Hijrah (Emigration) — the concept & its rulings
The concept and fiqh of emigration; living in non-Muslim lands.
Hijri 1 AH onward CE 622 CE onward
Hijrah is emigration for the sake of Allah — abandoning a land where one cannot live Islam. The paradigm case is the Hijra to Madinah; this page covers the concept and its enduring fiqh, distinct from the historical event.
In the Seerah (EP 030)
- Revelation on Hijra came gradually: first encouragement (22:58), then obligation and rebuke of those who stayed without excuse (4:97), then an exception for the genuinely weak — men, women, and children who “cannot find a way out” (4:98–99), revealed for the blind, frail Junda’ ibn Damura, who died attempting the journey.
- For that generation, Hijra to Madinah was fard ayn — obligatory on every Muslim.
The ruling over time
- The obligation eased after Khandaq (5 AH) and was abrogated at the Conquest of Mecca (8 AH): “There is no Hijra after the Conquest” (Bukhari) — the specific duty to emigrate to Madinah ended.
- Living in non-Muslim lands today: the majority (Hanafi, Hanbali, standard Shafi’i) permit it if one can practise Islam freely — grounded in the hadith of Fudayk, whom the Prophet ﷺ told, “Establish prayer, avoid sin, and live with your people where you like.” The Maliki school was stricter (shaped by the loss of Andalus).
- Yasir Qadhi’s synthesis: Hijra becomes wajib only when a land makes practising Islam untenable; each land’s scholars judge their own situation. This connects to the multiple legitimate models of the seerah (Mecca-private, Mecca-public, Abyssinia, Madinah) — not one template for all times and places.
Cross-references
The Hijrah (Emigration to Madinah) · The Muhajirun (the Emigrants) · Madinah (Yathrib) · Mecca · Da'wah & Its Five Stages · The Migrations to Abyssinia · Muhammad ﷺ
Sources
- S005 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 026, 030. Draws on Quran (22, 4), Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Ibn Hibban (Fudayk); classical madhhab positions.