Nov 27, 2009, 12.00am IST
M Aslam.
A pilgrimage undertaken with sincerity and devotion could be a life-transforming, spiritually invigorating experience .
This is what happened to me when I went for Umra a few years ago. Umra can be taken up during any part of the year and it involves most of the rituals of Haj, but it is not a Haj. My experience with two important rituals that are also a part of Haj – tawaf or circumambulating the Kaaba and running between the two small hills of Safah and Marwah – was spiritually satisfying.
Wearing the Ihram – the two unstitched pieces of white cloth, one wrapped around the waist, the other worn over one shoulder – at Jeddah, made me feel I was entering a new world, far removed from the lifestyle familiar to me. I entered Baitul Mukaram, the Grand Mosque, on reaching Mecca. I began reciting Labiak at the Kaaba: “O my God,I am present, I am at your disposal ... ” and started doing tawaf, circling the Kaaba seven times. There was a huge crowd of devotees doing the same while chanting Labiak.
It was rather impossible to kiss Hajar Aswad, the holy black stone, because of the huge crowds going around the Kaaba at great speed. It crossed my mind suddenly that at Kaaba, you are so close to God that if you pray sincerely, it is immediately accepted. I thought this was the time to see whether my prayers were accepted. I prayed to God to facilitate me to kiss the Hajar Aswad. Even if it were for only a few seconds, my wish was indeed granted. A tall, well-built man in the front row near Hajar Aswad held back the surging crowd with his arms while I did the needful. I began to feel empowered. I remembered the words of Rumi in the Mathnawi: “God has made the Qibla – now that the House has come to view. If you forget this Qibla for one moment, you will be overcome by the Qibla of desires.”
After the completion of this ritual, a pilgrim is expected to run between the two small hills called Safah and Marwah that are described in Quran as signs of God. The pilgrims walk at different speeds coinciding with a rite performed in the memory of Abraham’s wife who helplessly ran between these two hills in search of water for her son, Ishmael. Again it was difficult for me to run and as an alternative I got a wheel chair after depositing my passport to perform this ritual. Believe it or not, I never did have to use the wheelchair. I was able to run between Safah and Marwah, unencumbered by my physical limitations. As I completed the ritual, I wondered from where I got the energy and willpower to do it. Was it faith that propelled me to do what i had thought was impossible for me to accomplish?
The Haj is not intended as an accomplishment to boast about nor undertaken to acquire the title of ‘Haji’. The pilgrimage is expected to make a person God-aware and sincere. My hope and wish is that every pilgrim who returns from Haj retains in himself the spirit of Haj without succumbing completely to worldly deeds and thereby lose all the benefits of a significant spiritual experience that reduces the distance between the seeker and the God.
The writer teaches at IGNOU, New Delhi.
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