Start Preparing for Hajj – Always good to Start Early

The following is the Post by our elder brother Aboo Bilal Nahim on KSA_Dawah Google groups:

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Whilst in Makkah yesterday I saw some strange practices, nothing unusual as I had seen most of them before. But what shocked me was how blatant people were In defending what they were doing.

Whilst walking past Maqaaam-e-Ibrahim people were clinging to the gold enclosure that houses the stone. Kissing it, hugging it a rubbing themselves against it with this false notion of gaining barakah (blessings from it).

As perusual the brothers placed around this point were reminding the people that Maqaam-e-Ibrahim was to be taken as a place of worship and that all fo these practices that the people we doing was not legislated in the religion of al-Islaam.

This has (unfortunately) become the unsual practice of many of the Muslims today where ever they maybe from.

It amazes me how we spend so much money (and for many, this is truly a once in a life-time journey) in our efforts to come and make either Hajj or Umrah. Yet, we arrive in these lands with little if no knowledge of what is required from us in order to complete this obligation fully.

We expect Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) to accept whatever we put forth and reward us abundantly for it.

Imagine you are cooking a meal and for cooking this meal perfectly you will be given a new car. What would you do? Research, practice, understand, change, refine until the meal was perfect to (almost) guarantee you the first prize.

Why can’t we transfer that thinking (research, practice, understand, change, refine, these are my words) in to this and other forms of worship.

The ultimate prize is Paradise and second prize is the Hellfire (even if it will only be for e certain amount of time for the people of Tawheed who Allaah chooses to punish due to sins they have comitted).

Back to the original story.

Just as I walked past Maqaam-e-Ibrahim. I noticed that the majority of people doing this (on this occasion) were from the Indo/Pak subcontinent.

I started to translate what the brother was warning against. The fact that this practice was not legislated and that we should concerntrate on the Sunnah and so on…

An old man then turned around to me and said:

“You can say what you want. We know it is a bid’ah but we are still going to continue doing it!”

Maybe he didn’t understand what he was saying and we ask Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) that He (سبحانه وتعالى) guides us and him to the correct understanding of al-Islaam.

I then asked him if he realised and understood what he was saying to which he didn’t reply. I reminded him of the fact that he may have spent several hundred thousand Pakistani Rupees to get here and that he is (possibly) destroying the reward for this action due to intentionally going against the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (صلى اللهُ عليه وآله وسَلَّم).

My point is, to many this maybe very shocking and even disturbing. Yet, if we were to reflect a little upon our own lives, maybe we are doing the same thing on a daily basis that this uncle did yesterday?

Just take a little time to think about that last statement of mine and ponder over our own situation. How many things are we doing that we know are against the Book of Allah and the Sunnah? Even though the people may see us a being ignorant. Allah knows the truth about what is in out hearts. So nothing is hidden from Him.

With regards to this uncle, I advised him a little more and continued on my journey around the Ka’bah thanking Allah for his bounties.

Hajj is only a short time away, don’t be ignorant of its rulings before making this life changing journey. Don’t spend all that (their) money sending your parents on this journey without equipping that with the correct tools they need putting them and the mercy of the tour guide.

There is great reward in helping them prepare financially, physically, spritually with the correct knowledge to make this journey a success, don’t waste their money and time, both are very precious.

Here are a series of lectures in Urdu by Dr. Murtaza Baksh (حفظه الله تعالى) who is based in Jeddah.