Hajj and the Prophet s.a.w. Part 2

The Hajj begins yesterday, the 7th day of the last month in the Islamic calender. Muslims around the world would have finish their tawaf and sa'i, i.e. running between the hills of Safa and Marwa. One of the practice after the completion of the tawaf, they would offer a two raka'ah prayer. This reminds me of the times when the Prophet did his prayers at the Ka'aba and the leaders of the Quraish would taunt him. There was once they actually heaped rubbish on him. And yet over a thousand years later, Muslims are able to pray in peace within this sacred precint.

Today, they are on their way to Mina. While today there are buses and other vehicles taking the pilgrims from Mecca to Mina, the pilgrims in centuries past would have walked or ridden to Mina and onto 'Arafat tomorrow.

3. The Hijra

The whole effort to journey from Mecca to Mina to Arafat and then Mudzalifah back to Mina reminds me of the efforts of the early Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. in the two Hijra (migration).

The first Hijra saw the persecuted Muslims, amongst them the Prophet's daughter and her husband, seeking shelter in Abasinia (modern day Ethopia). The journey must have been difficult for them, especially since it was mostly done in secret, and so too staying in foreign land with different culture, fearing that they would be forced to go back to the persecution of the Quraish. It showed their devotion to Allah and the Prophet, putting their faith first before familial ties and comfort of home and the familiar.

If the first Hijra was difficult, the second was even harder. Not in terms of distance/journey but in terms of emotions and the straights the emigrants were in. The second Hijra was so significant that the Muslim calender is set based on it (officially based on the day of the Prophet's Hijra). The second Hijra was basically a cutting of all ties from their family and kinsmen; they were outcasts, most without much else other than the clothes on their backs, all for the sake of Allah. There was to be no return, not until much later.

4. 'Arafat

Pilgrims will stay the afternoon in 'Arafat; the place where the Prophet s.a.w. gave his last sermon. The place in which the following revelation was sent down:

This day the disbelievers despair of prevailing against your religion, so fear them not, but fear Me! This day have I perfected for you your religion and fulfilled My favour unto you, and it hath been My good pleasure to choose Islam for you as your religion.

The day of 'Arafat is also a day of contemplation, of prayer and recitation of the Qur'an. This day harkens back to the practice of the Prophet and the companions to spend the last ten days of Ramadhan in i'tikaf (retreat). Like in i'tikaf, this is a day to commune with Allah, that even with other people around. A day to remind the pilgrims of the day of judgement, of meeting Allah.