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Hajj is the pilgrimage to the House of Allah in
Makkah which is compulsory on every adult Muslim in
any part of the world who has the means to undertake
the journey. Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and brings
together yearly what may justly be described as the
greatest gathering of mankind.
Hajj is, above all, a journey of individual self-renewal
inspired by piety and devotion to Allah. In this quest, the
individual is strengthened by the knowledge that thous
ands of human beings from all over the world regard-
less of their worldly status, language or race, are in pur-
suit of the same goal - the pleasure of their Creator.
Many of the rites of the Hajj go back to the Prophet
Ibrahim [a] and there is a sense of history, of going
along the same straight way that has been the way of
the prophets of Allah and those who followed them.
There is also a natural feeling of cosmic identity on the
part of the pilgrim as he goes anti-clockwise around the
cube-like structure of the Ka’bah clothed in the simple
garments of the state of Ihram, or as he stands soul-
shaken on the plain of Arafat from noon till the sun
sinks below the horizon.
Hajj, like perhaps no other occasion, has the capacity
to lay bare the fancies and vanities of man. The
Talbiyyahor the special refrain announcing man’s will-
ingness and eagerness to acknowledge and obey Allah
resounds throughout the Hajjenvironment:
“Here I am, 0 Lord, here I am!
Here I am; no partner hast Thou; here I am!
Surely to Thee is all Praise, all goodness and all
Sovereignty;
No partner hast Thou!”
The simplicity, beauty and power of this refrain create
the mood in which the pilgrimage is performed.
However, the atmosphere and environment in which
the Hajjis performed can be and has been marred by
AN IMPORTANTPOINT TO T P
REMEMBER
