Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Hajj - The Islamic Pilgrimage

Effects and philosophy of Hajj, stages of Hajj, and a description of specific rites of Hajj

Author(s): Sayyid Muhammad Zia Abadi

Translator(s): Ali Akbar Aghili Ashtiani

Publisher(s): Ansariyan Publications - Qum

Table of Contents

Translators Note6

Introduction 7

Notes10

The Purpose of the Acts of Worship 11

The Islamic piety is not against the principles of everyday life11

Summary 12

Being A Servant of God Is Man’s Dignity 13

Impact of Worship at Soul13

Hajj, A Lively Act14

Hajj of most people is devoid of spirit14

Hajj Devoid of Spirit Has No Living Effects14

Notes14

Social Effects of Hajj15

Hajj, The Assembly Of Dispersed Powers In Single Forum 15

Calling to Hajj Is Calling To Unity of Power15

Hajj, Man’s Ascension To Heaven 16

The Kaaba’s Wonderful Attraction 16

How lovingly pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba16

People’s inclination towards the Kaaba, unusual16

Why should guardians of spirituality be settled in a desert17

What great asset has been given to muslims18

The Kaaba, a security for the survival of human society 18

The Kaaba, a sanctuary and a place of security 18

Ignoring Hajj means dispersion in human society 19

The Prophesy of the Abandonment of the Kaaba and Its Sinister Effects in Traditions19

Hajj, God’s Right To Man and Man’s Gratefulness To Him 19

The true benefactor is God and offering thanks is obligatory 20

God Accept Generously Every Little Deed 20

Thankfulness Benefits Man, Not God 20

Thankfulness To God Makes Man Distinct From Animals20

Call To Worship Is Man’s Dignity 20

Why is an ungrateful man more astray than beasts21

Call to Hajj Is God’s Grace to Man 21

Some of the Wonderful Blessings of Hajj According To Traditions21

Not All Hajj Pilgrims Are Equal in Terms of Reward 22

Why Is the Difference in Reward?22

Hajj Is the Market of the Hereafter22

Hajj Pilgrims Are God’s Guests22

Forsaker of Hajj Is Not Human 24

The Kaaba, Emblem of Islam 26

Hajj Removes Poverty and Social Disobedience26

Ignoring Hajj Leads To Weakness of the Religion and the Unbelievers’ Domination Over Muslims27

No Charity Can Replace Hajj27

Spending A Mountain of Red Gold in the Sake of God Does Not Equal Going On Hajj28

One Dirham Is Better Than Thousands28

Neither Forsake Hajj Nor Dissuade Others28

The blessings of Hajj on all people of the world 29

Where Are the Positive Effects of Hajj On the Ummah?29

The Holy Prophet Worries about Hajj at the End of the World 30

We Have To Confess This Bitter Fact30

The Fault Lies With Us30

Notes31

Spiritual Philosophy of Hajj32

God’s favor to man 32

The King Makes A Palace in A Ruined Village32

Hajj, A Display of Man’s Spiritual Journey 33

The Holy Qur’an has blamed the heedless worshippers33

The Imams; the Truth of the Religion and Religious Duties35

The Imam is the criterion of the belief, ethics, and deeds36

The Imam, the straight path of god 36

Summary 38

Hajj, Spiritual Journey Not Physical Acts38

The Hajj of Prophet Ibrahim (as), A Spiritual One38

Content, Not Form, Is Important39

Read the Following Reports and Get To Know the Feature of A Shiite Muslim40

Note41

What Is the Cause of Skepticism 41

The Skepticism of A Materialist Thirteen Centuries Ago 42

Why Was God’s House Not Built in A Pleasant Area?43

Why Do Hajj Acts Not Please the Intellect and Temperament?44

God’s Trial Is Difficult46

Failure of People of Sabbath in God’s Trial46

Trial of Talut’s Army 46

Another trial of the children of Israel47

Prophet Ibrahim and God’s Strange Trial48

Summary 49

Questions of Practical Laws of Islam 49

Note50

The Aim of Questioning the Philosophy of the Practical Laws of Islam 50

Why Are We in Need For A Divine Revelation?51

What Is Religious Obedience?51

God Is in No Need For Our Obedience53

Notes57

Stages of Hajj58

Beginning of the journey and going through different stages58

Stage One: Pure Intention 58

Stage Two: Repentance58

Stage Three: Detachment From What Is Not Godly 59

Choosing A Co-Traveler59

Good Temperament60

Notes60

Halting Places61

Halting Place 1: Miqat61

Holding of Tongue Important in State of Ihram 62

Halting Place 2: Mataaf63

Imam Baqir (as) by the side of the Kaaba64

Beware, This Is the Precinct of the Kaaba, and A Holy Place64

Survival of the Kaaba, A Wonder65

Importance of the Circumambulation of the Kaaba65

The position of one who has the honor of circumambulation 66

Halting Place 3: Mas’aa67

Halting Place 4: Mount Arafat69

Where Is Arafat?69

Man will not become familiar with God as long as he is attached to the world70

Day of Arafat Is the Day of Supplication To God 71

Duaa Has Its Own Effect71

Beware! Here Is Arafat73

Good Tidings: Imam Mahdi (as) is present in Arafat74

Take the Opportunity For Duaa75

Ask forgiveness for your parents, relatives, and all believers in Arafat77

Now, Supplication To God 78

The Sun in Arafat Is Setting 78

Good Tidings79

Halting Place 5: Al-Mash’ar Al-Haram 80

Restrain Your Anger80

Al-Mash’ar or The Meeting Place of God’s Lovers80

Night, Time of Communion With God 81

Now It Is Night, the Even of Feast of Sacrifice in Al-Mash’ar Al-Haram 82

Reflect For An Hour84

Night in Al-Mash’ar Al-Haram and Reflection 84

The Philosophy of Staying Overnight in Al-Mash’ar84

Praiseworthiness of Picking Up Pebbles in Al-Mash’ar85

Al-Mash’ar Al-Haram, A Sign of Islamic Education 85

Halting Place 6: Mina, the Place of Sacrifice86

Ramy Al-Jamarat in Mina and Its Philosophy 86

Offering Animal Sacrifice in Mina and Its Philosophy 87

Islam Has Two Official Feasts89

Social Aspect of Sacrifice in Mina89

A Living Religion Needs Both Mosque and Sacrifice90

Sacrifice, Existed Among Former Nations91

The Spiritual Philosophy of Offering Sacrifice92

Economic Profits in Sacrifice94

How to use the meat of a sacrificed animal according to the Holy Qur’an and traditions94

Halq and Taqsir in Mina and the Philosophy 95

Summary 97

Staying Overnight in Mina98

Understanding Among the Ummah in Mina98

Nights in Mina and Communion With God 99

Kheif Mosque in Mina101

Halting Place 7: Visitation of the Kaaba and Kissing the Black Stone101

The Black Stone, God’s Hand On the Earth 101

The Black Stone Is of Heavenly Essence and God’s Trustee among Servants102

Note103

All Beings in the World Have Two Features105

Summary 105

Some Notes105

Kissing and Caressing the Black Stone by Causing Inconvenience to Others105

Avoid Dropping Pebbles Round the Kaaba106

Take Part in the Congregational Prayer and Do Not Leave the Mosque106

Do Not Miss the Opportunity of Performing Circumambulation and Prayer in the Sacred Mosque and Reading the Holy Qur’an 107

The Virtue of Prayer in the Sacred Mosque107

The Virtue of Reading the Whole Qur’an in Mecca108

Do Not Miss the Umrah Mufradah 108

Notes110

Conclusion of the Hajj Rites112

People of the Pre-Islamic Era Performed Hajj, Too 112

O Pilgrims of the Sacred House112

Sermon of Man of Letter113

Imam Sajjad’s Comprehensive Reference To the Secrets of Hajj114

Imam Sadiq’s (as) full instruction on Hajj122

An Analogy Between Man’s Life and the Hajj Rites124

Notes127

Visitation 128

Visitation To the Holy Shrine of God’s Messenger128

Love For the Ahl ul-Bayt is Reward of Prophethood 128

Wilayat Makes the Hajj Rites Perfect128

Acceptable Hajj130

Visiting the Prophet’s Tomb 131

Peace Be Upon You, O Messenger of Allah and Upon Your Pure and Immaculate Household133

Souls of True Believers Keep On Living After Death and They Are Aware of All Events133

Dust from Messengers’ footsteps is life-giving 135

Shiites Are in Search of Fatima’s Grave in Medina136

Al-Baqie Cemetery, the Sacred Hall of Audience137

The Martyrs of the Battle of Uhud 137

Conclusion of the Journey 138

Notes140

Translators Note

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In The Name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful

All Praise Is Due To Allah, The Lord of The Worlds. May The Peace And Blessings of Allah Be Upon Muhammad And His Pure Progeny.

This is the third book of its kind I have translated into English for Ansariyan Publications. The other two books are Uddatul Da’i by Allama Hilli and Ethos of Prophets by Taaj Langaroodi.

It is an honor for me to translate a book into English on Hajj, a religious duty that prepares man for his spiritual journey towards God. The present book not only discusses the physical acts of Hajj rites but also elaborates on the spiritual and mystical aspects of this divine ritual, which has greatly impressed mm.

Like a mystic poet who has to go through seven cities of love, namely quest, love, gnosis, detachment, unity, amazement, and finally annihilation in order to become united with the Beloved, the pilgrim of God’s house too has to go though seven stages similar to the seven cities of love in order to be received by God.

This book can serve as a handbook for the pilgrims who wish to have more knowledge about the physical and spiritual aspects of Hajj.

The translation of this book is dedicated to the souls of my parents, Safar ‘Ali Aghili and Roghayyeh Aghili as well as my sister, Ghamar Aghili, may their souls rest in peace forever.

Aghili Ashtiani

Introduction

Praise is due to Allah who made the House a pilgrimage for man and a place of security. Greetings of Allah be upon Muhammad; the chosen messenger whom Allah has sent as witness, bearer of good tidings, warner, and to “call people to Allah, with His permission, and the bright lamp.” And greetings be upon the members of his household from whom Allah kept away the uncleanness and purified a thorough purifying.

In this materialistic world, man’s spiritual assets are being plundered. The sublime spiritual virtues, being the only source of man’s dignity and a criterion for humanity, have lost their values and are gradually being removed from man’s life. A beastly atmosphere is turning the world into a quagmire.

The freedom-fighting and hearty human beings are naturally living in depression under such circumstances. Like taking breath in a polluted environment, living has become painful for them. Hence, they are always looking for a chance to hear a heavenly and divine call amidst the mammonists’ yellings so that it will remove fatigue from their lives and depression from their hearts, take them to a world above this boring one, and satiate them with the elixir of affinity with God, prophets, and saints. That is the call of the Hajj pilgrimage and the call of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) (as)1 , which generates much enthusiasm in the ummah -Muslim community- with the coming of the Hajj rites.

Enthusiasm in the hearts and spirits of the believers who rush to the Kaaba2 - the House of their Beloved, fills Mecca’s plain and mountain with Labbayk Allahumma labbayk (Yes, here I am, O Lord, here I am). Bare-footed, they shed off all worldly attachments and signs of distinction, reach for the House of their Beloved, embrace it, circumambulate it, voice their love from the bottom of their hearts, confide their grievances with God, hear the soothing answer of the Lord of the House, and return home with a spiritual joy.

The Kaaba is truly a spiritual sanctuary for human society in this stormy world. Those believers who have been fed up with the automated life and the wearisome account of mammonists’ profit and loss, those who are desperate for a happy life for themselves and others, by seeking refuge in the Kaaba, will find such tranquility that all problems will be made easy for them. With their heart at rest and an expanded breast as a result of relying on God’s imperishable power, the unleveled paths of life will become smooth for them, hence, they are prepared for fighting the hardships and creating an ideal life for human beings.

Nevertheless, attaining the life-giving impact of religious acts in general and the Hajj rite in particular depends on full attention to the philosophy of these great heavenly instructions, or an act devoid of spirit will evidently not yield any sublime socio-humane result. Perhaps one can assert that the main reason we, Muslims, are deprived of the effects of our religious instruction is lack of attention to the spirit of divine laws.

We are only content with their external forms. We notice that certain Muslims go to perform Hajj and Umrah. They know the Hajj rites very well but, amazingly, there is neither revolution in them in terms of evolution of spirit and connection with God nor have they been disciplined from the viewpoint of social relations and rights of human beings.

In the same way, they are deprived of spiritual effects of such other religious acts as prayer, fasting, visiting the holy shrines, mourning for Imam Husayn (as) and holding sessions or learning the Holy Qur’an and other religious rites.

Having the greatest intellectual and spiritual assets, this deprivation of sublime human virtues is regrettable, for it has no justification other than failing to know the truth of Islam and the spirit of the Qur’anic teachings. It is regrettable to see that Muslims work hard to learn about issues related to prayer, the rules of reciting the Holy Qur’an but fail to learn about the spirit of prayer and the aim behind this divine injunction to nourish their soul in the light of those injunctions, to make their heart turn into a mirror to reflect God’s manifestations and to purify their individual and social life from the filth of all vices thanks to prayer.

It is seen that Muslims perform prayer, take part in congregational prayers, invoke, and supplicate, but remembrance of and spiritual attention to God and abstinence from indecency and evil, which are the ultimate goal of prayer, are missing in most worshippers. The prayer of most people is mixed with wrongdoing and is not different from ignoring God and not praying attention to Him. This is because we have failed to understand the ultimate goal of prayer as part of our religious program. Rather, we consider the ritual prayer and its external form as criterion for being religious.

The same detrimental negligence is seen in Hajj pilgrimage but more conspicuously. Those who intend to go on Hajj pilgrimage do not forget to take with them the smallest things they may need during the trip nor fail to learn some of the rites related to the state of Ihram,3 Tawaf,4 Sa’y5 and Ramy.6 Nevertheless, they are so ignorant of the spirit of Hajj and the ultimate goal of this divine journey that they will never discuss with anyone nor consider it as default.

Getting to know that truth and materializing those objectives in their hearts and on the scene of action is not part of the Hajj rites. The only thing the performer of Hajj has been asked to do seems to be to wrap himself in two pieces of cloth, to say Labbayk,7 to go round the House, to walk between Safa and Marwa, to shave his head, to offer sacrifices, to throw pebbles at Satan, and to return home with trunks filled with gifts! It is for this reason that among those who have performed Hajj Umrah and those having visited the shrines of the Holy Prophet (saw)8 and the Imams (as), many deviations, impious acts, and undisciplined behavior, which have no conformity with the spirit of Hajj rites, are seen. It therefore becomes evident that most of those who have gone to Mecca have failed to understand the spirit of Hajj and the aim behind it. Hence, they are engaged in contradictory acts.

We, Muslims, are duty-bound to submit ourselves to the sublime Qur’anic teachings and try to comprehend the humane objectives of those wise and heavenly injunctions far more than the externals of religion. Elaborating on the sublime objectives of the Hajj rites, Imam Sajjad (as) while meeting a man who had performed Hajj rites posed the following questions:

Were you thinking of abandoning sin and living a pious life until the end of your life when you got into the state of Ihram and saying Labbayk?

Did you pay attention to the aim of the act you were doing?

Were you such and such in Tawaf, Wuquf, al-Mashar, Ramy, and Mina while you were shaving your head and offering a sacrifice?

The man’s answer was ‘No’. Then the Imam (as) said:

Since you have not performed those acts to materialize their objectives, actually you have not performed Hajj, that is to say, the results of the Hajj rites have not been obtained. In this case, you neither reached Mina, nor did you throw these pebbles on Satan, nor did you shave your head, nor did you perform the rituals of the Hajj, nor did you offer prayer in Kheif Mosque, nor did you perform Tawaf al-Ifadha, nor did you offer sacrifice for the Lord. Go back, you did not perform Hajj.”9

Therefore, every Muslim who intends to go on Hajj is duty-bound to pay full attention to its inner objectives in addition to learning about the externals of this great religious duty according to the jurisprudents’ -fuqaha- decrees found in practical laws of Islam -Risala-, so that the visitation of God will leave an indelible impression on his hear that has turned into God’s House and a center for His remembrance.

In this relation, the Holy Qur’an says:

فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمْ مَنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا فَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَاقٍ

“So when you have performed your devotions, then laud Allah as you lauded your fathers, rather a greater lauding. (2:200)”

This book, which consists of quotations from the Holy Qur’an, the hadihs of the Holy Prophet and the immaculate Imams (as), the decrees of the religious authorities as well as my own opinion on Hajj, is dedicated to Imam Mahdi (may Allah expedite his reappearance).

Sayyid Muhammad Zia Abadi

Notes

1. (as) stands for ‘peace be upon him/her/them’

2. The Kaaba is the square-shaped building in the centre of the Great Mosque in Mecca, in the direction of which Muslims must face in doing the obligatory prayer.

3. Ihram, being one of the rites of Hajj, is (1)The sacred state into which a Muslim must enter before performing a pilgrimage (Hajj), during which sexual intercourse, shaving, cutting one's nails, and several other actions are forbidden, and, (2) the costume worn by a Muslim in this state, consisting of two lengths of seamless usu. white fabric, one worn about the hips, the other over the shoulders or sometimes only over the left shoulder.

4. Tawaf, being one of the rites of Hajj, is the circumambulation of the Kaaba - the Holy House of God.

5. Sa’y, being one of the rites of Hajj, is the running between Mount Safa and Mount Marwa.

6. Ramy, being one of the rites of Hajj, is throwing seven stones, thrice, on an emblem representing Satan.

7. Labbayk -or Labbaykah- is the talbiya -one of the pillars of the Hajj- the obligation of which is a matter very much discussed by the ulema, yet they did not reach consensus. Labbayk, however, means: Here I am at your service.

8. (saw) stands for ‘peace be upon him and his family’

9. See Mustadrak al-Wasaail; vol. 2 p.186, Section 17, Hadith 5