Bismillah: in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful
And God said unto Abraham: “And proclaim the pilgrimage among people,
and they shall come to you on foot, and on every lean camel through deep and distant mountain highways.” (Quran 22:
27)
The annual pilgrimage, the Hajj, is a journey to our spiritual home. As
such it is both a journey of return and going forth into the future, yet experienced within the timelessness of the absolute
present. As return, we revisit our ancient spiritual roots, we return to our essence as human beings. We return to the original
place of worship for all human kind, and we retrace the steps of those who have gone before us. As a spiritual journey going
forth, it is an exodus from the trails of our human existence into an abode of security and peace; it is a departure from
this life, and a pilgrimage towards our final destination, prostrating in front of the Lord of the House.
We retrace the steps of our heavenly parents, Adam and Hawwa (Eve), may
God’s peace be on them both, as they met together outside the valley of Mecca, weeping and praying: “Our Lord,
forgive us our sins! Our Lord we have wronged ourselves and if You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, surely we will
be among the lost!”
We retrace the steps of Hajar, Ishmael’s mother, alone with her infant
in the barren Meccan valley, in desperate search for water. She ran between the hills of Safa and Marwa, imploring her Lord
for help, and in response she found the well of Zamzam bubbling up through the desert sand.
We retrace the steps of Abraham (peace be upon him), who submitted to God’s
command to sacrifice his firstborn son, not sparing anything in his surrender to his Lord. And we retrace the steps of Abraham’s
son, who encouraged his father to obey God’s vision, requesting his father to bind his feet and turn his face downward
to that Abraham would not be swayed by pity. “Oh my father, do as you are commanded,” he said, “You will
find me, if Allah so wills, of those who exercise patience.” (37:102)
We retrace the steps of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), returning
the House of Allah to its original state of purity, prostrating before the Lord of the House, and conveying the message of
Islam.
When traveling to the House of Allah, and journeying to our spiritual home,
we chose our provisions. “Take you provisions,” the Quran
tells us, “[but remember] that taqwa (love and reverence for God) is the best of provisions.”(2:197)
We can choose to travel according to our own calculations and plans, in
which case we carry our burdens on our own, every step of our journey. Or we can choose to travel entrusting ourselves entirely
to God.
Yet we should not confuse ourselves about this choice: unless we are ready
to stretch out our necks like the son of Abraham, and be ready to surrender everything up to God, then we are still walking
with bound feet. And this is what makes all the difference in our journey.
Barbara (Masumah) Helms
(Courtesy
of the Standard-Freeholder, December 16, 2006)
