Migration in Islamic Jihadism

Clayton Elmy
Daily Stormer
December 6, 2015

Hijrah—that is, migration—is of central importance in Islam. The formative moment in the history of Muhammad’s prophethood was his flight from Mecca to Medina, known as as the Hijrah, in the face of overwhelming rejection and persecution by the pagan Meccans. The Surat—chapters—of the Qur’an are divided categorically by chronology: the Meccan chapters, revealed before the Hijrah, are of a more peaceful and tolerant nature, whereas the Medinan chapters, revealed post-Hijrah, embody the conquering and warlike nature of Islam as the world would come to know it. When confronted by followers about the contradictions between the Meccan and Medinan Surat, Muhammad prayed to Allah, who revealed to him that the post-Hijrah Surat will always take precedent over the pre-Hijrah Surat whenever there is a contradiction.

The Islamic calendar is known as the Hijri, the beginning of which is fixed not from by beginning of Muhammad’s career as a preacher, or by the acceptance of Islam across Arabia; it is dated AH, or After Hijrah. Thus one can see the important position that Hijrah takes in the Islamic worldview. It can accurately be called the beginning of Islam as we know it today.

Of interest, then, is how Muslims view hijrah—migration, or immigration—doctrinally. According to Muhammad Sa’eed Al Qahtani, from the book Al Wala’ wa’l Bara (“Loyalty and Disavowal”), cited at missionislam.com:

s Islam is the religion of dignity and authority, it was impossible to think of any Muslim submitting himself to the disbelievers; indeed it is forbidden for a Muslim to go to live amongst them and acknowledge their authority over him, because his presence amongst them would make him feel weak and isolated, and, then he would become docile and apologetic before them. He would first be called upon to approve of them, and then to follow them. But Muslims should be filled with morale and confidence, they should be leaders, not followers. They should hold the reins of power; no power should be above them but that of Allah. Therefore Muslims were forbidden to remain in countries where Islam is of no account, except when they are able to freely practice their religion and to observe it without any impediment, and without any fear that their presence there could damage them in any way.

Muslims are not permitted to live under the authority of nonbelievers who impede their practice of Islam. However, the ability to openly practice Islam is the general situation across the Western World; the small number of rather insignificant exceptions do not change the overall climate of religious tolerance in the West. The ability to practice the faith openly is not sought only for its own sake, but also for the purpose of propagating Islam, spreading it among the nonbelievers. Those Muslims who immigrate solely for economic or personal reasons, who do not actively work to support Islam by spreading the faith and condemning the unbelief of their hosts, are committing sin:

He does not demonstrate a strong attachment to his religion (Islam), nor does he emigrate. He does not support the disbelievers against the Muslims, whether in word or deed. His heart is not bound to them, nor does he speak on their behalf. Such a person is not considered a disbeliever merely because he continues to live among the disbelievers, but many would say that he has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger by not going to live among the Muslims, even though he may secretly hate the disbelievers.

Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto who writes for onislam.net, agrees:

Hijrah is obligatory on Muslims if they are unable to practice their religion in the country they are living in, and if they are facing serious persecutions and find themselves unable to overcome them. In such cases, if they are faced with the choice of renouncing their religion or going to a place where they can readily practice it, they are obligated to emigrate. However, hijrah should not be an option to consider if what we said is not the case, as Muslims are ordered to struggle to establish their faith wherever they live. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Jihad (struggle in the path of Allah to establish His religion) is an ongoing duty until the Day of Resurrection.

That is, emigration from the land of infidels to the land of Muslims is only required of Muslims who, remember, are not permitted to live under the authority of infidels unless part of a higher purpose if their presence in a foreign land threatens their faith (individually or collectively). Otherwise, it is the duty of Muslim immigrants to non-Muslim lands to spread Islam. This spreading of the faith among the infidels is the only reason, according to Islamic doctrine, that Muslims may live among infidels. According to their own faith, Muslims who stay among infidels for reasons of comfort, safety, or friendship, are sinners.

Of course, the many economic immigrants in the west can still save their souls in the eyes of Allah:

Having said this, the economic emigrants living in the West can, however, transform their hijrah into an act of `ibadah (worship) if they change the intention and dedicate themselves to be ambassadors of Islam in their new home.

When such immigrants feel alienated living in foreign lands, and return to their own cultural and religious background for support and identity, one can expect their attitude to change. This is something to consider in light of the regression to the mean seen in 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants of Islamic background.

Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D., president of the Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc of Louisville, Kentucky, sums it up succinctly, with reference to the relevant Qur’anic ayat:

Hijrah was one of the most important events in the history of Islam. It is for this reason `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) adopted Hijrah date to calculate years. Muslims chose Hijrah as the focal point to reckon their chronology. In physical terms, Hijrah was a journey between two cities about 200 miles apart, but in its grand significance it marked the beginning of an era, a civilization, a culture and a history for the whole mankind. Islam progressed not only from the physical Hijrah, but because Muslims took Hijrah seriously in all its aspects and dimensions.

The Islamic term for migration clearly has integral religious significance, and when confronting the reality of immigration to Europe—and practically speaking, this means Islamic immigration—one must understand the motivations of those coming to settle. While it is impossible to search the minds of every immigrant and determine the sincerity of any claimed materialistic motivations, of the kind that Westerners so love to project onto those whom they do not understand, it should as a matter of course be assumed that immigrants who are Muslim treat the dictates of their professed faith seriously dictates which have some very unsettling implications.