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the Message Continues ... 10/19
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H A J J
The entire journey of Hajj is a spirituality excursion that covers three stages:
The First Stage: Cutting oft affinity from all things with the exception of
Allah in order to reach to Allah.
The Second Stage: Continuing towards Allah and strengthening the alliance (with
Him), until one reaches to Allah and (the true) essence of worship.
The Third Stage: Once a person has reached to the level of perfection and has
arrived at the stage of (true) worship, he then returns (to the people) to guide
the creations of Allah towards Him
Imam Jafar Sadiq (a) has laid down a beautiful advice for the intending pilgrim
to the House of God, as follows:
"If you intend to go on pilgrimage, before resolving on it devote your
heart to Allah , stripping it of every preoccupation and every barrier between
you and Allah . Entrust all your affairs to your Creator and rely on Him in all
your actions and moments of stillness. Surrender to His decree, decision and judgment.
Abandon this world, repose, and all creation. Perform those duties which you are
bound to fulfill for other people.
Do not rely on your provisions, the animal you will ride, your companions, your
food, your youth nor your wealth, for fear that they will become your enemies
and be harmful to you; in this way you will realize that there is no power, no
strength, no might except by the guardianship of Allah and His granting of
success.
Prepare for the pilgrimage as someone who does not hope to return. Keep good
company, and be diligent in observing all your obligations to Allah and the Holy
Prophet. Take care to show courtesy, endurance, patience, thankfulness,
compassion, and generosity - always putting others before yourself - even those
who reject you. Then perform an ablution with the water of sincere repentance
for wrong actions; and put on the robe of truthfulness, purity, humility and
fear. By donning the garments of pilgrimage, withhold yourself from everything
which hinders you from remembering Allah , or that may impede you from showing
obedience to Him.
Fulfill His call with an answer whose meaning is clear, pure and sincere when
you call on Him, holding on firmly to your belief in Him. Circumambulate with
your heart along with the angels who circumambulate the Throne, just as you
circumambulate with the Muslims who go around the Ka'bah. Hasten as you run in
flight from your passion, freeing yourself of all your personal assumptions of
strength and power. Leave your heedlessness and errors behind when you go out to
Mina; do not desire what is unlawful for you and what you do not deserve.
Confess your errors at Arafat - set out your contract with Allah by His Oneness,
draw near to Him and fear Him at Muzdalifah. Climb with your soul to the highest
assembly when you climb the mountain of Arafat. Slit the throat
of passion and greed in the sacrifice. Stone your appetites, baseness, vileness,
and blameworthy actions when you stone the Pillar of Aqabah. Shave off your
outward and inward faults when you shave your hair. Enter into the security of
Allah , His protection, His veil,
His shelter and His watchfulness and abandon the pursuit of your desires by
entering the Sacred Precinct. Visit the House, and walk around it to glorify the
Master, His wisdom, His majesty and His power.
Embrace the Stone, being content with His decree and humble before His might.
Leave everything that is other-than-Him in the valedictory circumambulating.
Purify your soul and your innermost being for the meeting with Allah , on the
day when you will meet Him when standing on al Safa'. Take on velour and
courtesy from Allah by annihilating your attributes at al-Marwah. Be consistent
in the conditions of
your pilgrimage and fulfill the contract you have made with your Lord, by which
you will have obliged yourself to Him on the Day of Judgment.
Know that Allah made the pilgrimage obligatory, and singled it out from all the
acts of worship in respect of Himself, when He said,.
"Pilgrimage to the House is incumbent upon men for the sake of Allah, and
[upon] everyone who is able to undertake the journey to it... " (3:97)
The Holy Prophet (as) established the organization of the rituals of pilgrimage,
as preparation for and an indication of death, the grave, the resurrection and
the Day of Judgment. In this lesson for mankind he discriminates between those
who will enter the Garden and those who will enter the Fire, through his
demonstrating the pilgrimage rites from beginning to end, to those with
intelligence and prudence.
An excerpt from Ayatullah al-Hajj Husain Mazaheri's book on Hajj
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