A journey, often hasty or dramatic, away from a place or situation; specifically, the flight of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE.
From Arabic *hijra* (departure/emigration), referring to Muhammad's flight. The term was adopted into English to describe any significant departure and became a common metaphor for escape or journey.
The Hegira (622 CE) was so transformative that Muslims date their entire calendar from it—and the term is so powerful that English borrowed it to describe any dramatic escape, showing how important this moment was to world history.
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