{"id":165856,"date":"2022-05-31T16:44:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T16:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=165856"},"modified":"2022-05-31T16:44:03","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T16:44:03","slug":"the-spirituality-of-hajj-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/?p=165856","title":{"rendered":"The Spirituality of Hajj: Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Spahic Omer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Islam is the\nreligion of actions and good work (\u02dcamal), imbued with the spiritual certainty\n(iman). This combination is called comprehensive excellence (ihsan or itqan)\nand is the hallmark of Islam as the complete way of life. At the same time,\nIslam is the religion of quality rather than quantity, and of spiritual\nprofundity rather than material showiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almighty Allah says in the Quran: \u0153Indeed, We have made that which\nis on the earth adornment for it that We may test them (as to) which of them is\nbest in deed\u009d (al-Kahf, 7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0153Those are the ones from whom We will accept the best of what they\ndid and overlook their misdeeds, (their being) among the companions of Paradise.\n(That is) the promise of truth which they had been promised\u009d (al-Ahqaf, 16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Quran repeatedly puts emphasis on the fact that Allah only\naccepts the deeds of those who are righteous; that is, those who are pious and\nfear Allah alone. Accordingly, ritualism and deliberate mediocrity are\nincompatible with the Islamic holistic spirit. Yet, they are un-Islamic and\nsinful, which means that insincere persons and their soulless actions under no\ncircumstances can gain currency in Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relationship between form and purposeful function in Islam and its civilisational trajectory is very clear. There is no aspect of form or of any religious ceremony that reaches Allah; it is only peoples faith, righteousness and God-consciousness that do. The former plays second fiddle to and is in full service to the latter. As the Quran points out in the context of the sacrifice ritual (qurban): \u0153Their meat will not reach Allah, nor will their blood, but what reaches Him is piety from you. Thus have We subjected them (sacrificial animals) to you that you may glorify Allah for that (to) which He has guided you; and give good tidings to the doers of good\u009d (al-Hajj, 37).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, according to a hadith or tradition of Prophet Muhammad\n(peace and blessings be upon him) excellence (ihsan), as the highest level of\nfunctional quality, is to worship Allah as if one sees Him, and if one cannot\nachieve this state of devotion, then (he should take for granted that) Allah\nsees him.[1]<\/sup><\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prophet also said that Allah is Good (Tayyib) and accepts only\nthat which is good (sincere, truthful, reverent, outstanding and beautiful).[2]<\/sup><\/a>\nWhen it comes to the quality of good work, furthermore, the Prophet said that\nAllah loves when a person does something to perfect it.[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing this book was inspired by this remarkable life-force of Islam. The book deals with the spirituality and spiritual secrets of the major components of Hajj or the pilgrimage. The subjects of ihram, talbiyah, tawaf, say, \u02dcArafah, Muzdalifah, Mina and the city of Madinah as a holy city and the city of the Prophet, are covered. The subjects are organised in seven chapters which are interrelated and, as such, make up an edifying aggregate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the final pillar of the edifice of Islam, Hajj denotes the\nattainment of ones religious (spiritual) journey. It is its apex. It is\nlikewise a manifestation, as well as affirmation, of ones self-fulfilment.\nHajj, in addition, is the proof of the efficacy of all the other pillars of\nIslam. Demonstrating how the physical realities of life are but an echo of, and\nthe overture to, the metaphysical ones, Hajj is also an ultimate proof on its\nown. Analysing the above-mentioned subjects – and dimensions – of Hajj shows\nwhy and how such is the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The objectives of the book are twofold: to contribute to the\neducation of pilgrims and to help them penetrate, as well as experience, the\ndeepest spiritual secrets of Hajj; and to contribute to the promotion and\nspread of the true message of Islam, in the process removing some of the many\nmisconceptions about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hajj is a fabulous opportunity for Muslims to up the ante and work\nup the courage, for Hajj as a spiritual revolution in our world today is\nprogressively attracting global attention. In its capacity as one of the\nlargest concentrated and recurring religious festivals in the world, Hajj does\nnot pass unnoticed. People are as much curious as they are fascinated and\nintrigued. Questions are asked and an increase both in the academic and\npop(ular) demand is created. The ball is in Muslims court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a certain sense, this book signifies a response, and is a humble step in the outlined direction. It follows especially the examples of Abu Hamid al-Ghazzalis \u0153The Book on the Secrets of Pilgrimage (Hajj)\u009d, representing the Islamic classical culture, and Ali Shariatis \u0153Hajj: Reflections on Its Rituals\u009d, representing contemporary times. The book invites other researchers to build on its content, and to thus contribute to the field of the roles of Hajj in remodelling the Muslim present-day consciousness and in reviving Islamic civilisation. ***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spahic Omer is an academic in Department of History and Civilisation, AbdulHamid AbuSulayman Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences. The views expressed here are those of the author\/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of IIUMToday.<\/em>)
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By Spahic Omer Islam is the religion of actions and good work (\u02dcamal), imbued with the spiritual certainty (iman). This combination is called comprehensive excellence… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[],"nelio_content":{"isAutoShareEnabled":true,"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"followers":[12,156,5],"suggestedReferences":[],"efiUrl":"","efiAlt":"","highlights":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165856"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=165856"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165862,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165856\/revisions\/165862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=165856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=165856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iium.edu.my\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=165856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}