Definition

Noun: 1. A journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment: A mass migration or exodus undertaken to flee danger, persecution, or an untenable situation. 2. The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD: This specific event marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar and is a foundational moment in Islamic history, representing the establishment of the first Muslim community.

Usage Examples

• General Meaning (Mass Exodus):
  • The drought caused a hejira of farmers from the rural plains to the cities.
  • Historians documented the hejira of refugees across the border during the war.
• Specific Historical Meaning:
  • The year of the Hijrah (Hejira) is year 1 in the Islamic calendar.
  • The Prophet's hejira from Mecca to Medina was a turning point for the early Muslim community.

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use: The word can be used figuratively to describe a significant departure or exodus from any sphere, often implying a search for a better or safer condition.
  • There was a steady hejira of talented programmers from the large corporation to the new startups.

Variants and Related Words

• Hijrah (noun): The most common transliteration from Arabic for the specific Islamic event.
• Hegira (noun): An alternative spelling.
• Exodus (noun): A mass departure of people, often used synonymously with the general sense of .
• Migration (noun): A more general term for movement from one place to another.

Synonyms

• Exodus
• Migration
• Flight
• Departure
• Emigration

Antonyms

• Arrival
• Immigration
• Return
• Influx

Notes on Meaning

The word hejira (and its variants Hijrah or Hegira) carries two distinct but related meanings. Its primary and most specific reference is to the pivotal event in Islamic history. From this, the term has been generalized in English to describe any similar large-scale, purposeful flight from danger. When capitalized (the Hejira/Hijrah), it almost always refers to the Islamic event.

Noun

1. a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment
2. the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 which marked the beginning of the Muslim era; the Muslim calendar begins in that year