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Reflections on Tawaf...
AbdulBasir
02/04/01 at 19:33:33
Assalamu Alaikum…the following are some reflections that I ended up putting in a khutba…hope to hear some reflections from the rest of you… In the Name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful In just about a month, we will be entering the time of Hajj. The time of Hajj is not only a powerful experience for the pilgrims who have the opportunity to go, but a powerful reminder for those of us who cannot. So inshallah, in this khutbah, and in the next two khutbahs as well, we can remind ourselves of some of the lessons of Hajj. The lessons of Hajj are infinite; they remind us of the essentials of our deen and the purpose of our lives in this world. Several months ago we reflected, on Surah Al-Asr, and we were reminded of Imam Shafii (may Allah be merciful on him), who said that had Allah (SWT) only revealed Al-Asr, it would have been sufficient guidance for humanity. We were reminded of the tradition related in Tabarani which indicated that some of the companions would not part company until reciting the Surah. In Surah Al-Asr we are given a succinct paradigm of Qur’anic guidance, and shown a microcosm of the state of humanity. In Hajj, we have another paradigm, another microcosmic representation of the steps humanity must take to remove itself from the “state of loss”. The words of Al-Asr come alive; its lessons are seen, heard, and felt by the pilgrim. It is a preview, a dress rehearsal, of our experiences after death on the Day of Judgement. It shows us the criteria and steps for salvation. From the moment the pilgrim dons the Ihram, the pilgrim returns to the state in which he or she will be resurrected. No possessions, no belongings, nothing of this world. “Wal Asr, Innal Insaani lafii khusr” “By the time, man is in a state of loss.” Over the thoqsands of years mankind has lived, the love of this world and its desires put mankind in a state of loss. The pilgrim rejects this when the Ihram is put on; he or she has understood the first two ayahs of Surah Al-Asr and can now move on to begin to understand—and practice---its last verse. “Illalaziina aamanuu..” “Except those who believe…” We can go no further in this Surah, for this phrase, repeated throughout the Qur’an, is what we see demonstrated by the pilgrims in the opening rites of Hajj, namely the Muhrim’s arrival at the Kaaba and the ensuing Tawaf. All of Hajj is a demonstration of one’s belief in Allah, but there is perhaps no more profound demonstration of Tawheed, the Oneness of Allah, the Essence of Allah, in the Tawaf. But to reflect on the Tawaf, we must first reflect on the Kaaba itself. For a believer’s entire life, the Kaaba is the center of one’s life, it is our Qiblah, it is the center of the world. Yet what is it? Physically, it is a simple structure, a simple cube. And inside this structure? Nothing. Nothing. When the Kaaba was perverted by the unbelievers, there were idols inside of course. But when Rasulallah (SAS) regained control of Mecca, the first thing he (SAS0 did was destroy the idols and remove them. Shirk was destroyed and rejected. Now nothing remains in the Kaaba. It is a vacant space, without color, without shape, without physical form. Nothing. Nothing representative of this world, nothing that we can completely understand or perceive in our limited state. “Illalaziina aamanuu” “Except those who believe” In this vacant space, that we face each day in our prayers, is the essence of Islam. For there is nothing of this world for us to bow down, to worship, to revere. Nothing. It is a rejection of shirk, a rejection of this world. The first element of the shahadah, “La ilaha”, is a negation. In rejecting this world and all that is in it, we turn to that which is beyond this world. And we begin to recognize The Ultimate Reality, beyond physical description or understanding, beyond the physical space-time continuum. Allah (SWT). The second element of the shahadah, “illal-llah”. An affirmation. An affirmation of Tawheed. When we turn towards the Qiblah to make Salah, and when the pilgrim says Bimillahi Wallahu Akbar before beginning Tawaf, we are demonstrating the concept of Tawheed. When we look at the Kaabah this is what we should remember. As we discussed at the time of Isra and Miraj when we spoke of Bayt ul Maqdis, what is it that makes a holy site holy? Is it the actual physical structure? The bricks, the mortar?  No. No, the sanctity of these holy places is not physical. If the Kaabah was completely destroyed, we would still face the same Qiblah. The sanctity is in the symbolism of the events that happened there. The sanctity is in the lessons we take from these places for the purpose of internalizing them to save our nafs and externalizing them in action to save our fellow man. The sanctity is in the path of guidance these sites symbolize. The path that allows human beings to cultivate a spirit that makes us closer to Allah (SWT). It is not out of ritualism that the Muslim faces the Kaaba or begins his Tawaf. Much of the middle part of Surah Baqara is spent on instructing the ummah to face the new Qiblah of Mecca. Yet, after these instructions, Allah (SWT) says in the same Surah: “It is not birr, (piety, righteousness) that you turn your faces to the East or West. But it is birr that you believe in Allah and the Day of Judgement..” There are rites of Hajj, but not ritualism. They are a means to demonstrate our belief in Allah in not only a spiritual, but physical way. We should remember this verse whenever we face the Qiblah or begin our Tawaf. In facing the qiblah, we demonstrate the concept of Tawheed in facing in the same direction. Of all the directions humanity can face, the pilgrim chooses the Kaaba. To face any other direction, humanity is “lafii khusr”, in the state of loss, “except those who believe”. The pilgrim begins the tawaf, the circumambulation of the Kaaba. Surah Al-Asr continues: “wa amilu salihat” “and perform good deeds” In Islam, Tawheed is in the beginning and end of every action. From the seed of Tawheed, from belief, as the Qur’an relates to us in a parable, a strong tree bearing fruit grows. Belief in Allah necessitates serving him physically, performing good deeds and actions. So the pilgrim, upon affirming belief in Tawheed, begins to physically walk around the Kaaba, externalizing belief into action. Many of the commentators and ‘ulama have spoken of how this circumambulation is representative of many physical phenomena. Electrons revolving around the nucleus of the atom. Planets orbiting the sun. The pilgrim rotates around the Kaaba, the center, the nucleus of our existence. Again, a reminder of Tawheed. The centrality of Allah SWT, the absoluteness of Allah SWT. But why does the pilgrim circumambulate? Why doesn’t he or she simply stand in one place and worship Allah? Our lives in this world are not static. There are ups and downs. Families, fortunes, tragedies and the events of our daily lives keep us in a state of perpetual motion. Amidst this frenzy, where does the human being turn? Those in the state of loss turn in all different directions, without guidance, towards their desires. They are confused, unfulfilled, their heads swiveling at every turn of life. Walk around in a circle long enough without fixing your eyes on a central focus and you will become dizzy and eventually fall down. The world will have gotten the best of you, and you will be a loser. The one who performs Tawaf, however, has a central focus, and the focus is Allah SWT. Throughout all the valleys and peaks of life, we are choosing to keep our faces, and our hearts, directed towards Allah. There is no dizziness, no disorientation. The world is defeated and we are amongst the successful as long as we keep on facing Allah SWT. The pilgrim has turned to face Allah as an affirmation of Tawheed and commenced the circumambulation of Allah’s House to practice this belief. What does he or she find? When one is in tawaf,  individuality is taken away. Like a drop of water falling into the currents of a river. Suddenly the pilgrim is immersed in a perpetual state of motion around the Kaaba in the company of thousands of other pilgrims. It is a glorification of Allah where the individual merges with the collective. All of creation is one, serving Allah alone. Indeed this is the natural state of our nafs. Allah says many times in the  Qur’an “All that is in the heavens and earths glorifies Allah”. The atoms and molecules that make up our bodies are glorifying Allah constantly, regardless of whether our nafs is. When we stand apart from the tawaf, our nafs remains separated from the natural state of creation. When we choose to enter the stream of people, our nafs becomes integrated into the natural state of our bodies and the space-time continuum that was only created to glorify Allah. “And I created not jinn and mankind not except that they should worship Me” (Surah Adh-Dhariyat) To remain in this state of glorification, this state of fulfillment, the pilgrim must continue to face the Kaaba (belief) and continue to walk around it (action). If the pilgrim fails to do either, he will find himself suddenly out of phase with the crowd, out of phase with nature itself. What helps to keep the pilgrim in phase? This leads us to the culmination of Surah Al-Asr: “and recommend to one another to the truth and recommend one another to patience” The planets are held in their orbits around the sun by the interaction of gravitational forces and other physical phenomena. When we drive in a circle, for instance as we take an exit off the highway, while centripetal forces pull the car in towards the center, an angle, the banking of the road, is introduced, to help offset the centrifugal forces that pull the car out of the curve. If the road banking is removed, the car veers tangentially off the curve and into disaster. In the tawaf, the banking of the road is the stream of pilgrims that surrounds us, that keeps us in phase. This is what keeps us from veering tangentially away. Fellow pilgrims are behind us, beside us and in front of us. Humanity joins together on the basis of Tawheed and helps one another for the sake of glorifying Allah SWT. It is through the assistance of our fellow brothers and sisters in humanity that we remain in the natural state of worshipping our Creator. Joining in worship of Allah becomes a force of social change, enjoining what is just and forbidding what is evil in this world. We could speak on and on about the lessons of tawaf. They are infinite and we should continue to reflect on them. The affirmation of Tawheed that permeates every aspect of it is crucial since the first question asked of us in our journey after death is by the angels in the grave, who will first ask “Who is our Lord”. The lessons of tawaf are not only for the pilgrim performing it in Masjid-al-Haram, but for all of us. As we leave the Jummah today we must ask ourselves, how are we affirming Tawheed? How are we making tawaf in our daily life? Are we turning towards Allah, keeping our hearts fixed on Him during the affairs of lives, our jobs and our families? Are we performing the corresponding actions that come with turning towards Allah? Are we joining together as a community to help one another in turning towards Allah? Belief and deeds, both individual and collective. This is the message of Surah Al-Asr and the message of Tawaf. If we do not take heed of this message, we remain in the state of loss and we shall be held accountable on the Day of Reckoning. May Allah forgive us, guide us towards Him and perfect our deen so that all us are in a state of perpetual tawaf in our daily lives.

Re: Reflections on Tawaf...
se7en
02/04/01 at 20:13:08
wa alaykum as salaam wa rahmatAllahi wa barakatuh, MashaAllah bro, that was seriously awesome :) And welcome to the board, introduce yourself in the bebzi stand. wasalaam.

Re: Reflections on Tawaf...
jannah
02/05/01 at 10:33:17
jazakallah khair abdulbasir for those thoughts. it is indeed amazing that such a short surah can contain the wisdom of our whole deen. I too found my thoughts turning to the day of judgement quite a bit, especially visiting arafat, uhud and janatul baqiya of course. However there my thoughts were always positive, unlike here sometimes when thoughts of deeds and life's struggles overwhelm you and in the haram itself I only thought of jannah over and over again. I don't know what it is about that place that puts people at peace with themselves, with Allah, with the world around them, but it is just amazing subhanallah. Anway another great thing to read about the dimensions behind the ibadah you do at hajj is Ghazali's [i]Inner Dimensions of Worship [/i] I wish I had taken more time to read more stuff like this before I went (inshallah will be when i go to hajj :)) but it just adds layers to your worship and raises it so much spiritually.

Re: Reflections on Tawaf...
AbdulBasir
02/05/01 at 12:48:28
one thing that is cool about hajj is that you are reminded of the criteria that will save us on the day of judgement... when we do tawaf, we affirm our belief... then u have sa'i, which is really about action...we can have belief but we gotta do the requisite action...hajar's belief was strong and knew that Allah SWT would protect her and support her, but she just didn't sit there and do nothing, she got up and started running to do her best to find water...she put in the effort! i'm reminded of one story during the time of Umar RA when he passed by ppl sitting along just reciting prayers. He asked who they were and was told they called themselves "al-mutawakilin" or "those who depend on god". He replied, "No, these are "al-muta'akillin" or "those who eat away the property and charity of others". and then he said "the true ppl who depend on god are the ones who plant a seed and depend on god"... it shows how important action is in our deen...how many times do we make du'a and just sit around?...Prophet SAS would always do everything he could physically AND ask on Allah for help... anyways, in tawaf we affirm belief, in sa'i we affirm action and deeds but then something changes in arafah, and perhaps this is why arafah IS the Hajj...for all the affirmation of belief and performance of actions, on Arafah we stand and supplicate, calling on Allah for forgiveness... one time Rasulallah SAS said to the sahaba "None of you will enter Jannah on account of your deeds" "Even you?" the companions replied. "Even me, except on account of My Lord's Mercy.", he replied. We can believe and perform good deeds, but in the very end, on the day of judgement, only Allah's Mercy admits any of us to Jannah. Surely it is no coincidence that Arafah is then the culmination of Hajj when this is what it exactly teaches us. Allahu 'alam.

Re: Reflections on Tawaf...
AbdulBasir
02/05/01 at 13:01:36
[quote]I too found my thoughts turning to the day of judgement quite a bit, especially visiting arafat, uhud and janatul baqiya of course. [/quote] Visiting Jannat-ul-Baqi after Fajr is perhaps the coolest thing about medina...When you walk around it you can't help but be awed when you realize that if you were to take all the iman of all the ppl who have lived in the past 1400 years all over the world, it would not equal the iman of the ppl buried in Jannat-ul-Baqi... I had the honor of participating in a funeral in Jannat-ul-Baqi...The utter simplicity of the burial in itself was amazing... I don't know who that brother was but all I can say is that I wished I was in that grave. Imagine being resurrected alongside the inhabitants of al-Baqi! May Allah reward him and forgive him.

Re: Reflections on Tawaf...
jannah
02/12/01 at 15:33:46
slm, AbdulBasir where is your khutba from this week?? :) Also do you mind if I use your ghazliesque reflections for the new hajj/umrah webpage I'm making?

Re: Reflections on Tawaf...
AbdulBasir
02/12/01 at 15:53:14
[quote]AbdulBasir where is your khutba from this week?? :) [/quote] illegibly scribbled on some piece of paper...:) i don't mind if u include the reflections on ur new hajj/umrah webpage... wa alaikum salam

Re: Reflections on Tawaf...
AbdulBasir
02/12/01 at 16:08:51
hmm i was just thinking...if u drive too fast on a banked road, you'll veer off too... i'm wondering how that fits into that whole orbit/circling analogy...perhaps since we're supposed to be a moderate nation, don't be too extreme, i.e don't speed or sprint (ramal is not sprinting) ur tawaf?????? yeah that's a total reach :) i don't remember enough physics to comment on how this fits into the orbiting planets thing...angular momentum, torque, instantaneous acceleration is a blur... ALLAHU A'LAM...

Re: Reflections on Tawaf...
AbdulBasir
02/12/01 at 16:11:07
In regards to "ramal", this is something from Fiqh-us-Sunnah i thought was cool: Wisdom Behind Ramal: What is the wisdom behind ramal? It is reported by Ibn 'Abbas that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions came to Makkah, they were weakened by the fever in Yathrib. Thereupon the idolators said, ''A people weakened with fever have come to you and they are aMicted with evil." Allah. the Almighty, informed His Prophet (peace be upon him) about their saying. So he commanded them to jog through the first three rounds of tawaf around the Ka'bah, and to walk between its two corners. When the idolaters saw the Muslims jogging, they said: "Are those the people you said are weak because of the fever? They are stronger and sturdier than us!" Ibn 'Abbas added: "The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not command them to jog all through the seven rounds in order not to overexert themselves." This was reported by Bukhari, Muslim, and Abu Daw'ud, whose wording is given here. 'Umar was of the opinion that jogging be stopped as there was no longer any need for it after the Muslims had become strong and powerful. But he decided, however, to leave it (in its original form) so that the future generations of Muslims could share a form and a feeling similar to that observed and felt by early Muslims. Muhibbuddin At-Tabari said: "Sometimes certain instructions are prescribed in the religion for a specific reason, and later even though that specilic reason no longer exists yet the instructions still remain valid."
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