Hajj (Part II) - Visitation to the Sacred House

Of the many verses revealed by Allah (swt) regarding the Hajj and of the many verses taught to those who perform the Hajj, one such verse came in the Surah Al Hajj of its twenty-seventh part which reads: "And proclaim (openly announce) to the whole of humankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (in order to perform Hajj)." [Al Hajj; 22:27]

When Allah (swt) revealed this verse He (swt) used a specific address which appeared at the beginning. When He (swt) said, "Wa ath-thin fin-naasi bil Hajj" (trans. "And proclaim (openly announce) to the whole of humankind the Hajj (pilgrimage)"). Literally this means Allah (swt) wants the announcement or proclamation of the Hajj to take place, as to say make the athan to them. And who are they that are being addressed in this athan? Allah (swt) indicated that in what follows. In contrast to what in numerous places Allah (swt) revealed specifying the addressee in the form of "Ya ay-yu halathina aamanoo" which means "O you who believe", this is specifically referring to muslims only. But, what occurred in this verse is the word "naas" which means all people, every human, every muslim and every non-muslim, male and female; "Wa ath-thin fin-naasi bil Hajj". Thus, it is an invitation and proclamation by the muslims to the whole of humankind to perform the Hajj in Makka al Mukarramah.

It should be noted however, that from a study of the rules of Hajj (ahkam ul Hajj), it is well known that the rules of Hajj prohibit the one who is not muslim to perform it. This is quoted from ibn Rushd in his book Bidayat al Mujtahid:

"There is no dispute among the jurists that the conditions of validity include professing the Belief of Islam, as pilgrimage by a person who is not muslim is not valid."

So how is it that in one instance Allah (swt) is requesting the muslims to make the announcement to the whole of humankind to perform the Hajj and in another instance limits the performance only to the muslims i.e. prohibits a section of mankind (non-muslims) to perform it? This at first seems rather inconsistent, but Allah (swt) is free of such things.

In actual fact, there is something by way of an implicit indication here. It is that implicitly Allah (swt) the Lord of the Universe, wants all humankind to perform the Hajj and fulfil its rules, and the only way in which this can be done is if they became muslim. Thus, it is an implicit indication that Allah (swt) wanted the people to embrace Islam, such that they would come from every far and wide place to perform it, and indeed as the Islamic Ideology spread to the rest of the world this is what happened;

"They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (in order to perform Hajj)."

This verse of Hajj therefore indicates that the people of the world should be called to the Hajj, and that those same people should travel there for worship as muslims. Thus, the question appears: Who is responsible for the conveying of Islam? How is it to be executed? Is it being practically performed today according to its shar'i method?

It is well known that the message of Islam was spread to the whole world by invitation and jihad. Muslim narrated on the authority of Sulaiman ibn Buraid that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said,

"(Invite them to Islam) If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizyah. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the Jizyah, seek Allah's help and fight them."

This hadith is a specific shar'i ruling to the verse below that came to indicate the general shar'i rule of fighting to transfer the people from oppression and injustice to the true liberation, justice, and guidance which is Islam, when Allah (swt) said,

"And fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevails justice and faith in Allah, altogether and everywhere" [Al Anfal; 8:39]

Thus, Islam took the whole world by storm and the Islamic State became the number one state in the world. Those who lived under the Islamic Rule and wished to remain as non-muslims, that was accepted from them, while the masses embraced it after witnessing its justice and being presented with its intellectual Creed. The muslim ummah achieved this lofty position by adhering to the rules of d'awa (invitation) and jihad, and by possessing the Khilafah State that executed that, such that Islam was carried to the people so as to manifest the latter aspect of the first verse, "They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (in order to perform Hajj)."

Indeed, if the one who made the Hajj was taught the Hajj from this angle, or if this was explained and given this essence, it would certainly generate within his mind a reminder as to what the Hajj is about and how he came to perform it himself, and along with it the responsibility of conveying the message of Islam. And what would make the adoption of the concept more potent and form around his heart powerfully is the fact that he would witness all those marvellous variations of humankind when he performed the Hajj, and thus he would witness in real terms the result of the conveyance of Islam. And this is the case as every one who has performed the Hajj will tell you. Indeed, he would come right up to the point where practically he would see for himself that this very essence of Hajj and the conveyance of Islam to the whole of humankind according to the Islamic method is today being forgotten, neglected, and rejected by the current leaderships that exist throughout the muslim world, and naturally he would call into question the validity of such leaderships and ultimately seek their replacement through the resumption of the Islamic way of life. And this political awareness would not only drive the individual, but also the millions of Hujjaj if they were but fed these political concepts of the Hajj that would effectively lead them to call for the Islamic leadership, and that is the comprehensive implementation of Islam executed by the Islamic State.

Thus, it is not difficult to understand why this aspect of the Hajj is not propagated, (although they are most capable and able in doing so), by the government schools, the government Hajj guides, the government scholars, the government khutbahs, and all other government paid or supported officials. What is that the government fears of these mere spoken ideas? Why is it that the d'awa carriers who disseminate these political concepts of the Hajj publicly and openly to the muslims are banned from doing so, chased, hunted, and are executed when they do not posses nor do they use weapons or any type of firearm, and nor do they inflict 'terrorism' as what has been recently defined, against them?

Surely it is due to the danger posed to these present regimes in the muslim world from these mere ideas from what the entire muslim ummah would uncover of this deceit and instead realise her responsibility in implementing and conveying the Islamic message by appointing a single Ameerul Momineen who would discharge that duty, thus producing a resounding call for the elimination of the present rulers and reducing those thrones of the regimes to rubble. Indeed, such ideas are a manifest danger to those who currently hold the power due to the potential momentum of change that can be produced from such an understanding and explanation of the Hajj and thus this provides the explanation as to why such a viewpoint is hidden.

TO BE CONTINUED....