Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 03/09/01 at 20:23:34 |
| [slm] and Eid Mubarak everyone! Hope everyone had a wonderful Eid. On the airplane from Jeddah this morning, it was the first time I really had to think about the busy past few weeks, so I jotted a lot of stuff down. I’m not gonna bore you with a personal narrative, especially since a lot of it is spiritual and as someone on the board said earlier, some things are best left between Allah and His servant. I will, however, share some random thoughts, non-spiritual, worldly observations if you will. From day one, it was evident that there were more pilgrims this year than possibly ever before. We would hear time and again from locals, taxi drivers, and seasoned mutawifs and other administrators that they had never seen it like this before. Some of the "official" estimates being released by the Saudis are gross underestimates, and there is rumored to be an ulterior motive behind these underestimates. Anyways, don’t believe them. Any estimate under 2.5 million is ridiculous. Talk to anyone who was there and they will tell you it was three million. Some estimates we heard were 3.5 million. I will never forget the sight from the overpass of Mina, looking over miles of tents with every street, niche and corner occupied by human beings. The crowds were immense in Madinah, and that was a taste of things to come. If you ask anyone who’s been there, in any year, they will have fond memories of the Prophet’s City. Everyone loves Madinah, and this year was no different. The atmosphere was relaxed, despite the crowds, much of that thanks to the spaciousness of the Masjid and its courtyard, which allowed for some breathing room for everyone (except at the exits after Salah!). It would behoove the Saudis to use the Masjid ul-Nabi model and apply it to Haram, which is in dire need for a similar courtyard. I will not go into details about Madinah, but I will say it was a pleasant surprise to hear the sweet recitation of Imam Huzaifi yet again echo in the Masjid of our Prophet [saw]. He had been the voice of Madinah for so long. I never expected to hear him again, given the circumstances of his removal by the authorities some time ago. Another worldly memory of Madinah this year was the weather and how cold it was! I have never experienced such cold weather in Saudi before. It was a comical sight to see some locals walking around in winter jackets and even ski masks! Indeed, there was some bizarre weather this year during Hajj. It drizzled during the standing of Arafah, and then after sunset that day it rained again and a minor sandstorm greeted the pilgrims at Muzdalifah, making it a tough night. Fast-forwarding to Mecca, the crowds were of course enormous, but again, it was a lot bigger than anyone expected. It was virtually impossible at times to even get a place in the courtyard, even the streets outside Haram, much less Haram itself. In one of the accounts in Michael Wolfe’s "A Thousand Roads to Mecca", a chronicler compares Mecca to the womb, not only because of its feeling of safety and security, but because of how it expands greatly to accommodate the people. Nevertheless, in seeing how the infrastructure was overwhelmed this year, one wonders if the Hajj is reaching its limits. Some may be wondering about the stampede. The Jamarat is always the most dangerous part of Hajj, and all of us knew going in with the crowds it would be even tougher this year. The Saudis do a great job throughout Hajj, but occasionally I noticed they take a hands-off approach with crowds. They (and everyone else) miscalculated and underestimated the threat. Moreover, the stampede was a surprise particularly since all the previous stampedes have happened on the final days of Tashreeq, not Yawm Nahr (10th of Dhul Hijjah). I threw that morning just after sunrise. It wasn’t nearly as crowded yet. I was still far away when I got hit in the eye by an errant pebble, but that happens. But closer in it was getting a bit crazy. At the time I was wondering why there weren’t any guards stationed around the Jamarat-al-Aqaba. They were all in fact at the bottom of the exit ramp. When I left I remember thinking why they weren’t up there at the Jamarat to help smooth things out up there. Two hours later, as the crowds grew and the atmosphere did not improve, the stampede occurred. The following days of Jamarat, there were helicopters, hundreds and hundreds of guards up there now, diverting, blocking traffic, even forming human barricades. Things went very smoothly. One cannot help but think that had they done this on Yawm Nahr, the tragedy could have been averted. Allahu Alam. Keep in mind the Saudis cannot be blamed; the fault lies with many selfish and ignorant pilgrims who either have no common sense, patience or love for anyone but themselves. Despite the stampede, the Hajj went very well. Everyone I encountered had a good Hajj. Permit me to make one spiritual observation though. Going into Hajj, I expected the powerful spiritual individual experience most of us would. But I underestimated the feeling one gets from the realization that everyone from just about everywhere is performing the Hajj alongside you. It’s one thing to look at pictures and go in thinking how people from all over the world will be there. It’s another thing to actually be there and see it, and feel it, up close. The atmosphere is beyond words; but I thought often of Malik El-Shabazz’s accounts in the tents of Mina. The brotherhood that develops in the tents of Mina was most striking to me. Entering the tents on the 8th of Dhul Hijjah, you are all strangers. Polite introductions are made, but everyone tends to keep to themselves or to their previously established groups. There’s an edge in the air, a feeling of anticipation and tension, as people attempt to get used to the tent environment and the state of Ihram. The tents remain quiet that night and on the morn of the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, it is even more silent as the pilgrims prepare to move to the plains of Arafah. The atmosphere could be best described as serious, even nervous and anxious. During the Wuqoof of Arafah, the first change occurs. You begin to see the unity of purpose in the chorus of individual supplications. A sense of peace develops, evident in the faces of everyone there. The tone however is still low-key and somber as we move on to Muzdalifah. Then on the morning of the 10th of Dhul Hijjah, the Jamarat-al-Aqaba and the end of the state of Ihram occurs. And almost instantaneously, there is a dramatic transformation in the atmosphere. The tents suddenly come alive with talk and laughter, with smiles abundant and the previous groups now dissolved with everyone talking to everyone else. It felt like Eid (of course it is technically Eid, but when you are on Hajj, the day of Eid is sort of different). It’s really hard to explain. It was sort of like when you’re in school and everyone is studying and preparing for the major final exams of the year, bearing down, concentrating. The atmosphere is tense, serious, subdued. But when the exams are over, and all of us have experienced this no doubt, there is a sudden release of relief and joy and there is this boisterous, party-like atmosphere. That is what it was like on Yawm Nahr, the 10th of Dhul Hijjah. This is what I did not expect. It was fun. No, not just spiritual fun. But also just simply fun. That night the tents of Mina were energized with laughter and conversation. This atmosphere continues to develop during the days of Tashreeq and this incredible feeling of unity and brotherhood develops. Subhanallah. I may never again ever see any of the people I ate, slept and struggled alongside with during those few days. But we now share a special, everlasting bond that nothing but the true and only God could produce and no force of this world could ever break. May Allah accept our Hajj and have mercy on all the Muslims. Anyone else have thoughts about the Hajj this year? |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| jannah |
| 03/09/01 at 20:46:22 |
| [wlm] bro we need the spiritual as well as the worldly :) |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| BrKhalid |
| 03/10/01 at 12:32:47 |
| Asalaamu Alaikum ;-) [quote]May Allah accept our Hajj and have mercy on all the Muslims. [/quote] Ameen Welcome back Br Abdul Basir and jazakallah khair for sharing some of your time with us. All the questions I wanted to ask though, you already answered though! ;-) I didn't realise Imam Huzaifi had been allowed back so that was a pleasant piece of news. Guess all the talk of sunglasses in Madinah before was way off base in the end huh? lol From the pictures and from what my own brother was telling me, the figures being put out by the Saudis seemed a touch conservative and certainly seeing the pictures of Arafat, you wondered how many people were actually there. There were so many!!! But what came across on the pictures was a great sense of togetherness as people made their way to Arafat. I echo your sentiments about the stay in Mina completely. You kind of go through a bonding session with these brothers over the five days and your simile with the end of exams scenario is a great way of describing the feeling. I don't think you ever forget the brothers who you perform Hajj with. Anyway welcome back and the most important question I guess is, do you have the Hajji cough? ;-) |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 03/10/01 at 16:18:08 |
[quote] All the questions I wanted to ask though, you already answered though! ;-) [/quote] btw if anyone has any questions on anything in particular, shoot... [quote]I didn't realise Imam Huzaifi had been allowed back so that was a pleasant piece of news. Guess all the talk of sunglasses in Madinah before was way off base in the end huh? lol [/quote] The Huzaifi thing is still shrouded in mystery. The circumstances of his return are as well. I remember the first salah in the Masjid the second I heard the first "Alhamdullilahi Rabbil Alaameen" I thought, hmm, this brother is imitating Huzaifi!...i could not fathom at first that it was him...after a few days though, I just couldn't believe it to be anyone but him...so I verified it with some locals there... his recitation is still sweet, but there is a new, tougher tone to it, perhaps due to his increasing age...He only did one Salah a day, Imam Al-Thubaiti was carrying the load, as he has been doing for quite some time now... [quote] Anyway welcome back and the most important question I guess is, do you have the Hajji cough? ;-)[/quote] Yes I got the holy cough. It never fails; you will get sick...I sort of was on hyperdrive in Madinah and emptied the tank a bit to early...so much of my stay in Mecca I was riddled with the standard cough that I'm used to getting when I go. But this time alhamdullillah I got a fever too...Interestingly everything subsided completely during the days of Hajj, but almost immediately upon entering Jeddah I got blasted again and I am still in the process of recovering now... |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 03/10/01 at 16:27:46 |
| whoops, sorry for posting the same thing twice...still some jet lag :) |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| Arsalan |
| 03/10/01 at 16:35:05 |
| [slm] Ahlan wa sahlan, welcome back yaa Haaji Abdul Basir :) Jazak Allahu khairan for your post. It was moving, to say the least. May Allah accept your Hajj as Hajj Mabroor, and forgive all of your past and future sins. And for those of us who haven't had the opportunity to make the Pilgrimage, may Allah make us among the Hujjaj soon ... Ameen. Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| Mona |
| 03/10/01 at 23:38:56 |
| Assalamu alaikum, Hajjun mabroor insha'Allah br. AbdulBasir :-)Thanks for sharing with us your experience at Hajj this year. I have a question actually, to you or anyone who knows. It is about the sacrifices that are made during yawm al-nahr and the days of tashreeq. What happens to them? Are they distributed to the poor & needy? My mum & father performed Hajj in late 70s and she doesn't recall that these sacrifices were collected afterwards for the poor. Or maybe this was done at later time that she did not witness. Is this changed now? Wassalam |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| jannah |
| 03/11/01 at 03:27:16 |
| [quote] In one of the accounts in Michael Wolfe?s "A Thousand Roads to Mecca",[/quote] [slm] wow i'm suprised that someone else was bookwormish enough to read that book. anyways i read it over a period of months and loved it. i'd love to read it again but i think it will be sad reading it unless i know i'll be going soon. this is one of my favorite excerpts from the book: [color=green] The map tells me that Mecca lies forty odd miles from Jidda; I don't know how that can be, for memory tells me it took us a good ten days to reach it. The camels were hooshed down early one afternoon. We were told that we were close to the Holy City, but that we could not go in till morning. The news ran through our hosts like a wild breeze, then an awesome silence fell as each pilgrim paused to realize the great fact. They seemed to all but hold their breath. The silence was broken then by a concerted shout of [i]"Labayk!"[/i] That was what it sounded like to me, but I have been told it really has three syllables -- [i] "Lab-bay-yak."[/i] It is an all-encompassing word of praise and gratitude and submission to the divine will. That night the [i]molvis[/i] prayed and instructed the faithful till nearly dawn. We were told we must not fight amongst ourselves, covet, or wish harm to anyone. We must enter the city clean of heart and clean in action. No oils or scents were to be used at ablutions. Should we break any of these laws, we must sacrifice an extra sheep or goat. Should anyone harm us we must not retaliate, even if it meant our death, always remembering that the ground we walked upon was holy in Allah's sight. I fell asleep at about midnight, and when I woke in the dawning, Ali was still at his devotions on his prayer rug. Most of our Indian pilgrims were very old; some even tottered on crutches and sticks. We all knew that hundreds of our company would not return again to their homeland, and many of them did not even wish to, for they deemed themselves doubly fortunate if their weary bodies could lie down in eternal rest in this, their Holy of Holies. So very many were weak and ill, coughing their lungs away, but still deep in the rheumy old eyes was the glint of a peace their souls longed for, a gleam of joy at something at last attempted but yet by no means done. For this coming to Mecca was not by a long way the end of their journey; it would not give them the right to wear the green turban of the hajji. The grand culmination would not come for many weeks yet. A short while after dawn--fasting, of course, [for it was Ramadan!]-- we mounted our camels again. As the light grew stronger, we were descending what looked like a steep basin. The mountains ringed the depression in the earth all around; and then as the sun rose, we saw the city far down below us--saw right into the heart of the Great Mosque itself. Racing up the mountainsides were the houses of Mecca. We caught glimpses as we went down of the large black Ka'ba, the five minarets with their onion domes, and the gilded dome over the Zamzam waters. [i] Excerpt of Australian revert, Winifred Stegar's account of Hajj in 1927 from One Thousand Roads to Mecca - edited by Michael Wolfe, p. 362. [/i] |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| BrKhalid |
| 03/11/01 at 16:34:28 |
| Asalaamu Alaikum ;-) [quote]I have a question actually, to you or anyone who knows. It is about the sacrifices that are made during yawm al-nahr and the days of tashreeq. What happens to them? Are they distributed to the poor & needy? [/quote] From what I've heard people recount to me, the sacrificed animals used to be simply buried :( But now with modern technology they are cut, cleaned and canned and sent all over the world. But Allah knows best |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| Mona |
| 03/11/01 at 17:17:48 |
| Assalamu alaikum :-) Jazak Allah Khairan Br. Khalid for answering the question. Yeah that's what my mum said about the sacrifices being gone to waste back then. :( Subhanah Allah, and to think of all the starving muslims in poor & remote areas who could have used this... Wassalam |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 03/11/01 at 19:27:28 |
| Indeed, the challenge of distributing the meat prompted the government to explore and employ the most advanced refrigeration techniques... |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| se7en |
| 03/11/01 at 21:15:30 |
| wa alaykum as salaam wa rahmatAllahi wa barakatuh, That was beautiful br. abdul basir, jazak Allahu khayran for sharing it with us.. Man any other stories you want to share about your journey, the experience, feel free (seriously) :) I'm jealous :) wasalaam. |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 03/14/01 at 07:13:45 |
| Hmm it seems the other Hajjis out there are lurking...c'mon y'all before the moderators shut this forum down! oh and sr. se7en don't be jealous...you're still a youngun and will inshallah have tons of opportunities to go...If anything I am jealous for you since when you go inshallah you will be among the mujahideen as Allah SWT has promised the sisters out there... I do think some sisters who go actually think that they are on armed jihad judging by the pilgrims that fall by the wayside as they advance, pummel and destroy...:) I'm still way too giddy about the whole thing...starting to act strange, smiling upon seeing run of the mill trees and what not...I've been watching the Hajj Nightline episode and Qur'an in Haram every day!...[slm] |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| Arsalan |
| 03/19/01 at 11:20:53 |
| [slm] Here is another Hajj experience from a dear friend of mine who went with his mother and father. Interestingly enough, his group advisor was Br. Mokhtar Maghraoui of Albanyia! -------------------------------------------- Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu, Alhamdulillah, my parents and I safely returned from Hajj on Tuesday. I went back to work on Wednesday while my parents are recovering from the flu. Please make dua for them. I must say, first, that if you have not already performed the Hajj, try to do it as soon as you can. It is a tough and rigorous pillar that should be done as soon as you have the health and finances to complete it. And as mentioned in the Quran or Sunnah, the main provision you will need is taqwa. Please prepare yourself, my dear brothers. The more prepared you are mentally, physically and spiritually, the more benefit you will get out of it. We left Houston on the 23rd of Feb and arrived in Frankfurt in the morning (8am) of the 24th. I spent most of my time on the plane, reading Fiqh us Sunnah. It was definitely the most comprehensive book I read. Because of the huge number of flights arriving in Jeddah, our 11 am departure turned into 11pm from Frankfurt. The Jeddah airport could not handle the volume. The Condor/Lufthansa flight had open seating, a big mistake. You could imagine the chaos at the gate. To make matters worse, Condor did not setup any type of line for people to stand in. Among the Muslims, we had one brother already in Ihram take charge. With commanding voice, he tried to bring organization to the Muslims, but to little avail. Anyways, from Frankfurt we arrived in Jeddah and then flew to Medina. At Medina, several passengers had lost their luggage and others were incensed by the lack of organization among our travel package. Alhamdulillah, I was happy to arrive in Medina and tried to remain focused. When previous Hujjaj mention to you that you need sabr, this sabr should last from the moment you leave til the moment you come back at home. You must take everything in stride and keep your tongue in dhikr of Allah in hopes for a Hajj Mabroor. Medina was packed, but Alhamdulillah, we were very close to the Haram. I met several Houstonians just in passing. SubhanaAllah, it was a great experience to see all the Muslims leaving an hour or so before the salat to pray in the Haram. While in Medina, we visited masjid Quba' and Uhud. In Medina, our religious advisor, Mokhthar Magraoui, gave a lecture on the rituals of Hajj. His main point was to focus your heart no matter what happens, despite the pushing, the yelling, complaining, the fighting. Do not let anything remove the peace you have with Allah. He also pointed out that he was disappointed with the many Muslims not respecting the Haram (littering, smoking, etc). He said that all of Medina and all of Makkah are a Haram and we should treat them as such. From Medina, after asr, we left to Aziziah ( a city in between Mina and Makkah). We were in our Ihram and stopped at the Meeqat to make our intention and recite the talbiyaah. For a trip that was suppose to take about 6 hours we arrived early the next morning. It was Jumua and we wanted to make Jumua' in the Haram. We arrived in the Haram at 10:30am. Because of the crowd we were forced to make our tawaaf for umrah on the third level. That was difficult. My parents were having a difficult time as well. After the tawaaf we listened to Sh. Sudais to give the khutbah. We never heard Sudais (in person) after that. The imam is Usama Khayaad (I believe). We then performed our Sai and then got our hair cut. We stayed in Makkah till after Isha and decided to leave for our lodge in Aziziah. For us, it was rather easy to get back to the hotel but for others it was a nightmare. The address that they had given was incorrect and so it took many people several hours to get back to the hotel. You could imagine their fury. Keep in mind we are one day before the start of Hajj. From Aziziah, we left for Mina and arrived there before Dhuhr. We prayed the five salat there and stayed in the tents. If you can, you should pray in masjid Khaif. It is the place where seventy prophets have prayed. It is a huge mosque. I went for Dhuhr and Asr but I had to pray outside and it was HOT especially the burning coal touching my hands and feet. I did have a musalla, but I was sharing it with a brother. In Mina, our tent was very nicely situated. We were very close to the Jamaraat and a 15 minute walk to Masjid Khaif. However, our fellow brothers from other countries were quite far. I am not sure if this was purposely done or if it was random. We were also served very good food. Basmati rice everyday. I felt it was a bit extravagant but I am sure many people would not come back had the food been modest. Also, we drove around in A/C busses, while many others drove around in crowded yellow school busses. After the 1st day in Mina, we drove to Arafat. The most important day of Hajj. I read somewhere that no one should feel that he was not forgiven if he stands in Arafat and seeks Allah's forgiveness. SubhanAllah!! On the day of Arafat, you saw all the Muslims turning to Allah for forgiveness. It was an awesome sight. I tried to isolate myself for most of the day. I did follow a group of brothers led by Sh. Mokthar to jabal rahma. We stood near the base and sought Allah's forgiveness until the sunset. Before going on this excursion, I failed to mention to my parents where I was going. I thought we would get back in time for the bus leaving to Muzdalifah. After getting back to the camp site, I saw my parents standing there with the bags wondering where I had went. Our bus number had been called a 1/2 hour ago. Alhamdulillah, after running around for a while, we found our bus. We were in a panic situation, but Alhamdulillah, we kept our composure. By the way, Sh. Maghraoui had walked to most of the places. For one, you dont wait on a bus and you perform the rituals without worrying about the bus. Also, it does humble you. But this option, should only be for those going alone. With a family it is very difficult. We arrived in Muzdalifah before 12 am and prayed our maghrib and isha. It was extremely windy and I was wondering whether or not we had to sleep outside. Despite bringing my emergency blanket, I still was not prepared for the cold. So after looking in 3 books including Fiqh us Sunnah, i found nothing stating that we had to sleep outside in Muzdalifah. So my parents and I took seats in tha bus. In the morning after Fajr, we left for Mina. It was Eid and we had to throw at the Jamara al Aqabah and sacrifice (which was taken care of already by our package) and cut our hair. On this day, you must have heard of the 35 Muslims who died throwing at the Jamaraat. It is pure ignorance or fanatacism why these people die. Mostly women and the old die due to suffocation. Many people do not know that they can throw at the night or even have someone throw on behalf of them. May Allah count those who died as shaheed. That same day, we headed back to Makkah, to perform the Tawaaf al Ifadah and Sai. This removed the second part of our Ihram and allows us to resume intimate relations with our wife. By the way, you are in Ihram for 3 days that means wearing the two sheets and not covering your head, or using soap, cutting your hair, nails and some other restrictions. Not using soap was difficult for me, especially after using the bathroom. Make sure you know the restrictions and the penalties that you must pay if you violate the Ihram. Then we were to stay in Mina for 3 days (the 3rd day is optional) to throw at the 3 Jamaraat. I was sick most of this time, but Alhamdullilah, I recovered soon afterwards. Then we remained in Makkah until the 12th. We performed our Farewell tawaaf and left for the airport. During the Hajj, you will hear a lot of complaiing, arguing, pushing, cutting in line. However, you do see a lot of kindness, sharing, gentleness and generosity. The Hajj demonstrates your total submission to Allah. Many of the rituals do not have a direct impact on you such as salah, fasting and zakah do. You are doing the Hajj rituals solely b/c Allah commands you to perform them. Hajj makes you think of the Last Day. You are hot, sweaty and it is super crowded. On the Day of Judgement, everyone will be gathered together and some will be sweating all the way up to their ears. May Allah save us from that. One of the most peaceful things in Makkah, is sitting in the Haram and listening to the Adhaan. Also, once, my father and I were making tawaaf and Maghrib was fast approaching. We prayed about 5 rows from the Kaaba and I was forced to make sujuud on a brother's back. SubhanAllah. One thing I learned was that I must know more about my deen. Many people were asking questions, and many people were answering them whether they were qualified or not. You hear a lot of different things and for you to be safe I would know almost everything about Hajj before you arrive from reliable sources. Definitely know how to pray the Janaza prayer. You will pray it almost after every prayer in the Haramain. The day we were leaving was not a day to remember. Because we paid for some bus tickets we did not use, we were allowed to get a refund in Jeddah. While waiting in the line, one brother became furious and gave the finger to the desk man. I could not believe we had just completed the Hajj. Here again, we had open seating from Jeddah. While waiting in line, many brothers were cutting in line and thus arguments sparked. Also, one elderly brother erupted at the flight agent. It was a sad sight. But despite all that, it is a great feeling to pray on time and not worry about anything else while we were in Saudi. One of our brothers, had tried to touch the Hajr Al-aswad. In the attempt, he had his wallet stolen. He was wearing a thobe and those pants with zipper pockets (where the wallet was). Many people will come up to you and ask you for money sometimes big amounts. I am not sure what to do in those instances especially when you are instructed in the Quran to give to those who ask. I know this letter is jumping from topic to topic, but I hope you get an insight to how the Hajj was. InshaAllah, I pray that Allah made it a Hajj Mabroor and may Allah give you the chance to perform it. |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| se7en |
| 03/19/01 at 13:42:54 |
Br. Mokhtar is returning from Hajj today (Monday), inshaAllah! :) I wonder if he has changed... |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| Arsalan |
| 03/19/01 at 14:38:52 |
| [slm] Se7en, you can at least expect one visible change - a bald head :) And perhaps some increased noor on the face! |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| BrKhalid |
| 03/20/01 at 06:44:30 |
| Asalaamu Alaikum ;-) Br Abdul Basir, if you had the opportunity to visit the Holy Places once again, would you go and do Hajj again or just perform Umrah? |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 03/20/01 at 23:24:09 |
| [quote]if you had the opportunity to visit the Holy Places once again, would you go and do Hajj again or just perform Umrah?[/quote] I might ask you the same question ;-) That is a tough question!...hard to answer...assuming that it is just me and I'm not having to travel with anyone...hmm if you asked me this question on the 6th of Dhul Hijjah, as I prayed in the street, when I longed for the days where I would stand one step behind Imam Shuraim every day, so close I could hear his words from his mouth a second before you heard it on the speakers, I would say I would do Umrah... if you asked me this question on the 14th of Dhul Hijjah, I would say Hajj in a heartbeat Ask me now...I might waffle and say well, maybe a long Umrah...or alternatively a Hajj where I spent at least a month...spending more than a week in Madina...and one where I would forsake all public transportation and walk (couldn't walk because my companion was not up for it)... so then the choice would be Hajj, just tinkering with the itinerary and make it better for my interests.. but then, again, remembering that I only have one chance in my life to go back..i would probably say this then: Umrah...in Ramadan it is something I have never got to do...and you can get the reward of Hajj! how bout you? [slm] |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 03/20/01 at 23:55:18 |
| Upon his return, Br. Mokhtar gave us some thoughts of the Hajj, and he told us two stories which i thought were awesome...we were all shaking our heads upon hearing the "punchlines" of the stories...i can't relate the first story verbatim, but u'll get the gist of it... the first one was about one of the Tab'ieen making Hajj...he was very righteous, one the [i]saaliheen[/i]...and once during the Hajj, he had a dream. In the dream he saw two angels. He told them that there were 600,000 people making Hajj. And then when he asked them how many of these people will have a Hajj Mabrur, an accepted Hajj, the angels said, 6 of these people...!!! The righteous man said that he didn't believe he was one of those 6...(as the imam reminded us, look this is a member of the saaliheen, having dreams that only real good mu'mins have, and still he doesn't believe that his hajj is hajj mabrur!) (btw Imam Mokhtar told this story in his fiqh seminar on hajj before, but he didn't tell us the rest of the story below) so later on during the Hajj...in Muzdalifah...the man had a dream again, again with the two angels appearing in it...And they revealed to him in the dream that 100,000 of the 600,000 were forgiven of sins... and those 100,000 people were forgiven... due to the du'a from those SIX people!... !!...Man everyone in the room was floored as they heard this story... ok the second thing he told us was something he heard from someone during the Hajj... The Kaa'ba said: "When people visit and see me, they weep, And I weep for those who have yet to visit me." And my own personal favorite, that Michael Wolfe quoted, "Before you visit Mecca, it beckons to you, When you leave it behind, it calls to you forever. [slm] |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| jannah |
| 03/21/01 at 00:18:58 |
| [slm] The first story is in Ghazali's Inner Dimensions (if you had actually read it *cough*) the michael wolfe quote is awesome i'm gonna put it on the hajj page somewhere inshallah! btw this is the one that totally floored me (the authenticity isn't listed): [color=green] The Prophet, on him be peace, said: 'God has promised this House that it will be visited every year by six hundred thousand Pilgrims. If they fall short of this number, God, Great and Glorious is He, makes it up from among the angels. The Ka'ba will be raised up at the Resurrection as if in a bridal procession; all who have made Pilgrimage to it will go around it, hanging on to it's coverings, till it enters Paradise and they enter with it.' [Unidentified] [/color] and this passage gave me goosebumps: [color=green] It is said that the sun never sets on a day, nor rises after a night, when a saintly or holy person has not made the circuit of the House, and that when that ceases to be so there will be cause for the Ka'ba to be removed from the earth without trace. This will happen when nobody has come on Pilgrimage for seven years. The Quran will then be removed from the written books, leaving the pages blank with not one letter showing. Then the Quran will be erased from all hearts, not one word of it remembered. People will then revert to the poems, songs and fables of the time of Ignorance. Then will emerge the Antichrist and Jesus, on him be peace, will come down to kill him. The Hour of Resurrection will be at that moment as it were a pregnant womanon the verge of giving birth. According to Tradition: 'Make frequent circumambulation of this House, before it is taken up; for twice it has been laid waste and the third time it will be taken away.'[Bazzar et al. sahih] It is related on the authority of 'Ali, may God be pleased with him, that the Prophet, on him be peace, said: 'God, Exalted is He, says: "If I wished to destroy the world I would begin by destroying My House, then I would destroy the whole world in its wake."' [unidentified] |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
|---|
| AbdulBasir |
| 03/21/01 at 00:31:01 |
| [quote]The first story is in Ghazali's Inner Dimensions (if you had actually read it *cough*) the michael wolfe quote is awesome i'm gonna put it on the hajj page somewhere inshallah! [/quote] Uhh, yeah..ur right...it was in there...i did read it, but well, ya know my attention may have been slightly diverted a bit at the time...I might have skipped a page... I love the Michael Wolfe quote...sigh...it is so true...after the first visit...you feel that pulling sensation everyday...hearing shaykh ali mulla's athan from haram...it is like a call across time and space, and you get this undescribable sensation...and feel this pain of separation... you are born somewhere, but mecca is your hometown.. And you get homesick...:( |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| BrKhalid |
| 03/21/01 at 16:27:54 |
| Asalaamu Alaikum ;-) [quote]And you get homesick...[/quote] Every time someone talks about Hajj or Makkah and Madinah, you're mind goes back to when you were there and you get this longing to go back. InshaAllah I would love to get married and one day take my wife with me for Hajj. Otherwise I'd say Umrah in Ramadhan would be the next best |
| Re: Hajj 1421/2001 |
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| se7en |
| 03/30/01 at 16:29:39 |
| ------forwarded message-------- Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah This is a nice reflection on hajj. May Allah accept the hajj of all the pilgrims and grant us all an opportunity to perfom the pilgrimage for His sake one day soon. Ameen. ~~~~~~~~ [color=darkblue] Once a year, pilgrims from across the globe become a single nation. An American joins them. By Michael Wolfe Mecca, the best-known Arabic word in English, is more than an advertising slogan, as in “tourist Mecca.” Mecca is a modern mountain city of 1 million people in western Saudi Arabia. Because only Muslims go there, outsiders don’t know much about it. Yet once a year, for a few short weeks, Mecca attracts more visitors than almost any spot on Earth. I’m heading there this evening as the sun sets over the Red Sea, flying on a jumbo jet with hundreds of other pilgrims, on my way to perform the hajj, or pilgrimage. Today most visitors arrive by air. In other ways, however, this is a journey into the past. Mecca, the birthplace of Islam, is steeped in history and legend. We are going back into the past for a few days, to recover some of our own original spirit, by walking in the paths of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Hagar, and the millions of pilgrims who have come here before us. Leaving the airport, our bus climbs treeless mountains for an hour. We’re dressed in timeless-looking garments; the women in simple robes of black or white, the men reduced to two lengths of unstitched cotton. It’s hard to tell a sweeper from a prince. We take a vow as we don these clothes to regard Mecca as a sanctuary and to treat other pilgrims gently, with respect. We leave more than fashion at the border. In some indescribable way we leave ourselves. As the bus winds through town, I’m sitting next to a Bosnian student named Ali. “Sure, you have to be careful,” he says. “Yes, the crowds are enormous. But look more closely. It’s not your normal crowd.” A glance out the window confirms this. Streams of men and women from 125 nations fill the sidewalks and streets. Yet no one is pushing. Everyone is flowing—a slow crowd, a patient crowd. “You just have to get into the swim of it,” he says. “The best place to do that is in the mosque.” Mecca’s mosque is hard to miss. Its coliseum-size walls and bright, moon-rocket minarets tower above the streets from blocks away. This vast temple complex can hold a million people. Most pilgrims arriving in Mecca come straight here. Even at midnight the mosque is in full swing. A hundred thousand people fill the ground floor colonnades. It takes me 15 minutes to pass from the outer gates to the core of the complex, where a white marble floor gleams under stadium lighting like an ice rink. This part of the mosque is open to the stars. Here, I join a ring of 5,000 people surrounding a small, stone building draped in black: the Ka’bah, a windowless structure with simple lines that Muslims call God’s first house of worship. The rest of the temple complex is a mere surrounding for this modest, ancient building. The Ka’bah marks the direction in which Muslims pray all their lives. Seeing it for the first time brings smiles and even tears to people’s faces. The human ring around the Ka’bah is moving counter-clockwise in a circuit called the Turning, a special form of walking prayer. Around we go seven times at a stately pace, while the still point of the Ka’bah towers above us. The movement of so many people in one direction sets up a soft, pervasive whisper on the floor, of clothes brushing skin, of bare feet over marble. The Turning continues day and night, with every pilgrim making seven rounds. Viewed from above, the people and building form a single figure--of God’s House at the center of their lives. My turns complete, I descend a nearby stair to the Well. It is cool and dim down here, with a pumping station and several hundred basins. This is the well without which Mecca would never have existed. (It is mentioned in the biblical Book of Genesis.) Like everybody else, I take a sip, then return upstairs to the last rite of the evening: a ritual jog between two hills on the far side of the mosque. As I move along, I remember the sweet tasting water. That’s how it is in Mecca. You become a vessel into which timeless meanings are being poured. A hundred thousand more people arrive each day. Mecca during hajj season bulges at the seams. Ten thousand people will come from the United States alone. As the city swells, the streets become extensions of the mosque. One night I walk past a settlement of West Africans camped under a freeway overpass. All over town, people are strolling, meeting, taking tea, and shopping. It is a traveler’s paradise. On the eighth day of the month, the next stage of the pilgrimage begins. At sunrise, the whole population begins to leave town together, trooping five miles into the desert. We arrive to find a tent city on the sands. One hundred thousand attendants have been occupied for weeks setting up this and other canvas enclaves along the pilgrim route. By evening the vast encampment bustles. I climb a hill for an overview. In the dark, the sands resemble a great harbor. Down there, bathed in lantern light, 2 million people have left their running water and solid walls for makeshift canvas dwellings in the desert. For phe next few days we will lead a Bedouin existence, following a pilgrim route among the dunes, on a trip designed to remind us that life is a journey. In the morning, our loose procession snakes a few miles farther east, to a sandy expanse called the Plain of Aright. Here a second tent city has been erected, surrounding a craggy hill known as Mount Mercy. From this hill, the Prophet Muhammad delivered his last sermon. Today we surround Mount Mercy on all sides, camped in acres of quadrangles arranged by nation A quarter mile of Africa leads into a tract of Pakistan, giving way to an Indonesian district. A brief congregational prayer at noon (imagine a small country bowing down simultaneously) precedes a short sermon from the hilltop. This is the spiritual apex of the hajj. Devoid of pomp, light or ceremony, the daylong Arafat vigil has few requirements. It is largely an internal experience, a day when pilgrims stand before their maker. Throughout the camps, the mood is meditative. An Algerian elder squats in the shade of an ice truck, palms turned up in supplication. Across the way, a dozen Turkish women recite verses by the religious poet Jalal al-din Rumi, while a baby naps beneath a green umbrella. Over the hum of the crow, a chorus of men on the mount chants an ancient round: “I am here, Lord, I am here.” This sand plain is rich in historical fact and legend. Muslims from half a world away have been meeting here yearly without a break for 14 centuries. You see traces of this in the architecture. You hear it in the stories. For example: The curve of low stone aqueduct skims the valley rim for miles. It was placed here more than a thousand years ago by Queen Zubayda, the wife of Harun er-Raschid, caliph of Baghdad. (Readers may recall Harun from the Arabian Nights stories.) The aqueduct is still in use today. A half-mile down the plain, a large mosque and courtyard stand at the crossing of several modern roads. Its minarets, green in the twilight, mark the spot of the ancient Namira mosque, a working temple in Muhammad’s lifetime. Arafat marks the outer limit of the hajj route. From here, the path loops back toward Mina Valley; pilgrims make the journey in two stages, pausing midway to overnight in a bowl of rocky hills called Muzdalifa. Super bowl gridlock is mild compared to the hajj’s traffic jams. Half the pilgrims inch along in a hundred thousand trucks, buses, and cars. The distance—about three miles—may take three hours to cover. Jubilant chanting fills the air as we move down a sandy grade into a riverbed. The banks of this dry channel are half a mile wide and packed with pilgrims. Stadium lighting along the way turns night to day and adds a theatrical glow. In about an hour, the hajj has transformed itself from a meditative vigil into a sweeping, medieval pageant. Where the riverbed ends, we pour across a lighted plain, settling into another broad encampment on the plain a Muzdalifa. This most ascetic of stops on the Pilgrim Way is also the calmest and most peaceful. At midnight we learn the Mina road has been closed temporarily. There’s a bottleneck up ahead. The way is clogged. A tiny human dot dressed in two towels, I’m standing near a pot of peppered stew, about to order a plate from the grinning cook, when I feel a stranger’s hand slip into mine. It is the soft hand of an ancient Indian woman in a shawl. Her forehead, a foot below my shoulder, looks burned from her day in the sun. She’s lost in the crowd, I realize, and running out of willpower. Lacking a shared language, we make do with signs. Then she lifts my hand and we set off through the crowds, walking together for perhaps 10 minutes. Finally, I spot a kiosk marked “Missing Pilgrims.” We go inside. The woman is asleep before I leave. I wake on a mat under the stars at 2 a.m. The moon hangs low over the hills. On every crest, silhouetted pilgrims dot the skyline. I climb a stony path and join a Turkish family from Berlin. The father trains a flashlight on the ground. Now and then his son bends to pluck up a pebble, holding it to the moonlight. All over the valley, people are collecting tiny stones. This strange, quiet scene is in preparation for the last hajj rite. Tonight each pilgrim gathers 49 stones. In the morning we will carry them to Mina. There, in the next few days, at allotted times, we will throw them at a trio of pillars symbolizing Satan. Gathering pebbles by moonlight? Stoning the Prince of Darkness? Yes, indeed. Scholars call it lapidation. In a symbolic act with a double thrust, the thrower of the stone both repulses temptation and casts it out. Hajj rules require that stones be tiny, “no bigger than a bean,” for the point of the throw is symbolic, not to do harm. I wash my stones at a tap and, having no pockets, tie them into a corner of my towels. Three a.m. The road has reopened. The camps are stirring. The hajj is moving on. I reach Mina at sunrise, but the mile-long concrete causeway leading to the pillars is already choked with pilgrims. I’m as eager as the rest to perform this rite, but the crowds make me cautious. The causeway, a recent addition to the hajj, is as wide as an eight-lane freeway. Halfway along, it is split into two levels, so that twice as many people may hurl their pebbles. There are no cars. Just the steady echo of innumerable tramping feet. Today our target is the largest pillar, a 50-foot concrete cone. Its broad base rests on the ground floor. Its upper portion pierces the roadway overhead. It is nondescript, like the causeway itself. The devil needs no decoration. This first "throw," with its press of people and raining stones, creates some of the most frenzied and cathartic moments of the hajj. I wait on a stairway above, as the first rogue waves of enthusiasts roll towards their goal. At points, the crowd's impulsion can lift you off your feet. If you lose a shoe here, or drop your glasses, you don’t even try to pick them up. Stopping, even pausing, is next to impossible. Indeed, pilgrims have died here from being trampled. For all its futuristic roadways, modern transport, and majestic mosques, the hajj is not a theme park. When the tide ebbs slightly, I join the crowd and move into its center. It is dark in the lower level of its causeway. I catch sight of the pillar, and then we are upon it. From 15 feet away, people are rocketing their tiny pebbles with expressions of glee mixed with relief and exhaustion. Wrists snap. Eyes flash. Men and women are cutting in front of each other to get a clear shot at the giant cone. I’m near enough now to hear the soft nick nick of thousands of pebbles bouncing, then falling to the ground. I complete my throws and follow the crowd’s flow, spilling through an archway to our right. A minute later we’re back in the sandy valley, blinking, sunstruck. Two hours later, I’m standing on a tent-strewn, rocky hill overlooking Mina. It is mid-afternoon. We have thrown our stones and had a celebration. Now the camps are still. This morning the Feast of Abraham began, marking the formal completion of the hajj. By now, every family has sacrificed a lamb from the acres of animals fenced behind the hillsides. The pilgrims are languorous. The meat they could not eat is already being packaged for freezing and shipping to poor families abroad. Like most hajj rites, today’s feast commemorates a timeless story: in this case, the last-minute substitution of a sacrificial ram for Abraham’s son, an event regard by Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike as an act of divine mercy. The desert march is over. Gazing down on this transitory scene, I am reminded how the hajj has changed its shape a dozen times. A circle dance, a run march, a picnic on the dunes, a turning, a running, a vigil, a throwing, a feast, and a sacrifice have all led by turns to a sense of completion that can't quite be expressed. But the pilgrims try. Mecca boasts more phone booths than any place I’ve seen. Long lines of pilgrims stand waiting on every corner to call home, to report the good news, to be congratulated: The hajj is over! We’re back in town! We’ve made it! As the pilgrims’ thoughts turn to home and loved ones, they embark on a shopping spree. From a street vendor’s trinkets to the most expensive silks and diamonds, if the present comes from Mecca, it is special. The best gift of all is a jug of water from the Zamzam well. Mecca marks the heart of Islam; water is its essence. People back home will use it for special occasions only, a birth, a funeral, and a marriage, saving even a small bottle for years. Once the three-day Feast concludes, tradition cautions pilgrims not to linger. As with any special place, staying too long may bring indifference. The idea is to leave Mecca before it leaves you. Jets depart daily by the hundreds; whole nations disappear before my eyes. When my turn comes, I go down to the mosque again to say good-bye. This last hajj requirement is called the Farewell Circuit, seven final turns around the Ka’bah. It looks serene, reflected in white marble. Leaving the mosque, I turn back to see it one last time. I catch a bus out of town. Soon we are gliding down the mountain highway, heading back to the airport, leaving behind the city that has called us from so many corners of the Earth. [/color] |
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