Haj Rituals

[Muslimah]

Praise be to Allah the All –Knower and prayer and peace be upon His

Messenger Mohamed. May Allah be Glorified accept all our deeds only

to gain His satisfaction and success on earth and the Hereafter.

Haj is the fifth pillar of Islam, which becomes compulsory only under

the condition of availability of the necessary resources. Those

possibilities include financial, health, and transportation as well

as other aspects of resources as reflected in "In it are signs

manifest; (for example), the station of Abraham; whoever enters it

attains security; pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to God, those

who can afford the journey; but if any deny faith, God stands not in

need of any of his creature" Quran 3: 97 (Al- Emran).

Rituals of Haj contain:

1. Intention (Neiya).

2. Undertake status of Ihram.

3. Tawaf (circling around Ka`baa 7 times): It is performed at three

different occasions:

 Arrival to Mecca.

 Descending from Arafa.

 Prior to departure from Mecca.

4. Shuttling between the two mounts of Safa and Marwa (7 times).

5. Spending the daytime of the 9th of Dhul Hijja until sunset at the

area of Arafa mountain.

6. Slaughter a sacrifice.

7. Stoning three symbols of the devil (Iblees).

In this message we will focus on the origins and symbols vested in

part of the rituals, we will not exhaust the subject in this article

since we intend to make a full coverage on due time according to a

schedule set for the religious lessons published on islammesge.com:

1. The Tawaf:

It was ordained since Adam who used to circle around the Ka`baa

(house of Allah). Throughout the different eras, it was subjected to

major distortion. Prior to the prophecy of Prophet Mohamed (prayer

and peace be upon him), worshipers circled around Ka`baa naked

whistling and clapping their hands which was the manner of their

worship at the time. So Allah revived the ritual of Tawaf in the

appropriate manner making it mandatory to be performed with great

respect equal to prayer.

2. Shuttling between the two mounts of Safa and Marwa (7times):

As Allah (SAW) commanded His Messenger Ibrahim (prayer and peace be

upon him) to escort both his wife Hajar together with the newly born

infant Ismail to the surrounding area of Ka`baa and leave them there.

Ibrahim conveyed the Diving order to the pious wife who without any

hestiatation told him as long as Allah commanded this; He will never

let us down. See how this reflects the sincere faith in Allah.

The old man who waited a long time for this child left the wife and

the baby in the deserted area while praying to Allah" O our Lord I

have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without

cultivation, by thy Sacred house; in order, O our Lord, that they may

establish regular prayer: so fill the hearts to some among men with

love towards them, and feed them with fruits: so that they may give

thanks" Quran 14: 37 (Ibrahim).

The infant started to be thirsty while there was no sign of water

around. The desperate mother decided to look for any source of water.

In her endeavor to do so, she shuttled between Safa and Marwa

mountains climbing over each of them in an effort to explore

possibilities of rescue and sources of water. During the exercise she

constantly and humbly prayed to Allah showing her dire need for an

immediate help. At last, after the seventh time, she was surprised to

find water sprang from underneath the baby's feet. She ran to the

source instructing the water (zimi zimi: it means do not spread).

This blessed source – due to Allah's Glory – is still and will

continue with Allah's willing to run until the day after. However,

over time two idols were installed on top of both mountains for

people to worship. This made the Muslims, at the time of Prophet

Mohamed (SAW) to be reluctant to perform the ritual of shuttling

between Safa and Marwa (Sa`ay). In order to institutionalize this

ritual, Allah Almighty revealed the verse "Behold! Safa and Marwa are

among the symbols of God, so if those who visit the house in the

season or at other times, should compass them round, it no sin in

them. and if any one obeyeth his own impulse to good, be sure that

God is he who recogniseth and knoweth" Quran 2: 158 (Al Baqara) which

came as a permission. Prophet Mohamed (SAW) as well performed the

ritual in order to establish the Sunna (While the two idols were

removed).

3. Spending the day time of the 9th of Ddul Hijja until sunset at the

area of Arafa mountain:

However, one who performs pilgrimage should spend the night at a spot

called Mina. That day: 8th of Dhul Hijja is called the (thinking day)

when Prophet Ibrahim (prayer and peace be upon him) saw a vision

carrying a command from Allah to slaughter his only son Ismail after

their final reunion. He again performed the same process of conveying

the Divine instructions to his son and wife. As expected their

response manifested deep faith and full submission to Allah. The son

said "Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with

him he said: O my son I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice

now see what is thy view (the son) said: O my father Do as thou art

commanded: thou will find me, if God So wills one practicing Patience

and constancy" Quran 37:102 (Assafat). Look at the style of reply.

The mother was equally submissive. Yet Prophet Ibrahim (SAW) waited

one day to confirm the vision, as the consequences are dramatic. Not

only this, as the father decided to fulfill the command, the son

offered him a set of advises, most important of which, was to keep

his face down during the operation. He wanted the father to avoid

agony and a situation in which he may grow tender if both their eyes

were met. He was concerned that this may affect the father's ability

to continue.

Next morning one has to move to mount of Arafa where Prophet Mohamed

spent the day of 9th Dhul Hijja. That day is marked as an extremely

special day to Allah. He calls on the angles expressing His

satisfaction and happiness about the presence of such a large number

of His servants anxiously looking forward for His pardon. He the

Merciful All – Generous grants them the pardon they expect from the

All- Forgiving.

3. Slaughter the sacrifice:

As both the father and son (Ibrahim and Ismail) fully submitted to

their Lord's command, and while the father was almost ready putting

the knife over the son's neck, Allah the Merciful sent down a

magnificent sheep (never seen a similar one on earth) to be

sacrificed instead. This was explained in Quran as follows: "So when

they had both submitted their wills (to God), and he had laid him

Prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice)* We called out to him, O

Abraham* Thou hast already fulfilled the vision thus indeed do We

reward those who do right.* For this was obviously a trial* And We

ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice" Quran 37: 103-107 (Assafat).

Allah made this sacrifice part of the Haj rituals in order to remind

us every year with the magnitude of trials His Prophet Ibrahim (SAW)

experienced. Also for us to study the reactions of everybody

including the mother, who is not a prophet but just an ordinary human

being, during serious situations. The whole situation carries several

lessons for us to learn.

4. Stoning three symbols of the devil:

During the day of thinking in which Ibrahim wanted to give himself a

chance to confirm the necessity of executing the Divine order, as

usual the devil found an unprecedented chance to attack the pious

family. He materialized into a man and met Ibrahim first trying to

talk him off the fulfillment of the duty. Of course Ibrahim realized

that nobody but the only enemy of mankind could act in this manner.

Ibrahim picked stones from the ground and showered the devil. The

same situation was recurrent with the two other members of the family

the son and mother who exactly behaved the same way.

Allah the All – Wise made this action part of the Haj rituals. We

stone the devil symbol commemorating Ibrahim's family attitude

towards the devil that worked himself hard to convince them disobey.

While we stone as well the devil that is constantly trying hard with

all possible means to deviate each one of us from the right path. It

is a step, which helps us remember how dangerous this creature is to

us mankind. With each stone we physically target the devilish power

that portrays the correct path associated with full submission and

obedience to Allah as a very hard and difficult one. While the same

power decorates, pave and facilitates any other path, which leads to

sinful attitude.

These are not but part of the deep implications and lessons which we

obtain during Haj, since no one is ever capable of identifying full

wisdom of Allah inherent in any of the rituals He may be Glorified

ordained. We will never also be able to fully realize the magnitude

of blessing and benefit we achieve during any of the rituals in

general and Haj in particular.

May Allah be Glorified accept this presentation only in His name and

forgive any mistakes which are certainly from me. While the correct

contents are only made by virtue of His support and close assistance.

[Muslimah]

In the Name of Allah The Benificient, Most Merciful

1. In completion to the the above mentioned, as we mentioned the sacrifice is performed in commemoration to the major trial Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail were put through. Both messengers were released when Allah (S&T) sent the Angle Gabriel with a lamp to be slaughtered instead of Ismail. This happened only when both father and son manifested true submission to the Divine order. The father made three attempts to cut over his son’s neck, only to be surprised that the knife never went through. The knife itself was ordered by Allah not to. This proved that they were serious about fulfillment of the command.

However, the ritual of sacrifice has additional aspects as received from Prophet Mohamed (SAW).

At this point it is worth mentioning that Prophet Mohamed (SAW), when he began his Haj rituals told the companions “Take your rituals after me”. He meant to follow his footsteps in regard to Haj rituals including order, method, schedule and so forth. He taught us how to perform Haj.

The additional angle about the sacrifice is that Prophet Mohamed (SAW) instructed us to divide it into three parts. One third to be donated to the poor, one third to be offered as a present to neighbors, members of the family or any other party while the remaining third to be consumed by the household.

This division carries multiple implications. The poor people will share happiness of the feast receiving a gift of which they are other wise deprived. The present part fosters amicable relations among people bringing them together in such occasions. And of course consuming the remaining part of the meat in the household is a symbol of sharing also the feast with others.

2. New Muslim members of the group are encouraged to share their experiences with us or post it on: islammesage.com in an effort to help those who are thinking and shed light on different circumstances.

3. Members of the group are also encouraged to share material, articles or raise issues that are of relevant and benefit to the objective. However, only contents that are in conformity with the Quran and Sunna are allowed. We need to strictly adhere to our accredited sources, which consist of our Holy book and Sunna.

We supplicate to Allah to help us do so and accept our deeds