Surah An-Nahl (16) — Ayah 41

(Ayah41) ➊ {وَ الَّذِيْنَ هَاجَرُوْا فِي اللّٰهِ … : ’’ هَاجَرُوْا ‘‘ ’’هَجَرَ يَهْجُرُ‘‘ } is from the form Mufa‘alah. There is a difference in meaning between {’’هَجَرَ‘‘} and {’’هَاجَرَ‘‘}. {’’ هَجَرَ الْمَكَانَ ‘‘} can mean “he left such-and-such a place,” perhaps he no longer liked it and, in his view, went to a better place; the place did not force him to leave, he left it of his own will. But { ’’هَاجَرَ ‘‘ }, that is, in the form Mufa‘alah, there is an element of opposition, meaning the resistance and opposition from the people forced him to leave his homeland; he was not willing to leave his place on his own. (Shu‘arawi)

➋ It was not possible at all for those who believed in Allah’s oneness and the Hereafter to live happily and mingle with those who denied oneness and the Hereafter, especially when the believers were few in number and weak in strength. Who would willingly leave his homeland, where the House of Allah is? Therefore, they left their homeland for two reasons: one, because of the oppression of their people, as He said: «{ مِنْۢ بَعْدِ مَا ظُلِمُوْا }», and second, because it was no longer possible to practice Allah’s religion in their homeland, so they left their homes, relatives, tribes, property—everything—for Allah’s sake, and went to a place where they could be safe from oppression and practice Allah’s religion. Since this surah is Makki, it refers to those Muslims who, distressed by the oppression and persecution of the disbelievers, migrated from Makkah to Abyssinia. Their number, including men, women, and children, was about one hundred, more or less, among whom were ‘Uthman Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him) and his wife Ruqayyah (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). However, because the wording is general, it includes every emigrant, whether from Makkah to Abyssinia, to Madinah, or from any oppressive town to a town of safety. It is also possible that this verse contains a prior indication of migration to Madinah after Abyssinia.

➌ {لَنُبَوِّئَنَّهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً …: ’’ بَوَّءَ يُبَوِّءُ‘‘} (taf‘il) means to give a place to live, to provide shelter. Allah Almighty has made this promise with two emphatic particles, lam and nun thaqilah, so He granted these weak and exiled emigrants honor, dignity, greatness, authority, wealth—in short, everything in this world. They became rulers not only of the Arabian Peninsula, but also of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Persia, and within half a century, they dominated the entire world. This is no small reward; it is a great reward, which helps in the propagation of religion and preparation for the Hereafter. Akbar (greater) is used in comparison to kabir (great), not to saghir (small), so He said, “Surely the reward of the Hereafter is greater,” meaning even greater than this, in fact, the greatest of all. Allah Almighty has mentioned great virtue for migration. See Surah al-Baqarah (2:218), Al ‘Imran (3:195), and Surah al-Nisa’ (4:100).

➍ { لَوْ كَانُوْا يَعْلَمُوْنَ :} can refer to three types of people: (1) Disbelievers—if they had knowledge, they would have believed. (2) Emigrants—if they knew the virtue of migration, they would be extremely happy. (3) Those believers who did not migrate—if they knew the virtue of migration, they would surely have migrated.