by Dr. Kazeem, O. Olaniyan*
Alhamdulillah, the new Hijrah year, 1446, is here and I join you in thanking Allah for His countless mercies and favours. I most humbly ask Him to spare your life to witness many more years.
As we embark upon another journey of twelve lunar months, I implore you to reflect on the significance of the Hijrah episode that gave the Islamic calendar its identity. Hijrah, literally, is a flight, a shift, an escape, and migration. It is a movement from one place to another; a physical, mental, or attitudinal shift; or an ethical mobility, mostly away from danger, threat to life, or an undesirable circumstance. In its deepest connotation, it means transformation.
It is a deliberate and conscious departure from a spot or a particular way of doing things-a realisation of the need to alter one’s ways, or in other words, change one’s spiritual and moral I.D.
Celebrating the Hijrah year is, therefore, not the usual happy new year thing. It is making a solemn declaration to change for better. Though you can’t change the past, neither can you deny what has transpired, you can learn to accept it. When you look around yourself, you will see people and things that also need to go through change. Don’t fool yourself that you can change anybody. You can’t. You can only try to be the reason they will change for better. In any case, the change must commence with you. This is your migration, your Hijrah.
When a man migrates, he changes his location. In a broader sense, he changes his position, his focus, his conduct, and his attitude. No wonder the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) declared that the one who truly does Hijrah is the one who moves away from forbidden things.
As you thank Allah for witnessing this Hijrah year, you should also embark upon a Hijrah in your own personal space and your social universe. If you desire to change your world, then know that you must change your thoughts.
Our actions emanate from our thoughts. Reconstruct your future by changing your thought processes. Surely, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in their hearts. In our world, change is the most constant thing. We experience regular Hijrah episodes. Things change, people change, and situations change. Life does not get better by CHANCE. Rather, it gets better by CHANGE.
However, change will always come, not because it has to come, but because you are willing to allow it to come. If you don’t embrace it, you’ll just remain where you are. It is, therefore, wise that you accept what you cannot change, change what you cannot accept.
One of my several mentors once advised me: don’t fear change, change fear. This is indeed a golden advice. Had Prophet Muhammad (saw) been afraid of the discomforts of the journey to Madinah; had he been apprehensive about settling down in a new environment; had he doubted the sincerity of the people of the city, and had he been scared of the future that appeared bleak and uncertain, the Hijrah would not have happened.
Hijrah, like change, requires courage. Therefore, be brave, focused, and open to adventure. If you can’t undo the past, you can review it and craft a different narrative for the future.
On this day, I ask Allah by His Power that holds aloft the heavens and the entire Cosmos, and His Attributes that project the Essence of existence to change for you the unpleasant plot in your story.
May He give you the grace of migrating away from all undesirable situations to a more wholesome and blessed one. May His Omnipotence grant you a blissful life- a life free of physical and mental ailments; a life neither characterised by stress nor defined by toils; neither punctuated by social afflictions nor financial discomforts; a life of ease and bliss; a life of attained goals, fulfilled dreams, exalted status and acknowledged worldly and spiritual achievements.
*Kazeem, O. OLANIYAN, Ph.D,
Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Visiting Professor, College of Law, Fountain University, Osogbo, Nigeria.
Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
ILN Nigeria Fellow
