Migration, and the Man Carried on a Bed

Allah (swt) then moves to a slightly different theme, from verse 105. Innā anzalnā ilayka al-kitāb: We have revealed this Book to you with the truth, so that you may judge between people by it, for it provides the criterion of right and wrong. Wa-lā takun li-l-khāʾinīna khaṣīmā: and do not be a traitors' advocate. Behind this lies another story. But first, one matter related to verse 100, wa-man yuhājir fī sabīli Allāh: the concept of hijrah, which is part of migration. Sometimes, when a place is simply unbearable and one cannot practise one's dīn there, migration is the option; sometimes it even becomes necessary.

People were migrating from Makkah Mukarramah to Madīnah Munawwarah because of the persecution. There was a Ṣaḥābī who was very old and very sick. His name was Ḥamzah ibn Qays^** — Sayyidunā Ḥamzah ibn Qays. He saw this verse; he saw the virtues and all the rest, and he felt: I cannot travel to Madīnah Munawwarah; I cannot migrate; I do not have the energy. What did he do? This shows that when one cannot do a thing, one does the best one can, and Allah will accept it. That is the intention of the believer. He told his children: put me on a bed, put me on a platform — put me on a bed and carry me towards Madīnah Munawwarah. No sooner had they left Makkah Mukarramah than, before a night had passed, he died. So Allah (swt) says:

Wa-man yuhājir fī sabīli Allāhi yajid fī al-arḍi murāghaman kathīran wa-saʿah. Wa-man yakhruj min baytihi muhājiran ilā Allāhi wa-rasūlih — this part of verse 100 — whoever leaves his house migrating to Allah and His Messenger, thumma yudrik-hu al-mawt, and then death overtakes him before he arrives, fa-qad waqaʿa ajruhu ʿalā Allāh: his reward is binding upon Allah. Allah will give him his reward. Hence it may be said of one's qaḍāʾ prayers, or anything else: so long as one has begun and is doing one's best, Allah, in shāʾ Allāh, will forgive the remainder and give the reward for it. And Allah is All-Forgiving and All-Merciful.