THE SPIRIT OF HAJJ

Hajj may be defined as a rehearsal for purposeful living such as was demonstrated by Ibrahim when he fulfilled the divine mission 4000 years ago. Living a purposeful life, he set an ideal example for posterity. The stages that Ibrahim had to go through in the process are symbolically observed by a pilgrim. During a specified period, a pilgrim re-enacts the historic events of Ibrahim’s life, thus renewing his zeal to emulate him. He will reflect in his living what Ibrahim had done in his time.

The rituals of hajj are, in reality, the different stages of this purposeful kind of life. What one has to go through, having opted for such a life, had already been experienced in totality by Ibrahim. In every age, the faithful have to repeat the entire ritual in order to live a similar life. The true pilgrim is one who performs the rites of hajj with this intention, and experiences such sentiments.

Let us put this another way and say that it is not merely a matter of going to Makkah and returning. There is much more to hajj than that, hajj has been prescribed so that it may inspire us with new religious fervour. To return from hajj with one’s faith in God strengthened and rekindled - that is the hallmark of a true pilgrim. Hajj only takes its place as a supreme act of worship when it is undertaken in its true spirit, and performed in the proper manner. It will then be the greatest act in a pilgrim’s life: he will never be the same again.