنَّها نَدَماً.

“We used to be in the presence of the Prophet(s.a.w); we used to kill our fathers, children, brothers and uncles. All these struggles, holy wars and killings brought us nothing except faith and obedience towards Allah, and perseverance in the face of our enemies.

In those days, a war - Lord from us used to duel with a war – Lord of our foes: endeavoring hard, each one trying to take the life of the other, and let him taste the flavor of death. Sometimes, we used to strike the enemy and at times we received hard blows from the foe.

“When Allah observed our sincerity, He made our foe wretched and made us victorious. This continued till Islam established itself firmly and stood on its feet. I swear, if in those days we were in the same situation that you are now, no column of our faith would stand on its own and no green branch there would be for the tree of faith. I swear to God, due to your negligence of carrying out your tasks, you would drink blood instead of milk: your later remorse would be of no effect.”

In this sermon, Imam Ali(a.s) talks of those companions (of the Prophet(s.a.w) who defended Islam from the bottom of their hearts, and who respected the Holy Qur’an and the God’s right path up to the last moment of their lives. Here, he complains of those who quit their trial and sincerity and resorted to wealth, lusts and wishes and whims. They refused to defend Islam against Mareqin, Qasitin and Nakithin and hurt Imam Ali(a.s) in this way tremendously.

 In describing the Prophet’s genuine companions, of whom he was the most distinguished, Imam Ali(a.s) says:

“In those days when we discarded all our wishes and wants and put forth our energies to comprehend how Islam defines life, we cut off all our roots and broke off all our branches of our natural being, then we built out of ourselves men who could face the realities of the right path of life.”

“We and our enemies were struggling at border between life and death to pass over the magnificent bridge of إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ  We are for God and to Him we shall return, hoping to return our souls to Allah. But our enemies did not rely on anything except on their stubbornness and on the worship of solid and life-less idols of theirs.”

 “Our victories in those struggles and sacrifices did not depend on army. Our weaponry was higher in value than swords and spears: we were equipped with the weapon of Faith. At that border of life and death we could vividly see our God and our Prophet(s.a.w), who possessed godly traits.”

“Our enemies instigated by their living idols, committed suicide under the pretext that they were war-Lords, that they were heroes and that they should not be defeated. However, they were not aware of the fact that their victory or failure would at the end lead them towards God’s chastisement.”[3]

وَ مَنْ كَانُوا مُنْطَوِينَ عَلَى مَحَبَّتِهِ يَرْجُونَ تِجَارَةً لَنْ تَبُورَ فِي مَوَدَّتِهِ وَ الَّذِينَ هَجَرَتْهُمُ الْعَشَآئِرُ إِذْ تَعَلَّقُوا بِعُرْوَتِهِ وَ انْتَفَتْ مِنْهُمُ الْقَرَابَاتُ إِذْ سَكَنُوا فِي ظِلِّ قَرَابَتِهِ فَلَا تَنْسَ لَهُمُ اللَّهُمَّ مَا تَرَكُوا لَكَ وَفِيكَ وَ أَرْضِهِمْ مِنْ رِضْوَانِكَ وَ بِمَا حَاشُوا الْخَلْقَ عَلَيْكَ وَ كَانُوا مَعَ رَسُولِكَ دُعَاةً لَكَ إِلَيْكَ وَ اشْكُرْهُمْ عَلَى هَجْرِهِمْ فِيكَ دِيَارَ قَوْمِهِمْ وَ خُرُوجِهِمْ مِنْ سَعَةِ الْمَعَاشِ إِلَى ضِيقِهِ وَ مَنْ كَثَّرْتَ فِي إِعْزَازِ دِينِكَ مِنْ مَظْلُومِهِمْ

O God! Please provide with Your forgiveness and Your paradise those Prophet’s companions who were bearing the love of Your Apostle in their hearts, whose love for your Apostle was everlasting; those who lost the protection of their tribes as soon as they started assisting your Apostle.

O God, please provide them with ample rewards since they gathered people around the pivot of your religion and accompanied the Prophet for Your consent and satisfaction.

O God! Make these devoted men happy with Your Benevolence. Please, endow upon them Your immense reward because they left their family circles and made life miserable upon themselves so that they could let people know of Your faith. O God! Please give reward to those who erected the columns of Your religion.