بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Proclaim the Hajj Unto All Mankind!
Allah SWT says in the Qur’an
a;-Hakim
Al-Hajj 22:26 And
(remember) when We prepared for Abraham the place of the (holy) House, saying:
Ascribe thou no thing as partner unto Me, and purify My House for those who
make the round (thereof) and those who stand and those who bow and make
prostration.
27 And proclaim unto mankind
the pilgrimage. They will come unto thee on foot and on every lean camel; they
will come from every deep ravine,
28 That they may witness
things that are of benefit to them, and mention the name of Allah on appointed
days over the beast of cattle that He hath bestowed upon them. Then eat thereof
and feed therewith the poor unfortunate.
29 Then let them compete their
proscribed rites and pay their vows and go around the ancient House.
Proclaim unto mankind the
hajj, the pilgrimage! In this ayaat from
Surah al Hajj, Allah SWT commands us to call unto all mankind to this Hajj,
this pilgrimage to Allah.
22:34. To every people did We
Appoint rites (of sacrifice),
That they might celebrate
The name of God over
The sustenance He gave them
From animals (fit for food).
But your god is One God:
Submit then your wills to him
(In Islām): and give thou
The good news to those
Who humble themselves,—
Truly every religion has a
pilgrimage, a sacred journey. In
Hinduism it is the yearly Kumb Mela. In
Buddhism, it is the journey to Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment.
In Shinto, the religion of Japan, it is a climb up Mount Fujiyama. In Judaism, it is a journey to Jerusalem. In Christianity, there are many pilgrimages,
including to Jerusalem, Rome and
in England, to Canterbury.
Pilgrimages are sacred
journeys; they follow a physical path, but also involve a journey of the
heart. They mirror our journey in this
life, from birth to death, and beyond.
In the classic of English literature, the Canterbury Tales, a group of
people set off on the English pilgrimage.
Along the way, they share their stories and thereby learn about
themselves.
I have made some of these
pilgrimages myself; to Varanasi, to Bodh Gaya, to Rome. These
pilgrimage lie in the journey. In India, some people literally crawl to these sites. Once they get there, they say a few prayers
and go home. Mission accomplished.
I have also made the
Hajj. Ma’ashallah. It is a profoundly different experience,
calling upon all it is to be human. If
we fully appreciated its benefits, we would wish to make it every year, not
just once in a life time. And in a way we can, by remembering our hajj,
remembering the events that inspire it, recalling the manaasik, and celebrating
the Eid with our qurbani or dhabihah. As we remember our hajj, we can share the
journey with our hajjaj who are on that physical journey. We can walk with them and with them, recommit
ourselves to our deen, to our relationship of love and trust, our relationship
of surrender to Allah SWT.
In the past, the Hajj was a
great and difficult journey. Ibn Batatuta, the famous traveler, set out from Morocco to make his Hajj.
It took him over a year to reach Arabia,
and then he traveled around waiting for the next Hajj season because by the
time he arrived there it was too late to catch that year’s Hajj.
This shows us one of the most
unique features of the Hajj. Even today,
with the ease of travel, our Hajj is still the same. This is because it does not really begin
until we arrive. Other pilgrimages end
when we get there. Ours begins when we
get there. And only our Hajj is
communal. Others may involve gatherings,
such as Kumb Mela, but only Hajj has elements that are individual and communal.
We come together, as
individuals, on the Plain of Arafat. We
pray as individuals or in small groups, and our numbers grow over the course of
the day.
The Prophet is reported to
have said, Hajj is Arafat. It is this
great gathering of people, coming together, praying and remembering Allah, just
like the Day of Judgment. We will be
gathered there too. Just as we were once
gathered before Allah when He asked us, “am I not your Lord?” and we replied, “Yes you are our Lord.”
Surah al-Araf 7:172
7:172. When thy
Lord drew forth
From the Children of Adam—
From their loins—
Their descendants, and made them
Testify concerning themselves, (saying):
"Am I not your Lord
(Who cherishes and sustains you)?"—
They said: "Yea!
We do testify!" (This), lest
Ye should say on the Day
Of Judgment: "Of this we
Were never mindful":
We were gathered
before, although we forget. And then we
came into this life as a test of that pledge we made. And we will be gathered again. The Hajj is a yearly reminder of these
gatherings. And so we gather on the
plain of Arafat awaiting and praying.
And then the sun sets… and we
pour forth all together, one great mass of humanity …setting off in one
direction, one destination. The first
European to reach the source of the Nile, Sir Richard
Burton, described his Hajj experience.
He describes the people gathered, waiting almost breathlessly for the
adhan of Maghrib. He describes the
crowds rushing on every camel, mule and horse, and on foot. The rush was deeply moving for him. It invokes the day we will all rush toward
our Lord. Today we “rush” in buses and
cars. But those who still do it on foot
still feel the thrill of that call, “Labayak Allahumma Labayak”
And then we sleep beneath the
stars in Muzdalifah. The earth below us,
the sky above, and nothing between us and our Lord. We sleep as one humanity, nothing separating
us, in our two white sheets of simple cloth.
Then we wake in the morning, praying Fajr and observing Shuruq in the
Mashaar al Haram at Muzdalifah. From there we proceed to the place of
Aqaba. We remember when Ibrahim rejected
Shaytan and we throw our stones at the pillars to reject the Shaytan and his
evil whisperings. We sincerely seek to
make all of his efforts to destroy us and lead us astray, vain and fruitless. And then after a sacrifice, we return to
circle the ancient house, the model of the one we left behind in Jennah, the
Bait al Ma’mur.
Yes we were gathered before
Allah once before. And them we poured
forth into this dunya. And we spend a
lifetime on this battle ground, fighting Shaytan and sacrificing all we have,
all we are, to show our surrender to the one who created us, our Allah
SWT. After our own deaths, we will
return home. We will circle the heavenly
ancient house.
And as we circle the house,
the Kaabah, our sins unwind from us. Seven rounds and then two rakaat at the
Maqam al-Ibrahim, the very footprints of Ibrahim where he stood to build the
Kaabah with his son, Ishmael. Then,
seven circuits between the hills of Safa’ and Marwa, tracing the very path of
our foremother Hagar as she desperately searched for water for her baby,
Ishmael. We drink from the very water
Allah SWT blessed her with, ZamZam.
The Heart of Hajj: Willingness to Sacrifice
At the heart of these
manaasik lies one overwhelming message:
sacrifice.
Allah SWT says in the Qur’an
a;-Hakim
Al- Saffat 37: 102. Then, when (the son)
Reached (the age of)
(Serious) work with him,
He said: "O my son
I see in vision
That I offer thee in sacrifice:
Now see what is
Thy view!" (The son) said:
"O my father! Do
As thou art commanded:
Thou will find me,
If God so wills one
Practising Patience and Constancy!"
103. So when they had both
Submitted their wills (to God),
And he had laid him
Prostrate on his forehead
(For sacrifice),
104 We called unto him: O Abraham!
105 Thou hast already fulfilled the vision. Lo! thus do
We reward the good.
106 Lo! that verily was a clear test.
107 Then We ransomed him with a tremendous sacrifice.
Eid al Adha, the Day of
Sacrifice is the focal point of the Muslim year. Every other act of ibadaah leads us to this
great day, the day when our lives, our very lives, are ransomed by a tremendous
sacrifice.
However, Allah SWT says:
22: 37.
It is not their meat
Nor their blood, that reaches
God: it is your piety
That reaches Him: He
Has thus made them subject
To you, that ye may glorify
God for his guidance to you:
And proclaim the Good News
To all who do right.
As we mentioned, it is not
the blood or meat that reaches Allah SWT.
He is not some pagan deity who requires blood sacrifice or some sort of
feeding to do our bidding. The ancient
Aztec people believed the gods required human blood, so when their civilization
came under attack by the Spanish, they stepped up the butchery of prisoners,
killing their own people daily, until the temples ran with blood and human
skulls were piled in mounds. Even
without the Western penchant for exaggeration, the carnage was horrific.
However, Allah does require a
sacrifice, just not of blood or meat. He
requires a sacrifice of ourselves by surrendering our will, freely and without compulsion, to
Him and to Him alone. He requires our absolutely voluntary surrender. And what reaches him, then, is our taqwa. Taqwa is a difficult word to translate. It is to cling to Allah SWT with all of our
might, our will, our heart, our soul, and to cling to no other. We cling to him
out of absolute love and in absolute trust. He is our Rabb and He requires our witness,
our acknowledgment that He is our Lord. Alaisa rabbakum? “Arent I your
Lord.” “Yes, you are our Lord.” In return, He provides us guidance and
salvation, and we should glorify Him and be grateful for His blessings and
mercy. We show this by our submission to
Allah in Islam, and the first pillar of Islam – of surrender - is the Shahada – the Witness.
The Muslims are a middle and
balanced Ummah; not people of extremes, and we are the witnesses over all
Mankind. Our shahadah is not only
words: Ash-shahadu allah illaha illa
llah, wa ash-shahadu anna Muhammadan ar-Rasul Allah. It means to witness this – by telling others,
by showing others, by guiding others to the truth. We need to talk to others about our deen, but
we also need to live our deen, so that we become ambassadors of our faith,
showing others that people can live a moral life, free of selfish behavior,
injustice and misery.
We pray that as we follow the
path of our hajjaj from the safety and comfort of our homes, that Allah SWT will
forgive us as He promises to forgive them. May the memory of the events it
memorializes make us think about our own relationship with Allah SWT. On the day when Allah SWT gathers us all
together, what will be our fate? Have we
truly surrendered to Allah SWT? Or are we in rebellion? May Allah SWT forgive
us all!
22: 35.
To those whose hearts,
When God is mentioned,
Are filled with fear,
Who show patient perseverance
Over their afflictions, keep up
Regular prayer, and spend
(In charity) out of what
We have bestowed upon them.
Herein lies the essence of our deen. Good news to those in whose hearts Allah is
remembered, and whose hearts fill up with love and awe of Allah. They are patient in all types of afflictions,
for they love and trust Allah and they know that in the end, they will be in
peace. And they establish salaat and
spend out of the risq that Allah has bestowed upon them.
22:36.
The sacrificial camels
We have made for you
As among the symbols from
God: in them is (much)
Good for you: then pronounce
The name of God over them
As they line up (for sacrifice):
When they are down
On their sides (after slaughter),
Eat ye thereof, and feed
Such as (beg not but)
Live in contentment,
And such as beg
With due humility: thus have
We made animals subject
To you, that ye
May be grateful.
People often wonder at this sacrifice of
animals in this day and age. Many may
look at it as an ancient custom, not suitable for today.
Consider its roots. We all know the story of Abraham and his
son. Abraham saw in a dream that he
sacrificed his son to Allah. For Abraham,
this was a thing more dear even than his own life.
Al- Saffat 37: 102. Then, when (the son)
Reached (the age of)
(Serious) work with him,
He said: "O my son
I see in vision
That I offer thee in sacrifice:
Now see what is
Thy view!" (The son) said:
"O my father! Do
As thou art commanded:
Thou will find me,
If God so wills one
Practicing Patience and Constancy!"
103. So when they had both
Submitted their wills (to God),
And he had laid him
Prostrate on his forehead
(For sacrifice),
104 We called unto him: O Abraham!
105 Thou hast already
fulfilled the vision. Lo! thus do We reward the good.
106 Lo! that verily was a
clear test.
107 Then We ransomed him with a tremendous
sacrifice.
Abraham and his son were tested, and both
submitted their wills freely to Allah. Allah
SWT tells Abraham, you have fulfilled the vision, you have passed the
test. Then “fadainaahu” – although this
word has been translated as “ransomed” following the Bible’s account of this
event, this is not the best translation.
Coming from the same root as dain, or deen, it indicates fulfilling a
covenant or agreement – in this case the fulfillment of the deal on the part of
both parties to the contract. And it
says, Allah fulfilled the contract – fadainaahu – "We fulfilled it with a
tremendous sacrifice." Our willing submission in absolute obedience, with acknowledgment of our utter dependence fulfills our contract. Allah SWT signals His acceptance by providing the "tremendous sacrifice."
From this some have posited the concept of
blood atonement. They say that in order
to forgive sin, God requires a blood sacrifice.
In some forms of Christianity, this concept is essential and justifies
belief in the sacrifice of Jesus AS upon a cross. But in Surah al Hajj, Allah says:
22: 37.
It is not their meat
Nor their blood, that reaches
God: it is your piety
That reaches Him: He
Has thus made them subject
To you, that ye may glorify
God for his guidance to you:
And proclaim the Good News
To all who do right.
Allah SWT does not need blood or meat. He needs nothing from us really. It is we who need Him. Our sacrifice on the Hajj, Abraham’s
sacrifice so long ago, reveals our degree of taqwa and provides us a tangible
way to glorify Allah SWT and thank Him for His guidance. If He did not guide us, we would be forever
lost, wandering in the desert, like Hagar running from hill to hill, seeking
the water of life. But Allah has given
us guidance, and so we show our gratitude to Him.
22:34. To every people did We
Appoint rites (of sacrifice),
That they might celebrate
The name of God over
The sustenance He gave them
From animals (fit for food).
But your god is One God:
Submit then your wills to him
(In Islām): and give thou
The good news to those
Who humble themselves,—
This Hajj of Islam is unique. It is our only manasik or ritual. Our prayers, our salat are not really
rituals, symbolic acts that have religious efficacy. Our Hajj is the only such act. Allah gave us these rituals to remind us of
the history of our contract or covenant with Him.
However, we need not travel to Makkah every
year to remember this pact between us and Allah. At home, we celebrate the Eid al-Adha, the
Festival of the Sacrifice. This Eid touches
the very heart of our covenant, our willingness to sacrifice, to give all that
we are to Allah, our Rabb. We can renew
our contract each year, through performing the prayer and doing Qurbani or
Udhiyya on that day.
And what do we do with all the meat from
these sacrifices? We give it to the
poor. Again, the meat and blood do not
go to Allah. He needs nothing from us. By sharing the meat with those in need, we
renew our contract with each other, our social contract of mu’aadkhaa – brotherhood.
With this in mind, we pray
for a Hajj mabrur, an accepted Hajj, for all of our hajjah, and for ourselves
when we become able; where all of our myriad sins are lifted from us and we
receive His forgiveness. That amazing
gift …forgiveness… That gift which comes for all those willing to journey
toward their Lord, and to sacrifice all fi sabillillah.
All verses of the Qur'an in Arabic are from the Arabic/English version of Abdul Yousuf Ali's translation of the Qur'an available on The Hypertext Qur'an website at: http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/quran/02205.htm
