Hajj - The journey of a life time

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With the Hajj holidays well underway, all focus is now on Makkatul Makarrama where approximately 1.6 million pilgrims have gathered for the annual hajj rituals. A further 750 000 people are expected to enter Makkah by Wednesday from the neighbouring Gulf countries as well as locally from places throughout the Kingdom. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is an act of worship that needs to be carried out at least once in a lifetime if an individual is of course healthy and has the financial means to do so. Every year the Saudi government spends billions of riyals to improve the Hajj facilities for pilgrims entering the country. Thousands of military personnel and paramedic staff are deployed along the hajj route. Despite the fact that there are numerous checkpoints along the route to Makkah, the biggest issue facing the Saudi government is unauthorized devotees joining the Hajj process each year. Many of these illegal pilgrims are from Asian and African countries.

According to newspaper reports hundreds of Nigerian female pilgrims were sent back to Nigeria from Jeddah airport a few days ago as they were not accompanied by a mahram. A mahram is a male guardian and could be a husband, father, grandfather, uncle, son or brother. The Nigerian government however, believed that groups of women were allowed to perform the hajj together. A spokesperson from the Nigerian Hajj body mentioned that in the past, groups of females have performed the Hajj  without objections raised from the Saudi authorities at Jeddah airport. Naturally, heated and fiery discussions ensued between the two governments.The issue has been resolved with the  Nigerian government  accepting that they will make sure that all female pilgrims will be accompanied by a male guardian in the future.

Hajj and its rites were first ordained by Allah in the time of the Prophet Abraham and he was the one who was entrusted by Allaah to build the Ka'bah in Makka.

Hajj allows us to become closer to our Creator, God Almighty and affords us with an opportunity for a spiritual rebirth. We are united through submission to the will and communal worship of our beloved Creator. Prophet Ibraheem (as) came to Makka to perform Hajj every year once the Ka'bah was built to completion. After his demise, his son Ismaeel (as) followed in his fathers footsteps and continued this practice. Hajj was made obligatory in the 9th year of Hijra. During that year, the Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent 300 Muslims under the leadership of Hazrat Abubakr Siddique ( The first khalifa of Islam) to Makkaa to perform the Hajj.By the following year, 10th Hijra, the messenger of God Almighty announced that he would be performing Hajj in that year.This Hajj is known as Hajj al Widaa’ or Farewell Hajj because it was the last Hajj Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed.He led thousands of Muslims to Hajj and explained to them how to perform the rites.

A brief description of the hajj process

1. ARRIVAL AND CHANGE: The Purifying Rite of Ihram

"The first rites of the Hajj take place at one of the border stations on the edge of Mecca's sacred territory. A pilgrim arrives here as a person identified by a name, social position, race, nationality, and a daily way of life. Before crossing into Hajj territory, the pilgrim leaves all this behind, intentionally adopting the universal identity of a person dedicated to God. To mark this profound change of perspective, men and women exchange their distinguishing clothes for more uniform garments: Men put on two strips of unadorned white cloth, women adopt more modest forms of their usual dress. The clothes act as a leveler. They de-emphasize the differences that separate people—race, wealth, social position—and underscore the humanity all of us share as we stand before God."

2. THE HAJJ RITES IN MECCA: Circling the House of God, Walking between Hagar's Hills, Drinking from the Zamzam Well.

"MECCA: The Hajj rites continue in Mecca, a spiritual crossroads that has attracted pilgrims since pre-recorded times. Muslims believe that Abraham visited Mecca and helped his son Ishmael build a house of worship, the Kabah, here. Many centuries later Muhammad was born in Mecca. The first Muslim community emerged within its walls. Today, Mecca is a modern city of more than a million people. The Kabah still occupies the town center. The enormous open-air mosque that surrounds it is the focal point of the next stage of the Hajj.Inside the mosque walls, every pilgrim performs several simple rites. First, you circle the Kabah seven times in a counter clockwise direction. This rite, called Turning or Tawaf, is a form of prayer performed only in Mecca. Going around the shrine's draped walls, you literally place God's House at the center of your life.Pilgrims now cross the mosque to a long corridor on its southern side. The corridor, or Masa'a, runs between two foothills enclosed within the building. Here pilgrims walk back and forth seven times at a brisk pace in a rite called Sa'y or Running that imitates the steps of Hagar, Ishmael's mother in the Torah, who rushed between the hills in search of life-giving water for her infant son. The story and the rite express the effort required in a person's search for salvation. The sudden appearance of a well in this desert landscape is the core of a miracle that Muslims believe saved Hagar and saved a branch of Abraham's family in Mecca. Not accidentally, this rite places a mother's story at the heart of the Hajj.The Zamzam well that saved Hagar and Ishmael is within the mosque, too. Each pilgrim sips from its water as a reminder of the real results of spiritual effort and to be connected with the foundations of a religious tradition that emphasizes the worship of one God."

3. THE HAJJ RITES IN THE DESERT: Mina Valley, Plain of Arafat

"At this point, the Hajj becomes a moveable ritual, stopping four times along a circular fifteen-mile route through a desert landscape ringed with granite hills.

On the eighth day of the pilgrimage month, pilgrims all leave the city and troop five miles east, into Mina Valley. Here, a tent city of enormous proportions fills the valley for miles around. Pilgrims pass the night in Mina, leaving behind the comforts of civilization and further dissolving class and cultural distinctions, as everyone becomes a wayfarer.On the morning of the ninth day, the exodus pushes another five miles east, to the Plain of Arafat. Here the high point of the Hajj takes place in the form of a group vigil, called the Day of Standing Together (Yawm al-Wakuf). At Arafat, pilgrims are transported into a timeless frame of mind: Arafat is the location where, Muslims believe, Adam and Eve were reunited after leaving Eden. This is a place set aside for spiritual reunion, where pilgrims come to seek pardon, reclaim their faith, and re-collect their spirit. Muslims often refer to this portion of the Hajj as a rehearsal for the Day of Judgment."

4. THE HAJJ RITES IN THE DESERT: Muzdalifah

"At sundown, the Hajj population moves en masse to a nearby open plain, called Muzdalifa. Here, pilgrims participate in a meditative nightlong vigil. They rest, pray, read, eat, and share their experiences in a quiet period. Many also collect the pebbles they will throw at the "Jamarat" pillars in the morning. At dawn, the Hajj is on its way again."

5. RETURN TO MINA VALLEY AND CONCLUSION OF THE HAJJ

"On the 10th day, starting at dawn the pilgrims circulate back to Mina Valley.

Three pillars stand at the center of Mina Valley. In the next three days each pilgrim will pass by them three separate times, performing a rite called the Stoning, in which you cast small pebbles at a series of three pillars representing Satan. This athletic activity engages each pilgrim, physically and symbolically, in resisting temptation and warding off wrong.At Mina pilgrims are free to exchange the Hajj garments for their usual dress. Many mark this transition by having their hair cut.Now a three-day feast begins to celebrate the end of Hajj. Muslims around the world join in this celebration.During this period pilgrims may return again to Mecca. Before leaving the city for home, they perform the seven turns around the Kabah one last time. The formal Hajj is completed now. It is up to each pilgrim to carry its spirit back home."

For those of you out there who are performing hajj this year, may God Almighty make the journey easy for you and may the entire process be a spiritually uplifting one. For those of you who have already performed Haj, what was the experience like for you.?

Source:

http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/vh_step1.shtml

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/10/15-nigerian-pilgrims-die-in-sarabia/

Additional Info

Whilst many of us in South Africa complain about the exorbitant hajj prices each year, I was quite shocked to discover that local Saudis find it extremely expensive to perform Hajj as well due to the high costs involved despite residing within the Kingdom, a stones throw away from the Holy city of Makkah.
An average hajj package within the Kingdom would cost around SR5000- 7000 per person for just five days. A VIP package would cost in the region of between SR10000-15000 and a VVIP hajj package would cost in the region of SR 20000 - 24000 per person. I am sure that the Prophet Muhammesd (saw) must be turning in his grave knowing that this is the plight of his ummah. The hajj which is an incumbent act of worship has lost its sacredness. It is all about making money. A huge money making scheme. I wonder if there were any VIP hajj packages at the time of the Prophet (saw). The whole purpose of the Hajj is to bring humanity at one level. When the ihram is adorned, immediately it brings everyone on par with each other. What's ironical though is that creating VIP and VVIP packages immediately defeats the purpose of ihram. I was told that individuals who purchase the VVIP packages are given special Hajj services like separate roads, transported with cars, special toilet and bathroom facilities and also top notch buffet meals are served throughout the day. Now, can anyone out there please tell me what kind of a Hajj is this? The entire hajj process has become commercialized. Everyone from the travel agent, to the hotel and all the other middle men in between are all out there to simply con the Hajji the best way they possibly can and for this folks they will be paying a huge price in this world as well as in the hereafter.Do you not find it strange that travelling to any other country in the world on a two to three week package always costs less than an Umra or Hajj trip to Saudi? If Muslims can stoop so low to crook other Muslims, it makes me wonder where this Ummah is heading for?