The whole world is now witnessing Hajj, the greatest event in the Muslim calendar. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and like the other four, it presents the most powerful mechanism and opportunity for humanity to come closer to their Creator, Allah the Almighty, as well as bonding with fellow co-religionists, in a common cause to promote goodness and high moral values.
The powerful image presented by the pilgrims circumnavigating the Ka`bah, the cubic house built by the Prophet Abraham, is the most eye-catching and impressive feature of the Hajj. The energy and spiritual emotion generated by this action is a most uplifting and humanising experience, and is one which can change a person’s perspective on life.
The total Hajj experience is the most magnificent manifestation of God’s glory on earth, binding human beings with God, with Man, being the best of the God’s creations, seemingly representing the whole creation circling around God. Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest). There is no human devotional act on earth which so powerfully and elaborately glorifies the majesty of God the Creator and His worthiness to be worshiped.
Hajj is the Prophet Abraham’s legacy to all those who want to worship and connect to the Creator, the One who is the source of all existence and worthy of all human worship and devotions.
The Prophet Abraham struggled in his search for enlightenment about the Creator and God the Almighty, who deserved to be thanked, glorified and worshipped, and experienced many difficulties in his quest. He made many sacrifices for his belief and in his belief. Therefore, this Eid brings the greatest lessons of sacrifice and grandest narrative of loyalty to God by a person.
Abraham was commanded by Allah, the Almighty, after he raised up the foundation of the Ka`bah, to pronounce that all humanity should make their pilgrimage to the House, in order to display their loyalty to the Creator, as well as to express their disapproval of polytheism and human superstition.
Pilgrimage to any place other than the permitted three, is not allowed in Islam; these are the Sacred Mosque of Makkah, where the Ka`bah is located, the mosque in the Sacred Sanctuary of Jerusalem and the mosque of the Prophet Mohammad in Madinah.
Islamic teaching forbids the acts of visiting the graves of saints or prophets in order to seek their blessing or changes to one’s life. In Hajj, the focus is completely on devotion and prayers to Allah only.
The Hajj underpins Islamic belief in the hearts of the millions of the Muslims world over.
Hajj also establishes and paves the way for a universal brotherhood among human beings. Islam does not honour a person because of his social status, race and colour. The Quran says that the ‘most honourable in the Sight of God is one who is most conscious of Him’ in abiding by His teachings.
In the Prophet’s hajj sermon he reinforced this Quranic teaching by further explaining, saying: ‘there is no privilege for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab or for a white over a black or for a black over a white person. All of you are from Adam and Adam was made out of earth’.
In practical terms, people of any status, from kings to the poorest in human society go through the same rituals, humbling themselves to the same God, praying and asking for the same blessings, in exactly the same manner and appearance at exactly the same places. Any notion or feeling of arrogance risks destroying the whole spirit of hajj.
His sermon on the mount of Arafah, which was his last major sermon, highlighted Islamic teachings, reinforced the need for human rights and the abolishing of social injustice and the exploitation of the weak and meek in the society.
Muslims need to study and understand each and every single word in that last sermon of the Prophet. It is also a moral obligation on those non-Muslim commentators and critics of Islam, who criticise Islamic teachings from rather a personal perspective, to study the contents of that sermon with its social and moral implications to the wider human society.
Hajj has become the greatest unifying element on the world stage and reminds people of others in bondage and of the need to fulfil their responsibilities towards their fellow human beings, by being godly and righteous in the Sight of God. It teaches us how to care for people and share with others and brings peace in ourselves and in our world.
