"And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways;That they may witness the benefits (provided) for them, and celebrate the name of Allah, through the Days appointed, over the cattle which He has provided for them (for sacrifice): then eat ye thereof and feed the distressed ones in want." (Al -Quran 22:27-28)
I'm sorry I haven't updated this in so long, but I noticed people were still checking from time to time so I thought I'd update with one of my most recent trips. Despite not being very long, this trip I imagine will be the most important of my lifetime.
I was blessed with the opportunity to take the pilgrimage to Mecca late last year. The pilgrimage to Mecca, more commonly known as Hajj, is one of the 5 pillars of Islam mandatory on all Muslims who have the means and health to take the trip. In 2009 my parents had made plans to go, and I decided to tag along. Many people go in their old age, and I myself thought that I would probably go once I got married, but once I realized it was all being made quite easy for me at this time, I realized this was my invitation to go, and it would only be arrogant to reject such an auspicious invitation.
I won't go into the practices of Hajj, as many websites outline the rituals and their symbolism and importance throughout the pilgrimage. What I can say, is that the whole experience ends up being so much more than the sum of it's parts.
On the day of Arafat the verse above kept running through my head. That if the pilgrimage was proclaimed, that they would come, from every distant mountain highway. And we did. I stood looking at Mount Arafat with tears in my eyes, looking at the millions of people and how the words of Allah had come to fruition right in front of me. Words written more than 1400 years ago that ring true every single year. And that we would witness benefits provided...And we did.
People came from around the world at the time of Hajj. Places I'd never even heard of. And the brotherhood felt there was something unlike anything I'd ever felt before. There was so much love and kindness between people of every race and creed, it was hard to imagine my life back home or being anywhere else. There was a familiarity in people that I'd never seen before, 3 million strangers in which there was no strangeness.
I was humbled to see the number of people who'd spent their lifetimes saving to come on this trip that I'd only made the intention for this year. They slept on the streets, in tents along the roads, camped up in the mountains. Their devotion to Allah was beautiful, and I felt completely unworthy of being among them.
You get a lot of time to reflect while you're there, and in all that reflection and prayer I found that all the mercies and love of Allah became so apparent, even in the smallest things. Things that had happened over my life time, and things that happened over the trip, and the things that brought me to the point of even getting there.
I took away a lot from my trip, so much that I felt like my heart beat differently once I got home. And I see how mine, and my fellow Hajji's lives have changed as a result. Many people will tell you how once they got back from Hajj how they left their hearts in Mecca, and now only that I've gone can I really understand what that means.
Upon seeing how sad I was to be back, someone told me to be glad, and that just as you leave a part of yourself there, you also bring along a part of it with you.
