A typical prayer, which the Muslims try to speak a lot, is called “Talbiyah”. “Labbayka Allahummu, labbayk – Labbaka la shareeka Laka Labbayk. Inna – alhanda. Wan – ntinata Laka Walmuk. La Shareek Lak”.
This is Arabic so has to be translated to be understood in English, it translates to “ Here I am, O Allah, here I am! I am here! O Allah without equal, here I am! Yours is the praise, the grace and the kingdom. No partner do you have. The pilgrims will try to say this prayer as much as possible.
The next ritual for the Muslims is to make Sa'i (the run) between the two small hills, Safa and Marwah. This re-enacts the journey of Hagar and her son Isma'il who were abandoned in the desert and ran between the two hills searching for water. While facing the Ka'bah he praises Allah, raises his hands and says Takbeer "Allah-u Akbar" three times, then makes supplication to Allah. Then the pilgrim descends from the hill of Safa and heads towards the hill of Marwah. One should increase the pace between the clearly marked green posts, but should walk at a normal pace before and after them. When the pilgrim reaches the Marwah, he should ascend it, praise Allah and do as he did at the Safa. This is considered one round and so is the other way from the Marwah to the Safa. A total of seven rounds are required to perform the Sa'i. After Sa'i, the Muslim ends his 'Umrah rites by shaving his head or trimming his hair (women should cut a finger tip's length from their hair). At this stage, the prohibitions pertaining to the state of Ihram are lifted and one can resume his normal life. The lesser pilgrimage is now over and the Muslim can return home. A building with clearly marked post where you should increase the speed of their walk or jog maybe now covers the route. Because a lot of Muslims who are not fully able make the journey a walkway has been made directly through the route meaning that the people in wheel chairs and the people pushing the wheel chairs can easily make the Sa’i without struggling through the crowds of people, Allah would probably see upon this very well as even the Muslims that are disabled are committed to Allah and his religion. While making the run some Muslims may try to drink some water out of the Zam Zam well, this is the spring of water which incredibly appeared out of no where from the heal of Ishmael.
For those Muslims performing the full Hajj and not just the Umrah the pilgrim must put the Ihram clothes on again, consciously get in the right frame of mind and perform a sequence of prayers. They travel a short distance to Mina and camp overnight before travelling to Arafat on the next day, health and safety regulations have had to be put into place because of the fast number of Muslims in Mina at the same time, they maybe want to cook but cannot now as if one tent was to set fire then all the tents would probably set on fire, so instead there are little shops dotted around where the pilgrims can buy food for the night, some Muslims may go to sleep on the night but many choose to stay up and pray all night, this can be because their sleep pattern has been broken or because they are so committed to Allah and their duties that they wish to make it clear by praying.
On the next day the pilgrims have to carry out the most important and probably hardest part of the pilgrimage, the stand of Arafat! During the second day, the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, pilgrims leave Mina for the plain of 'Arafat for the wuquf, "the standing," the central rite of the hajj. They are required to stand from midday to sunset in the blistering heat meditating on Allah, on their sins and on being re-united to Allah and one another. As they congregate there, the pilgrims' position on the mountain reminds them of the Day of Judgement, when Allah will judge all according to how they have lived their lives. Some of them gather at the Mount of Mercy, where the Prophet delivered his unforgettable Farewell Sermon. These are emotionally charged hours, which the pilgrims spend in worship and supplication. Many shed tears as they ask God to forgive them. On this sacred spot, they reach the culmination of their religious lives as they feel the presence and closeness of a merciful God.
After the stand on Mount Arafat, Muslims travel to Muzdalifah to camp overnight on their way back to Mina. They perform their Salat prayers at the correct time and then collect 49 small stones; these will be used on the next day at Mina. There is some debate about why they collect 49 stones. Perhaps it is because 7 is a complete number for Muslims, so 7 X 7 is a complete act. Again the health and safety regulations are very strict because the vast number of people in a small area at the same time.
Before daybreak on the third day, pilgrims move en masse from Muzdalifah to Mina. The next ritual re-enacts an important story about Abraham and his son Isma'il. Abraham only had one son and to test his faith Allah told him to sacrifice Isma'il. Abraham took him up to a high mountain. As he was about to sacrifice his son, a man appeared and attempted to get Abraham to change his mind, offering a number of excuses such as 'surely Allah wouldn't ask you to kill your only son, he wouldn't be that cruel'. Abraham picked up some stones and threw them at the 'man' who finally disappeared, he was the devil.
In Mina at the pillars of Jamra, which represent evil and the devil, they throw the pebbles they have previously collected. According to some traditions, this practice is associated with the Prophet Abraham. As pilgrims throw seven pebbles at each of these pillars, they remember the story of Satan's attempt to persuade Abraham to disregard God's command to sacrifice his son. Throwing the pebbles is symbolic of humans' attempt to cast away evil and vice, not once but seven times - the number seven symbolising infinity.
Following the casting of the pebbles, most pilgrims sacrifice a goat, sheep or some other animal. They give the meat to the poor after, in some cases, keeping a small portion for themselves. This rite is associated with Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son in accordance with God's wish. It symbolises the Muslim's willingness to part with what is precious to him, and reminds us of the spirit of Islam, in which submission to God's will plays a leading role. This act also reminds the pilgrim to share worldly goods with those who are less fortunate, and serves as an offer of thanksgiving to God.
As the pilgrims have, at this stage, finished a major part of the Hajj, they are now allowed to shed their Ihram and put on everyday clothes. On this day Muslims around the world share the happiness the pilgrims feel and join them by performing identical, individual sacrifices in a world-wide celebration of 'Id al-Adha, "the Festival of Sacrifice." Men either shave their heads or clip their hair, and women cut off a symbolic lock, to mark their partial deconsecration. This is done as a symbol of humility. All Muslims, on finishing the Hajj must perform Tawaf (circling the Kab'ah) a last time. This must be the last thing that is done in Mecca.
Although this is the end of the hajj some Muslims may choose to stay a little longer and perform some of the rituals again if they feel the need to, the majority of Muslims will return to there respective homes and feel spiritually refreshed, for many Muslims the experience will change their whole life’s, they may change there whole lifestyle as they now know that their slate is clean and they want to live the best life possible to prepare themselves for paradise.
Part B) How does Hajj effect a person, and what effect does it have on a Muslim’s feelings.
The Hajj has great importance and significance for all the Muslims that take part. It is a great feeling of importance for all Muslims, the Hajj also has spiritual and physical meaning to the whole religion and the people within it, in a way it is the building block of the Islamic faith.
The completion of hajj fills all Muslims with great achievement and significance. For a start the Muslim or Muslims that complete Hajj have completed one of the five pillars, if the Muslims have already completed or are obeying the five pillars then they can feel I sense of completion and total submission to Allah, they can now look forward to their day of judgement knowing that they have a clean slate and are spiritually clean.
While actually on Hajj the Muslims develop many skills that are important to their religion and there everyday lives, they develop patients, perseverance and the ability to hear silence, this is achieved when the Muslims perform the stand of Arafat for example, all the Muslims performing the Hajj have to complete this stage as it is the most important without it the Hajj has been a wasted trip. Standing in the baking sun beaming down on you while you pray to god for forgiveness of all your sins tends to develop the skills stated above.
While actually on the Hajj the Muslims strengthen the Ummah, or the Muslim community, all people from your religion in the same place at one time has to strengthen the will of the religion and the people involved and I feel that this is proved by the fastly growing number of people performing Hajj every single year.
Also just the experience of performing such a hard, physical testing journey has to have an affect on a person for the better, for Muslims it is absolutely great, they have visited the first place of worship for their religion, if you want you could day that Makkah is the birth place for all Muslims inside their sprits.
For many Muslims it can totally change they feel about religion. They may now start to feel that the religion really is important to them, you could say that if I Muslim is prepared to go on Hajj then they must already be a very religious person but this is not nesacerily correct, A Muslim may have only come onto Hajj so they have completed there pillars and wants to go to paradise, after performing the Hajj it may totally change their views on life and religion, they may now start to evolve their life around Allah and Islam and spread the word of the Islamic faith to all surrounding Muslims that have not been on Hajj.
Linking into these effects is that the Muslims have given themselves to God; they have completed his will and are his servants.
Like I mentioned earlier the day of judge approaches all Muslims after their death. On the day of judgement all of the persons good deeds are then weighed up against all of the bad deeds, if the good deeds out weigh all of the bad deeds then the person goes directly to paradise for eternity. Paradise is the Muslim equivalent to Christianities heaven, its where all Muslims one day hope and wish they will end up when they die.
Even though there are many effects that the Hajj has on Muslims how does it change their lives? Well for some Muslims it may not change their lifestyle but for others Hajj may be a totally life changing experience that will change every aspect of their personality and the way they live life.
Many Muslims may choose out of their own personal will to go and pray at the mosque more often than they did before to show there total submission and will to Allah, they may also do this because while they are praying at the mosque they cannot be getting into any trouble and jeopardising their clean slate that they have received from performing and completing the Hajj.
In the interest of the Islamic faith Muslims may also start to read the Quran a lot more than they usually would, they do not just do this because they believe they have got to just because Allah would want this, they do it because the Hajj effects them in such a way its as if Allah’s sprit is living inside the person and they wish to obey.
Another effect that the pilgrimage has on the Muslims is that they now have the title of being a Hajji, this one of the best honours a Muslim can receive, wherever they go or whoever they are with the can celebrate the fact they are fulfilled and have completion of their five pillars, in a way you could say that their destiny has been fulfilled.
Another way that the pilgrimage will change their lives is that they now have enough knowledge of the different processes of Hajj, so they could now even teach others about the Hajj and explain what is going to be involved in the pilgrimage before they actually go on it. This will help other Muslims as they can mentally and physically prepare for the journey they are going to take.
Overall in the whole Islamic community the religion is going to become bigger and stronger, because after the Hajj more and more people are going to be spiritually refreshed and want to prove to Allah that they are a true believer and want to submit to his will no matter what it involves.
This might sound like it has nothing to do with the Muslim religion but I believe that if the Islamic faith can draw in more follows and purify the followers they have then the crime rate is going to be brought down, all the Muslims that are going on Hajj or even hearing other peoples stories about Hajj are going to want to lead a clean life with no sins that so on their day of judgement they are going to have no doubt in their mind that they are not going to end up in paradise and for a Muslim this must be the best feeling in the world.
The pilgrimage will not only change their actions and feelings about their religion but it will also change the everyday life they lead, simply things like helping somebody out in need or paying more charity or even give it more frequently to help the more needy than themselves for the sake of their feelings and good will, or simply things like helping people when they have a dilemma and just looking for the best interests in somebody’s heart all contributes to the overall sprit of Allah and the Islamic faith itself.
So to conclude the Pilgrimage to Makkah has a dramatic significance on all the Muslims that take part in one way or another. It overall changes the whole life of a Muslim that ripples out to their friends and the surrounding world.
Part C
“A true pilgrimage is really a journey within”. Do you agree?
There are many reasons on either side of the argument for this question. Some people will say that you have to make the physical journey as its not possible to receive the whole spiritual benefits of hajj unless you visit the sites and the experiences, but on the other hand you have the people that are not able or cannot afford to go on hajj that believe that the physical journey is not any wear near as important as the spiritual journey, and they would argue that if they were not able to make the journey Allah would recognise this and would realise that they if they did had every intention of making the journey and they may even send someone else on the journey for them. I as of yet, are not sure which side I am on, do you need to go on the physical journey or not? I hope to answer this personal dilemma as I go through the reasons for and against.
So I will now go through the reasons that some people would say yes the pilgrimage is really a spiritual journey. Some would argue that it is completely pointless performing the physical journey if you are not spiritually changed because the whole purpose of the pilgrimage is to become a new person and believe all of your sins have been lifted. I agree with this because you could get somebody going on the pilgrimage just to clear all there sins and not to be spiritually changed just so that they can go to paradise. Another reason like I stated earlier is that somebody may not be able or rich enough to make the journey so it must be more important than the people that just simply going on the journey to clear there sins without any thought, linking into this is that the whole meaning of Hajj is to have all of your sins forgiven in preparation for the day of judgement so does it really where you are to your sins forgiven, if you cannot make it to Makkah but you perform all the rituals to the best you can at home then surely Allah would recognise this and excuse Muslims from the travel and allow them to do the rituals in the comfort of their own country and home. A main reason why Muslims may say that the journey is more spiritual than physical is that all the rituals that are performed on the Hajj have a symbolic meaning so in a way this can be linked to a spiritual, symbolic meaning so even in Makkah this shows that the rituals are very spiritual and physical. The last example I am going to give is that Hajj is a time to examine your life and change all the bad that you have done, this means that you have to look inside yourself and your soul to do this, you cannot do this by simply going to Makkah and visiting the places, you actually have to set yourself into a essence of calm and total submission to Allah to feel and forgive the sins and if you have simply travelled to Makkah because you don’t want to go to hell and want your sins forgiven without actually caring about the rituals then this cannot possibly do this, a person at home who is not able to make the journey for one reason or another has set this atmosphere and wishes they could be at Makkah and is praying to Allah and saying sorry then they are more likely to have their sins forgiven than the person who has just travelled to Makkah because they are scared but don’t care as Allah sees all and all are equal in the eyes of Allah.
Now I have to go through the reasons why a Muslim may say that you need to actually go on the physical pilgrimage to get the most spiritual feeling out of the pilgrimage. Some would argue that Hajj means “set out” so some Muslims would argue that to have fulfilled Hajj you must set out to Makkah and perform and complete all the rituals it involves, they would say that Allah intended for them to complete the Hajj and they would also argue that many people every year complete Hajj and a large majority of these are disabled and have to take somebody with them to escort them around the sites. Another argument they would face somebody who wasn’t going to Makkah to perform the pilgrimage would be that each ritual has its own spiritual meaning and that to get the real feeling out of it you actually have to be there to receive the spirit of Hajj. The main argument that would be brought up would maybe be, you gain so much from actually being in Makkah, the atmosphere, the ummah, the history and you get the feeling that you are actually enacting and re footing the footsteps of the prophets, now can you really receive the same pleasure from simply sitting at home and praying to Allah and in all fairness they would have a fair point in saying all of this. The last I example I shall give is a linked opinion, Muslims alike will agree that the whole planning and then accomplishment of Hajj gives the sense of complexion and its like a weight has been lifted from your life and you can just look forward to the day of judgement, also when on the pilgrimage Muslims have to put in a whole load of physical hardship and effort to fulfil the purpose and by doing this they are showing their total submission to Allah and they would argue that this submission cannot be reached or achieved unless you have actually made the journey in person rather than mind. So there are several reasons for either side of the argument, which do you go with?
I think that upon going through the different reasons on either side it all depends on the person, yes the physical hardship is extremely important if you are actually able to make the journey but there are going to be cases where people are not able to make the journey for one reason or another and if this is the case then surely Allah would recognise this and allow the journey to be made spiritually as he does not wish to punish or bring harm to Muslims in any way possible he just wants them to follow the religion and if you can do this through mind then in my mind he should be able to accept this. So my final decision is that I believe the Hajj is more importantly a spiritual journey more than it is a physical but in the end nobody can know until they reach their day of judgement and if they are sound at heart and have made their peace with Allah then they have nothing to worry about when they reach their day.