OVAMIR ANJUM - MARCH 9, 2023 Acknowledgements I am indebted to a number of scholars and friends who agreed to read earlier drafts of this essay and gave invaluable suggestions, even though I remain solely responsible for all the opinions and any lingering errors in it. These include Dr. Usaama Al-Azami, Dr. Safaruk Chowdhury, Dr. Sohail Hanif, Prof. Sherman Jackson, Shaykh Amin Kholwadia, Maulana Dr. Haroon Sidat, Mobeen Vaid, and Shaykh Shuayb Wani , among others. I am grateful also to my team at Ummatics, only in conversation with whom have the ideas expressed here developed and crystallized. 1. Introduction Muslims everywhere today face existential threats and exhilarating opportunities, all of which can be summed up in the singular challenge of becoming ummatic : “Verily, this Umma of yours is one Umma, and I am your Lord, so worship Me” (21:92; 23:52). Our greatest nemesis is not an external agent but a lack of imagination and will within, a learned helplessness that stands in t
Scholars have mentioned various reasons that prompted the Prophet’s ﷺ Companions to migrate to Abyssinia. One reason was that they felt it necessary to flee with their religion, fearing that constant torture might tempt them to apostatize. Ibn Ishaaq said, “At that point in time, some Muslims from the Prophet’s ﷺ Companions went to Abyssinia, fearing temptation and fleeing towards Allah M with their religion.” [1] Sayyid Qutub offers a different explanation, arguing that the main purpose of the migration was to spread Islam outside of Makkah, and not simply to flee from persecution. In Fee Dhilaal Al-Qur’an (In the Shade of the Qur’an), he wrote, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was searching for a stronghold outside of Makkah, a stronghold that could protect the beliefs of Islam and guarantee the freedom to openly practice Islam. In my estimation, this was the foremost reason that prompted the migration (to Abyssinia). The view which states that the Prophet’s ﷺ Companions migrated only to