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.
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