Introduction

Eid ul-azha takes place in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah. This year it took place on November 17, 2010. Eid ul-Azha symbolises the performance of a minor Hajj, away from the actual site of Hajj. But unfortunately, most people do not know the significance neither of this Ed nor of Hajj. They think Eid is iabout offering two units of prayer in the morning and then sacrificing the animal; and Hajj, the performance of a set of practices or rituals. But both Hajj and Eid are much more than this. Emphasising the importance of performing it, a verse in the Quran says

So that they may witness its benefit for them (22:28)

The “benefit” being referred to in the above verse pertains to ‘spiritual benefit’. In order to avail this benefit, man must understand the four thousand year history of Arabia which began with Hajra (the wife of Prophet Abraham), culminated in the Prophetic revolution and continues till date.

Hajj – the pilgrimage

“Hajj” is an act of worship, which entails detachment of the pilgrim from his daily routine and his striving to remember a period in history, which commenced nearly four thousand years ago from the deserts of Arabia. This is not a simple matter. Often, people consider repetition of certain words and performance of some rituals to be Hajj. But that is not the case. It is the historical references, thinking about which endows man with the real spirit that is vital for the performance of Hajj.

The history associated with Hajj can be traced back to almost four thousand years when the Prophet Abraham started his mission in Iraq. In those days, Iraq was deeply conditioned in the polytheistic culture. As he began to preach, his contemporaries did not accept his message and rejected Abraham. This instance was not a simple occurrence as it reflected the depth of conditioning in the society. God wanted that man understands the message of monotheism and for this a conditioning-free environment was necessary. God therefore planned and inspired Abraham to inhabit his wife, Hajra, in the desert lands of Arabia. In the adverse environment of desert, only nature prevailed devoid of any form of human conditioning. Such an environment alone could become the abode for raising a generation free from all forms of conditioning.

Lessons from history

The first lesson to be drawn from the sacrifice rendered by Prophet Abraham in inhabiting Hajra and Ismael in the deserts of Arabia was that all men lead family-oriented life but the right approach is to lead a mission-oriented life. In other words, man must lead his life as per the requirements of his mission. This was not a fleeting incident; its lesson resonates even today in those desertlands.

Prophet Abraham once had a dream in which he saw that he was sacrificing his son. Comprehending the dream literally, he took his son along with him to perform the sacrifice. But such a sacrifice was not intended by God; the dream was metaphorical. Upon realising this, Abraham sacrificed a sheep instead and inhabited Ismael in the desert, which was the real sacrifice. The Quran refers to it as

We ransomed him with a great sacrifice (37:107)

People however do not understand what the real sacrifice was. They are concerned about the ‘animal’ which they think descended from paradise. These are absurd conjectures. The sheep sacrificed by Abraham was an ordinary one, which was in the vicinity at that time. Similarly there are stories around the stone of the Kaaba (Hajar-e-aswad), which is supposed to have descended from paradise. This is a very unfortunate occurrence as people fail to draw lessons (undertake tawassum) and care about propagating metaphorical stories instead.

When Abraham started walking away, leaving Hajra and Ismael behind in the desert, Hajra questioned him the reason for doing so. Abraham could not speak a word. Hajra asked if God had ordained him to do so, Abraham replied, “Yes” to which she said, “God will not let us go waste, then.” This was not a simple statement. It was being said by a lady who was all being left with her young son to fend in the desert. Yet her conviction on God was resolute. The first blessing that God cast upon them was that He gushed forth a spring of water from the ground (called zamzam, or mineral water). The lesson here was that if man sacrifices himself for God to the extend of agreeing to live in the desert, he will become a recipient of divine succour.

When Ismael grew up, he married a lady who was from a tribe which had over the years, inhabited themselves in that area. In order to ensure that the mission was proceeding in the right direction, Prophet Abraham used to keep a watchful eye himself. Once he visited the house of Ismael in his absence. When he reached the hut, Abraham asked Ismael’s wife about their well being. She started complaining about how their life was fraught with difficulties. Listening to this, Abraham asked her to leave the following message for his son, Ismael. He said

Change the chaukhat (door step) of your house (Al Bukhari)

When Ismael returned, she gave him the message of the old man who had visited their house in his absence. Ismael told her that the old man was his father and his message is that he should part ways with her because with her complaining attitude she will raise only a complaining generation. It will never be that reasons for complaints cease to exist. Man will therefore have to rise above the complaints so that it does not find a place in your heart. Ismael then married again. After some days, Prophet Abraham came and Ismael was not at home. He asked the same question to her and she started thanking God and said they were living well. Abraham said when your husband returns tell him,

Apne ghar ki chaukhat ko baqi rakho

When Ismael was told he said the man was my father and he said you are appropriate for this mission. Gair shikayati means to not complain in spite of the existence of all factors of complaining. The generation that started was therefore one which was free of negative thinking.

Present-day Muslims only indulge in negative politics. Politics means complaining and the vote they cast are also negative, that is, they make the one against whom they complain to lose. Even in mosques only bad dua happens – how can they lead to a companion-like generation.

The generation of Ismael over the years led to the generation of Banu Ismael which have been referred to as ‘nursery of heroes’ by an Orientalist. There uniqueness lay in their being totally positive. Only such people receive divine succour.

Then Prophet Muhammad was born. He preached in Mecca for thirteen years and then migrated to Medina. As an exception, Prophet Muhammad got the help of a team. They had a big quality – baat ko maan lena. According to an instance, two tribes got quarrelling and began preparing for warfare. An old man got up and said you are preparing for warfare, should I not tell you a better thing – make peace and they did. They were the people who used to surrender to truth instantly. They were not stubborn and rigid. The team could only be formed because these men were raised from such generation. Prophet Muahmmad was the seal of the prophets. A strong team led to the preservation of the message of God in the form of the Quran. Now there was no need for Prophethood. The earlier Prophets did not have a team and which is why repeatedly prophets were sent. In the times of Prophet Muhammad, it so happened that Banu Ismael led to the formation of a team, companions were from this supported the Prophet completely. Another thing to note is that when people are natural thinkers, they are objective and agree to reality by understanding it. A prophet came in human form and was just like other men so when he used to say that I have been sent from God, they could not understand. The Banu Ismael had a quality that without any historical or other preference or glory, only on the basis of objectivity, they could understand him. Therefore they recognised the prophethood of Muhammad without any extra appendages of glory etc Paigambar apne muasireen (contemporaries) mein nahin pehchaana jaata

When you go for Hajj, you should read all this history and then you will be reminded of it. It is required that you do Hajj keeping in mind the last 4,000 years history. When you get down at Jeddah, you will realise that this is the place where first team of companions migrated to Abyssinia. There was a time when in the first quarter of seventh century, those who believed in one God could not stay in their country, while today, many immigrate from other places and comfortably live there.

Ahram

It is not a ritual. It is symbolic of the lifestyle of Prophet Abraham who used to wear untailored, seamless clothing. There were no tailors then, thus it signifies the simple life of Abraham, Ismael and Hajra. At that time, one should remember that all those who were in the mission of tauheed led a simple life. With this you should remember, that those who were accepted by God and got place in paradise were people who led extremely simple lives.

Tawaaf

It is not a simple ritual. It signifies the entire dedication of a person to God. When you go to Kaaba, you will see that today it is square-shaped. Earlier “hateem” (a semicircular area outside of Kaaba) was a part of Kaaba when Prophet Abraham had made it. Before Prophet Muhammad, it was a not a sturdy construction, which was not made on cement but bricks and clay. There was a storm and it fell down. At that time, polytheists were the caretakers of Kaaba. They re-constructed and left it midway probably because of lack of resources. So, the present day Kaaba, the house of one God, is standing on the foundation laid by polytheists. Ayesha had asked Prophet Muhammad to rebuilt it on the base of Prophet Abraham, but he said people will not be able to bear it and he left it as it is. Later, Abdullah ibn Zubayr tried to create a rectangular Kaaba but people brought it down and the previous square shape was maintained. The lesson is that man must be careful of the result. Why should you get into something whose result will prove counter- productive? The act of Prophet Muhammad had this immense lesson. Man must not work according to his mind but should be result-oriented. Today, worldwide Muslims only do counter- productive acts and then put the blame on others. Therefore man must always do work by being cognisant of the result. Prophet therefore did not change the base of the Kaaba.

Many such lessons are there in Kaaba, which the four thousand year old history reminds one of. On the day of Eid, man is reminded of symbolic hajj. Hajj is actually that you refresh the history of four thousand years and re-plan your life accordingly.

Sacrifice

The sacrifice done by Abraham, in reality was of his own son. He inhabited him in the barrens of desert. Who would do it today? There is so much rage about sacrifice today that a newspaper reported that goats for sacrifice were being sold in Delhi from 8,000 to 3,00,000 INR. There is a lot of action around this. A man rung up and asked if he could sacrifice in the name of his son. This all do but who really sacrifices his son in the way of God? The sacrifice is a reminder of what Prophet Abraham did to his son, which was akin to a sacrifice, to settle his son in a desert. In today’s times, sacrifice is not to live in desert. Sacrifice in today’s time is the work of dawah. No one gives his or her kids in dawah work. They are made to taken professional education and start working. To dedicate your child in the way of God, is sacrifice and no one wants that.

Stoning Satan (Ramee al Jimaar)

This is a rage too. People hit it with shoes etc. They do not realise that it is symbolic stoning. The stone symbolises Satan and to throw a stone is to revive the oath that I will cast Satan away from myself. If Satan will try to deceive me, I will not let myself be deceived. All Muslims today say that we were conspired against. The question is if conspiracy happened, why did you succumb to it? Every person, even one who stones, actually follows Satan in his real life. They do so much that there is a stampede. The most important thing is to know the historical background to the entire period.

This year 30,00,000 people did Hajj. What happened? Nothing. In Prophet’s times, 1,25,000 had done hajj and a revolution happened in the world. After Hajj, when they gathered in the mountain of Arafat. And when Prophet spoke there and said

God has sent me as a messenger to the whole mankind so spread in

Then the companions spread themselves and went wherever their camel took them. This is why companions grave are very few in Mecca and Medina. The companions reached far and wide.

Prophet Muhammad did only one Hajj and it became symbolic of globalisation of Islam – its internationalisation. The Islam which rose in a small town of Mecca became a global religion. Today, people return with mat to pray, and rosary etc. I asked a person who had performed hajj about his experiences. He said, Wahan kya hai, wahan to khajoor hai aur zam zam

He only got dates and water there, companions had got the concept of globalisation of Islam. Muslims are unaware of the real spirit of Islam. They only know of certain rituals and return by doing it.

Eid al-Azha therefore is the reminder of this history of 4,000 years. It should every year, revive the religious vigour in believers and is possible only when Hajj is done in its spirit and to fulfil its aim.

Today, there exists an air-conditioned building. People see it as an adornment and feel proud about it. When I went I thought that the mosque that Prophet had constructed was only a hut-like structure. The architecture that exists today was not there then. I thought that Islam had a humble beginning and look where it reached. This has not yet reached ‘full stop’ it has to be taken much ahead. Hajj therefore is an international worship and should have an international lesson.

Dawah is the only Islamic teaching that can become international. Rest, namaz, roza are at personal level and cannot be made international. Hajj therefore is a rehearsal of this international mission. People who gather there should talk about dawah work and conduct talks, then get back with vigour to work.

In Hajj, to kill anyone is haram. To fight amongst one another is haram. It is not only for those few days but is to inculcate the spirit which has been told in the Quran thus,

Whoever killed a human being – except as a punishment for murder or for spreading corruption in the land -– shall be regarded as having killed all mankind (5:32)

It is this spirit which has to be relived. Today Muslims are busy in violence. People complain that I did not get to perform hajj but what about those who return? What lesson have they earned?

They should return with the feeling that they have to save mankind from hell and to do dawah work. The violence being perpetrated should be stopped because it is against the spirit of Islam. So, strive to save people from hellfire and so that they attain God’s blessings. They consider the rituals as the end and think that nothing else is required. Hajj is to return with a spirit, to leave with inspiration from the 4,000 year old history. They must remember the history of dawah of the Prophets and draw inspiration from and then to revive is the spirit of Hajj. But actually, today it is no more than an outing. People have money and they do Hajj and Umrah year after year. They should instead use it for dawah work. Therefore, man must recognise and revive the four thousand year old history and take inspiration and utilise it in daily life. If this happens, all militancy will be finished. Two things will happen if people return with these lessons:

1. All musalla jihad activities will stop

2. Dawah work will begin

Every year, many perform hajj, but neither they nor their conduct in society changes. Hajj has to be revived with its real spirit. May God give us the courage to pray to Him in the right spirit.