Growing up, my family never "celebrated" the Islamic New Year per se, but my parents always reminded us when Muharram (the first month in the Islamic calendar) was beginning. Because my siblings and I were children of the '80s (yep, we're old!) – predating Islamic schools, Sunday Schools, Islamic curriculum and the million lectures, videos and articles that are out there for us to seek knowledge – we gained our religious knowledge from our parents.

So, yearly they would remind us of the Hijrah, or migration, of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) from Makkah to Madinah, and how our calendar stemmed from that. We were told what year it was, and then it would be life as usual after that.

Now I'm the parent, and that too of kids who are close to adulthood. And I've been thinking about the hype around December 31st and New Year's Eve, making resolutions and the proverbially throwing out of the old and ushering in the new. That's all fine, but it's the story of migration around our Islamic New Year that has imprinted itself on my heart.

Migration is literally "the movement of people from one permanent home to another. This movement changes the population of a place. International migration is the movement from one country to another. ... People who move into another country are called immigrants . The movement of people into a country is known as immigration."

With the Prophet Muhammad (saw)'s migration from his beloved home of Makkah to Madinah – where the Ansars greeted and welcomed him and helped Islam to grow within a safer space – there was a literal movement that affected profound change. And, this brought forth the dawn of a time so remarkable, important and profound that our calendar began from there.

It wasn't marked by the birth of someone or some major scientific big bang of a phenomenon, but rather the migration of a nascent group of Muslims led by the Prophet of Islam to seek harbor, seek refuge, seek a place to live and flourish.

In the haunting poem "Home" by Somali-British poet Warsan Shire about the refugee/migration experience, she writes,

And so I'm thinking of my father who migrated from India to the United States decades upon decades ago, after the Partition forever changed his family's lives and little opportunity and much danger was left for him in his home. And how life began again for him in Madison, Wisconsin.

I'm thinking about the Prophet Muhammad (saw), who fled his home where his life and the lives of his Muslim companions were threatened. And, he helped Muslims establish themselves in Madinah.

To migrate is to leave your home, because you can no longer live there, for something else. It is to start anew. Our Ummah started anew with the Hijrah. And now it is the year 1443 AH. While there is no fanfare and fireworks to usher in this new year, there should be the appreciation of the migration that started it all, and the resolve, Insha'Allah, to keep building a better home for all of us under the guidance of Allah (S).

I pray the coming year brings my family and yours safe health and happiness.