HAJJ: A JOURNEY TOWARDS GOD
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to the sacred house of God in Makkah. It is a spiritual journey that symbolizes the full submission to God. Each stage and each aspect of Hajj is replete with profound meanings about life, worship, devotion and love of God.
“And proclaim among men the pilgrimage: they shall come to you on foot and upon every lean beast; they shall come from every deep ravine” (Quran 22:27).
In the above verse, God commanded the Prophet Abraham (PBUH) to call people to perform pilgrimage to the sacred House of His worship in Makkah. Since then, millions of Muslim pilgrims from all continents have been performing pilgrimage (Hajj) every year.
Hajj is an Islamic ritual that teaches Muslims obedience and submission to God, and reliance and full trust in Him, as we learn from the story of the Prophet Abraham (PBUH).
Abraham obeyed the command of God and left his wife Hagar and his baby Ishmael alone in the dry Arabian Desert. Both Abraham and Hagar (PBUT) were full of confidence and trust that God would not forsake them and would care for both the mother and her baby. This spirit of full confidence, trust and reliance on God is a major lesson the pilgrim learns and never forgets even after Hajj.
The pilgrim during Hajj experiences and feels the marvelous spirituality of the prophetic sincerity and devotion to God as he walks on the footsteps of the Prophet Abraham, his wife, and his son, as well as in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUT).
By performing Hajj the Muslim demonstrates his love and submission to the commandments of God. He demonstrates that nothing in this life equals pleasing God through submission to Him. Therefore, the Muslim leaves behind his wealth, business, job, family, and his comfortable life and takes the hardship, pains and discomfort of the journey of Hajj which usually costs a lot of money. This sacrifice is a real, true and practical expression of the love of God. It allows the Muslim to enter God’s sphere of satisfaction. In return for this love, devotion and sincerity, the Muslim is rewarded by having all his sins forgiven and achieves a high level of spiritual satisfaction.
During Hajj, male pilgrims wear a unified and simple dress which consists of two plain white textile strips (Figure below). This simple dress has a great and deep symbolic meaning and a great spiritual influence because:
1) It reminds the pilgrim of the white coffin textile he would have after death.
2) It demonstrates how the Muslim with his simple dress is humble and poor for God’s love and reward.
3) It takes the pilgrim from all the worldly and the materialistic glamour of career, wealth, position and status and puts him in an atmosphere of a simple life.
4) It prepares the pilgrim to enter into a personal internal spiritual sanctuary, before entering the sanctuary of the house of worship of God in Makkah.
On the other hand, the presence of the pilgrim among millions of people reminds him of the gathering of people on the Day of Judgement, and therefore, keeps his momentum to satisfy God.
Hajj also, in a way, symbolizes death because, before the journey, the pilgrim closes his accounts and transactions to everyone, seeks forgiveness from everyone in his known circle of people and repay debts. He also arranges for the care of his family members who are dependent on him.
The journey of Hajj gives the mind the opportunity to cut off and take a rest from the agony of thinking about too many worldly things and makes the mind focus only on the spirituality gained through the rituals performed to gain God’s satisfaction and forgiveness.
“And he that venerates the symbols of God, it surely is from the devotion of the heart” (Quran 22:32).
Pilgrimage is also a journey of forgiveness and purification from all sins. God rewards the pilgrims who sincerely perform Hajj by forgiving all their sins. Therefore, when sincere pilgrims conclude their journey of Hajj, they are sinless and uniquely spiritually reformed.
During Hajj the pilgrim finds himself among millions of sincere and devoted Muslims who also seek the satisfaction of God. This creates a psychological synergistic momentum which increases the spiritual feeling.
Needless to say that Hajj is considered a great international meeting, where millions of Muslims from all over the world come together. This gives a living example of the unity and brotherhood of mankind in Islam. In other words, the brotherhood during Hajj towers above the narrow considerations of race, nationality, color or tongue, and unifies Muslims on one aim, which is to demonstrate their submission and love of God.
Hajj also trains Pilgrims to be patient in order to be able to travel from their home countries, complete the rituals of Hajj in a crowd of millions, and return back safely to their homes.
In addition, Pilgrimage creates a unique safe atmosphere where not only humans but also plants and all living creatures are safe and inviolable.
We may conclude that pilgrimage is a unique spiritual journey whereby the Muslim expresses his full love and submission to God. He learns during this journey to be humble and patient; he experiences the universal brotherhood in Islam; he achieves a climax of spirituality and gets all his sins forgiven by God.
The pilgrim concludes his journey and he is grateful to God who enabled him to successfully finish the magnificent journey of Hajj. He is keen to keep the changes in his behavior and the climax of spirituality he experienced during his journey.