Hajj is a congregational act of worship. Muslims from around the world gather at Makkah to perform the pilgrimage. The Hajj rite begins on the 7th day of Dhul Hijjah and ends on the 12th day. Every year, approximately two million individuals take part in this worship. The pilgrimage serves as a unifying platform that brings Muslims from different nations together in a religious gathering, fostering a profound sense of unity within the Islamic community. Their God is one and their Prophet is one. Hajj is a profound demonstration of unity and solidarity.
The pilgrimage of Hajj is a sacred journey towards God. It represents the highest level of closeness to one’s Lord in this worldly life. While other forms of worship serve as a means of remembering God, however, Hajj is a means of attaining proximity to God. If other forms of worship are the worship of God at the level of the unseen, then Hajj is the worship of God at the level of the Seen (shuhood). Hajj is a divine encounter: It is a meeting with the Almighty. When a person embarks on the pilgrimage and reaches the sacred destinations of Hajj, he experiences extraordinary divine feelings. It is as if he has left behind his own world and entered into the realm of God. While performing the Tawaf, he feels a profound connection with his Lord. He hastens towards Him with great zeal. He undertakes the journey solely for His sake. He offers his sacrifices in His presence. He symbolically casts stones at His adversaries. He beseeches Him for his every desire. He seeks from Him all that he needs. During the occasions of Hajj or Eid al-Adha, by sacrificing an animal, a believer symbolically pledges to devote his entire life to the path of God.
There are two aspects of Hajj, it is a form of worship as well as training that encompasses all the aspects desired from every individual in Islam. Prophet Muhammad was sent as a mercy for all mankind, and it is the duty of the pilgrims (and Muslims) to actively engage in the propagation of the religion of God all over the world. The message of Hajj (and Umrah) is for individuals to embody the spirit of Hajj (and Umrah) in their daily lives, and that is to disseminate the divine message to the world.
The history of Hajj is associated with the lives of the Prophets—Abraham and Ishmael, who laid the foundation of ushering in the era of monotheism worldwide. Prophet Muhammad served as the fundamental cornerstone of this revolution. ‘The Brothers of Prophet Abraham’ advanced the monotheistic mission in its first stage in the 7th Century. It is the responsibility of The Brothers of Prophet Muhammad to carry forward this mission to the next stage, by taking the divine message to the world.
The mission of the Muslim Ummah is to invite people to God. After completing Hajj, endowed with the spirit of dawah, Muslims should engage in disseminating the divine message worldwide.
Wahiduddin Khan
January 1, 2015
New Delhi, India
