The Pilgrim and Pilgrimage

Praise be to ALLAH, and peace and blessing, upon the beloved Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah (PBUH).

Few weeks from now on, over three million muslims from all over around the globe, including those in the Gambia would be received in Mecca, Saudi Arabia as guests of the almighty Allah. Although they would be received in persons by members of the hajj administration, indeed their main recipient is Allah (SWT); whose guest they are and whose commandment they ARE ACTUALLY ABIDDING BY.

The whole journey is about purity; purity of intention, purity of the means that will bring one to the hajj, purity in deeds and actions and purity in the out-come. and at the end ,the haj (pilgrim returns home purified and sinless as a new-born baby .

That’s why the pilgrim has to be particular about the source or means by which he is making the pilgrimage, hence Allah is pure and accept only what is pure. The holy prophet Muhammad (PBUH) put it right: 

“The Hajj or pilgrimage decides a man’s course of life.  He either returns very holy or very wicked”. Thus to avoid even the least impurity, the conditions are that they must pay for themselves or someone pay for them, but without borrowing the money and be able to afford it health-wise.

Yet every year during haj or pilgrimage in the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar “Djul Hijja,”  over three million Muslims from all over the world - the largest  single religious gathering known in the history of the world, gather to observe this important pillar of Islam.

The Hajj, like all other pillars of Islam,  reinforces basic Islamic principles; for instance, that all are equal in the eyes of Allah. Before entering Mecca, pilgrims change their clothes. Instead of ordinary clothes, a male Muslim wears two sheets of unsewn white cloth.

Other signs of everyday life such as watches and wallets are removed by the pilgrim. In this way there is no sign of social rank or association. A Muslim may rub shoulders with a king or president without knowing it.

Women may wear their  ordinary clothes but must be covered from head to ankles. The white sheets are symbolic in a sense they remind Muslims that they must be willing to gave up everything for Allah. It is also  a reminder that dead people are wrapped in similar sheets as their fine and beautiful clothes and wealth are of no value.

The Hajj lasts for five days and on the first day, beginning at Mecca, Muslims walk seven times around the Kabah, the holy site  known to be the oldest place of worship on earth. The foundation was raised and built by prophet Ibrahim (A.S.) the ancestral father of  the Jews, the Nazarites and the Arabs and their religions : Judaism, Christianity and Islam respectively.

The pilgrim then proceeds to the point of the black stone. Many non-Muslims assume that Muslims worship the black stone or pray to it. This is absolutely incorrect, since Islam expressively forbid the worship of anything but Allah.

Yet because the Prophet respected the stone most Muslims have come to regard IT AS SPECIAL,AND MOST PILGRIMS ATTEMPT TO TOUCH AND KISS IT-A TASK MADE DIFFICULT BY THE SURGING CROW OF PEOPLE MILLING AROUND IT  AT  ALL TIMES. THE PROPHET’S CELEBRATED COMPANION, THE CALIPH Umar (RA) in his usual forthright manner, addressed the stone thus: “I know you are only a stone but because I saw the prophet kiss you I will do the same”.

The pilgrim then goes to the two small hillocks nearby; known as “Alsaffat wa Almaarwah”

Here Allah had wished to test Ibrahim (AS) by ordering him to leave his wife Hagar and son Ismail, a progenitor of the Arabs. When Hagar’s supply of water was exhausted she ran between the Hills desperately searching for water.

Her search was soon rewarded as a spring burst forth from the earth. To this day Muslim   pilgrims ritually enact her plight. The water from the spring also know as: “Zamzam” is highly valued and pilgrims take it home in bottles for their relatives.

The pilgrims spend the night at Mina. At dawn they move to the valley of Arafat. Here thousands of tents are put up to protect them from the heat. After sunset the pilgrims leave to spend the night at Muzdalifat.

Part of the evening is spent hunting for small stones for the next part of the Haj, another ritual trenching back to Ibrahim(AS)on returning to Mina, they set off for the three-stone pillars which mark the place where the devil attempted to make  Ismail disobey Ibrahim. Muslims believe that Ismail drove the devil away by throwing stones at him. In memory of those incidents Muslims throw their stones at the pillars, symbolic of rejecting evil and wishing to follow Allah the Almighty.

The pilgrimage ends with a festival where animals are sacrificed. This custom again goes back to Ibrahim (AS) who was willing to sacrifice his only son Ismail on Allah’s command. When Allah spared Ismail, Ibrahim (AS) sacrificed a ram instead.

So the pilgrims sacrifice sheep, goat, cattle or camel to commemorate the act. This is a symbol of how Muslims are programmed to give up everything they value for the sake of Allah. Pilgrims eat some of the meat, but the most of it is given to the “miskeen” the poor or needy Muslims.

Finally pilgrims circle the kabah once more. Those who can afford it go to Medina to visit the prophet’s burial place and make Dua supplication thereon the returning  hajji is given the title Al-haj or al- haja or simply haja for the female.

They ARE TREATED WITH MUCH RESPECT AND THE HAJJ IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN CONSCIOU∆∆S OF THEIR VISIBLE ROLE AS  PROPER ISLAMIC MODELS, AS  RETURNEE FROM HAJJ.

May Allah bless our successful pilgrims with the immense blessing of Haj. Ameen.