In this way he would have derived the Tawāb of Hijrat.

In this way he would have derived the Tawāb of Hijrat.” The Almighty Allah revealed the following ayat on this occasion: “And whoever flies in Allah’s way, he will find in the earth many a place of refuge and abundant resources; and whoever goes forth from his house flying to Allah and His Apostle, and then death overtakes him, his reward is indeed with Allah and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” (Surah an-Nisā’ 4:100) Becoming A’arāb after the passing of the Holy Prophet (S) During the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (S) it was incumbent upon every person to migrate towards him (S) to obtain instruction in religion and faith.

In case he lived in the midst of unbelievers where he could not perform the obligatory acts of prayers and fasting, it was all the more necessary to migrate. Failure to migrate and returning to nomadism is decreed to be a Greater Sin and the Almighty has promised Hell fire for such people. After the passing away of the Holy Prophet (S) it became Wajib to turn towards the Holy Imams (a.s.) and to obtain the compulsory knowledge of faith and articles of Islamic acts.

Also, it was most essential to attain the Ma’refat of Imam (a.s.) i.e. it was incumbent to have knowledge of one’s Imam and also to learn the matters of belief and acts. It was also prohibited to turn back to paganism after the acceptance of Islamic faith. To remain aloof from the Holy Imam (a.s.) even after recognising their position is Harām.

Thus, Shaykh Sadūq narrates from Huzaifa bin Mansūr that he has reported from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) who said: “To become A’arāb after Hijrat is to recognise Imam (a.s.) and then be aloof from him.”[^3] Since the present age is the age of occultation of Imam az-Zaman (a.s.) the same rules apply to us. It is necessary to migrate towards the jurist Hijrat is incumbent on two types of people. The first type are those who are absolutely ignorant of the rules of religion.

If there is no religious scholar in the area of their residence, whom they can refer to for their religious problems, then, it is compulsory for them to shift to a place where they have access to religious scholars for the solution of their problems. The second types are those Muslims who live in the midst of unbelievers, and due to the oppression of these infidels, they are unable to perform their religious duties.

It is incumbent on these Muslims to migrate to an area where there is freedom to practice their religion. The Shia jurists have explained this matter clearly.