Virtues of Hajj

man’s dignity and criterion for humanity, have lost their values and are gradually being removed from man’s life.
A beastly atmosphere is turning the world into a quagmire. The freedom, fighting and hearty human beings are naturally living in depression under such circumstances. Like taking breath in a political environment, living has become painful for them.

Hence, they are always looking for a chance to hear a heavenly and divine call amidst the mammonists’ yelling so that it will remove fatigue from their lives and depression from their hearts, take them to a world above this boring one, and satiate them with the elixir of affinity with God, prophets, and saints.
That is the call of the Hajj pilgrimage and the call of Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him), which generates much enthusiasm in the Muslim community with the coming of the Hajj rites.

This enthusiasm makes the pilgrims rush to the Kaaba-the House of their Beloved, fills Mecca’s plain and mountain with Labbayk Allahumma labbayk (Yes, here I am, O Lord here I am) Bare-footed, they shed off all worldly attachments and signs of distinction, reach for the House of their Beloved, embrace it, voice their love from the bottom of their hearts, confide their grievances with God, hear the soothing answer of the Lord of the House, and return home with a spiritual joy.

According to the teachings of Imam Reza, the grandson of the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him), Hajj is made incumbent so that people may derive spiritual and material benefits inherent in it.
God has ordained that by worshipping Him and supplicating Him man would have fulfiled the very purpose of his creation and his existence. In His wisdom He has made some acts of worship obligatory so that man is compelled to benefit himself.

Hajj is one such excellent form of worship that it embraces the significance and virtues of all other forms of worship.
Not only does it include spending time in the way of God, leaving our homeland, denying ourselves comfort and pleasures, spending time in prayers and supplications, but it entails several other rituals like running between Safa and Marwah, which display an extreme form of humility and helplessness. Every ritual of Hajj has a significance which relates it to the hereafter. One of the important elements of the philosophy of Hajj is the creation of mutual understanding and consolidation of brotherhood among the Muslims.

Hajj is the best rendezvous for acquaintances of Islamic nations, where brothers and sisters from all over the world can meet, in the House of that belongs to all Muslims and followers of Abraham, and ignoring their personal distinctions of rank, colour, nationality or ethnic characteristics, return to their original homeland and demonstrate their Islamic brotherly veracity by observing the generous Islamic moral principles and avoiding contentions and self glorification.

Hajj is indeed unique occasion, (for Muslims) to present themselves humbly before the Almighty and devote their self entirely to Him in order to gain His pleasure and seek nearness to Him.
It is an occasion for one to set aside all his/her worldly cares and concerns and immense himself/herself entirely in worshipping his/her creator and carrying out His commands.

For this one denies his/her worldly pleasures and comfort, face hardships and the vagaries of nature. The Spiritual degrees of Hajj, being the assets for eternal life which bring man close to the horizons of monotheism and doxologies may be attained through proper observation and performance of Hajj rituals.

A pilgrim should exert his/her utmost in supplication and resorting to God the Almighty, intensify remembrance of God in all positions, standing and sitting, repeat it with humbleness and attentiveness, give great care to that, exert his utmost efforts, and keep his tongue moist with the remembrance of God.

An important social philosophy of convening such a magnificent congregation from all over the world at this sacred site and alighting place of revelation, is the unification of the world Muslims and consolidation of unity among the followers of the Prophet of Islam (pbuh) and of the Holy Quran in their confrontation against the world despots.

This year’s Hajj pilgrimage comes in the aftermath of the rapid and multidimensional developments in the Middle East and North African region, and particularly in the key Islamic-Arabic countries, and also as a result of the occurring Islamic awakening in combating the domestic and foreign domination in these countries.

While many experts have contemplated this movement as a reproduction of the main message of the Islamic Revolution, the Middle East region has faced new conditions and embraces new characteristics which obviously affect and future structures and equations of the international system.

The US-Zionist axis with a kind of bewilderment vis-à-vis this wave has taken up their position of protecting and providing the interests of Zionism and has tried to make the Islamic awakening unfulfilled and create obstacles against the victory of Islamic movements in the Arab-Islamic region.

Meanwhile, the world continues to observe double-standards of the US and the West concerning the developments in the Middle East. In spite of the US democracy and human rights slogans, we continue to witness the indifference of their media towards the crimes committed against the people of these countries, especially the oppressed people of Bahrain.

The Muslim world and the developing world at large should oppose any kind of foreign interference in other nations’ demands. The occupation of countries such as Bahrain and Libya should be condemned, no matter any given pretext.

Such actions constitute opposition to the legitimate demands of the people and adopting double-standards and pose as a severe threat to the stability and security of the region and the world, and perhaps setting an unbecoming trend in letting the world arrogant states to act based on their own taste and interests.

It is the duty of the elite of the Islamic Ummah and the oppressed world to provide help to the Palestinian nation and the besieged people of Gaza, to sympathise and provide assistance to the nations of Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria, and to engage in struggle and resistance against the hegemonic powers and the Zionist regime.
As the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran has said in one of his messages to the Hajj pilgrims, “the glorious spectacle and stage of Hajj provides us with an opportunity for the fulfilment of these duties and summons us to intensify and redouble our resolution and efforts.”