A New Start by Idris Tawfiq

Islam speaks directly to the human heart and calls us to a pure and simple worship of the One God, Allah. This was the call of Allah's Messengers down through the ages, starting with Adam, the first man, and Noah, the first prophet. In remembering the new Hijrah year (the Islamic year, based on a lunar calendar), we remember the migration of our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and of the first Muslims as they left everything and moved from all that they had known in Makkah, to a new life at the service of Allah in Madinah. More than just a journey, that first migration was a transformation. It marked a new stage in the development of Islam. Islam would not be a religion like any other. It would be a complete way of life. As sincere believers today, we, too, are called to make that transformation of our own as we leave behind the errors of the past and move forward to a better life, submitting as Muslims to the will of Allah. The Prophet Muhammad tells us, "Hijrah will not cease until repentance becomes useless; and repentance will not become useless until the sun rises from the West." (Abu Dawud) In those earliest days of Islam, after suffering great persecution at the hands of the tribe of Quraish in Makkah, it was finally revealed to the Muslim community by Allah that they should leave everything and migrate to a new place, where they would worship Allah freely and where Allah would become the centre of their life and their city. So it was that those first Muslims set off, with almost nothing, for a new life in Madinah. Those who had gone to live in Abyssinia returned and went with them. At first, Prophet Muhammad was not told to leave. His every movement was watched by those ensnared in idol worship, seething with hatred for Islam and its Prophet. When it was finally revealed that he, too, should make the journey, it was done under cover of darkness and with great secrecy, lest his enemies would kill him and stop the messa [...]

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