The Lure of Makkah and Madinah, continued.. .

Abu 'Irfan Shamil

"Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik!
Labbaik La sharikalaka Labbaik!
Innal Hamda wan-ni'mata laka wal mulk
La sharika laka Labbaik "

"Here I am O Allah at Thy Service
Here am I, Thou hast no partner -Here am I
Verily True Praise and Grace and Sovereignty are Thine
Thou hast no partner. Here I am "

And coming from all directions the above response to the call by Prophet Abraham (as) to perform the pilgrimage thousands of years ago. Our Shaykh Haj had arranged for us to stay at a boarding house under the control of the al Hussam company. When it was confortable for us to proceed late at night for Tawaf Qudum at the the House of God, we did so as one large group complete with mutawwifeen, volunteers, etc. so that the weak and the elderly among us could be assisted and provided with whatever support that is needed be it theological or physical. What a sight it was--the Ancient House, the House of Allah with pilgrims circling it in most intense prayer. It was a sight from another world perhaps even more impactful as the Prophet's Mosque. I could not cry. I was numbed even though I was acutely aware of the changes to the Ka'bah that Saudis had done. Whatever changes people may make to the Ka'bah such as happened recently or in the past including the well-known episode during which the followers of the Qarmatiyyah sect removed the Hajar al-Aswad and brought it to to Damascus, the Qiblah for Muslims will remain the same and the obligation to perform the Haj will still remain as one of the faraid.

There is something here in the Masjidil Haram. I believe that there is an uncanny matrix of influences including angelic, cosmic and 'Asma-ic (derived from the affect of the Divine Names of God), which works on the pilgrims as he performs his or her Salat, supplicates or simply circles the Ka'bah seven times in complete submission to the Divine Will and Law.

Our Shaykh Haj said that we move anti-clockwise because only then can our Hearts be close to the House of God. That was the symbolism he understood. I felt that we from ancient times do so in anti-clockwise fashion because all planets move in an anti-clockwise manner around the sun so do the atoms in everything in submission to the Law of Nature--SunnatuLLAH -and the Angels around the Divine Throne. Whatever it is it is more important that I know that the Prophet Muhammad (s) s. a. w did it in that manner. Praise be to Allah that Muslims whoever they are, intellectuals, scientists, soldier, sailor, sociologist, etc. submit in complete deference to Allah's commands. "Sami' na wa 'a ta' na" (We hear and we obey). If Allah wants us to do it. We do it. We have failed to become a true Middle Nation--Ummatan Wasatan--in all its dimensions, so let us not fail in an area where it is so much easier.

And like a crazed moth
Swirling round the flame
Immersed in God's mosque
Allah's devotee does the same

And if he celebrates God's name as he turns
His nafs at the niche doth burn
His mind has taken flight
Well nigh forgets Ka'bah's sight

He is drowned in Allah
He loves this submission
This world is a prison
Pilgrimage to Allah our ultimate station

And having performed the Introductory Tawaf we returned to Aziziah in our air-conditioned bus--in sharp contrast to pilgrims in the 30s or even later who arriving at Jeddah by ship, proceeded towards Makkah by caravan, plodding throught the blazing land until they reach the Baitullah. Those pilgrims had assumed Ihram from as far as Jeddah and braved the most uncomfortable of situations. As you are aware there are restrictions imposed during Ihram including no intercourse with one's spouse, no perfumes or scents, no covering of the heads, no shaving of the hair or nails. What then about those hundreds who had trekked through the jungles of Africa or the Gobi desert.

Coming from the East, our station or Meeqat from which we assumed the state of Ihram was the Masjid Tan'im which was the boundary in that direction between the Holy Land of Makkah Mukarramah and what is not Holy Land. We had earlier taken our bath, prayed two cycles, put on our Ihram of two unsewn, unstiched white clothes, one for the upper torso and one for the lower part of the body. But the intention for assuming Ihram for the purpose of Haj was made from the Masjid Tan'im after which we prayed two further rakaats. The niyyat was again recited collectively so that no one would doubt that he had made the intention. Focussing the intention is so very important and that is the purpose of verbalising it--particularly for me with the jungle that my mind is.

During the sixth, seventh and eight days of the month of pilgrimage (Dhul Hijjah) the pilgrim goes through various rites and ceremonies, always remembering that he is not to quarrel, misbehave or use obscene language.. . On the evening of the eight day he goes to 'Arafah,15 miles away from Makkah where we are truly privileged and honoured to re-enact yet another scene straight out from the meta-history of humankind. Here is where Mother Eve and Adam reconciled with each other after realising each other's sorely-missed presence. Indeed that is what 'Arafah stands for. "As we come to the outskirts of the city "says Eldon Rutter, "a strange intentness seemed to fall upon this weird band of travellers. No sound of laughter or of common-place speech was now heard among them. Even the cries of the camel drivers to their beasts did not dispel the intense influence which pervaded the midnight scene. It was like a great company of pious, white shrouded spirits passing along in the silent night beneath the moon"

In our time the camels did not bring us to Arafat. But our buses and vans still had to plod on because three million or perhaps even more pilgrims were on the same road to Arafah. The Mu'assasah or Organisation in charge of the pilgrims from South East Asia had done a wonderful job of setting up the thousands of tents. Many of the tents were air-cooled, complete with drinks, blankets and pillows. There were neem trees around. They were still not tall and they had sprinklers to bring down the high temperature. Signposts were everywhere directing pilgrims from different countries to go to different areas in Arafah. The sight, again out of the world. Tents of peaceful warriors up in arms against their own Desire and Ego and what was for many from temperate and cooler climes, scorching weather. But truly the weather was not too bad provided you are not addicted to air-conditioning and cigarettes. Smoking was not allowed in the tents. Mamnu` tadkheen. (No smoking) signs are most prominent everywhere.

We spent our Zhuhr, 'Asr and Maghrib there. We prayed and supplicated as much as possible. Our Shaykh Haj recited what must have been an exquisite prayer but alas he did not provide the translation. "Why do you read and not understand ?" is a common Quranic admonishment. Personally I don't relish prayers that I don't understand. Both my mind and my heart must fly to God together. Otherwise my imagination would attempt to disrupt my prayers.

The toilets were always a problem at Arafat. It pays to bring along some water bottles and toilet paper. I was fortunate to find a whole case of unopened mineral water in the toilet. The women's toilets were less tolerable. But with some effort the problems were manageable -completely manageable.

One thing : I cannot understand the few pilgrims who breached the rule of no-smoking in the tents. These same people would smoke in the tents of Mina (or Muna) and have a last drag before entering the mosque. What a scourge smoking is.

Those hills at Arafat. They were unforgettable sight. They were silent witnesses of an eternal spiritual pageant. Later we proceed to Muzdalifah where we spent the night. We collected the pebbles there for stoning the three symbolic pillars later at Mina where Abraham was tempted and goaded by the Devil.

It was a tragedy that the fire destroyed hundreds of lives in Mina Cooking must never be done in tents where gas tanks aree also around. If the House of Doughnuts which has an outlet at Hilton Hotel, Makkah can supply food and drinks for tens of thousands at Mina, I am sure that other Halal caterers can do the same and thus cut down the potential dangers at Mina. Mina is also a blessed place. And we cannot allow human negligence to detract from the sacredness of Mina. The superstition that Mina is a place where the evil jinn congregate is a load of rubbish and if believed this superstition makes a mockery of the pilgrimage the sanctity of which revolves around the concept of Tauheed. Some Shaykh Haj circulated this superstition because of the fear, probably, that the pilgrims would wonder on their own and get lost.

I moved around at night and was fortunate to meet some Daghestanis one of whom kissed me on my cheeks when I enquired whether he was Naqshabandi. "My parents are Naqshabandis but I am Shadhili," he said. They were selling all kinds of things and in particular night vision binoculars and zoom cameras of Russian make. I think the brand was Zenith. Like everything in Makkah. It was dead cheap. Again Abraham's prayer to make the site of Haj full of provison, had come to pass. "And thence on the 10th morning the pilgrim returns to Makkah and after prayers performs the sacrifice in memory of Abraham's commitment to sacrifice his son.. .. . The sacrifice is symbolic of the sacrifice of the beast in man to attain the apex of spiritual perfection"

Prophet Yusuf had a dream and interpreted the dream which he knew was a symbolic one. Abraham had a dream which he interpreted literally. God need not have to test Abraham. Allah is All-Knowing and more importantly Allah does not need the blood or the flesh of animals. So Allah stayed the hand of Abraham 'alaihis salam and miraculously substituted it with a ram. It was an opportune moment to tell the world that human and animal sacrifices are not for God Who wants sacrifice of devotion through sincerity and deeds. The destitute and the needy are in need of animal flesh and this commemoration must be understood in that light.

Sacrifice of a meat-lawful animal is not necessary for Haj Ifrad. Be that as it may I arranged for it to be done in my own country where I arranged specifically that the animals would be slaughtered for the poor
people that I knew personally.

One can do any number of tawafs, each total seven circumbulations, but Umrah Wajib--like Haj--is not complete without sa'ee seven times between the hillocks Safa and Marwah which is presently completely covered by the Masjidil Haram mosque building. And of course one can do any number of Sunat Tawaf and Sunat Umrah. There is no independent Sunat Sa 'ee but I have a few people doing Sa'ee independent of Tawaf. I have not heard about it in the books on Haj.

As much as we can we drink the historical Zam Zam water. It cured me with Allah's Permission of a painful sore throat. At one time as published in Motamar al Alam al Islami's "The Muslim World " Zam Zam water was thoroughly analysed at the Water Laboratories of Liverpool (?) and the shocking discovery that it is the very best of mineral waters complete with traces of gold and silver used in ancient times for all kinds of human ailments and sicknesses.

We do our Tawaf Wada' in Makkah like the Ziarah Wada' at Madinah but there are other aspects of the the total Haj package even though they are not part of the duties of Haj. For example the visit to the Birth Place of the Prophet (s). How sad that this forlorn building is sited on the actual birthplace of the Beloved of Allah. Like the tombs of Jannatul Baqee' the original buildings were destroyed just like the Jabal Qubais which was substantially decimated to make way for a Royal Palace. And this was the same historical mountain that housed the Hajar al-Aswad during the floods of Prophet Noah (alayhis-salam) thousands of years ago.

Whether it was the visit to the first Mosque built originally by the Prophet at Quba or Masjid Qiblatain outside Madinah or the Mountain of Uhud where Hamzah (r) the leader of the Martyrs lies buried or the very steep Jabal Nur outside Makkah where the Prophet first received the revelation (or Badr which we were unable to visit) the impact was momentous. We really marvelled at the fact that the Prophet (s) took the tremendous trouble to trek up that difficult mountain for his meditations and spiritual retreats and how faithful Khatijah Kubra (r) was in sending his meals to him at the cave. There was another cave outside Makkah--Ghar-i Thaur--where the Prophet Muhammad (s) and his faithful companion Abu Bakr sought refuge. It was also the place where the Prophet Muhammad (s) took the opportunity to teach Abu Bakr the greatest of spiritual lessons. "What Allah poured into my heart, I poured into the heart of Abu Bakr."

And whatever we were doing, wherever we were, whether during Sa'ee or Tawaf, or whatever, our movements did not detract substantially from the commemoration of Allah's Name which symbolises the intention that in life we remember Allah in whatever we do. The prayers of Haj are significant because they are truly all-comprehensive and wide enough to cover our most legitimate of wishes and aspirations not just for ourselves but for our parents, children, spouses, neighbours, teachers and fellow Muslims.

END