How New Migrants to Madinah Got Naturalized
Dr. Wael Hamza
20 June, 2021
One of the most interesting challenges that faced Muslims in Madinah under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was the big wave of migration.
The immigrants from Makkah left everything behind. They came to this new land with almost nothing but their Islam and their commitment to it. They were passionate about the move and they were sure they made the right decision.
What Was the Reasoning Behind Choosing Madinah for Hijrah?
What Was the Reasoning Behind Choosing Madinah for Hijrah?
However, the reality of life his them soon; a new city, no one knew them and they knew no one. Immigrants would soon face life and its responsibilities, they would need to make money and build life for their families.
They would soon miss Makkah, possibly thinking of going back when it was almost impossible. They would soon be under physical and psychological pressure that might even touch their faith and commitment to this faith.
The hosts too, the people of Madinah, were also very passionate about receiving the Prophet and the other immigrants. They were ready to host more and more. They were truthful to their commitment and were ready to sacrifice for it.
However, they would soon realize that those immigrants were strangers with whom they would soon compete on some worldly issues. Maybe their love for the Prophet and the benefit they got from him would allow them to keep hosting him; but how about the other immigrants? The people of Madinah, too, would soon be under psychological and financial pressure.
If you add to this the challenge that this mix of people was from different tribes and held different backgrounds and experienced different culture, the problem becomes more difficult to deal with.
The outcome, the final product
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Before discussing how the Prophet dealt with these challenges, let’s see the following outcome:
1- The immigrant group lived in Madinah as natural citizens. The majority of them did not leave even after Makkah had become a Muslim city and they had got back the right to their houses. They loved living in Madinah. That included the Prophet (PBUH) despite the huge love they had for their home town and the most sacred place on earth, Makkah.
2- The immigrants were given huge rights to live and be part of decision-making body in the new society. They were part of the highest level leadership and they were the top leadership after the Prophet died.
3- None of the attempts to create tribal or financial problems between the immigrants and the hosts were successful.
4- The economy of Madinah boomed. The military became stronger. The political leadership of Madinah gained much recognition from other tribes and Arab peninsular cities.
5- Love between the two groups grew massively and the stories of support were unbelievable.
The naturalization process
Hijrah: Sacrifices of a Great Generation
Hijrah: Sacrifices of a Great Generation
The effort to achieve this outcome was also unprecedented. It was a combination of the revelation of Allah in the Quran, plans from the Prophet also guided with the revelation, and pure hearts, ones full of faith. Here are a few components of this recipe of success:
1- The Quran comes down during and after the immigration telling people how valuable; and how rewarding it is to migrate for the sake of Allah. People were marking their personal calendar with the date they migrated. And good deeds were evaluated by how much they compare to Hijrah.
A lot of reward is placed on those who experience hardship, sickness, death, or murder during their Hijrah, a reward that no one can comprehend [check Al-Hajj 22:58-59 for example].
2- Verses about Hajj, its rulings, and its origin were revealed during that time, giving the strong promise and the strong hint that Muslims will be victorious and they will have the chance to go for Hajj and even control the rulings of Hajj in Makkah, a town they just got driven out of. Promises to come back make it easy to withstand the hardship of migration.
3- The Prophet established A magnificent system of brotherhood was established between the immigrants and the hosts (Al-Ansar). It wasn’t a general direction by the Prophet.
Rather, it was a specific assignment to couples by name. The words of the Quran and the Prophet that admire this concept and effort related to it were so effective. Brotherhood at that time, as it always should be, was an integral part of the Muslims’ faith.
4- The constitution of Madinah stated that the believers from Makkah and from Madinah are one community supporting one another and helping one another. This made the immigrants feel the ownership of Madinah and made them feel the sense of belonging.
5- Rejecting the generous offers made by the hosts. Such offers were rejected collectively and individually. In one incident, the People of Madinah made a very generous offer; that is to divide the palm trees of Madinah, which constituted their wealth, into two halves: one stays with them and one goes to “their brothers from the immigrants,” as they stated.
The Prophet said NO, a strong no. They then changed the offer to employing the immigrants to work in their lands and dividing the outcome between them. The Prophet and the immigrants agreed.
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This transformed a large group of the immigrants into farmers, made them learn a new profession they did not know before, increased the working power of Madinah, and made the hosts rest assured that those immigrants are not after their money. It is a win-win situation in nowadays terms.
This effort reminds me with the effort done by America, my new country, to attract the finest of the world population and to naturally involve them in the society creating one of the largest world powers. However, two things are very important here:
– The Prophet made this effort more than 1400 years ago.
– The recent effort in America did not succeed in making the sense of community for all people. There is still a lot of social divides and justice challenges that need to be dealt with.
We ought to learn from the human aspect of the Prophet’s naturalization experience in order for us to help making America a better place for people, all people, including us Muslims.
Probably there were many other actions the Muslims did to overcome this challenge and that lead to this success.
