The
violent clashes at the Greek border with dozens of young Muslim men
warring with border guards, tearing down barriers and yelling "Allahu
Akbar" is proof of something rarely mentioned: migration is central to Islamic faith.
The Islamic calendar begins with Muhammad's migration to Medina. The
Quran repeatedly calls for the community to march out in jihad and that
God will provide for those who do. In fact, those who "emigrate in the
cause of God" will receive not just earthly rewards, but those of
Paradise too. As written by Fred Donner in Muhammad the Believers, "the word hijra
conveys both itself a word that carried overtones of migration, of full
membership in and commitment to the Believers’ movement, and of
“fighting in God’s way.” He supports this with the Quran:
But those passages that speak of "making hijra in the way of God" imply that hijra is roughly equivalent to jihad, "striving," which is also done "in the way of God," and several passages associate hijra with leaving home for the purpose of fighting (Q. 3:195, 22:58). Indeed, hijra in this larger sense may have served as the decisive marker of full membership into the community of Believers, much as baptism does for Christians: "Verily, those who have Believed and made hijra and strive [yujahidun] in God's way with their property and themselves, and those who gave asylum and aided [them] - those shall be mutual helpers of one another. But those who have Believed and [yet] have not made hijra, they have no share in the mutual assistance [of the others], until they make hijra ... " (Q. 8:72)
From the very beginning as instituted by Muhammad, the Believers movement (which even predates Islam as a separate religion) set out to migrate, form a righteous community (the umma), and spread strict monotheism to the unbelievers in expectation of the Last Judgement.
This is why large groups of young men set out to form communities in the West. The incentive is not just economic, although that certainly helps. The motivation comes from Islam itself. Migration is a holy duty that goes back to the very foundation of Islam.
And those migrating have every expectation of success. During the Islamic conquests, troops that numbered no more that 250-300,000 conquered the two superpowers of the day, Eastern Rome and Persia, with inhabitants of around 25-30 million. Those Christian and Zoroastrian citizens were weary after decades of war, and for the most part simply allowed themselves to be taken over. Christians especially capitulated and often fought alongside the invaders because they saw no real religious distinction between their faith and the faith of the Believers movement, which was not codified into Islam until after the conquest was complete, and resistance was by then impossible.
https://redd.it/fgrk3f
But those passages that speak of "making hijra in the way of God" imply that hijra is roughly equivalent to jihad, "striving," which is also done "in the way of God," and several passages associate hijra with leaving home for the purpose of fighting (Q. 3:195, 22:58). Indeed, hijra in this larger sense may have served as the decisive marker of full membership into the community of Believers, much as baptism does for Christians: "Verily, those who have Believed and made hijra and strive [yujahidun] in God's way with their property and themselves, and those who gave asylum and aided [them] - those shall be mutual helpers of one another. But those who have Believed and [yet] have not made hijra, they have no share in the mutual assistance [of the others], until they make hijra ... " (Q. 8:72)
From the very beginning as instituted by Muhammad, the Believers movement (which even predates Islam as a separate religion) set out to migrate, form a righteous community (the umma), and spread strict monotheism to the unbelievers in expectation of the Last Judgement.
This is why large groups of young men set out to form communities in the West. The incentive is not just economic, although that certainly helps. The motivation comes from Islam itself. Migration is a holy duty that goes back to the very foundation of Islam.
And those migrating have every expectation of success. During the Islamic conquests, troops that numbered no more that 250-300,000 conquered the two superpowers of the day, Eastern Rome and Persia, with inhabitants of around 25-30 million. Those Christian and Zoroastrian citizens were weary after decades of war, and for the most part simply allowed themselves to be taken over. Christians especially capitulated and often fought alongside the invaders because they saw no real religious distinction between their faith and the faith of the Believers movement, which was not codified into Islam until after the conquest was complete, and resistance was by then impossible.
https://redd.it/fgrk3f
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