State of the Righteous Predecessors in Hajj - II

My brothers! Exalted be He, who made His Sacred House a place ofreturn
for the people and [a place of] security, which they frequent and feel
they have not satisfied their desire from it. When Allaah The Almighty
attributed the House to Himself in His Statement (what means): } and
purify My House for those who perform Tawaaf and those who stand [in
prayer] and those who bow and prostrate { [Quran 22:26], the hearts of
those who love their Lord became attached to the House of their
Beloved, to the extent that whenever this Sacred House is mentioned to
them, they are moved by longing for it, and whenever they remember
their remoteness from it, they would moan because of that.
One of the righteous predecessors saw the pilgrims at the time of
setting out for Hajj , thereupon he stood and continued weeping, and
saying , "How weak I am!" Then, he took a deep breath and said, "That
is the grief of him who has no access to the House: then, how should
be the grief of him who has no access to the Lord of the House?"
It is fitting for the one who sees those who find access (to Allaah)--
whereas he does not -- to become anxious, and the one who watches the
travelers to the House of the Beloved -- whereas he is sitting -- to
grieve.
The state of the righteous predecessors in 'Arafaat
My dear reader, the righteous predecessors had various states in
'Arafaat: some of them were overpowered by fear and modesty, others
were attached to the tails of hope, and others were possessed by
longing and anxiety. But all of them were equal in Thikr
(remembrance), supplication, devotion to Allaah The Almighty, private
talk and submission to Him.
Mutarrif and Bakr, sons of 'Abdullaah ibn Ash-Shakheer stood in the
standing place (of 'Arafah). Mutarrif said, "O Allaah! Return not
these in the standingplace (with failure) because of me!" Bakr said,
"How honored and hopeful this standing place is for its people, had it
not been for my presence among them!"
Al-Fudhayl said to Shu'ayb ibn Harb during the season of Hajj, "If you
think there is, in the standing place, anyone worse than you and me,
then you are quite mistaken."
Abu 'Ubaydah Al-Khawaas used to say in the standing place, "How I long
for Him Who sees me and I see Him not." When he grew old, he used to
seize his beard and say, "O Lord! I have grown old. So, please,
emancipate me."
Sufyaan Ath-Thawri used to give priority to hope on this day.According
to Ibn Al-Mubaarak ,"I visited Sufyaan in the evening of (the day of)
'Arafah and he was kneeling, with his eyes shedding tears. He turned
his face to me and I asked him, "Who is the worst state among these
gatherings?" He said, "The one who thinks that Allaah will not forgive
them."
It is narrated from Al-Fudhayl that he looked at the people's
whimpering and weeping on the evening of (the day of) 'Arafah,
thereupon he said, "Tell me: if they went to a man to beg a Daaniq
(one-sixth a Dirham) from him, would he refuse them?" They answered in
the negative, thereupon he said, "By Allaah, forgiveness, in the Sight
of Allaah, is easier than theresponse of that man with the Daaniq."
The state of the righteous predecessors in Tawaaf
According to 'Abd-Al-Majeed ibn Abi Rawwaad " They used toperform
Tawaaf round the House, submissive, remembering (the praises of
Allaah, as motionless) as if there were birds on their heads, clear to
anyone seeing them that theywere in religious service and worship."
Taawoos was one of those in whom this characteristic was visible.
Among the acts of worship to beobserved during Tawaaf is to lower
one's gaze in view of the intermixing between men and women during
Tawaaf. According to Ibn Al-Jawzi "Itshould be known that to lower
one's gaze from the unlawful is obligatory. There are many evils that
have been brought about by unleashing the sight, especially at the
time of Ihraam, where women expose their faces. So, it is due on him,
who fears Allaah The Almighty, to deter his desire in this standing,
out of honoring the intended worship. A lot of people became corrupt
by unleashing their sightin this respect."
Furthermore, it is due on women not to expose their faces during
Tawaaf , even if theyare in the state of Ihraam . It is narrated on
the authority of 'Aa'ishah that she said: "The riders happened to pass
by us (women) while we were with the Messenger of Allaah in the state
of Ihraam; and if they came near us, we would let her outer garment
hang down from her head over her face, and oncethey left, we would
expose it."
It is also due on women not to crowd with men in Tawaaf, but rather
choose the times at which there is not much crowding, as the Mother of
Believers, 'Aa'ishah did: she used to perform Tawaaf in an independent
side of the House, far from the crowds of men. She neither kissed nor
touched the Black Stone, nor touched the Yemeni Corner, in case there
wasa crowd. When her freed slave woman said to her, " O Mother of
Believers! I have performed a seven-round Tawaaf round the House,
touched the Corner twiceor thrice", 'Aa'ishah said to her, "May Allaah
not reward you! May Allaah not reward you! Do you push your way
through the crowds of men? Why have you not glorified Allaah and then
passed by?"
According to Ibn Al-Muhibb At-Tabari, " The conduct of the women of
Makkah and others in that place on the night prior to Friday and at
other times is indeed a wicked evildoing, as regards mixing with men
and pushing between them, let alone their adorning themselves for that
with different kinds of adornment and applying pleasant perfumes,
thereby distracting the pious performersof Tawaaf, and causing the
eyes to look at them. Some, if not most of them, perform Tawaaf with
no socks, and in many cases, it becomes difficult upon men to avoid
touching them. That is indeed a great evil, by which disaster has
become general, and the people seem to have accepted it unanimously."
So, it is due on the servant to deem his Tawaaf far beyond any of
those evils, and not to feel safe from the punishment of impoliteness
and outrageous violation during the standing.
It was said that both Isaaf and Naa'ilah, the known idols, were a man
and a woman belonging to (the tribe of) Jurhum, who entered the Ka'bah
and kissed each other, thereupon they weretransformed into two stones
in their place.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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