In fact, the holy Prophet’s life differs from that of great leaders and reformers in that it is considered, together with all of his words, actions, approvals, or attitudes, as a model and legislation for all mankind. This is because Allah, Mot Gracious, protected him from committing mistakes in his words, actions or attitudes; and therefore, he never spoke or acted a thing out of his own desire but rather by Divine Revelation. That is why Allah, Most Merciful, bade us to follow him. To this effect, He, All-Mighty, says, “And take whatsoever the Messenger gives you; and abstain from whatsoever he forbids you. And fear Allah; verily Allah is Severe in punishment.” [LIX; 7] Allah, Glory to him, also made following His Messenger and commitment to his Prophetic Sunna and Tradition as practical evidence of one’s love for Him, All-Mighty. To the same purport, Allah, All-Wise, says, “Say (O Muhammad), ‘If you (really) love Allah, then follow me; (if you do) Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [III; 31]

The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, (PBUH), and all of the other Prophets and Messengers, (PBUT), had two main jobs, namely to communicate and explain Allah’s Message to mankind on the one hand and to be perfect models for them on the other. As for the first mission, Allah Most Gracious, says, “O Messenger! Proclaim (the Message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord. And if you do not, then you have not conveyed His Message. Allah will protect you from mankind. Verily, Allah guides not the people who disbelieve.” [V; 67]

Concerning the Prophets’ second mission Allah, Most Merciful, says, “Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow, for him who hopes for (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.” [XXXIII; 21]

In fact, the circumstances that enwrapped the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, (PBUH), and the events that he had to face had been already most carefully and wisely divinely pre-planned and pre-ordained so that he may stand towards them the very best stance that every true believer should stand in order to prove his being human and to fulfill the purpose of his existence. Such circumstances and events are apt to be repeated everywhere and at all times simply because all human beings share the same nature. In this context, Allah, All-High, says, “It is He Who has created you from a single person (Adam), and then He has created from him his wife (Eve) in order that he might enjoy the pleasure of living with her.” [VII; 189]

And since the battle between the Truth and Falsehood, good and evil, virtue and vice, belief and disbelief, is both old and never-ending, and since mankind everywhere and at all times are of the same nature and, therefore, have the same attitudes in weal and woe, in weakness and strength, and in belief and disbelief, the holy Prophet’s attitudes towards the circumstances and events around him were meant to be perfect models and exemplars that we should copy in similar circumstances or events.

Undoubtedly, man has been pre-disposed to love his homeland and to be attached to the things that enwrapped his life therein. Therefore, if he is forced to leave his homeland, in which he has grown up and which he loves so much, he suffers such a lot of worry and distress that death might sometimes be easier for him than being uprooted from his homeland. To the same effect, the Quranic Verse goes, “And if We ordered them: ‘Kill yourselves (i.e. the innocent ones kill the guilty ones) or leaver your homes!’, very few of them would have done it. But if they had done what they were commanded, it would have been better for them, and it would have strengthened their Faith.” [IV; 66]

Man is commanded to worship his Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, by getting to know Him and His Religion, by offering the proper religious obligations and acts of devotion such as prayer, pilgrimage to Mecca…etc., by adherence to Allah’s Commands, and by performing other righteous works that ensure his eternal happiness in this world an the world to come. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone).” [LI; 56] He, Glory to Him also says, “O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who created you and those who were before you, so that you may attain self-protection.” [II; 21]

From the above couple of Verses does stem a basic fact, namely that if man lives in a place where forces of evil prevent him from responding to the call of his pure nature to worship his Lord, Allah, All-Mighty, Alone, with no associates, or from listening to the sound of wisdom by practicing his Lord’s Religion, and if he is too weak to withstand such evil forces, what shall he do?! Shall he lose his eternal bliss in the Hereafter for the sake of earthly inclinations?! Allah, Most Merciful, says, “Verily, those whom the angels take (in death) while they are wronging themselves (as they stayed among disbelievers even though emigration was obligatory for them), they (angels) say (to them), ‘In what condition were you?’ They reply, ‘We were weak and oppressed on the earth.’ They (angels) say, ‘Was not the earth of Allah spacious enough for you to emigrate therein?!’ Such men will find their abode in Hell – what an evil destination!” [IV; 97]

Such is the answer! No creature should be obeyed in disobeying the Creator; and this is exactly the ideological basis of the holy Prophet’s emigration from Mecca to Medina.

The holy Prophet’s emigration from Mecca to Medina teaches us that if earthly inclinations clash with the call of heavens, the better and more lasting should be preferred. This is because man is held responsible for his choices and none can ever help him against his Lord’s Torment in case of erring.  

In its reality, emigration is a psychological attitude rather than a physical trip. It is an action of forsaking Falsehood for the sake of the Truth, evil deeds for the sake of righteous ones, deeds of disobedience to those of obedience and devotion. In other words, emigration is, above all, the action of traveling from the land of disbelief to that of Islam. In this context, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), says, “A (true) Muslim is someone from whose hands and tongue Muslims are safe; and a (true) emigrant is someone who forsakes that which Allah has made forbidden (for him).”

If emigration from Mecca to Medina is no longer there, due to the Prophet’s words “There is no emigration after the conquest of Mecca”, it still remains possible, till the Day of Resurrection, to emigrate from the land of disbelief to that of belief. Moreover, at times when worldly allurements have become so plentiful, desires and caprices so ardent, and moral corruption so widespread, truthful devoted worship is considered as a most sincere emigration to Allah, Most Merciful, and His Messenger, (PBUH), who says, “Worship at (times of) turmoil (i.e. worldly allurements) is like emigration to me.”

Through the most accurate plan that he (PBUH) had put, the Prophet’s emigration also teaches us that being helped by Allah, All-Mighty, does not mean that one should neglect a thing, no matter how tiny or unimportant, that is conducive to success. Most wisely, the holy Prophet, (PBUH), made an accurate plan for his emigration: He (PBUH) set off with utmost secrecy so as to misguide those who would chase him; he hired a well-qualified guide and chose the cave of Thaour to the south of Mecca to hide therein for some time in order to misguide chasers; he assigned a definite job for each of those who were with him: one for getting news, another for eliminating traces of footsteps, and a third for bringing food; he also bade Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, to wear his own cloak and lie in his own bed in order to misguide those who besieged his house to kill him. In other words, he (PBUH) prepared everything most carefully and left no room for blind chance. He did everything that would ensure success and then put his trust in Allah, because no success could ever be achieved without Allah’s Divine Help. Such arrangements that the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), made, so numerous and careful as they were, did not stem from fear but rather from obedience to his Lord, Allah, All-Wise, and adherence to His Divine Laws in order to teach us what to do in similar circumstances. After all, he (PBUH) did not put his trust in the careful plans and preparations he had made but rather in his Lord, All-Mighty, for when the chasers got to the cave and were about to see him there, he (PBUH), with utmost composure and tranquility, addressed his faithful companion Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, “O Abu Bakr! What do you think of a couple of men Allah is the third thereof?!”                                               

When early Muslims understood the real meaning of trust in Allah, their flags of victory fluttered over the whole world, and they occupied a prominent leading position among all peoples and nations. And nowadays, if Muslims desire to win victory over their enemies, numerous as they are, or wish to regain their leading position among other nations and spread Islam - the eternal Divine Message of Truth, welfare and peace - they have to understand well this great lesson of the Messenger’s emigration.

To wrap up, “to trust in Allah” means “to do all things necessary for success but not to rely on them”, and “to feel bad need of Allah’s Divine Help, Protection and Victory without any negligence of such things as required for success”.

Through the magnificent achievements attained by Al-Muhajiroun (The Emigrants), we are taught that whosoever emigrates from his home for the Cause of Allah finds on the earth a lot of dwelling places and plenty to live by, that all his affairs will be made easy for him, and that Allah will protect him and provide him with sustenance and livelihood. We also learn that if one leaves something for the sake of Allah, Allah will certainly recompense him with better things in his religion and life, that whosoever is preoccupied by acts of devotion and obedience to Allah from his mundane interests, Allah will definitely grant him the best of the present world and the Hereafter. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says in the Divine Hadith, “O My salve! You desire (something) and I desire (something else). If you surrender to that which I desire, I suffice you concerning that which you desire; but if you refuse to surrender to that which I desire, I tire you out in that which you desire and then you get nothing but that which I desire.” And the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), also says, “He who prefers the Hereafter to the life of this present world shall win them both; but he who prefers the life of the present world to the Hereafter shall lose them both.”

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In this context, ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir Al-Juhani, one of the holy Prophet’s venerable Companions, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated: The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), came to Medina when I was out pasturing some of my sheep. As soon as I learnt of his arrival, I left the sheep and went to him, caring about nothing but seeing him. When I met him, I said, “O Messenger of Allah! Will you covenant me?!” The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), said, “Who are you?” I replied, “I am ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir Al-Juhani.” He (PBUH) said, “O ‘Uqbah! Which do you like best: to covenant me an Arabian covenant, or a covenant of emigration?” “Nay, a covenant of emigration!” I replied. And we were twelve men who had converted to Islam, and we dwelled out of Medina in order to pasture our sheep in its desert. We said to one another, “It is not good of us not to go to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), day after day, so that he may teach us our religion and recite to us of that which has been sent down to him of Divine Revelation. So everyday, one of us should go to Medina, entrusting his sheep to the rest of the men.” I said: “You go ahead one after another to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), and leave your sheep to me to look after.” In fact, I said that because I was so careful about my sheep that I could not entrust them to anyone else. Then, my friends kept going one after another to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), leaving their sheep with me to pasture with mine. When each one of them came back, he told me that which he heard and taught me that which he learnt from the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH). But then I thought to myself, “Woe to me! Just for the sake of a few sheep that avail nothing I lose the good company of the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), and listening directly to him!” Then I was determined to give up my sheep, and I went to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), to be in his good company.

When “Uqbah bin ‘Amir Al-Juhani, may Allah be pleased with him, decided to give up his sheep in order to accompany the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), it never occurred to him that he would become, only in ten years’ time, one of the prominent venerable scholars of Islam, one of the best reciters of the Holy Quran, one of the great Muslim-army leaders, and one of the brilliant Muslim rulers. When he gave up his sheep and joined the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), it never occurred to him that he would be a pioneer of the Muslim army that conquered Damascus, the greatest city in the world at the time, and make his dwelling in its beautiful gardens, at Bab Tuma. It never occurred to him that he would  be one of the great leaders who conquered Egypt, the Emerald of the world, or that he would become its ruler and make his dwelling at the foot of its famous mountain Al-Muqattam, or that, later on, he would be one of the great Muslim leaders who conquered the island of Rudus in the Mediterranean.

What shall we say?!….

Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), speaks the truth when he says, “If you quit anything for the sake of Allah, He will certainly recompense you with something that is better for you.” And in the Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “He who is distracted by remembering Me from beseeching Me, I shall give him more than that which I give to those who beseech (Me).”  

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Such is emigration for the Cause of Allah, Most Merciful, but what about emigration for the cause of Satan?! That is certainly another kind of emigration!

When one rejects the Truth and its people and gets affiliated with Falsehood and its people, when one prefers the perishable ephemeral life of this present world to the ever-lasting bliss of the Hereafter, when one prefers his personal interests to his ethical principles, his mundane needs to his moral values, when emigration is motivated by secular profits and financial gains at the expense of one’s eternal life in the Hereafter, when emigration entails offering Muslim expertise and powers to non-Muslim countries and, hence, weakening Muslims and empowering their enemies over them, when emigration is made in order to evade responsibility or self-sacrifice, when emigration conduces to the enemy’s occupation or exploitation of Muslim homeland or a part thereof, when emigration is made to travel from a Muslim country, where religious rites are observed and respected, to another that lacks all moral values, and when emigration is made only for earning money at the expense of one’s honor and dignity, then it is definitely emigration for the Cause of Satan; and great is the difference between both kinds of emigration!

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The people of Quraish were shocked when they learnt that Muhammad (PBUH) left Mecca, and they soon announced to other tribes that whosoever gets them Muhammad, dead or alive, would be given a prize of a hundred camels. Suraqah bin Malik was one of his tribe’s best knights, for he was very tall and powerful, and he was an expert in tracing footsteps. When he heard of the hundred-camel prize, he put on his armor, took his sword, mounted his horse and galloped in pursuit of Muhammad before anyone else could get him and win the prize. He dashed on until he got to Muhammad (PBUH) and his Companion Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. He tried to unsheathe his sword to attack them, but he could not because he saw his horse’s forelegs sinking into the earth with sand coming up to cover both his and his horse’s eyes. He cried out beseeching, “O you there! Please, pray to your Lord to release my horse’s forelegs from the sand and I promise that I shall stop chasing you!” The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), invoked Allah, All-Mighty, Who released Suraqah’s horse from the sand. Driven by blind greed, Suraqah soon changed his mind and once again tried to attack Muhammad (PBUH) and his Companion, but his horse’s forelegs began to sink again more deeply than before. He called out for help again, “Here is my sword and food, and everything! Take them! I promise you by Allah’s Covenant that I shall defend you against anyone who would come to attack you after me!” They said, “We are not in need of your food or things.”, and the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), who was most merciful of all mankind, once again invoked Allah for Suraqah; and the latter’s horse went off again.                                                                                                                                                 

Allah, All-Mighty, says, “O Messenger! Proclaim (the Message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord. And if you do not, then you have not conveyed His Message. Allah will protect you from mankind. Verily, Allah guides not the people who disbelieve.” [V; 67]

Such is Allah’s Divine Protection. And when Suraqah was about to leave, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), addressed him, “O Suraqah! How would you feel if you wore the two bracelets of Khosrau (the Persian King)?!” Suraqah asked in incredulous amazement, “Khosrau son of Hermiz, the Persian king who owns the great white palace in Mada’in?!” “Yes, indeed: Khosrau son of Hermiz.” Replied calmly the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH).  In fact, the Persian king, Khosrau son of Hermiz, was one of the greatest and most powerful kings at that time.                                                                                                                      

However, time passed, and Muhammad (PBUH), who had left Mecca exiled, homeless, hiding in the dark of the night, and wanted dead or alive, returned to Mecca once again as a Master and Conqueror surrounded by thousands of brave soldiers armed with white swords and brown spears. Suraqah came to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), to announce his conversion to Islam recalling that day when he was about to kill him for the sake of a hundred-camel prize. After having embraced Islam, however, a nail cutting of the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), became dearer and more beloved to Suraqah than all camels of the whole world.                                                                                                                    

Time passed again, and when Omar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, became Caliph, he most gladly welcomed the good news from Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas, leader of the Muslim army to Persia, announcing the Muslim victory over Khorsau and his men and bringing back a lot of spoils, among which was Khosrau’s crown, ornamented with jewels and precious stones, his clothes, embroidered in gold, his scarf, adorned with diamonds, and his two bracelets, among other countless valuable things. Omar looked at all the spoils in amazement searching them indifferently with a stick that was in his hand and saying, “Verily, the men who brought all this are indeed honest!” Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, who was standing with him, said praising, “You are amazed of the men’s honesty, aren’t you? They are honest because you are as such; But had you been dishonest, they would have been dishonest, too.”                                                                                

Then, Omar called for Suraqah bin Malik and put Khosrau’s clothes, crown and bracelets on him saying, “Bravo! Bravo! A humble Arabian from Bani Mudlej puts on his head Khosrau’s crown and on his hands his bracelets!”

Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Allah has promised those from among you who believe and do righteous good deeds that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the land, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practice their religion which He has chosen for them. And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear, (provided) they worship Me and associate none with Me. But whoever disbelieves after this, they are the rebellious.” [XXIV; 55] But He, All-Mighty, also says, “Then, there has succeeded them a posterity who have wasted the prayer and followed lusts; so they shall encounter error (and shall be thrown in Hell).” [XIX; 59]

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