Surah Al-Ankaboot (29) — Ayah 56

(Ayah 56) ➊ {يٰعِبَادِيَ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْۤا:} The reality is that all creation are indeed slaves (servants) of Allah. Then these servants are of two types: believers and disbelievers. Allah has given both free will; the believer abandoned his own preference and chose the preference of his Lord, giving priority to His will over his own. Thus, in every matter, he became a slave, servant, and bondsman of Allah. Whatever the Master commanded, he did; whatever He forbade, he refrained from. That is why Allah addressed him with the honorable and loving words {’’ يٰعِبَادِيْ ‘‘} (O My servants!). Although the disbeliever is also a servant of Allah, he adopted rebellion before his Lord, following his own will instead of Allah’s will, so he was deprived of the address of love. After {’’ يٰعِبَادِيْ‘‘}, {’’ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْۤا ‘‘} is to express that this honor was attained because of faith.
➋ { اِنَّ اَرْضِيْ وَاسِعَةٌ:} The theme of this surah is the trial of the people of faith. Sometimes this trial reaches such an extent that, by staying in their homeland, the believer’s faith is put at risk; the oppression and tyranny of the disbelievers increases to such a level that he can neither practice his religion nor invite others to it. At the time of the revelation of the surah, this was the condition of the Muslims in Makkah. In such a situation, they were encouraged to migrate: if, in the land of Makkah where you now reside, it has become difficult for you to worship Me, then My earth is not narrow, it is very spacious; leave your homeland and go to a place where you can worship Me freely. The examples of Ibrahim and Lut (peace be upon them) have already been mentioned earlier in this surah. The Muslims, in accordance with Allah’s command, first migrated to Abyssinia, then to Madinah Munawwarah, and Allah granted them the blessings of peace, security, freedom, and abundant provision. Even now, the same command applies: if a person lives in a place where evil prevails and it is not possible for him to act upon Allah’s commands, then it is obligatory for him to migrate from that place to somewhere he can worship Allah freely. In Surah An-Nisa, verses (97 to 100), the obligation of migration, its virtue, and the warning for those who do not migrate have been mentioned.
➌ { فَاِيَّايَ فَاعْبُدُوْنِ:} From this it is understood that the real purpose of migration is the worship of Allah alone; going to another country or city for earning a livelihood or for any other purpose is not the real migration. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إِلَی اللّٰهِ وَرَسُوْلِهِ ، فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلی اللّٰهِ وَرَسُوْلِهِ، وَمَنْ هَاجَرَ إِلٰی دُنْيَا يُصِيْبُهَا أَوِ امْرَأَةٍ يَتَزَوَّجُهَا، فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلٰی مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِ ] [بخاري، الحیل، باب في ترک الحیل… : ۶۹۵۳، عن عمر بن الخطاب رضی اللہ عنہ ] “So whoever’s migration was for Allah and His Messenger, then his migration is for Allah and His Messenger; and whoever migrated for some worldly thing to attain it, or for a woman to marry her, then his migration is for that for which he migrated.”

56-1. In this, there is the command to migrate from such a place where worshipping Allah becomes difficult and remaining steadfast on the religion becomes burdensome, just as the Muslims first migrated from Makkah to Abyssinia and later to Madinah.

56. O My servants who have believed! (If the land of Makkah has become too constrained for you,) surely My earth is vast, so worship [88] Me alone.

[88]
Nationalism and Tribalism are Disbelief. The Importance of Migration for Religious Freedom:

From the very words of the verse, it is clear that it was revealed at a time when the disbelievers of Makkah had inflicted such hardships upon the Muslims that their very existence had become unbearable. Allah Almighty provided the solution to this difficulty by instructing them to migrate from that region and settle where they could worship Him freely. It should be noted that love for one’s homeland and relatives is inherent in human nature. However, this patriotism should not reach the level of nationalism, nor should love for relatives reach the level of tribalism. The real priority is the worship of Allah and the protection of one’s religion; compared to this, homeland and tribe are insignificant. And if one gives preference to homeland and nation at the expense of religion, then this becomes nationalism and tribalism, and this is disbelief.