Wednesday, 21 January 2004  
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The Haj - a personal experience

Having completed all the obligatory performances of Haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims must perform at least once in a lifetime if they are physically and financially able to, one experiences a wonderful feeling of happiness and contentment.

Therefore the ten days we spent in Mecca (after the Haj) was a time to take things easy, visiting places of interest in and around Mecca such as the cave of Hira, where the Holy Koran was first revealed to the Holy Prophet Mohamed (Sal); and shopping in the many carpet shops, date market and the clothing stalls. During this time, we also travelled to the Mosque of Ayesha and performed the prescribed rites - an act not obligatory but nevertheless considered to be meritorious. This was a time conducive to prayer and communion with Allah.

Although the Haj pilgrimage was over, Mecca was still very crowded and when Azan (the Call to prayer) was heard, people from all sections of the City wind their way towards the Masjid-al-Haram. If one did not get there early, sometimes long before the Azan, there was no room inside the mosque and prayers had to be performed in the courtyard or the pavements outside.

We went early and occupied a place on the steps facing the Kaba in view of the Makam Ibrahim, the glass and gilded structure enclosing the stone on which Prophet Ibrahim is said to have stood when building the Kaba. After the evening prayers (Magrib), we continued to sit there until the last obligatory prayer for the day (Isha) was performed. During this period we would read the Koran, recite Dua or just gaze at the Kaba - just gazing at the Kaba itself is considered to be meritorious. But one does not think of merit at this time - it is just fascinating and the only thought is to fill the mind with its beauty and sanctity.

The Kaba is truly inspiring. Simple, cube-shaped, draped in the black Kiswah embroidered in gold, with verses form the Holy Koran. Gazing at the Kaba and knowing that it was the first temple built for Allah and that the Black stone placed there by Prophet Ibrahim is a true sign of Allah, one feels the power of Allah, and prayer and communion is therefore easy.

Sitting there on the steps, my mind went back to the first sight I had of the Kaba. All of us, in state of Ihram, the men wearing the prescribed two unsewn lengths of white cloth and the women also in white, fully covered except for the face, with the intention of performing Omra made our way with the Moulavi towards the Haram.

We entered the mosque by way of the Bab-el-Salam (Door of Salvation) as was required of those who enter the Haram for the first time. At this point I felt the wonderful levelling influence of Islam where all distinctions of race, colour, rank and nationality were made insignificant.

We were told by the Moulavi, who was guiding us, to walk with our eyes lowered and not to look up until he asked us to. I lowered my eyes and gazed at the beautiful marble floor, kept walking until he said, "now look!" When I raised my eyes, there was the Kaba before me. It was amazing and so fascinating; so simple yet so breath-takingly beautiful and emanating a sense of Power. I felt a shiver and felt goose pimples on my arms. People around me were reciting their prayers, some had tears running down their faces. It was a highly emotional situation. I said a quiet prayer thanking Allah for making it possible for me to be here and feel His Power.

I recalled the Tawaf - the seven circuits around the Kaba, which we performed. We started, as prescribed, from the East Corner or the Black Stone Corner (Hajar-al-Aswad), raising our arms in greeting; them keeping the Kaba to the left, we performed the circuits. Each time we passed the fourth corner known as the Yemani Corner we raised our arms and said "Rabbana Arthina Fithdunya" - Oh Allah give us Goodness, and help us enter Paradise, O Powerful, O Forgiving O Lord of the Worlds, before starting the next circuit. We kept in mind that we were passing below the door of the Kaba, not alongside it.

The crowd was so dense that we had to hold our hands so as not to get lost. During one circuit I managed to touch the outer structure of the Makam Ibrahim, but getting close to the Black Stone was impossible. People were clinging to the door of the Kaba and on the sides, but we kept close and were carried along in the mass of humanity until the seven circuits were completed.

There were people from almost all of the countries of the world. While performing Tawaf everyone was chanting the same prescribed prayers but with different accents or in their own langauge. We recited in English. There was a feeling of togetherness and no resentment when we were jolted and pushed or when someone trod on our feet. I recalled trying to find a small space opposite the Makam Ibrahim to offer a prayer and then going on to the Zam Zam Wells to drink this water. The actual well is not open to the pilgrims, but there is enough water to drink and pour on ourselves. It was amusing to see women all covered in black - the police, trying to prevent emotional pilgrims from going down the steps to the original well.

To complete Omra one must perform the Sai - the walk between the hills of Al- Safwa and Al-Marwa, a distance of 460 yards, where Hajara (Hagar) the wife of Prophet Ibrahim ran desperately in search of water, which she ultimately found and is the present Zam Zam Well.

Today the walkway is paved with marble and divided into three lanes - two one way lanes for those performing the walk and the middle one for those in wheel-chairs. Above this is another level laid out in the same away and we performed Sai here. I recalled how the Kaba was visible from certain places along the lane and how difficult it was to take my eyes way. After we finished this rite we clipped a bit of hair, as prescribed, and settled at a window with a view of the Kaba to recite a prayer.

Subsequent visits to the Haram did not diminish the feeling of amazement and enchantment I felt at the sight of he Kaba. Sitting on the steps also gave an excellent view of those performing Tawaf and those entering the Mosque for prayers. Although the Haj was over the crowd was still dense. Tawaf goes on throughout the year, day and night and stops only during the obligatory prayers when people just halt, perform their prayers and continue the Tawaf from where they left off. We saw frail and feeble people carried aloft by willing hands, seated in a kind of chair. We also saw dead bodies being carried around the Kaba - I realized why (Janaza) Prayers are recited after the five obligatory prayers.

The different types of people for all parts of the world who entered the Mosque proved to be an interesting sight. Among them were groups of Turks, the women all neatly dressed in the same light green clothes with Turkish emblem proudly displayed on their chests; likewise groups of Iranians, each group from a different part of Iran as noted from their badges; large contingents from Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and India were there as also smaller groups from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar and other Asian countries, and some from the European countries such as Russia and Bosnia. Needless to say all the Middel Eastern countries were well represented. The most eye catching groups were those from the African States, the women in colourful garments walking straight and tall, one could almost imagine them carrying some load on their heads!

There were women fully draped in black (although it is prescribed that women should not cover their faces) being led, no doubt, by their husbands, who we assumed were the Taliban. We met a group of women from Iraq who spoke perfect English who said that many people were being killed by the endless bombing and the cruel sanctions for which they blamed the Americans. I said an earnest prayer for these people, especially the children of Iraq, hoping that the cruel sanctions would be lifted and the persecution ends.

We heard a group of people who were standing behind us, also facing the Kaba, reciting a prayer with tears in their eyes, I made out the worlds. "Syria, Bosnia, Cheznya, Palestine..." Later I spoke to one of them who said they were from Syria and, as a group, were asking Allah to grant peace to the Muslim world. A sight I canot forget is the group of Pilgrims, both men and women, with tears pouring down their faces and repeating a prayer over and over again while performing Tawaf. I felt that they were from Bosnia or perhaps Cheznya and were without doubt praying for their country and for all those who had been killed there.

We, the pilgrims, were from different countries and different races, most often we did not understand each other's language, but we understood the friendship and unity - all Muslims asking Allah to guide us in his Path. I then realized that, "To concentrate all one's ideas on God, not in solitude but in the company of others, is thus the object of Haj". I felt how apt was the statement made by a pilgrim in writing his experience of the Haj "They come from the four corners of the world people of every race and colour, to hold a single communion in worship of Allah in Mecca".

All too soon our last day in Mecca arrived and we performed our farewell Tawaf. I experienced a great peace of mind. It was sad having to leave Mecca, but it is difficult to describe the multitude of emotions. After we completed Tawaf we stood by the Zam Zam well to recite a final prayer. Each of us recited our private prayer and left the Haram without looking back at the Kaba.

It was indeed an unforgettable experience. From the time one arrives in Jeddah and with the chant "Labbaik Allahuma Labbaik", (here I am O God, at Thy Command, here I am), going to Mecca, to Mina, to Arafat performing Haj and ending with the final Tawaf is something one must experience himself. In Mecca, in the Haram one cannot forget the impact the sight of the Kaba has.

Besides, the voice of the Imam who recited the Azan, and then conducted the prayers is near impossible to describe - melodious, vibrating and compulsive - the resonance carrying throughout the Mosque and outside. I cannot forget it. I cannot forget the truly unique experience of Haj. I can only echo my feelings in the worlds of Moulana, Mohamed Ali, "This is the higher spiritual experience which is made possible by the unique assemblage of men, the experience of drawing nearer and nearer to God till man feels that all those veils which keep him away from God are entirely removed and he is standing in the Divine Presence".

- Marina

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