Why does a vast majority of Muslims
not perform Hajj? Do they not realise its importance? What are they
doing here after all? Why are they wasting time? Don’t they know that the
most unreliable partner in life is life itself? These were the kind of
questions that always bothered me ever since I returned from Hajj
but then, I recalled, I also started working on the plan after four decades
of mundane struggle. It dawned on me that undoubtedly ‘The King’ of kings
is generous, forgiving and kind beyond our expectations but He is very
very selective in hosting people in His Haram. Its living examples
are scattered around us and people with all the worldly resources have
not been able to make it to that place, for one reason or the other. The
very birth of the thought that one should perform Hajj is an honour
and implies that one is in the list of those whom the Almighty wants to
bless. It is no coincidence. Nobody but ‘He’ could generate the thought
and nobody but ‘He’ is the R. S. V. P. So, if you find your name in the
‘list of quests’ stay put in the queue and don’t let the opportunity slip
away because a second call is even more unpredictable than the first one.
If you have been blessed with the thought you have the foundations, and
the rest is a pleasant journey, though uphill. The thought will lead you
onto the road of applying for and then getting a visa (hopefully), making
preparations, both physical and mental and finally embarking upon the journey.
But things do not appear to be happening until the visa is actually granted.
No real enthusiasm, no heartburn and no sense of reality. However, the
visa endorsement news and removal of the biggest hurdle in one’s way virtually
causes palpitations and suddenly, every move one makes becomes enriched
with emotions. One seriously starts to read the guide books, asks questions
from senior pilgrims and if, fortunately, gets hands on the literature
explaining the philosophical background of this great event, starts to
stagger with the thought of what is forthcoming. Every step has its own
meaning and leaves an unforgettable impression, something that one cherishes
later.
The first incident of realisation
is putting on ‘the Ihram’ and probably the most explosive one; it
symbolises the dress that one wears after death to present himself in the
court of his ‘Creator’ on the Day of Judgement. It means that his worldly
life is all but over; the test he had been given is finished and the final
bell has tolled; no more writing on the paper and its time for the result!!!
Truly speaking, this is the first time that one sees the writing on the
wall. He has no doubt about what he deserves. He doesn’t need to be given
the charge sheet; the cine is already in motion and ‘now’ he knows too
well where he faltered. In a few moments, he will be shown the final abode.
…The fire! The torture! The suffering!
Forever! No, Lord, No. Please. Give me just one last chance and I’ll undo
all my wrongs; I know its only me; Iblis had no authority on me
but I opted for his friendship and this time, Lord, I assure you, I am
not going to be the same…
The cine stops; one comes out of the
trance but knowing too well that he has been heard. He has been granted
another, may be the last chance. The nightmare was as good as true and
will be there again if ...
With these feelings, one kneels in
front of ‘The Creator’ to express one’s immense gratitude and acknowledge
that he treasures the opportunity. The two Rak‘ats of Nawafil
that one says at this moment have no match in all of one’s previous
prayers as, for the first time, one feels conversing with his Master absolutely
directly. He knows that ‘He’ is there and listening. One, almost certainly,
has never been exposed to such a ‘living contact’ before and though new
to it, prays that it remains with him forever. He knows that from now on
prayer is his need, not a duty.
This experience serves as the basis
of the whole expedition and hence sets the objectives to be achieved at
each stop. One leaves home in Ihram with the feeling that one may
never see ones belongings again. Airport presents a totally alien picture
this time; almost every traveller is in the same dress and social disparity
is non-existent. No VIPs, no escorts. No laughter, no tears. There is a
vivid ‘can’t care less’ attitude in the air about worldly accessories.
Checking in queues are quieter and the usual Pakistani temperament more
or less under control. Even within the aircraft, rows on window seats and
quality of food are not encountered. Miqat announcement suddenly
causes a stir in the crowd and the Talbiyah chant grips the entire
space. ‘O Lord, you granted me the opportunity and I treasure it; I am
on my way; I have left my home, my children and my everything, just for
You because I know You are my master, the only one. Praise is for you,
Gratitude is for you and Power is for You and no one shares them with You.’
These verses are small but beautifully integrated and one feels that nothing
could have expressed one’s innermost feelings any better at that time.
Jaddah Airport and travel to Makkah are difficult to get
over as the apprehensions build up, fuelled by emotions. Most of the passengers
are new to the area so, in spite of everybody asking the other, no real
satisfaction is achieved. Road travel eventually ends; the bus drops the
entire group ‘somewhere’ in Makkah with only the driver knowing
how close to the Haram, but it usually is within walking distance.
From here on, you don’t even need to ask someone for directions; just follow
the crowd and you will get there. Congested streets suddenly widen into
wide arenas surrendering their identity, in respect to the holy place.
And then one gets the first, real life look at the majestic, grey-stone
building that serves as the boundary wall of the ‘House of the Lord’. The
entire space between this and the buildings across the road (over a hundred
yards approx.) has been cleared of structures in recent past and is now
covered only by white marble to serve as extended prayer area when the
inside fails to accept anymore pilgrims. The unique quality of a special
white marble is that it maintains a very comfortable temperature even in
hot summers and hence compensates to a great extent the exhaustion caused
by the blistering sun.
The grey-stone building that surrounds the Haram
has many entrances which allow equally smooth access to people from all
sides. The largest of these entrances is called the Bab ‘Abdu’l ‘Aziz
that faces the Ajyad area and is decorated by two superb minarets.
These minarets also house the state of the art sound and lighting system;
the former can be experienced at all prayer times, and just the ‘Adhan’
sounds so unbelievably different. The very pure Arabic accent and valley
affect of Makkah no doubt add to the beauty of verses and for the
first time, one realises what ‘Allah-u-Akbar’ actually means; what
it takes to say ‘Ashhadu an la ilaha illalah’ and how ones deeds
reflect his faith in ‘La ilaha illalah’. Extensions from the main
sound system have been laid into all the streets around the Haram
up to almost one kilometre radically to provide the same super sound quality
to the millions who throng the streets at prayer times in Ramadan and
Hajj. The job has been extremely well done and one owes tribute
to the master planner / designer who brought dreams to reality.
So much for the sound system. Now
if you happen to have arrived in Makkah in the morning, you will
get a chance to say your Zuhr and ‘Asr prayers in Haram
and it takes no time to discover that getting a reasonable place for the
prayer inside the building in only possible if one arrives well ahead of
time (may be 20-30 minutes before the actual time of the congregation).
Later than that, you may be able to get in but most likely are going to
end up saying the entire prayer while standing in the stream of people
who don’t know where to go once the Imam begins. The problem aggravates
a shade further at Maghrib time as relatively cooler temperatures
attract people from far and wide and these will go only after the ‘Isha
prayer is over. So places once taken are seldom vacated. I take an
opportunity here to advise you to say at least your first Maghrib prayer
on the marbled area outside the main building. This, on the one hand, will
take you through the sensational experience of dusk gradually merging with
the florescent lights and on the other, will allow you to witness the incessant
flow of humans into the arena.
As the prayer time draws closer, the
human influx begins. All the streets around the Haram that were
merely crowded with people involved in various activities suddenly change
character and turn into vibrant streams with a unidirectional flow, everyone
moving towards the Baytullah, mesmerised. The scene is unbelievable
as one sees hundreds, no … thousands, no … millions, or maybe more rushing
towards it and first the marble and then the concrete of the roads as far
as one can see is replaced by a brilliant white cover; without hesitation
one acknowledges that nothing on this earth but the House of God could
deserve this. It is no ordinary ‘building’, it is the place that reminds
you that the Master is actually closer to you than your life vein and one
better be there quick to register one’s apology lest the opportunity is
lost.
The lighting system is as superb in
quality as that of the sound and in spite of extravagant, high energy equipment
one never appears to feel the existence of light source (as against the
lights in a stadium). The lights are put on well before the Maghrib
prayer, and at that time one is not even aware of them. The Maghrib
prayer lasts for about ten minutes and this is exactly the time that
the hand-shake of natural and artificial lights takes place, and when one
comes back to the world at the end of the prayer, one in fact holds ones
breath in. I wish that this be your first Jahri prayer in the Ka‘bah
and I wish that you understand what Imam Sudays is reciting;
if you do, then we are in the same boat and know that whatever words I
may use they will not be able to express a fraction of our heart when he
reads through ‘Hal Unabbi’ukum Bilakhsarina A‘amala’… Me?
Hajj, as you may eventually
appreciate, is a process of endless retreats; one leaves for Hajj
as ‘someone’ and after arriving in Makkah one is perpetually faced
with experiences that defeat one’s self esteem, one’s own principles, one’s
nature and one’s ego. This ‘experience’ is alien, perplexing and sometimes
frustrating but this is, in fact, the blessing of a pure Hajj which
reduces one from ‘someone’ to ‘no one’, but from a loser to a victor.
As the days go by in Makkah,
you will appreciate how intelligently Imam Sudays selects the verses
for recital in the prayers. He knows, it appears, the change of heart that
his followers behind him are going through and digs out all the verses
from the Book that most precisely express their sentiments. So you will
find him reciting ‘Rabbana ma Khalaqta Hadha Batila’, ‘Rabbana
La Tu’akhidhna In nasi’na aw Akhta’na’, ‘Innama’l Hayatud Dunaya
La‘ibun wa Lahaw’ and many more, and if you are still able to maintain
composure, you are a superhuman.
Now is the time to get inside the
building that I have taken so much time to describe from outside and you
must have realised that words are at a loss to capture what the eyes actually
see. You may enter through any of the entrances called ‘Bab’. It
is quoted that a prayer at the first glance of Ka‘bah never goes
unheard and one usually prepares for the occasion so that nothing is left
out of the list. But I tell you this is not going to work, for two reasons;
one, it all happens so suddenly that plans are shelved and two, the sight
of the Holy House leaves one absolutely overawed. I am sure this is not
the only article that you are going to read in preparation for Hajj
and like me, you are making a fantasised picture of what you expect to
see; a huge, rounded open space with a relatively small Ka‘bah in
the middle; see, that is the problem with an aerial view which most photographers
resort to. But quite contrary to one’s imagination, one sees a relatively
smaller open space with a very dominating square in the centre which one
sees almost immediately, at point blank range as one enters through the
gate. You will stop, I know that, as I did and as almost everyone coming
there for the first time does; this happens under the sheer grace of the
Holy House. It is only four walls and a roof built with extreme simplicity
but, honestly, one is perplexed by the impression it casts. It is out of
the ordinary, man can make empire state buildings and world trade centres
but most certainly he can not make another one like this. Ask yourself
(when you are there, Inshallah) and … there go your preparation
and plans of first look; hands go up in prayer, almost robotically; eyes
close… dampen ... and then overflow. One tries hard to come up with some
words but the mind refuses to help; frustrated, one looks towards the heart
for (help) but it appears alien too, arrogant to be more precise. ‘You
wanted to be here, so here you are; you were happy that you were called,
so be happy; why ask me? But did you really deserve to be here? You know
how mean you are but you want to be the Kings guest! Go ahead, He is right
there’. One immediately realises that this is the way one day, exactly
in the same manner, testimony will come forth, not only from heart but
also from hands, feet, eyes and even the skin. Another moment of remembrance;
Ya ayyuha’l insan ma gharraka bi rabbika’l karim. Transition between
the Herein and the Hereafter appears unrealistically quick but it remains
real, however.
Were it not for the strategic importance
of the occasion and fear of missing the opportunity one would, almost certainly,
take an about turn and come out, known now fully well that one’s soul is
too polluted to be presented and will have to undergo thorough overhauling
before one can ask to be there…. But then one will never achieve that satisfaction
about the soul’s status and also what better than this place for ‘overhauling’.
With these mixed feelings one moves on, passes through the hallways, descends
through the stairs and, finally, lands on the white marble floor which
maintains an extremely pleasant, cool temperature all through the day and
the year; There are various stories about what lies under the floor but
irrespective of what these actually may be, the very first contact of bare
feet with this surface is a heavenly experience. No matter whether one
has travelled all night long to get here or has been up to say midnight
prayers, the ‘cool’ in the stone miraculously revitalises the soul and
one feels fully charged for the exercise ahead. From here on, if you just
follow the crowd you will be through with most of the ‘Umrah proceedings.
You have never seen the Hajr-i-Aswad so you don’t know where to
begin; you may be looking for the green light that points towards it or
the black line in the floor but much before that you see a more dense crowd
within the huge crowd raising their hands in the air and you know what
it is for. Similarly, you need not remember whether to go clockwise or
counter, the crowd movement drags you in the right direction. Rukn-i-Yamani,
will not to be searched again; it becomes obvious when the crowd mechanically
points towards it. Coming now to the actual proceeding: it was the Prophet’s
way to actually touch the Hajr-i-Aswad and say the prayer to begin
the Tawaf but this is not mandatory; during busy days especially
in Ramadan and Hajj, it is virtually impossible for everyone
to get as close to the stone as that so the Holy Prophet (sws) allowed
the raising of the hand from a distance symbolising an attempt to reach
the stone. Similarly, it is not true that one has to stop at the line marking
the position of the stone, turn towards it and then say the Takbir.
One is permitted to look towards the stone, raise the hand, say the Takbir
and keep moving; this is much required in peak rush hours as a very
rhythmical crowd motion comes to an abrupt halt as it approaches the stone
causing serious problems for the frail and elderly. Last but probably the
most important aspect of this gesture is that the Holy Prophet (sws) declared
the stone to be the right hand of God Almighty and one begins the proceedings
by holding it as we do even in our daily lives to make a solemn pledge
with each other. But this one is different, for two reasons; one that it
is no ordinary hand and two that it is no ordinary pledge. Sitting in an
office or in one’s bedroom may make it a little difficult to imagine but
in there, it is as true as broad daylight that holding the Almighty’s hand
is no joke; if performed with clear perception, this is probably the most
difficult part of the entire proceeding. Picking up courage to hold that
hand implies that from here on you mean what you say, may it be a confession
or a promise and this itself is a huge responsibility. Its repercussions
are great. It really surprised me how lightly most of the crowd takes it
and how mechanically it just rolls over this ritual; certainly it is absolutely
ignorant of the monumental task that lies ahead. Every word that one utters
from here on will be regarded as a pledge and every move one makes later
in life will be judged accordingly; emotions are uncontrollable and hence,
prayers incessant but, one must realise, they may serve as the FIR against
him eventually. That by no means implies that one should not spell one’s
heart out even there, but, on the contrary, one should be fully conscious
of what one says as this will be the guideline when one is ‘back to work’
Remember what we concluded earlier on … this may well be the last chance.
After this Istilam of the Hajr-i-Aswad,
comes the most beautiful part of ‘Umrah proceedings, the Tawaf.
We all have seen this countless number of times in pictures and videos
and have made an image of it in our mental library but, like most other
things on this expedition, its real life experience is shockingly different.
If ever one could understand the feelings of poets exaggerating about their
sweethearts, and acts of ‘malangs/sufis’ at the shrines, this is
the occasion but with one big difference; this is what our Lord had ‘ordered’
us to do and we do it, only for Him. Circumambulating the Baytullah
is a human’s spiritual zenith, and while whispering to the Almighty
one appreciates what a grand gift this is for mankind. We normally do not
realise the importance of a means for conveying our feelings of gratitude
or guilt to our Creator, but we can see its ramifications in alternative
religions in the shape of various man made gods and rituals. Now, when
you go round the Ka‘bah with a soul as ‘satisfied’ as a neonate
and without the apprehension of ‘misdemeanour’ you wish that the time just
halted, the counts lost their worth and you carried on with the Tawaf
endless number of times. This is truly the time when metaphysicals
becomes physical, flesh and blood cease to exist and you feel all alone,
even in that sea of humans, in front of your Master. You hear no voices
and see no one, as if the crowd was never there; what a gem of an opportunity;
imagine, a few moments in total seclusion with thy Lord; tell Him everything
and ask for everything, yes everything… even that what you think is impossible.
Don’t feel belittled by your poor performance in Arabic; use the language
you are best at; in fact, this is the time to score even with those who
have spent their lives learning Arabic verses and are uttering them at
full speed now, themselves or following a leader. Remember, He prefers
quality over quantity and sentiments over language; two hundred verses
an hour or a dozen of ‘Umrahs may not match a few tears shed
with pure gratitude, tongue remaining still notwithstanding.
Some say that the Tawaf is
the most difficult part of Hajj because the crowd is like a roaring,
untamed beast, pushing, pulling, shoving, dragging; but very few realise
‘what else do we deserve?’ Going round the Ka‘bah seven times completes
the Tawaf and one proceeds towards Maqam-i-Ibrahim to say
two Nawafil and then move on towards the Zam Zam to drink from the
source. The Saudi government has, in the recent past, made two improvements
in the supply of this holy water to the pilgrims; one, ladies and gents
have been assigned separate entrances to avoid unnecessary communion of
gender and two, hundreds of taps scattered in a large hall carry the water
to facilitate easy availability. There are narratives whereby the Holy
Prophet (sws) was witnessed to have drunk water while standing and then
pouring some on his body; many are seen following this practice and the
area is drenched as a result.
This brings you to the next ritual
of the ‘Umrah proceedings: the Sa‘i. As we read in the books,
Sa‘i is carried out between two hill tops, the Safa and the
Marvah approx. 500 yards apart. It used to be uninhabited initially
and the movement between them was quite easy but as the Makkan population
and the number of pilgrims grew, it gradually turned into a busy street
with shops and houses at either side. This made Sa‘i very difficult; lately
the area has been reclaimed, shops and houses raised down and a grand,
100 feet wide corridor constructed that stretches between the two hills
which is further subdivided in two to cater for one way traffic. To further
ease the proceedings during peak Hajj and ‘Umrah, seasons
this corridor has now been made three storeyed and the Sa‘i can
be carried out at any level to avoid overcrowding.
One may ask at this stage: ‘What is
Sa‘i after all and why has it been tagged as a permanent feature
of ‘Umrah/Hajj; The Sa‘i symbolizes the effort and
struggle of Abraham (sws) as he frantically searched for an appropriate
place between the two hills to sacrifice his son. Abraham (sws) had no
ambiguity in his mind as to what his Lord expected of him. So with unparalleled
zeal and fervour he has set out to fulfil His Lord’s directive. Now, if
one places ones self in that situation and only imagines what was to come
to ones son (the posture, the knife, the tender throat that one has kissed
innumerable times, the fresh pink skin whose mere abrasion one could not
withstand and…..), not actually planning to carry it out, the shiver in
the spine is too obvious to hide and one acknowledges without hesitation
that there could only be one Abraham (sws). No wonder God Almighty praised
him so dearly in the Qur’an; he earned it the hard way and that
is what makes Sa‘i so very meaningful. And the Lord made sure that
human race does not lose sight of this event as long as He plans to let
it live. This appreciation completely changes the complexion of an otherwise
ordinary stroll and one gears up for yet another exercise, forgetting the
exhaustion caused by the earlier proceeding, just to win his Master’s pleasure.
There are only a couple of Prophet’s prayers verifiable
through the Ahadith which one has to learn; one is read at Safa
and the other at Marvah. In between, one is at liberty to address
one’s Lord’s attention any way one likes, as is the case with most of the
‘Umrah and Hajj rituals, not forgetting though that the message
he wants to get across is that he will leave everything and everyone in
the name of Allah and will strive relentlessly when his religion requires
him to.
At the end of the Sa‘i, after
a long spell of hypnosis, one returns to one’s native world. Spell bound
still, one makes his way out, through the millions who don’t want to leave
that territory, for obvious reasons. Get a haircut, total or partial, and
you are allowed to change from Ihram into normal dress. Nevertheless the
restrictions of being in the limits of Haram will remain enforced
as long as you stay in Makkah. This completes the ‘Umrah.
Next few days in Makkah are
going to be an eye-opener for those who can ‘see’; the routine involves
getting up in the middle of the night to get to the Haram for the
Tahajjud prayer, stay there until after Fajr, come home for
breakfast, take a little nap and set out again to be in that heavenly atmosphere.
You may recite the Qur’an, do Tawaf as many times as you
like, offer Nawafil and join the regular prayers and come home after
‘Isha. The interesting aspect of all this routine is that the otherwise
most important things in our daily life appear to completely lose their
value; no selection of clothes, no big hassle for food, no desire to get
into the best of lodgings and no real lust for world rankings. One now
realises very clearly the absurdity of these goals and moves around in
un-ironed clothes, eats whatever is available at the nearest shop, doesn’t
complain about its quality, doesn’t try to score even if someone misbehaves
and earnestly wishes that this becomes his routine. As in Ramadan,
one rehearses to organise one’s schedule for the next eleven months, these
few days in Makkah allow one, for the first time probably, to review
one’s attitude towards life. The only goal in front of him is ‘vying for
the Master’s pleasure’ and this eye-opener is no small a blessing.
Living in Makkah has such a
mesmerising effect that one, at least temporarily, loses sight and, perhaps
the desire, of what one actually set out for, and wishfully thinks that
the time never passed. Communicating with his Master, in whispers or aloud,
through words or through tears, in solitude or in a crowd, is something
that one has never been exposed to and he doesn’t want to part with it.
But this is only because he is unaware of what his Lord has for him in
store.
On this whole trip, you will repeatedly
hear and probably experience first hand as well, some very unusual sometimes
supernatural happenings. They are no hallucinations, no mirages; they are
facts, simply implying that the Host is personally looking after His guests,
guiding them, encouraging them and in fact exposing His unending Mercy
to them individually. One of these unbelievable events, however, takes
place so regularly and many times during each Hajj every year that
no one actually feels its happening. It is the mass movement of a crowd
of over two million from one destination to another within a few hours,
four to six to be precise, and invariably without any catastrophe. One
can witness this when one sets for Mina, and then from Mina to
‘Arafat and then back to Muzdalifah and finally back to Mina.
Keeping in mind the fact that it takes over a month for all these pilgrims
to gather in Makkah and now their movement en bloc is accomplished
within a few hours and that too with extreme reliability, over and over
again, it requires no Plato to see the writing on the wall… It is Him and
only Him, because they are all here for Him. Even the most developed countries
in the world cannot cite an example to match it, notwithstanding the fact
that the crowd here is not one nation; it is multicoloured, multiracial,
multilingual and mostly comprises illiterate to semiliterate people.
8th of Dhu’l-Hajj sees everyone
putting on Ihram once again and moving out of Makkah towards
Mina, on feet or on wheels, and within a few hours after the Fajr
prayer the Ummu’l-Qura regains its holy quiet. This journey
symbolises a Muslim army on Jihad which will pass through different
stages and will be tested at every step for its dedication, perseverance
and patience; hence ever member must remind himself of the forthcoming
event lest the opportunity is lost.
Mina is a valley just like
Makkah, but lodges only a few built structures including hotels,
a hospital, telephone and telegraph office and a couple of official residences.
Rest of it remains bare most of the time and only during the Hajj
days temporary tents are erected to accommodate the pilgrims. Lately, the
Saudi govt. has started installing fibreglass tents which are semi-permanent
and hence designed to stay even after the Hajj. The Khayf mosque
occupies the centre of this valley and is surrounded by a small market
where food and utility items are made available for the Haji’s.
If one stands facing the mosque, Makkah lies to the right and one
sees the three Jamarats at that end of the valley; towards the left
is the Muzdalifah end and the entire tented city spans on this side.
This place gets inhabited with almost the same speed at which Makkah
is vacated and hence within a few hours all the hotels and tents are occupied.
One must appreciate the fact that
the journey of Hajj actually symbolises an expedition of Jihad
against evil and hence one leaves home in Ihram hoping to reap
the highest reward -- the Shahadah. While on this expedition one
will, time and again, have the opportunity to prove his sincerity to the
cause. The stay in Mina is one such opportunity. Mina is
the Muslim army’s first camp and also the headquarter for the entire Hajj
proceedings where it reorganises itself, its members reiterate their pledge,
acknowledge their Master’s supremacy and seek His forgiveness and help,
lest they should falter. It obviously requires phenomenal concentration
which is not easy to attain in that sea of humans and not uncommonly one
has to put up in the company of tens or twenties of other fellow pilgrims
many of whom are unaware of the subtlety of this opportunity and hence
carry on with their worldly routines of eating, gossiping and roaming.
What a tremendous difference it would have made if they understood a verse
that Imam Sudays recites so many times in Makkah, just to
remind them of the forthcoming, but it probably just echoes through the
valley as the addressees have somehow discovered that the Book is primarily
recited for Thawab and attempting to understand its text serves a lesser
purpose. The verse is:
So when you have accomplished your holy rites, celebrate
the praises of Allah, as you used to celebrate the praises of your fathers
– yes, with far more heart and soul. (2:200)
Another distraction in the streets of
Mina is an abundance of vendors from various countries selling products
ranging from Tasbih to imitation jewellary. One may justifiably
point out here that this was the routine during the Hajj in the
days of Holy Prophet (sws) and he never recommended against it. But one
must not forget that Arabs were primarily warriors before Islam and would
survive on booty from trade caravans travelling through their territory,
all round the year. Hajj season, that spanned over three sacred
months, however, was the only period when such caravans were not attacked
and hence the natural inclination of traders to make a religious cum economic
journey is these months. Now, with evolution of society and development
of an international trade charter, the circumstances have completely changed;
trading carries on all the 365 days of a year and through means other than
the land alone. One therefore sees no real excuse for the activity especially
in the place where it is least required, in the days that are priceless.
First day in Mina involves
no real activity and, if not adequately prepared, one doesn’t know how
to spend it. But those who know the purpose of their stay in the valley
will only be complaining of shortage of time, since they know that no effort
is good enough to have ensured a berth in the heavens. Next day (9th Dhu’l-Hajj)
is virtually the most important day of this expedition when the army takes
off for ‘Arafat and hence has been labelled ‘the Hajj Day’
by the Prophet (sws). Mass movement is witnessed once again with all the
glory and grandeur that one can dream of in spite of the extreme simplicity
of its participants -- just a pair of white sheets as dress, a couple of
books in hand, a pair of rubber slippers in the feet but ready to face
any challenge to please their Lord. This is the day that the crowd grows
to its largest as natives and people from bordering countries also join
in and one can see from a glistening Lands Cruiser to a junky Dodge aiming
in the same direction. But it remains to be seen who will eventually be
riding the best, at the end of the day.
‘Arafat is, like Makkah
and Mina, another valley where the army now camps. It is always
good to be there early as one cannot get even close to the mosque to attend
the Hajj sermon if late. Also the space around ‘Masha‘ar-i-Haram’
gets occupied very quickly, a spot selected by the Almighty for us to register
our prayers. But the entire valley serves as the praying area and the Holy
Prophet (sws) is reported to have said that anyone present within the valley
may consider to have accomplished his Hajj. You will have a 6-8
hours stay here, of which approx. 3-4 hours are available for one’s personal
prayers. It is extremely important therefore, to select your final platform
where you can find some relative solitude. The crowd in general restricts
itself to the tents and does everything in small groups following a leader.
But ideally this is the day of ‘privacy’ and it is best to converse with
Him through your own tongue, eyes and heart rather than letting someone
else do the job. If you can’t do it, no one else can. There are innumerable
low peaked mountains in the valley which are very thinly trecked and it
is best to use one of them as a platform where you can sit in peace, facing
the setting sun, for at least a couple of hours. Before you actually sit
down for prayer take a good, long look at the spellbinding scene of the
valley as you will not be able to catch it once you started off.
‘Arafat witnesses the best
of relationships a creation can have with its Creator as both vow to outreach
for each other; the Almighty knows very well that everyone down there has
left his home, his business, his family and even children, only to seek
His pleasure so He is not going to disappoint them. He has been overwhelmingly
kind even to those who don’t even believe in Him, so how can He ignore
these who are asking for His blessings. ‘Why have these people gathered
here?’ He asks the angels proudly and, if one realise that the Creator
is actually pointing at him, in person, the barriers break; one cries out
‘Only for you my Lord, and no one else. Only for your pleasure. Only to
seek your forgiveness.’ And from here on the dialogue begins.
‘But you have not remembered me for
ages…’
‘Yes, Lord, yes I ignored you. I admit
that and I would like to die of shame for what I did…’
‘And you swore on oath the day I created
you that you will not bow to anyone except Me but you know what you actually
did…’
‘Yes, my Master, yes. I made my ambitions
my gods and surrendered to them. I served them all my life. I deserve the
worst of punishments, the one I’ll give to those who cheat me but I know
You are not me. You are my God, everyone’s God, everything’s God and the
Kindest…’
‘And I gave you the Book to read so
that you won’t slip and what did you do to that…’
‘I threw it behind my back my Master.
I found mundane affairs more rewarding. I was wrong, I acknowledge…’
‘But I reminded you so many times!
Remember when you set up that glorious empire of yours and then lost it
all, and then, when your son was so desperately ill, and again when he
topped in his exam. But nothing moved you…’
‘Yes, I remember them all, my Lord
and I know what I thought then. I thought that disaster comes to everyone
but forgot that it also comes from someone. I thought that all the success
was my own and I was a genius so I owed nothing to nobody…’
And the dialogue is endless; there
is nothing to defend as there is nothing to hide. There are only confessions,
admissions, regrets and apologies. One dares not tender any demands as
one knows very clearly how unhappy his Master will be on his ‘achievement’
and one’s best chances lie in attempting to win back His pleasure. And
if one is able to accomplish that at the end of the day one doesn’t need
the rest of one’s life.
Treasuring this opportunity, one really
doesn’t want to get done with apologies lest one may remain short of the
goal and the biggest driving force in that frame of disappointment and
frustration is ‘Hope for Forgiveness’. This is one thing that one has been
promised provided one is sincere in his effort and shows an earnest desire
to undo his past. Unaware of ones surroundings, one carries on relentlessly,
virtually losing contact with time. It is usually the quietness resulting
from the departing crowd or a friend looking for you around sunset who
brings you back and one finds that all the time allotted to him is over.
‘No! No! I am not finished yet. I have so much more to say. How can...?’
But the time is actually finished and one has to leave; and one leaves
the deserted valley as one leaves a house full of his loved ones, hung
between hope and fear but very clear about one thing: I have to change.
Change my thinking, change my lifestyle, change my attitude and this will
change … my destiny, Insha Allah.
The army moves, once again and without
saying the Maghrib prayer although the sun has set. And it will
be late when it reaches Muzdalifah. How strange? After having spent
all the time in apologies, the first thing one does is omitting the prayer.
But the Prophet (sws) guided us like that and we owe no apology for this.
This is, in fact, surrender.
Muzdalifah is a valley that
one passes while enroute to ‘Arafat but stops here only on the way
back. It is usually ‘Isha time when the army lands here and says
Maghrib and ‘Isha prayers together. After that there is not
much to do as the Holy Prophet (sws) is reported to have rested all night,
the only night in fact when he did not get up for the Tahajjud prayer.
The valley has no built structure and the army spends the night under bare
skies on pebbly, uneven ground. Some use plastic prayer mats and others
simple bed sheets for sleeping. Most of them are accustomed to luxury style
beds but tonight they choose to give it up because their Creator wants
it that way. Lying flat on the ground one ponders over the havoc the day
has played with his soul. One was never prepared for that, yet it came
on so naturally as if one was always looking for such an opportunity. The
morning in Mina when one had set out for ‘Arafat appears
a matter of remote past and finds no real link with the soul returning
from ‘Arafat.
The Muzdalifah night, like
most other experiences during Hajj, is a beauty and the revelations
are mind-boggling. One realises that in simplicity lies the secret of creator-creation
relationship and that is why He stresses so hard on it. The clutter of
accessories around us tends to mute the cry of one’s soul at every misdemeanour
until it gives up and from thereon the journey is smooth, brisk and downhill
and doesn’t take long for one to hit the bottom. One recollects how gradually
one has, on one’s own, shed off the ‘necessities’ that were a part of his
physical being. One had left home with a couple of suit cases, leaving
behind the entire wardrobe, the multimedia and the battalion of servants
and to one’s surprise, didn’t miss them at all in Makkah. From the
stay in Makkah, one found that even this was an unnecessary collection
so he reduced it to a hand bag and still did not feel deprived of anything
in Mina. And finally when leaving off in the morning today one discovered
that it would be a shame to present in the court of his Lord clutching
onto these; so even that hand bag… And then, one discovers the transition
from one’s, own private bedroom back home to a communal living room in
Makkah, to the tents in Mina and then the naked earth in
Muzdalifah… Does this need a scholar for interpretation? Could any
other example have been more impressive?
One wants to carry on thinking staring
at the sky and not let a single moment go unutilised but nature is far
too kind than one has ever imagined it, being aware of ones exertion during
the day and again tomorrow, drags him into the blanket of a blissful slumber.
After the Fajr prayer, the
pebble collection begins which usually does not take very long as they
are abundant. The crowd then takes off to get back to Mina. This
is actually the Eid day elsewhere in the country but the army carries on
with its mission. The government now completely controls the animal sacrificial
activity to help the pilgrims and has therefore created a huge network
whereby one can have a goat slaughtered in ones name simply by paying a
fixed amount of money at one of the government. outlets (Al- Raji Bank,
to be precise). This sacrifice begins early and is usually accomplished
before mid-day. So as the pilgrim’s return to their camps in Mina and
are through with breakfast and other daily activities, the sacrifice has
already taken place. Now they go through yet another ritual: the hair cut;
some get a partial and others a total shave but very few know what it actually
means. Ever since man started making his brethren his slaves he devised
ways of assigning them ‘Recognition Stamps’ so that they could not ‘abuse’
the privileges of the elite, free men. One of these stamps that became
almost universal later was to shave the head of anyone acquired as a slave,
through war or through market. Growing hair was a crime for slaves and
they used to live with this stigma, all their lives, unless freed. Very
similarly, in Hajj, it signifies one’s position in comparison with
his Master. But with one great difference; it is voluntary; an announcement
made to everyone that one has surrendered ones rights to Him and accepted
to carry out His orders, whatever it takes. Now, in the light of all this,
if one is asked to make a choice between a haircut and a total shave. ‘...
Shave it, and shave it so that it never grows again, ones heart yells.
I don’t ever want to part with this bond of slavery. I have found Him after
all these years and now, I don’t want to lose sight of Him again. I know
I am careless, and ungrateful, and devious so I need this as a constant
reminder.’ But one knows this is overdoing and the Master does not like
crossing the limits set by Him.
Getting the head shaved is the last
ritual one performs in Ihram and as one goes in to change one finds
that it takes some heart to part with the two sheets one had been wearing
for the last three days. Who knows when again he will be awarded an opportunity
to be his Master’s guest, if at all? …Yet another moment when one wanted
the time to stop so that one could somehow seize the opportunity.
The Jamarat are three concrete
pillars erected approximately The Jihad symbolized in the Hajj
proceedings reaches a befitting finale in this event. It appears to be
a very simple and rather lackluster tradition after all those emotional
explosions in ‘Arafat and Muzdalifah but quite contrary to
one’s perceptions it turns out to very similar to them all and therefore
fits beautifully in the entire setting. It does not dawn on one what one
is going to do until one gets out and finds millions of his colleagues
streaming through the main street of Mina towards the Jamarat,
holding small stones in their hands and chanting Takbir. So, finally
it is combat time and the army is going to take on his Master’s and his
own biggest enemy. What shall I do in a situation like this? one asks one’s
self. I’ll not think even once and join them, and fight my Lord’s enemy,
with anything that I have or even if I have nothing, and fight until one
of us remains. If I remain, I’ll have something to present to my Master,
and if he remains I’ll be a martyr, and what better than that. After all
I have found what this life is all about. And with these feeling one loses
one’s self amidst the charging brigade, trying harder than ever to take
lead lest someone else steal the opportunity. The Jamarat are not
stone pillars to him anymore, they are a whole army in opposition to his
Master, and he starts to throw stones at them, one by one, and every time
he hits he knows he has got one of them. What a feeling? Can I always carry
on like this? he asks himself again, not knowing then that the answer is
in the affirmative. Only he will have to be in uniform all the time, as
the battle is to carry on until the Big Day. Fought with such zeal and
that too with the support of God Almighty that battle can be nothing but
won. The army knows very clearly who it owes all the gratitude to and hence
it marches on towards the Haram for the Tawaf-i-Ziyarah,
triumphantly but most humbly acknowledging at the top of its voice ‘Power
is to Thee, Glory is to Thee, Praise is to Thee and Gratitude is to Thee’.
Each member bows in front of his Master in admission of His immense help
and mercy without which this could not have been possible. The movement
around the Haram this time is, however, rather brisk to allow every
member a chance to present himself before his Master. By the end of the
day the entire two million plus have registered their attendance and in
fact have rediscovered the secret to success: Gratitude, to the One who
reigns supreme and blesses the one He wishes. No one can now claim the
credit of even putting on his shoes, what to speak of successes. One knows
that more success means more blessing and hence a more difficult test,
more thorough accountability. Catastrophes! Well, they also remind one
of his Lord’s everlasting mercy as they come and go. One knows what crop
his deeds are eventually going to harvest but He, through His shear mercy
and forgiveness, only sent a warning so that one could get back on track.
And if one knew that He only sends reminders to those who He cares about,
one would actually be looking forward for the next one lest his Master
counted him in the forgotten ones.
This, in effect, completes the Hajj
and the next 2-3 days in Mina are spent actually in prayers. Stoning
of the Jamarat is carried on on all these days, in accordance with
the teachings of the Holy Prophet (sws). He preferred to stay for three
days in Mina after Hajj but did not stop others who wanted
to return so one sees most leaving by second day and only a few thousand
are left for the last day, taking care of themselves as most hotels and
shops have also been deserted.
On one’s final return from Mina
and most likely from Makkah the same day, one owes a last visit
to the Haram: the Tawaf-i-Wida‘. It is quite strange how
different each visit to this place is. One was here the first time when
one landed for ‘Umrah (and knows what happened then) and then came
back from Mina for the Tawaf-i-Ziyarah and now for the final
see off … it is no less tragic than the parting of a neonate from her mother,
primarily because one could not make the best use of the time allotted.
Who knows if there will be another chance and will he have better credentials
even if there was? Will he be able to keep his promises? Give up that routine,
that habit, that company and everything that comes in between him and his
Master. ‘But how will I know? On wonders’. Yes …. you will know my friend;
the things that you used to rollover so smoothly are going to pose nagging
problems for you from hereon. Whether it is making an abrupt excuse to
refuse an invitation or making false statements filling up an application
form or thinking of jumping a queue using your resources or planning a
building violation, a small window will open inside you and an alien (your
new face) will look into your eyes and ask: You know that is going to offend
‘Him’ ? and you know the answer. ‘But this is going to cause a lot of problems
if I don’t …’ you argue with your alien half. ‘I know, but this is only
a small test. What will happen to the bigger ones you promised to pass?’
he replies. You think for a while and then ‘But you know I can justify
this …’. The alien smiles ‘ you can justify that in front of me but think
of Him: will you be able to speak then?’ And you feel so helpless but this
time the alien comes to help rather than object ‘I tell you one thing;
these tests are mirages. The more you defy them the bigger they grow. And
once you gear up to take them on they disappear. Remember what happened
to Abraham (sws) when he laid down his son, and when they plotted to throw
him in the fire. Your God is not cruel; in fact He is very very gracious
and He only wants to see how you react. Go ahead my dear, take them on
and you will see most of the tests will not even get started. And you know
what? You will still get A+. Good luck.’
|