Tag: bakkah

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New Muslims Pilgrimage

A Brief Guide to Hajj (EDC Video)

Islam organizes the spiritual and moral life of man as well as the practical in order to live a normal balanced life. Every act of worship in Islam has a meaning, a purpose and a significance, and of great spiritual, moral, and physical benefits.

Hajj, one of the five main pillars of Islam, gives a specific and practical example of acts of worship in Islam. A rich spiritual experience, Hajj has a great message and lessons for the benefit and wellbeing of man and all humanity, resulting in spiritual and behavioral development in the life of a Muslim.

Hajj is a life-time journey; if conducted properly, it will erase all sins of the pilgrim. So, every Muslim intending to undertake this journey should first learn well its rituals and how to perform them correctly.

The E-Da`wah Committee (EDC) is pleased to present this brief guide to Hajj for those intending to make this life-time journey.

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Categories
New Muslims Pilgrimage

Guideposts on the Hajj Route

By Dr. Atiyah Al-Weeshy

Guideposts on the Hajj Route

Hajj is one of the most pious acts which a person does in order to gain the pleasure of God.

For the intention of making hajj (pilgrimage) to germinate among the ribs of a believer, one is required to do much more than what is commonly done by tourists, including viewing plain ancient monuments or visiting places with origins and memories steeped in history, which may fill them with astonishment and admiration.

Rather, the experience outstrips those phenomena, going to the heart of the values of worship and the spiritual and sentimental impressions mingled with the blessing of God, the Almighty, which provide a Muslim with the spiritual provisions one needs for an immaculate, free, noble life.

Hajj is one of the pillars of Islam and an act of worship which God legislated for His servants. Also, it is one of the most pious acts which a person does in order to gain the pleasure of God.

However, most of those who can afford hajj often fail to meditate on, understand and comprehend the brilliant indications and denotations of that great rite. They may even overlook the purposes and the objectives for which this rite is legislated.

How many people wasted their money and endured travel hardship without getting sufficient reward for their hajj journey!

Therefore, we will spotlight some guideposts on the blessed hajj journey whereby the pilgrims may hopefully beware of slips and deviations and accomplish their chief purpose of this honorable rite.

First: Physical Ability

We mean by “physical ability” having lawful, legitimate money free from suspicion and ill-gotten gain. God is good and accepts only good things. In the Qur’an, God says:

And (due) to God from the people is a pilgrimage to the House – for whoever is able to find thereto a way. (Aal `Imran 3:97)

The income of usury, invalid transactions, gambling, and trafficking is not good gain which one may intend for God. ‘Ability’ cannot be based on a burden resulting from a debt, pledge or the like.

To conclude, self-restraint should be exercised to seek lawful gain for everything one is going to set out in one’s day-to-day life, considering that this worldly life is a farm for the Hereafter. In the Qur’an, God says:

But seek, through that which God has given you, the home of the Hereafter (Al-Qasas 28:77)

This worldly life may be likened to a journey man starts with a diaper and ends with an unsewn shroud, which resembles the hajj clothes in denotation and indication and amazes and reminds minds and hearts of death and the Hereafter. This requires a Muslim to exercise self-discipline and reconcile all of one’s conditions in such a way which pleases God.

Second: Sincere Repentance

Sincere repentance reflects the extent to which a Muslim understands the nature of the hajj rites and feels their deep values and considerable magnitude. However, there are some people who go on hajj while their hearts have yet to give up evil habits, negative qualities or bad characteristics. They make hajj while overburdened with people’s due rights and shouldered with such grievances which hinder them from having such accepted hajj that people hope for.

While repentance is obligatory at all times, it is more obligatory when making hajj. The Muslim going to be entertained as a guest of God is more required to lay down burdens so that one’s heart will not cherish anything which may affect one’s self-purity, pleasant connection or dignified meeting with God.

Repentance can be sincere only if fulfills its three conditions: giving up, regretting, and resolving not to return to sin. If any such sin is related to a right due to a human being, the acceptance of this repentance is conditional upon, along with the above three conditions, returning any such right to its recipient or asking the latter to absolve one from this right.

Third: Sincere Intention

A pilgrim must have a sincere intention when setting out on the journey to the holy sanctuary of God. The most graceful thing to be imparted by such a blessed outset is giving precedence for God by curbing the appetite for money whose collection often engrosses a good deal of man’s effort, health and lifetime.

Intention is the criterion for accepting or not accepting good deeds. Prophet Muhammad said: “Deeds are considered by intentions, and a person will get reward according to one’s intention behind.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Accordingly, the one who makes hajj for showoff, reputation, fame and honorary titles will not have one’s hajj accepted and for which one will not get reward from God.

In the Qur’an, God says:

Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornments – We fully repay them for their deeds therein, and they therein will not be deprived. Those are the ones for whom there is not in the Hereafter but the Fire. And lost is what they did therein, and worthless is what they used to do. (Hud 11:15-16)

Sincere intention in hajj, and thereby seeking the pleasure of God, is one of the determinants of the correct destination of the pilgrims’ organs, especially heart, apart from fancy, hypocrisy and polytheism. It rather necessarily motivates a pilgrim to turn from such distractions towards the side of God when going through the hajj rites.

Fourth: Detachment from Worldly Life

There is moral likeness and pedagogical similarity between the preliminaries and circumstances of hajj and those of death, which inspires imitation in terms of some arrangements and practices in both phenomena.

Therefore, a person detaches himself from this worldly life when one puts off one’s usual worldly clothes for getting into the state of ritual consecration (Ihram). By so doing, a pilgrim consecrates himself both physically and morally.

Consequently, a pilgrim should not be attached to, occupied with, pity or bemoan this worldly life in such a way which diverts one from the hajj blessings and benedictions. In the Qur’an, God says:

That (is so). And whoever honors the symbols of God – indeed, it is from the piety of hearts. (Al-Hajj 22:31)

Thus, discarding this worldly life in such honorable settings is legally desirable and commendable, so that man can hover in the divine space with all tranquility and peace of mind.

There are some measures which a Muslim should adopt upon detachment from this worldly life as follows:

  • Discharge from the moral rights of the others; grievances should be redressed, disputes and wrangles should be settled, and people’s pardon and forgiveness, especially parents, should be sought by obeying them, seeking their pleasure and satisfaction, and asking them to pray for the acceptance and facilitation of one’s hajj.
  • Paying debts, returning deposits, writing down and attesting the legal will; a pilgrim is recommended to advise one’s family and children to have fear of and abide by the guidance of God.

Fifth: Journey Provisions and Companionship

The mere material provisions are not intended. I rather mean such devotional tributary which provides the traveler to God with safety inspirations, good intentions and pious acts so that one will satisfy one’s burning desire and reach one’s destination. In the Qur’an, God says:

And take provisions, but indeed, the best provision is fear of God. And fear Me, O you of understanding. (Al-Baqarah 2:197)

Needless to say, the fear of God in this context is worthy of being taken into consideration given the fact that a number of pilgrims neglects one’s copy of the Qur’an, forgets the remembrance of God, supplication and meditation on the blessings of God all around, and does not occupy himself with receiving exhortation or seeking the forgiveness of God.

They rather turn to illegal sources of amusement and entertainment which, they think, may alleviate the hardship of travel. That is why they bring bawdy song tapes, not to mention ringing tambourines and the other means of amusement, including tobacco smoking, khat (Catha edulis) chewing and other practices deemed disgraceful, and improper on such a blessed, divine journey.

A pilgrim should get close to God by having such good travel companionship which helps one obey God and keeps one far away from clamor, backbiting, contention, disobedience, dispute etc.

“Choose the companion before the road to take” is a saying which should be taken into consideration in the context of a journey whose goodness and blessings may not be available twice in a Muslim’s lifetime.

Good company strengthens the determination to do good, alleviates loneliness and urges the traveler to increase one’s otherworldly provisions.

An old Arab poet once said:

Do you agree to accompany some people who have (otherworldly) provisions, while you have not?

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The article is translated from Arabic by Editorial Staff.

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Categories
Divine Unity New Muslims

A God, A Place, and A Prophet

A God, A Place, and A Prophet

Abraham is the insistent, continuous expression of pure monotheism, of human consciousness’s adherence to the divine project through self-giving.

Islamic monotheism has always stood in continuity with the sacred history of prophethood. From the beginning, the One God sent humankind prophets and messengers entrusted with the message, the reminder of His presence, His commands, His love, and His hope.

From Adam, the first prophet, to Muhammad, the Last Messenger, Muslim tradition recognizes and identifies with the whole cycle of prophethood, ranging from the most famous messengers (Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus, etc.) to the lesser known, as well as others who remain unknown to us. The One has forever been accompanying us, His creation, from our beginnings to our end.

This is the very meaning of tawheed (the Oneness of God) and of the Qur’anic formula that refers to humankind’s destiny as well as to that of each individual: “To God we belong and to Him we return.”

A Lineage, a Place

Of all messengers, the most important figure in the Last Prophet’s lineage is undoubtedly Abraham (peace be upon him). There are many reasons for this, but from the outset, the Qur’an points to this particular link with Abraham through the insistent and continuous expression of pure monotheism, of human consciousness’s adherence to the divine project, of the heart’s access to His recognition and to His peace through self-giving.

This is the meaning of the word Islam, which is too often translated quickly by the mere idea of submission but which also contains the twofold meaning of “peace” and “wholehearted self-giving”.

Thus a Muslim is a human being who, throughout history-and even before the last Revelation-has wished attain God’s peace through the wholehearted gift of him- or herself to the Being. In this sense, Abraham was the deep and exemplary expression of the Muslim:

He (God) has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the cult of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this (Revelation); that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind! (Al-Hajj 22:78)

In God’s Scriptures

Along with this recognition of the One, the figure of Abraham stands out most particularly among the line of prophets leading up to the Messenger of Islam for several other reasons.

The book of Genesis, like the Qur’an, relates the Story of Abraham’s servant Hagar, who gave birth to his first child, Ishmael, in his old age. (Genesis, 15:5 (Revised Standard Version)

Sarah, Abraham’s first wife, who in turn gave birth to Isaac, asked her husband to send away his servant and her child.

Abraham took Hagar and Ishmael away to a valley in the Arabian Peninsula called Bakkah, which Islamic tradition identifies as present-day Mecca.

The Islamic account, like Genesis, relates the questionings, suffering, and prayers of Abraham and Hagar, who were compelled to experience exile and separation. In both the Muslim and Judeo-Christian traditions, this trial is recounted with the certainty and intimate comfort that the parents and child were carrying out a command from God, who will protect and bless Abraham’s descendants born of Hagar. To Abraham’s invocations about his son, God answers in Genesis:

“As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him … and I will make him a great nation.” (Genesis, 17:20)

Then further on, when Hagar is helpless and without food and water:

“And God heard the voice of the child, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the child where he is. Arise, lift up the child, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make him a great nation.” (Genesis, 21:17-19)

As for the Qur’an, it relates Abraham’s prayer:

“O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without cultivation, by Your Sacred House; in order, O our Lord, that they may establish regular Prayer: so fill the hearts of some among men with love towards them, and feed them with fruits: so that they may give thanks. O our Lord! truly do know what we conceal and what we reveal: for nothing whatever is hidden from Allah, whether on earth or in heaven. Praise be to Allah, Who has granted unto me in old age Isma`il and Isaac: for truly my Lord is He, the Hearer of Prayer! (Ibrahim 14:37-39)

Great Nation

On a purely factual level, the Prophet Muhammad is a descendant of Ishmael’s children and is therefore part of that “great nation” announced by the Scriptures.

Abraham is hence his “father” in the primary sense, and Islamic tradition understands that the blessings of this father’s prayers extend to his descendant the Last Prophet as well as to the place where he left Hagar and Ishmael, where, a few years later, he was to undergo the terrible trial of his son’s sacrifice, and where he was finally to raise with him God’s sacred House (the Ka`bah). Qur’anic Revelation recounts:

And remember that Abraham was tried by his Lord with certain commands, which he fulfilled: He said: “I will make thee an Imam to the Nations.” He pleaded: “And also (Imams) from my offspring!” He answered: “But My Promise is not within the reach of evil-doers.” 

Remember We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Isma`il, that they should sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or use it as a retreat, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer).

And when Abraham prayed: My Lord! Make this a region of security and bestow upon its people fruits, such of them as believe in Allah and the Last Day. (Al-Baqarah 2:124-126)

This is the millenary teaching of Islamic tradition: there is a God and a line of prophets whose central figure is Abraham, the archetype of the Muslim, the blood father of this lineage of Ishmael leading up to Muhammad.

Abraham and Ishmael sanctified this place in Bakkah (Mecca) by building God’s House (bayt Allah) with their own hands. And this is precisely where the last of God’s messengers to humankind was born: Muhammad ibn `Abdullah, who bore the message reminding people of the One, of the prophets, and of the sacred House. A God, a place, a prophet.

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The article is an excerpt from Dr. Tariq Ramadan’s book “In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press (2007).

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Categories
ABC's of Islam New Muslims

First Muslim Community in Madinah & the Groundwork for Hijrah

It was 620, a year after the deaths of Muhammad’s wife, Khadijah, and his uncle Abu Talib, and the time of the yearly pilgrimage to the Ka`bah and Makkah’s annual market period was drawing near. Muhammad (peace be upon him) was still dispensing his teachings in a climate of rejection, exclusion, and persecution.

Toward Exile

About a hundred Muslims now lived under protection in Abyssinia, but no solution seemed to present itself for the faithful who lived in Makkah.

The pilgrims, coming from all areas of the peninsula, started to settle in the Mina area, to remain there throughout the festival period. Muhammad often went there and conveyed his message to women and men who, in their distant dwelling places, had heard about it but did not know its actual contents. He was far from always receiving a favorable response.

At Al-`Aqabah, not far from Mina, the Prophet met a group of people from Yathrib. They were from the Khazraj tribe, one of the two great rival tribes in Yathrib (the other being the Aws), and he began to deliver his message to them. They had already heard of the message from the Jewish tribes who lived in their city, and they wished to know more about it. They listened to the Prophet and eventually accepted the message of Islam: they promised to inform the members of their tribe of the substance of the message and to keep in permanent contact with the Prophet. They went back home and started preaching in Yathrib.

In Makkah, conversions kept increasing, and Muhammad carried on with his public call. As far as his private life was concerned, many advised him to think of remarrying. Proposals had been made, but the Prophet had never pursued the matter. He had, however, had two dreams in which the very young `Aa’ishah, Abu Bakr’s daughter, who was then six years old, was offered to him in marriage.

When Khawlah, who had taken care of the Prophet’s needs since Khadijah’s death, advised him to remarry and suggested two names-Sawdah, a widow in her thirties who had very recently come back from Abyssinia, and `Aa’ishah, Abu Bakr’s daughter- Muhammad saw in this strange coincidence a sign of the truthfulness of his dreams, and he asked Khawlah to do what was necessary to find out whether the two unions were possible.

Polygamy was the norm in Arabia then, and the Prophet’s situation was the exception, since he had remained monogamous for twenty-five rears. The union with Sawdah was particularly easy to concretize: Sawdah immediately, and most favorably, answered the proposal made to her, and they married a few months later.

`Aa’ishah had already, in keeping with Arabian customs, been promised by Abu Bakr to Mutim’s son, and her father had to negotiate with Mutim in order to break the engagement. `Aa’shah then officially became Muhammad’s second wife, though the union would not be consummated for several years.

A year later, pilgrims and traders were again flocking to Makkah for the celebrations of 621. A second meeting was organized at Al-`Aqabah between the Prophet and the Yathrib delegation that had come to report on the evolution of the situation in their city. Twelve people from Yathrib, two of whom belonged to the Aws clan, took part in the meeting. They pledged allegiance to the Prophet, stipulating that they would worship only the One God, no others, and that they would honor the duties and interdictions of Islam.

They were therefore to constitute the first Muslim community in Yathrib. Muhammad sent back with them a Companion, Mus`ab ibn `Umayr, who had just returned from Abyssinia and who was known for his calm, his wisdom, and tile beauty of his recitation of the Qur’an.

Message of Brotherhood

Back in Yathrib, the delegation kept spreading the message and Mus`ab taught Islam, recited the Qur’an, and answered questions. In spite of age-old and still very sharp divisions between the Aws and Khazraj, members of both tribes converted to the new religion and realized that their former rivalries had become pointless: ’Islam’s message of brotherhood united them.

Clan chiefs nevertheless remained very reluctant to embrace Islam. Mus`ab never reacted to their attacks nor to their aggressive attitude; rather, he invariably answered: “Sit down and listen to the message: if you like it, accept it, if you do not, leave it.” As a result, the number of conversions was high, even among leaders.

During the following year’s pilgrimage, the Prophet met an important delegation of Yathrib. Muslims, composed of seventy-three people, two of them women. They belonged to both me Aws and the Khazraj, and they had come to bring the Prophet the good news of their commitment to Islam. After a few discussions about the nature of their future relationship, they concluded a second covenant stipulating that the Yathrib.

Muslims pledged to protect the Prophet, as well as Makkah’s Muslim women and children, against any aggression. This second covenant, granting refuge and protection and a commitment of Yathrib Muslims to support their Makkan brothers, opened before the Prophet the prospect of a promising future.

From then on, Muhammad encouraged Muslims to emigrate to Yathrib discreetly, while his closest Companions still remained by his side.

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The article is an excerpt from Dr. Tariq Ramadan’s In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad, Oxford University Press (2007).

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