Have you made your pilgrimage? What did it do for you?
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Salaam all,
Has anyone here made their pilgrimage? Whether it was to Mecca, Jerusalem or even somewhere to detach from the world and connect to God, it would be interesting to hear your stories. Did it do anything for you? Did you feel anything special? Did you feel nothing at all?
I know of people who have been to Umrah/Hajj, some say it was a fantastic experience, for some it did nothing.
I am intending to make my Umrah this year, so stay tuned and I'll share my experience.
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Sorry!
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Salaam Stitch
I did Hajj in 2000-it was absolutely wonderful experience. I have never seen so many people in one place whose sole intention is to be as good and kind as they can possibly be. Spirtually it was wonderfully uplifting. I truly felt a cosnnection with God. Go with an open mind and open heart and I am sure you will have fantastic time. If possible go with a decent company and amke sure you stay in a decent hotel it all helps.Last year I took my family to Umra-we had a fantastic time. My wife and the children loved it so much we wanted to spend at least 6-12 months there. I am therefore trying to see if i can get a temporary post there - rest is in the hand of God.
regard -
Salaam all,
Thank you for your replies.
Did any of you find any "God alone/Quran alone" Muslims out there? I am fearing that I will be the only one out there with this specific belief, whilst traditionalists will be all around me kissing the black stone and throwing pebbles at the 'Devil'.
The more anyone cares to share on this thread the more I will appreciate it. I'd love to know just how spiritually reinforcing your pilgrimage was and why it was so.
Peace,
Stitch
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salam!
i know this is an old thread but having just returned from hajj i thought id add to it anyways!
I do not ascribe to any specific "sect" of islam - i am just a muslim - i have submitted to God - i do what feels right in my heart - i do not accept most hadith, yet would not rule them all out for some work in complete harmony with the Qurans message...many aspects of the pilgrimage were so breathtakingly beautiful - you share an intimacy with God that is difficult to describe! But when it happens you know - serenity, calm and peace and at that moment you know nothing in the world will harm you, and whereever you are in your relationship with God, you know in your heart you are doing your best and thats what counts! I had a moment like that when i was on the roof of the haram and looking down at the Kaaba... i blocked out all those other people and focused on my communication with the Creator.... yes there were people who were kissing the black stone (and any part of the kaaba!) and i even saw one man who ripped the top half of his ihram off and started to wipe it on the kaaba feverishly! i had to move away to stop from laughing (or crying in despair!) - but at the end of the day when you go on pilgrimage its a personal thing between you and God - dont look at other people! its not your business - what they choose to do is between them and God! Focus on your relationship only - otherwize you will despair at what you see around you!!
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Salaams stitch, All,
Sorry All if its slightly off topic.
Somewhere to detach from the world and connect to God
Going to a place where there may be thousands of people all having some time! WOW! Eating what you want living in luxurious environments fully air conditioned? is this your form of detachment from the world Br.?
I think to detach one must look to a place where one is all by themselves.
OR
Be where there is poverty or utter devastation all around then experience the GOD.
Mind you saying that you can?t say God isn?t in Saudi for He is
PICKTHAL Hast thou not seen that Allah knoweth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth? There is no secret conference of three but He is their fourth, nor of five but He is their sixth, nor of less than that or more but He is with them whosesoever they may be; and afterward, on the Day of Resurrection, He will inform them of what they did. Lo! Allah is Knower of all things.
And No I wouldn?t want to Go Back There Ever Again.
As He is with you and me for always as the ayah says Br.
God Bless.
Please tell us the difference , if any, between going to Ganges or Mecca.
I think in ganges you do wash away all the smelly sweat at least - but when circimlating the Kaaba you can hardly breath as the Air becomes so foul smelly from the peoples sweat especialy if your short , some people even faint due to the leack of oxygen.
or do you believe in something like the saying -
Imam And when you shaved your head did you have the intention that you had cleansed yourself from all filth and from all the injustice of the children of Adam and that you had purified yourself from sin just like a new born baby.
Thanks.
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peace
many aspects of the pilgrimage were so breathtakingly beautiful - you share an intimacy with God that is difficult to describe! But when it happens you know - serenity, calm and peace and at that moment you know nothing in the world will harm you, and whereever you are in your relationship with God, you know in your heart you are doing your best and thats what counts!
I have felt that too (the peace and calm) several times. And you know what? it's not good.
Organized religion has turned spirituality into a "feel-good" thing. People go through all these mindless rituals and pray and that's it. You feel safe and at peace, and you've just prayed for world peace (and god listens to prayers)...perfect.
Instead of actually doing something about the problems within themselves, and in the world, people just pray and perform their rituals. -
mmm that must be your take on organized religion phoenix.... personally i dont think just sitting back and praying is good enough - and i certainly dont believe that is what the quran teaches (cant say about other religions too much as i follow the Quran)....
prayer alone is not good enough at all! the quran tells us time and time again about the rewards of those who have faith AND DO GOOD DEEDS.... just having faith in the Might of God is nowhere near enough - you have to take responsibility for your actions and for what happens in the world! As for those people who pray for world peace then sit back and watch as the world falls apart - well each to their own i say... you are only accountable for your own actions not other peoples!
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Salaam all,
Has anyone here made their pilgrimage? Whether it was to Mecca, Jerusalem or even somewhere to detach from the world and connect to God, it would be interesting to hear your stories. Did it do anything for you? Did you feel anything special? Did you feel nothing at all?
I know of people who have been to Umrah/Hajj, some say it was a fantastic experience, for some it did nothing.
I am intending to make my Umrah this year, so stay tuned and I'll share my experience.Salam.
I would love to visit the place this year but i don't know, i'll have to consult with my wallet. D
More i watch the news, more i'm convinced that going to Saudi Arabia would be dangerous for me, i mean, they got religious police there, what the Hell is that all about, i mean, nowhere in The Quran do you read that a person is obligated to control other people praying or whatever.Peace.
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I know this is an old post, but I would like to share my experience when I went to do the Umrah recently, actually I just got back home a few days ago. I can't say that I am against all hadith narration as some of it teaches good things like be polite to elderly and so on, but the Quran comes first and I believe that the Quran is complete as Allah have said so. Therefor I have been having doubts about the pilgrimage ritual such as circling and going between safa and marwa or to cut my hair at the end of the ritual.. and I have made it clear to a close relative that I am reluctant to wave at Kaabah for I don't see the point, Allah is all knowing and all seeing... But maybe I am wrong, forgive me. I did the pilgrimage with an elderly relative who turns out to have a different view than most tradition muslim and he made it very simple and easy for me. He told me that his understanding is that it is stated in the Quran that we must perform Hajj and Umrah at least once in our life. We did the circling anyway, and go to safa marwa and the hair cutting. I respected him for his belief and understanding therefor I did some of the ritual like waving to the Baitullah or hair cutting because I simply don't want to hurt his feeling and cause problem while we are there. During the pilgrimage I keep praying to Allah to forgive me and everyone performing the pilgrimage for anything we had done wrong whether in secret or public, with or without purpose for we are just a weak human being who err. I believe Allah understand that all the while we were doing it not because we worship Kaabah or for the purpose of pagan ritual but simply in the act of submission dedicated fully to Allah. I keep praying for a guidance to the truth of His path, a guidance for I am far from knowing the truth and still learning. Amazingly, I don't think I have ever been more tolerate and patience in my life, that is something i gained from the pilgrimage. I met people from all walks of life, young or old, male and female and of different background and colors.. There was akward time during breakfast where a man suddenly preach to me that I should praise Mohammad several hundreds or thousands to get his syafaat and a promise of safety in the hereafter. I think he is wrong, I believe I should ask from Allah and the prophet would want me to do the same, praise and ask from Allah. This man even accused of my reason to do the pilgrimage is only because I want to ask a lot of money from Allah and not His forgiveness... astaghfirullah. Anyway, whatever I asked from Allah is my business, I forgive him. Then there were also very nice people who have refreshing Quranic point of view. I get to discuss about Islam and the Quran openly with my companions during the pilgrimage without anyone got upset. I even found a very good translation of the Quran inside Masjidil Haram that has no influence of any school (mazhab), too bad I couldn't finish reading it. But it has helped me to clear up some questions in my head. The experience is amazing and through it I get to learn and study the mistakes of others and of myself and try to better myself and not to judge of mock others for thier belief. I still have more questions and I will continue to look for answer, may Allah guide me to the right path. Salam Alaikum.
sorry for my bad english and grammar
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Salaam Dear nescafe,
Welcome. I too, did my Hajj pilgrimage some years ago. May ALLAAH, swt, accept from us and guide us all, through His straight path. Inshaa?ALLAAH.
Now a few words about the ideological differences between us Muslims, and them sectarians, i.e. Sunnis, Shee?ahs, Jews, Christians, and?
The point is that Muslims have no quarrels with the sectarians at all, other than saying that the religion MUST be about the worship of GOD ALONE.
All we are saying to them is to stop idolizing the prophets and worship GOD ALONE.
We are saying that the Shahaadah, according to The Qur'aan must be all about GOD ALONE. See 4719 & 3735 below.
We are saying to them not to mention any other name in their prayers/SALAAT, except ALLAAH, swt.
We are saying to them not to call upon anyone else in their call to prayer/ADZAN, but ALLAAH, swt.
We are saying not to implore anyone in your DU?AA?, but ALLAAH, swt.
We are saying to them, The Qur?aan is the ONLY source of religious guidance; do not use any other source like hadith, sunnah, rawaaya, and? alongside with The Qur?aan.
We are telling them that, according to The Qur'aan, there is ONLY ONE SACRED mosque and that is the one in the city of Mecca with the KA?BAH right in the middle of its courtyard.
We are saying to them that, according to The Qur?aan, the months of performing HAJJ pilgrimage are the four CONSECUTIVE sacred/HARAAM months, starting with the 12th month, through the third month of Lunar Islamic calendar. We are asking them to restore those FOUR months back; to minimize the hardship on the people trying to perform their GOD prescribed HAJJ pilgrimage.
And finally, we are telling them not to make unlawful what GOD has not made unlawful and vice versa.
We are not declaring anything new. We are just propagating the practice of the faith according to The Qur?aan Alone. We are telling them to reform and repent and come back to The Qur?aan. That?s all. No reinventions at all.
;D ;D ;D
Peace,
Khalil -
Salaam,
I performed 'so called Hajj' few years back. I am saying it 'so called Hajj' because I am not sure if that is Hajj, anyways, that is a different topic.
One thing I wanted to clarify that I was a believer of Hadith when I performed that Hajj and I was having almost 6" long beard. D
My experiences during that Hajj
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I felt nothing special during all those days there in Makkah.
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I felt very uneasy and uncomfortable when I was in Makkah, specially when I am in so called AlMasjid AlHaraam and I felt very calm and peaceful when I was in Madina, specially when I was in Masjid AlNabawi during that Hajj.
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While going round I got a chance to touch at the back wall of so called Kaabaa, there were no rush, people are all rushing at the black stone, so I get near the wall and put my head on it at the very moment, literally I felt very very bad and felt very strongly that I am doing some kind of idol worship and felt very uncomfortable and could not stand in that position more than few seconds and I got back. Alhamdulillah, Allah saved me. I hope inshaAllah, He will forgive for what I have done wrong. Surprisingly, a friend of mine who was with me, also felt the same sort of idol worshiping when he put his head at the backside wall of Kaabaa at the same time.
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During the complete Hajj period, I never felt closer to Allah except once when I was praying Eishaan Salaat at the terres of so called AlMasjid AlHaraam, and I was totally engaged with the aayaat recited and felt myself very close to Allah because I was understanding those reciting aayaats.
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I face problems when I was travelling to that Hajj and also while back to my home.
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I was not happy with the place where I was staying during that Hajj period.
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I was not happy with the food that was eating during that Hajj period.
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I don't feel myself secure there , as I have to hold myself strongly and keep myself aware from stampede.
These are my experiences during that Hajj & I don't know if anyone faced similar problems.
May Allah guide us all to His only path pr
Mohammed M. Khan -
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Salam all,
Thank you for welcoming me and for sharing brother Khalil.
Brother Mohammed M. Khan;
These are my experiences during that Hajj & I don't know if anyone faced similar problems.
I do not worry about the stampede but quite a number of time I was worried while doing the tawaf and saie.. I was worried and feel uneasy that I am doing something wrong (shirk) & . My brother said he feel nothing when he look at Kaabah, I share his feeling but I was reluctant to say it outloud.. but when I mentioned that the Kaabah is not as huge as I imagined it to be, a relative looked at me strangely and made me feel so uneasy.. The whole time during the pilgrimage I asked of Allah to show me the right path and the more i pray the stronger the feeling I have that there is something wrong with the pilgrim ritual. Forgive me if i am wrong.
Another thing, I do not know about others but our group was often told not to let a single hair drop during ihram which i find quite absurd since hair fall is a natural thing. We were told for the amount of 3 strands of hair we have to sacrifice a lamb As far as my knowledge, it is nowhere stated in the Quran. My companion was so worried about it that she refused to remove her head scarf. I didn't said anything because I have tried talking to her about some stuff that I think is misunderstood by many muslim because of the book of hadith and are nowhere in the Quran, but she often ignores me. She said the best way is to simply ignore and don't listen whenever she thinks a person is uttering the words of the devil '(
Our group was brought to a place in Jeddah where it is said the cutting hands of thief is still performed to this day. I do not know if that is true, hope anyone who lives in Jeddah can confirm? Thank you.
I feel more at ease in Madinah than Mecca too
Salam
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Welcome, nescafe
The whole time during the pilgrimage I asked of Allah to show me the right path and the more i pray the stronger the feeling I have that there is something wrong with the pilgrim ritual.
Isn't this the most beautiful thing to ask of Allah? To ask for direction/knowledge when we don't even know what to ask for? There in the masjid Alharam, regardless of what people who don't believe in its sacredness will make of it (well for one i'm not for the idea of a boxed God), but there is a place where millions are praying every year, and it surely has an energy of its own. "The stronger the feeling" you have might be an answer in itself, isn't it? I can't answer your question, but i can say for sure that you're not wrong for listening to the answer to the question you've asked yourself.
In a sense, there's really nothing like "us the truthful vs them the sectarians" at all. As far as i understood, the Prophet Muhammad's mission was for unity, and not evangelism, whatever the followers make of his teachings. A very personal thing, truth is. Let's see the human inside and respect his/her decisions.
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Salaam All,
Hajj pilgrimage is an act of worship/IBAADAH. It is both a personal, as well as a more importantly putting it, a united Islamic nation/?UMMAH ritual. Hajj is more like a global Islamic assembly/CONGRESS, being met and assembled on an annual basis, for the good and betterment of the ?ummah. It is to discuss, program, and harmonize the political, economic, and social affairs of the global Islamic ?ummah for the next upcoming year.
But nowadays and throughout the history, the corrupted political and religious leaders who in reality are the true disobeyers of ALLAAH, swt, have turned this beautiful worship into an empty and hard to perform ritual. Yet, year after year, and just for their lowly worldly interests, they keep making it harder and harder for the people to perform their pilgrimage.
Anyways. All I?m trying to get across is that Hajj pilgrimage is rather a SOCIAL than a personal ritual. That is why GOD ALMIGHTY, for the orderly progression of the rituals, Has Set a set of disciplinary directives to be followed during HAJJ pilgrimage. See verses 2196 through 2206, among others in The Qur'aan.
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Peace,
Khalil -
Salaam, nescafe,
but when I mentioned that the Kaabah is not as huge as I imagined it to be, a relative looked at me strangely and made me feel so uneasy
rotfl
Another thing, I do not know about others but our group was often told not to let a single hair drop during ihram which i find quite absurd since hair fall is a natural thing. We were told for the amount of 3 strands of hair we have to sacrifice a lamb As far as my knowledge, it is nowhere stated in the Quran.
This is nonsense.
My companion was so worried about it that she refused to remove her head scarf. I didn't said anything because I have tried talking to her about some stuff that I think is misunderstood by many muslim because of the book of hadith and are nowhere in the Quran, but she often ignores me. She said the best way is to simply ignore and don't listen whenever she thinks a person is uttering the words of the devil '(
633
633 We know that you are saddened by what they say; they are not rejecting you, but it is the revelations of Allah which the wicked disregard.I feel more at ease in Madinah than Mecca too
Thank you for sharing your story and experiences during so called Hajj.
May Allah guide us all to His true path pr
Mohammed M. Khan