HAJJ: THE APOTHEOSIS OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE- BY PROFESSOR TIMEHIN OLUROTIMI

The Hajj experience holds different meanings to different people. As the holy city of Makkah continues to receive guests with open arms, the hoteliers grin with pleasure at the new opportunity to smile once again to the banks; traders shuttle between distribution channels, warehouses, and their shops to make sure that they are ready to cater to the needs of Allah’s noble guests, security agencies put final touches to rehearsals of new strategies to perfect their assignments, and the Imams of the sacred mosques brace themselves for the huge task ahead.

Beyond these, the people for whom the hajj experience holds the most important meaning are the pilgrims. They have travelled from far and wide to fulfil an obligation. They have risked their lives, spent their resources, and put their health at stake.

 However, these sacrifices only have a better chance of acceptance if they are done with the right mindset. The Hajj rites have profound spiritual meanings beyond the physical rituals. While the physical journey to Mecca fulfils the legal requirements of Islam, Hajj is intended to be a symbol of the journey of the human soul toward divine proximity, self-purification, and union with the Divine (Allah).

Your hajj experience begins with your declaration of intention. Of course, your best preparation is Taqwa (God-consciousness), but the intention, ‘’Allahumma labbayka Hajjan or labbayka Umratan’’ for Hajj and Umrah respectively underscores your commitment as a pilgrim to the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth that you are doing this exclusively to serve Him Alone!

When you enter the state of Ihram, you consecrate yourself, your actions, and your utterances to Allah, the Almighty. To the average person, it is just wearing simple white garments, but to men of understanding, it is a return to the natural state. It implies shedding your ego, worldly identity, and attachments. It's an affirmation of your humility before Allah and an expression of the awareness that you are not better than others and that whatever distinguishes you is by Allah’s Grace.

When you step into the sacred precincts of the Ka’bah to do the Tawwaf (circumambulation of the house), you are not just moving round a building seven times. Your action represents the lover’s act of circling the Beloved (Allah), symbolizing your yearning for the Divine. The Ka’bah is seen as the "heart" of the world, just as the human heart should be the dwelling of Allah.

As you break from the Tawwaf to embark upon the Sa’y (running between Safa and Marwa), you do not just commemorate Hajar's search for water, it also symbolizes your strivings, struggles and search (mujahadah) as a seeker in the quest for divine mercy and guidance. It's the state between hope and fear.

And when you join the other pilgrims at the plain of Arafat, you find yourself in the largest single assembly of human beings under the sky.  It reminds you of the Day of Judgment and ultimate divine encounter- a large assembly dominated by whiteness, the symbol of purity; echoing the same formula: ‘’at Your service, O our God’’. It is a moment of complete surrender, self-assessment (muhasabah), and spiritual rebirth.

When you move to the plain of Mina and to stone the Devil (Ramy al-Jamarat), you find yourself throwing pebbles at stone pillars symbolizing Satan. But in reality, this action is your symbolic rejection of evil and temptation. It is an assault on your personal satan that dwells in your heart. It is the act of renouncing the ego, pride, and all that distracts from Allah. While still at Mina, you sacrifice an animal in commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son. This also represents your declaration of the willingness to sacrifice all worldly ties and attachments, desires, and interests for the sake of divine love and obedience.

After completing the Hajj rites and rituals, and Allah decrees that you return home, it is not just about returning from a journey. It is about repentance (Tawbah) and transformation. It is about returning as a new being, having journeyed not only across physical space but also within the soul. It is a death and rebirth in spiritual terms. Hajj is, therefore, not just a ritual but a mystical journey of annihilating the self (fana’) and achieving subsistence in Allah (baqa’). The rituals of Hajj are thus mirrors of the inner journey towards Divine Presence (Maqam al-Qurb).

On this day therefore, I ask Allah by the devotion of His servants who have gathered at the two holy mosques and the hundreds of millions of people who will observe Jum'ah today to grant you His Love, Grace, and Clemency, and make you a lucky recipient of His Favours till eternity.

Jum'ah Mubarakah 

PROFESSOR TIMEHIN SAHEED OLUROTIMI

- Nigeria