 I begin in the name of the Almighty God, the compassionate, the merciful, the one who has created everything in utmost perfection. And may the peace and blessings of the Almighty God be upon his pure and beloved messenger, the peak of his creation, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and his pure progeny of the Ahlul Bayt, especially the leader of our time, the awaited saviour, Imam al-Mahdi, may God hasten his reappearance and make us all amongst his sincere and dedicated servants. Subhanahu wa ta'ala, states in the Holy Quran, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, wa al-lathina hajaru fillahi min ba'di ma'zulimu, la nubaw'i annahum fid dunya hasana wa la ajru al-akhirat akbaru lawkanu ya'lamoon. Sadaq Allahul Ali al-Azim, illuminate your hearts and minds with a very loud salawat. As we continue our exploration into the first general ziyara of Abiy Abdullahi al-Husayn, we come across this beautiful passage which introduces a concept to us that we're all familiar with as we have experience with this. If not, our parents have experience with this. It's a concept that is applicable to us and hundreds of millions of Muslims throughout history. In the ziyara we come to this passage, al-tamisu kamal al-manzilati an-da Allah wa thabata al-qadami fil-hijrati ilayk. We are addressing Imam al-Husayn, alayhi salam, and we say we beseech, we seek. The highest and most complete status with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and to be firm and fixed in my migration to you, O Aba Abdullah. We have this passage that speaks of us migrating to Imam al-Husayn, alayhi salam, asking God to give us the tawfiq and the success to migrate towards Abiy Abdullah al-Husayn. The topic of migration is an extremely important topic that has many ramifications to it. It is applicable to millions of people around the world in history, especially Muslims. On this evening, let us analyze the topic of migration in order for us to find out how can we migrate to Imam al-Husayn, alayhi salam. Number one, what was the significance of migration in the success of the religion of Islam? Number two, who is the one who had the two migrations, the one who migrated the two migrations? Number three, how do we respond to the migration crisis today in Europe? And number four, how can we train our hearts to migrate towards Abiy Abdullah al-Husayn? When you examine the history of the religion of Islam, you see that Muslims were persecuted in Mecca on a daily basis. Some of us who think it's very difficult to adhere to the religion of Islam or to be religious, we have no clue those who came before us what they had to go through. We have no clue how difficult it was for them to protect their faith in early Islam in the city of Mecca. Muslims were persecuted at all levels, many of them every day they would be tortured. There was an economic embargo on them, they were not free to buy, sell, conduct business and trade as they wished. Socially, they were excommunicated, they were attacked from every direction, psychologically there was so much pressure on them. The Prophet realized that if these Muslims stay here in Mecca, they will perish. The pagans would eliminate them. Therefore, with the instruction of Allah SWT, the Prophet instructed those early Muslims to migrate. Where did they migrate to? He assigned a group of his companions and he had Jafar al-Tayyar, Jafar the son of Abi Talib to be their spokesperson, to be the leader of those companions who migrated even though he was the youngest of them. But the Prophet wanted him to lead that group. He instructed them to go to Ethiopia, to Abyssinia, Habashah. He told them there is a king there, he is just, go and seek refuge in that king. So they went westward towards Abyssinia, they went to the port of Jeddah, they took a boat, they crossed the Red Sea and they went towards Abyssinia. When they reached the land of Abyssinia, the king who was there in Abyssinia, Najashi, he gave them a refuge because he was a just king even though he was not a Muslim, he was a Christian. But he had respect for people of other faith. When the Meccans realized that these Muslims are going to Abyssinia and their numbers are increasing, they are gaining power, they are given refuge, they dispatched two pagans, one of them was Amr ibn al-Aas. And he took a lot of money and gifts with him. He went to the king of Habashah, he went to Najashi. He told them, why have you given these guys refuge? He gives them the gift to entice him. He tells them, don't you know that these are corrupt people, trouble makers? We were united in Mecca, they came and they split our society. They created a lot of troubles for us, why have you given them refuge? Najashi he called on them, Jaafar al-Tayyar was the spokesperson. So he told him, how do you respond to this, what did you do in Mecca? He tells them, oh Najashi, we in Mecca, before the religion of Islam, we committed all acts of vices, meaning the society. We would kill one another, we would steal each other's property, adultery would be committed, the stronger ones, the powerful ones would exploit the weak ones. We lived in a miserable state. Then God sent us a messenger who changed our situation. He invited us to worship only one God. He invited us to respect one another. He invited us to care for the poor. He outlawed all of these vices and corrupt actions and we believed in him, we followed him. Because we followed this prophet, the people of Mecca didn't like it. So they started persecuting us. And Allah swt sent us verses in our holy book which is called the Quran. Najashi told him, he asked Jaafar al-Tayyar, can you recite some verses from the Quran for me? I want to hear this Quran. He told him yes. And Jaafar was smart. He chose the verses that Najashi would interact with most. He started reading the first few verses of Surat Maryam. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, kaaf ha yaa ainsad, dikru rahmati rabbika abdahu zakariya, idnada rabbahu nidaan khafiyya, qal rabbii inni wahana al-azmuminni, wa shta'ala al-raasushayban wa lam aakun bedua'aika rabbishakiyya. He continued until he spoke about Maryam al-salam, how she conceived Jesus and how he was born. When Najashi and those priests who were in his presence heard these beautiful words, they could not hold back their tears. Their tears were overflowing. Najashi said, what you have recited and what Jesus used to teach, they both come from the same source. Najashi believed in the message of the Holy Quran and he told Amr ibn al-Aas, go. Go back to Mecca, I will not hand these migrants to you. He gave them refuge. And they stayed there for many years. Salamah was there, the wife of the Prophet. Abdullah ibn Ja'far, the husband of Lady Zaynab al-Aas, he was born there in Abyssinia when his father had migrated to Abyssinia seeking refuge. This was one migration in the early days of Islam and this migration allowed the Prophet to protect that early Muslim community. And then you had a second migration, the migration from the city of Mecca to the city of Medina in which he himself, the Prophet, migrated. History tells us that when the Prophet migrated, he left Mecca and he settled in Medina. On his way to Medina, he reached a village by the name of Quba. Now Imam Ali al-Aas did not go with the Prophet, he stayed in Mecca. The Prophet instructed him, he told him, O Ali, I want you to stay in Mecca for two reasons. Number one, there are many people, even from the Prophet's enemies, the pagans, they had entrusted me with valuable items. I want you to return those items, SubhanAllah, they used to attack the Prophet, accuse him of being insane, accuse him of being a sorcerer, of being a liar, but everyone entrusted him, a sadaq al-ameen. Even his enemies, when they used to travel, there was no banking system back then. There was no safe box, you could put your valuables. So they used to bring these valuable items, their golden coins, their jewelry, and give it to the Prophet to protect it for them. He asked Imam Ali al-Aas stay in Mecca in order to return the items. That's why Imam Ali al-Aas went by Masjid al-Haram and he made an announcement. He says, O people of Mecca, any one of you had submitted an item to the Prophet, please come and take it from me. That's number one. Number two, the Prophet wanted Imam Ali al-Aas to bring the three Fatimas, because they had stayed behind. One of them was his mother, Fatima bint Assad. The second one was Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet. And at this point, remember Imam Ali hadn't married her yet. He married her in Medina. And the third Fatima was the cousin of the Prophet. She was the daughter of Az-Zubayr ibn Abdul-Muttalib, the very cousin of the Holy Prophet. He told him, O Ali, I want you to bring these three respected women with you to Medina. The Prophet, before he went to Medina, he camped in a village called Quba. Abu Bakr insisted on the Prophet, why don't you go to Yathrib, let's go. The Prophet said, No, I am waiting for my beloved brother Ali ibn Abi Talib and my daughter Fatima. When they come, then I will enter Medina. He kept insisting on him, No, let's go. Let's enter, the people have called on you. This is a migration, the Prophet refused. He sent a letter to Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, telling him to hasten. Hurry up, O Ali, come, I am waiting for you. Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, alaihi salam, takes the three Fatimas. He has them riding on the camel and he walked barefoot all the way from Mecca to the city of Medina. And the Prophet saw Amir al-Mu'mineen salam, alaihi salam. He was overjoyed, he hugged him, he embraced him, but the Prophet, his heart was pained when he saw the feet of Imam Ali, they had swollen and the blood was coming out of them. This is the sacrifice of Imam Ali, alaihi salam. When Imam Ali and the three Fatimas arrived in Quba, then the Prophet said, Now let's go to Medina. Now that my brother has arrived, let's go to Medina. And when he arrived, Medina, the pact of brotherhood occurred. We've all heard of the pact of brotherhood in which the Prophet assigned brothers from the Mohajanin and the Ansar. He would choose one of the migrants, the Mohajanin, and he would say, Okay, one of the Ansar, one of the people of Medina is your brother. He assigned all of his companions as brothers, except one man. Ali ibn Abi Talib alaihi salam came towards the Prophet, he told him, Ya Rasulallah, you've assigned all the companions of brother, but you have left me out. Why have you not assigned a brother for me? The Prophet in front of all those companions. And history narrates this, Sunni and Shi'a sources have narrated this? The Prophet says, Oh Ali, I have left you for me, you are my brother. Subhanallah, the years go by, ten days, ten years after that, ten years after that. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam passes away, they take Ameer al-Mu'mineen alaihi salam chained up to the mosque of the Prophet. And they told him, Ali, either you give allegiance or we kill you. Go and read history, see what happened. He told them, if you kill me, then you will have killed the slave of Allah and the brother of his Prophet. You know what one of them told him? They told him, Yes, as for you being the slave of God, that's correct, you are the slave of God. But as for you being the brother of the Prophet, no. You're not the brother of the Prophet. Now they rejected the position that Allah had given Ameer al-Mu'mineen alaihi salam. This migration from Mecca to Medina served as a turning point in Islamic history. It was so important such that the Islamic calendar begins with it. This year is 1437, right? What is this based on? This is based on the migration of the Prophet. Migration from Mecca to Medina, it represented a transition from polytheism to monotheism, from immorality to morality, from backwardsness to progress, from lack of freedom to freedom. It was an extremely crucial turning point in the history of Islam. The tribes of Mecca were very rigid. Meccans had a tribal mentality. They were very rigid, very backwards. They had no civilization. Whereas in Medina, you had a lot more diversity. It was more of an agricultural society. You had Christians, you had the Jewish people. And because of its diversity and its openness, they were more willing to accept the religion of Islam. But that migration was a very difficult move for those early Muslims. It was nothing easy. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala highly encouraged them. The Qur'an promised them that if you migrate and you die on the way, you become a Shahid, fa qadwata a'adruhu ala Allah. And the muhajjali, the migrants, they were given a special title within Islam. They had the honor of being called a muhajjab, being a migrant who left his city and settled in Medina. Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, alaihi salam, participated in this migration. Shortly after the Prophet migrated, he migrated. Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib had another migration. You see, in his amazing speech, Imam Zayn al-Abideen, alaihi salam, when he was introducing his father, Imam Ali, in the courtyard of Yazid, in that powerful speech, which shook the foundations of the Umayyad dynasty. He mentions a beautiful phrase about Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib. He says, I am the son of the one who made the two migrations, alabnu man hajjal al-hijratain. What was the second migration of Imam Ali? Because we know Imam Ali did go to Habasah. The Prophet wanted him to stay in Mecca to defend Islam. So what's the second migration? The second migration of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, alaihi salam, was his migration from the city of Medina to Kufa. SubhanAllah, when you contrast these two migrations, it's truly amazing how they're similar and also different. The migration from Mecca to Medina represented Muqtari. And the migration from Medina to Kufa represented Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib. That was the origin of Islam and the second migration was to protect the movements. Many people and some ignorant historians believe Medina go to Kufa. Number one, Medina is the Muslim Catholic empire. Why would you leave that city? It's your base, it's your shrine, not even having a lot of people of Kufa, the people of Al-A'ab. They would betray you without listening to them. They're troublemakers. Why did he make that move as soon as he became the Khalifa? He left the city of Medina and went to Kufa. Why would the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib do something like that? The goal of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib was not to be a king. Or consolidate his power or accumulate wealth. Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib does not care about the power. Nor does he care about the position of the king of the ruler. Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib had one goal. And that was to protect the religion of Islam from being obliterated. Because when Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, after 25 years, he was assigned as the Khalifa, elected as the Khalifa by the people, first of all, so much has changed. Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib had many challenges to deal with. So many different challenges. One had so many aspects of Islam that changed. You know, Bukhari mentions Ahadith. One of those companions who prayed behind Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, he prayed behind. This man is Muqarraf ibn Abdullah. He says, I was one day praying behind Ali ibn Abi Talib with Oman ibn Hussain. When we prayed, we finished Oman ibn Hussain. Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, he told me, this Islam finally reminded us of the Islam of Muhammad ibn Abdullah. Allah knows how much they have changed the Islam, because Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib. You are my refuge in every tragedy, in every distressed state. Allah, you are my thukah. I only trust you, you're my only refuge. Warajahi fi kulli shiddah O Allah, you are my only hope in every difficulty. Walifi kulli wa antali fi kulli ma nazalabi adatun wa shiddah Kammin hammin yadu'ufu fi hilfuat If you ever feel your heart is weak, it's overwhelmed by the agony, by the depression, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib is describing the state. He says, O Allah, whenever my heart is weakened by the depression, by the agony, by that stress, Kammin hammin yadu'ufu fi hilfuat wa yakhdulu fi hilsadi And O Allah, in all those difficulties, my closest friends, they abandon me. My heart is weakened. I have no way to help myself. I have no way to save myself. Then what happens? He says, Anzaltuhu bikkawashakautuhu ilayk O Allah, whenever this happens to me, I turn to you truly. I open my heart to you, and I only complain and object to you. No one else. O Allah, I find the relief from you. This is a promise from Abiyah Abdullah al-Hussain. Do we not want to migrate to Imam al-Hussain alaihi salam? The path of Toba is open for us. Open your heart to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the best way, brothers and sisters, to protect yourself from depression, make yourself busy, day and night do the right thing. Last year I met a brother in Canada. He was experiencing severe depression. I told him a few things. One important thing that I told him that truly lifted him. Truly lifted him. He is now Alhamdulillah in the best state. I told him, Look, don't give yourself even five minutes to think about your depression. Overwhelm yourself. Overwhelm yourself. Read a book. Go out. Play. Exercise. Gather with your friends. Do something such that when you go back to your apartment, it's your bedtime. You want to sleep? The minute you put your head on the pillow, you're exhausted. You just sleep. Keep yourself busy. And when you keep yourself busy doing the right things, helping others, increasing your knowledge, focusing on your Ibadah, believe me, that night you will sleep the best night. This is the best protection against depression. When at night you put your head on the pillow knowing that today I satisfied my Lord. I satisfied my Imam al-Hujjah. Today I helped someone. I gave a smile to someone. I didn't waste time. I increased my knowledge. That thought will give you the best sleep that night. This is the best way for you to lift yourself out of depression. This is the migration towards Aba Abdullah al-Husayn. On this night we speak to Aba Abdullah. We tell you, Oh, Aba Abdullah al-Husayn, I am not worthy. I am the sinful creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But Oh, Aba Abdullah, we have one honor. All of us who have gathered here tonight, who are participating in this event, especially the volunteers, the organizers, we tell you, Oh, Aba Abdullah, we have no actions. We are truly shameful of what we've done throughout our lives. But Oh, Aba Abdullah, we have one thing that we're proud of. And that is being your servant, Oh, Aba Abdullah al-Husayn. On the day of judgment, the greatest honor for us is to be a servant of Aba Abdullah al-Husayn. We migrate towards Aba Abdullah al-Husayn. These are the lessons of migration that we take from the history of Islam. And let's take all these lessons, summarize them in our hearts, keep them encapsulated in our hearts and move forward to Aba Abdullah. Every morning when you wake up, ask yourself, I'm on my journey, on my migration to Aba Abdullah al-Husayn. What should I do today to make this a migration that brings me closer to Aba Abdullah al-Husayn? On such a night, we commemorate two personalities, the sons of migrants. Their grandfather was Ja'far al-Tayyar, the one who migrated to Ethiopia, to Abyssinia. These two gems of Al-Muhammad, these two flowers of the Ahl al-Bayt. You know, SubhanAllah, every mother, her dream, what makes her happy is for her to raise kids whom she can see prosper, kids whom she can marry off. Every mother sacrifices for her child, for her son. But there was one mother in Keremah. She pushed her two sons towards martyrdom. Which mother does this, brothers and sisters? Every mother wants to see her two sons live after her. But we had this mother in Karbala, Umm al-Mas'aib, the mother of all tragedies. Can you believe how Zaynab al-Salam was for her to encourage her sons and to go fight because she knew she had a brother who was ghareeb, a brother who was lonely and strange, a brother who was abandoned and she pushed them to go and serve Aba Abdullah al-Husayn. Aoun al-Muhammad, these two gems of Al-Muhammad, they are the grandsons of Ali ibn Abi Talib and the grandsons of Ja'far al-Tayyar because their father is Abdullah ibn Ja'far. You see these two gems, grandsons of two of the most amazing personalities in Islam. They joined Aba Abdullah al-Husayn in Karbala on the night of Ashura when narration tells us Zaynab gathers her two sons Aoun al-Muhammad. She tells them, my dear two sons, tomorrow the mother of Ali ibn Al-Akbar Laylah shall be proud, tomorrow the mother of Qasim Ramlah she shall be proud. Will you make your mother proud, will you make Zaynab proud tomorrow? They told her, oh mother we will not let you down, tomorrow we promise we will illuminate your face. The day of Ashura comes, one by one the companions of Imam al-Husayn, they fall to the ground. Aoun al-Muhammad, these two young boys, the oldest one Aoun was only 13 years old. He sees Imam al-Husayn alaihi salam resting his back on the pole of the tent, seeing that he lost all of his companions, he made a cry which broke their heart. He said, Allah al-minna sireni ansaruni, is there anyone to protect me? Is there anyone to support me? Is there anyone to support these women, these children Aoun al-Muhammad couldn't take it. They walked up to Abdullah al-Husayn, these two young brothers. They told him, oh uncle please give us the permission to go out and fight and defend you and defend these women and children. Imam al-Husayn alaihi salam when he sees these two young boys, he could not hold back his tears. It's as if he remembered when he was growing up with Imam al-Husayn, that amazing brotherhood that he had. He begins to cry, he tells them, oh Aoun al-Muhammad, how can I let you go and die? You have to stay and protect your mother Zaynah because a very difficult journey lies ahead of her. To be there for your mother Zaynah, the Imam refuses to give them permission, oh now their hearts are broken, they go back to their mother Zaynah, oh our mother Zaynah, our uncle Hussain refuses to allow us to go to the battlefield, please come and convince him. Zaynah alaihi salam, she goes to Abu Abdullah al-Husayn, she tells him, oh Abu Abdullah please allow them to go and fight and defend you, he says, no how can I, how can I see these two gems die? Protecting me, I do not allow that, Zaynah tells him, oh my brother Hussain, on the day of judgment the face of Laylah shall be shining because of Aliin al-Akbar, and the face of Ramlah shall be shining because of Qasim, don't you want the face of your sister Zaynah to shine? Oh Allah, which mother in history begs, begs for her sons to become Shahada, Imam al-Husayn's heart is broken, he says, okay fine, I have now given the permission, they farewell their mother, then they go to Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, some narrations say that Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas when they were younger he would teach them the art of fighting, they went to Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, they told them, oh Abu al-Fadl, this is our final farewell, they gave their salam to al-Abbas and they went out to the battlefield, as for Muhammad very valiantly, so courageously he spoke lines of poetry and he told them, may Allah blind all of you, you have changed the religion of Islam, you have changed the Quran, you're fighting about Abdullah al-Husayn, why do you find such a noble man, as for Aoun he goes out to the battlefield and he recites If no one knows me then let me tell you, I'm the son, I'm the grandson of Jafar al-Tayyar do you know who Jafar al-Tayyar is, he is that Shaheed whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave him two wings and paradise, he both Aoun and Muhammad they take the sword, they charge at those enemies, they fight so courageously, they kill many of those cowardly men, Omar ibn Sa'ad he calls on his army, he tells them, woe upon you, don't you see how they're killing us, charge at them from every angle, do you not know who they are, these are the sons of Zainab, these are the grandsons of Ali, don't give them any leeway because they shall massacre us all, they charge at them from every direction, but all believers, two young boys, the oldest one is 13, how much can they fight, they surround them from every direction and then they strike them, they fall to the ground, Aoun falls to the ground, he says, as-salamu alaika ya abal fadul ala abbas, oh abbas are you proud of us, you trained us for this day, you're the one who taught us the art of warfare, oh abbas are you proud of us, then Imam al-Hussein alayhi as-salam comes to the body of Aoun, he's breathing his final moments, he looks at Aba Abdullah al-Hussein, he tells him, my dear uncle, are you proud of me, Imam al-Hussein alayhi as-salam says, yes my dear nephew, I am proud of you for what you have done, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward you, then what narration says Aoun told Imam al-Hussein, oh my dear uncle, I have one request from you, he said yes, what is it, tell me, he told him go when you go to my mother Zaynab, tell her that I did not drink water, because I knew that she was thirsty and I wanted to die thirsty in order to show my love for my mother Zaynab, narrations tell us that when they passed away and when they became Shahid and Zaynab realized they became Shahid, narrations tell us that Zaynab would cry for all of the martyrs in Karbala, she cried for Ali in Al-Aqbar, she cried for Al-Qasim, she cried for Aba Abdullah al-Abbas, all of them, but only when her two sons became Shahid Zaynab did not cry, she fell on the floor in Sujood and she said, oh Allah, I thank you for giving me this honor that my two sons become Shahid, Zaynab was very strong, she did not want to fail the mission of Aba Abdullah al-Hussein, narrations tell us in Karbala she did not cry for them, on her way to Kufa she did not cry, she wanted to show the enemies she was strong defending Aba Abdullah al-Hussein and Shahab she did not cry, came back to Medina, one narration tells us when she came back to Medina and she went inside the house and she saw the rooms of Armin Muhammad, she could not control herself