Hajj - Parts 1,2

Hajj (Email 2009.12.16)

Pema asked me about hajj a few sessions ago but I felt that I will not be able to spell it all during chat , then I thought that the group email might help

this is about my personal experience during this year hajj but I may mention some old stories as
background

Hajj in language originally means intention and from that come a traditional saying : im not heading toward the house (ka'aba) but im heading toward the god of that house

the hajj is required to be performed at least once in life if possible that is if you have enough money , physical and mental ability to perform it though if hajj is but intention it should be possible for almost everyone,nevertheless the physical presence and act is a mandatory to get the
point of hajj

there is one main prerequisite for hajj : to clear your themma (th as in the) or pact ? The nearest thing maybe is a theoretical clearance form

one main issue that you should clear your themma from is money that would be used to pay the expenses of hajj .it should be owned in legal way not through theft nor by selling illegal materials or by blackmailing or any sort of illegal activity
also one should had been payed all his bells/taxes and return all borrowed money
also he should make sure that his dependants have enough money that they can live with after his departure

one should make sure that there is nothing he holds that is not his , the money he would use to go to hajj should be his own only

the second main issue to clear your themma from is poepel . One should make sure to fix every relationship with his surrounding before his hajj ,we usually just call our family members and friends and tell them we are going to hajj wee ask them to pray for us to perform it properly and to clear our themma , that we are sorry if we said a harsh word or jocks , if we misuse their kindness or used some of their stuff without permission , like wise we say to familiar people around us in work or in our neighborhood , clear my themma if I didnt pay you immediately or annoy you or yell at you or didnt pay my rent in time or whatever that might hurt others but they wont show it
ofcourse more serious issues should have a priority and your attention as well but the point is you have to clear your themma from everything

it is kindda same attitude poepel have when they are near to death

There is not much in tradition that explains the hajj rituals and not much that is obligatory to be siad as special prayer , it is all left to person to figure this out

for me the themma clearance is to leave the whole world behind your back and to move as a whole body heart and mind towards who give you everything beautiful in your life and who take from you those things and the only one who would return them back , the one that initiate you
from nothingness to a living creature who now know the beautiful and the ugly

after you clear your themma you can move towards mekka but you cant get in without a special ritual : Ihram

Hajj Part 2 (Email 2009.01.19) 

Hajj : ihram the tjarrud practice _dropping

it is interesting that I had some difficulty to understand the dropping exercise , I had these questions as why how and how far should one go for dropping and why one would drop self and me and if I dropped self then who would tell what is it like after dropping , what would be left after me

as I was trying to translate the word tajarrud though which is the spiritual exercise one should perform all through his life to reach this closeness to Allah , surprisingly the word dropping was dancing infront of my eyes

I was planning to explain the word tajarrud without giving a one word definition but rather by giving examples of where it is used but finally I thought maybe the the dropping exercise is fine

generally in islam we drop world's decorations? Things that after dropping them from self , you would still be you

but then you must know who is really you as it was said : know yourself , you would know your god

but one should not slip from dropping to substitution , as sufis did after they dropped self or thought they did , they still feel self would exist but now it is divine existence , they substitute human self with divine self while they tried to drop self

Ihram is how you would properly enter the holy ground of mekka , we perform ihram from known points outside mekka

as we dropped worries when we did Themma clearance , we would cont the dropping but it would be more personal now
we would drop external decorations , cloths , we all would wear same cloths the rich as the poor the professor as the mental challenged the beautiful and the ugly the manger and the beggar
no boots no fancy shoes , a simple sandal would do , no fancy eye glasses , no fancy watches , no fancy hats

actually even attempting to external decorate your self would corrupt your ihram , that is combing your hair , perfumes body creams and even looking in the mirror to fix yourself

the point is that the hajj the intention is Allah , not your look , not other people opinions and not judging others

and as you enter the state of ihram , one must do no lewdness nor abuse nor angry conversation on the pilgrimage

one must also not harm any living creature including himself , he must not cut any part of his body not let blood out of his body , he must not kill even ants and flies , he must not destroy plants

the philosophy of ihram

there are many points I read them as I grew up and recently when I went to this year hajj

the simplest one is the equality that you sense during hajj , everyone in-front of your looking eye looks the same and as hajj is about the inner meanings , one must also think of equality on more deeper sense

one thing about equality in Islam : equality doesn't necessary lead to justice , justice is to put things in its proper place , that maybe to be equal or unequal

any difference at any level is not measured by superior -inferior scale except the diffrence in obeying Allah , so the most obedient is superior to the less obedient

that is the principle but in practice one must not attempt to judge people on this scale either for to know who is more or less obedient to Allah is not within our knowledge as we do know the intentions , we only judge the actions

yes we can say that this person in this specific case from this angle is better than the other but thats it

I cant tell if by the last day of my life I would end up as more or less obedient to Allah , all I can is to hope and it is true for everyone else I know , I just cant tell how the would end up

but in case of ihram we are not in place to judge others we are in place of mercy and everyone is of same distance from Allah mercy , we are all equal ,the higher clergy and the lowest thief

other aspect of equality is as you dropped the external decoration , also one must drop the internal decorations , that are putting layers over layers warping your self with , drop prejudices , assumptions arrogance inflated ego , hawa , desires , self admiration and all that is not necessary to hold on to see the naked self of yours

another philosophy of ihram is that hajj is a rebirth process , not rebirth to your body but to yourself

ihram cloths , the simple white 2 towels reminds many Muslims with the coffin , the white cloth you would be warped with after death , in-fact you one would be warped with the very same ihram cloths after death , and it is same cloth you would be wearing at day of resurrection when everyone would not pay attention to anybody but himself due to the great fear ,

the white cloths also remind us with the towels that baby is warped with at birth

in hajj if one perform it well he would be re birthed anew , his sins , all of it would be performed and he would be as pure as child , sinless

thats why it was said : take your chance between the 2 inhalations

another philosophy of ihram is as you forbid yourself externally from doing any harm and from doing anything that doesn't fit with the state of ihram also internally one must purify his intention until his heart seek no one and nothing but Allah

it is said that the heart is Allah house so don't let anything settle there but Allah

it is also said that :Allah said , my heavens and earth cant contain me but the heart of faithful slave can
so in ihram , you are making sure that your heart a holy ground , that has nothing in but Allah

another philosophy of ihram is that ka,ba is called the freed house, because ka'ba was never owned
by anyone
it was and is a house for poeple to worship Allah and so your heart should be

my personal feeling in ihram is : this is me , remove my tag name , remove my family name , remove my name , remove my titles , remove my certificate , remove my social status

this is me , as anyone else and smell as anyone else without the perfume and good soap , what difference one can see there , almost non , we just look like humans , black and white beautiful and ugly , rich and poor

this is me , without air conditioner _men shouldn't cover their heads until the do omra , that would mean they have to be exposed to sun rain and wind

without technology , without tools , without anything that distinguish you from others , what is you ?

And as the image infront of you reminds you of that , I was working on the inner image of self , what is me

it was like continuous inhibitory stimulus to thoughts that are judgmental arrogant or with prejudices

whenever such thought crosses one mind he/she can say talbiyah

The Talbiyah is a prayer as well as an assertion of the pilgrim's conviction that he intends to perform Hajj only for the glory of Allah. The pilgrim starts the recital upon changing into the ihram and continues to recite it frequently throughout Hajj

*Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik. Labbaik, La Shareek Laka, Labbaik. Innal Hamdah, Wan Nematah, Laka wal Mulk, La Shareek Laka
Translation: "Here I am at Thy service O Lord, here I am. Here I am at Thy service and Thou hast no partners. Thine alone is All Praise and All Bounty, and Thine alone is The Sovereignty. Thou hast no partners."

it is said that when ibrahim finished rasing up the walls of ka'ba – as Adam was the one who put its base – he called all muslims for hajj even those that were not born
so befor we are born we are in the word of therr , we were but light , we were sperms and eggs , yet each muslim answered ibrahim call and said the Talbiyah once at that realm then he would perform hajj once in this life , the nuber of times you said talbiyah at that realm is the number of times you would perform hajj