hejira
noun
Hejira — an alternate transliteration of Islam's foundational migration
Definition
A journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment
In depth
Hejira is an alternate English spelling of hegira, naming the same historically pivotal journey by a large group, originally referring to Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina, fleeing hostility and persecution. The variant spelling reflects differing conventions for transliterating Arabic into English rather than any difference in meaning.
Origin
Both spellings attempt to render the same Arabic word, hijra, into the Latin alphabet, and the variation reflects the broader, persistent challenge of transliterating Arabic phonetics into English, where multiple competing systems have coexisted for centuries without ever fully standardizing into a single accepted form.
Usage examples
"Some older English texts favor the spelling hejira, reflecting an earlier convention of Arabic transliteration."
"The musician's celebrated album, named after this very word, brought the spelling hejira into unexpected popular awareness."
"Scholars continue to use both hegira and hejira interchangeably, the choice often simply a matter of stylistic preference."
How to use it
Hejira and hegira are fully interchangeable in meaning; the choice between them typically reflects publisher convention, historical period, or, in some contexts, simple stylistic preference rather than any meaningful linguistic distinction.
Related concepts
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