slip-sliding away…..

Introduction to the series

Back in 2011, my wife and I were blessed to perform our Islamic pilgrimage, called Hajj. I kept a journal during those weeks, and soon after returning, I started drawing from those entries to post a blog series detailing the story of our Hajj. I felt it critical, at that time, to express all of this to a wider audience – while the experience was fresh – because it truly was the journey of a lifetime, and I wanted to share the experiences, lessons, and insights with my readers.

Hajj truly is the ‘journey of a lifetime’ – one that liberates you from your lifetime of sins and bad qualities. One that gives you a clean slate – a chance to start life again, in the spiritual sense, as if you’re a new-born baby. It’s one that teaches you how to re-orient your focus to what’s really important in life. It’s one that forces you to grow – because it takes you out of your comfort zones; teaching you qualities of character that you know are virtuous – yet you find difficult to practice in everyday life, in the absence of such challenges. And most importantly, it’s one that draws you closer and closer to your Creator – nurturing the relationship that is most important in life, and putting your existence, your purpose, and your responsibilities, into the proper perspective.

With this year’s Hajj a little more than a month away, I hope to repost the entire series now, God-willing.

Also, I just wanted to note that this series was written with a Muslim audience in mind, assuming the reader is familiar with certain Islamic / Arabic terms and background knowledge. If I have time, in this repost series, I’ll try to translate for those of other faiths. But regardless, I hope the series is still useful enough to people of all faiths.

Why?

“Why would a person go for Hajj?”

It’s a simple question, and if you didn’t know enough about Hajj – or have a deep emotional attachment to it – you may struggle to find the answer.

Why would someone leave behind the security of their home, their family, their enjoyment – to go halfway across the world and spend days and nights in a simple, unflattering tent – where the only physical comforts are a mattress, blanket, and pillow (if they’re fortunate enough to get that).

Why would they leave behind the ease of riding in their car for a journey where they’ll be walking for miles and miles on dirty, congested roads, in huge crowds that they’d run away from?

Why would they leave behind the beauty of their clothing to wear nothing but two white, unstitched pieces of cloth – wherein they’ll look exactly the same as everyone else, with no physical adornments to separate them from the others?

Why would they go to a flat, empty plain – in the middle of a desert – to stand in the scorching sun for a few hours, reciting a few words, making a few requests, and crying their hearts out?

It comes down to motivation, and intention.

Intention

Everything starts with the intention, and the journey of Hajj is no different. Hajj starts long before you get to Makkah; and long before you leave your home.

In Islam, we know that the intention is absolutely critical. As the very famous hadith goes, actions are judged by intentions – and you will be rewarded according to what you intended. It’s a beautiful teaching that empowers one to know – without doubt – that every single (halaal) thing you do in life – if done with the right intention – can be considered an act of worship, which you will be rewarded for.

So when it comes to Hajj, it makes sense that the intention must be good – or else you’re wasting your time, energy, and money.

For me, my intentions were threefold:

1. to fulfil the obligation of Hajj placed upon me by Allah, thereby pleasing Him
2. to be completely forgiven for my lifetime of sins and mistakes, and
3. to be spiritually purified and strengthened to such a degree that I could make the important life changes and improvements that I wanted to make – thereby living a better life until my time on Earth expires

Danger

We also learn that intention is one of the most difficult things to maintain. The heart is unstable – always turning in different directions, so it can be hard to remain consistent in your motivations when you intend something.

But on top of that, the sworn enemy of mankind (shaytaan – the devil) is constantly trying to attack us – knowing that corrupting the intention would spoil the entire deed.

And the latter is most dangerous. Shaytaan works in the most subtle ways – slowly introducing thoughts, feelings, and temptations into our hearts and minds. And if we allow them in, they act like a slow poison, gradually infecting that intention and polluting it to the point that it’s no longer sincere or pure.

When it comes to Hajj, several things could spoil intentions, including:

• the promise of a ‘holiday’ from the rigours and responsibilities of everyday life and work
• the luxury and enjoyment of fancy hotels and good food which await in the hotels and restaurants (which you’ll frequent before the days of Hajj begin)
• the opportunity to shop, shop, and shop some more – finding Islamic clothing, books, and other items that you wouldn’t normally have the opportunity (or money) to get
• the esteemed status that many people in the Muslim community ascribe to you via the title Hajji (though I’m not sure if this is universal – it may just be a Cape Town thing)

As you can see, it’s a potential minefield to navigate.

So once you make your intention, your work really begins. For Hajj – like many things in life – we’re advised to regularly examine our intention and renew it; over and over – because if we preserve and protect the foundation / heart of the deed – then we preserve the deed itself.

Lessons to learn:

• Actions are judged according to intentions – so it’s important to always try to make the right intentions
• Intentions can be easily corrupted, so it’s important to stay on guard against all that which would pollute your intentions – both internal forces and external
• It’s important to consistently purify and renew your intentions

Update: The entire series (30 parts) is available at this link – post by post. Alternatively, you can download the complete series as an e-book in PDF format. Feel free to share with anyone you think may benefit.