An Ibadah of a Lifetime: Hajj

Hajj is a genuinely grand act of worship interlaced with so many levels of depth, symbolism, and memories. It is inlaid with such a vibrant atmosphere every step of the way that it transforms one’s flow of life, rejuvenates them, and breathes into their very being the sense of unity that arises from being an ummah.

A lot can be said to facilitate a more encompassing understanding of hajj. However, what matters is for everyone who meets the criteria for hajj to go forth eagerly in its pursuit and for those who haven’t had the opportunity to embark on this pilgrimage to nurture a profound desire to do so.

Islam is to submit to Allah and His Messenger. This submission consists of five fundamental conditions: kalima-i shahadah, salah, fasting, zakat, and hajj. Someone who speaks the words of kalima-i shahadah and affirms them in their heart becomes a Muslim. Kalima-i shahadah is an absolute must and a Muslim’s mainstay for a lifetime because it is iman itself, and iman should be preserved at all times.

Iman should also be constantly displayed and established by actions. For this purpose, what comes after kalima-i shahadah, the core of iman, is the core of worship: salah. It is fard to perform salah five times a day. Then, there is fasting, an act of worship that is fard for one month every year. As for those whose wealth reaches a threshold amount known as “nisab,” it is fard to give zakat once a year. On the other hand, hajj is fard only once in our lives; it is a once-in-a-lifetime ibadah.

A journey into the future and the past

The month of hajj occurs once a year as it has at this time of year, and those who are blessed with the opportunity to take this pilgrimage feel a longing swell inside them to see the Ka'bah. Their hearts ache for the love of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). Eventually, they come upon the days when hajj takes place and rejoice. Every year, millions of people from around the world travel via air, sea, and land routes to arrive at the intersection point of every Muslim’s sujud, the center point we all turn towards in our salah. To perform the fard duty of hajj, they set out for the holy lands.

Hajj itself is a journey. It is also a journey into the future, the akhirah, and into the past, the time of the prophets. It is a journey towards our Creator. It is a journey to our Muslim brothers and sisters and the Ka'bah, Arafat, Mina, and Hira. It is a momentous undertaking that travels through historic sites such as Kuba, Uhud, Hudaybiyyah, Qiblatayn, and Rawda. It is, in a sense, entering the gardens of Jannah while living in this world. It is to visit the same places visited by angels, where Jibril (alayhissalam) brought the revelations, and the Qur’an was sent down. It is to live and breathe where Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) lived, walk where he walked, and pray where he prayed. Hajj is the journey to the sacred lands glorified in the Qur’an.

However, this journey can’t be considered anywhere near completion just because we have left our home country, traveled to Makkah, and seen the Ka'bah. On the contrary, it is only at its beginning. Hajj is the inception of the journey towards Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). Just as our Beloved Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) made his journey from baytullah to the presence of Allah through Isra and Mi’raj, hajj is the starting point of our endeavor to fare towards our Almighty Rabb. Hajj is the first step in our metaphorical Mi’raj. The traveler on the road for hajj is a traveler devoted to Allah the Exalted.

Of course, we are unable to achieve the ultimate honor of seeing Allah in this mortal life, but we can see baytullah, the sacred place He calls “My home.” Through this, it is hoped that our eyes, which have taken in the sight of the Ka'bah, can eventually behold His infinitely sublime divine personage in the akhirah. It is our hope that those who spend time as the neighbors of Rasulullah in this world will be granted the unequaled honor of being his neighbor in Jannah.

We embark on many travels throughout our lives. The most meaningful and exceptional of these is hajj. Hajj isn’t just a physical pilgrimage but a spiritual one as well. It is a hijrah in the sense that one departs from not only their home but also their previous sins and wayward thoughts and actions and strides forward with the determination to become a better Muslim. It is a road taken not to conquer distances but the deceptive calls and insidious machinations of the nafs and shaytan. It is a search for a cure for the ailments of the heart. It is the unearthing of the remedy that heals one’s unseen wounds.

A journey within a journey

Hajj involves multiple journeys nestled within each other. Firstly, it is a journey taken into one’s inner world. Just like with every act of worship, there’s an aspect of hajj that impacts the heart. For this act of worship to be accepted, it is crucial that the intention behind the action is dedicated to Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) alone. The heart should hold none but the Lord of the Ka'bah, Allah the Exalted. Intention, sincerity, the heart’s awareness, and peace are the characteristics of a traveler on this journey. This is a journey of firmly ingraining iman and the love of Allah in one’s heart.

The journey of hajj is much like the journey of akhirah. It is a symbolic journey of humankind into the akhirah, the eternal life. It is a venture into death and the great gathering known as mahshar. There is an astounding analogy between this journey in our mortal life and the one we will take in our eternal life. The garment of hajj, known as ihram, is an analogy for the burial shroud. Miqat is an analogy for the point of transition between the two worlds and the time of departing from this mortal life. Arafat is a likeness of mahshar, the great gathering. The waqfah performed during a visit to Arafat signifies those awaiting forgiveness on the plains of mahshar. And Hajj is a rehearsal of resurrection, a microcosm of the journey into the afterlife.

No one should clutch at straws to find fault with one another in this rehearsal. We usually set goals for ourselves in life, such as which school to go to, what profession to advance our career in, and which house to buy. However, all of our  plans, resting on the days we assume we have ahead of us, are dubious extrapolations at best because there is no certainty that any of them will ever be realized. There is no guarantee for anything even one minute away in the future. What is certain is death and beyond.

With this realization, hajj walks us through a test stage for the ultimate certainties ahead of us: death and the great gathering of mahshar. Doing so pushes us to make plans for the longest term—plans for the afterlife that are perhaps hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years into the future.

Indeed, to perform hajj is to plan for the eternal life. When asked whether they have plans for the next four years or so, most people could provide a bucket list of things they want to accomplish. Stretch that term to 30 or 40 years, and most will reasonably question whether they will live that long. How many then would say they have plans for the next three to four hundred years? Planning for the next hundreds of thousands and even millions of years is to plan for the akhirah. It is the ultimate plan to turn our final resting place six feet under into a garden of Jannah and make Jannah itself our eternal abode in the afterlife. Hajj recreates a precursory reenactment of death and the journey of the afterlife and makes us ponder plans for the everlasting life to come.

We tend to rehearse and double-check every stage of an important event we host or organize just to ensure that every detail is executed flawlessly. It is a striking contrast to this rigorous approach to our day-to-day affairs that few people stop to consider how we should replicate our future steps for when we reach the end of our road in this world and begin our next life. This awareness is an essential element innately found in hajj and exercised by millions of people every year. This reenactment outlines the predicaments that the way ahead is teeming with, stressing the vital importance of being sufficiently prepared for the long road that awaits us and staying strong as we move inexorably towards the great gathering of mahshar. It reminds us of whose sovereignty we spend our lives in and whose presence we always stand in.

Another context by which hajj can be put into perspective is that it is a journey to the brotherhood of ummah; it takes us to our brothers and sisters in Islam. Millions of Muslims blend into a semblance of a single entity during tawaf, with differences that usually separate us as individuals, such as ethnicity, nationality, and language, vanishing into this blend to form a unique unity. We are molded into this unity as brothers and sisters, with one qibla, one Ka'bah, one Rabb, and one religion. By entering into this composition and becoming a part of it, we make hijrah with our brothers to a gathering of brotherhood and engulf ourselves with a profound awareness of this solidarity.

During hajj, pilgrims can see people of many different ethnicities and nationalities from around the world: Africans, Asians, Europeans, Americans, all brothers and sisters, and all sharing the camaraderie of striving towards the same goal. A genial glance, a warm, friendly smile, and a heartfelt salam join their hearts together. When viewed through this lens, hajj is a global annual convention of Muslims and the largest of its kind. This being so, it is evident that Muslims convene for the largest congregation in the world to realize this journey as brothers and sisters of the ummah of Islam.

The true destination of hajj

Hajj is also a walk through the history of Islam and tawhid. It is a journey into the history of the prophets that began with Adam (alayhissalam). It had its rules and principles redefined at the time of Ibrahim and Ismail (alayhimassalam), and the rules and regulations gained constancy with the arrival of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). The lasting traces left by our blessed mother Hajar (rahmatullahi alayha) and others among the honorable wives of prophets and the Noble Companions take us back in time almost as if to witness those historic moments. The memories etched into the very stones take us back to Uhud and to the fateful day when the courageous uncle of Rasulullah, Hamza (radiyallahu anh), was martyred.

The true destination of hajj is not a location on this Earth but the presence of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala), the owner of baytullah. Just as the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) traveled from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa on the night of Mi’raj and ascended to stand before his Beloved Creator, the Ka'bah is the point of inception for the journey that is hajj. Hajj is the longing for divine love. The human heart shares the name of the Ka'bah, also known as baytullah-the house of Allah, for a reason. The most special place for the manifestation of Allah’s attributes is the hearts of His friends, the awliya. Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) himself said: “O Ka’bah! How good you are and how good your fragrance; how great you are and how great your sanctity. By the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, the sanctity of the believer is greater before Allah than your sanctity.” (Ibn Majah, Fitan, 2). This goes to show that people should be respected just like the Ka'bah is revered. The Ka'bah is a manmade object, while the human heart is a creation of Allah. That’s why avoiding breaking people’s hearts and not trampling on their dignity is of a similar degree of virtue to showing reverence to the Ka'bah.

When these intrinsic journeys underlying the physical effort are neglected, what is originally meant to be a praiseworthy act of worship will be little more than a touristic trip. The road taken detached from the awareness of the spiritual aspect of the act will fail to qualify as a pilgrimage to baytullah, Allah and His Messenger, brotherhood, and the afterlife, and end up being just international travel. The goal here is not to take an excursion and trek across plains and mountains but to triumph against the nafs and shaytan and please Allah.

The emotional aspect of hajj

One shouldn’t be satisfied with knowing only the fiqh-related aspects of hajj. For instance, a person may know about the benefits of praying tahajjud but still be unable to find the drive in themselves to wake up for it if they don’t feel passionate about it. Similarly, it is an easy feat to memorize the fards, wajibs, and sunnahs of hajj. However, the true challenge is in observing the requirements of all of its dimensions holistically and fulfilling this act with attention to non-physical subtleties as well as the readily apparent physical obligations. Therefore, it can be said that hajj is an act of patience and perseverance. One needs to show composure and tolerance in the face of the exacting ordeals of hajj to honor its duties.

The shortest way of getting through these difficulties is to be taken with passion and love for this undertaking. It is necessary to elevate our awareness to grasp the full depth of the wisdom behind its actions and wrap our minds around the whys and wherefores of this unique form of worship. Doing so would allow us to keep our passion alive and maintain a balance between knowledge and emotion during hajj. Also, a haji should persistently avoid behaviors and environments that drain hajj of its meaning and purpose. In addition, one should choose their friends carefully because when people befriend others, they build bridges not only as friends but also as two hearts communicating their proclivities to each other; a heart filled with love will pour out its pristine contents into the heart it enjoys a fellowship with while a heart drowning in a sea of ghaflah will drag its companion into the depths along with itself.

We should contemplate where we are and why we are walking down this path when making hajj. Takbir, talbiyah, the Ka'bah, and the surrounding spiritual atmosphere strengthen our iman and invigorate us with renewed excitement for tawaf, salah, and dua. Thus, like the ebb and flow of a tide, a recurring cycle surges continuously between iman and ibadah. It is this stimulating cycle that pilgrims should preserve from the moment they leave their homes until they depart the holy lands to return to their countries.

When someone maintains a holistic outlook of the call to hajj, ihram, Miqat, talbiyah, tawaf, Maqam Ibrahim, and sa’y that lends itself to internalizing the aspects concerning the heart, and when they etch into the back of their minds a constant awareness of the profound meaning of Arafat, waqfah, Muzdalifah, and Mina, the stoning of shaytan, and shaving, their heart soars with the joy of hajj. The first step to be achieved here is realizing the nature of the call to hajj. The one making this call is no ordinary being. The one issuing the command in the Qur’an and the one making the call, inviting all Muslims to His house, is none other than Allah (jalla jalaluhu). Those announcing this call are His messengers Ibrahim (alayhissalam) and Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).

Anyone who hears this call and is capable of making the journey should set out. However, it takes preparations to make a journey, and the preparations for the journey of hajj are similar in many ways to that for the eternal life. One could arrange a short vacation or seasonal trip comfortably with limited preparation and provisions, but what if the journey is beyond the seasons, years, and decades of mortal life, beyond the point of no return and into the eternal place of residence called akhirah? Surely, such a permanent arrangement warrants the most strenuous preparation one could manage. That is precisely what hajj prepares us for.

Hajj also serves as a reminder for us about the lives of the prophets. Those who have read about the life of Adam (alayhissalam) will hear Arafat tell many stories about the first days of humanity on Earth. Jeddah will unfold its own account about our blessed mother Hawwa’s (rahmatullahi alayha) life after descending to this world, as long as we have read about her. The Ka’bah and Mina will impart many incredible narratives to those who have studied the life of Ibrahim (alayhissalam). The hills of Safa and Marwa will speak in their own language to those who have pored over books that tell us about our blessed mother Hajar (rahmatullahi alayha). Those of us who have engrossed ourselves in the life and endeavors of our Beloved Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) will find that Makkah has an astounding array of memoirs to reveal to us. We will be able to take in many wondrous feelings and experiences if we make our way to Haramayn with a heart full of passion and a mind endowed with the knowledge of these holy lands and the significance that every stretch of land, patch of soil, hill, and valley holds.

Someone taking to the road for hajj establishes their niyyah, the intention in their heart, for hajj near the border of miqat and starts reciting talbiyah. Thus, the hajj journey begins. By definition, miqat is the assigned time and place for a meeting. There are five places designated as miqat, an entry point into the sacred lands for hajj. Miqat is where and when hajj begins. It is the first step in an arduous marathon. The result of everything that happens after this point is determined according to intention, sincerity, and taqwa.

A rehearsal of akhirah

One walks into the boundaries of miqat wearing ihram. Ihram literally means to deny someone something by making it haram. Various words, actions, and behaviors normally considered halal outside of hajj become temporarily haram. The attire called ihram signifies shedding all one’s privileges. It symbolizes equality among people through appearance. From top statesmen and leaders to the lowest members of society, ihram is the same for everyone. Ihram means to leave all one’s status and wealth behind. It means standing before Allah and presenting oneself with nothing but a couple of pieces of plain fabric, bare-headed and barefooted.

A man wearing ihram cannot cover his head, wear any garments with stitching, clip his nails or wear any fragrance. He cannot kill any living beings, hunt, guide a hunter or give them directions to hunt or cut trees. The same rules apply to women, with the exception of the clothing requirements. Women retain their usual clothing that covers their entire body other than their hands and faces and hangs loosely around them without revealing their body shape. Their clothing can have stitches, and they must cover their heads as they do in everyday situations. So, a Muslim wearing ihram abandons all the false esteem and prestige that may be afforded to them by others who wish to ingratiate themselves to them. They drop all privileges that come from their socioeconomic rank and status. They let go of all their bad habits and wrongful behaviors. A person in ihram basically trains oneself to experience death before death by contemplating it because ihram is to shed all the layers of clothes one can wear in this world and take only two simple pieces of fabric, much like one will have in death. From one point of view, this symbolizes the dead being covered in a burial shroud while, from another, it resembles a newborn infant being swaddled, presenting a synchronous duality of opposites by representing the start of a new life at the same time.

Summarily, ihram is to be familiarized with death before it comes and to surrender one’s heart to Allah. It is to be resolutely poised on the fine line between this world and akhirah. A person donning ihram is expected to renounce the deceptive glamor and glitter of this mortal world, turn away from this transitory existence, and towards the eternal life until the goal is achieved by being admitted into Jannah.

The pilgrim wrapped up in ihram also personifies peace. Just as the fabric enveloping their body is reminiscent of a burial shroud, it is also a symbol of peace. It confers a sense of unity. It teaches embracing simplicity and shunning showiness, self-importance and arrogance. It encourages one to set aside everything they hold dear in this world and take one of the most critical steps in becoming closer to Allah.

When one wears ihram, establishes niyyah, and recites the talbiyah, the prohibitions that are particular to hajj come into effect. Just like speaking during salah, and eating, drinking, and having carnal activities while fasting are forbidden, certain actions that are halal outside of hajj become haram, in addition to the general haram actions that are generally applicable in other times. Committing or partaking in haram during hajj is a grave sin. Such an offense will be considered especially egregious due to being perpetrated during a holy time period, in holy lands, and while performing a holy duty.

Fighting is also prohibited during hajj. It’s not hard to imagine that someone who manages to steel their nerves to avoid fighting in a bustling population of several millions in such a small area can easily steer away or hold oneself back from belligerent confrontations for a lifetime. A person who manages to remain silent when someone steps on their toes during tawaf, in Arafat or Mina, will probably find the strength in themselves to refrain from hurting others. Someone who doesn’t start unruly behavior while waiting in line for a hotel meal or waiting to get on the bus to go to Masjid al-Haram will most likely be one of the most pleasant and tolerant people to work things out with in trying situations. At the very least, this is the general expectation regarding what hajj should contribute to us as Muslims.

It is crucial to abide by all the restrictions and conditions of hajj to return from this journey as sinless as a newborn infant. One should also take care to observe the restrictions involving not clipping nails, not wearing fragrances, and not damaging any living beings, including even the most minute plant life, such as small herbaceous growths. All of these rules and restrictions test whether we have truly become one with what ihram represents or merely wrapped ourselves in fabric.

Answering the great call throughout history

We should occasionally repeat aloud the talbiyah we recite when entering into ihram. Talbiyah means answering the call. When we say “labbayk,” we hope that our servitude to Allah is accepted by Him, but we also fear that we may be rejected. A Muslim should maintain a state of mind between this hope and fear. Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) said in the Qur’an, “...and announce among people about (the obligation of) hajj” (Al-Hajj, 27). When a Muslim raises their voice while reciting talbiyah, they should think that they are answering this very call Allah has made to all people. With talbiyah, we say, “You have summoned, and I have come. I’m at your command.” We get excited and spring into action when we receive an invitation to an event we’ve been looking forward to. We may even find ourselves immensely enthused at times to attend even minor organizations. The call to hajj is the most magnificent, most majestic call there is, and the one making this call is the Lord of the Worlds, Allah (jalla jalaluhu).

One should continue reciting talbiyah until they see the Ka'bah and stop reciting it once the Ka'bah comes into view. The Ka'bah is the symbol of unity. It represents the oneness of our path and our direction. A pilgrim experiences an extraordinary moment when they first see the Ka'bah. They look on, unable to tear their gaze away from the Ka'bah, thinking, “Ya Ilahi, how can a building fascinate someone so?” Their heart flutters with an excitement they haven’t felt before, their hands open up in supplication, tears of joy and reunion after longing swell up in their eyes, and words of prayer flow from their lips. The Ka'bah that they have been turning and prostrating themselves towards stands before them. It’s as if the thousands of kilometers of distance that has been separating them from this sacred place vanishes at that moment and time stands still. The pilgrims stand before the first house and the first place of worship on Earth. They are an honored guest of the Lord of the Worlds, Allah the Most High. Allah (jalla jalaluhu) opens His house only to guests He loves. The sign of His love for the pilgrims is His granting them admission into His home.

When a pilgrim sees the Ka'bah, they recall our father Adam (alayhissalam), mother Hawwa (rahmatullahi alayha), Ibrahim (alayhissalam), and Ismail (alayhissalam). There was no settlement on Earth when the first progenitors of humanity, Adam (alayhissalam) and Hawwa (rahmatullahi alayha), were sent down to this world. Adam (alayhissalam) had long longed for the Baytu’l-Mamur in Jannah, which he’d been circling with angels to make tawaf. After being granted forgiveness on Arafat, he beseeched Allah to grant him a house similar to it on Earth. As detailed in Tafsiru’l-Qurtubi, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) informed him of the location, which was to be the site of the Ka’bah. Then Adam (alayhissalam) built the Ka'bah with the angels. Almighty Allah tells us in the Qur’an that the first house on Earth is the Ka'bah and Makkah is the world’s capital city, also known by the name “Ummu’l-Qura,” which means the mother of cities (Al-An’am, 92). He also said in another ayah, “The first house set up for the people is surely the one in Makkah, having blessings and guidance for all the worlds.” (Ali Imran, 96).

Tawaf is the term used for the completion of seven circuits around the Ka'bah. Each circuit is called a shawt, making seven shawts equal to one tawaf. A pilgrim making tawaf finds themselves moving with hundreds of thousands of others, swirling in step with an astoundingly massive gathering, almost as if part of a single motion—a drop in the ocean. They revolve around the house of Allah, lost in the droves of bodies circumambulating in one direction yet perfectly together with Allah.

Being immersed in the grand order of the universe

Tawaf is a motion that mirrors the order that governs the universe on a smaller scale. Everything in the universe possesses a spinning motion. The Earth, Sun, and Moon all revolve in several ways. The Earth revolves around both its own axis and the Sun, while the Sun revolves around both its own axis and the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy, with all its component stars, rotates around its center in hundreds of millions of years while the aggregate mass of the entire galaxy speeds towards a trajectory around a common center of gravity with countless other local galaxies that it is gravitationally connected to. There is a striking resemblance between the revolution of the celestial bodies in the universe and the circulation of pilgrims around the Ka'bah. Just as everyone is equal in salah, so are they in tawaf. Only those who are higher in taqwa are higher in worth. One comes before the Ka'bah not with their status and position in the world but as equal servants of Allah. The rich and the poor, the noble, the prominent, the wealthy, and the common citizen are equal in being guests of Allah.

A pilgrim begins the tawaf from a position where their left shoulder is lined up with the corner of the Ka'bah that the Hajar al-Aswad is set into. Hajar al-Aswad, meaning “Black Stone,” marks the starting position of tawaf. It is set within a silver casing. Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) once placed his lips on the Hajar al-Aswad and shed tears for a long time. Then he turned around to find Umar bin Khattab (radiyallahu anh) crying as well and said, “O Umar, this is the place where tears should be shed.” (Ibn Majah, Manasik, 27).

Kissing the Hajar al-Aswad is a sign of reverence to the owner of baytullah. One should be careful, though, not to cause disturbance or distress to the other guests.

The owner of the house would not be pleased with such a demeanor. For this reason, one should give salam to the Hajar al-Aswad from afar rather than try and cleave through the crowd to kiss it when the area around the Ka'bah is heavily occupied. This greeting is called “istilam.” The Hajar al-Aswad is a witness to all believers. It bears witness to whether we stay true to our promise as servants of Allah or not. Also, the prayer commonly known as “rabbana” is recited in each shawt when walking between Rukn Yamani and the Hajar al-Aswad. Seventy thousand angels join this prayer by saying “amin.”

There is a small stretch of the Ka’bah wall on its front between the Hajar al-Aswad and the Ka’bah’s door. This part of the Ka'bah wall is called “Multazam.” Those praying near Multazam hold onto it as if they are children holding onto their mothers. A child tugging on their mother’s skirt and crying pitifully is too sorry a sight for a mother. If the child is to blame, she forgives them. If they want something, she can’t help but give them whatever it is that they are shedding tears for. Holding onto the Ka'bah or Multazam and crying in prayer is akin to a child desperately clinging to their mother for their needs. The mercy of a mother is not even a drop in the ocean compared to the mercy of Allah (jalla jalaluhu). He forgives His servants who cling to the Ka'bah, crying and begging for forgiveness, and answers their requests with whatever is the best outcome for them.

There is also an encased block of stone called “Maqam Ibrahim” in Masjid al-Haram. As the name suggests, this stone is marked with the footprints of Ibrahim (alayhissalam) and is the station of Halilullah, meaning the friend of Allah. A pilgrim takes the first step of becoming a friend or following in the footsteps of the friends of Allah. After the tawaf, the pilgrim drinks zamzam near Maqam Ibrahim or any other suitable location. Zamzam is a special water with miraculous healing properties that can cleanse the stomach of those who drink it from diseases as long as Allah wills it. It is a blessing offered to all pilgrims thanks to the submission of our blessed mother, Hajar (rahmatullahi alayha). It is also a most excellent gift to bring home after hajj.

Following the example of a mother

After the tawaf, pilgrims walk between the hills of Safa and Marwa at a fast pace and perform sa’y. Sa’y consists of making three round trips between Safa and Marwa and one final trip from Safa to Marwa, ending the sa’y on Marwa. That means starting from Safa, traveling the distance between Safa and Marwa seven times, and reaching the end of sa’y on Marwa due to the odd number of trips. This is an act of worship carried out in remembrance of Hajar (rahmatullahi alayha), reminding us of her ordeal when she was alone with her child, Ismail (alayhissalam), in the desert after Ibrahim (alayhissalam) left them, saying this was Allah’s command. Her submission in this seemingly hopeless situation was exemplary as she said when told this was Allah’s will, “Then He (Allah) will not neglect us.” With these words, she became a shining beacon of tawakkul and submission. However, when her food and water ran out in the middle of the scorching, desolate desert, she struggled for her and her child’s survival. She ran between the hills of Safa and Marwa repeatedly. As a reward for her tawakkul and submission, Allah the Exalted granted her the water known as zamzam, which has been springing from its source for 4000 years with no end in sight despite being constantly used by pilgrims. He also made the sa’y of Hajar (rahmatullahi alayha) one of the wajibs (requirements) of hajj. Thus, sa’y became the symbol of a mother’s mercy.

All of this clearly indicates that sa’y is a token of how deeply Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) cares about a mother’s mercy. The truth becomes apparent when we consider that a mother’s mercy was so tremendous that Allah the Exalted made her ordeal everyone’s joint endeavor. The sa’y between Safa and Marwa symbolizes spiritual salvation. It is an imploration for the salvation of our sons and daughters, a typical expression of tawakkul. On the other hand, zamzam is the most prominent form of blessing and an obvious mercy in this quest for salvation. The similarity between Hajar’s (rahmatullahi alayha) search for water for his child and our search for mercy and forgiveness for ourselves, our children, and all of humanity is striking.

Irfan, awareness, mahabbah, and closeness

Pilgrims need to be on Arafat on the day of Arafah. Standing on Arafat is the clearest expression of standing before Allah and presenting oneself. Standing on Arafat for waqfah is like waiting in front of the door before the tawaf al-ziyarah (tawaf of visitation), which is a fard of hajj. It’s a time and place of waiting for forgiveness, as it was on Arafat that Adam (alayhissalam) and Hawwa (rahmatullahi alayha) were reunited after being forgiven. It is the site of their first meeting after being sent down to Earth. Just as they were forgiven on Arafat, their children await the same forgiveness when they gather in millions on and around this sacred hill. Waqfah is imbued with a unique and spiritual atmosphere that fills the air around Arafat. In short, Arafat is the zenith of the wait for forgiveness in divine presence, shedding tears in hope and humility.

Just as the pilgrims wait on Arafat with high hopes during the day, the night ensues with them waiting at Mash’ar al-Haram and the surrounding area. Mashar al-Haram is a place for gaining awareness. Millions of pilgrims travel from here and Muzdalifah towards Mina in massive caravans. Some walk, and some are carried away in wheelchairs or on their relatives’ backs.

Pilgrims beg for closeness to and love of Allah in Mina. There, they stone the treacherous shaytan, who is ever waiting in ambush and who uses every malicious means at his disposal to prevent Muslims from attaining this noble goal. As they stone the shaytan, they also think about their own weaknesses, placing them in their mind’s eye aligned with their throwing arm. Thus, they begin the arduous struggle against the shaytan—a battle to stand firm and not give in to the accursed enemy of Muslims. One by one, the pilgrims hurl the stones in their hands with unyielding defiance as if to say, “O accursed shaytan, I will stone you whenever I face up against you!”

After stoning the shaytan in Mina, pilgrims sacrifice udhiyah animals to draw even closer to Allah the Most Merciful. Udhiyah is a means of achieving closeness to Allah. It is to give of one’s own wealth for the sake of Allah. It is an expression of gratitude to Him. Sacrificing udhiyah means following in the footsteps of Ibrahim (alayhissalam), Ismail (alayhissalam), and Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).

After the udhiyah animals are sacrificed, pilgrims shave their heads and come to the end of their time in ihram. Every strand of hair represents a sin forgiven as it falls to the ground. A pilgrim drives the shaytan away first, then draws closer to Allah with udhiyah. Finally, they sacrifice a favorite element of their appearance, their hair. The strands of hair shaved off will bear witness to their hajj on the day of judgment inshallah.

Pilgrims feel the unparalleled excitement of being a member of the ummah of Islam in this enormous mass of people, this gathering of immense proportions reminiscent of the day of judgment as they make tawaf around the Ka'bah, climb onto Mount Arafat with talbiyah and takbir, pour out onto Muzdalifah like a deluge and make their way to Mina after the waqfah at Muzdalifah. They feel the indescribable joy of becoming a haji.

In each stage of hajj, pilgrims attain a different merit: getting to know Allah through irfan on Arafat, a keen awareness in Mashar al-Haram, a deep love in Mina, and a closeness like no other with udhiyah. After being favored with forgiveness on Arafat, being endowed with awareness and love, and drawing closer to Allah, they return to the Ka'bah. They are accepted into the house of Allah once again as a forgiven, purified, and rejuvenated Muslim. They make the tawaf al-ziyarah to pay their visit to the Ka'bah and perform sa’y. With these steps of their journey, they find many boons and blessings.

How does hajj enrich a human being?

First and foremost, a person making hajj will have pleased Allah by obeying one of His commands. This will bring them closer to His rida, meaning His satisfaction with their servitude. There are also many positive outcomes and benefits for pilgrims in direct proportion to their efforts. A pilgrim makes tawbah before setting out on the road. They ask for forgiveness if they have wronged someone, violated their rights or caused them grief. They clear their debts and say farewell to their spouse, relatives and friends. Vitally, they make gestures of kindness and gratitude to their parents to bring joy into their hearts and ask them to keep them in their prayers.

They remember the struggles of the past prophets for salvation—most of all, the challenges Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) struggled through for the salvation of humanity. Reaching such a heightened awareness increases their joy in worshipping Allah at the Ka'bah. They break free of their daily habits, the endless rush of their lives, and their attachments. They get the chance to reflect on their actions in self-evaluation. While praying salah was previously almost like a peripheral activity amidst their daily hurdles, it now takes the center stage in their lives during hajj. Each day is set up and planned according to salah. They try to pray all five daily salahs in Masjid al-Haram or Masjid an-Nabawi.

Hajj confers the love of Allah upon Muslims because it is the physical manifestation of reciprocal love. Allah invites those He loves to His home, and those who love Him answer this call to pay their visit. Hajj also adds a wealth of benefits to our social structure since pilgrims who have performed hajj have always been especially valued and highly esteemed in Muslim societies. They perceive the honor and responsibility of being a haji to be a distinction they must be worthy of for the rest of their lives by leading exemplary lives. Also, believers who have fulfilled the duty of hajj can be more tolerant towards the lives of other Muslims who come from different parts of the world and have sectarian differences due to their experiences.

The benefits of hajj are not limited to the boons and blessings detailed so far, however. It yields the rewards of jihad and other good outcomes, as Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) mentioned in his hadiths:

“Jihad of the elderly, the young, the weak, and women, is hajj and umrah” (Nasai, Hajj, 4).

“Whoever performs hajj to this House (Ka’bah) and does not approach his wife for sexual relations nor commits sins (while performing hajj), he will return from hajj as sinless as a newborn child.” (Bukhari, Hajj, 4; Muslim, Hajj, 438).

“Whoever performed tawaf around the House fifty times, he will be as free of his sins as the day his mother bore him.” (Tirmidhi, Hajj, 41).

The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said in another hadith, “Perform hajj and umrah consecutively; for they remove poverty and sin as the bellows remove impurity from iron.”( Tirmidhi, Hajj, 2), pointing out that it is a remedy for poverty and a bright hope for entering Jannah. The prayers said by a haji, too, are deemed worthy of acceptance, whether for themselves or others. Regarding this, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Those who perform the hajj and those who perform the umrah are people who have come to visit Allah. If they supplicate to Him, He will respond to them, and if they ask Him for forgiveness, He will forgive them.” (Ibn Majah, Manasik, 5).

To ensure that one attains the spiritual growth and qualities that can be expected from hajj, they should begin the journey with love and preserve the proper Islamic etiquette of adab at all times. The journey of hajj is not an ordinary one and, as such, it requires utter and undiminished adab. It is in the nature of these visits to sacred lands as these holy sites deserve and demand nothing less. It is only possible to reach one’s ultimate destination with adab. Pilgrims are the guests of Allah. What befits the guest is to maintain a perfectly decorous, gracious, and humble conduct and observe adab both towards the host and other guests. A journey taken with adab and love results in nothing but joyous feelings as opposed to the weariness and stress that would typically be expected of an undertaking of this magnitude. He who makes his way with adab returns with a gift of blessings.

Putting it briefly, hajj isn’t an act of worship that should be performed by basing our actions only on its apparent aspects but its inner realities as well. For this, one should train under the guidance and instructions of a murshid to be ready for the delicate and sensitive situations one might encounter in the Haramayn and act with due diligence, wisdom, and discretion. Hujwiri (rahmatullahi alayh) recounts an event related to this in his Kashfu’l-Mahjub:

A man returning from hajj came to Junayd al-Baghdadi (quddisa sirruhu). Junayd al-Baghdadi (quddisa sirruhu) asked him:

“Did you take your leave of your sins as you took your leave of your home to set out for hajj?”

“No,” said the man, to which Junayd al-Baghdadi (quddisa sirruhu) responded:

“Then you have not set out on the road,” he said and continued:

“Did you rid yourself of the attributes of your nafs? Did you attain irfan on Arafat? Did marifah manifest in you? Did you sacrifice the desires of your nafs in Mina along with your udhiyah animal? As you threw your stones at the jamarat (stoning pillars), did you also cast away all your self-centered thoughts and emotions?”

The man answered “no” to each one. Junayd al-Baghdadi (quddisa sirruhu) then said:

“You haven’t made hajj. Go back and perform hajj as has been described to you because you can reach Maqam Ibrahim, that is, the pleasure of being a friend of Allah only by doing so.”

May Allah grant those of our brothers and sisters who haven’t had the chance to make hajj the opportunity to carry out this sacred duty.

Abdülhamid Eşmeli