Why Do People Who Embrace Hijrah Often Face Many Trials?

A question often arises when someone begins to improve their life: “Why is it that after I embraced hijrah, my problems actually multiplied?”

A person starts to abandon bad habits, improve their prayers, distance themselves from environments deemed unsuitable, read the Qur’an more often, or strive to leave behind sinful acts. Yet after making that decision, life’s problems seem to keep coming. Friendships change, family may not understand, economic conditions can fluctuate, and an internal struggle even emerges.

Such feelings are not unfamiliar. Research on the experience of hijrah in Indonesia shows that the process of spiritual change is a long journey accompanied by various challenges. A study published in the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ Dialog journal, for instance, found that the process of hijrah can begin with a personal or interpersonal crisis and end with a stronger commitment as well as acceptance of the consequences of that decision.

From an Islamic perspective, trials are also not something given only to those considered far from religion. The Qur’an in fact emphasises that human beings will be tested to see the quality of their faith. The Ministry of Religious Affairs cites QS Al-Baqarah verse 155, which explains that people will be tested with fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives, and various forms of deprivation.

Therefore, the assumption that “after hijrah life should become easier” needs to be corrected. Hijrah is not a transaction: a person becomes more devout and then Allah promises a life without problems. Hijrah is a process of self-transformation, while trials are part of human life.

Hijrah Is Not a Path to a Problem-Free Life

Linguistically and historically, hijrah means to move. In Islamic history, the hijrah of Prophet Muhammad SAW and his companions from Makkah to Madinah was a momentous event carried out in a situation full of pressure and threats.

However, in the context of contemporary Muslim life, the term hijrah is often used to describe a change towards a life considered more in line with Islamic teachings. Research on the hijrah phenomenon among young Indonesians shows that the meaning of hijrah has evolved into a form of spiritual transformation and religious identity.

Interestingly, that very change can create new challenges.

Someone who was previously accustomed to gathering with a particular circle may have to distance themselves because they wish to leave behind habits that do not align with the values they now hold. Their friends may not understand that decision. Some may even mock them or consider the change merely temporary.

The same applies within the family. Not everyone shares the same religious understanding. When a child suddenly changes their way of dressing, socialising, habits, or worship routine, the family may need time to understand that change.

Research on hijrah among young people in Indonesia shows that the process is influenced by cultural background, education, family environment, and social environment. This means that each person’s experience of undergoing hijrah will indeed not be the same.

Thus, trials after hijrah should not always be understood as punishment. Some difficulties may arise because a person is genuinely undergoing a process of change that requires adjustment.

Trials Test Sincerity, Not Merely Appearance

One misunderstanding in the hijrah phenomenon is regarding outward change as the primary measure of success.

In reality, the most difficult changes often occur within oneself.

Changing one’s clothing can perhaps be done in a single day. Changing one’s speaking habits takes longer. Controlling emotions, abandoning bad habits, maintaining honesty, forgiving others, avoiding envy, and continuing to do good even when hurt require a far longer process.

Research on hijrah as a millennial Muslim identity also provides an important note. Hijrah in Indonesia can become an identity visible through clothing, lifestyle, and manner of speaking, but Islam also emphasises substantive values that are broader than symbols and appearance.

This is where trials serve an important function.

When someone receives praise for their change, maintaining goodness may feel easy. But when they receive no appreciation, or even face criticism, that is where sincerity and consistency begin to be tested.

Likewise, when someone has become diligent in worship but faces economic problems. Do they still trust in Allah? When their prayers have not been answered as hoped, do they stop praying? When they do good but are hurt in return, do they then revert to old habits?

These questions show that hijrah is not merely a change in social status or appearance. It is a process of character formation.

The Qur’an in QS Al-Ankabut verse 2 emphasises that people who declare their faith are not left alone without being tested. This principle shows that faith and trials are not two things that are always contradictory.

In fact, the Ministry of Religious Affairs stresses that patience in facing trials does not mean resignation without effort. Patience encompasses the ability to remain steadfast, to strive, and not to give up easily.

Thus, when someone experiences difficulty after hijrah, the more appropriate response is not to immediately conclude that Allah is punishing them. They need to engage in introspection while continuing to seek solutions.

Do Not Let Trials Make Someone Feel Their Hijrah Has Failed

Another problem that often arises is excessively high expectations of the hijrah process.

Social media makes someone’s life look simple: there are before-and-after hijrah stories, changes in appearance, diligent attendance at study circles, and then life appears calmer. Such portrayals can create the assumption that hijrah will immediately produce a perfect life.

In fact, research on the hijrah movement among millennial Muslims shows that social media does play an important role in spreading da’wah and shaping religious identity. At the same time, religious information on social media is not always accompanied by adequate depth of understanding.

As a result, a person may compare their own life process with the lives of others who appear perfect on social media.

When they still often make mistakes, they feel unworthy of being called someone who is undergoing hijrah. When they still face problems, they feel their prayers are not accepted. When they encounter trials, they consider the changes they have made to be in vain.

Such a way of thinking is actually dangerous.

Hijrah should not be understood as a demand to become a perfect human being in a short time. Human beings still have weaknesses. What distinguishes them is the willingness to keep improving after making mistakes.

Recent research on the religious resilience of hijrah youth also illustrates that consistency in undergoing religious change requires the ability to adapt amid modernisation and various social pressures.

Therefore, someone undergoing hijrah needs three things: knowledge, patience, and consistency.

Knowledge prevents a person from easily following erroneous religious understanding. Patience prevents them from giving up easily when facing problems. Meanwhile, consistency ensures that change does not stop simply because they are experiencing difficulty.

So, why do people who embrace hijrah often feel they face many trials?

First, because trials are indeed part of human life, not something experienced only by those who are improving themselves. Second, the hijrah process is a change that requires adjustment to habits, social environment, and the way a person views life. Third, difficulties can serve as a space to test whether that change truly has a strong foundation or is merely following a passing trend.

The Qur’an even explicitly describes those who emigrated after experiencing trials, then strove and remained patient, as a group that receives Allah’s forgiveness and mercy in QS An-Nahl verse 110.

However, it is important not to oversimplify every problem as a “trial because of hijrah”. Not all difficulties should be interpreted as a sign that someone is being tested because they have become more pious. Life’s problems can also arise from human decisions, social conditions, economic factors, relationships with others, or other causes.

What matters most is how a person responds to them.

Hijrah is not about obtaining a life free from problems. Hijrah is the courage to choose a better path even though that path is not always easy.

If after hijrah someone still cries, still fails, still makes mistakes, or still faces many problems, that does not automatically mean their hijrah has failed.

Perhaps it is precisely amid those difficulties that someone is learning to become stronger, more patient, and closer to Allah.

For the goal of hijrah is not to become a person who is never tested, but to become a person who continues to choose goodness when tested.