Muhammad is the envoy of God, that is, Allah, to communicate the truth of the Qur'an to men. His activity as a preacher began in the city of Mecca, but there his words were not well received by merchants and other groups, so Muhammad decided to flee his hometown and move to another place to make his teachings known.
The chosen place was the city of Yathrib, which was later called Medina and was located 330 km from Mecca. This journey is known to the followers of Islam as the Hijra, a term that could be translated as exodus or emigration.
The Hegira in Islam
Among Muslims, the Hijra is much more than just a journey, as it symbolizes the beginning of the spread of Islam as a religion. On the other hand, in the Muslim calendar the years begin to be counted from Hegira and for this reason the abbreviation d. H equals after Hegira. In this way, the year 622 of the Christian era is equivalent to the year 1 of the Muslim world.
The journey of Muhammad and a group of followers to the city of Yathrib represented a new starting point for the spread of Islam. In principle Muhammad was received as a peacemaker, since at that time the different tribal clans of Yathrib were immersed in a permanent rivalry.
The faithful who settled in Yathrib formed a new community and what united them was not their blood ties but their beliefs, their faith in God.
Muhammad succeeded in bringing the different clans of Yathrib to peace and for this reason the city was renamed "the city of the Prophet" or Medina. Muhammad had offered them a message of peace and, at the same time, a set of religious principles inspired by the Qur'an. These principles are five and constitute the pillars of Islam.
The five pillars of Islam
- The first pillar or Shabada means that there is no other divinity other than Allah and that Muhammad is his true prophet.
- The second consists of saying five prayers throughout the day and is known as Salat.
- The third is Zakat and with it Muslims have to give a part of personal property to the poor.
- The fourth pillar or Hajj is fasting from dawn to dusk during the period of Ramadan.
- The fifth is called Sawm and consists of visiting the city of Mecca on pilgrimage at least once in your life.
These precepts or pillars are accompanied by all those teachings included in the Koran.
Photo: Fotolia - pbardocz
