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Compiled by: Azeem Ayub |
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Reflections | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In the Name of Allah, |
The Blessing of Hajj Hajj, unlike all other religious practices, carries the potential of complete spiritual transformation for anyone. One comes across many living examples of this transformation phenomenon. Sometimes it happens almost accidentally as one is overawed by the sheer grandeur of the place and this, in itself is no small blessing. But if one actually knows the rules of the game before embarking upon this expedition it is almost certain that one will achieve all what the occasion is basically meant for. It brings one so close to the Creator that confusions cease to exist and fallacies in one's attitude begin to surface, one after the other, giving one an opportunity of rectification before it is all over. The rituals of Hajj continually remind him of his Lord, and His doctrines, until he, through a process of gradual self-resurrection, finds himself at a very high moral conduct. This is precisely what the Prophet (sws) is reported to have said: Abu Hurayrah narrates: If someone performs Hajj during which he abstained completely from lewd talk and did not indulge into any act of disobedience of Allah, he will be rid of all his sins and become as pure as he was on the day he was born. (Bukhari, Kitab al-Hajj) A second ‘Umrah will nullify all the sins committed since the first one and for Hajj-i-Mabrur (a Hajj completely unadulterated by acts of disobedience) the reward is none other than the Paradise itself. (Bukhari, Kitab al-Hajj) Hajj
primarily is an attempt by a pilgrim to revitalize the contract the he carries
with his Creator. As we so often witness in our daily lives, the bustling world
and our feeble spirits both tend to rust this contract but occasionally some
incident, usually catastrophic, sends back a harsh reminder and one is compelled
to wake up from sleep. Ashamed though, one kneels before the Lord, surrenders
everything, makes plain and simple confessions, regrets and begs for pardon.
This is the time of renewal of the contract, a blessing not offered to all. But
quite uniquely, Hajj is one occasion where one gears up for this renewal
on one's own motivation, not under the influence of a calamity. The mere will to
undertake the journey reflects a person’s earnest desire to seek his Lord’s
attention and pleasure, and if He responds by offering him an invitation, this
in itself is half acceptance. One presents one's self in His court as a hapless
runaway who has finally realized that his distance from the Master was ever
decreasing even though he was running in the opposite direction. He is
thoroughly aware of his deeds and is desperate to tender an unconditional
apology before it is too late. He now knows that without Allah on his side, he
will be doomed and to avert that disaster of the Final Day he is there to renew
the forgotten contract.
Author: Dr. Rizwan Haider
URL: http://www.studying-islam.org/articletext.aspx?id=574
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The Rituals of Hajj and
‘Umrah Author: Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Tr. Shehzad Saleem
وَأَذِّن فِي النَّاسِ بِالْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًا وَعَلَى كُلِّ ضَامِرٍ يَأْتِينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِيقٍ لِيَشْهَدُوا مَنَافِعَ لَهُمْ وَيَذْكُرُوا اسْمَ اللَّهِ فِي أَيَّامٍ مَّعْلُومَاتٍ عَلَى مَا رَزَقَهُم مِّن بَهِيمَةِ الْأَنْعَامِ فَكُلُوا مِنْهَا وَأَطْعِمُوا الْبَائِسَ الْفَقِيرَ ثُمَّ لْيَقْضُوا تَفَثَهُمْ وَلْيُوفُوا نُذُورَهُمْ وَلْيَطَّوَّفُوا بِالْبَيْتِ الْعَتِيقِ (٢٢: ٢٧-٢٩) And proclaim the pilgrimage among the people. They will come to you on foot and on the backs of lean camels from distant mountainous ways so that they are able to reach places of benefit and on a few appointed days invoke the name of God over their cattle which He has bestowed them. [So when you slaughter them] eat of their flesh, and feed the deprived beggar. Then let the pilgrims cleanse themselves of their dirt and fulfill their vows, and circle the Ancient House. (22:27-29)
It is this proclamation which was made centuries ago and it is in response to it that while uttering ‘لَبَّيْك لَبَّيْك’ we travel to Bayt Al-Haram, the Mosque built by Abraham (sws) in Makkah. It is this ancient mosque which in the words of Imam Farahi was the first house of God in this valley of Batha and about which it had been decided from the very beginning that it would fend off all those who would deviate from Tawhid. Consequently, when its inhabitants took to polytheism and left it, they took away some of its stones in order to worship them. When Abraham (sws) after migrating from Babylon while trying to find this ancient mosque reached this location, he could only discover a shining stone from its previous construction. After he attempted to sacrifice Ishmael (sws), the Almighty directed him to rebuild this place of worship. So both father and son started digging the earth beneath this very memorable stone. Once the ancient foundations became visible after some labour, they raised them and implanted this stone in one part of the erected structure. Ishmael (sws) was offered and devoted to this very house and thus regarded as its attendant and it was proclaimed in the name of the Almighty that people should come here to ceremonially devote themselves and revive their commitment to the belief of Tawhid. 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 God1. 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. It is these rounds which have been referred at various places by the translators of the Torah as the ‘wave offering’ and ‘presenting someone’:
You are to bring the Levites before the LORD, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them. Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the LORD. After the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, use the one for a sin offering to the LORD and the other for a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites. Have the Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave offering to the LORD. In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine. After you have purified the Levites and presented them as a wave offering, they are to come to do their work at the Tent of Meeting. They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman. (Numbers 8:10-16)
In the Arabic translations of the Bible, the words used for this are ‘تُرَدِّدُهُمْ لِلْرَبِّ’ and ‘إمَامَ الرَّبِّ’ which point to this underlying reason.
The Istilam of the Hajari Aswad symbolizes the revival of the pledge. In it, a person while symbolizing this stone to be the hand of the Almighty, places his own hand in His and in accordance with the ancient tradition about covenant and pledges by kissing it revives his pledge with the Almighty that after accepting Islam he has surrendered his life and wealth to Him in return for Paradise.
Sa‘i is in fact the Tawaf of the place where Ishmael (sws) was offered for sacrifice. Abraham (sws) while standing on the hill of Safa had observed this place of sacrifice and then to fulfill the command of Allah had briskly walked towards the hill of Marwah. In the Bible, this incident is narrated in the following words:
On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’ (Genesis 22:4-5)
Consequently, the Tawaf of Safa and Marwah are the rounds of vow which are first made before the Ka‘bah and then on the place of worship. It is evident from the Torah that just as they were made before sacrificing an animal they were also made after sacrificing it while holding a part of the slaughtered animal in the hands:
After you take the breast of the ram for Aaron’s ordination, wave it before the LORD as a wave offering, and it will be your share. (Exodus 29:26)
‘Arafat is a surrogate for the Ka‘bah where the warriors gather to battle against Satan, seeking forgiveness for their sins and praying to God to grant them success in this war.
Muzdalifah is the place where the army stops and spends the night and the warriors once again pray and beseech the Lord when they get up in the morning on their way to the battlefield.
Rami symbolizes cursing Iblis and waging war against him. This ritual is undertaken with the determination that a believer would not be happy with anything less than the defeat of Iblis. It is known that this eternal enemy of man is persistent in implanting evil suggestions in the minds of people. However, if resistance is offered in return, his onslaught decreases gradually. Doing Rami for three days first at the bigger Jamarat and then at the smaller ones symbolizes this very resistance.
Animal sacrifice symbolizes that one is willing to sacrifice one’s life for the Almighty and shaving the head symbolizes that the sacrifice has been presented and a person with the mark of obedience and eternal servitude to the Almighty can now return to his home. Shaving the head is an ancient tradition of the religion of Abraham (sws). Consequently, this law has been stated in the Torah that a person who has been offered and devoted to God should not shave his head until the days of the vow are complete:
During this entire period of his vow of separation no razor may be used on his head. He must be holy until the period of his separation to the Lord is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long. (Numbers 5:6)
Now this is the law for the Nazirite when the period of his separation is over. He is to be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting … then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that he dedicated. He is to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering. (Numbers 6:13, 18)
It is evident from the foregoing details, how grand and exceptional the ritual of Hajj is. It has been made incumbent once in the life of a Muslim who has the capacity to undertake it. Consequently, the Almighty has warned the People of the Book that showing disregard to this ritual is tantamount to disbelief and if they insist on this disregard then God will not show any regard to them:
وَلِلّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلاً وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ الله غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ (٩٧:٣) And pilgrimage to the House is a duty to God for all who have the capacity to make the journey and he who denies should know that Allah is regardless of the people of this world. (3:97)
Once, the Prophet (sws) also referred to its exalted status after faith and Jihad2. He is also reported to have said that a person who offers Hajj and does not do anything lewd nor shows any disobedience, returns from Hajj as if his mother has given birth to him3. Similarly, he has said: ‘An ‘Umrah done after ‘Umrah is atonement for the sins done in between them and the reward of the Hajj offered with full sincerity is Paradise4.
For more URL : http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=151
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farhanmalik
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yassirmalak
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Doing Hajj Repeatedly Posted on: Monday, June 16, 2008 - Hits: 439
Answer:
Hajj is indeed a
one-time obligatory ritual of worship. If one is afforded with a second or third
chance for Hajj then the second and third Hajj will be counted as optional (nafl)
and also earn reward for a person.
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