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| Sunday, 18 January 2004 |
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Haj, the annual pilgrimage to Mekkah by S. H. A. Careem The annual pilgrimage to Mekkah - the Haj is an obligation for the Muslims who are physically and financially able to perform it. Over 2 million pilgrims are expected to perform Haj this year and over 6000 will leave for Mekkah from Sri Lanka. Although Mekkah is always filled with visitors, the Haj begins in the twelfth month of the Islamic year. Pilgrims wear special clothes: simple garments which strip away distinctions of class and culture, so that all stand equal before God. The rites of haj which are of Abrahamic origin include circling the Ka'ba seven times. Later the pilgrims stand together on the wide plain of Arafa and join in prayers for God's forgiveness, in what is often thought of as a preview of the Last Judgement. One of the chief purposes of the Haj is the renewal of bond or contact with Prophet Ibrahim, the founder of the Islamic community, who is committed exclusively to God. The Haj is a kind of annual concourse through which the Muslims can look into themselves, discover their faults and chalk out plans for their regeneration. The most fascinating feature of the Haj is the spirit of enchantment, devotion and self- effacement. which pervades the entire pilgrimage from the beginning to the end. If a Muslim decides to go for Haj he should do the following before he embarks on this journey. * Urge his family friends and relatives to observe the Islamic teachings and to abide by Allah's commandments. * Write down any loans he owes to others or he has given to others. * Write his will. He is recommended to leave a part of his money, not exceeding one-third for the poor. * Repent of his past sins and mistakes and pay back others whatever is due to them. * Select the best of his money for the expenses of his journey. * Resolve to undertake his pilgrimage purely for Allah's sake Pilgrimage to Makkah is a duty to be performed by Muslims at least once in a lifetime. Pilgrimage is indeed the last of the five main duties of Islam. During the Haj the Muslims will do well if they remember that they are being observed by the whole world, in their supplication to their Lord by repeating the words: "LABBARK ALLAHUMMA LABBARK, LA SHARIKA LAKA LABBARK". This supplication is such a fascinating and captivating message that it revolutionises the whole inner self of a man. The moment a Haji utters this supplication he is a changed man, he is transformed from this world into the other world and he is at one with his Lord. He forgets his self, he forgets his family and he forgets his attachment to this world. The Prophet's Haj The Prophet's Haj came at the climax of his mission to establish the perfect nation state. This moreover led to the formulation of the most important human rights document - the farewell sermon. The prophet did not go for Haj during his first nine years of his stay in Madina for he was preoccupied with the building of the foundations of a strong Islamic community. In the 10th year after the Hijrah which climaxed the Prophet's achievement, it was publicly announced that the Prophet intended to go for Haj. On the 8th day of Dhul Hijrah the day of Al Tarwiyah, Muhammed went to Mina and spent the day and night in the locality. There he performed all the prayers incumbent during that period. The following day, Muhammed recited his dawn prayer and at sunrise proceeded on his camel 'Al Qaswa' to the Mount Arafat followed by all pilgrims. As he ascended the mountain, he was surrounded by thousands of his companions rediting the Talbiyah and the Takbir. When the sun passed the zenith, he ordered his camel to be saddled and rode on it until he reached the Valley of Uranah. It was there that he, while sitting on his camel, delivered his last sermon in a loud voice to his people. He began by praising God and thank Him and then turning to the people, he said: "O men, listen well to my words, for I do not know whether I shall meet you again on such an occasion in the future. O men, your lives and your property shall be inviolate until you meet your Lord. The safety of your lives and your property shall be as inviolate as this holy day and holy month. Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and that He will indeed reckon your deeds. Thus do I warn you. Whoever of you is keeping a trust of someone else return that trust to its rightful owner. All interest obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital, however is yours to keep. You will neither inflict nor suffer inequity. God has judged that there shall be no interest and that all the interest due to Abbas ibn Abdul al Muttalib shall henceforth be waived. Every right arising out of homicide in pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived. And the first such right that I waive is that arising from the murder of Rabi'ah ibn al Harith ibn abd al Muttalib. O men, the devil has lost all hope of every being worshipped in this land of yours. nevertheless, he still is anxious to determine the lesser of your deeds. Beware of him, therefore, for the safety of your religion. O men, intercalation or tampering with the calendar is evidence of great unbelief and conforms the unbelievers in their misguidance. They indulge in it one year and forbid it the next in order to make permissible that which God forbade, and to forbid that which God has made permissible. The pattern according to which the time is reckoned is always the same. With God, the months are twelve in number Four of them are holy. Three of these are successive and one occurs singly between the months of Jumada and Sha'ban. O men, to you a right belongs with respect to your women and to your women a right with respect to you. It is your right that they not fraternise with anyone of whom you do not approve as well as never to commit adultery. But if they do, then God has permitted you to isolate them within their homes and to chastise them without cruelty. But if they abide by your right, then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers. Remember that you have taken them as your wives and enjoyed their flesh only under god's trust and with His permission. Reason well, therefore, O men, and ponder my words which I now convey to you. I am leaving you with the Book of God and the Sunnah. If you follow them you will never go astray. O men, harken well to my words. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not therefore, do injustice to your own selves. O God, have I conveyed your message?" As the prophet delivered his speech, Rabi'ah repeated it sentence by sentence and asked the people every now and then whether or not they had understood the Prophet's words and committed them to memory. After finishing the sermon he mounted his camel and proceeded to al-Sakharat where he recited to the people the concluding divine revelation: "Today I have completed for you your religion, and granted you the last of my blessings. Today I have accepted for you islam as the religion". |
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