The Prophet Muhamad ﷺ was from Makkah. It was in Makkah that he ﷺ was born, and it was in Makkah that he ﷺ started the propagation of Islam. However, much of the leadership of Makkah did not accept his ﷺ message. They made the life of Muhamad ﷺ and his ﷺ followers increasing difficult. Many Muslims died or migrated because of the bitterness and hostility created by the Makkan leadership. After the “parliament of Quraysh” (An Nadwa) unanimously accepted a proposal to assassinate Muhamad ﷺ, he prepared to leave Makkah for Madinah with his ﷺ bosom companion Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه.

Although the decision to leave Makkah wasn’t primarily an economic one, there are still numerous lessons we can learn from the migration, or hijra, of Prophet Muhamad ﷺ. These include the following:

Permission to migrate

After the endorsement of the Second Aqabah Pledge, the Prophet ﷺ gave his leave for the Muslims to migrate to Madinah, the nascent Muslim state. Within two months of the Second Aqabah Pledge, almost all the followers of Muhammad ﷺ had migrated to their new abode, except Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, Ali ر ضي الله عنه, the Prophet ﷺ himself, and a few others. The Prophet ﷺ, together with Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه and Ali ضي الله عنه ر, had made all the necessary preparations for migration but were waiting for leave from his Lord. After the iniquitous decision had been made at An Nadwa, Jibril عليه السلام was sent down to Muhammad ﷺ to reveal to him Quraish’s plot and give him his Lord’s Permission to leave Makkah.

Lesson

Always seek the permission of your Lord before making a decision. Unlike the Prophet ﷺ none of us receive revelation from our Lord. However, there are other ways of seeking His guidance, goodness and blessings. One is to follow the laws of Islam. The rules within our religion are a guide and criterion for humanity. The Most Wise and Merciful will not dictate rules for us to follow that will lead towards our destruction, whether in business dealings, finance, the broader economy or anything in between. Additionally, within Islam we have the beautiful ritual of istikhara that can be prayed before making a decision to seek the goodness of our Lord therein.

Letting go

When leaving Makkah, Prophet ﷺ said about Makkah: "How sweet of a land you are and how dear you are to me, and if it were not that my people expelled me from you, I would not have lived in other than you."(Tirmidhi)

Lesson

We are often attached to something due to our emotions. Something may be amazing; however, it may be that there is a lot more benefit when leaving something behind and moving towards something else. This concept is especially relevant to investment decisions – we cannot let our emotions dictate our choices.

The extracts from the Prophetic Biography have been adapted from Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar): Biography of the Prophet – by Sheikh Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarkpuri.

Allah Knows Best