Although the following has been explained
regarding the pledge of the person actually performing hajj/Umrah but i feel all
of us, even if not there at this time are invited to renew this pledge with our
Lord every year; specially when due to wast media coverage,none of us can be
unaware of whats happening there every moment of the days of 8th untill 13th
Zilhajj.
The message in these rituals for continous resistance to the satanic tricks in
life finally making him weary or defeated reminds us of the law of physics that
continous resistance, even if less than the force can break the momentum.
I think if all of us who go for hajj/umrah keep the facts explained below in our
minds, it would be very difficult to find people who are arrogant, either to
their Lord or to His people. We would be submissive to Him and very humble and
kind to the people.
The Rituals Of Hajj and Umrah.
"........In religious parlance, these rituals are called Hajj and ‘Umrah. In the
religion of Abraham (sws), these two rituals are the pinnacle of worship. The
Qur’an has declared that Islam is in fact a contract of sale and purchase with
the Almighty: We sell our lives and wealth for the Paradise the Almighty has
prepared for us: ‘إِنَّ اللّهَ
اشْتَرَى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُم بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الجَنَّة’
(God has purchased from the faithful their lives and worldly goods, and in
return has promised them the Garden (9:111)). Consequently, right after it is
said: ‘فَاسْتَبْشِرُواْ
بِبَيْعِكُمُ الَّذِي بَايَعْتُم بِهِ وَذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ’
(Rejoice then in the bargain you have made. That is the supreme triumph
(9:111)).
This is the highest position a person can attain in his zeal for worshiping the
Almighty: he is ready to offer his life and wealth for Him when he is called for
this. Hajj and ‘Umrah are symbolic manifestations of this offering. Both are an
embodiment of the same reality. The only difference is that the latter is
compact and the former more comprehensive in which the objective for which life
and wealth are offered becomes very evident.
The Almighty has informed us that Satan has declared war on the scheme according
to which He has created Adam in this world since the very first day:
‘قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لأَقْعُدَنَّ
لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ثُمَّ لآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ
خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَآئِلِهِمْ وَلاَ تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ
شَاكِرِينَ’ (Because You have led me into
sin’, he declared, ‘I will waylay Your servants who are on Your straight path,
then spring upon them from the front and from the rear, from their right and
from their left. Then You will find the greater part of them ungrateful
(7:16-17)).
The Qur’an (7:13-14) says that this challenge from Iblis was accepted and His
servants are now at war with their foremost enemy till the Day of Judgement.
This is the very test on which this world has been made and our future depends
on success or failure in it. It is for this war that we dedicate our life and
devote our wealth. It is for this objective that many a time the prophets of God
have called out: ‘يَااَيُّهَا
الَّذِيْن أمَنُوا كُوْنُوا أنْصَارَ اللهَ’
(Believers! Be the helpers of God (61:14)). This war against Iblis has been
symbolized in the ritual of Hajj. The manner in which this symbolization has
been done is as follows:
At the behest of Allah, His servants take time out from the pleasures and
involvements of life and leave aside their goods and possessions, then proceed
to the battlefield with the words
‘لَبَّيْك لَبَّيْك’ and just like warriors
encamp in a valley.
The next day they reach an open field seeking the forgiveness of the Almighty,
praying and beseeching Him to grant them success in this war and listening to
the sermon of the imam.
Giving due consideration to the symbolism of waging war against Iblis they
shorten and combine their prayers and then after a short stay on the way back
reach their camps.
Afterwards they fling stones on Satan and symbolically offer themselves to God
by sacrificing animals. They then shave their heads and to offer the rounds of
vows come to the real place of worship and sacrifice.
Then they return to their camps again and in the next two or three days fling
stones on Satan in the manner they had done earlier.
Viewed thus, the Ihram worn in Hajj and ‘Umrah symbolizes the fact that a
believer has withdrawn from the amusement, attractions and involvements of this
world and like a monk wearing two unstitched robes, bare-headed and to some
extent bare-footed too has resolved to reach the presence of the Almighty.
The ‘Talbiyah’ is the answer to the call made by Abraham (sws) while standing on
a rock after he had re-built the House of God[1]. This call has now reached the
nooks and corners of this world and the servants of God while acknowledging His
favours and affirming belief in His Tawhid respond to it by saying:
‘اَللّهُمَّ لَبَّيْك لَبَّيْك’.
The rounds of ‘Tawaf’ are the rounds of vow. This is an ancient tradition of the
Abrahamic religion. According to this tradition, animals which were to be
sacrificed or devoted to the place of worship were made to walk to and fro in
front of it and in front of the altar."
the above is a passage from
The rituals Of Hajj and Umrah
ps
http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/JanIslamiShari2y5.htm#_ftnref58
This month's Monthly Renaissance has been specially dedicated to the occasion of
Hajj and provides complete understanding of all aspects of this great and
ancient act of worship.