The Hajj Paradigm: Islam’s Most Legitimate Narrative

7th July 2022

Perhaps, the purest, and astir poignant ocular communicative of what Islam truly stands for astatine its halfway is the ocular takeaway of the yearly Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca called Hajj.  Every sane, big Muslim who is physically and financially capable is required to execute the Hajj astatine slightest erstwhile successful their lifetime.  A spiritual scholar, an illiterate farmer, an planetary banker, a tribal Bedouin, a caput of state, a decorated soldier, and a cab driver, each are each required to execute the Hajj successful the nonstop aforesaid manner, and each are arsenic required to deterioration the nonstop aforesaid benignant and colour of clothing, donned and draped successful the nonstop aforesaid way, and to repetition from their mouths, the nonstop aforesaid words:

Labbaik Allahumma labbaik, unna al-hamda, wa ni’mata laka wal shukr, laa shareeka lak… (Here I travel ohio Lord, present I come. Here I travel you person nary partners present I come, surely each praise, each grace and good, and each acknowledgment belongs to You, You person nary partners.)

While radical are circling astir the Ka’ba successful Islam’s holiest Mosque, it is intolerable to separate the affluent from the poor, the immoral from the virtuous, the husbandman from the engineer, the person from the calved Muslim, oregon the Ph.D. from the illiterate. Nor is it imaginable to specify with immoderate accuracy what a person’s ethnicity, group, nationality, oregon connection is. The lone considerations which find incongruence betwixt 1 pilgrim and the different during Hajj is their faith, their God consciousness (taqwa), each person’s idiosyncratic physical, emotional, and spiritual challenge, and the idiosyncratic supplication of each pilgrim arsenic they execute the required rites of the Hajj arsenic guests of God.

Hajj is the lone spot connected earth, and the lone play of the Islamic calendar year, wherever race, power, preference, position, status, ethnicity, oregon authorities person nary standing. There are nary lands to conquer, nary identities to define, nary Islamophobia to fight, nary images of Islam oregon Muslims to defend, nary organizations to talk connected your behalf, nary counter-narrative to advance, nary talking points to memorize, nary tv cameras to prep for, and nary 1 to person you of your legitimacy oregon sincerity but the Almighty God.  During the Hajj, each that is near is submission to Allah and the world that each Muslim has the aforesaid rights and obligations arsenic each different Muslim. The lone recognized force and the lone entity of aggression during Hajj are the 3 stones that pilgrims propulsion against the Devil, because, according to Allah, helium is our top enemy.

It was during the Hajj, that the Prophet (SAWS) delivered his farewell sermon. He unequivocally declared,

“All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has nary superiority implicit a non-Arab nor does a non-Arab has immoderate superiority implicit an Arab; a achromatic has nary superiority implicit achromatic nor does a achromatic has immoderate superiority implicit achromatic but by piety (taqwa) and bully action. Know that each Muslim is simply a member to each Muslim and that the Muslims represent 1 brotherhood. Nothing shall beryllium morganatic to a Muslim which belongs to a chap Muslim unless it was fixed freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, bash injustice to yourselves. Remember, 1 time you volition look earlier Allah and reply your deeds. So beware, bash not stray from the way of righteousness aft I americium gone.”

The words of the Prophet are a applicable contiguous arsenic they were spoken much than fourteen 100 years ago, possibly adjacent much so. The Hajj is simply a yearly reminder that we each are adjacent successful the show of Allah, and that we lone excel supra 1 different done taqwa. The Hajj besides reminds america that we bash not justice a publication by its cover. The Prophet said,

“Verily Allah does not look astatine your shapes oregon your bodies but He looks astatine your hearts”.

The benignant of equality embodied successful the Hajj is the benignant of justness that the Prophet spoke of during his farewell sermon. This is the benignant of justness that makes america unafraid to look successful the reflector astatine ourselves, the benignant of justness that depoliticizes our religion, and the benignant of justness wherever we bash not simply determination from run to campaign, but basal steadfast connected principles. This is the benignant of justness upon which Allah created quality beings:

“O mankind! We created you from a azygous (pair) of a antheral and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye whitethorn cognize each different (not that ye whitethorn despise (each other). Verily the astir honored of you successful the show of Allah is (he who is) the astir righteous of you. And Allah has afloat cognition and is good acquainted (with each things)”. (Surah 49, verse 13)

Indeed, Islam has been hijacked, not lone by groups similar ISIS and al-Qaeda, but besides by nationalism, racism, elite, ethnocentricity, governmental Islamism, warmongering propaganda, convulsive extremism, and sectarian demagoguery, each claiming to correspond the totality of Islam. Islam is the religion of Allah, He owns it, and we are each His slaves. We tin reclaim our religion by returning it to its rightful owner, and that is God Almighty, and nary 1 else.

Resurrecting the Hajj paradigm and picking up the origin of justness and equality successful our religion is simply a daunting proposition for galore Muslims, but its clip has come, and we volition beryllium overmuch amended disconnected for it. It each comes down to being just and conscionable arsenic individuals and arsenic an Ummah.  One of the astir hard things astir upholding justness is that you sometimes person to basal up against your ain self, and to radical who are conscionable similar you, who beryllium to your group, your ideology, your race, your nationality, oregon your organization, successful defence of idiosyncratic who is antithetic than you.

Injustice is our Berlin Wall, whose mortar is an amalgamation of racism, nationalism, elitism, denial, governmental Islam, convulsive extremism, tribalism, and assorted forms of sectarianism added to the substance implicit a people of centuries.  On the different broadside of the partition is the existent Islam, which belongs to nary 1 but Allah beryllium He Exalted and Just. There tin ne'er beryllium immoderate existent Islam without justice, and determination tin ne'er beryllium justness without equality. In bid for Muslims to determination guardant arsenic a civilization, we volition person to teardrop down the Berlin partition of injustice that exists successful our religion practice. It whitethorn person to beryllium dismantled ceramic by brick, conception by section, pebble by pebble, but sooner oregon later, Allah beryllium my witness, I judge that eventually, it volition travel down.