Hikmah Haji
Rehman posed me this question over e-mail after reading my Haj Report:
So my question is: Did the Prophet s.a.w. intend this grand and mandatory ritual to be such an ordeal and trial? My impression was that it was meant to celebrate and commemorate. What is it now?
I am not sufficiently schooled to give an authoritative answer but I think the Haj is a "mandatory-if-able" ritual whereas Eid Adha is the celebration for those who successfully complete it.
The only valid rationalization for religion is to inspire you to be the best person you can be. The Haj, I believe, is a divine personal development programme, with very much the same design objectives as the OBS (Outward Bound School) or Team Building Programmes popular with large corporations. You are made to undertake some seemingly meaningless tasks designed to bring the best and the worse out of you and to learn from the experience in order to make you a better person. Corporations often publish shared-value statements. I don't know what are the cardinal values of a Good Muslim but according to Syed Hossein Nasr, they are Truth or Sincerity, Humility and Charity (or nobility). Where the first is concerned, just like in Golf, during Haj, you are your own referee. You make the calls to penalize yourself and pay the fines should you contravene the rules. The humility aspect is obvious from the fact that no matter how rich you are, you are made to dress the same way (although it's quite amazing that some people manage to look rich while in Ihram), virtually go camping at Arfah and Mina, and get pushed around like everybody else during Tawaf. Where charity is concerned, you are encouraged to sedekah as much as possible during Haj and to be on your best behaviour. Practically though, the values that get tested the most during Haj are Patience and Gratitude. Right from the time you land at Jeddah, your patience is tested by the immigration authorities, the transport people, the hotel people and other pilgrims. virtually everything is done on Insha'allah basis here and they seem to conspire to be facilitators of "dugaan" or trials. And Gratitude, well, it's really easy to recognize small blessings over here such that you learn not to take things for granted.
Hence, I think it's a common mistake to think that one should perform Haj when you are aged, at the dusk of your life, to cleanse yourself before you die. One should perform Haj when you are young, to prepare yourself before you plunge into life in the real world. Children, nephews and nieces, please note.
P.S. I am pining for some response to what I have been posting recently.
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Pa, u still look rich while you're in your ihram clothes. I remembered when I was in MRSM Batu Pahat, my friend saw a picture of you and said "your dad looks like a million dollars". Nenek kirim salam. She said why don't u just take a bus or taxi from Mekah to Mina.Cari penyakit.
ReplyDeleteAmirah
Mirah, are you sure your friend didn't mean Mama?
ReplyDeleteAbout not taking a taxi or bus, I was guilty of being over-confident and arrogant. It was supposed to be only 4 km. I can walk 7 km in a round of golf. After starting to walk, it was a case of 'dekat je lagi....'
PART 2
ReplyDeleteSecondly, no, I don't think the Haji is meant to be as such as mentioned by u but rather, it is a pengabdian diri kpd Allah swt. How one feels about it is rather personal, depending on all your amalans, the same as what it'd be apabila kita dihidupkan semula pada Hari Akhirat... as is said, kita akan dibangkit didalam pelbagai bentuk dan rupa berdasarkan kepada amalan2 kita di dunia. It would appear to be an ordeal for some but rather otherwise (pleasures) for many. So I think the feelings that most people have during the Haji season also depends on their amalans n ketakwaan kepada Allah swt. We all get tested in a way or another but depending on the keimanan yang ada di dada, some people will take it positively and the others, negatively. Have u ever wondered why at any particular time n place one person may b complaining about the heat, whereas the other says the weather is beautiful? Or eating the same food, sorang complain pasal masingnya, yang lagi satu pasal pedasnya, sedangkan yang lagi satu makan tanpa berkata apa-apa sebab itu adalah rezki dari Allah swt?
True, religion (in fact all)indeed inspire u to be the best person u can be but as a Muslim, tidak boleh tidak, sembahyang, puasa, zakat dan Haji perlu disertakan sama in order to be that BEST person. Tidak lengkap kalau kita sekadar practice what is preached in Islam tapi tak sembahyang, tak puasa, etc, just like the Mat Sallehs. Tapi sebaliknya, kalau sembahyang dan puasa tak tinggal but at the same time buat perkara2 yang mungkar atau unIslamic, itu lagi la teruk orangnya.. So u hv to do both, preach n practice. In Islam, they always say that "tidak mungkin ada iman tanpa amal dan tidak mungkin beramal seseorang itu, tanpa ilmu..."
On the cardinal values, simply I think, is judged on your iman n ketakwaan kepada Allah, buat semua yang disuruh dan jauhkan sebarang yang dilarang (Amar Makruh Nahi Mungkar). Kalau itu boleh dilaksanakan, than u can claim yourself to be a good Muslim. On the charity part, you r indeed encouraged to do so as to help a fellow Muslim or to help them upkeep the religion through mosques, madrasah, tahfiz, etc. God have promised that for every sen spent will be paid back to u in multiples of thousands, coming in different kind of forms, not necessarily cash...sihat tubuh badan, boleh makan dan minum, tidur nyenyak,senantiasa aman dan bahagia adalah juga diantara balasan-balasan Allah swt, hasil dari derma dan sedekah-sedekah yang diberikan. Try it.
Touching on the humility part, I can't agree that it is humiliating when u r asked to wear the two pieces of cloth for the Ihram, made to camp at Padang Arafat, walked the 5 km journey for the stoning ceremony, get pushed around for the Tawaf n Saie, etc. All these, mempunyai hikmah-hikmahnya yang tersendiri, yang mempunyai hubungkait dengan apa yang mungkin akan berlaku pada hari akhirat nanti. Setidak-tidaknya, memberi kesedaran kepada kita, kononnya, kalau sekarang pun dah tak boleh tahan, apatah lagi pada Akhirat nanti bilamana matahari dikatakan tinggi hanya sejengkal dari kepala! Hanya amalan-amalan kita sahaja yang boleh menyelamatkan kita nanti. Even as of today during the haji season, not everybody complains on the ORDEALS as u mentioned but in fact as can be seen on TV, banyak yang bersyukur dengan segala nikmat dan rahmat yang telah ditertima sepanjang musim. Wonder why?
Lastly, yeah, I would fully agree with u that we all should perform the haj when we r all young n strong, but not so much due to all the "obstacles" and crowd that u have got to go through, but for them all to have more time to learn and practice about the religion, and to be a good muslim. As they say, "dunia ini hanyalah tempat persinggahan sementara sahaja, sedangkan akhirat itu tempat yang kekal..."; "satu hari diakhirat sama dengan seribu tahun didunia...." So please, don't get too blinded with the worldly values...
Wassalam.
Puding, my earlier comment didnt get thru cos it was too long. Haji is rukun Islam 5 n u do it kerana memenuhi perintah Allah swt, the way the Prophet asked u to do. How one feels during the season depends on how much keimanan dan ketakwaan yg ada pada diri kita.. ada yg rasa senang dan ada yg rasa susah. Same situation akan berlaku pd akhirat, so u shud know where u stand after the Haj. Agree, all shud go when they r young, but not so much to face the obstacles, but to hv more time to learn and practice the religion. Wassalam
ReplyDeleteZame
ReplyDeleteI purposely left a few things for u to comment on to get some participation in the blog. Hehe. Seriously though your elaboration would be useful knowledge for the kids and me. However, forgive me for saying so, but you did read a few things I didn't write. Eg. I never said I felt humiliated wearing the ihram or living in camps in Arfah and Mina. Perhaps it's one of the idiosyncrasies of the English language. Humiliated does not relate to humility. Humbled does. And I do feel humbled wearing the Ihram, etc. Secondly, I think we can assume that all of us know that doing the Haj is one of the Rukun 5 and I didn't dispute that. I was merely illustrating the benefits of Haj from a different perspective. If that is wrong through possibly being bida'ah, may God forgive me. Finally, I don't think we disagree about doing it when young or old.
Cont.
ReplyDeleteYou also misread that I have been complaining. I am fully aware that if I suffer, it's because I have not been good enough in God's eyes. See my earlier comment on being over-confident and arrogant in attempting to do so much walking. And when I do get angry, I try to check myself and istifar.
I can't say that I am at the station that I derive pleasure from being here but I am doing as much as I can, willingly, and praying hard that God accepts my ibadah.
About being the best person one can be viz. all the ibadah's, it's about which the ends and which is the means isn't it? If you take my earlier comment about Islam being a Deen, it doesn't matter. Wallah wa'alam.
[2:177] It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces Towards east or West, but it is righteousness- to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer; for those who ask; and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which ye have made;and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the Allah.fearing.
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