86 1" fix FoofSttpl oj tIlt Prop~f
of hi s own human experience. Hijrah was also, then, a trial o f intelligence,
spurring the need to distinguish bet\>"Cen principles and their cultural
manifestations; moreover, it implied opening up and confidently welcom-
ing n ew customs, new ways o f being and thinking, n ew tastes. Thus, the
universality of principles m erged with the necessity of recognizing the '
diversity of ways of life and cultures. Exile was the most immediate and
profound experience of this, since it implied uprooting oneself while
remaining faiiliful to the sa me G od , to the same meaning. in different
environments.
Hijrah is also the experience of liberatio n , both histo rical and spiritual.
Moses had liberated his people from Pharaoh's oppression and led them
toward faith and freedom. The essence of hfjrah is of exactly the same
nature: persecuted because of their beliefs, t h e faithful decided to b reak
away from theif tormen tors and march to freedo m. In so doing, they
stressed that they could nor accept oppression, that they could not accept
the Status o f victim, and thai basically tllC matter was simple: publicly
speaking the name o f God implied either being free Of b reaking free. This
same message had alread y been conveyed by the Prophet, then by Abu
Bakr, to all the slaves in 1'[ecca: their arnYaI in Islam meant their liberation,
and all the tea chi ngs of Islam pointed to the ending of slavery. Hence-
forth, a broader call was addressed to the 11uslim spiritual community as a
who le: faith requires freedom and justice and o ne must be prepared, as was
the: case wi th Nimh, to pay th e personal and collective price fOf it.
The spiritual dimension of those teachings is ncar at hand; indeed, it
underlies thcm an d endo ws them with meaning. From the very first
Re\'datio ns, .Muhammad had been invited to exile himself fro m hi s per-
secutOrs and from evil: ''And have patience with what they say, and keep
your distance from them in a good exile."9 T hen: ''And all abomination
[sin, evil] shun.,,10
Abraham, whose nephew Lot was o ne of the few pt:Ople to believe and
recognize him, adopted the same attitude when he addressed his people
in the following terms:
And IAbraham] said : " For you, you ha\"~ taken [for worship] idols besidcs
God, Out of mutual love and regard beN-'cen yourselves in this life; but on
the Dar of Judgment you shall disown each orner and curse each oth~f.
And your abod~ ",1.l.I be th~ Fire, and you shall have none to help." But Lot