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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Spiritual Discourses Discourse 10 : Migration and Jihad I And whoso goes forth from his house as an emigrant to God and His Messenger and then death overtakes him, his wage shall have fallen on God. Surely God is All-forgiving All-compassionate. (4:100) The holy religion of Islam is based on the two pillars of migration and jihad (spiritual and religious struggle upon the way of God).

The Quran sanctifies both matters and praises profoundly those who migrate. Migration means leaving one's home and dwelling and Setting off for another destination in order to save religion and faith This matter is referred to in many verses of the Quran The Muslims of early Islam consisted of two groups: The Emigrants and the . The were In Medina and the Emigrants were those who left their town and Went to Medina.

Migration and jihad cannot be abrogated; both are permanent decrees which conditions might at any time make necessary. To remove misunderstanding, let me explain that other intepretations are also made of both migration and jihad. It has been said, " An emigrant is one who abandons sins." Is this meaning proper? If so, then all penitents in the world who avoid sin are emigrants. Two examples may be given here: Fuzeil bin Iyaz and Bashir Hafi.

Fuzeil was a thief at the beginning but a change of heart made him reject all sins and repent sincerely. Later he was known not only as a virtuous man but as a guide and teacher of others. In his former days he climbed a wall to enter a house where as it happened a devout man kept awake praying and reading the Quran. He heard the melodious voice of the man reading a verse of the Holy Quran. When he heard it, sitting on the wall, he thought, "It is a revelation addressed directly to me.

Yes, oh God, it is time, this very moment." He climbed down and from that moment on, he abandoned theft, drinking and gambling and whatever other vices he had. He restored as much property as was possible and whatever other vices he had. He restored as much property as was possible to their owners and made up for all his missed acts of worship. Thus, he was an emigrant from sin.

In the time of Imam Musa Kazim, peace be upon him, there was a man in Baghdad called Bashir Hafi who was a pleasure-loving aristocrat. One day the Imam was passing by this man's house when a maid came out to leave the rubbish somewhere. At the same time, the sound of music was heard from the house.