A JOURNEY TO GOD

The journey to perform hajj is a journey to God. It represents the ultimate closeness to God one can achieve while living in this world. Other acts of worship are ways of remembering God; hajj is a way of reaching Him. Generally we worship Him on an unseen level; during hajj, we worship Him as if we are seeing Him face to face. When a pilgrim stands before the Kabah it seems to him that he is standing before God Himself. He is then moved to revolve around the Lord’s house, like a butterfly encircling a flower, clinging to His doorstep like a slave begging for his master’s mercy.

The house of God in Makkah is one of God’s signs on earth. There, souls which have strayed from the Lord take comfort in Him once again; hearts which have become hard as stone are brought low before Almighty God; eyes which have lost their vision are filled with divine radiance. But these blessings of hajj are available only to those who come prepared for them. Otherwise, hajj will be just a tour, a visit which leaves no lasting impression upon the one who makes it. This is the spirit of hajj which must be kept alive by the pilgrims.