‘O God,
this sanctuary is Your sacred place,
and this city is Your city,
and this slave is Your slave,
I have come to You from a distant land,
Carrying all my sins and misdeeds,
As an afflicted person seeking your help
And dreading your punishment
I beg You to accept me
And grant me Your complete forgiveness,
And give me permission to enter,
Your vast garden of delight.
To stand saying this prayer amongst thousands of people and to feel welcomed is a humbling experience and is not unusual for a person to shed tears at this point, then as soon as this has been said they rush to the Ka’bah which is an ancient temple and can otherwise be known as ‘the cube’ because of its distinctive cube like shape. It is believed that the original Ka’bah was built by Adam, the first man, and was therefore the first house of God on earth, inside the Ka’bah the most important Gods were Ilah, the strong one or most powerful. Then the circling of the Ka’bah is performed this is done during day or night upon arrival to Makkah, all pilgrims circle this seven times at a fast pace running if possible to symbolize love for God. This is called the tawaf. As they arrive they call out ‘ Labbaika, Allahumma, Labbaika!’ which means at your command, our Lord at your command, again to show they are there before God and are dedicated to his belief. The prayers said upon arrival to the holy place are called talbiyah. The place where the pilgrims camp is called Muzdalifah, here, stones are collected ready to stone the devil at a place called Mina to show there hate towards him and to become reassured of their love for Allah.(pbuh)
After they have performed the tawaf the next event is called the sa’y this is the procession seven times between Safa and Marwah in memory of Hajar’s search, who was the wife of Ibrahim. It shows patience and perseverance and a persons love for Islam can be tested in the summer months where it would be harder to complete this important part of Hajj because of the heat. In the desert Hajer and isma’il were separated and again tested before God and soon they were dyeing of thirst, Hajer ran between the tops of the two hills Safa and Marwah while being supposedly separated from God. When everything seemed over, the angel jibril appeared and showed them a spring and now this spring is now known as Zamzam well.
Mount Arafat, Jabal-ar-Rahman (the mount of mercy) is believed to be the place where Adam and Eve met and God forgave their sin and they were brought back to his love and protection. Adam and Eve gave in to the devils temptations and were separated and wandered the earth in confusion and unhappiness until they were united on the mountain of Arafat, because of this a small shrine was built to signify this where God could be worshiped. The place where the pilgrims camp is called Muzdalifah, here, stones are collected ready to stone the devil at a place called Mina to show there hate towards him and to become reassured of their love for Allah (pbuh) The feast of Id-ul-adha is the climax of the hajj festival and is also a major festival in the Islamic year, it takes place in the hajj month, which is two months after the close of Ramadan. It is the celebration to commemorate the victory of Ibrahim and his faith alongside him over the temptations of the devil, the celebrations renews every Muslims commitment to god and allows them to feel refreshed about their beliefs.
Hajj holds the most meaning out of any belief or festival a Muslim has, it can change the way a Muslim approaches life and how he/she goes about their daily happenings. The events that they experience have a major influence on their thoughts and duties throughout life, so this event can be said to be the catalyst within the life of any Muslim who performs hajj. The Prophet Ishmael (Isma’il) was a Messenger and a Prophet; he was the son of and Hagar, Abraham’s second wife. When Abraham was young he received a “dream” from God in which he was “slaughtering” Ishmael. Although this was extremely difficult for Abraham to do, he proceeded anyway into the desert to sacrifice Ishmael. When Abraham told his son what God planned, Ishmael offered himself willingly saying, “Father, do what thou art commanded; thou wilt find me, if Allah please, steadfast”. But God made Abraham’s knife unable to perform this and Abraham was unable to shed Ishmael’s blood. God saw both Abraham’s tears and his devotion and, therefore, God caused a ram to appear for Abraham to sacrifice instead of Ishmael, this story holds great significance to the Muslim belief along with the story of Adam and Eve. The meaning of hajj goes back to the beginning of human life to a man called Adam who is considered to be the ‘first man’. The story begins on the plain of Arafat which is also known as Jabal ar-Rahman,. It was here according to Islamic tradition that Adam and Eve were forgiven of their sins by god, and were bought back to his love and under his protection. Before they were forgiven they were banished from their paradise and separated and wandered the earth alone without each other, when they were reunited after they had realized they couldn’t continue without the love of God they met on the small mountain of Arafat. For Muslims to be on that mountain during hajj is one of the most relieving feelings of the hajj experience.. Hajar, and their infant son Ishmail, were taken by Abraham to a deserted place in Arabia and left them there, trusting in God's promise to care for them. Hajar, concerned about feeding her young baby, began searching the surroundings for food and water. According to the Qur'an, in response to Hajar's prayers, a spring miraculously appeared at Ishma'il's feet to quench their thirst. Hajar climbed nearby hills searching for food. Eventually, some passing traders stopped in the valley, and asked Hajar's permission to water their camels. The traders decided to settle in the little valley, and eventually the settlement grew into the city of Makkah. Abraham returned from time to time to visit, and when Ishma'il was about thirteen years old, he and Ishma'il constructed the Katbah, an empty cube-shaped building, as a place for the worship of God. Eventually, Makkah became an important trading post by the time of Prophet Muhammad, twenty- five hundred years later. When the Muslims are performing hajj they must receive the most pleasing feeling knowing that they have made this journey for their love of god and their goal in life has been completed, they will now feel safer in gods hands knowing that he will praise them for visiting this holy places and preaching his name before him, this congregation of people all with one meaning is the reason behind the major influences that hajj has on its visitors, all of the people come together to one place and praise their god and this feeling of togetherness would remain with a Muslim for the remainder of their life. During these times a Muslims mental state must be at a really high level one that is overjoyed at his presence at Makkah and relieved that he has been before god and preached to him.
However, before any Muslim performs hajj they must consider certain factors that may delay there pilgrim to the holy place, for example money is a major issue for some Muslims as it sometimes don’t allow them to visit Makkah because it s often too expensive too make the long journey, also the physical condition of the pilgrim should also be looked at as it is advised that before anyone performs hajj their body should be able to cope with the strains and stress of the long tiring days that lies before them. If not then the journey should be left until the person is physically fit to perform this religious journey. On the other hand, there are a number of smaller issues that Muslims face upon planning to perform hajj, one of these is the climate in a lot hotter than here in England so this should be taken into consideration before taking part. If all of the factors have been considered then a Muslim can perform hajj and be part of this life changing experience. During hajj a pilgrim is expected to commit his self towards god and only behave in a way that is a reflection of gods ways, they should allows follow the beliefs of the religion and always have faith in what they believe. A pilgrim taking part on Hajj should have a stable mental state that acts in a way that is dedicated to God himself without having any distractions whatsoever this way they can commit the whole of their hajj to god and his beliefs. The Hajj is designed to develop an awareness of God and a sense of spiritual up-liftment. It is also believed to be an opportunity to seek forgiveness of sins a person has committed though life. Prophet Muhammad had said that a person who performs Hajj properly "will return as a newly born baby [free of all sins]." The pilgrimage also enables Muslims from all around the world, of different colors, languages, races, and ethnicities, to come together in a spirit of universal brotherhood to worship the One together.
The statement “ A true pilgrimage is a journey within” is the most important reason behind performing hajj as it is a holds a new outlook on life and once having performed this a Muslim can share his/her experiences and is now knows the real feeling of what his/her religion is about, another reason why I feel this statement is true is because often hajj is so powerful that it has the ability to change peoples lives, it also enhances the way they perform day to day activities in the eyes of God and it often makes their faith and beliefs for their religion a lot stronger.
