WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.419 So what if I told you that the origin story of 00:00:02.419 --> 00:00:04.559 Islam I mean the literal moment the religion 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.480 went from just a handful of persecuted people 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:10.619 to a real functioning community relied entirely 00:00:10.619 --> 00:00:13.800 on the protection of a Christian king. And then 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:15.839 what if I follow that up by saying the religions. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:19.739 political foundation was built in a predominantly 00:00:19.739 --> 00:00:22.960 Jewish city, mostly thanks to a partnership with 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:25.179 Jewish tribes. I'd say that sounds like a version 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:28.399 of history that conveniently gets left out of 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:30.559 the modern news cycle. Right. But it raises a 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:32.880 fascinating point right away. The story of Islam's 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:36.020 survival isn't this, you know, isolationist story. 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:39.320 It's fundamentally a story about interfaith reliance. 00:00:39.740 --> 00:00:41.880 That is exactly the angle we are digging into 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:44.159 today. We're looking at a stack of sources, some 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:47.479 sermons, some historical analyses titled Lessons 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:49.640 from the Hijrah and the Hijrah, a foundation 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:52.659 of interfaith sanctuary and pluralism. And hijrah 00:00:52.659 --> 00:00:54.460 is a word most people have probably heard. Sure. 00:00:54.539 --> 00:00:56.740 They hear hijrah. They think Islamic calendar. 00:00:56.899 --> 00:00:58.759 You know, it's the migration that starts the 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:01.140 clock. 622 CE. That's the standard date everyone 00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:03.520 kind of memorizes. But our sources are arguing 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:06.019 that just, you know, seeing it as a date on a 00:01:06.019 --> 00:01:08.620 calendar completely misses the point. In fact, 00:01:08.620 --> 00:01:11.920 the Hydra, it actually happened twice. Wow. Okay. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:14.579 And these two migrations, they establish a blueprint, 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:18.099 really a precedent for religious pluralism, for 00:01:18.099 --> 00:01:21.620 civic duty, and specifically for the protection 00:01:21.620 --> 00:01:24.120 of refugees that just feels incredibly relevant 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:26.140 right now. It's not just ancient history then. 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:28.760 It's more like a case study in how different 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:31.629 communities can, well... managed to live together 00:01:31.629 --> 00:01:33.829 without killing each other. So let's unpack this. 00:01:33.890 --> 00:01:35.810 We have to go back to the beginning to really 00:01:35.810 --> 00:01:37.549 get why they had to leave in the first place. 00:01:37.709 --> 00:01:40.909 The sources paint a pretty horrific picture of 00:01:40.909 --> 00:01:44.689 Makkah around 615 CE. It was grim. You have the 00:01:44.689 --> 00:01:47.010 Prophet Muhammad and this small group of early 00:01:47.010 --> 00:01:49.349 followers, and they are a persecuted minority 00:01:49.349 --> 00:01:51.370 in every sense of the word. And when the sources 00:01:51.370 --> 00:01:53.909 say persecuted, they don't mean like mean tweets? 00:01:54.010 --> 00:01:57.409 No, no. We are talking physical torture, public 00:01:57.409 --> 00:02:01.159 beatings, and eventually... A total social and 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:03.099 economic boycott. People were being killed just 00:02:03.099 --> 00:02:05.659 for saying, Allah is our Lord. Okay, so put yourself 00:02:05.659 --> 00:02:07.680 in that situation. You're the leader of this 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:09.599 group. You're watching your people get crushed. 00:02:10.139 --> 00:02:13.219 The logical move, you know, historically, is 00:02:13.219 --> 00:02:15.659 to find a hideout. Right. A cave in the desert, 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:19.199 maybe. Or you send them to a friendly Arab tribe 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:22.000 nearby that owes you a favor. That would be the 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:23.860 standard tribal play out. To protect your own 00:02:23.860 --> 00:02:26.360 kind. Exactly. But the prophet does something 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:28.740 completely counterintuitive here. And this is 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:32.819 where the sources really highlight his strategic 00:02:32.819 --> 00:02:37.080 thinking. He tells his followers to leave Arabia 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:40.199 entirely. OK. He points them across the Red Sea 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:42.539 toward Abyssinia, what we call modern day Ethiopia. 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:44.699 Which is a massive risk. You're sending your 00:02:44.699 --> 00:02:47.960 most vulnerable people across a sea to a continent 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:50.020 they don't know, a culture they don't share. 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:52.639 And crucially, Abyssinia isn't Muslim. It's not 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:55.319 even pagan Arab. It's a devout Christian kingdom. 00:02:55.379 --> 00:02:57.599 This is the part that always gets me. The prophet's 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:00.460 reasoning, according to the sources, is, well, 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:03.240 it's profound. Yeah. He describes the ruler there, 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:06.259 the Nagus or Najashi in Arabic, as a Christian 00:03:06.259 --> 00:03:09.120 king under whom no one is oppressed. But let 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.000 me play devil's advocate for a second. The prophet's 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:14.039 establishing a new faith, one that, you know, 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:17.419 claims to correct previous errors. So why send 00:03:17.419 --> 00:03:19.919 his followers to a staunchly Christian kingdom? 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.699 Wasn't there a risk they'd just be converted? 00:03:22.060 --> 00:03:24.039 Or that the king would just hand them back to 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:27.219 the Quraysh to keep trade relations smooth. Exactly. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:29.780 That's the strategic brilliance the sources point 00:03:29.780 --> 00:03:33.340 to. The prophet saw Christianity not as an enemy, 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:36.960 but more like a sibling faith. It was closer 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:39.719 to Islam than the idol -worshipping paganism 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:42.199 of Mecca. So he wasn't looking for theological 00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:44.639 agreement? No, he was looking for ethical alignment. 00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:48.800 He gambled that a just Christian was a much safer 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:51.919 bet than an unjust relative. So about a dozen 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:54.419 men and women make this trek. And the sources 00:03:54.419 --> 00:03:57.219 mention this was an escape. They slip out at 00:03:57.219 --> 00:03:59.800 night. They head to the coast. They find a boat. 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:01.740 I mean, if the Quraysh catch them, they're dead. 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:04.099 It's a desperate refugee crisis. They arrive 00:04:04.099 --> 00:04:07.080 in Aksum with literally nothing. no money no 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.300 political leverage they're throwing themselves 00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:11.560 entirely on the moral character of this king 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:14.780 and the drama just ramps up from there because 00:04:14.780 --> 00:04:17.800 the quorash the ruling tribe and maka they don't 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:19.920 just let this go they send these high -level 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:23.240 emissaries to the king with you know expensive 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:26.160 gifts bribes really demanding he deport these 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:28.560 rebels and this leads to this incredible courtroom 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:31.660 drama scene you have the hrush emissaries telling 00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:34.060 the king look these people are troublemakers 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:35.899 they've abandoned our religion they've split 00:04:35.899 --> 00:04:38.459 our families send them back the political pressure 00:04:38.459 --> 00:04:41.009 must have been immense oh for sure Just say yes 00:04:41.009 --> 00:04:43.509 and keep your trade partners happy. But the king, 00:04:43.610 --> 00:04:46.990 he turns to the Muslims and asks for their defense. 00:04:47.629 --> 00:04:50.250 And this sets up one of the most famous speeches 00:04:50.250 --> 00:04:53.310 in Islamic history from Jafar ibn Abi Talib. 00:04:53.329 --> 00:04:55.670 I have the text here. And what strikes me is 00:04:55.670 --> 00:04:58.170 that Jafar doesn't start with theology. He reads 00:04:58.170 --> 00:04:59.949 the room perfectly. He starts with sociology. 00:05:00.209 --> 00:05:02.850 He says, oh, king, we were a people in a state 00:05:02.850 --> 00:05:05.550 of ignorance and immorality. We mistreated our 00:05:05.550 --> 00:05:08.350 neighbors. The strong among us exploited the 00:05:08.350 --> 00:05:11.379 weak. He's painting. a picture of just chaos. 00:05:11.819 --> 00:05:14.120 He's contrasting the lawlessness of Macca with 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:16.600 the order of the king's court. Very smart. Then 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:19.300 he pivots. He says the prophet taught them truth, 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:24.220 mercy, and this is key to honor our trusts and 00:05:24.220 --> 00:05:26.660 respect the rights of neighbors. And then he 00:05:26.660 --> 00:05:29.319 drops the hammer. When they oppressed us beyond 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:31.839 limit, we fled to your country, choosing you 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:34.300 above others, hoping that here we would find 00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:37.730 justice. Choosing you above others? That's a 00:05:37.730 --> 00:05:40.670 diplomatic masterstroke, but it also sounds sincere. 00:05:40.870 --> 00:05:43.550 He's framing their presence as a testament to 00:05:43.550 --> 00:05:46.189 the king's own reputation. So then the king asks 00:05:46.189 --> 00:05:48.949 the million dollar question. Do you have anything 00:05:48.949 --> 00:05:51.870 your prophet brought from God? Now, if I'm Jafar, 00:05:51.990 --> 00:05:53.769 maybe I pick a verse about, you know, fighting 00:05:53.769 --> 00:05:56.850 evil or the oneness of God. Something assertive. 00:05:56.870 --> 00:06:00.389 Right. But he recites Surah Maryam, the chapter 00:06:00.389 --> 00:06:03.579 of the Quran about Mary and Jesus. Wow. That's 00:06:03.579 --> 00:06:06.100 incredibly bold. He recites the Quranic account 00:06:06.100 --> 00:06:07.899 of the virgin birth right there in the Christian 00:06:07.899 --> 00:06:11.180 court. He's basically saying, we love who you 00:06:11.180 --> 00:06:13.240 love. We honor who you honor. And the sources 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:15.920 describe the king and his bishops actually weeping 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:18.120 when they hear this. They recognize the common 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:20.939 source. It resonated. And the king's reaction 00:06:20.939 --> 00:06:25.300 is just decisive. He refuses the bribes. He tells 00:06:25.300 --> 00:06:27.759 the Muslims, you have complete freedom. The source 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:30.860 calls this the birth of freedom of belief for 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:33.100 Muslims. It really was. And if you connect this 00:06:33.100 --> 00:06:34.959 to the bigger picture, it proves that from day 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.699 one, Islam survived because of the protection 00:06:37.699 --> 00:06:39.620 of a Christian. The religion didn't survive in 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:42.279 a vacuum. It survived in a sanctuary provided 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:44.720 by another faith. So that first migration proved 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:47.860 coexistence was possible. But Abyssinia was a 00:06:47.860 --> 00:06:50.459 refuge. It wasn't a home. They were guests. And 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:53.000 meanwhile, back in Makkah. Things were just getting 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.600 worse. The persecution had gone on for 13 years. 00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:58.560 The prophet himself was barely surviving assassination 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.399 attempts. Right. The status quo was untenable. 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:03.459 They needed more than a hideout. They needed 00:07:03.459 --> 00:07:06.259 a base, a place to actually build a society. 00:07:06.620 --> 00:07:08.439 Which brings us to the second migration, the 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:11.459 big one that starts the calendar. In 622 CE... 00:07:11.709 --> 00:07:13.970 The prophet migrates to Yathrib, which we now 00:07:13.970 --> 00:07:16.470 know as Medina. Now, I always pictured Medina 00:07:16.470 --> 00:07:19.170 as this sort of empty slate, you know, broad 00:07:19.170 --> 00:07:21.350 desert, a few palm trees, and the Muslims show 00:07:21.350 --> 00:07:23.670 up and start from scratch. That's a common misconception. 00:07:24.089 --> 00:07:26.910 Medina was actually a bustling agricultural oasis. 00:07:27.430 --> 00:07:31.149 And crucially, it was extremely diverse. Not 00:07:31.149 --> 00:07:33.189 just Arab tribes. Not at all. It was inhabited 00:07:33.189 --> 00:07:36.370 by two major Arab tribes, the Oz and Khazraj, 00:07:36.629 --> 00:07:39.170 who were constantly fighting, but also three 00:07:39.170 --> 00:07:45.759 major Jewish tribes. So the city was effectively 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:49.019 a collection of forts and farms with a very strong 00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:51.339 Jewish cultural presence. Predominantly Jewish 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:53.199 in terms of, you know, economic infrastructure 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:55.439 and theology, yeah. So the prophet arrives. He's 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:57.839 not a king conquering a city. He's actually been 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:01.060 invited in as a mediator to stop the civil war 00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:03.079 between the Arab tribes. And what does he do? 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:07.639 He drafts a document. The Constitution of Medina. 00:08:07.779 --> 00:08:09.660 Right. Now, the sources describe this as one 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:11.699 of history's earliest written constitutions. 00:08:12.139 --> 00:08:14.540 But is that just hype? I mean, how does it compare 00:08:14.540 --> 00:08:17.560 to, say, the Magna Carta or Roman law? Well, 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:19.620 it predates the Magna Carta by six centuries. 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:21.699 And it's different from Roman law because it's 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:24.579 a social contract between distinct groups. Before 00:08:24.579 --> 00:08:27.920 this, Arabia operated on tribal lawblood feuds. 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:30.939 You kill my guy, I kill your guy. Vengeance. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:34.200 Total vengeance. The Constitution of Medina replaced 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:36.990 that with the rule of law. It established a state 00:08:36.990 --> 00:08:39.149 where the government, not the tribe, had the 00:08:39.149 --> 00:08:41.649 authority to resolve disputes. And what makes 00:08:41.649 --> 00:08:43.850 it so revolutionary for our discussion is how 00:08:43.850 --> 00:08:45.610 it handled that diversity we just mentioned. 00:08:45.690 --> 00:08:47.730 This wasn't a theocracy where minorities were 00:08:47.730 --> 00:08:49.990 just tolerated. Or second class citizens. No, 00:08:50.090 --> 00:08:52.149 it created a political partnership. I want to 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:54.169 read this clause because it blew my mind. The 00:08:54.169 --> 00:08:58.149 document says, the Jews of Banu Af are one community, 00:08:58.210 --> 00:09:01.490 one Ummah with the believers. The Jews have their 00:09:01.490 --> 00:09:03.909 religion and the Muslims have theirs. That is 00:09:03.909 --> 00:09:06.899 massive. That word ummah is usually reserved 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:09.779 just for the Muslim community today. But here, 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:11.960 in the founding political document of Islam, 00:09:12.299 --> 00:09:15.019 the prophet includes the Jewish tribes within 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:17.379 the political ummah. They are partners in the 00:09:17.379 --> 00:09:19.480 state. And it wasn't just live and let live. 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:22.039 It was a mutual defense pact, right? Exactly. 00:09:22.259 --> 00:09:24.700 The Constitution stated that if Medina was attacked, 00:09:25.139 --> 00:09:28.299 Jews and Muslims would defend it together. They 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:31.080 shared the cost of war. They shared the responsibility 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:34.220 of civic safety. It was a model of what one source 00:09:34.220 --> 00:09:37.240 calls covenantal pluralism. And the sources list 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:39.700 all these specific ways the prophet honored the 00:09:39.700 --> 00:09:43.019 Jewish community to build that trust. For example, 00:09:43.019 --> 00:09:45.960 for the first 16 or 17 months in Medina, the 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:49.059 Muslims didn't pray facing Mecca. No, they prayed 00:09:49.059 --> 00:09:52.529 facing Jerusalem. Al -Quds. Which is the ultimate 00:09:52.529 --> 00:09:55.409 symbolic connection. You're physically orienting 00:09:55.409 --> 00:09:57.490 your worship toward the same sanctuary as your 00:09:57.490 --> 00:10:00.009 Jewish neighbors. A huge sign of respect. And 00:10:00.009 --> 00:10:02.370 then there's the fasting. The prophet arrived 00:10:02.370 --> 00:10:05.509 and saw the Jews fasting for Yom Kippur. When 00:10:05.509 --> 00:10:07.950 he asked why, they told him it was the day God 00:10:07.950 --> 00:10:10.690 saved Moses from Pharaoh. And the prophet's response 00:10:10.690 --> 00:10:14.019 was... We are closer to Moses than you are, meaning 00:10:14.019 --> 00:10:16.559 we honor him just as much. And he instructed 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:19.620 the Muslims to fast in solidarity. That became 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:22.039 the fast of Asherah. He even gave permission 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:25.000 to eat kosher food. And there's this heavy quote 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.500 in the sources where the prophet warns his followers, 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.490 whoever wrongs a person under covenant. meaning 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:32.649 a non -Muslim protected by this treaty, will 00:10:32.649 --> 00:10:35.250 not smell the fragrance of paradise. That is 00:10:35.250 --> 00:10:37.429 a stark warning. But we have to be real about 00:10:37.429 --> 00:10:40.330 this. It didn't end in a fairy tale. A few years 00:10:40.330 --> 00:10:43.289 later, there is war. And those specific Jewish 00:10:43.289 --> 00:10:47.009 tribes are expelled or punished. Yes. And critics 00:10:47.009 --> 00:10:49.509 often point to that to say, see, coexistence 00:10:49.509 --> 00:10:52.769 failed. This constitution was just paper. Right. 00:10:53.009 --> 00:10:55.750 But that's the easy reading. The sources argue 00:10:55.750 --> 00:10:58.629 we need to look closer. The breakdown wasn't 00:10:58.629 --> 00:11:01.340 because of theology. The Constitution wasn't 00:11:01.340 --> 00:11:03.340 scrapped because the prophet decided he didn't 00:11:03.340 --> 00:11:06.399 like Jews anymore. The alliance broke because 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:08.539 of specific acts of political treason during 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:10.379 wartime. So the argument is that the conflict 00:11:10.379 --> 00:11:12.539 was geopolitical, not religious persecution. 00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:15.460 Precisely. The sources emphasize that the Constitution 00:11:15.460 --> 00:11:18.179 itself remains the model. The later conflict 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:20.519 was a breach of the treaty, but the principle 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:22.830 established at the start. that you can have a 00:11:22.830 --> 00:11:24.950 multi -faith state where Jews and Muslims are 00:11:24.950 --> 00:11:27.350 one political community, that remains valid. 00:11:27.570 --> 00:11:29.590 It showed what is possible when the covenant 00:11:29.590 --> 00:11:32.690 is honored. So we have the first migration to 00:11:32.690 --> 00:11:35.490 a Christian sanctuary based on justice, the second 00:11:35.490 --> 00:11:37.470 to a Jewish partnership based on a constitution. 00:11:37.769 --> 00:11:40.090 What does this all mean for us today? This is 00:11:40.090 --> 00:11:42.669 the so wet moment. Right, because our mission 00:11:42.669 --> 00:11:45.110 statement here is to see how this resonates in 00:11:45.110 --> 00:11:47.769 our polarized world. The sources argue that we 00:11:47.769 --> 00:11:50.940 need to adopt a hedra mindset. And for Muslims 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:53.860 specifically, or really any minority group, that 00:11:53.860 --> 00:11:57.120 mindset has two sides, the muhajir, the refugee, 00:11:57.340 --> 00:11:59.820 and the ansar, the helper. Okay, let's start 00:11:59.820 --> 00:12:02.080 with the refugee. The sources argue Muslims should 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:04.559 have this deep, visceral empathy for refugees. 00:12:05.289 --> 00:12:07.610 And why? Because their prophet was a refugee. 00:12:07.929 --> 00:12:10.330 He was forced out of his home. He had to cross 00:12:10.330 --> 00:12:13.129 deserts to find safety. When you see a family 00:12:13.129 --> 00:12:15.149 at the border or someone fleeing a war zone, 00:12:15.350 --> 00:12:17.870 that is the Hydra story playing out in real time. 00:12:18.070 --> 00:12:19.970 But then you have the other side, the Ansar, 00:12:20.009 --> 00:12:21.809 the helpers. And Medina, these weren't people 00:12:21.809 --> 00:12:24.470 who just, you know, tweeted support. No, they 00:12:24.470 --> 00:12:26.409 literally split their homes in half to house 00:12:26.409 --> 00:12:29.470 the refugees. It was radical hospitality. The 00:12:29.470 --> 00:12:31.629 lesson there is that you have a duty to be the 00:12:31.629 --> 00:12:34.500 helper. The sources talk about volunteering, 00:12:34.779 --> 00:12:37.059 supporting resettlement agencies, advocating 00:12:37.059 --> 00:12:40.019 for humane immigration policies. It's not just 00:12:40.019 --> 00:12:42.600 a nice thing to do. It's a religious obligation 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:45.759 modeled on the faith's founding moment. If you 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.519 aren't the refugee, you must be the helper. There's 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:51.279 no third option. There's also this idea of civic 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:54.000 engagement. One of the articles uses this great 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.639 analogy about the Prophet Joseph Yusuf. Yeah, 00:12:56.700 --> 00:12:58.720 Yusuf served in the Egyptian government. He wasn't 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:01.000 Egyptian. He wasn't of their religion. But he 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:04.019 served the society to save it from famine. The 00:13:04.019 --> 00:13:06.899 analogy is that modern Muslims should be fully 00:13:06.899 --> 00:13:09.419 Muslim and fully American or whatever their nationality 00:13:09.419 --> 00:13:12.620 is. Contributing to society is an act of faith. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.759 You don't isolate yourself. You improve the neighborhood. 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:16.820 Right. And that includes protecting everyone, 00:13:16.940 --> 00:13:19.240 not just your own. I found this verse cited in 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:21.940 the source fascinating. It's from Quran chapter 00:13:21.940 --> 00:13:25.450 22, verse 40. That is a crucial verse. It explains 00:13:25.450 --> 00:13:28.870 why God allows defense or fighting. And it lists 00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:31.950 who needs to be protected. Monasteries, churches, 00:13:32.250 --> 00:13:34.570 synagogues, and mosques. Notice the order there. 00:13:34.690 --> 00:13:37.789 Mosques are listed last. Exactly. The source 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:41.279 highlights that priority. It implies a duty for 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:43.519 Muslims to protect the places of worship of others. 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:46.960 If a synagogue is under threat, the hijra mindset 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:49.659 says a Muslim should be standing guard. That 00:13:49.659 --> 00:13:52.460 is a powerful image. And it leads into the antidote 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:54.820 to Islamophobia that the sources suggest. It's 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:57.200 not just about PR campaigns. No, it's about knowing 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:01.340 one another. Quran 49 .13. We made you into peoples 00:14:01.340 --> 00:14:03.519 and tribes so that you may know one another. 00:14:03.740 --> 00:14:05.980 The source argues that prejudice survives in 00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:08.799 isolation. The early Muslims won over hearts. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:12.259 the Christian king, the people of Medina, through 00:14:12.259 --> 00:14:14.759 their character and engagement. You dismantle 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:16.799 stereotypes by being a good neighbor. Before 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:18.860 we wrap up, there's one last type of migration 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:21.720 the sources mention, and this one is a bit of 00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:23.659 a plot twist. It suggests that even if you never 00:14:23.659 --> 00:14:25.980 leave your hometown, you are still expected to 00:14:25.980 --> 00:14:29.919 perform a hijrah. The hijrat al -qawb, the migration 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:32.149 of the heart. How does that work? It comes from 00:14:32.149 --> 00:14:34.870 a teaching where the prophet defined a true migrant 00:14:34.870 --> 00:14:37.470 not just as someone who travels, but as one who 00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:39.970 leaves behind what Allah has forbidden. So it's 00:14:39.970 --> 00:14:42.389 redefining migration from a physical act to a 00:14:42.389 --> 00:14:45.029 moral one. Exactly. And this bridges the gap 00:14:45.029 --> 00:14:47.409 between history we just discussed and our daily 00:14:47.409 --> 00:14:51.250 lives. You perform a hijrah by migrating from 00:14:51.250 --> 00:14:55.309 hate to justice, from greed to generosity, from 00:14:55.309 --> 00:14:58.490 sin to obedience. From isolation to partnership. 00:14:59.070 --> 00:15:02.330 Yes. In a polarized world, the hardest migration 00:15:02.330 --> 00:15:05.289 isn't crossing a border. It's crossing the divide 00:15:05.289 --> 00:15:07.990 between us and them. It's migrating away from 00:15:07.990 --> 00:15:10.690 the comfort of your own tribal bubble to actually 00:15:10.690 --> 00:15:13.230 engage with someone different. That is the internal 00:15:13.230 --> 00:15:15.730 hijrah. And that brings us full circle. We started 00:15:15.730 --> 00:15:18.460 by asking about the origin story of Islam. And 00:15:18.460 --> 00:15:20.120 I think the sources have shown that the Hedra 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:22.840 isn't just a trip from point A to point B. It's 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:25.360 a story where the survival of the faith depended 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.419 on a Christian king's justice. Its political 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:30.659 foundation depended on a constitution with Jewish 00:15:30.659 --> 00:15:33.019 tribes. It really challenges the narrative we 00:15:33.019 --> 00:15:35.220 hear so often today, that religions are these 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:37.159 competing fortresses that have always been at 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.659 war. That's the narrative of conflict. The Hedra 00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:41.659 offers a narrative of covenant. It shows that 00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:44.059 justice is a universal human value, not a tribal 00:15:44.059 --> 00:15:47.139 one. The prophet didn't say, go to the Abyssinian 00:15:47.139 --> 00:15:49.559 king because he's Muslim. He said go to him because 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:53.100 he's just. And that distinction. It changes everything. 00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:55.860 It asks us to look for allies based on values, 00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:58.659 not just labels. It does. So here is the final 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:01.620 thought for you, the listener, to chew on. We've 00:16:01.620 --> 00:16:03.519 looked at how the prophet found refuge under 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:06.100 a Christian king and built a society with Jewish 00:16:06.100 --> 00:16:08.740 partners. In our world today, we talk so much 00:16:08.740 --> 00:16:11.360 about borders and security and walls. But the 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.019 question the sources leave us with is this. Are 00:16:14.019 --> 00:16:16.360 we building sanctuaries or are we just building 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:19.340 taller walls? And on a personal level, that migration 00:16:19.340 --> 00:16:21.820 of the heart is available to everyone. religious 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:24.000 or not. So what is the thing, the prejudice, 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:27.080 the habit, the fear that you need to migrate 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:29.419 away from today? That's it for this deep dive 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:31.159 into the Hijrah. Thanks for listening, and we'll 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:32.080 catch you on the next journey.