Hijra of the Heart: Our Journey to our Higher Selves
1,443 years ago Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, made the first Hijra or journey from Mecca to Madina. The prophet ﷺ and his companions made that hijra to practice Islam and for the sake of Allah SWT. In His Book, Allah explains His Command for this journey to escape difficulty, even though making it was risky, hazardous and uncomfortable (Surah Al Baqarah 2 : 218 and Surah Anfal 8:74).
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ
أُولَٰئِكَ يَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
As for those who believed and those who migrated and struggled in the path of Allah,
they do hope for Allah’s mercy and Allah is Forgiving, Very Compassionate
(Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 218)
People who make Hijra for the sake of Allah leave what’s comfortable, so they can be a better person and a better muslim in a new place. For this, Allah grants forgiveness to His true believers.
How do we understand the spirit of Hijra today and how it pertains to us? Our hijra is a spiritual journey and a hijra of the heart. Our spiritual journey is when we go from our lower self to our higher self. Our lower selves follow distractions and actions which take us away from Allah’s Pleasure. When we evolve to our higher selves, we have the Influence of Allah, the prophet ﷺ and the angels. Examples of when we have the Influence of Allah include reading the Qur’an, praying, making thikr, visiting mosques, and when we show kindness to others. We have the influence of the prophet ﷺ when we follow his character and study hadiths which are his teachings and lifestyle. We have the influence of the angels when we do good deeds and behave with good character, showing mercy.
Principal Wadud Hassan discusses three ways we can complete our hijra so to earn Allah’s Forgiveness and Mercy:
- Intention: Your heart must make the intention to go from your lower self to your higher self. Change your bad habits to good habits that bring you closer to Allah SWT. Make an intention by writing it down.
- Association: Who are your acquaintances? Always associate yourself with people who help you get closer to Allah whether this is a teacher, friend or family member.
- Attention: Focus on one thing that you can do that’ll help change you and pursue that change.
Principal Wadud shares how he used this process in a time of hardship and, inshAllah, through our hijra, we will reach Allah’s Mercy and Forgiveness on our hearts as He describes in Surah Al-Anfal (8 The Spoils of War):
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَهَاجَرُواْ وَجَاهَدُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَالَّذِينَ آوَواْ وَّنَصَرُواْ أُولَـئِكَ
هُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا لَّهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ
Those who believed and emigrated, and struggled for God’s Cause, and those who gave refuge and help – they are the true believers and they will have forgiveness and generous provision
(Surah Al-Anfal 8:74)