Haj: A Spiritual Journey
By Faraz Khan • November 5, 2009
The Home News Tribune
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20091105/LIFE08/91105017/Haj–A-Spiritual-Journey
As my wife and I were leaving for Haj, one of my coworkers asked, “Is Haj like a vacation tour?” I could not answer. Another friend asked, “What will you gain from it?” Flabbergasted, I told him “well… it is a duty upon every Muslim”. My response lacked any insight. I was embarking on a journey with my wife for three weeks in Mecca and its surroundings for a hefty price of over $10,000, with no cruise or beach activities. They must have thought I was mad.
Haj, or pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the fundamentals of Islam. Every physically and financially able Muslim is required once in a lifetime to visit the Holy Mosque and perform the rituals of Haj as related by Abraham, the Patriarch and Muhammad, the last messenger of God. In his last year, Prophet Muhammad performed Haj and resuscitated a direct relationship to God by absolving all intermediaries – idolatry and clergy system that had enslaved the minds of people. He preached a universal message of equality and piety based on a direct relationship to God.
Once we arrived in Mecca, I went through an emotional roller coaster. We had heard some bizarre stories about people losing family members or their luggage, or going through great physical hardship to perform the rituals of Haj in a sea of over two million people. Initially, we enjoyed our stay in beautiful luxurious hotels and open buffets that shielded us from poverty and pollution on the streets of Mecca. I thought to myself that Haj is definitely a vacation.
Then the dreaded news came from New Jersey that my father had suffered a stroke and he was in critical condition. I chewed my heart while hearing my mother weep on the phone. Like the mountains in Mecca, my brothers were speechless. We were spiritually connected but thousands of miles apart. Lost for words, I saw my earliest memories of my father – a man whose shade I grew under, played back in a split second. I spent my days and nights in the Holy Mosque praying for his recovery and a revivial of my spiritual journey to God.
At our hotel I met a pilgrim guide, a Pathan (ethnic people from Pakistan and Afghanistan) who had not slept for four days yet he was always smiling and busy with pilgrims. While many guides would remain in the Holy Mosque, this man stayed in the hotel to assist new pilgrims. He rarely ventured out of the hotel. Once another guide taunted him, “You guys stay in this hotel but I love to sit in the Holy Mosque lost in devotion to God”. Upon hearing the statement, the Pathan guide said, “You could gain paradise by worshipping God but you can only gain God by serving people”. I thought it was great advice for religious people to consider.
In the mosque, I met an elderly Moroccan villager (northwest Africa) who was suffering from heat exhaustion and his feet had swollen from excessive walk. We conversed and I told him that I was from America. He then asked me how many kilometers it was from Rabat, the capital city. I could only smile at his simplicity. The man told me that he had come for Haj and left his country and faced great hardship only to please God. I was humbled.
On the way out of the mosque as I rubbed shoulders with rich and poor, people of all localities. I could recognize Malaysian, Chinese, Bosnian, Turkish, Persian, Indian, and other pilgrims who walked towards the Holy Mosque in a hurry but always smiled on their way out. It was as if they had found what they were searching for. There, at the door I saw two very old couples standing, raising their hands and outpouring their hearts. They spoke in Punjabi (regional language of Pakistan) about their longing for this day and search for forgiveness and His pleasure. People gathered around them. The old couples were engrossed in their supplication and disconnected from their surroundings; they spoke from their hearts and melted the hearts of those in their vicinity. As I watched their spiritual ecstasy, I felt ashamed of my own religiosity.
There were American students from the universities of Medina and Mecca who lived by the trademark, “What can I do for you?” They did not get paid or asked for tips. In fact, they were only interested in one thing, “Ya Haj! (O pilgrim) remember me in your supplications to God”. They viewed the pilgrims as guests of God and volunteered day and night. I asked them to pray for my sick father who was now recovering at home.
We stayed in the tent-city of Mina for three days with other pilgrims while reciting the Qur’an, performing prayers, and engrossed in conversations that often touched upon the question of our personal journey to God. Many proclaimed that they had come to start afresh and were no longer interested in “running after the world”. Interestingly, as required by Haj rites, we had to walk and run around the Kaba, a black cubical building originally built by Abraham and his son Ishmael. Afterward, we drank water from the spring of Zamzam.
Tradition notes that upon God’s command Abraham left Hager and her son Ishmael in the desert of Bakka (ancient name of Mecca), her provision expired in a few days. She ran from one mountain to another in search of water while keeping a constant watch on baby Ishmael. God loved this act so much that He gushed a spring (Zamzam) under the feet of Ishmael. Today this ritual of running and drinking Zamzam is performed by all pilgrims in Mecca. The pilgrims quench their spiritual thirst while running towards God. These rituals aid the heart in recognizing another spiritual reality.
During Haj a question followed me that this hustle and bustle of strangers, my inadvertently running into wheelchairs, losing my gaze in the glitter of shops, gaining appetite every hour, and yearning for my bed in exhaustion, how does all of this translate into something spiritually tangible that I could take back home? We often get this idea of spiritual experience in meditation – deep reflections in isolation from people and close to nature but Haj was different.
Towards the end of my journey it hit me that one had to seek God and remain loyal to Him despite all the surrounding commotions. Haj explained to me that our world is full of distractions and one has to focus on this journey to God. Our time is limited and we can only find God while serving others. I believe that spiritual experiences are not based in luxury and entertainment due to extreme self-indulgence of such habits. Rather, a spiritual journey begins when we recognize our dependence on God and commit to a life of sacrifice and piety.
Faraz Khan is a social activist and a thinker who is a frequent speaker on Islam and Muslim-related conversations on college campuses in the tri-state area.
