Road to Makkah
A recollection of my visit to the city of a Makkah, a place that holds reverence in the hearts of Muslims
I have visited and given a travel account of well over a score of countries and cities over the years but Saudi Arabia, a country I have visited more than once, is not included in the list. The Kingdom with two holy cities and innumerable holy sites deserves something more than a mere travelogue. I had formed a picture of the holy cities of Makkah and Medina in my imagination since my early childhood days by listening to the narrations by my parents and reading about them a little while later. Having had a chance to perform Um rah and Hajj quarter of a century later, the clouds of ambiguity were gone and I was able to visualize the good old days of Islam in a better way. Later when I read a hot seller by Mohammad Asad, a prominent Jew convert to Islam, it made me see these holy cities in the times of the holy Prophet in a totally different perspective.
‘The Road to Mecca’ by Mohammad Asad is a great read. It is logical, inspiring and a great piece of history. The writer followed the same route to travel from Makkah to Medina that our Holy Prophet (PBUH) had undertaken during Hijrah (migration). He traveled on foot and on camel back for days on end. Lost in the desert, he bore the vagaries of the harsh weather as our Holy Prophet (PBUH) had done. His description of the situation at one point is classic; ‘There was not a blade of grass around, nor any shadows till the horizon, except those of the vultures flying over head, waiting for us to die’. The intricate description of the scenario is commendable but what struck me the most was the way this new Muslim undertook the journey our Prophet (PBUH) and his companions had taken, over a century ago against all odds, for the cause of Islam.
Hajj-e-Baitullah, one of the five pillars of Islam, is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. It is an obligation that must be carried out, at least once in life time, by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. It is a classic display of solidarity of Muslim people and their submission to Allah. It reminds us of the promise of Islam and its contemporary practices. Umrah is a dress rehearsal of Hajj, the ultimate in pilgrimage. For centuries, Muslims all over the world have obeyed this command from the Koran
Muslims from around the world, including the pilgrims from the Indo-Pak subcontinent, go to Makkah to perform Hajj and Umrah where they also face a number of difficulties right from the word go; from the procurement of Saudi visa to the immigration desk in the Kingdom. The treatment these pilgrims are meted out there is at times humiliating. Unfamiliarity with Arabic language further adds to their woes. During our multiple pilgrimage expeditions to the Holy land we were no exception either. We were non-Arab visitors from the ‘land of the destitute’, always looking to the oil rich Saudi Kingdom for financial aid, and hence dealt with on ‘merit’. We cribbed and whined on each visit taking it as our birth right to do so. We were absolutely wrong. You cannot command pride with a stretched begging bowl. No one likes to shake hands with beggars. This treatment, therefore, was natural but, on a positive note, the rough deal that we get on a trip to the holy land is peanuts as compared to the one our Prophet (PBUH) and his followers got in the early days of Islam. This is the lesson that I learnt from the above mentioned book.
Saudi Arabia, known as the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz until the beginning of the twentieth century, is the land of two holy mosques, the holiest in the Muslim world. Koran is claimed as the Kingdom’s constitution. Like every other country Saudi Arabia has its good and bad points but the fact remains that the rule of law is pretty much there. People are unfriendly but there again we ourselves are partly to blame, petro dollars and Bedouin culture being the other contributing factors. Some of the visitors go there disguised as pilgrims and disappear in the Kingdom in search of illegal jobs. We must set our own house in order before blaming them. Moreover when the purpose of visit is solely pilgrimage, these hardships should be taken in their stride though a welcome attitude on the part of the host nation will nothing but help the pilgrims perform their religious rites more peacefully. Allah also rewards hospitality.
‘The road to Mecca’ starts on a prayer rug and, winding through the devoted hearts, terminates in Masjid-ul-Haraam (the Grand Mosque). It is a spiritual journey and not a travelogue. Muslims from the middle and lower middle classes in the subcontinent spend their life times accumulating money to perform Hajj and that is invariably the last ritual of significance they undertake towards the later part of their lives. Performing Hajj is an obsession to them. The pilgrims to Makkah and Medina set on the holy journey asking for the forgiveness and blessings of the Almighty. The journey is replete with prayers and prayers alone. Worldly worries are left in the cold. There may be a hiccup or two at the immigration counter in Saudi Arabia but then any road can be a bit bumpy at places. The road to Makkah has no pot holes for sure.
Getting closer to Makkah the pilgrims are excited. Their mouths get xerostomic reciting verses from Koran, asking for the blessings of Allah. The sight of Kaaba, like always, is an emotional experience. It is extremely energizing. The scene at Tahajjud is captivating with thousands of devotees in white converging towards Kaaba in the wee hours of the morning. The day is spent in prayers besides tawaaf and other bodily rituals. The journey to Medina is again spent in remembering the Almighty verbally and in the heart but the best is yet to come which is the delightful sight of the Prophet’s mosque. As for us we reached Masjid-e-Nabvi early in the morning when the moazzan was calling for fajar prayers. What a sight it was; the white marble of the Prophet’s Mosque glowing under the full moon, with azaan echoing in the air in melodious notes. A visit to the resting place of the Prophet (PBUH) was another emotional experience. The sleep during the journey on the road to Makkah is minimal, so is eating as there we eat only to live. The worldly issues are of no significance. It is prayer and prayer all the way. It is a never ending process. It is not a road, it is a phenomenon.
Contrary to the Muslims from India and Pakistan our brothers-in-spirit from Malaysia generally perform Hajj at a very young age. The Iranians are more united and perform the ritual hand in hand in groups, Turks are equally disciplined while the well built Africans are generally rough, pushing their way rather forcefully. Whatever these minor variations, dressed in white they are our brothers-in-faith performing the religious rites in unison. That is the spirit of Islam. That is what Hajj is meant for. Allah-o-Akbar!
Written by Dr. Shahid Qayyum
Published by Alisha Khuram
