A pilgrim has left his home, his country, his business, and his relatives and has come here to seek the pleasure of God. He has given up all the pleasures, comforts, and amenities of life, and has undertaken this long journey to Mecca to go through all the hardships, inconveniences, and sufferings of the pilgrimage.

Here he is in the company of thousands of his Muslim brothers, all wearing one dress, answering the call of their Lord in one language. He has even off his worldly dress and wrapped around him two white sheets and has come in the presence of His sovereign to seek His pleasure and goodwill.

Having forsaken all the physical barriers that stand between him and his Lord, he is calling and crying,’ Here am I, O God, here am I.’ This extreme concentration of his ideas and mind on God in extreme humbleness brings him in reality into the presence of God.

Indeed, God is not confined to any one place, and the Ka’bah is no exception. But the higher experience of nearness to God is attained in the atmosphere of a multitude of people who have left everything behind and have gathered together here for God, their only objective here is God and His pleasure, all worldly comforts, wealth, engagements, and relations, which are a veil hiding the spiritual realities of the other world, are left behind, and he can, during the pilgrimage, turn to God and feel his presence in reality.

The great significance of this higher spiritual experience in a gathering may be expressed from another point of view. One’s heart and mind can indeed have a mysterious communion with another, as proved by telepathy. When you are in the company of a man who is inspired by the same thing and is undergoing the same spiritual experience, your spiritual experience will naturally get additional strength from him and will in return strengthen him.

When hundreds and thousands of people are gathered for the pilgrimage, they are all inspired by the presence of the Divine Being. The objective all is one and they are all concentrating on that objective. This internal unity of objective is further strengthened by their outward unity.

They are all clad in the same way, all gathered together in the same place and uttering the same words again and again, ‘labbaika Allahumma labbaika’ (Here we are, O God! Here are we in your presence). Their appearance, their demeanor, and their regular crying all give the impression that they are standing in the presence of their Lord.

They are so absorbed in their dialogue with the Divine Being that they have lost all sense of time or space or even of their being. This spiritual experience in gatherings is many times intensified and heightened in its effect on each pilgrim by the accumulated effect of the experience of hundreds and thousands of other pilgrims. Though God is not confined to any one place, it is a reality that many of the people who are gathered at Mecca in the valley of Arafaat on the 9th of the month of Dhul Hijjah do feel His presence among themselves. The pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime is a religious duty and an act of ibadah for a Muslim. It is obligatory on all adults who can afford to undertake a journey to Mecca.

Thus there seem to be three conditions on the obligation to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca: It is obligatory, first, only for adults and not children. Second, only those who have sufficient money to pay for the return journey to Mecca and to meet all the expenses during their stay in Mecca and elsewhere. Those who do not possess sufficient provisions for this journey are not required to undertake it.

Pilgrims must take sufficient provisions with them so that they may perform the ceremonies of the pilgrimage with complete concentration and peace of mind and will not be forced to resort to begging.  Third, it is necessary only for those who are physically fit to undertake the journey. People who are sick or very old and are unable to undergo the hardships of a long journey are not required to undertake it.

(ends)

by Afzalur Rahman