Living Hajj

Living
Hajj

Dr.
Rizwan Haider

Why
does a vast majority of Muslims not perform Hajj?
Do they not realize its importance? What are they doing here after all? Why are
they wasting time? Don’t they know that the most unreliable partner in life is
life itself? These were the kind of questions that always bothered me ever since
I returned from Hajj but then, I recalled,
I also started working on the plan after four decades of mundane struggle. It
dawned on me that undoubtedly ‘The King’ of kings is generous, forgiving and
kind beyond our expectations but He is very very selective in hosting
people in His Haram. Its living
examples are scattered around us and people with all the worldly resources have
not been able to make it to that place, for one reason or the other. The very
birth of the thought that one should perform Hajj is an honor and
implies that one is in the list of those whom the Almighty wants to bless. It is
no coincidence. Nobody but ‘He’ could generate the thought and nobody but
‘He’ is the R. S. V. P. So, if you find your name in the ‘list of
quests’ stay put in the queue and don’t let the opportunity slip away
because a second call is even more unpredictable than the first one. If you have
been blessed with the thought you have the foundations, and the rest is a
pleasant journey, though uphill. The thought will lead you onto the road of
applying for and then getting a visa (hopefully), making preparations, both
physical and mental and finally embarking upon the journey. But things do not
appear to be happening until the visa is actually granted. No real enthusiasm,
no heartburn and no sense of reality. However, the visa endorsement news and
removal of the biggest hurdle in one’s way virtually causes palpitations and
suddenly, every move one makes becomes enriched with emotions. One seriously
starts to read the guide books, asks questions from senior pilgrims and if,
fortunately, gets hands on the literature explaining the philosophical
background of this great event, starts to stagger with the thought of the
forthcoming. Every step has its own meaning and leaves an unforgettable
impression, something that one cherishes later.

The
first incident of realization is putting on ‘the Ihram’
and probably the most explosive one; it symbolizes the dress that one wears
after death to present himself in the court of his ‘Creator’ on the Day of
Judgment. It means that his worldly life is all but over; the test he had been
given is finished and the final bell has tolled; no more writing on the paper
and its time for the result!!! Truly speaking, this is the first time that one
sees the writing on the wall. He has no doubt about what he deserves. He
doesn’t need to be given the charge sheet; the cine is already in motion and
‘now’ he knows too well where he faltered. In a few moments, he will be
shown the final abode.

…The
fire! The torture! The suffering! Forever! No, Lord, No. Please. Give me just
one last chance and I’ll undo all my wrongs; I know its only me; Iblis
had no authority on me but I opted for his friendship and this time, Lord, I
assure you, I am not going to be the same…

The
cine stops; one comes out of the trance but knowing too well that he has been
heard. He has been granted another, may be the last chance. The nightmare was as
good as true and will be there again if …

With
these feelings, one kneels in front of ‘The Creator’ to express one’s
immense gratitude and acknowledge that he treasures the opportunity. The two Rak‘ats of Nawafil that
one says at this moment have no match in all of one’s previous prayers as, for
the first time, one feels conversing with his Master absolutely directly. He
knows that ‘He’ is there and listening. One, almost certainly, has never
been exposed to such a ‘living contact’ before and though new to it, prays
that it remains with him forever. He knows that from now on prayer is his need,
not a duty.

This
experience serves as the basis of the whole expedition and hence sets the
objectives to be achieved at each stop. One leaves home in Ihram
with the feeling that one may never see ones belongings again. Airport presents
a totally alien picture this time; almost every traveller is in the same dress
and social disparity is non-existent. No VIPs, no escorts. No laughter, no
tears. There is a vivid ‘can’t care less’ attitude in the air about
worldly accessories. Checking in queues are quieter and the usual Pakistani
temperament more or less under control. Even within the aircraft, rows on window
seats and quality of food are not encountered. Miqaat
announcement suddenly causes a stir in the crowd and the Talbiyah chant grips the entire space. ‘O Lord, you granted me the
opportunity and I treasure it; I am on my way; I have left my home, my children
and my everything, just for You because I know You are my master, the only one.
Praise is for you, Gratitude is for you and Power is for You and no one shares
them with You.’ These verses are small but beautifully integrated and one
feels that nothing could have expressed one’s innermost feelings any better at
that time.

Jaddah
Airport and travel to Makkah are
difficult to get over as the apprehensions build up, fuelled by emotions. Most
of the passengers are new to the area so, in spite of everybody asking the
other, no real satisfaction is achieved. Road travel eventually ends; the bus
drops the entire group ‘somewhere’ in Makkah
with only the driver knowing how close to the Haram, but it usually is within walking distance. From here on, you
don’t even need to ask someone for directions; just follow the crowd and you
will get there. Congested streets suddenly widen into wide arenas, as if melting
away, surrendering their identity, in respect to the holy place. And then one
gets the first, real life look at the majestic, grey-stone building that serves
as the boundary wall of the ‘House of the Lord’. The entire space between
this and the buildings across the road (over a hundred yards approx.) has been
cleared of structures in recent past and is now covered only by white marble to
serve as extended prayer area when the inside fails to accept anymore pilgrims.
The unique quality of a special white marble is that it maintains a very
comfortable temperature even in hot summers and hence compensates to a great
extent the exhaustion caused by the blistering sun.

The
grey-stone building that surrounds the Haram
has many entrances, which allow equally smooth access to people from all sides.
The largest of these entrances is called the Bab
Abdul Aziz that faces the Ajyad
area and is decorated by two superb minarets. These minarets also house the
state of the art sound and lighting system; the former can be experienced at all
prayer times, and just the ‘Adhan’
sounds so unbelievably different. The very pure Arabic accent and valley affect
of Makkah no doubt add to the beauty
of verses and for the first time, one realises what ‘Allah-u-Akbar’ actually means; what it takes to say ‘Ashhadu
an la ilaha illalah’ and how ones
deeds reflect his faith in ‘La ilaha illalah’. Extensions from the main sound system have been laid
into all the streets around the Haram
up to almost one kilometre radially to provide the same super sound quality to
the millions who throng the streets at prayer times in Ramadan
and Hajj. The job has been
extremely well done and one owes tribute to the master engineer/designer who
brought dreams to reality.

So
much for the sound system. Now if you happen to have arrived in Makkah in the morning, you will get a chance to say your Zuhr
and ‘Asr prayers in Haram
and it takes no time to discover that getting a reasonable place for the prayer
inside the building is only possible if one arrives well ahead of time (may be
20-30 minutes before the actual time of the congregation). Later than that, you
may be able to get in but most likely are going to end up saying the entire
prayer while standing in the stream of people who don’t know where to go once
the Imam begins. The problem aggravates a shade further at Maghrib time as relatively cooler temperatures attract people from
far and wide and these will go only after the ‘Isha prayer is over. So places once taken are seldom vacated. I
take an opportunity here to advise you to say at least your first Maghrib
prayer on the marbled area outside the main building. This, on the one hand,
will take you through the sensational experience of dusk gradually merging with
the florescent lights and on the other, will allow you to witness the incessant
flow of humans into the arena.

As
the prayer time draws closer, the human influx begins. All the streets around
the Haram that were merely crowded
with people involved in various activities suddenly change character and turn
into vibrant streams with a unidirectional flow, everyone moving towards the Baytullah,
mesmerised. The scene is unbelievable as one sees hundreds, no … thousands, no
… millions, or maybe more rushing towards it and first the marble and then the
concrete of the roads as far as one can see is replaced by a brilliant white
cover. Without hesitation one acknowledges that nothing on this earth but the
House of God could deserve this. It is no ordinary ‘building’, it is the
place that reminds you that the Master is actually closer to you than your life
vein and one better be there quick to register one’s apology lest the
opportunity is lost.

The
lighting system is as superb in quality as that of the sound and in spite of
extravagant, high energy equipment one never appears to feel the existence of
light source (as against the lights in a stadium). The lights are put on well
before the Maghrib prayer, and at that
time one is not even aware of them. The Maghrib
prayer lasts for about ten minutes and this is exactly the time that the
hand-shake of natural and artificial lights takes place, and when one comes back
to the world at the end of the prayer, one in fact holds ones breath in
disbelief, stunned by the scene. I wish that this be your first Jahri
prayer in the Ka‘bah and I wish that you understand what Imam Sudays is reciting; if you do, then we are in the same boat and
know that whatever words I may use, will not be able to express a fraction of
our heart when he reads through ‘Hal
Unabbi’ukum Bilakhsarina A‘amala’… Me?

 As
the days go by in Makkah, you will
appreciate how intelligently Imam Sudays selects
the verses for recital in the prayers. He knows, it appears, the change of heart
that his followers behind him are going through and digs out all the verses from
the Book that most precisely express their sentiments. So you will find him
reciting ‘Rabbana ma Khalaqta Hadha Batila’, ‘Rabbana La Tu’akhidhna In nasi’na aw Akhta’na’,
‘Innama’l Hayatud Dunaya La‘ibun wa Lahaw’ and many more, and if you
are still able to maintain composure, you are a superhuman.

Now
is the time to get inside the building that I have taken so much time to
describe from outside and you must have realised that words are at a loss to
capture what the eyes actually see. You may enter through any of the entrances
called ‘Bab’. It is quoted that a
prayer at the first glance of Ka‘bah
never goes unheard and one usually prepares for the occasion so that nothing is
left out of the list. But I tell you this is not going to work, for two reasons;
one, it all happens so suddenly that plans are shelved and two, the sight of the
Holy House leaves one absolutely overawed. I am sure this is not the only
article that you are going to read in preparation for Hajj and like me, you are
making a fantasised picture of what you expect to see; a huge, rounded open
space with a relatively small Ka‘bah
in the middle; see, that is the problem with an aerial view which most
photographers resort to. But quite contrary to one’s imagination, one sees a
relatively smaller open space with a very dominating square in the centre which
one sees almost immediately, at point blank range as one enters through the
gate. You will stop, I know that, as I did and as almost everyone coming there
for the first time does; this happens under the sheer grace of the Holy House.
It is only four walls and a roof built with extreme simplicity but, honestly,
one is perplexed by the impression it casts. It is out of the ordinary; man can
make empire state buildings and world trade centres but most certainly he can
not make another one like this. Ask yourself (when you are there, Inshallah)
and … there go your preparations and plans of first look; hands go up in
prayer, almost robotically; eyes close… dampen … and then overflow. One
tries hard to come up with some words but the mind refuses to help; frustrated,
one looks towards the heart for help but it appears alien too, arrogant to be
more precise. ‘You wanted to be here, so here you are; you were happy that you
were called, so be happy; why ask me? But did you really deserve to be here? You
know how mean you are but you want to be the Kings guest! Go ahead, He is right
there’. One immediately realises that this is the way one day, exactly in the
same manner, testimony will come forth, not only from heart but also from hands,
feet, eyes and even the skin. Another moment of remembrance; Ya ayyuha’l insan ma gharraka bi rabbika’l karim. Transition between the Herein and the Hereafter appears
unrealistically quick but it remains real, however.

Were
it not for the strategic importance of the occasion and fear of missing the
opportunity one would, almost certainly, take an about turn and come out,
knowing now fully well that one’s soul is too polluted to be presented and
will have to undergo thorough overhauling before one can ask to be there…. But
then one will never achieve that satisfaction about the soul’s status and also
what better than this place for ‘overhauling’. With these mixed feelings one
moves on, passes through the hallways, descends through the stairs and, finally,
lands on the white marble floor which maintains an extremely pleasant, cool
temperature all through the day and the year; There are various stories about
what lies under the floor but irrespective of what these actually may be, the
very first contact of bare feet with this surface is a heavenly experience. No
matter whether one has travelled all night long to get here or has been up to
say midnight prayers, the ‘cool’ in the stone miraculously revitalises the
soul and one feels fully charged for the exercise ahead.

From
here on, if you just follow the crowd you will be through with most of the ‘Umrah proceedings. You have never seen the Hajr-i-Aswad so you don’t know where to begin; you may be looking
for the green light that points towards it or the black line in the floor but
much before that you see a more dense crowd within the huge crowd raising their
hands in the air and you know what it is for. Similarly, you need not remember
whether to go clockwise or counter, the crowd movement drags you in the right
direction. Rukn-i-Yamani…. Well
nothing to be searched again; it becomes obvious when the crowd mechanically
points towards it. Coming now to the actual proceeding: it was the Prophet’s
way to actually touch the Hajr-i-Aswad
and say the prayer to begin the Tawaf
but this is not mandatory; during busy days especially in Ramadan and Hajj, it is virtually
impossible for everyone to get as close to the stone as that so the Holy Prophet
(sws) allowed the raising of the hand from a distance symbolising an attempt to
reach the stone. Similarly, it is not true that one has to stop at the line
marking the position of the stone, turn towards it and then say the Takbir.
One is permitted to look towards the stone, raise the hand, say the Takbir and keep moving; this is much required in peak rush hours as
a very rhythmical crowd motion comes to an abrupt halt as it approaches the
stone causing serious problems for the frail and elderly. Last but probably the
most important aspect of this gesture is that the Holy Prophet (sws) declared
the stone to be the right hand of God Almighty and one begins the proceedings by
holding it as we do even in our daily lives to make a solemn pledge with each
other. But this one is different, for two reasons; one that it is no ordinary
hand and two that it is no ordinary pledge. Sitting in an office or in one’s
bedroom may make it a little difficult to imagine but in there, it is as true as
broad daylight that holding the Almighty’s hand is no joke; if performed with
clear perception, this is probably the most difficult part of the entire
proceeding. Picking up courage to hold that hand implies that from here on you
mean what you say, may it be a confession or a promise and this itself is a huge
responsibility. Its repercussions are great. It really surprised me how lightly
most of the crowd takes it and how mechanically it just rolls over this ritual;
certainly it is absolutely ignorant of the monumental task that lies ahead.
Every word that one utters from here on will be regarded as a pledge and every
move one makes later in life will be judged accordingly; emotions are
uncontrollable and hence, prayers incessant but, one must realise, they may
serve as the FIR against him eventually. That by no means implies that one
should not spell one’s heart out even there, but, on the contrary, one should
be fully conscious of what one says as this will be the guideline when one is
‘back to work’ Remember what we concluded earlier on … this may well be
the last chance.

After
this Istilam of the Hajr-i-Aswad, comes the most beautiful part of ‘Umrah proceedings, the Tawaf.
We all have seen this countless number of times in pictures and videos and have
made an image of it in our mental library but, like most other things on this
expedition, its real life experience is shockingly different. If ever one could
understand the feelings of poets exaggerating about their sweethearts, and acts
of ‘malangs/sufis’ at the shrines,
this is the occasion but with one big difference; this is what our Lord had
‘ordered’ us to do and we do it, only for Him. Circumambulating the Baytullah
is a human’s spiritual zenith, and while whispering to the Almighty one
appreciates what a grand gift this is for mankind. We normally do not realise
the importance of a means for conveying our feelings of gratitude or guilt to
our Creator, but we can see its ramifications in alternative religions in the
shape of various man made gods and rituals. Now, when you go round the Ka‘bah
with a soul as ‘satisfied’ as a neonate and without the apprehension of
‘misdemeanour’ you wish that the time just halted, the counts lost their
worth and you carried on with the Tawaf
endless number of times. This is truly the time when metaphysicals becomes
physical, flesh and blood cease to exist and you feel all alone, even in that
sea of humans, in front of your Master. You hear no voices and see no one, as if
the crowd was never there; what a gem of an opportunity; imagine, a few moments
in total seclusion with thy Lord; tell Him everything and ask for everything,
yes everything… even that what you think is impossible. Don’t feel belittled
by your poor performance in Arabic; use the language you are best at; in fact,
this is the time to score even with those who have spent their lives learning
Arabic verses and are uttering them at full speed now, themselves or following a
leader. Remember, He prefers quality over quantity and sentiments over language;
two hundred verses an hour or a dozen of ‘Umrahs 
may not match a few tears shed with pure gratitude, tongue remaining
still notwithstanding.

Some
say that the Tawaf is the most
difficult part of Hajj because the crowd is
like a roaring, untamed beast, pushing, pulling, shoving, dragging; but very few
realise ‘what else do we deserve?’

Going
round the Ka‘bah seven times
completes the Tawaf and one proceeds
towards Maqam-i-Ibrahim to say two Nawafil
and then move on towards the Zam Zam to drink from the source. The Saudi
government has, in the recent past, made two improvements in the supply of this
holy water to the pilgrims; one, ladies and gents have been assigned separate
entrances to avoid unnecessary communion of gender and two, hundreds of taps
scattered in a large hall carry the water to facilitate easy availability. There
are narratives whereby the Holy Prophet (sws) was witnessed to have drunk water
while standing and then pouring some on his body; many are seen following this
practice and the area is drenched as a result.

This
brings you to the next ritual of the ‘Umrah
proceedings: the Sa‘i. As we
read in the books, Sa‘i is carried
out between two hill tops, the Safa and
the Marvah approx. 500 yards apart. It
used to be uninhabited initially and the movement between them was quite easy
but as the Makkan population and the
number of pilgrims grew, it gradually turned into a busy street with shops and
houses at either side. This made Sa‘i
very difficult; lately the area has been reclaimed, shops and houses raised down
and a grand, 100 feet wide corridor constructed that stretches between the two
hills which is further subdivided in two to cater for one way traffic. To
further ease the proceedings during peak Hajj
and ‘Umrah, seasons this corridor has now been made three storeyed and
the Sa‘i can be carried out at any
level to avoid overcrowding.

One
may ask at this stage: ‘What is Sa‘i after
all and why has it been tagged as a permanent feature of ‘Umrah/Hajj;
there are more than one narrations relating to its philosophical background. It
is commonly inferred that it is in pursuance of the frantic effort made by
Hadrat Hajira (RAA) to find some water for her son Ismail. Another one proposes
it to symbolize the effort and struggle of Abraham (sws) as he searched for an
appropriate place between the two hills to sacrifice his son. But a more logical
explanantion is that it was common in Arab culture to sacrifice animals in the
name of their gods and they, as a gesture of submission, used to move the animal
up and down, seven times, in front of the slaughter house before they actually
carried out the sacrifice. Abraham (sws) had no ambiguity in his mind as to what
his Lord expected of him. So he held little Ismail’s hand and went up and down
between Safa and Marva, seven times, just to follow the ritual and make it
absolutely clear to every one what he had in mind. Now, if one places ones self
in that situation and only imagines what was to come to ones son (the posture,
the knife, the tender throat that one has kissed innumerable times, the fresh
pink skin whose mere abrasion one could not withstand and…..), not actually
planning to carry it out, the shiver in the spine is too obvious to hide and one
acknowledges without hesitation that there could only be one Abraham (sws). No
wonder God Almighty praised him so dearly in the Qur’an; he earned it the hard way and that is what makes Sa‘i
so very meaningful. And the Lord made sure that human race does not lose sight
of this event as long as He plans to let it live. This appreciation completely
changes the complexion of an otherwise ordinary stroll and one gears up for yet
another exercise, forgetting the exhaustion caused by the earlier proceeding,
just to win his Master’s pleasure.

There
are only a couple of Prophet’s prayers verifiable through the Ahadith
which one has to learn; one is read at Safa
and the other at Marvah. In between,
one is at liberty to address one’s Lord’s attention any way one likes, as is
the case with most of the ‘Umrah and
Hajj rituals, not
forgetting though that the message he wants to get across is that he will leave
everything and everyone in the name of Allah and will strive relentlessly when
his religion requires him to.

At
the end of the Sa‘i, after a long
spell of hypnosis, one returns to one’s native world. Spell bound still, one
makes his way out, through the millions who don’t want to leave that
territory, for obvious reasons. Get a haircut, total or partial, and you are
allowed to change from Ihram into
normal dress. Nevertheless the restrictions of being in the limits of Haram
will remain enforced as long as you stay in Makkah.
This completes the ‘Umrah.

Next
few days in Makkah are going to be an
eye-opener for those who can ‘see’; the routine involves getting up in the
middle of the night to get to the Haram
for the Tahajjud prayer, stay there
until after Fajr, come home for
breakfast, take a little nap and set out again to be in that heavenly
atmosphere. You may recite the Qur’an,
do Tawaf as many times as you like, offer Nawafil and join the regular prayers and come home after ‘Isha.
The interesting aspect of all this routine is that the otherwise most important
things in our daily life appear to completely lose their value; no selection of
clothes, no big hassle for food, no desire to get into the best of lodgings and
no real lust for world rankings. One now realises very clearly the absurdity of
these goals and moves around in un-ironed clothes, eats whatever is available at
the nearest shop, doesn’t complain about its quality, doesn’t try to score
even if someone misbehaves and earnestly wishes that this becomes his routine.
As in Ramadan, one rehearses to organise one’s schedule for the next eleven
months, these few days in Makkah allow
one, for the first time probably, to review one’s attitude towards life. The
only goal in front of him is ‘vying for the Master’s pleasure’ and this
eye-opener is no small 
blessing.

Living
in Makkah has such a mesmerising
effect that one, at least temporarily, loses sight and, perhaps the desire, of
what one actually set out for, and wishfully thinks that the time never passed.
Communicating with his Master, in whispers or aloud, through words or through
tears, in solitude or in a crowd, is something that one has never been exposed
to and he doesn’t want to part with it. But this is only because he is unaware
of what his Lord has for him in store.

Hajj,
as you may eventually appreciate, is a process of endless retreats; one leaves
for Hajj as ‘someone’ and
after arriving in Makkah one is
perpetually faced with experiences that defeat one’s self esteem, one’s own
principles, one’s nature and one’s ego. This ‘experience’ is alien,
perplexing and sometimes frustrating but this is, in fact, the blessing of a
pure Hajj which reduces one from
‘someone’ to ‘no one’, but from a loser to a victor.

On
this whole trip, you will repeatedly hear and probably experience first hand as
well, some very unusual sometimes supernatural happenings. They are no
hallucinations, no mirages; they are facts, simply implying that the Host is
personally looking after His guests, guiding them, encouraging them and in fact
exposing His unending Mercy to them individually. One of these unbelievable
events, however, takes place so regularly and many times during each Hajj
every year that no one actually feels its happening. It is the mass movement
of a crowd of over two million from one destination to another within a few
hours, four to six to be precise, and invariably without any catastrophe. One
can witness this when one sets for Mina,
and then from Mina to ‘Arafat and then back to Muzdalifah
and finally back to Mina. Keeping
in mind the fact that it takes over a month for all these pilgrims
to gather in Makkah and now their movement en bloc is accomplished within a few
hours and that too with extreme reliability, over and over again, it requires no
Plato to see the writing on the wall… It is Him and only Him, because they are
all here for Him. Even the most developed countries in the world cannot cite an
example to match it, notwithstanding the fact that the crowd here is not one
nation; it is multicoloured, multiracial, multilingual and mostly comprises
illiterate to semiliterate people.

8^th
of Dhu’l-Hajj sees everyone putting
on Ihram once again and moving out of Makkah
towards Mina, on feet or on wheels, and within a few hours after the Fajr
prayer the Ummu’l-Qura regains its holy quiet. This journey symbolises a
Muslim army on Jihad which will pass
through different stages and will be tested at every step for its dedication,
perseverance and patience; hence ever member must remind himself of the
forthcoming event lest the opportunity is lost.

Mina
is a valley just like Makkah, but
lodges only a few built structures including hotels, a hospital, telephone and
telegraph office and a couple of official residences. Rest of it remains bare
most of the time and only during the Hajj days
temporary tents are erected to accommodate the pilgrims. Lately, the Saudi govt.
has started installing fibreglass tents which are semi-permanent and hence
designed to stay even after the Hajj.
The Khayf mosque occupies the centre of this valley and is surrounded by
a small market where food and utility items are made available for the Haji’s.
If one stands facing the mosque, Makkah
lies to the right and one sees the three Jamarats
at that end of the valley; towards the left is the Muzdalifah
end and the entire tented city spans on this side. This place gets inhabited
with almost the same speed at which Makkah
is vacated and hence within a few hours all the hotels and tents are occupied.

One
must appreciate the fact that the journey of Hajj
actually symbolises an expedition of Jihad
against evil and hence one leaves home in Ihram
hoping to reap the highest reward — the Shahadah.
While on this expedition one will, time and again, have the opportunity to prove
his sincerity to the cause. The stay in Mina is one such opportunity. Mina
is the Muslim army’s first camp and also the headquarter for the entire Hajj proceedings where it
reorganises itself, its members reiterate their pledge, acknowledge their
Master’s supremacy and seek His forgiveness and help, lest they should falter.
It obviously requires phenomenal concentration which is not easy to attain in
that sea of humans and not uncommonly one has to put up in the company of tens
or twenties of other fellow pilgrims many
of whom are unaware of the subtlety of this opportunity and hence carry on with
their worldly routines of eating, gossiping and roaming. What a tremendous
difference it would have made if they understood a verse that Imam Sudays recites
so many times in Makkah, just to
remind them of the forthcoming, but it probably just echoed through the valley
as the addressees have somehow discovered that the Book is primarily recited for
Thawab and attempting to understand
its text serves a lesser purpose. The verse is:

So
when you have accomplished your holy rites, celebrate the praises of Allah, as
you used to celebrate the praises of your fathers – yes, with far more heart
and soul. (2:200)

Another
distraction in the streets of Mina is
an abundance of vendors from various countries selling products ranging from Tasbih
to imitation jewellary. One may justifiably point out here that this was the
routine during the Hajj in the days of Holy
Prophet (sws) and he never recommended against it. But one must not forget that
Arabs were primarily warriors before Islam and would survive on booty from trade
caravans travelling through their territory, all round the year. Hajj season, that spanned
over three sacred months, however, was the only period when such caravans were
not attacked and hence the natural inclination of traders to make a religious
cum economic journey is these months. Now, with evolution of society and
development of an international trade charter, the circumstances have completely
changed; trading carries on all the 365 days of a year and through means other
than the land alone. One therefore sees no real excuse for the activity
especially in the place where it is least required, in the days that are
priceless.

First
day in Mina involves no real activity
and, if not adequately prepared, one doesn’t know how to spend it. But those
who know the purpose of their stay in the valley will only be complaining of
shortage of time, since they know that no effort is good enough to have ensured
a berth in the heavens. Next day (9^th Dhu’l-Hajj)
is virtually the most important day of this expedition when the army takes off
for ‘Arafat and hence has been
labelled ‘the Hajj Day’ by the
Prophet (sws). Mass movement is witnessed once again with all the glory and
grandeur that one can dream of, in spite of the extreme simplicity of its
participants — just a pair of white sheets as dress, a couple of books in hand,
a pair of rubber slippers in the feet but ready to face any challenge to please
their Lord. This is the day that the crowd grows to its largest as natives and
people from bordering countries also join in and one can see from a glistening
Lands Cruiser to a junky Dodge aiming in the same direction. But it remains to
be seen who will eventually be riding the best, at the end of the day.

‘Arafat
is, like Makkah and Mina,
another valley where the army now camps. It is always good to be there early as
one cannot get even close to the mosque to attend the Hajj
sermon if late. Also the space around ‘Masha‘ar-i-Haram’
gets occupied very quickly, a spot selected by the Almighty for us to register
our prayers. But the entire valley serves as the praying area and the Holy
Prophet (sws) is reported to have said that anyone present within the valley may
consider to have accomplished his Hajj.
You will have a 6-8 hours stay here, of which approx. 3-4 hours are available
for one’s personal prayers. It is extremely important 
therefore, to select your final platform where you can find some relative
solitude. The crowd in general restricts itself to the tents and does everything
in small groups following a leader. But ideally this is the day of ‘privacy’
and it is best to converse with Him through your own tongue, eyes and heart
rather than letting someone else do the job. If you can’t do it, no one else
can. There are innumerable low peaked mountains in the valley which are very
thinly trecked and it is best to use one of them as a platform where you can sit
in peace, facing the setting sun, for at least a couple of hours. Before you
actually sit down for prayer take a good, long look at the spellbinding scene of
the valley as you will not be able to catch it once you started off.

‘Arafat
witnesses the best of relationships a creation can have with its Creator as
both vow to outreach for each other; the Almighty knows very well that everyone
down there has left his home, his business, his family and even children, only
to seek His pleasure so He is not going to disappoint them. He has been
overwhelmingly kind even to those who don’t even believe in Him, so how can He
ignore these who are asking for His blessings. ‘Why have these people gathered
here?’ He asks the angels proudly and, if one realise that the Creator is
actually pointing at him, in person, the barriers break; one cries out ‘Only
for you my Lord, and no one else. Only for your pleasure. Only to seek your
forgiveness.’ And from here on the dialogue begins.

‘But
you have not remembered me for ages…’

‘Yes,
Lord, yes I ignored you. I admit that and I would like to die of shame for
what I did…’

‘And
you swore on oath the day I created you that you will not bow to anyone except
Me but you know what you actually did…’

‘Yes,
my Master, yes. I made my ambitions my gods and surrendered to them. I served
them all my life. I deserve the worst of punishments, the one I’ll give to
those who cheat me but I know You are not me. You are my God, everyone’s
God, everything’s God and the Kindest…’

‘And
I gave you the Book to read so that you won’t slip and what did you do to
that…’

‘I
threw it behind my back my Master. I found mundane affairs more rewarding. I
was wrong, I acknowledge…’

‘But
I reminded you so many times! Remember when you set up that glorious empire of
yours and then lost it all, and then, when your son was so desperately ill,
and again when he topped in his exam. But nothing moved you…’

‘Yes,
I remember them all, my Lord and I know what I thought then. I thought that
disaster comes to everyone but forgot that it also comes from someone. I
thought that all the success was my own and I was a genius so I owed nothing
to nobody…’

And
the dialogue is endless; there is nothing to defend as there is nothing to hide.
There are only confessions, admissions, regrets and apologies. One dares not
tender any demands as one knows very clearly how unhappy his Master will be on
his ‘achievements’ and one’s best chances lie in attempting to win back
His pleasure. And if one is able to accomplish that at the end of the day one
doesn’t need the rest of one’s life.

Treasuring
this opportunity, one really doesn’t want to get done with apologies lest one
may remain short of the goal and the biggest driving force in that frame of
disappointment and frustration is ‘Hope for Forgiveness’. This is one thing
that one has been promised provided one is sincere in his effort and shows an
earnest desire to undo his past. Unaware of ones surroundings, one carries on
relentlessly, virtually losing contact with time. It is usually the quietness
resulting from the departing crowd or a friend looking for you around sunset who
brings you back and one finds that all the time allotted to him is over. ‘No!
No! I am not finished yet. I have so much more to say. How can…?’ But the
time is actually finished and one has to leave; and one leaves the deserted
valley as one leaves a house full of his loved ones, hung between hope and fear
but very clear about one thing: I have to change. Change my thinking, change my
lifestyle, change my attitude and this will change … my destiny, Insha
Allah.

The
army moves, once again and without saying the Maghrib
prayer although the sun has set. And it will be late when it reaches Muzdalifah.
How strange? After having spent all the time in apologies, the first thing one
does is omitting the prayer. But the Prophet (sws) guided us like that and we
owe no apology for this. This is, in fact, surrender.

Muzdalifah
is a valley that one passes while enroute to ‘Arafat but stops here only on the way back. It is usually ‘Isha
time when the army lands here and says Maghrib
and ‘Isha prayers together. After that there is not much to do as the
Holy Prophet (sws) is reported to have rested all night, the only night in fact
when he did not get up for the Tahajjud
prayer. The valley has no built structure and the army spends the night under
bare skies on pebbly, uneven ground. Some use plastic prayer mats and others
simple bed sheets for sleeping. Most of them are accustomed to luxury style beds
but tonight they choose to give it up because their Creator wants it that way.
Lying flat on the ground one ponders over the havoc the day has played with his
soul. One was never prepared for that, yet it came on so naturally as if one was
always looking for such an opportunity. The morning in Mina
when one had set out for ‘Arafat
appears a matter of remote past and finds no real link with the soul returning
from ‘Arafat.

The Muzdalifah night, like most other experiences during Hajj, is a beauty and the
revelations are mind-boggling. One realises that in simplicity lies the secret
of creator-creation relationship and that is why He stresses so hard on it. The
clutter of accessories around us tends to mute the cry of one’s soul at every
misdemeanour until it gives up and from thereon the journey is smooth, brisk and
downhill and doesn’t take long for one to hit the bottom. One recollects how
gradually one has, on one’s own, shed off the ‘necessities’ that were a
part of his physical being. One had left home with a couple of suit cases,
leaving behind the entire wardrobe, the multimedia and the battalion of servants
and to one’s surprise, didn’t miss them at all in Makkah.
From the stay in Makkah, one found
that even this was an unnecessary collection so he reduced it to a hand bag and
still did not feel deprived of anything in
Mina. And finally when leaving off for Arafat in the morning today one
discovered that it would be a shame to present in the court of his Lord
clutching onto these; so even that hand bag …

And
then, one discovers the transition from one’s, own private bedroom back home
to a communal living room in Makkah, to the tents in Mina
and then the naked earth in Muzdalifah…
Does this need a scholar for interpretation? Could any other example have been
more revealing?

One
wants to carry on thinking staring at the sky and not let a single moment go
unutilised but nature is far too kind than one has ever imagined it, being aware
of ones exertion during the day and again tomorrow, drags him into the blanket
of a blissful slumber.

After
the Fajr prayer, the pebble collection
begins which usually does not take very long as they are abundant. The crowd
then takes off to get back to Mina.
This is actually the Eid day elsewhere in the country but the army carries on
with its mission. The government now completely controls the animal sacrificial
activity to help the pilgrims and has therefore created a huge network whereby
one can have a goat slaughtered in ones name simply by paying a fixed amount of
money at one of the government. outlets (Al- Raji Bank, to be precise). This
sacrifice begins early and is usually accomplished before mid-day. So as the
pilgrim’s return to their camps in Mina
and are through with breakfast and other daily activities, the sacrifice has
already taken place. Now they go through yet another ritual: the hair cut; some
get a partial and others a total shave but very few know what it actually means.
Ever since man started making his brethren his slaves he devised ways of
assigning them ‘Recognition Stamps’ so that they could not ‘abuse’ the
privileges of the elite, free men. One of these stamps that became almost
universal later was to shave the head of anyone acquired as a slave, through war
or through market. Growing hair was a crime for slaves and they used to live
with this stigma, all their lives, unless freed. Very similarly, in Hajj,
it signifies one’s position in comparison with his Master. But with one great
difference; it is voluntary; an announcement made to everyone that one has
surrendered ones rights to Him and accepted to carry out His orders, whatever it
takes. Now, in the light of all this, if one is asked to make a choice between a
haircut and a total shave. ‘… Shave it, and shave it so that it never grows
again, ones heart yells. I don’t ever want to part with this bond of slavery.
I have found Him after all these years and now, I don’t want to lose sight of
Him again. I know I am careless, and ungrateful, and devious so I need this as a
constant reminder.’ But one knows this is overdoing and the Master does not
like crossing the limits set by Him.

Getting
the head shaved is the last ritual one performs in Ihram
and as one goes in to change one finds that it takes some heart to part with the
two sheets one had been wearing for the last three days. Who knows when again he
will be awarded an opportunity to be his Master’s guest, if at all? …Yet
another moment when one wanted the time to stop so that one could somehow seize
the opportunity.

The
Jamarat are three concrete pillars erected approximately 100 yards
apart.The Jihad symbolized in the Hajj
proceedings reaches a befitting finale in this event. It appears to be a very
simple and rather lackluster tradition after all those emotional explosions in
‘Arafat and Muzdalifah but quite contrary to one’s perceptions it turns out to
very similar to them all and therefore fits beautifully in the entire setting.
It does not dawn on one what one is going to do until one gets out and finds
millions of his colleagues streaming through the main street of Mina
towards the Jamarat, holding small stones in their hands and chanting Takbir.
So, finally it is combat time and the army is going to take on his Master’s
and his own biggest enemy. What shall I do in a situation like this? one asks
one’s self. I’ll not think even once and join them, and fight my Lord’s
enemy, with anything that I have or even if I have nothing, and fight until one
of us remains. If I remain, I’ll have something to present to my Master, and
if he remains I’ll be a martyr, and what better than that. After all I have
found what this life is all about. And with these feeling one loses one’s self
amidst the charging brigade, trying harder than ever to take lead lest someone
else stole the opportunity. The Jamarat
are not stone pillars to him anymore, they are a whole army in opposition to his
Master, and he starts to throw stones at them, one by one, and every time he
hits he knows he has got one of them. What a feeling? Can I always carry on like
this? he asks himself again, not knowing then that the answer is in the
affirmative. Only he will have to be in uniform, all the time, as the battle is
to carry on until the Big Day.

 Fought
with such zeal and that too with the support of God Almighty that battle can be
nothing but won. The army knows very clearly who it owes all the gratitude to
and hence it marches on towards the Haram
for the Tawaf-i-Ziyarah, triumphantly but most humbly, acknowledging at the
top of its voice ‘Power is to Thee, Glory is to Thee, Praise is to Thee and
Gratitude is to Thee’. Each member bows in front of his Master in admission of
His immense help and mercy without which this could not have been possible. The
movement around the Haram this time
is, however, rather brisk to allow every member a chance to present himself
before his Master. By the end of the day the entire two million plus have
registered their attendance and in fact have rediscovered the secret to success:
Gratitude … to the One who reigns supreme and blesses the one He wishes. No
one can now claim the credit of even putting on his shoes, what to speak of
successes. One knows now that more success means more blessing and hence a more
difficult test, more thorough accountability. Catastrophes! Well, they also
remind one of his Lord’s everlasting mercy, as they come and go. One knows
what crop his deeds are eventually going to harvest but He, through His shear
mercy and forgiveness, only sent a warning so that one could get back on track.
And if one knew that He only sends reminders to those who He cares about, one
would actually be looking forward for the next one lest his Master counted him
in the forgotten ones.

This,
in effect, completes the Hajj and the
next 2-3 days in Mina are spent
actually in prayers. Stoning of the Jamarat
is carried on on all these days, in accordance with the teachings of the Holy
Prophet (sws). He preferred to stay for three days in Mina
after Hajj but did not stop others who
wanted to return so one sees most leaving by second day and only a few thousand
are left for the last day, taking care of themselves as most hotels and shops
have also been deserted.

On
one’s final return from Mina and
most likely from Makkah the same day,
one owes a last visit to the Haram:
the Tawaf-i-Wida‘. It is quite
strange how different each visit to this place is. One was here the first time
when one landed for ‘Umrah (and
knows what happened then) and then came back from Mina for the Tawaf-i-Ziyarah and now for the final see off … it is no less
tragic than the parting of a neonate from her mother, primarily because one
could not make the best use of the time allotted. Who knows if there will be
another chance and will he have better credentials even if there was? Will he be
able to keep his promises? Give up that routine, that habit, that company and
everything that comes in between him and his Master. ‘But how will I know? On
wonders’. Yes …. you will know my friend; the things that you used to roll
over so smoothly are going to pose nagging problems for you from hereon. Whether
it is making an abrupt excuse to refuse an invitation or making false statements
filling up an application form or thinking of jumping a queue using your
resources or planning a building violation, a small window will open inside you
and an alien (your new face, isnt it?) will look into your eyes and ask: You
know that is going to offend ‘Him’ ? and you know the answer. ‘But this is
going to cause a lot of problems if I don’t …’ you argue with your alien
half. ‘I know, but this is only a small test. What will happen to the bigger
ones you promised to pass?’ he replies. You think for a while and then …
‘But you know I can justify this …’. The alien smiles ‘ you can justify
that in front of me but think of Him: will you be able to speak then?’ And you
feel so helpless but this time the alien comes to help rather than object:

 ‘I
tell you one thing; these tests are like mirages. The more you defy them the
bigger they grow. And once you gear up to take them on, they disappear. Remember
what happened to Abraham (sws) when he laid down his son, and again when they
threw him in the fire. Your God is not cruel; in fact He is very very gracious
and He only wants to see how you react. Go ahead my dear, take them on and you
will see most of the tests will not even get started. And you know what? You
will still get A+. Good luck.’

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