All around the world Hajjis (pilgrims) are back home. Having completed their wondrous, life-changing journey to Mecca and Media, Muslims have returned re-energized and revitalized. It’s a whole new world, full of promise, faith and the potential for the kind of happiness found in worshiping Allah (swt), doing things that please him and making the most of our lives.

I write like I know what I’m talking about. But I’ve never actually performed Hajj (the pilgrimage). I’ve never even done Umra (the lesser pilgrimage). For that matter, I’ve never even been to Saudi Arabia, let alone Mecca and Medina. But from speaking with many people who have performed Hajj, I envision it as being fun, enlightening, joyous, awe-inspiring and overwhelming.

Fun?

I imagine so. After all, “fun” is not an adjective reserved only for hanging out with friends and family, going out to dinner or playing a round of Scattergories (you know, one of those “get together” games). “Fun” refers to anything that provides enjoyment. I’m not saying one performs Hajj just for enjoyment. I’m just saying it’s one of the many wonderful byproducts that come with the holy pilgrimage – enjoyment that stems from worship. What could be better than that?

That kind of enjoyment must be more fulfilling, more lasting, more satisfying than any other kind we experience on a daily basis through conventional forms of entertainment. I believe enjoyment and Islam are synonymous. How could Islam be the fast-growing religion in the world if people didn’t enjoy being Muslims?

In these post 9/11 days, Muslims are reclaiming Islam – talking about it, teaching it and living it in a way that paints a positive picture for the non-Islamic world. Yet dark stereotypes persist – that Islam breeds terrorism, that it is a religion of intolerance, of fear and hate, not love. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m not an Islamic scholar by any means, but I do know that this is a religion one can truly enjoy practicing.

And of the five pillars ascribed to Islam, performing Hajj must be one of the most wonderful things of all. The sparse coverage of this year’s Hajj by popular media does a great disservice to the world. Those who don’t know about Hajj just see millions of people circling the Kaba (the rectangular shaped building in the heart of Mecca). But it’s so much more, I’m told.

My parents went in 1986. They still remember all the minute details of that experience – the heat, but how no one felt it; the camaraderie of being with fellow Muslims; the awareness of the beauty and greatness of Allah (swt) as never known before. My mother’s face lights up whenever she speaks of their pilgrimage. It’s a lesson of faith and enjoyment that will last a lifetime.

My father-in-law, who has performed Hajj three times, says the first time one sees the Kaba is one of the most momentous occasions. It’s difficult to properly describe what it feels like, he tells me. And my mother-in-law says the first time she went, she couldn’t believe she was allowed to be there. She felt it was a place for only the most pious. But she quickly learned that Hajj was for all Muslims, that Allah (swt) loved everyone and welcomed them to his house here on Earth.

I’ve heard various figures on how many Muslims converged for Hajj this year and they suggest that this year’s group was the largest ever. It seems like I know three times as many people who went for Hajj this year than in any years prior. Friends, relatives, acquaintances; everyone seems to know someone who went. Perhaps it’s a reaction to 9/11, an imperative urgency to perform this duty required of Muslims as soon as possible. Who knows?

All I know is that I’m eager to hear more Hajj stories when more pilgrims return. In listening to these experiences I feel I gain some of that knowledge, that awareness, that enjoyment. It fuels my own urgency to go. And after I do, inshallah, I will be able to properly write about Hajj from personal experience rather than second-hand knowledge. But as second-hand knowledge is a journalist’s bread and butter. It’s what I offer to you.

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