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hegira

 
also he·ji·ra (hĭ-jī'rə, hĕj'ər-ə) pronunciation
n.
  1. A flight to escape danger.
  2. also Hegira The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D., marking the beginning of the Muslim era.

[Medieval Latin, from Arabic hijra, emigration, flight, from hajara, to depart.]


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the term denoting Muhammad's departure from Mecca in ad 622 and used for dates in the Muslim era, is pronounced hej-i-rǝ in British English and in American English more commonly -jiy-rǝ. The spelling hejira is occasionally found.

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Hegira or Hejira (both: hĭjī'rə, hĕj'ərə) [Ar.,=Hijra=breaking off of relations], the departure of the prophet Muhammad from Mecca in Sept., 622. Muhammad was a monotheist and preached against the polytheism of the Meccan religion. This aroused the hostility of the merchant leaders of his native city, who derived much of their wealth from pilgrimages to Mecca and its surrounding cities. Forced to flee from his enemies, Muhammad went to Yathrib (later renamed Medina), where he became ruler. The Muslim era is dated from the first day (July 16, 622, in the Western calendar) of the lunar year in which the Hegira took place, and the abbreviation A.H. is used with that year (A.H. 1) and subsequent years.


Obscure Words:

hegira

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a journey esp when undertaken to escape from a dangerous or undesirable situation; exodus
Islamic Dictionary:

hegira

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(Arabic for "breaking-off") The emigration of Mohammad and the Muslims from Mecca to Medina in 622; the Muslim lunar calendar, the Hijra, dates from that year.

Word Tutor:

hegira

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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Any journey made for the sake of safety.

pronunciation The hegira was necessary to escape the floodwaters of the river.

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categories related to 'Hegira'

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For a list of words related to Hegira, see:
  • Islam - Hegira: Muhammad’s exodus from Mecca to Medina in 622A.D.


Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Hijra (Islam)

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Hijra
Other names The Flight of Mahomet;[1][2] The Migration of Mohammad; The Migration; Hijrah; Hegira
Participants Muhammad and his followers
Location Arabian Peninsula
Date 622
Result Renaming Yathrib as "the City (of the Prophet)" (Medina); Enmity between the Aus tribe and Khazraj tribes dampened (tribes converted to Islam); Muhammad made political leader and united the new Muslims

The Hijra (هِجْرَة) is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. Alternate spellings of this Arabic word are Hijrah, Hijrat or Hegira, the latter following the spelling rules of Latin.

Contents

Hijra of Muhammad

In September 622, warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly escaped out of Mecca with Abu Bakr.[3] However, two hadiths conclude that Abu Bakr was among the first who migrated to Medina, before the migration of Muhammad.[4][5] Muhammad and his followers emigrated to the city of Yathrib, 320 kilometres (200 mi) north of Mecca, in several steps. Yathrib was soon renamed Madinat un-Nabi, literally "the City of the Prophet", but un-Nabi was soon dropped, so its name in English is Medina, meaning "the city".[6] The Muslim year during which the Hijra occurred was designated the first year of the Islamic calendar by Umar in 638 or 17 AH (anno hegirae = "in the year of the hijra").[6] In the following chronology[6] the city will be referred to as Medina, and the region surrounding it as Yathrib.

Day Date Notes
Day 1
Thursday
26 Safar AH 1
(9 September 622)
Left home in Mecca. Hid three days in the Cave of Saur south of Mecca.
Day 5
Monday
1 Rabi' I AH 1
(13 September 622)
Left the environs of Mecca. Traveled north to the region of Yathrib.
Day 12
Monday
8 Rabi' I AH 1
(20 September 622)
Arrived at Quba' near Medina.
Day 16
Friday
12 Rabi' I AH 1
(24 September 622)
First visit to Medina for Friday prayers.
Day 26
Monday
22 Rabi' I AH 1
(4 October 622)
Moved from Quba' to Medina.

The Muslim dates are in the Islamic calendar extended back in time. The Western dates are in the Julian calendar. The Hijra is celebrated annually on 1 Muharram, the first day of the Muslim year, causing many writers to confuse the first day of the year of the Hijra with the Hijra itself, erroneously stating that the Hijra occurred on 1 Muharram AH 1 or 16 July 622 even though it occurred about 66 days later, nominally 8 Rabi' I.[6]

All dates given above may have occurred about 89 days (three lunar months) earlier. The Muslim dates may be those recorded in the original Arabic calendar and their month names may not have been changed to account for the (probably three) intercalary months inserted during the next nine years until intercalary months were prohibited during the year of Muhammad's last Hajj (AH 10).[7]

First Hijra

The Hijra and other earlier Muslim migrations.

Technically, the first Hijra occurred in 615 when a group of Muslims was counseled by Muhammad to escape persecution in Mecca and travel to the Kingdom of Axum, which was ruled by a Christian king (see Islam in Ethiopia). Muhammad himself did not join this emigration. In that year, his followers fled Mecca's leading tribe, the Quraysh, who sent emissaries to Axum to bring them back to Arabia. The nascent movement faced growing opposition and persecution. When Muhammad and his followers received an invitation from the people of Yathrib, they decided to leave Mecca.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dates of Epoch-Making Events", The Nuttall Encyclopaedia. (Gutenberg version)
  2. ^ Mahomet is an archaism used for Muhammad. See Medieval Christian view of Muhammad for more information.
  3. ^ Moojan Momen (1985), p. 5.
  4. ^ Saheeh Bukhari Hadith 1:661
  5. ^ Saheeh Bukhari Hadith 6754
  6. ^ a b c d F. A. Shamsi, "The Date of Hijrah", Islamic Studies 23 (1984): 189-224, 289-323.
  7. ^ See Islamic calendar

External links


Translations:

Hegira

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - hedjra (Muhammeds flugt til Medina)

Français (French)
n. - hégire

Deutsch (German)
n. - Hedschra

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (θρησκ.) εγίρα (η φυγή του Μωάμεθ από τη Μέκκα στη Μεδίνα)

Italiano (Italian)
egira

Português (Portuguese)
n. - hégira (f)

Русский (Russian)
хиджра, мусульманское летосчисление

Español (Spanish)
n. - hégira, héjira

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - hidjra a) Muhammeds flykt till Medina år 622, b) muslimernas tideräkning, flykt

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
伊斯兰教纪元

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 伊斯蘭教紀元

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 헤지라 (마호메트의 메카에서 메디나로의 이동), 회교기원, 도피

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ヘジラ, イスラム教紀元, 逃避行

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮היג'רה - בריחת הנביא מוחמד ממכה למדינה, תחילת הספירה האסלאמית - 226 לספירה הרגילה, בריחה או הגירה של אדם אחד‬


 
 
Related topics:
hijera
retreatment
anno Hegirae (year of the Islamic calendar)

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