At last, the 8th of Dhul-Hajjah has come and we start today on the
most important journey in our lives.
It is the 8th of Dhul Hijjah and everyone is busy preparing for the
great event. We re-enter into the state of consecration, or ihraam.
This time, it is for pilgrimage itself. The feeling all around me is
one of happy excitement. Everyone is thinking of tomorrow, when we
hope to be at Arafat, which is the cornerstone of pilgrimage. If we
are there after midday, then we are among the pilgrims this year. If
not,... well, I cannot entertain that possibility in any way. I will
only say that those who are not at Arafat tomorrow are not among this
year's pilgrims. As for today, we want to proceed to Mina where we
shall stay from midday till tomorrow morning.
Mina is not our way to Arafat, which means that we are doing half of
our journey today and leaving the rest for tomorrow. Some of the
pilgrims who are guests of mutawifs are proceeding to Arafat later
tonight. Almost every mutawif finds it easier to arrange the
trip ;this way. It certainly makes for less congestion on the roads,
but I made sure that we will stay in Mina tonight, as it is strongly
recommended by the Prophet. He did likewise on his pilgrimage and we
follow his example. Mina is a narrow valley in between mountains. The
area is not that vast, and pilgrims have to stay here for three days
after Arafat.
With the number of pilgrims these years approaching three million,
Mina is always overcrowded. This is a city which springs to life once
a year for not more than three or four days, and remains deserted for
the rest of the year. There are a few buildings, mostly hotels and
government departments. Otherwise, pilgrims stay in tents, or even
without them. In Mina, one feels every inch is occupied. One gets
this feeling today, although more than one half of pilgrims have not
arrived here. Pilgrims from every part in Saudi Arabia are still
arriving in Makkah. Those who start from nearby cities and towns
delay their journey till tomorrow. Moreover, many pilgrims go
straight to Arafat tomorrow. One wonders what Mina will be like in
two days time when all pilgrims will converge on it.
There are no duties to perform today in Mina. All there is to do is
to offer prayers, celebrate the praises of Allah and glorify Him. A
thought occurred to me to explore the area. I have not walked long
before I found myself in an open camp, with a large group of people
assembled. I stood by and I found a man in the center answering
questions on pilgrimage. People were eager to know their duties and
how to perform them. The remarkable thing was that one could not
distinguish between the scholar and the questioner. They are all
alike in their uniform of ihraam. I ventured to put a question on the
significance of wearing these garments. The scholar put it so well
when he said that when we all look alike, every one of us is bound to
feel his humility as he addresses Allah with talbiyah. He declares to
him that he has responded to His call and has submitted to His will.
As a mark of his submission he takes off all marks of distinction
which may place him in a higher position to his fellow Muslims. Here
we are all alike, humble servants seeking forgiveness. We do not know
who of us has the greater load of sins. All we know is that we are
equally eager to have our sins effaced.
The mark of this worship, he added, is absolute dedication to Allah,
setting aside everything that is associated with honor, position,
distinction or pride. What can one say about his explanation ? I had
already felt this equality and humility when I looked all around me
to find pilgrims in their ihraam garments. He only expressed in words
what one is bound to feel as one goes through this experience.
Going around, I discovered that there are so many assemblies like the
one I have briefly attended. Everyone wants his pilgrimage to be
perfect, or as perfect as possible. What is also rather surprising is
that prayers are shortened. We pray Zuhr, Asr and Isha in two
raka'ahs each. People might have thought that on a day like this we
should pray more and longer prayers. As we go on with our pilgrimage
we find that we avail ourselves of the concession given to travelers.
This even includes the people from Makkah itself. It seems to me that
with our minds preoccupied with a great act of worship, Allah has
given us this concession on prayers to concentrate our thoughts on
the duties of pilgrimage. We will soon discover that the concession
is very useful.
It was a very pleasant day which we have spent in Mina. Although we
slept in a tent with only very thin covering over the hard earth, we
slept well. We were up again at dawn for Fajr prayer. It seems to me
that Mina has not slept. After Fajr, we have breakfast and proceed to
Arafat. The day has arrived. It is our great day. The minibus
provided for our journey to Arafat did not have enough seats. I and a
few others went on top. That gave me a great advantage as I was able
to observe better how pilgrims proceeded to Arafat. I would not have
exchanged that experience for the world. So many roads with short
distance between them were full of vehicles, all sorts of vehicles
except small private cars which are not allowed on these roads on
pilgrimage days. All are full of people, all of them wearing the same
type of clothes. All are chanting the phrases of talbiyah which form
a heavenly song repeated by a great chorus. From all vehicles the
chanting comes loud: "Labbaika Allahumma labbaik. Labbaika - la sha
reeka laka labbaik. Innal hamda wani'mata laka walmulk. L shareeka
lak." As vehicles overtake one another or come parallel with one
another, people wave and chant. All faces around me beam with
happiness. If one talks to another pilgrim, smiles are always on
faces. At times, smiles are all that is exchanged, because people
cannot communicate with one another, not knowing one another's
language.
Nevertheless, they are here for the same purpose embarking on the
same journey, doing the same duty. There is no end of vehicles. There
seems to be no beginning either. The roads are heavily congested,
with every little gap being filled straight away by an advancing
vehicle. It is only to be expected that a traffic jam of this sort
will develop on this day. Yet, we proceed relatively easily. We are
not in a great hurry. We know that Arafat is not that far to walk.
Moreover, the time to be there has not arrived yet. Considering that
it is not necessary to be at Arafat right at the beginning of the
time appointed, and that it is sufficient to be there for only a few
minutes of day and a few minutes of night, we are not over-worried
about being there on time. Sometimes, we are moving well.
Occasionally we stop for a few minutes. We then proceed and we are
covering reasonable distance. All out thoughts are concentrated on
the great duty which lies ahead of us. We chant talbiyah in
preparation, because it emphasizes the reason for our presence at
this spot at this time. We are here because we are fulfilling a duty,
repaying a debt which we owe to Allah. We seek nothing but His
pleasure. We are after nothing but His reward. When one feels that by
the end of the day all his sins will be forgiven, his slate will be
wiped clean, one cannot but feel happy, very happy indeed. There can
be no greater happiness. Hence, we repeat talbiyah again, declaring
to Allah that we are here in response to His call. It is He who has
made it a duty on all mankind to offer the pilgrimage, when He told
Abraham to announce that duty for mankind. Ever since, people are
coming here for the same purpose. Praise be to Allah for enabling us
to come here on this great day. I do not need to speak to my parents
and my wife in the minibus in order to gauge their feelings. I know
that they experience the same thing I am experiencing. It is a
feeling of genuine happiness coupled with expectation. and excitement
at what may happen, or indeed what will happen. We arrive at Arafat
where we encamp in large tents which have been erected specially for
the day. Our mutawif has taken care to provide enough room for all
his guests. Unlike Mina, Arafat is an open valley which can
accommodate many more millions of pilgrims.
--------------------------
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment