1
Hijra
PETRA M. SIJPESTEIJN
This term is usually associated with
Muhammad’s flight from MECCA to MEDINA,
which Muslim tradition places in September
622 CE. The exodus theme has strong parallels
with Abraham’s emigration from Mesopotamia
and Moses’ flight from Egypt. However, the
root h-j-r as used in the Qur’an and elsewhere
in early Arabic texts means the breaking off of
ties of kinship and relations, and it is this
severing of the Muslim community’s ties
with the Arab tribes of Medina that should
really be emphasized in the hijra.
Muhammad’s first revelations in 610 do not
seem to have stirred any animosity, but with
the increase of the Revelation’s specificity and
the growth of Muhammad’s support base, the
Meccan establishment, especially the clan of
Qur’aysh, saw their position threatened. Muhammad’s activities were no longer tolerated, and
Muslims came under increasing pressure in the
form of verbal and physical abuse and social and
commercial boycotts. This situation motivated
a group of Muslims to undertake the first hijra
by moving to Ethiopia in the year 615. As long
as Muhammad could rely on the support of his
clan, the Hāshim, he was relatively safe, but with
the death of his uncle Abū Tālib in 619 Muham˙
mad’s position in Mecca became precarious.
The invitation in 622 from the inhabitants of
the settlement of Medina to move there was thus
very welcome, and in the fall of that year the
prophet and his seventy or so supporters
secretly left Mecca. The muhajirūn, those who
emigrated with Muhammad, are mentioned in
the so-called CONSTITUTION OF MEDINA (Ibn
Hishām, 341–4) with a position comparable
to that of the Arab clans of Medina. The
move from Mecca to Medina was more than a
geographical displacement; it signified a break
with the traditional Arabian tribal structure. In
Medina, Muhammad could preach freely and
the UMMA could develop as a community
extending beyond tribal delineations. Hence
the hijra, or rather the beginning of the lunar
year in which this took place (July 16, 622),
signals the beginning of Islam and the Muslim
calendar. The earliest use of this calendar can
be found on two Arabic papyri from Egypt,
dated in the year 22 (643). An Arabic inscription dated to the year 24 from Arabia and an
epitaph dated in year 31 from Egypt are further
evidence of this calendar having been in use
among the Muslims at this early period.
With the development of the notion of
sābiqa, precedence, especially in the sense of
submission to Islam, and the (financial) privileges that were associated with it, the status of
muhājir became highly valued. In the literature, the lists of those who claimed to have
joined in the hijra consequently get ever larger
over time.
The cutting-off of relations also forms the
background to another early meaning of
hijra, namely the emigration from the Arabian
Peninsula to participate in the conquests of
the seventh century or to settle in the garrison
cities. The term muhajirūn used in Greek
papyri from the seventh and eighth century
(moagaritai) and in Syriac texts (mahgraye
or mhaggraye) for the Arab conquerors
confirms this.
In Islamic law, a third meaning of hijra can
be encountered, referring to the moving from
the dār al-harb to the dār al-islām, which is
strongly encouraged.
SEE ALSO:
Muhammad.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
al-Ghabban (2003) “A.I.‘Naqsh Zuhayr: Aqdam
naqsh Islāmı̄.” Arabia 1: 293–342.
Crone, P. (1994) “The first-century concept of
‘Hijra’.” Arabica 41(3): 352–87.
Hurgronje, S. (1923). “Twee populaire Dwalingen
verbeterd.” In Verspreide Geschriften, vol. 1:
297–305. Bonn.
Kennedy, H. (1986) The prophet and the age of the
caliphates. London.
Peters, R. “Hidjra in fiqh.” Encyclopedia of Islam,
2nd ed., vol. 12: 368.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 3215–3216.
© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah12099
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