Hajj: A Lifetime
Spiritual Journey
Dr. Mozammel Haque
ISLAM IS A PRACTICAL RELIGION
which lays down a complete code of life. It makes various provisions for
creating peace and harmony in the lives of mankind as well as in the universe.
Peace and harmony can be achieved only when there is solidarity and universal
brotherhood among human beings. Islam preaches this concept and puts it into
practice through the unique annual assemblage of the pilgrims during Hajj.
The institution of Hajj in Islam is
quite extraordinary and unparalleled. It is only Islam that has made the annual
assemblage at one place, Makkah, an obligation for the capable Muslims from all
corners of the world. In other words, it may be called the World Muslim
Congress. This assembly has many distinctive features which no other gathering
has and no other religion stipulates. The concept of unity and brotherhood is
embedded in Islam in such a way that one is truly amazed to see millions of
Muslims dressed in two white sheets of cloth gathered at one particular place,
i.e. in Arafat during a fixed time on certain fixed days in the year. All human
and man-made barriers and distinctions are demolished during that assembly.
We shall here deal with the aspects
of unity and universal brotherhood which, besides others, are quintessential
among the concepts of Hajj. First, let us take universal brotherhood. This
universal brotherhood emanates from the following basic concepts and is
demonstrated in a most authentic and brilliant manner here on this occasion:
Adam is the first man from whom all
human beings have sprung up;
Abraham is the father of monotheistic religion;
Acceptance of all prophets as prophets of God;
Belief in all revealed books of Allah.
Thus, this acceptance of Abraham as
the patriarch of the concept of Tawheed and recognition of the continuity of
Prophethood from Prophet Adam to the Last Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
and having faith in all revealed books keeps up a chain of faith known as Islam
throughout the world. This binds the whole humankind into a bond of brotherhood
whose genealogical father is Adam and the spiritual father Abraham. Thus
Muslims believe in the continuation of the human race on earth. There are no
conflicts and controversies in the monotheistic religion decreed by God. All
Muslims (those who consciously and willingly surrender to the Will of the
Creator) belong to this Ummah and therefore constitute a fraternity of faith.
This is one way the Hajj conveys the message of universal brotherhood.
This aspect of universal brotherhood
can also be noticed during Hajj when Muslims come from remote corners of the
world and congregate in Makkah in the vicinity of the House of God, i.e.
Baitullah. Though they might have come from the east or west, north or south,
and all differences in colour, language, race and nationality notwithstanding,
they find their oneness on the basis of their faith in One God, One Qiblah, One
Book and One Prophet.
The practical training for this
universal brotherhood starts from the local or neighbourhood level with the five
times daily prayers in the mosque, which gets enlarged with the Friday prayers
once a week. The circle is again made substantially larger during the Eid
prayer, and it becomes internationalised transforming into a global gathering
once in a lifetime. So the concept and training in universal brotherhood, which
reaches its peak, starts from the very childhood at the local level.
As regards unity, Islam, first
of all, removed all man-made bonds and barriers bringing all human beings into
one global family tracing their genealogical origin to common parents and
biological chemistry to one element, i.e. clay. Almighty God has laid down in
the Holy Qur’an, “O Mankind, We have created you from a male and a female.”
(49: 13) This establishment of absolute equality on the basis of their
ancestral origin and biological composition removes all artificial differences
between man and man.
The enforcement of the concept of
Muslim brotherhood is the greatest social ideal of Islam. Islam places emphasis
on unity and unifies mankind on the basis of one God, one Book - the Qur’an,
one Qibla - the Ka’aba and one leader - the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him). The Noble Prophet’s mission was to establish unity and peace throughout
the world. The Islamic concept of unity transcends all other forms of unity
based on territory, geographical boundary, linguistic and ethnic affinity. He
united Muslims on the basis of faith, which is the Oneness of God, Islam.
On this vital concept was based the
Prophet’s sermon in his last pilgrimage, which shows that Islam cannot be
completely practiced until this ideal is achieved. Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) unified and cemented the Muslim Ummah under the banner of La ilaha
illallah Muhammadur-Rasoolullah by establishing the first-ever Islamic state in
Madina, which later on took the shape of a grand Caliphate. Under the Caliphate
the Muslim Ummah was unified and integrated. Thus the first concept of
universal and worldwide unity was demonstrated by Prophet Muhammad more than
fourteen hundred years ago having been guided and inspired by God for
establishing unity and peace in the world.
Islam is essentially a community and
group-oriented religion. So, the practical lesson in unity and equality first
starts within the family, then in the neighbourhood, especially through the
institution of five daily prayers in the mosque and still on a larger scale in
the locality, during weekly Friday prayers, and then in much larger gatherings
in the two Eid prayers and ultimately in the international or global gathering
during Hajj. This very characteristic and feature of Islam demonstrates the
universality of this religion and its heavenly origin which transcends all
worldly barriers of race, colour, class and nationality.
Pilgrimage is the best occasion to
bind again the loose threads, tighten them on the basis of belief and in the
presence of God and frustrate the nefarious machinations of the enemies of the
Ummah’s unity.
Another aspect of Hajj is making
sacrifice in the way of God for the cause of Islam. As Islam itself is a
religion of sacrifice, its different pillars also contain the same features and
characteristics. It is a known fact that the Islamic or Hijra calendar starts
with the month of Muharram and ends with the month of Hajj. The first month of
the Islamic calendar, Muharram, is the month of sacrifice – a sacrifice made by
the grandson of Muhammad, Hussain ibn Ali, who laid down his life at Kufa in
the cause of Islam and its ideals. Similarly, the 12 months of the Hijra
calendar, the month of Hajj, marks the remembrance of the sacrifice made by the
Prophet Ibrahim for the sake of God and His Pleasure.
The Patriarch, the first Prophet of
monotheistic religion, Islam, the Prophet Ibrahim was ready to sacrifice his
most loved one for the sake of God. He loved his only son, Ismail, more than
anything else. God asked him to sacrifice Ismail. Ibrahim was going to
sacrifice Ismail, in the way of God by His Order. The Holy Qur’an explains the
story of Ibrahim and his son Ismail thus:
Then when (the son) reached (the age
of) (serious) work with him, he said: “O my son; I see in vision that I offer
you in sacrifice. Now say what is your view.” (The son) said: “O my father; do
as you are commanded; you will find me, if God so wills, one practising
patience and constancy.” So when they had both submitted their wills (to God),
and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice), We called out to
him, “O Ibrahim; you have already fulfilled the vision; thus indeed do We
reward those who do right.” (37:102-105) The Qur’an says: “And We ransomed him
with a momentous sacrifice.” (37:107)
The sacrifices made by Prophets
Ibrahim and Ismail for the love of God left an indelible imprint on the history
of mankind. This sacrifice is still remembered and re-enacted during Hajj.
Ibrahim left a glorious record of sacrifice to please God.
In modern times, sacrifice is
symbolised by an act of slaughtering a camel, cow or lamb for the sake of God
during the days of Eid-al Adha, i.e. starting after the Eid prayer till the
sunset on the third day of Eid. Sacrifice is a strongly recommended Sunnah of
the Prophet and was introduced in the second year after Hijra. The purpose of
sacrifice is to remind oneself of the great sacrifice of Ibrahim.
The sacrifice of life and wealth in
the way of God is the zenith of a man’s belief. God says: “By no means shall
you attain righteousness unless you give (freely) of that which you love; and
whatever you give, of a truth God knows it well.” (Al-Qur’an 3:92) This means
that when something, which has been held so dear, is sacrificed in the way of
God one may hope to secure God’s Pleasure. The verse tells us that to attain
righteousness one has to sacrifice things, but to attain it in perfection one
has to sacrifice things, dearer to one.
Every sacrifice and every
effort is to be aimed at seeking God’s Pleasure. That God be pleased with us is
the real capital of our lives and it is to win this pleasure that everything
should be sacrificed. In the words of the Qur’an: “Surely my prayers and my
sacrifice, my life and my death is for God alone, the Lord of the Universe.”
In the modern age, the pilgrims, when they start
their journey to Makkah for performing Hajj with only two white sheets on their
bodies leaving behind their wives, children, kith and kin and their wealth and
properties, they practically exemplify their act of sacrifice for the love of
God.
Hajj is the greatest training and
practical demonstration of the spirit of sacrifice and the spirit of Jihad in
the way of God. It shows that Islam does not end with giving some utopian
ideals for the human life. It is not only a religion, it is the guidance for
the whole mankind to shape their lives in this world and hereafter. That’s why
God makes provision for the teaching and training of humankind in every quality
through practical implementation.
