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BENEFITS OF 'HAJJ'
Brethren-in-Islam !
In the Holy Qur'an where Almighty Allah has commanded Abraham to make a
general proclamation of Hajj, the first reason given for this commandment is :
" That they may come here and witness things that are of benefit to them".
(Al-Qur'an 22:28)
That is to say that they may undertake the journey and assemble here and witness with
their own eyes that it is intended for their benefit only and its advantages can be
noticed only when a man personally experiences it by performing the task himself. It is
narrated about Imam Abu Hanifa that until he had not performed the Hajj he was
doubtful as to which 'Ibadat was superior among the 'Ibadaat of Islam. But when on
performing the Hajj he witnessed the numerous benefits latent in it, he
unhesitatingly declared the Hajj is superior to all. Now I shall relate to you
briefly its benefits.
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The people of the world are usually aware of two kinds of journey. One
journey is that which is made to earn livelihood. The second one is that which is
undertaken for pleasure and sight-seeing. In both these journeys, a man is impelled to go
abroad by his need and desire. He leaves home for a purpose of his own, he spends money or
time for his own requirements. Therefore no question of sacrifice arises in such a
journey. But the position of this particular journey which is called Hajj is quite
different from that of other journeys. This journey is not meant to gain any personal end
or any desire of Nafs. It is intended solely for Allah, and for fulfilment of the duty
prescribed by Allah. No person can prepare himself to undertake this journey until and
unless he has love of Allah in his heart as well as fear of Him, and feels strongly that
the Fard ordained by Allah is incumbent on him. Therefore, whosoever sets out for Hajj
parting from his family and relatives for a long period, allowing his business to suffer,
spending money and bearing the rigours of the travels, he furnishes by his act of devotion
a proof of the fact that there is in his heart fear of God and love for Him as also a
sense of duty, and that he possesses the strength to leave his home, when called upon to
do so, for the cause of God, and that he can face hardships and willingly sacrifice his
wealth and comfort for the pleasure of God.
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When the pilgrims get ready for the journey with this holy intention,
his disposition assumes a different colour. His heart, which is aflame with exuberance of
the love of God and which is pulsating with a longing to visit His House, starts
harbouring only virtuous thoughts. he does penance for past sins, seeks forgiveness from
people whom he might have wronged, tries to render his due to others where necessary so as
not to go to God's court trammeled with the unfulfilled rights of his fellow beings,
shuns vice and develops fondness for virtue. Then, as he steps out to begin the journey,
the more he proceeds toward the House of God, the more keen he becomes to do good deeds.
He is careful to see that nobody is harmed by him, while he tries to render whatever
service or help he can to others. His own nature desists from abuse, indecency,
dishonesty, squabbles and bickering because he is proceeding on the path of God. A man
may be making journey towards the Divine Haram and yet indulging in bad habits? How can
such a shameless thing be possible by anybody? Thus the entire journey of his constitutes
a complete 'Ibadat. Oppression and vice can find no place in contrast to all other types of
journey, this is the one which continuously keeps on purifying man's Nafs. It is like a
great reformatory course to be compulsorily gone through by every Muslim who sets out to
perform Hajj.
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After completing a part of the journey a special boundary is reached
which cannot be crossed without donning Ihram by every Muslim bound for Mecca. What is
this Ihram? It is a mendicant-like dress consisting of nothing more than a simple sheet of
cloth for the upper and another for the lower part of the body. It means that,
irrespective of whatever position you held till now, since you have now to go to God's
court, you will have to assume an ascetic's appearance. Be a beggar outwardly and try to
be so inwardly too. Take off your colourful garments and gaudy costumes. Put on a simple
and dervish-like dress. Do not wear socks. Keep the head bare. Do not use scent. Do not
dress your hair. Abstain from every kind of adornment. Cease the man-woman relation so
much so that do not even indulge in talk, sign and movement which may smack of any
eagerness for, and be a reminder of, this relation. Do not hunt, and refrain from even
giving a hint to the hunter about the whereabouts of the prey. When you will adopt such a
posture outwardly, it will influence your mind also. Inwardly your heart will develop an
ascetic attitude. Pride and vanity will disappear. Humility and peace of mind will grow.
The impurities that have smirched your soul due to indulgence in worldly pleasures will be
removed and a feeling of Godliness will dominate both your internal and external selves.
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Soon after putting on Ihram the words that the Haji recites in a loud
voice after every Salah, at the time of ascending every height and descending therefrom,
and while meeting every caravan and every morning on rising from bed, are as follows :
Labbaika Allahumma labbaika, labbaika la sharika laka labbaika, innalhamda wan-ni'mata
laka, la sharika laka " Here, I am present, My Lord ! I am present, I am present.
There is no partner unto Thee. I am present. Verily all praise is due to Thee. Every boon
is Thine and Thine is the entire Sovereignty. No one is Thine partner." This, in
fact, is an answer to that general proclamation which Abraham had made four thousand five
hundred years ago as commanded by Allah. Forty-five centuries have passed since that
proclaimer of Allah had announced : " O slaves of Allah ! Come to the House of Allah.
Come from every corner of the earth, either on foot or by transport." In answer to
it, every passenger to Haram-i-Pak loudly declares till today : " Here I am present,
My Allah ! I am present. No one is partner unto Thee. I am present at Thine beck and call
only. Praise is for Thee only. Boon is Thine, land is Thine. No one is Thine partner in
anything." In this manner, with every voice of Labbaik the Hajis' relation becomes
closer with that movement for the propagation of true and genuine God-worship which has
been carried on since the time of Abraham and Isma'il. The gap of four and a half thousand
years is obliterated from in-between. It appears as if from that side Abraham is calling
on behalf of Allah and the pilgrim is replying from this side. He continues replying and
goes ahead. As he proceeds, the feeling of eagerness gets intenser. At every ascent and
descent the voice of Allah's proclaimer rings in his ears and he goes on and on welcoming
it with Labbaik. Every caravan appears to him like a message-bearer of his Lord and like a
lover, on hearing the message, he cries: " I am present, I am present." Every
new morning brings for him, as it were, the Friend's errand, and getting up at dawn he
starts exclaiming: " Labbaik, Allahumma Labbaik." In short, this recurrent cry
in conjunction with the ascetic dress of Ihram, the condition of the journey and the
feeling of getting nearer and nearer to Ka'ba, produce such a psychic effect that the Haji
gets lost in Divine love and his mental condition gets absolved of every thing except the
Frien's remembrance.
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The Haji reaches Mecca in this style and at once proceeds towards that
sacred spot where he was summoned. He kisses the Friend's threshold. Then he goes round
and round the focus of his belief, Imam, Deen and religion, and starts and ends every
round by kissing the Black Stone. After this, he offers two Rak'as of Salutations at
Maqam-i-Ibrahim. Then moving from there he ascends the hillock of Safa and when he looks
from above at Ka'ba he exclaims : La ilaha ill-Allah wa la na'budu illa iyyahu mukhlisina
lahud dina wa lau kariha-alkafirun " There is no god save Allah. We do servitude to
no other being. Our 'Ibadat is exclusively for Allah however abhorrent it may be to the
unbelievers."
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Then he runs between as-Safa and al-Marwah. It seems like a
demonstration of his belief that with the same arduousness he would always be endeavouring
to serve his Master and seek His pleasure. In the course of this Sa'i, sometimes he says :
Allah-Ummasta'milni bisunnati Nabiyyika wa tawaffani'ala Millatihi wa aizni min
mudillat-ilfitani. Some unthinking people frequently raise objection in regard to the
kissing of the Black Stone. They contend that this too is a kind of idol-worship, whereas
it is nothing but kissing the threshold. The circumambulation of Ka'ba starts from where
the " Black Stone " is fixed and during the seven rounds, it is either kissed,
or a sign is made towards it at the end of every round. There is not the slightest vestige
in this of worshipping it. The saying of Hadrat Omar is well-known that 'you are a mere
stone. If the Holy Prophet (peace be on him) had not kissed you I would have never kissed
you." " O God ! Take service from me in the same way as was the way of your
Prophet, and cause me to die in the same path as was the path of your Prophet, and save me
from those slips which deflect from the right path." And sometimes he says :
Rabbighfir wa-arham wa-tajawaz 'amma ta'lamu innaka anta-la'azzulakramu. " O Lord !
pardon me and show mercy. Overlook those faults of mine which You know of. You have the
greatest power and Your mercy too is the greatest."
After this he becomes, as it were, a soldier of Allah and now he has to
live a camp-like life for five or six days. he will encamp at Mina for one day and then on
the second day at Arafat where the Commander's sermon containing directions is listened
to. Encampment is done in the night at Muzdalifah.
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At day-break, the pilgrims return to Mina and fling stones at the
pillar where the army of Ashab-i-fil (the army of elephants) had reached to demolish Ka'ba
fifty days before the birth of the Holy Prophet. While flinging each stone the soldier of
Allah says : Allah-o-Akbaro Raghman-lishshaitani wa hizbihi and Allahumma tasdeeqan
be-kitabika wa ittib'an lisunnt-i-Nabiyyika. The idea behind throwing these stones is :
" O God ! whosoever rises to destroy Your Deen and humiliate Your Word, I will fight
him like this to raise aloft Your Word." Then animal sacrifice is done after
stoning the first pillar in order that the intention and resolve to shed blood in the way of God
are demonstrated. From there the pilgrims turn towards Ka'ba just as a soldier having
performed his duty returns triumphantly to the headquarters. After doing Tawaf and
offering two Rak'ats, Ihram is removed. Whatever was made Haram is, now made Halal
and the
Haji's life resumes normality. After returning to the normal life, the Haji goes to Mina
and encamps there again, and the next day he flings stones on all the three pillars one
after another. These are called Jamrat which, in fact, reminds of the destruction of that
elephant army, which, in the year of the birth of the Holy Prophet, invaded Mecca just in
the month of Hajj, to demolish the House of Allah, and which, by the command of Allah was
destroyed by stone-raining sky-birds. After once again flinging stones on these pillars on
the third day, the Haji returns to Mecca and performs seven times circumambulation of the
focal point of his Deen. This is called Tawaf-i-Wada' and completing it means completion
of Hajj.
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From all the details you have heard you can judge that during the
period of two to three months, from the time of deciding and preparing for Hajj to the
time of returning home; what great effects are produced in the heart and mind of man ! The
process entails sacrifice of time, sacrifice of money, sacrifice of comfort, sacrifice of
several worldly relations and sacrifice of many corporeal desires and pleasures------and
all this simply for the sake of Allah, with no selfish end. Then, together with piety and
virtuousness, the incessant remembrance of God and the longing and love of Him pervading
the mind of the pilgrim, all leave a firm impression on his mind which lasts for years to
come. Then, on reaching this sacred land he witnesses at every step the relics of those
who sacrificed everything theirs in servitude and obedience to Allah. They fought against
the pagan Arabs suffered tortures, became migrants, suffered unbearable hardships, but
ultimately did raise aloft the Word of God and did not rest content till they subdued
every such false power which wanted man to become subservient to other entities than
Allah. A lesson in courage and determination, which a devotee of God can draw from these
clear signs and sacred relics, can hardly be available from any other source. And if the
attachment developed with his focal point of Deen through the circumambulation of Ka'ba
as
also the rehearsal of a Mujahid's life consisting of the rites (Manasik) of Hajj (such as
running about, and repeated departures and halts), are combined with Salah, fasting and
Zakat, and they are all seen conjointly, you will realize that these processes constitute
a training or some big task which Islam wants Muslims to execute. For this reason, Hajj
has been made compulsory for those who are solvent enough and are capable to undertake the
to and for journey of Ka'ba so that, as far as possible, Muslims in the largest possible
number remain equipped in every period after having fully gone through this training.
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But you will be unable to appreciate fully the benefits of Hajj unless
you keep in view the fact that each and every Muslim does not perform Hajj individually
but that only one single period has been fixed for Hajj for the Muslims of the whole
world, and, therefore, lakhs and lakhs of Muslims jointly perform it. What I have stated
before has only brought home to you the effect produced by this 'Ibadat on every Haji
individually. Now I shall explain to you in my next address how these benefits have been
enhanced a hundred-thousandfold by appointing one single period of Hajj for all the world.
The excellence of Islam lies in this very fact that by one stroke it achieves not only two
but a thousand purposes. The advantages of offering Salah singly are by no means small but
by making it conditional with congregation and by enforcing the system of Imamat in Salah
and by enlarging the congregations of the Friday and 'Idain prayers, its benefits have
been increased to a limitless extent. The observance of fasting separately by each person
is also a very big source of reformation and training but by appointing only one month of
Ramadan for all Muslims, these benefits have been increased so much that they cannot be
counted. Zakat too has many advantages even if dispensed individually, but with the
establishment of Baitulmal (Public Exchequer of the Islamic State) its usefulness has been
increased to such a great extent that you cannot estimate it till such time as an Islamic
government is formed and you witness with your eyes how much goodness and plentifulness
result from collecting the Zakat of all Muslims at one place and distributing it among the
deserving persons in organized form. Similar is the case of Hajj. If everyone were to
perform Hajj singly, even then it will bring about a big revolution in his life but by
formulating the rules for all the Muslims of the world to perform it together at one time,
its benefits have been increased to a limitless degree. This subject demands a detailed
treatment, so I shall explain it in detail in my next discourse.
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