Hajj Contemplations | Part II

8. While in sa’yi, contemplate on Haajar, the mother of Ismaa’eel, when she asked her husband Ibraaheem ‘alayhi salaam: “Did Allah order you to do this (leaving her and her baby Ismaa’eel in Makkah)? He said: “Yes.” Her great response was: “Then He (Allaah) will not neglect us!” Think about this great dependence upon Allaah when you are in the sa’yi walking the same path which Haajar took in search for water and for means of life around the mounts of Safa and Marwah. Think about her endurance, perseverance and trust in Allaah. The sa’yi exemplifies the strong belief that we are in need of One Who Sustains and Provides – Allaah, the Exalted.

Think about Ibraaheem’s invocation on his way homeward to Palestine:

O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in an uncultivable valley by Your Sacred House (the Ka’bah at Makkah); in order, O our Lord, that they may perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), so fill some hearts among men with love towards them, and (O Allah) provide them with fruits so that they may give thanks.

(Ibrahim 14:37)

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Hajj Contemplations | Part I

1. This is a journey that was taken by Prophets and Messengers before you. Those who take the path of the Prophets magnify the tawheed of Allah and His House. There are those, however, who come to perform hajj and their hearts are attached to other than Allaah. They invoke the dead and the righteous, whether present or absent. This is the opposite of tawheed, it is shirk no matter what they call it because it is setting up rivals besides Allaah. So, free your intention from any kind of devotion to other than Allaah. Repent and come with a sincere heart submitting to Allaah remembering what Ibraheem and his son Ismaa’eel said when they were raising the foundations of Allah’s House, the ka’bah:

“Our Lord! And make us submissive unto You and of our offspring a nation submissive unto You, and show us our Manasik (all the ceremonies of pilgrimage – Hajj and ‘Umrah, etc.), and accept our repentance. Truly, You are the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.”

(Baqarah 2:128)

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