Five Days to Submission
By Azher Quader
Community Builders Council
Chicago, IL
They are just five ordinary days in any calendar year. But as I witnessed and experienced it first-hand this year, there is a magic and a mystery in those five days of Hajj, when two million men and women from all over the globe descend upon camp Mena, at the outskirts of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia.
They are there to submit themselves to the commands of their faith, as related to them in the verses of the Qur'an and the example of their beloved Prophet (PBUH). Their act of submission is so complete, their obedience to the rituals so meticulous, their adherence to every act clothed in such unquestioned acceptance, it almost touches the margins of fanaticism. No one asks any reasons or rationale. None doubts the source. None argues their legitimacy. It is a sight indeed to behold. Perhaps none to compare with in the modern world. A massive sea of humanity, moving from one station of Hajj to another, reciting praises to the Divine, reconfirming over and over again their belief in His unity and in His uniqueness, acknowledging His power and His authority. There is a certain awesomeness in the air all through, which is at once mystical and moving. There is a certain meditative peace and quiet in the midst of bustling activity and movement.
Throughout our lives our daily routines are directed by reason. We weigh every act in the balance of benefits and consequences. Every activity however casual or insignificant has to meet the demands of meaning and purpose. We are however by nature creatures of doubt often inspired by the arrogance of our imperfect wisdom. All of that changes in Hajj though, as we let go our doubts to become submissive to His will and his Messenger’s ways. Allah commanded and the Prophet (PBUH) showed us the way to submit. It was to be seven times not eight or nine or ten. There are to be no shoes, no shirts, no scented soaps. A day in Arafat praying under a hot sun, a night in Muzdalifa sleeping under a starry sky, a piece of towel wrapped around the middle and another thrown over the shoulder, pelting stones at granite walls for three days, there is no room for questions, only submission. Hajj is all about submission.
They say Hajj awakens our sense of unity too. That may however be a tall order. One obviously sees diversity. Muslims of so many colors and shapes coming together from different regions of the world, is clearly an amazing sight to see. But unity requires dialogue and time. Neither is available in Hajj. We see them but we cannot hear them. Without language to communicate, real unity remains a distant goal and an out of reach reality. So here is the intriguing part of Hajj that begs reflection and even some questions.
If two million plus Muslims every year can find the ability to submit to His will and His chosen Prophet’s ways during Hajj, why can’t we remain submissive to so many of His other commandments once we return from Hajj? For starters, the practice of patience, the control of anger, the pursuit of simplicity, the refrain from indulgence, the show of compassion. Never mind the bigger challenges of living lives of integrity, standing up for social justice, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, serving the underserved, providing education that is free, eliminating the many injustices that plague our societies. Why is it that we are fully submissive in Hajj when we are dealing with mechanical practices but fail to be submissive beyond Hajj when the practices are less mechanical and more transformational of our lives and our societies? So many of us go to Hajj with the comforting notion of getting our sins ‘washed away’ by a mechanical undertaking. If that argument holds water (pardon the pun), there has to be an effort to remain clean following such a sin eliminating bath, right? For that too we need submission to the Divine will and the Prophetic way. Without that we are in a never ending cycle of going to Hajj repeatedly to wash away our sins, which clearly is not the command of the Qur'an. Sadly so many of our fellow Muslims look upon Hajj as a ‘Laundromat’, where they can go every year to get their sins washed away. I met people in Hajj who were doing it for the 15th and 16th time and happily counting!
We are often reminded that Hajj rituals are reflective of the events in the life of Prophet Abraham (PBUH). That the sacrifice of animals we perform is symbolic of the sacrifice he was willing to make of his son when God intervened. Here too we are so often quick to offer our submission to the mechanical practice of slaughtering animals and resist to make the real sacrifices when it comes to giving up the things we have come to love so dearly in our self-indulgent lives. Need we mention the many idols we worship, our wealth, our possessions, our comforts our tribal allegiances, our oversized national pride. Why again the dis-connect between the mechanical and the meaningful? Submission to the mechanical without submission to the meaningful mocks the sincerity of the faith we claim to practice. Just glance beyond this pillar of our faith and examine the other pillars we practice in the name of religion, and it may not be that difficult for us to see why our submission is so inadequate, our outcomes so obvious. Every day millions of us delight in the pursuit of the mechanical hoping to find salvation the easy way. Tamadan, Tasawwuf, Shariat, Kalam Butan-E-Ajam Ke Poojari Tamam!
In culture, mysticism, canon law and dialectical theology— He (the Muslim) worships idols of non-Arab make. Bujhi Ishq Ki Aag, Andhair Hai Musalman Nahin, Raakh Ka Dhair Hai Gone out is the fire of love. Now there is just darkness! The Muslim is a heap of ashes, nothing more. Iqbal Yet when we are face to face with the Kaabain Hajj, it is impossible not to see in our imagination, those who prayed around it some fourteen hundred years ago and submitted their lives to His will. For them submission was not a mechanical act but a real one that transformed them to become the trailblazers of history. It is impossible not to see them marching victorious into the courtyard of Kaaba, in full battle gear, after having suffered for years the atrocities of their neighbors, now willing to fight and die so others could live in peace without the oppression of fellow man.
How far have we come from that glorious moment in time and how far have we moved away from those earliest believers in our faith. Sharab-E-Kuhan Phir Pila Saqiya Wohi Jaam Gardish Mein La Saqiya! O Saaki, serve us that old wine again, Let that old cup go round once more. Jawanon Ko Soz-E-Jigar Bakhs De Mera Ishq, Meri Nazar Bakhs De Endow the young with fervent souls; Grant them my passion and my vision. Tarapne Pharakne Ki Toufeeq De Dil-E-Murtaza(R.A.), Souz-E-Siddique(R.A.) De Give them the capacity to feel the pain (of others) and to struggle; Give them the heart of Murtaza (Ali RA), the fervor of Siddiq (Abu Bakr RA). Iqbal May Allah inspire us once more as He inspired those early ones, that have gone before us.
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