Hajj is fundamental to Islamic worship and is one of the five basic pillars of Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon Him) Said:
“Islam is based on five things. The testimony that there is no god but Allah and the testimony that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah and establish prayer, pay Zakat, fast the month of Ramadan, and perform Hajj to the House of Allah.
This act of Hajj has a great reward. It is narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon Him) was asked: Which deed is better? He said: Belief in Allah and His Messenger. Asked: After that? He said: Jihad in the way of Allah. Asked: After that? He said: All the requirements of the Hajj which has been performed have been fulfilled.
The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) once said to people:
“O people, Allah has made Hajj obligatory upon you. Therefore, perform Hajj. Whoever performs Hajj for the sake of Allah, then does not commit any obscenity or commit sin, then he will come out of his sins in this way. Like the day he was born (sinless) when his mother gave birth to him. And after one Umrah, the other Umrah is the expiation for the sins in between, and the Hajj in which all the requirements have been fulfilled, the reward for it, is necessarily Paradise.
The Qur’an has re-established this worship of the Abrahamic nation in its proper way.
“There are clear signs and the standing-place of Abraham. Whoever enters it is safe. And for the sake of Allah, the Hajj of the House of Allah is obligatory on the people, if they can afford it. And whoever disbelieves, then surely Allah is Independent of the world.
This aspect of the verse is also highlighted in this hadeeth, in which the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) warns those who do not perform Hajj, even though there is nothing to prevent it:
It was narrated on the authority of Abu Amma that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: He who is not prevented from Hajj by a great need, by an oppressive ruler, or by a debilitating disease, and he dies without performing Hajj. Then it is all the same whether he dies as a Jew or a Christian. ”
This hadith, in the light of the Qur’an, calls the disregard of Hajj and the rites of Hajj by the Muslims as an act of the Jews and Christians, which a Muslim, unconsciously, adopts.
The reality of Hajj
If we consider religion in the light of the Qur’an, the fact becomes clear that the main purpose of religion is self-purification. There are four aspects of Nafs. One aspect is the animal existence of Nafs, the other aspect is rational existence, the third is spiritual existence and the fourth aspect is its moral existence. 1- This worship of Hajj is a means of purification of one’s spiritual being.
There are four bases of the human soul’s relationship with God Almighty. The first basis is (Zikar). That is, to keep one’s heart occupied with the remembrance of Allah Almighty. The second basis is fidelity, that is, on the Day of Judgment, the fulfillment of the covenant of devotion and obedience made with him, and adapting one’s life to the commands of Allah. The Qur’an has also interpreted it in another place with the word ‘bur’. The third basis is piety. For this, the words ‘Khashit’, ‘Akhbat’, and ‘Qunut’ also appear in the Qur’an. This means that the servant should fear the grip of Allah Almighty and His wrath and try to avoid this end. What is mentioned in the Qur’an is those against whom God will be angry. And the fourth basis is love. This is the basis that motivates the believer to help and support the religion and makes him proud in the matter of religion. It is dedicated to him with the spirit that he should uphold the word of Allah.
Zakat
Zakat is a symbol of fidelity. That means he (Momin) spends his wealth in the way of God and spends it in such a way that even his beloved is willing to give it to others for the pleasure and good pleasure of God and this attitude can only be adopted by a faithful person.
Fasting
For the sake of piety, one month of fasting is prescribed once a year. Apart from these, there are also supererogatory fasts. Fasting teaches the human being to be pious and this is the basis of piety.
Jihad
The manifestation of love is the ultimate jihad, in which a believing servant prepares to fight for the religion of his Lord, even if he has to sacrifice his life for the sake of Allah.
Importance of Hajj
Hajj is a combination of all these acts of worship. It has accumulated the basic principles of all acts of worship. The Kaaba is the center of our prayers. It is the first mosque built for this purpose. In the Qur’an, Allah Almighty says: I settled Ibrahim and his descendants in Makkah to keep my house clean for those who circumambulate, stay and bow. For Hajj, the same house is intended. The purpose of prayer is stated in the Qur’an as ‘remembrance of Allah’ and Tawaf is a form of prayer which is performed only in the presence of the Kaaba.
Zakat is the worship of spending in the way of God. Whatever a person spends in arranging Hajj and its aftermath is a satisfaction of the same spirit, but the common man can afford to meet the expenses of Hajj only by reducing his daily expenses. In that sense, it is possible to have an even greater sense of generosity. The purpose of fasting is to cultivate piety. It is the worship of moving towards Allah, giving up worldly desires, and attaching oneself to Allah. Hajj fulfills this purpose perfectly. The man arranges the expenses of Hajj by stopping his needs and leaving his affairs and area and setting out for the house of Allah. In the same way, the worship of Hijrah and Jihad is the name of the spirit of getting out of the life of disobedience and becoming active in the way of God. Even in Hajj, a person leaves home for the sake of his Lord and during the days of Hajj, like a Mujahid, he sometimes goes through the stages of the encampment and sometimes travels and endures the difficulties that occur in them.
If we look at the contents of Hajj, the fact becomes clear that Hajj is a comprehensive act of worship. Wearing ihram is a sign that we have severed our ties with the world and given up worldly affairs. The same thing is evident from ihram that we have given up the life of adornment and have come before God wearing the piece of cloth in which the dead are taken down to the grave. Then the Talbiyah, which expresses the glorious spirit of our presence before God and in which we give thanks for His blessings:
It should be clear here that the spirit of gratitude is fundamental in all aspects of the relationship with God. As soon as one enters ihram, it is as if a state of fasting is created. Gender relationship is forbidden. In general, the human soul is affected, they are blocked. Where the Qur’an describes the etiquette of Hajj, it has made the same thing the subject.
There are certain months of Hajj, so whoever commits to Hajj, it is obligatory for him not to speak obscenely, not to commit sins, and not to fight. Allah is Aware of what you do. Take the path of (taqwa), the best path is taqwa. Therefore keep your duty unto Me, O men of understanding.
Disobedience to God, sexual talk, and fighting are the means by which Satan can succeed in misleading man. These are the three things that Satan encourages. Allah has stopped the pilgrims from them. All avenues of Satan’s intrusion have been closed. The condition that befalls a servant by fasting is the same as that which befalls a pilgrim after he enters ihram. Just as he feels that he is fasting, Therefore, he has to avoid the words of lust, not even go near food and drink and abstain from sins, in the same way, ihram keeps the pilgrim busy with the feeling that he is performing Hajj and he should not go near evils. And just as a fasting person gets nothing but hunger and thirst if he does not observe the etiquette of fasting, so a pilgrim can ruin all his efforts due to his words of sin.
Sa’i, Nusrat is a symbol of the spirit of religion. Its figure is the personality of Hazrat Ibrahim (as). When he took his son to the altar to sacrifice, he turned the sacrifice between Safa and Marwah. This is their practice, which has become a part of Hajj in the form of Sa’i.
Shaving the head was a symbol of slavery in ancient times. When a person became someone’s slave, his head was shaved. The pilgrim shaves his head and adorns the sign of the Lord of slavery.
Then, the waqf of Arafat is, in fact, to place oneself before God. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) established the tradition in it that after the sermon and the afternoon prayers, he turned to the west and stood. He kept on praying till the sunset. During this time, the believer remembers his sins, asks for forgiveness, and asks for prayers.
In Muzdalifah, although the waqf is shorter than that of Arafat, the journey between Arafat and Muzdalifah becomes a symbol of the journey of jihad in a spiritual sense. They stopped at one place, encamped, then left for the next destination. During this time, prayers are also shortened due to their resemblance to jihad.
Pebbles are a symbol of competition with God’s enemies. In this way, the believing servant expresses the spirit of jihad against the enemies of God.
Sacrifice is the last aspect of jihad, in which sacrificing one’s life in jihad is symbolically offered in the form of sacrifice in Hajj. The believer makes the sacrifice with the spirit that pleases God.
A few precautions
The real purpose of a pilgrim’s Hajj should be to please his God. In the Qur’an, the Almighty says:
وَاَتِمُّوا الْحَجَّ وَالْعُمۃرَۃَ لِلّٰهِ. (Al-Baqarah 2: 1)
“And perform Hajj and Umrah only for Allah.”
The Quraysh had made the Kaaba, the main center of Hajj, a place of polytheism and idolatry. They had placed idols inside the Kaaba. Similarly, idols were also hung on the hills of Safa and Marwa. He then made Hajj a source of his commercial interests and for this, he invented the method of ‘nasi’ and arranged to bring Hajj in always favorable weather. In this verse, Allah Almighty has emphasized to the Muslims that their intention should not be to please others other than God, nor should they intend to reap the commercial benefits of this journey. Their only purpose should be nearness to Allah Almighty and His pleasure.
The second thing is to avoid lust. In Hajj, since there are no normal restrictions on the veil, there is a fear that the person will lose sight. Then, whatever is banned, the urge for it increases and Satan tries his best to take advantage of this weakness of man. Therefore, the pilgrim must leave the house with the firm determination that he has to avoid every small and big evil, in any case. In this case, women should be especially careful and choose the time to attend, in which the fear of confrontation with men is minimal.
In addition to respecting the limits of God, respect for the sanctuary should also be taken into consideration. Not making the necessary arrangements for the veil, then above all not drinking the water of men and women and not taking care of the veil while using it, are all things that are against the sanctity of the sanctuary and a Muslim. This should be avoided at all costs.
Some things to correct
There are some misconceptions about the rituals of Hajj. Some of them have the status of innovations, so we must warn our readers about them so that Hajj can be performed according to the Sunnah.
During Tawaf, the pilgrim can ask for whatever prayer he wants. There is no specific prayer for this. Similarly, at the beginning of the sa’i, the same prayer should be recited, which the Holy Prophet has taught. These words of supplication are recited while standing on the qiblah after climbing the Safa hill:
In Arafat, some people do not offer short prayers. Since, according to the Sunnah, only short prayers are offered there, therefore, those who do not want to shorten their prayers, offer their separate prayers. This is completely wrong. The argument that short prayers are offered here due to travel is also not correct. The fact is that this part of Hajj is similar to Jihad and because of its similarity to Jihad, the prayers here are shortened. Therefore, it is necessary for the pilgrim to offer short prayers with the Imam. In the same way, only short prayers will be offered in Muzdalifah. It has also become a common misconception about the night of Muzdalifah that one should wake up and worship as much as possible. On the contrary, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) After reciting Isha, fell asleep and got up in the morning and offered Fajr prayers.
In Mina, people usually leave after staying for two days. Although this leave has been given, it is better to stay for three days. Not everyone, so some people must follow this Sunnah, while in terms of reward, three days stay is very important.
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