The Sacred Journey

"وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إليه سبيلاً وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِين"

"Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to God,- those who can afford the journey; but if any deny faith, God stands not in need of any of His creatures."

Holy Quran (03:97)

 I was once asked, why every year you go to Hajj. Some may consider it a "Show-off" but honestly the reason I perform Hajj yearly because I care about the being controlling my body, my heart… Our hearts are like a cup, through the year we fill this cup with sands which are the countless sins we commit. The good deeds and charities we do over the year are like water, we pour in that cup. Now the cup is filled with mud to remove the mud we need a high portion of pure water so we can wash away the mud in the cup. That amount of water we get once we perform Hajj.

For real! we are crossing dangers, spending lots of money, leaving our family and friends behind, sincerely answer Allah's call seeking forgiveness and salvation is what melt the ice in our heart. If I personally don't fill that cup of mine with this amount of water I get scared that my heart might turn to stone or in best case scenario filled with mud which will turn my heart heavy to beat or do something.

There are many virtues & Fruits of Hajj I am escaping all of them and maybe in the future I might spot the light on them in another post. Since Hajj is a sacred journey, there are criteria so our Hajj to be accepted.

First and most important of all, our journey should be for the sake of Almighty God, Allah. Imagine you were invited by a king who is to give you a gift, instead of appreciating his generosity and thanking him, you praised his enemy. Instead of focusing on the focusing on the king you focused on the animals in his garden. Imagine the feeling of the king?

It must be paid with Halaal Money, those who are going to Hajj with money stolen they are just wasting their efforts. Our scholars once said: "Those who are stealing camels to go to Hajj they didn't actually perform Hajj but their camels did". Think of your friend who stole your money and the next day he comes to you with stuffs he bought for himself with your money, how would you feel?

Another cause for our Hajj to be accepted is that we should be away from evil, sin and unjust disputes. It's sad but true, I remember going to Hajj and from our way from Jeddah's airport to Makkah by Bus which was dedicated to transport families. There was a guy who sat next to me faced his head down and I thought he was resting so I did the same. Surprisingly, I realized he was writing via Bluetooth to a lady in the bus, he kept asking which one of the ladies she is and he got the answer that she was the one sitting in the right corner, the chat continued for quite some time then eventually he gave her his number and she gave him a missed call followed by wink, happy and laughing similes. It was not my intention to see this ugly event but I was surprised how we nationals could fall so down. I couldn't say anything; in fact I was so tired to argue so I just ignored that.

I want to ask these two, would you accept someone coming to your home, flirting with your daughter & wife, sleeping with your house-maid, stealing valuable objects from your home, and throwing his dirt on the white floor of your house, would you accept such behavior?

Another important criteria is that we perform the rituals the way of Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him). There is a huge difference between people walking around the Ka'aba and those who walk around graves; there is a huge difference between people throwing stones at the devil and others throwing your Muslim brothers. No one can find better ritual to perform Hajj than Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon Him) for he was taught by his god.

Another significant reason is that we don't follow our Hajj with sins, if we do this we are like a guest of a generous man, he treated us well, gave us all we needed and once we stepped outside the door we talk behind his back saying bad things about him. These are the most important criteria so may Allah accept our Hajj.

For those who are going to Hajj, I wish that Allah may accept your Hajj and returns safely to your families.