The journey of Hajj with some reflections
* Every
time of the year the season of Hajj comes there is around in the
atmosphere feeling of the sweetness and greatness of this act of
worship, yes Hajj has its own merits, its own beauty, and its own taste,
everyone who goes to Hajj knows how it feels like, and how effective
impacts it has on the souls and hearts.
* Hajj
is a foundation, Islam is based on Hajj which is one of its pillars, a
pillar that is required from every Muslim once in a life time, it is a
journey of a life time, it is just like that, but there are so many
wisdoms and lessons that Allah Has put in this wonderful journey that
some people fail to understand and realize, and here we are trying to
reveal much of the secrets of this wonderful journey which is a summary
of our existence in this world, and in Hajj we find a symbol to every
goodness, a symbol to every righteous notion that might come to our
mind.
* A
person who is determent to go to Hajj here he faces the inner struggle,
should I do it now or shall I let things go normal and make it later
on? I still have time! No Go! Allah loves the things that are high, so
always look for things that are high, if you are able to do it don’t be
hesitant, don’t ever postpone it, who knows if you are going to live for
the next year or not, think of the people who are unable to do it and
be thankful that Allah Has made it easy for you and don’t waste this
opportunity.
* Now
the farewell before your travelling; you have to say good bye to the
people around you, this reminds you of the moment when you leave this
world, the moment when you leave your family but at that moment you will
not be able to say goodbye, because the tongue will be tied, and you
are taken by force out of this world, the soul will be dragged out, this
should make you contemplate what have you prepared for that time? Are
you going to receive glad tidings from Allah or what? The journey of
Hajj reminds us that in this life we are in a similar journey, we are
not here to stay forever, because we will never stay forever, we are
here on a temporary basis, we are here to be tested and to fulfill the
commands of Allah (S.W.T), we are on a journey moving from one stage to
the other, and whether we like it or not we are on a journey, so don’t
lose track, don’t take the side roads, keep yourself on the main road
that will take you to your destination, and don’t get lost here or
there, so Hajj reminds us of the reality of this life, it is not a
settlement, we are made of days, every time you are getting older you
are losing days not gaining, this is how we should perceive life, so
make your calculations right, and be ready for meeting Allah.
* Before
we set out for Hajj it is important to remember that we are going there
in response to the call of Allah (S.W.T), this is why the pilgrims say:
“O Allah I am here in the response of your call.”
* Travelling
needs a lot of patience, it is a piece of torment, and there are a lot
of inconvenience about it, this is why it reveals much of the character
of human beings, it trains the soul and tame the nafs, so there is a lot
of wisdom that we take from travelling, and as a traveler you are
heading to a destination, this teaches you that this is a journey in
which your destinations are Mecca, Mena, Arafa, and so on, and in life
you are also in a journey and you are heading towards Allah’s pleasure,
so that you can get back to your original house in paradise, that’s our
destinations, don’t be attracted by the side roads, if you take them
they will take you off track.
And
also people who travel a lot you see them very patient with the things
that they face, and in this world everyone is travelling moving from one
stage to the other, so it needs a lot of patience.
* Through
Hajj and travelling we get to learn certain rules about Islam like
shortening the prayer which can be mainly done when we are travelling,
and also if we run out of water we can make tayammum, and those who feel
doubtful about this through Hajj they will get to know that it is
accepted by Allah so we get the opportunity to know these rulings by
doing them at that time, so we learn them by practice, and once we learn
more about Islam we will be rewarded from Allah (S.W.T).
* Almost
most of your companions in this journey are good friends because of the
humbleness Allah puts in their hearts, they avoid everything evil
because they are seeking the same destination you are seeking, and those
people don’t lose this friendship because it reminds them of the sweet
memories they spent together, and this shows us the concept of
brotherhood in Islam and the importance of having good companions in our
journey in this world.
* Once
you reach the meqat the area where you have to make Ihraam reminds you
that there are certain conditions, certain rituals for you in order to
enter the sacred place, it creates in the heart the feeling of the
greatness of the house of Allah (S.W.T).
You
have to wear the cloth of Ihraam, the upper garment and the lower
garment, two pieces of cloth that are more similar to the shroud with
which we shroud the dead person before we put him in the grave, these
clothes of Ihraam are not made to fit your waist, your shoulder or
whatever, they are like the shroud so remember the moment when you will
not be able to put these clothes on, somebody else will put them for
you, because at that time you will be helpless.
Allah
also shows us that this land is blessed it is the dearest to Allah and
to his messenger, this is why we need spiritual and physical preparation
before we enter it, and in Islam we find that our hearts and actions go
together, what is in our heart is reflected on our action, and what we
do; reflects what is in our hearts, and this is something that we see in
Hajj, everybody looks the same, and the intention is one.
Every
Muslims wears the same fashion there, rich or poor, black or white, old
or young no matter where they came from because they are all Muslims,
they are all servants of Allah (S.W.T), they are all equal, and this
humbleness before our Creator should do away with everything that
reminds us with the differences, all what makes us different is our
actions, this is the only reason for distinction, but all this material
world is nothing in the side of Allah (S.W.T), this brings the
solidarity and the unity among Muslims.
Even
entering the state of Ihraam has certain rules, hunting and game are
prohibited, saying evil words is not permissible, you cannot use perfume
because it reminds you of the beauty of this life, having marital
relationship is not permissible, all of this puts us in some kind of
psychological readiness that we are coming to a great place doing a
great act of worship seeking Allah, and only Allah.
So
this experience will leave a permanent impact on our lives, when people
go to Hajj and come back they become totally different people, it
changes people drastically, this is why Hajj was made one of the pillars
of Islam.
* The pilgrim starts saying:
“O
Allah, here I have come in the response of your call, there is no god
but You, You are the only one who has the right to be worshipped (the
concept in Tawheed is there and in every act of worship, that we are
doing, that this is for you alone o Allah), all praise is due to you,
dominion over the universe is only to you oh Allah (which means that
nothing happens except what You have decreed and no one can bring harm
or goodness apart from You, no one has real ownership over anything
except You, You are unique, All praise is due to Allah and all the
bounties are from You, ( which means that every gift, every bounty, and
every grace that we utilize is from Allah we acknowledge that everything
belongs to Allah, and He can take everything whenever He wants, so
don’t be arrogant by thinking that you own your own self, Allah is the
One who has blessed us with many things and no matter how much we try to
praise Allah we will never be able to praise Him as He deserves to be
praised, but we try our best), oh Allah you have no partners (in your
greatness, in your Names and in your Attributes) “
This
is a covenant between you and Allah that for the rest of your life you
will be submissive to Him asking Him to free me from my sins.
And
once you see the Ka’ba you cannot help it, you cannot control your
tears, you feel the sweetness of Imaan, the presence of the angels, and
the mercy of Allah (S.W.T), and you which you will not leave this place
and will stay there forever, the heart is filled with all sorts of
wonderful feeling, it is a paradise on earth.
Then
we go to the house and make Tawaf, when we go around the Ka’ba seven
times, that’s one of the most spiritual times in our lives, we feel
Allah’s greatness, we remember the prophet (peace be upon him), maybe
the prophet stood in the same spot I am standing now, he must have come
across this area or that area, the companions of the prophet were here
as well spreading Islam, they were tortured here, and they proved to be
real believers here, hopefully we can be like them and follow their
steps.
We
also remember the story of Abraham when he left his wife and his child
here in this sacred place without food and water, based on the command
of Allah, the little child start screaming, Hajar put her trust in Allah
but she didn’t sit there doing nothing, she kept going here and there
searching for water until she heard the angel hitting the ground with
his wing and the water of Zamzam gushed out, we do this like here out of
submission to Allah even if we don’t know the wisdom behind it.
We
remember how Abraham and Ismail built this house facing many
challenges; all of this comes to our mind when we pray behind the Maqam
of Abraham.
This place is full with the smell of Islam, and the sacrifice of the early generations.
On
the eighth of Dhul-Hijja, the day of al-Tarwiah all people go to Menah,
they stay there until the sun of the day of ‘Arafa rises, once it
raises they all go to ‘Arafa
Now
in one open landscape you see millions of people, this reminds every
one of the day of judgment, that all human beings will be gathered on
the day of judgment, these are two, three, or maximum four million
people in this area, what about when the whole humanity throughout ages,
throughout history will be gathered together in one open landfill?! The
day of judgment which will last for fifty thousand years, people will
be there waiting for their accounts, and they will be judged according
to their actions
The
day of ‘Arafa is the day of Hajj, it has its own spirituality that the
pilgrims feel, and even people who are far away from that area can feel
as well, the pilgrims are supplicating to Allah, their hearts are
attached to Him, you see them; some of them sitting, some of the
standing, some of them in their tents, some of them in the shade of a
tree, all of them are making Dua’ and seeking Allah’s forgiveness, and
you wish that you were with them, what a great privilege to be with the
pilgrims on that day.
Satan was never seen so humiliated, so pathetic and so defeated like on the day of ‘Arafa.
On
that day Allah will gather the angels and say to them: “look at my
servants they have come to me dusty from all the corners of the world
for my sake, they are asking me to forgive their sins, bear witness that
I have pardoned them…” [Declared Hasan (good) by Al-Albani].
«فإذا وقف بعرفة، فإن الله عز وجل ينزل إلى السماء الدنيا فيقول: انظروا إلى عبادي شعثا غبرا، اشهدوا أني غفرت لهم ذنوبهم...» حسنه الألباني
So they are clean now, they have come back as the time when they were born.
Now when the time will come for us to be included by this statement that is said by Allah (S.W.T)!
There
is no time when Allah referees people from the hellfire as it happens
and occurs on the day of Arafa, when Allah shower people with His mercy.
Even the whole world, all channels try to cover Hajj because it is one of the most important rituals of Islam.
Some
people they save money for many years, they keep saving money depriving
themselves from many basic needs just to make this journey of life, and
go and perform Hajj for the sake of Allah (S.W.T), some of them wish
that they die in a state of Ihraam, so that on the day of Judgment they
will be raised saying Talbiah.
* The
pilgrims start leaving ‘Arafa after sunset, they go to spend the night
in Muzdalifah to remember Allah and mention his Name, it is the Sunnah
of the prophet, so don’t do away with it.
* On
the day of Eid, the day of Nahr, we remember Abraham and Ismail may
Allah be pleased with them, when Abraham was commanded to slaughter his
son, both of them showed total submission to Allah, yes submission this
teaches us that Islam is a continuation of other religions, the message
is one which is Islam; submission to Allah, this is a fact that should
be established in our hearts.
* Then
after slaughtering the animal, in order to get out of the state of
Ihraam here comes shaving the hair or have a haircut, but shaving is the
best.
* Then
the pilgrims go to the house do Tawaf and then they do Sa’i, then comes
throwing the pebbles, and don’t forget to make Dua’ after the first and
the second one this is what the prophet did, and Insha’Allah the Hajj
of the next year will not come except that your Dua’ will be accepted by
Allah (S.W.T), many people have experienced that.
* Hajj
has the message of being submissive to Allah in all our affairs,
obeying Him blindly without asking why, even if our limited minds don’t
understand the meaning, the benefit or the wisdom of some of the
commands of Allah, we still fulfill them, because we are His servants
and the servant’s job is to obey the master, this is all what we have to
do, to obey Allah (S.W.T).
* We
say to the pilgrims: “Congratulations!, may Allah accept from you and
us, and grant us Hajj next year, a Hajj that will be accepted from Him
Insha’Allah”.
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