Hajj & Umrah, - Towards the Ancient House

Shaykh ‘Uthmaan Daabucomes from the Republic of Gambia in the far west of Africa. He lived to be over eighty years of age. I visited him before his death in his modest house in his small village near the city of Banjol. He spoke to me about his long journey fifty years ago to the Ancient House )i.e., the Ka'bah( walking with four of his friends from Banjol all the way to Makkah, crossing the continent of Africa from its west to its east. They did not ride on this journey except for very short periods on some riding animals till they reached the Red Sea, and then they boarded the ship to Jeddah harbor.
It was a journey full of wonders and strange occurrences which, if written, would be one of the most exciting and beneficial journey books ever. The journey lasted more than two years. They would settle every now and then in some cities to earn money, have a break and gain the expenses of their journey. Then they would proceed.
I asked him, "Is not performingHajjto the Sacred House enjoined upon the one who can afford it and you at that time could not afford it?
Hesaid,"Yes. But one day, we discussed the story of Ibraaheem )Abraham(, the intimate friend of Allaahwhen he went with his family to an uncultivated valley near the Sacred House of Allaah. One of us then said, 'We are now strong and healthy youth. Thus, what would be our excuse before Allaah The Almighty if we were to neglect proceeding towards His Sacred House, especially when we know that the passage of days will only make us weaker. So why should we delay?' Therefore, he encouraged and urged us to travel while seeking the help of Allaah The Exalted."
The five left their houses without having provisions except that which was sufficient for no more than a week. Their main purpose was to fulfill the order ofAllaahThe Almighty of performingHajjto the Ancient House. They suffered serious hardships, difficulties and calamities which onlyAllaahThe Exalted knows. On many nights, they slept so hungry that they were about to perish. On many nights, they were chased by wild animals which destroyed the sweetness of their sleep. On many nights, they were surrounded by fear from all sides as footpads blocked all the ways of the travelers.
Shaykh ‘Uthmaannarrated, "One night, I was stung during our journey. I was struck by extreme fever and great pain that prevented me from moving and sleeping and I smelt the stench of death running through my veins.
My friends would go to work while I would stay under the shade of a tree till they would return at the end of the day. Satan started to whisper in my heart, 'Would it not have been better for you to have stayed in your country? Why have you charged yourself with what is beyond your capacities? Has notAllaahenjoinedHajjonly upon those have the capacity' My soul became weaker and I was about to surrender. However, when my friends came, one of them looked at my face and asked me about how I felt. I turned my face and wiped a tear that had overwhelmed me. It is as if he had felt what was going on in my mind! He said, 'Go and perform ablution and then pray. You will not find except that which is good,Allaahwilling.AllaahThe Almighty Says )what means(:}And seek help through patience and prayer, and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive ]to Allaah[ who are certain that they will meet their Lord and that they will return to Him.{]Quran 2:45-46[
Thus, I felt comfortable andAllaahremoved my grief. All perfect praise be toAllaah."
Longing to reach the two Holy Mosques was their guide in all their states. It alleviated for them the pain of travelling and the hardship and dangers of the road. Three of them died on the way. The last one died in the middle of the sea. The wonderful thing is that his bequest to his friends was, "If you reach the Sacred Mosque, tell Allaah The Almighty about my longing to meet Him and ask Him to gather me and my mother in Paradise with the Prophet."
Shaykh ‘Uthmaansaid,"When our third friend died, I was struck by extreme sorrow and deep grief. This was the most difficult trial I faced in my journey. He was the strongest and most patient of us. I began to fear that I would die before being blessed with reaching the Sacred Mosque. I would count the days and hours on pins and needles!
When we reached Jeddah, I fell extremely ill and again feared dying before reaching Makkah. Thus, I asked my friend to shroud me in my Ihraam )clothing of ritual consecration( clothes and take me near Makkah or as close to it as possible if I died, in the hope that, perhaps, Allaah would multiply my reward and accept me among the righteous.
We stayed in Jeddah for some days and then proceeded to Makkah. My breaths were quick, cheerfulness filled my face and longing overwhelmed and shook my soul when we reached the Sacred Mosque."
TheShaykhkept silent for a while.
Hewiped his tears and swore byAllaahThe Almighty that he never experienced a pleasure like the pleasure of seeing the Honorable Ka‘bah! Then he said,"When I saw the Ka‘bah, I prostrated to Allaah to thank Him and kept weeping from fear and awe. I wept as children weep. What an honorable House and what a great place! Then, I remembered my friends who could not reach the Sacred Mosque and so I thanked Allaah The Exalted for His blessing and favor to me and then asked Allaah to record their steps and not to deprive them of the reward and to gather us with them in a seat of honor near a Sovereign who is Perfect in Ability."
I left the house of theShaykhwhile repeating the verse in whichAllaahThe Almighty Says )what means(:}And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous.{]Quran 3:133[
This is serious endeavor to obedience that is not prone to laziness or procrastination; an endeavor where pain and grief have little value and where all obstacles and impediments tumble. It is an endeavor with sincere determination and high mettle springing from a heart that is attached toAllaahand complying with His orders.
I left the Shaykh's house while repeating the verse in whichAllaahThe Almighty Says )what means(:}And proclaim to the people the Hajj ]pilgrimage[; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass.{]Quran 22:27[
Then I reflected upon the state of many Muslims nowadays who meet all the Sharee‘ah-related pre-requisites for performingHajjto the Sacred House ofAllaahand yet procrastinate. Let them remember the Hadeeth in which the Prophetsaid:“Whoever wants to go for Hajj, let him hasten to do it, because he may fall ill, lose his riding animal or an excuse may arise to prevent him.”]Ahmad, Ibn Maajah[ ]Al-Albaani: Hasan )Sound([

Hajj & Umrah, - ‘Arafaat

Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}And proclaim to the people the Hajj ]pilgrimage[; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass -that they may witness benefits for themselves and mention the Name of Allaah on known days over what He has provided for them of ]sacrificial[ animals. So eat of them and feed the miserable and poor. Then let them end their untidiness and fulfill their vows and perform Tawaaf ]circumambulation[ around the ancient House."{]Quran 22: 27-29[
It is there that the cover is removed and the gates to the heavens are opened. Thus, pilgrims head towards Allaah with hearts free from the darkness of desires and lusts and shining with light so that they are elevated; so they see the earth and those who are on it like a small atom carried by the power of Allaah. They are then elevated till they hear the angels glorifying Allaah with the tongues of obedience. Then, they are elevated till they reflect upon the Quran gently, as if it were revealed by inspiration just yesterday and heard the call from the near Al-Quds )Jerusalem( )which means(:}O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allaah is the most righteous of you.{]Quran 49:13[ So, they replied, “Labbayk, Allaahumma labbayk! )O Allaah, I hasten to You(.” Then, the valleys of ‘Arafaat, the corners of the Sacred House, the seven heavens and the seven earths all repeated, “Labbayk, Allaahumma labbayk!”
It is there that humanity breathes after having being throttled by smoke, borders and the notion of master and slave. It is revived in ‘Arafaat where there is no old or young, great or mean, servant or prince or rich or poor.
It is there that the supreme values which were not known by the West, except in the heads of philosophers and in books, are achieved. Thus, evil and grudges are removed, equality spreads, peace prevails and people gather in spite of the difference in their languages and colors in the same place wearing the same clothes, addressing the same Lord, believing in the same Prophet, embracing the same religion and shouting with the same tongue, “Labbayk, Allaahumma labbayk!”
There appears this everlasting miracle. The earth is folded from its sides to be put as a whole into ‘Arafaat. Then, the two shores of Africa meet with the coast of Asia, the cities of Europe with the huts of Sudan, the River Nile with the River King and the Mountains of Taurus with the Blue Mountains. Therefore, the Muslim knows that his homeland is broader than being limited on earth by mountains or rivers, divided by colors on maps or separated politically by some pieces of cloth or flags that differ from other flags.
This is because the homeland of the Muslim is in the Quran, not in dust or stone, lakes or rivers, or mountains or seas. Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}The believers are but brothers{}Quran 49:10[ not “the Egyptians”, “the people of Shaam” nor “the Iraqis”, but the believers.
It is there that brothers visit each other. The strong helps the weak, the rich gives to the poor; and the honorable supports the humiliated so that they do not leave Hajj until they too are strong, rich and honorable.
It is there that the Muslim remembers how the Master of Humanity, passed through these valleys emigrating to Allaah, leaving the country where he was raised and his people among whom he grew up, till he stood on the limit, looked at Makkah and said:"You are the most beloved land to Allaah and the most beloved land to me. Had your people not caused me to leave, I would have not left you."He proceeded in this vast desert having nothing but a faithful friend with him. He looked backwards every now and then to have a look at Makkah till it disappeared from their sight, and then they headed towards the cave.
Did these valleys know that this single man would stand alone to face the whole world and defeat its falsehood with the strength of truth, face it with the light of Islam and guide it with the guidance of the Quran? He left Makkah secretly, and he would return with ten thousand heroes, and thus Makkah would open for him its doors and its masters would fall at his feet. The Peninsula was insolent to him; later, half the world adopted his religion.
Did these valleys know that those people who escaped from the authority and oppression of the Quraysh would rise until the Quraysh adopted their religion, and rise until they succeeded Chosroes and Caesar in their lands, and then rise until they inherited the earth and what is upon it, and that they would increase till they numbered four-hundred million and spread on the earth calling to Allaah, fighting in His cause and conquering lands, and then gather in ‘Arafaat performing Hajj, returning to Allaah and reciting the Talbiyah, "O Allaah, I hasten to You!"
There stood the master of the worldin the Farewell Hajj declaring human rights, establishing the principles of peace and spreading brotherhood, justice and equality among people a thousand years before France published its own:
"O people, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again.
O people, just as you regard this month, this day, and this city as sacred, then regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust.
Be my witness, O Allaah, that I have conveyed Your message!
O people, learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.
Nothing shall be lawful to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it is given freely and willingly.
Be my witness, O Allaah, that I have conveyed Your message!
O people, your Lord is one and your father is one. Your father is Aadam and Aadam was created from dust. The most noble of you in the sight of Allaah is the most pious of you. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab except by piety.
Be my witness, O Allaah, that I have conveyed Your message!"
There, hestood declaring the end of the great message by which Allaah sent him to all people and reciting the verse in which Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.{]Quran 5:3[ He sent his Companions to bear this message all over the earth and till the end of time. They bore it and therefore they established with it this civilization which shaded the whole east and the west.
In ‘Arafaat, the greatness of Islam appears; it is the religion of freedom, equality, knowledge and civilization. From ‘Arafaat, Muslims hear the caller to Allaah calling, "Hayya ‘ala as-Salaah )come to prayer( Hayya ‘ala al-Falaah )come to success(." Therefore, they answer, "Labbayk, Allaahumma labbayk!" They work for the Hereafter as if they will die tomorrow and work for this life as if they will live forever.
Let the earth be corrupt, evil spread, iron and gunpowder explode and the world sink in a sea of vice. There is no fear for virtue, truth or peace as long as ‘Arafaat is on the earth and as long as this sacred voice exists repeating, "Labbayk, Allaahumma labbayk!"

Hajj & Umrah, - thoughts

O ‘Arafah! O symbol of the Muslim nation, many are the crowds that stood on your grounds; many are the tears that were shed on your sands; many are the people that got acquainted on your lands; many are the races that blended within your borders; many are the humble whose supplications were answered; and many are the tyrants who were rejected. How many hearts have embraced here, how many grievances were relieved here, and how many sins were forgiven? The tears of sinners mixed with your sand, and the voices seeking forgiveness embraced in your space. Wishes and intentions are sincere for the sake of Allaah, and the dwellers of the earth surrendered to the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
O Muslims, your enemies’ hearts are boiling with hatred! They bite their fingertips at you in rage and envy! Allaah Almighty Says )what means(:}Neither those who disbelieve from the People of the Scripture nor the polytheists wish that any good should be sent down to you from your Lord. But Allaah selects for His mercy whom He wills, and Allaah is the possessor of great bounty.{]Quran 2:105[ They wish to eliminate religion so that people would follow their passion, ruin would spread everywhere and no religion would be honored, no certitude would be strong and no succession in the land would be established.
How did our violence among ourselves become so severe, and our hope to return to the pure source of goodness become so weak?
Dear loved ones! The One who Has Commanded you to recite Talbiyah so you did, to perform Hajj so you did, and to stand here )on ‘Arafah( so you did, is the same One who Says )what means(:}And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war…{]Quran 8:60[, and arm yourselves with piety, for whoever wishes to attain wealth without money and honor without a high status and veneration without sovereignty, should fear Allaah.
Allaah Almighty inevitably humiliates those who disobey Him.
Remember well the advice of your Prophet one thousand four hundred years ago on the Day of Sacrifice in Mina, declaring, advising and warning:
Verily! Your blood, property and honor are sacred to one another )i.e. Muslims( like the sanctity of this day of yours, in this month of yours and in this city of yours. It is incumbent upon those who are present to inform those who are absent because those who are absent might comprehend )what I have said( better than the present audience. Do not return to disbelief after me, striking each other’s necks."]Al-Bukhaari[
Remember this advice well, and note that the nation which indulges in disobedience and deviates from the path of Allaah will surely collapse. Contemplate the advice of ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allaah Be Pleased with him, to Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas – the champion of the Battle of Al-Qaadisiyyah and the one who received glad tidings of Paradise – when Sa‘d was going to the battle:
O Sa‘d! Do not deceive yourself into thinking that you hold a sublime position with Allaah because it is said that you are the maternal uncle of the Messenger of Allaah and his companion; for Allaah Almighty Does not erase the bad deed with its parallel, but He Erases the bad deed with the good one. O Sa‘d! There is no lineage between Allaah and His servants except obedience to Him. All the people, whether noble or humble, are equal in the sight of Allaah. They are His slaves and He is their Lord. They take precedence according to piety, and they attain His favors through obedience to Him.
So, let your hearts be thoughtful in dealing with the believers, and be wild beasts in dealing with the enemies of your religion.
Dear loved ones! Have you forgotten the anger of your Prophet when he vowed that the Jews would not spend one more night in Al-Madeenah, and he fulfilled his vow? Have you forgotten the anger of the calm and gentle Abu Bakr, may Allaah Be Pleased with him, when he roared, saying: “I swear by Allaah, if they withhold from me a rope which they used to pay to the Messenger of Allaah, I would surely fight them for it.”
Have you forgotten the anger of Noor Ad-Deen when Al-Aqsa fell into the hands of the Crusaders. He remained sad, and when he was asked: “Why do you not smile?” He replied: “I am ashamed in front of Allaah to smile whilst Al-Aqsa is captured by the enemy!”
Now, O loved ones, when are we going to be moved by the burned copies of the Quran, the destroyed mosques, the violated honor, innocent children trampled on, and tears flowing in Jerusalem, Kashmir, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eritrea, Somalia and other places?
We need a serious nation in word and deed; a nation which speaks, keeps peace, fights, and takes decisions according to sound knowledge; a nation which is neither frivolous nor heedless. Yahya ibn Mu‘aath, may the Mercy of Allaah be upon him, said:
The hearts are like pots boiling with what exists in the chests, and the tongues are their scoops. Wait till a man speaks, then his tongue will inform you about what is in his heart, whether it is sweet, sour, fresh or salty, his tongue will tell you about the taste of his heart.
‘Adi ibn Haatim At-Taa’isaid:
We came to ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allaah Be Pleased with him, in a delegation )during his caliphate(. He started calling the men one by one, calling each by his name. )As he did not call me early( I said to him. "Do you not know me, O Commander of the Believers?" He said, "Yes, you embraced Islam when they )i.e. your people( disbelieved; you have come )to the Truth( when they ran away; you fulfilled your promises when they broke theirs; and you recognized it )i.e. the Truth of Islam( when they denied it."
On that, ‘Adi said, "Then I do not care )meaning if Allaah has blessed me with these virtues, then I do not care no matter what happens afterwards(.” ]Al-Bukhaari[ This is his source of pride, his capital and the basis of his personality.
Such perception is not perceivable to those who are heavily attached to the earth where all their ambitions exist, fearing only for their money, desires, comfort and interests.

Welcome to Islam, - The world of Islam

A fifth of humankind follows Islam, the fastest growing and perhaps most misunderstood religion on earth. Faced with a secular modern world, Muslims are turning anew to the roots of their faith.
Borne aloft five times a day, fromShanghaitoChicago,JakartatoTimbuktu, Islam's call to prayer stirs the soul of devout Muslims everywhere. Whether cast from metal loudspeakers over teeming city streets or lifted as the murmured song of camel drivers kneeling in the sand, it begins with the same Arabic phrase Muslims have used for nearly 1400 years, Islam's melodic paean to the Creator: "Allaahu Akbar -- God is Great."
Some 1.3 billion human beings -- one person in five -- heed Islam's call in the modern world, embracing the religion at a rate that makes it the fastest growing on Earth, with 80 percent of believers now outside the Arab world.
The term Islam, is an Arabic word meaning "submission to God," with its etymological roots firmly planted in "salaam", or peace.
Muslims revere all Prophets of God, including Moses and Jesus, may Allaah exalt their mention, and regard the books revealed to these prophets – Torah and Injeel -- as an integral part of their tradition. They disagree with Christians about the divinity of Jesus, may Allaah exalt his mention, but honor him as an especially esteemed Messenger from God. The ultimate Messenger for Muslims is the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam )may Allaah exalt his mention(.
Born about 570 CE at Makkah, Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was an orphan raised by his grandfather and uncle. He grew up to be a modest and respected businessman who rejected the widespread polytheism of his day and turned to the One God.
At about age 40, Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, retreated to a cave in the mountains outside Makkah to meditate. There, he was visited by the archangel Gabriel, who began reciting to him the Word of God. Until his death 23 years later, Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, passed along these revelations to a growing band of followers, including many who wrote down the words or committed them to memory.
These verses became the Quran, or "recitation," the literal Word of God and confirmation of the real Jewish and Christian Scriptures.
The Quran consists of 114 chapters, and covers everything from the nature of God )Compassionate and Merciful( to laws governing the mundane affairs of men. Among its commands are )what mean(:"Do not usurp one another's property by unjust means"and"Do not kill anyone which God has forbidden."
The Quran is also a source of the pure Arabic language memorized by Muslim school children and recited by Muslim adults on every important occasion.
One of the five pillars of Islam, along with the two testimonies of faith )Shahaadah(, prayer )Salaah(, fasting the month of Ramadan )Sawm(, charity )Zakaah(, the pilgrimage )Hajj( is required of all who can manage it at least once in a lifetime.
By the time the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, passed away in 632 CE, Islam was established throughout the Arabian Peninsula, bringing peace and unity to the tribes for the first time in memory. Within a century of his death the armies of Islam, empowered by faith, had conquered a vast swathe of territory -- stretching fromIndiato the Atlantic coasts ofSpainandPortugal, including North Africa and theMiddle East.
This Islamic world built on the intellectual achievements of other civilizations, sponsoring an explosion of learning unparalleled until the Renaissance.
At a time when Europe was languishing in the early Middle Ages, Muslim scholars and thinkers were giving the world a great center of Islamic learning )Al-Azhar inCairo( and refining everything -- from architecture to the use of numbers. At the same time, seagoing Muslim traders were spreading the faith to southern Asia,Chinaand the east coast ofAfrica.
Flourishing by the end of the first millennium, the realm of Islam was tested as western Europe, spurred by its contact with the Islamic near East, awoke and lashed out, launching a series of armed Crusades to wrest Jerusalem from Muslim control.
Though fragmented and initially overcome, Muslims rallied to ultimately defeat the invading Christian armies, whose blood-soaked legacy -- the indiscriminate killing of thousands of innocent Muslim and Christian Arabs, and the Jews of Jerusalem -- lives on in the minds of people to this day.
As Europe rose to glory during the Renaissance and beyond, the Islamic world continued to thrive after the creation of theOttoman Empirein the late 1200s CE. This powerful state fell at the end of World War I, resulting in the subdivision of its mostly Muslim lands into the Middle Eastern countries we know today.
Although a few Muslim nations are wealthy from oil resources, most are poor and increasingly demoralized by their position in the world. Disaffected and disenfranchised, many people in these societies are turning to Islam to assert their identity and reclaim power over their own lives.
In addition many Muslims, especially in the Arab world, are angry at theUnited States’ continued support ofIsrael, the war and the economic sanctions against ‘Iraq, which are widely perceived to have hit the people of ‘Iraq-- who are fellow Muslims -- right between the eyes.
For most of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, Islam is a way of life, a discipline based on looking at the world through the eyes of faith.
"Islam gave me something that was lacking in my life," says Jennifer Calvo of Washington, DC.
Calvo is 28 and looks as if she just stepped out of a painting by Botticelli, with aquiline features and striking blue eyes, set off by a white head scarf tucked neatly into her full-length robe. Calvo was raised Catholic and works as a registered nurse.
Two years ago, as people have done for 1,400 years, Jennifer became a Muslim by simply declaring the words: "Laa ilaaha illallaah, Muhammad Rasoolullaah” )There is none worthy of being worshipped except Allaah )God(, and Muhammad is His Messenger(."
"Everything is so much simpler now," she said. "It's just me and God. For the first time in my life I'm at peace."
For Calvo and most Muslims on Earth, that is what Islam's call to prayer represents. Kneeling to God five times a day, in unison, facing Makkah from wherever they happen to be, they find peace in an act of surrender.