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Farrukh on `Umrah: Touching a Piece of Paradise
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By Farrukh I.Younus**
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Jan.
4, 2006
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The
Ka`bah |
In
our Farrukh Travels series, we follow Farrukh Younus as he travels around the
globe. Farrukh is a young British-Pakistani Muslim who travels a great deal for
his work. In his monthly series, Farrukh shares his adventures, cultural
observations, and spiritual contemplations in his search for that which we share
and that which is unique to each place and community.
It
has been quite a few years since my family left Saudi Arabia. I remember when I
was a child, we would frequently go on `Umrah. I have many memories of Al-Haram
Ash-Sharif —especially of the Ka`bah and of drinking Zamzam water by the
gallon — and I must not forget the shawarmas (meat sandwiches)! Even
though I had a sense of spirituality, I wouldn't dare suggest that it was
anything like the enlightenment I have felt over the past week.
Since
the days I started practicing Islam as a young adult, I often wondered and
dreamed about what I would do if I were to go back to Makkah, back to the Ka`bah.
What would I ask God for, and more importantly, would God accept my
supplications? I recognize and understand that as far as my belief is concerned,
God is All-Knowing and All-Aware. Thus, if I offer a prayer to God at any time
or in any place, He will be fully aware of it. However, there is that
indescribable "kick" that consists of being in Makkah and offering
prayer to God at the same time.
Stepping
out of the hotel, I was only seconds away from the Bab al-`Umrah (one of the
many entrances to Al-Haram). I walked through the passage and right in front of
me stood the Ka`bah — what a sight to see! This was it! This is where I had
wanted to be for so many years, and I was finally there!
For
a brief moment I thought, "Is this it?" as if I had expected much
more, some sort of immediate spiritual enlightenment. I spent a moment thinking
about the sayings of early Muslim scholars.
Al-Juwayni
(d. AH 478/1085 CE) explained that the purpose of inquiry is not to reach the
ultimate result, but the inquiry itself.
As-Suyuti
(d. AH 911 AH/1505 CE) argued that the result of a search is not the goal —
the goal is the search itself.
And
I thought to myself, "Now as I am standing here, is it all over? My desire
to be here in this sanctuary of God, is this the end?" And I realized that
this is not the end of the search any more than the middle rung of a ladder is
the end of the ladder. As with the ladder, we have to keep climbing, just as
with life and faith — we always continue to develop.
During
Tawaf, I thought about the Black Stone, a rock that fell from Paradise, which is
located in one of the corners of the Ka`bah. It is said that it was as white as
milk in the beginning but had become tainted because of the sins of the son of
Prophet Adam. Tradition holds that the Prophet Muhammad had once performed
pilgrimage and had kissed the Black Stone. On this occasion, `Umar, one of his
Companions, stated, "By God! I know that you are a mere stone, and if I had
not seen my beloved Prophet kissing you, I would have never done so."
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Pilgrims
in prayer
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Once,
during the time of Prophet Muhammad, the Black Stone had been displaced. At the
end of a process of rebuilding the Ka`bah, various pagan Arab tribes were
haughty with pride; all wanted the privilege of placing the stone back into the
Ka`bah again. Despite their worship of false gods and deities, they still
believed that Allah was the highest of them all. They began to quarrel among
themselves to the point that they were on the verge of physically attacking each
other. Someone then suggested that they seek advice from the first person to
come to the scene. Muhammad (not yet a prophet), who was known for his honesty
and wisdom, was it, the first person to come to them. He
placed the stone on a piece of cloth and then told all the tribal leaders to
each hold a side of it and to lift the stone to put it back in place. Each of
the tribal leaders thus lifted the stone back into place and war was averted.
After
a great deal of musing, I asked myself if I would be able to reach the Black
Stone. After all, what could be greater than "touching a piece of
Paradise?" I eventually decided against the matter as I would probably need
riot gear to navigate through the crowd, and I also noticed many people kissing
and touching the stone and couldn't help but wonder about hygiene.
Having
completed the Tawaf, I proceeded to Safa and Marwa to begin the second half of
my pilgrimage. On my last circuit between Safa and Marwa, I began to contemplate
the final stage of `Umrah, which is the trimming of the hair for women, and for
men, the shaving of the head — yes, "skin-head"
style. While this procedure is not required, it is certainly recommended
and adopted by many. Upon reaching Marwa, I gave in to my instincts and
chickened out, trimming only a small section of my hair.
I
completed the rites of `Umrah within 2 hours. What to do now? It wasn't really a
dilemma. I found myself a nice spot with a view of the Ka`bah where I could rest
against one of the many marble pillars. I sat back and contemplated life
while watching the pilgrims going around the Ka`bah in Tawaf.
I
noticed the birds flying overhead. There was always at least one, and often a
small flock would fly in synch around the Ka`bah, in very much the same way that
people perform Tawaf.
I
remembered hearing a story about the bird and the fire. When Prophet Abraham was
thrown into a fire that filled up two valleys by the evil ruler Nimrod, some
birds were flying overhead. Some of the larger birds saw a smaller bird that
kept on flying to the ocean to scoop up some water and then flying back to drop
the water onto the fire. After seeing the small bird going back and forth a few
times, the larger birds asked him why he was doing that, as such tiny drops of
water could not possibly put out such a large fire. The small bird replied that
he did so because on the Day of Judgment, God would ask him what he did when
Abraham was in the fire, and he wanted to be able to answer that he did
everything within his ability to extinguish the fire. I couldn't help to think
how lucky that bird was to have a conscience that wondered about its actions in
such a way, and how few of us there are in this world who think beyond our own
selves.
I
then remembered a story about Raghda, Nimrod's daughter. When she saw that
Abraham was not hurt by the fire, she asked him how that could be. Abraham told
her that it was because of his faith and belief in one God that the fire could
not hurt him. It was a mercy from God. Putting these words to the test, Raghda
stepped into the fire and accepted the belief in one God. The fire did not harm
her, and she testified aloud her belief in one God, the God of Abraham. She was
later tortured by her own father, Nimrod, who then banished her when she refused
to reject her belief in one God. I wondered how many of us today would have the
strength of conviction that Raghda had.
I
also wondered about the idols that used to be in the Ka`bah — where did they
come from? And how and why did they arrive in Makkah? Al-Kalbi's text, Kitab
al-Asnam (The Book of Idols), discusses the history of idolatry in
the Arabian Peninsula and observes how the simple truth of Abraham's teachings
was corrupted while `Amr ibn Luhay held the custodianship of the Ka`bah. `Amr
had traveled to Syria to visit a healing hot spring, and while there he had
noticed people worshiping idols. They told him that these idols could bring rain
for the land and victory against the enemy, so he brought some of them to Makkah
and placed them around the Ka`bah. I wondered if it wasn't for `Amr's single
trip to cure his illness, would the people who had until then followed the
tradition of Abraham left the path of monotheism?
I
observed that men and women are not segregated while performing the rituals of `Umrah
—to the extent that men and women pray almost without considering whom they
are praying behind. I recalled the statement of Imam Malik said that a man's
prayer behind a woman is perfectly legitimate. I also wondered whether the
statement of Imam Malik, when he referred to a mahram as a person in
whose company a woman would be safe and not necessarily a male relative, would
be valid. Presumably this interpretation was due to the mistreatment of women in
Madinah at the time, who would be verbally as well as physically abused in the
streets. Unfortunately, I see very little difference between the abuse of the
first Muslim women and the actions of many young Muslim men today who taunt and
abuse girls in shopping malls, even when they are fully covered in abayas!
History seems to repeat itself.
I
contemplated the treatment of the non-Muslims who had lived among the Muslim
communities in Arabia during the time of the Prophet. The Jews in Madinah then
co-existed with Muslims and were not at all mistreated or dealt with unjustly.
Even upon the death of the Prophet, one of his wives had taken his shield to a
Jew to pawn it. How could she have done that if there had been no Jews living in
the area, as we are told by some of our own historians? I wondered how it is
that people selectively accept the teachings of Islam or even its history.
The
more I thought about the various situations and dilemmas that our community
faces, the angrier I became. What started with a smile at being privileged to
admire the first sanctuary dedicated to the worship God, turned into a frown. I
sat there watching the people performing Tawaf and wondered what exactly was
going through their minds. I observed many people clinging to the Ka`bah. From a
distance I could see them crying, the tears rolling down their faces. I felt how
every person has his or her own problems, dilemmas, issues that all need to be
addressed.
I
remembered the hadith about a man who entered the mosque looking as if he was
burdened with something. Another man, who
was performing i`tikaf, asked about his dilemma. The first man said he
was in great difficulty and needed financial help. The second man said that he
knew of someone who would be able to help. As they left the mosque, the first
asked the second why he left the mosque while he was in a state of i`tikaf.
The second man replied that he had heard the Prophet Muhammad say, "One who
moves to fulfill any need of his brother, and makes effort for it, will find it
better than i`tikaf of ten years; and one who performs i`tikaf for
one day for the pleasure of Allah, will create a distance of three ditches
between him and the Hellfire." How many of us would go out of our way these
days just to help another person?
I remembered a meeting with a doctor from Médecins
Sans Frontières when I was in the deserts of
Azerbaijan. He had informed me that the children in the village he was working
in all suffered from the same illness, which could be cured with a tablet worth
around 30 cents. One tablet, a cure for life. He continued to tell me how the
entire country's child population suffered from the same illness, and how, with
only US$400,000, all of the children could be immunized from the disease. Some
people spend US$400,000 on a car; how easy it would be for such people to give
life and hope to so many, how easy it would be.
I remembered the story about two companions who were traveling in the desert.
When they decided to put up their tent, one companion went out in search for
food. When the one who remained in the tent was alone, a beautiful woman entered
the tent and offered him illegal sexual relations. He told her that her beauty
was unsurpassed and that he was tempted, but for fear of God he would not sell
the hereafter for a few moments of unlawful lust, and told her to leave. When
the other companion returned with the food, he found his friend crying alone in
the tent. Prompted, the crying man told of what happened and admitted that he
had barely been able to control himself. His companion also began to cry. When
the other asked why he was crying, he replied that if it had been him in the
tent, he would not have been able to resist and would have squandered his
hereafter for a few moments of unlawful lust. When I remembered this story, a
tear came to my eye because who knows what I would have done in the same
situation.
Story
after story, account after account, thought after thought came, and I ended up
spending a great deal of my `Umrah contemplating life and people. It was not,
however, an easy or uneventful pilgrimage. Were I to base my experience on the
manners of some of the people I met, I wouldn't have dared to recommend the
journey to anyone else. Life, however, seems full of compromises and choices;
one either accepts the differences in people, their actions and their
upbringings, or one can let such differences lead to the destruction of one's
own soul.
Before
my departure from Makkah, I almost gave in to the temptation of touching the
Black Stone. If, God forbid, my `Umrah had not been accepted, maybe the stone
could have absorbed all my sins and left me sinless like a newborn baby, as it
had absorbed the sins of Adam's son. But I quickly realized that, after all, it
was just a stone and it is only Allah the Almighty Who forgives, guides, and
provides. Problems, complications, and people's bad attitudes aside, even though
I do not know when or where I will die or when and if I will reach Heaven — I
can at least say that for now I have touched a piece of Paradise. What a
wonderful mercy from Allah indeed!
**
Farrukh I. Younus holds a master's degree in international business
management and works in the emerging telecom industry. He resides in Surrey, UK.
His interests include travel, nouvelle cuisine, and chocolate. You can contact
him at farrukh@ntlworld.com.
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