Haj: The poetry of prayers
Syed Neaz Ahmad
Choked with emotion, drenched in devotion and drowned in supplication the artistry of a wordsmith fails to capture the beauty of the greatest congregational religious act of worship — the Haj.
I was about 25 when I first performed the Haj. Looking back I was little aware of what was happening within me and around me. I tried to make mental notes of my feelings and experience but I soon realized that even the best of writers would find it very difficult to narrate these events, their experience and their emotions.
Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik . . . is the incessant supplication, preferred greeting and the most repeated chant that Makkah and its environs reverberate with every Dul Qada and Dul Hijjah. As the pilgrims arrive in the Holy city they hear
Nothing but the Talbiya — Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik — the greeting and supplication of every single pilgrim.
When the pilgrims arrive in Makkah they perform many acts of worship. They go round the Kaaba — an act of worship known as tawaf — which symbolizes their gravitation toward the Almighty. They raise their hands and say: "O Allah! I intend to perform tawaf around Your Inviolable House, make it easy for me and accept from me Haj (or 'Umrah). Glory be to Allah."
A Western writer and photographer — who accepted Islam and performed the Haj - describes the sense of unity and harmony that the pilgrims feel while performing the tawaf: Seven times we circled the House, repeating the ritual devotions in Arabic, O Allah from such a distant land I have come unto You. Grant me shelter under Your Throne. Caught up in the whirling scene, lifted by the poetry of prayers, we orbited the House of Allah in accord with the atoms, in harmony with the planets.
After going round he Kaaba seven times the pilgrims, after praying two rakahs of wajib al-tawaf (two units of prayers) near the place known as Maqame Ibrahim (station of Abraham). The stone bearing the footprints of Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is encased in a precious crystal glass with a steel grill and marble base. The pilgrims kiss the Hajr Al-Aswad, the Black stone out of love, reverence and admiration.
Afterward they approach the door of Kaaba and embrace it crying their hearts out and putting their very souls in their supplications.
Later they perform Sa'yie — running and walking between the hills of Safa and Marwah. Apart from some stones both the hills have been leveled and covered with marble slabs now. Chandeliers, air-conditioners and cool Zamzam water along the concourse make the Sa'yie a much easier task for the pilgrims.
At the end of the tawaf and on completion of the Sa'yie the pilgrims drink Zamzam which Allah in His Infinite Mercy had disclosed to Prophet Ibrahim's wife Hajrah. It is said that when Hajrah rushed to the spring she exclaimed Zamzam — an onomatopoeic Babylonian word that denotes the sound of rushing and gushing water.
After Haj, many pilgrims carry back a can or two of Zamzam with them. This is not a part of Haj but the urge to drink and take home some of the water which has been miraculously flowing for over 4,000 years is a practical example of the spirit of Haj.
The Haj is not a new institution which Islam has introduced in its Shariah. This institution is as old as the Kaaba itself which is called in the Qur'an to be the first House of Divine Worship appointed for men.
The ceremony of Haj is commemorative of Prophet Ibrahim and his family's various acts of sacrifice and devotion to Allah. It is mentioned in the Introduction of Sahih Muslim that the Haj is the perfection of faith since it combines in itself all the distinctive qualities of other obligatory acts.
"Down the ages", says professor Phillip K. Hitti, "this institution [of Haj] has continued to serve as the major unifying influence in Islam and the most effective common bond among the diverse believers. It renders almost every capable Muslim perforce a traveler for once in his lifetime. The socializing influence of such a gathering of the brotherhood of believers from the farthest quarters of the earth is hard to overestimate."
Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik . . . is the incessant supplication, preferred greeting and the most repeated chant that Makkah and its environs reverberate with every Dul Qada and Dul Hijjah. As the pilgrims arrive in the Holy city they hear
Nothing but the Talbiya — Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik — the greeting and supplication of every single pilgrim.
When the pilgrims arrive in Makkah they perform many acts of worship. They go round the Kaaba — an act of worship known as tawaf — which symbolizes their gravitation toward the Almighty. They raise their hands and say: "O Allah! I intend to perform tawaf around Your Inviolable House, make it easy for me and accept from me Haj (or 'Umrah). Glory be to Allah."
A Western writer and photographer — who accepted Islam and performed the Haj - describes the sense of unity and harmony that the pilgrims feel while performing the tawaf: Seven times we circled the House, repeating the ritual devotions in Arabic, O Allah from such a distant land I have come unto You. Grant me shelter under Your Throne. Caught up in the whirling scene, lifted by the poetry of prayers, we orbited the House of Allah in accord with the atoms, in harmony with the planets.
After going round he Kaaba seven times the pilgrims, after praying two rakahs of wajib al-tawaf (two units of prayers) near the place known as Maqame Ibrahim (station of Abraham). The stone bearing the footprints of Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is encased in a precious crystal glass with a steel grill and marble base. The pilgrims kiss the Hajr Al-Aswad, the Black stone out of love, reverence and admiration.
Afterward they approach the door of Kaaba and embrace it crying their hearts out and putting their very souls in their supplications.
Later they perform Sa'yie — running and walking between the hills of Safa and Marwah. Apart from some stones both the hills have been leveled and covered with marble slabs now. Chandeliers, air-conditioners and cool Zamzam water along the concourse make the Sa'yie a much easier task for the pilgrims.
At the end of the tawaf and on completion of the Sa'yie the pilgrims drink Zamzam which Allah in His Infinite Mercy had disclosed to Prophet Ibrahim's wife Hajrah. It is said that when Hajrah rushed to the spring she exclaimed Zamzam — an onomatopoeic Babylonian word that denotes the sound of rushing and gushing water.
After Haj, many pilgrims carry back a can or two of Zamzam with them. This is not a part of Haj but the urge to drink and take home some of the water which has been miraculously flowing for over 4,000 years is a practical example of the spirit of Haj.
The Haj is not a new institution which Islam has introduced in its Shariah. This institution is as old as the Kaaba itself which is called in the Qur'an to be the first House of Divine Worship appointed for men.
The ceremony of Haj is commemorative of Prophet Ibrahim and his family's various acts of sacrifice and devotion to Allah. It is mentioned in the Introduction of Sahih Muslim that the Haj is the perfection of faith since it combines in itself all the distinctive qualities of other obligatory acts.
"Down the ages", says professor Phillip K. Hitti, "this institution [of Haj] has continued to serve as the major unifying influence in Islam and the most effective common bond among the diverse believers. It renders almost every capable Muslim perforce a traveler for once in his lifetime. The socializing influence of such a gathering of the brotherhood of believers from the farthest quarters of the earth is hard to overestimate."
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