Hajj
literally
means 'to set out for a place'. Islamically however it refers
to the
annual pilgrimage that Muslims make to Makkah with the intention
of
performing certain religious rites in accordance with the method
prescribed
by the Prophet Muhammad .Hajj
and its rites were
first ordained by Allah in the time of the Prophet
lbrahim [Abraham]
and he was the one who was entrusted by Allah to
build the Kaba -
the House of Allah - along with his son Ismail
[Ishmael] at Makkah.
Allah described the Kaba and its building as
follows:<blockquote>"And
remember
when We showed Ibrahim the site of the [Sacred] House
[saying]:
Associate not anything [in worship with Me and purify My
House for
those who circumambulate it [i.e. perform tawaaf] and those
who stand
up for prayer and those who bow down and make prostration [in
prayer
etc.]."
[Surah Al-Hajj 22:26]</blockquote>After
building
the Kaba, Prophet Ibrahim would come to Makkah to perform Hajj
every
year, and after his death, this practice was continued by his
son.
However, gradually with the passage of time, both the form and the
goal
of the Hajj rites were changed. As idolatry spread throughout
Arabia,
the Kaba lost its purity and idols were placed inside it. Its
walls
became covered with poems and paintings, including one of Jesus
and
his mother Maryam and eventually over 360 idols came to be placed
around
the Kaba.During the
Hajj period itself, the
atmosphere around the sacred precincts of the
Kaba was like a circus.
Men and women would go round the Kaba naked,
arguing that they
should present themselves before Allah in the same
condition they
were born. Their prayer became devoid of all sincere
remembrance of
Allah and was instead reduced to a series of hand
clapping, whistling
and the blowing of horns. Even the talbiah was
distorted by them with the following additions: 'No one is Your
partner except one who is permitted by you. You are his Master and the
Master of what he possesses'.Sacrifices
were also
made in the name of God. However, the blood of the sacrificed
animals
was poured onto the walls of the Kaba and the flesh was hung
from
pillars around the Kaba, in the belief that Allah demanded the
flesh
and blood of these animals.Singing,
drinking,
adultery and other acts of immorality was rife amongst the
pilgrims
and the poetry competitions, which were held, were a major
part of
the whole Hajj event. In these competitions, poets would praise
the
bravery and splendor of their own tribesmen and tell exaggerated
tales
of the cowardice and miserliness of other tribes. Competitions in
generosity
were also staged where the chief of each tribe would set up
huge
cauldrons and feed the pilgrims, only so that they could become
well-known
for their extreme generosity.Thus
the people had
totally abandoned the teachings of their forefather and
leader
Prophet Ibrahim. The House that he had made pure for the worship
of
Allah alone, had been totally desecrated by the pagans and the rites
which
he had established were completely distorted by them. This sad
state
of affairs continued for nearly two and a half thousand years.
But
then after this long period, the time came for the supplication of
Prophet
Ibrahim to be answered:<blockquote>"Our
Lord!
Send amongst them a Messenger of their own, who shall recite unto
them
your aayaat (verses) and instruct them in the book and the Wisdom
and
sanctify them. Verily you are the 'Azeezul-Hakeem [the All-Mighty,
the
All-Wise]."
[Surah Al-Baqarah 2:129]</blockquote>
Sure
enough, a man by the name of Muhammad ibn 'Abdullaah
was born in the very city that
Prophet Ibrahim had made this
supplication centuries earlier. For
twenty-three years, Prophet
Muhammad
spread the message of
Tawheed [true monotheism] - the same message that
Prophet Ibrahim and
all the other Prophets came with - and established
the law of Allah
upon the land. He expended every effort into making
the word of Allah
supreme and his victory over falsehood culminated in
the smashing of
the idols inside the Kaba which once again became the
universal
center for the worshippers of the one True God.Not
only
did the Prophet rid the Kaba of all its impurities, but he also
reinstated
all the rites of Hajj which were established by Allah's
Permission,
in the time of Prophet Ibrahim. Specific injunctions in the
Quran
were revealed in order to eliminate all the false rites which had
become
rampant in the pre-Islamic period. All indecent and shameful
acts
were strictly banned in Allah's statement:<blockquote>"There
is to be no lewdness nor wrangles during Hajj."
[Surah al-Baqarah
2:197]</blockquote>Competitions
among poets
in the exaltations of their forefathers and their
tribesmen's
achievements were all stopped. Instead, Allah told them:<blockquote>"And
when
you have completed your rites [of Hajj] then remember Allah as you
remember
your forefathers; nay with a more vigorous remembrance."
[Surah
al-Baqarah 2:200]</blockquote>Competitions
in
generosity were also prohibited. Of course, the feeding of the poor
pilgrims
was still encouraged as this was done during the time of
Prophet
Ibrahim but Allah commanded that the slaughtering of the
animals
which was done for this purpose should be done seeking the
pleasure
of Allah rather than fame and the praise of the people. He
said:<blockquote>"So
mention
the name of Allah over these animals when they are drawn up in
lines.
Then, when they are drawn on their sides [after the slaughter],
eat
thereof and feed the beggar who does not ask, and the beggar who
asks."
[Surah
al-Hajj 22:36]</blockquote>As
for the deplorable
practice of spattering blood of the sacrificed
animals on the walls
of the Kaba and hanging their flesh on alters,
then Allah clearly
informed them that:<blockquote>"It is neither their meat
nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is Taqwaa (piety) from you
that reaches Him."
[Surah al-Hajj 22:37]</blockquote>The
Prophet
also put a stop to the practice
of circling the Kaba in a state of
nudity and the argument that the
pagans put forward to justify this
ritual was sharply rebutted in
Allah's question:<blockquote>"Say: Who has forbidden
the adornment [i.e. clothes] given by Allah which He has produced for
His Slaves?"
[Surah al-A'raaf 7:32]</blockquote>
Another
custom
which was prohibited through the Quran was that of setting off
for
Hajj without taking any provisions for the journey. In the
pre-Islamic
period, some people who claimed to be mutawakkiloon (those
having
complete trust in Allah) would travel to perform Hajj begging
for
food through the whole journey. They considered this form of
behavior
a sign of piety and an indication of how much faith they had
in
Allah. However Allah told mankind that to have sufficient provisions
for
the journey was one of the preconditions for making Hajj. He said:<blockquote>"And
take a provision [with you] for the journey, but the best provision is
at-Taqwaa (piety)."
[Surah al-Baqarah 2:197]</blockquote>In
this
way, all the pre-Islamic practices, which were based on ignorance,
were
abolished and Hajj was once more made a model of piety, fear of
Allah,
purity, simplicity and austerity. Now, when the pilgrims reach
the
Kaba, they no longer find the carnivals and the frolic and
frivolity
that had once occupied the minds of the pilgrims there
before. Now,
there is the remembrance of Allah at every step and every
action and
every sacrifice was devoted to Him alone. It was this kind
of Hajj
that was worthy of the reward of paradise, as the Prophet said: "The reward for an
accepted Hajj is nothing less than paradise." May
Allah grant us all the ability to visit His House and perform the Hajj
in the manner of the Prophet Muhammad . Aameen.