I have laid my right shoulder bare, and so did my father. This is
Sunnah in the first three rounds of this first tawaf only. People
think that the right shoulder must remain bare as long as one is
wearing ihraam garments, but this is not correct. It is indeed
discouraged to let one's shoulder bare when one prays. We are
recommended to do the first three rounds of our tawaf jogging but
this seems impossible. We will try if we can, but it seems possible
only in part of each round.
As we pass the starting point, we seem to find ourselves in a
starting point, we seem to find ourselves in a scrabble. The position
of Maqam Ibraheem makes this area particularly difficult. But what
makes it even worse is that some people have carved out an area where
they stand in the midst of people doing the tawaf in order to allow
one or two of their number to pray the Sunnah of tawaf. They have
learned that the proper place to offer this Sunnah is at Maqam
Ibraheem and they want to be as close to it as possible.
That practice is absolutely wrong, because it causes such a great
inconvenience to others. What is meant by the Qur'anic verse which
mentions Maqam Ibraheem and the order to make it a place for prayer
is to pray behind it. If one prays 50 yards away so that he does not
cause in convenience to people doing the tawaf, he is doing
absolutely well. Indeed, the two raka'ahs of tawaf can be offered
anywhere in the Haram. These are my first thoughts on my first round
of tawaf.
As we pass this area, the going becomes easier and I have a chance to
recollect my thoughts. Very quickly, I regain that great feeling of
being a recipient of Allah's infinite grace. Here I am walking the
same round as the Prophet, and indeed as many other Prophets,
starting with Abraham and Ismaeel who built this place for worship.
We are celebrating Allah's praises. We glorify Him and declare our
submission to His will. Some people are reciting from the Qur'an.
Others are saying prayers which they read from a book. There is no
need for that, because there is no set prayer for tawaf or any part
of it.
Groups of people doing the tawaf seem to have appointed leaders, with
each such leader holding a book and reading prayers from it with the
rest of his group repeating after him. That is a naive way of
worshiping Allah. It is better for them to pray individually, with
each one saying the prayers he feels the need to say.
This is a place where prayers are answered, so people must take the
opportunity and pray for themselves, for their forgiveness and for
others. Alternatively, they can praise Allah and glorify Him or read
from the Qur'an. I have explained this to my companions and each one
of us is engaged in his or her worship. They do not need to tell me
what they feel. I know it because I am experiencing something
absolutely special. I know that true devotion to Allah and true
submission to Him have come to mean to me something special indeed.
We finish our tawaf, and we ease out slowly and gradually in order
not to cause inconvenience to anyone as we come out. We choose a
convenient spot well beyond Maqam Ibraheem to offer our two raka'ahs
of tawaf. When we have finished them, we supplicate to Allah, making
all sorts of requests. The one which we cherish most is that He will
accept our worship and give us the reward only He can give. My father
asks me how can we make our way back into the tawaf in order to stand
at the Multazim, just beneath the door of the Kaaba. I told him that
this is only a Sunnah, and it may be preferable that the does not
attempt it, in view of the great crowd. I however, venture on my own.
Fortunately, there was a gap or a slowing down in the movement of the
people doing the tawaf and I managed to find my way right through.
There are many people waiting for their turn and eventually I can
take hold of the prominent stones underneath the door and put my body
against the stones of the Kaaba. I am out of this world. I am
overwhelmed by awe. I feel that I can address Allah, in His majesty,
directly, and feel that my prayers are heard and answered instantly,
without delay.
"Please, my Lord, I have done too many sins, forgive me. Your
forgiveness is much greater than people's sins and disobedience. You
are the forgiving, the acceptor of repentance. I regret everything I
have ever done which contravenes your commands."
I could stay in that spot for hours, but I must allow a chance to
others and I must join my parents and my wife to continue with our
Umrah. We go down to Zamzam to drink, because it is recommended after
tawaf. Every move here is accompanied by prayer and supplication.
Before we drink, each of us makes a prayer. And we go ahead toward
the little prayer. And we go ahead toward the little hill of As-Safa.
Here we start our other duty of Umarah, namely, Saiee. We stand
there, facing the Kaaba and raising our hands toward it, glorifying
Allah. We repeat. Allahu Akbar, which means Allah is the Greatest. We
declare His Oneness and we start walking toward Al-Marwah. Shortly we
come to the part which is clearly marked with two green lights on the
wall and ceiling. This part of the distance we cover jogging before
we resume our walking. My father insists on jogging, although he is
an old man.
When we have covered that distance, we wait a little for my mother
and my wife to catch up with us. They continue walking, jogging is
neither recommended to nor required of women. As we walk, we pray, we
glorify Allah and praise Him. We read the Qur'an or we walk in
silence, meditating. We approach the other hill of Al-Marwah, and as
we go up, we repeat the Qur'anic verse which states that those two
hills are shrines for pilgrims to walk in between. As we turn. We
signal to the Kaaba with our hands and repeat our declaration that
Allah is the greatest. We have covered the distance once and we have
to do six more. Walking from one hill to the other counts as one
round and we have to do seven rounds in total. We have started at As-
Safa and we finish at Al-Marwah. After our seventh walk we stand
there, praying and supplicating as long as we wish. We remember our
families at home and pray Allah for them.
Many people have asked us to pray for them here, and we try to
remember every one of them. When we have finished, all there remains
of our Umrah duties is to cut short our hair, for which purpose I
have brought a pair of scissors. Obviously, my mother and my wife
cannot shorten their hair until we go home. I take off a bit of my
father's hair and he does the same for me. We look at each other. His
face radiates with happiness as do the faces of the two women. I need
say no more about my own happiness. We have completed our Umrah and
that is great.
When we finished our Umrah, we did not leave the Haram immediately.
Prayers were due shortly and we wanted to offer our first obligatory
prayer in the Haram. Who can afford to miss such a prayer, when its
reward is better than, or at least equal to, the reward of 100,000
prayers anywhere else? When we prayed, this was again a remarkable
experience. For the first time ever, I saw people joining in the same
prayer, but praying in opposite directions. This may sound strange,
but it is the most natural way to pray in the Haram. The Kaaba served
as the center of a circle and worshipers joined in the prayer in ever
expanding circles. We looked all around us and everything seemed
remarkable. The worshippers have come from all parts of the world.
One can try to place some of them by their features, but that will
account only for a small portion of them. What is clear, however, is
that people have come from all corners of the globe to share in a
great act of worship which is the very symbol of pure devotion and
complete submission to Allah.
We went back to our accommodation and the two women released
themselves from ihraam by shortening their hair a little. Here again,
at the Mutawwif's place, there are pilgrims from areas which are so
far apart. I have tried to meet as many of them as I could, managing
to communicate with most of them in one way or another. With some,
however, communication was almost impossible. But we, nevertheless,
had common language in what relates to the purpose of our journey and
to our worship. That was sufficient to make each of us warm to the
other whenever we met. This is a remarkable quality of Islam. It is a
great unifying force which brings together people from different
races, nationalities, countries and continents. In no time, they feel
themselves to be brothers belonging to a single community.
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