The days of Hajj passed, its rituals are over and most of the pilgrims returned home, carrying the memories of their journey to the House of Allah The Almighty. However, if the rituals of Hajj are over, its benefits and objectives are not and will never come to an end.
A Christian missionary once said:
Islam will remain the strong rock that will destroy the ships of Christian missionary activities as long as it has such strong pillars: the Quran, Friday gathering and the conference of Hajj.
If this is how the enemies of the Muslims understand the objectives of Hajj and the great role that it can play in the nation of Islam, then how do Muslims themselves find Hajj? What are the benefits that one can have during the anniversary of Hajj? What are the lessons that the Ummah can draw from Hajj? Is Hajj composed of just rituals that are to be fulfilled, rites, supplications and invocations that are to be performed, or is it something greater than that?
Allah The Almighty, Whose wisdom is great and sublime, can never Prescribe nor Impose something unless it has numerous benefits and wisdom that no one’s knowledge can comprehend except Him, The Exalted, regardless of who comprehends or does not comprehend this.
The nation of Islam in its times of difficulty and weakness needs or rather, it is in dire need of it to thoughtfully contemplate, learn and analyze every objective of the rituals of Islam, and Hajj is one of them. In this way, it will draw lessons, renew determination, and correct the direction and intention so that it may adhere firmly to this religion and strive hard for its superiority, fighting whoever averts from its way and stands against it.
The obligation of Hajj is great in its rituals, sublime in its characteristics, noble in its fruits, magnificent in its benefits and wonderful in its effects. It has uncountable benefits and interests. Rather, Hajj includes the noblest objectives, the greatest wisdom and extraordinary benefits. Allah The Almighty Has Pointed out such benefits and objectives in simple words, Saying (what means): {And proclaim to the people the Hajj [pilgrimage]; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass. That they may witness benefits for themselves.} [Quran 22:27-28] Ibn ‘Abbaas said, “The benefits of the worldly life and the Hereafter.”
Raising the banner of Tawheed (Islamic monotheism) high:
One of the greatest and foremost objectives of Hajj is raising the banner of Tawheed high and reviving its characteristics that have perished. This is the most important and clear objective of the journey of Hajj. It accompanies it from the very beginning through dedicating one's intention to Allah The Almighty, Alone, and raising the voice with Talbiyah to the very end with the last time of throwing the pebbles during the last Days of At-Tashreeq, which is the last of the rituals of Hajj that the pilgrim does before performing Tawaaf Al-Wadaa‘, leaving Makkah to go home.
The people of the pre-Islamic era and Quraysh used to say Talbiyah and associate partners with Allah The Almighty in Talbiyah, saying:
Labbayka Allahumma labbayk. Labbayka la shareeka laka Illa Shareek Huwa Lak, Tamlikuhu wama Malak (I respond to Your call, I respond to Your call, You Have no partner except the partner that You Have, You Own Him and whatever he owns).
However, when the Prophet came, he taught his Ummah pure Tawheed through the great beautiful Talbiyah:
Labbayka Allahumma labbayk, Labbayka la shareeka laka labbayk, Innal hamda wan-ni‘amata laka wal mulk, la shareeka lak (I respond to Your call, O Allah here I come, In response to Your call, You Have no partner, I respond to Your call. All the praises and blessings are for You, All the sovereignty is for You, And You Have no partners with You).
This Talbiyah indicates sincere devotion and repentance, Tawheed without associating partners and sincerity that is free of showing off. Actually, every act that does not have sincerity lacks blessings and will not be accepted. The Prophet said that Allah The Almighty Says:
He who does something for someone else’s sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me and I Will Disassociate Myself from him.
Therefore, the first lesson that the pilgrim and the Ummah as a whole should learn perfectly from the lessons of Hajj is that of Tawheed and repenting to Allah The Almighty again at a time when people have started to worship many different gods and deities and sound faith has disappeared in the hearts of its people exactly as the embroideries of a garment do. People have given up worshiping Allah The Almighty to worship others than Him such as supplicating the dead, believing in the Awliyaa’, ascribing worship, presents and vows to the graves, seeking a child for a barren woman from them, seeking a husband for a young woman that stayed a long time in the house of her father unmarried, seeking a cure for the ill or the return of the absent.
Still there is another category of people who worship others than Allah The Almighty, seek support, help and provision from them, making them their refuge and safety, believing that they are more powerful than Allah The Almighty. When any harm afflicts them, their hearts call upon and turn to their deities other than Allah The Almighty, unlike what the polytheists used to do. Allah The Almighty Says (what means):
- {And when adversity touches man, he calls upon his Lord, turning to Him [alone].} [Quran 39:8]
- {And when waves come over them like canopies, they supplicate Allah, sincere to Him in religion. But when He Delivers them to the land, there are [some] of them who are moderate [in faith].} [Quran 31:32]
As for people nowadays, if adversity touches them, they turn to the gods of the earth. They depend upon them; call upon them; supplicate them; seek help and support from them; and present sacrifices for them, even if the sacrifice is to slaughter Tawheed and sound faith.
Not to mention worshiping desires, property, wives, children and the like. Hajj comes to change all such things. It comes to destroy the throne of Shirk and establish the tower of Tawheed on its ruins: Labbayka Allahumma labbayk, Labbayka la shareeka laka labbayk, Innal hamda wan-ni‘amata laka wal mulk, la shareeka lak. You the Almighty Are The True God and True Deity. There is no Lord except You. There is no god other than You. Here I come in response to Your call, truly in devotion and slavery.
Adhering firmly to the footsteps of the Prophet :
Amongst the lessons of Hajj is that the Ummah has to learn, remember and comprehend – rather, it has to have firm conviction – that there is no sublimity, success, prosperity nor guidance except through adhering to and following the way of the Prophet . To adhere firmly to the footsteps of the Prophet means that one should adhere to his guidance regarding belief, actions, conduct, manners, rulings and accepting his judgments.
Hajj is a wonderful lesson in this regard. It is practical practice that the pilgrim will do and the whole Ummah will witness. It has specific rituals and magnificent order that all pilgrims do at the same time and place. The Prophet has explained this issue while saying when performing every ritual of Hajj: “Learn from me your rituals (of Hajj and ‘Umrah).”
Therefore, Ibn ‘Abbaas said, “Perform Hajj in the same way the Prophet did and never say this is a Sunnah and this is obligatory.”
This matter is not confined to Hajj only, but rather it is to be done in all the different walks of life. Everyone has to obey the Prophet and follow his guidance, otherwise, doom and abyss will be his fate. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.} [Quran 4:65]
The Prophet also said:
- "All of my Ummah will enter Paradise except those who refuse." It was said, "O Messenger of Allah, who are those who refuse?" He said, "Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise and whoever disobeys me has refused."
- "Whoever does any action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours (i.e. Islam), will have it rejected."
Allah The Almighty also Says (what means): {…So let those beware who dissent from the Prophet's order, lest Fitnah strike them or a painful punishment.} [Quran 24:63]
Complete submission and surrender to the Command of Allah The Almighty:
Whoever is enslaved by his customs, taken over by his traditions, or owned by habits and desires, will not be liberated nor freed; especially if he weighs all things with his mind and does not take any action. Rather, he does not adhere to any matter except after conducting an accurate materialistic evaluation. This is the way of the slaves of mind and matter. However, Hajj, with its mysterious and unfamiliar description, is a challenge to the slaves of systems and arrangements. It is an invitation to achieve complete submission, belief in the unseen, absolute surrender to the Command of the Beloved; Allah The Almighty, without seeking any proofs or depending on logic or mental proof. Such absolute submission to the command and complete surrender to its requirements without knowing the wisdom behind it is the absolute kind of servitude and slavery to the Greatest God; Allah The Almighty.
Allah The Almighty Has Assigned the pilgrims – as Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali said – with:
Some acts which involve no fraternizing among people and whose meaning no intellect can comprehend, such as throwing pebbles and running to and from repeatedly between Safa and Marwah for example. It is through such acts that perfect bondage and slavery is manifest. Zakat is kindness; its meaning is understood and intellect inclines to it. Fasting is a break with bestial passion, which is the tool of the enemy of Allah The Almighty, and involves concentration on worship by abstaining from [normal] occupations. Rukoo‘ (bowing) and (Sujood) (prostration) in prayer [express] submission to Allah The Almighty through acts which represent the [outward] forms of submission, But the running to and from [between Safa and Marwah], and the casting of stones and similar acts afford no obvious benefit to the soul nor any natural sociability; nor is the intellect able to discover their meaning. For whatever the intellect understands, to that is nature inclined; inclination thus cooperates with the command and together with it incites to action. Thus, perfect bondage and slavery are hardly manifest. For this reason, the Prophet said, with special reference to Hajj: "Here I am in Hajj, truly in devotion and slavery." He did not say this in prayer or anything else.
If the Wisdom of Allah The Almighty has decreed that the salvation of people shall require that their acts be in accordance with the requirements of submission and servitude for that whose meanings cannot be discovered is the most consummate of all the kinds of worship in cleansing souls and turning them away from the requirements of nature and ethics to the requirements of servitude.
A lesson regarding the unity of the Islamic Ummah:
Amongst the greatest benefits of Hajj is that it affirms the unity of the Islamic Ummah that is established by the Noble Quran and the honorable Sunnah as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed this, your religion, is one religion…..} [Quran 21:92]
In Hajj, we find that all Muslims are united in performing the same specific rituals, away from any differences or distinctions. All pilgrims perform Tawaaf around the same House, make Sa‘y in the same place, stand at the same destination, turn to only one direction, recite the same Book, worship the same Lord beside Whom there is no other god and follow the same Prophet . All such things enhance the Islamic brotherhood and religious relationship among all Muslims. Different colors, different shapes and different countries raise the sublimity of the religion and combine the power of religion in their hearts and the acts of Hajj among their bodies and conduct. They, through actions, reject the differences of nationalities, races and parties. This proves that this Ummah can only be united by the call of belief and faith, as Allah The Almighty Says (what means):
- {Indeed this, your religion, is one religion, and I Am your Lord, so worship Me.} [Quran 21:92]
- {The believers are but brothers…} [Quran 49:10]
Also, the Messenger of Allah said: “The relationship between one believer and another is like a structure, parts of which support other parts.”
If Muslims realize this noble meaning, act upon it and apply it, differences and causes of dissension will vanish. Rather, they will be like a single body, submitting to the Saying of Allah The Almighty (what means): {And hold firmly to the Rope of Allah all together and do not become divided….} [Quran 3:103]
Adopting a moderate and balanced approach in all matters:
One has to avoid all types of exaggeration, going to extremes or being careless. Imam Ahmad reported from Ibn ‘Abbaas who said: “The Messenger of Allah said to me on the morning of Al-‘Aqabah: “Come and pick up pebbles for me.” So I picked up pebbles for him that were a little larger than a chickpea. He put them in his hand and said: “With pebbles like these stone (the Jamaraat).” Then he added: “O people, beware of going to extremes, for those who came before you were destroyed because of going to extremes in religion.”
Really, the Ummah is in pressing need to adopt a moderate and balanced approach in all matters, without being negligent or careless, and without exaggerating or going to extremes, but rather being moderate as Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And thus We Have Made you a just community that you will be witnesses over the people and the Messenger will be a witness over you….} [Quran 2: 143]
Unity of history and objectives:
When the Muslim individual lives the memory of Hajj or performs it in its real sense, he records his name as one of a great caravan that responded to the call of the Messengers, may Allah exalt their mention, and obeyed the Lord of the worlds. This caravan has been led by the Prophets and Messengers from Ibraaheem (Abraham) and those who came before and after him: Nooh (Noah), Ismaa‘eel (Ishmael), Is-haaq (Isac), Moosa (Moses) ‘Eesa (Jesus), may Allah exalt their mention, and Muhammad .
Every Muslim should know that he is not the first to experience such matters, but rather there were many before him such as the Prophets, Messengers, guided leaders and believing followers who underwent the same difficulties and experienced the same situations and obstacles. However, they endured and showed patience towards them. Therefore, they were rewarded greatly in the worldly life and the Hereafter. They came to have the upper hand over their enemies and their voices recited the Talbiyah of Hajj loudly, although many of them lived at a time in which they could not approach the House or even pray in it, not to mention performing Hajj or ‘Umrah.
When one remembers this, his heart will feel reassured and his feet will stand firm on this way. Actually, we are in dire need of this form of standing firm in the time of strangeness and alienation, and of knowing that the prosperous end will be for you as what happened with the believers who were before you. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And those who disbelieved said to their messengers, "We will surely drive you out of our land, or you must return to our religion." So their Lord Inspired to them, "We Will surely Destroy the wrongdoers. And We will surely cause you to dwell in the land after them. That is for he who fears My position and fears My threat."} [Quran 14:13-14]
Hajj still has greater wisdom than that, such as learning humility, remembering the Hereafter, renewing faith through seeing the places of worship and destinations of invitation. What we have mentioned is just a drop in the ocean. Whoever contemplates the matter thoughtfully will surely learn many other lessons. That is because Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {That they may witness benefits for themselves….} [Quran 22:28]
