The Beauty Of Hajj - Mufti Azeemuddin

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

We praise Him and pray for His Noble Messenger after this. Allah, the Exalted, said:

Then depart from where the people have passed, and ask forgiveness of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. So when you pass by Manaseek, remember Allah as you remember your fathers or as much as you remember Him.

صَدَقَ اللَّهُ الْعَظِيمُ

Dear brothers and sisters and students, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Almighty Allah has blessed this Ummah again this year, and selected thousands of people from amidst us, from across the world, from across the globe, and accepted them, invited them for the sacred Hajj, gave them an opportunity to visit His house and perform the rites of Hajj in a manner that thousands and millions prior to them have done so. Every single year Allah selects this delegation to perform this once-in-a-lifetime journey of visiting Allah's house and visiting the Prophet's home and going through the rites of Hajj as was prescribed by our Prophet following the Sunnah of Prophet Ibrahim and his family.

Brothers and sisters, as we just have arrived this week, a few thoughts I'd like to share, memories of our wonderful journey.

We pray and we hope that Allah accepts it on behalf of everyone who went for Hajj this year. One thing that we'd love to share with our friends here is the fact that there is so much khair and so much goodness left within the Ummah. There's so much to be proud about, there's so much to be thankful about, there's so much to be happy about.

And it is so inspiring to see the love of Allah that is still ingrained in people's hearts. Sometimes which is so unexpected, a person doesn't realize how much love of Allah is within this person's heart. And sometimes when we see maybe the masjid not so full for Fajr Salah, or empty rather I would say.

And maybe sometimes for Jumu'ah you see, well it could have been more people. And a person sees that there's so many other mistakes that we have collectively and individually. When a person goes for Hajj we see that there's thousands, just a mass, an innumerable number of people who are going through such difficulty.

Going through all the rites of Hajj, fulfilling it in the extreme heat, without complaining, without making a fuss about it. And you look at that person and you say, what would make a person do something like that? Why would someone do something like this? Why would someone put themselves through such difficulty? When they have very well nice homes and clothing and comforts, all of that stuff they have neglected and left behind. And have put themselves in this situation that you feel pity for them.

You as a human being, as a fellow haji, you pity them. And then you wonder why did this person put themselves in this situation? And the answer is nothing but love for Allah. And the love for the Prophet.

I remember a few years back when it started raining during Mina. During the stay of Hajj after Yawm al-Arafah. And the water had reached to knee and up to certain places waist length.

And it was shoes and dirt and filth floating around whatever was there. It was unbelievable, unbearable to walk as well. But سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ in that state people still going for pelting the stones.

No one is looking at what's going on, where am I walking? I am literally knee full in dirt. You know, all the way to some people's waist. Till here, just dirty water floating all around.

And it seemed that people didn't care about that. And it really is true, people weren't even looking at that. They were focused on fulfilling the right of Hajj.

Today, this year, that level of rain wasn't there. But definitely heat was there. And you see people in that level of heat.

There is no time of the day in which tawaf is not being done. Without any fans, without any AC, without any ceiling, without any roof. Yet thousands of people at any given moment circulating and going round and round the house of Allah.

Dripping in sweat and sweat of other people. You can't differentiate between a water balloon or a bucket of water thrown on someone. Or their own sweat or someone else's sweat.

There is no complaining سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ. You wonder at this level of heat, it's difficult to go outside to get an ice cream cone. It's difficult outside to even get to your car.

You wouldn't want to even go to your car, so I'd rather stay inside. That level of heat, when you're looking at 120, 125. And then in this level, people are taking an hour and 15 minutes.

With thousands of other people right next to them. And doing tawaf, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ. Where did this energy come from? This energy is called the love of Allah.

When you see a hunchback old lady and her husband. Definitely above 90. And almost in a circle.

Such hunchbacks holding on to their sticks and staff. Walking towards the house of Allah. You can't hold your emotions back when you see something like this.

And you say, what made this person leave her house, leave her home from Uzbekistan. They may have come from Afghanistan. They may have come from some far out East Asian, West Asian, African country.

Not knowing any language of this land. Not knowing anything. Have sold all their belongings in order to make it to this journey.

And you see them in this state. Walking from their Mina tents. An hour and a half, 2 hours, 2 hours and 15 minutes.

To pelt their stones. Old people that you would find difficult for them to get out of their bed to go to drink the water. From the water fountain.

Where did they get energy to walk for 2 and a half hours in this heat one way? And that's nothing but the love of Allah that's ingrained in the people's hearts. When you look at people who you know have absolutely far away from technology.

Do not know. Forget about a cell phone. Don't know much other things than that as well.

From light bulbs, from running water. Completely unaware of these things. Because they come from such remote villages.

And you wonder what difficulty they must have gone through and endured. In order to come to the house of Allah. And in order to go through this journey.

And you say, how did this person know about the house of Allah? How did they make it out here? Again, it was a magnetic force that was beckoning them. That was inviting them. Allah's house put that desire in them.

That they run towards them, that they come towards them. One of the ulema he writes. He said that my mother, I would see when we were young.

Long ago, you know in the 50's and what not. He said, my mother, as you see after every salah. While she used to sit on the floor, pray her salah.

After every salah, early hours of tahajjud. And early morning hours, she would take something in her hand. She had something on her keychain.

And she would take and she would look inside for a long time. And then she put it away. He said, every single day I would see her as a young child, my mother doing this.

And when I saw afterwards, I took it from her to see what is this. And those of us, and many of you remember this from the 80's. They used to sell these things, I don't see them anymore.

And those little keychains, where they would have a small picture of the haram. A small picture of the Kaaba on one side. A small picture of Masjid al-Nabawi on the other side.

And it would have a little glass. And you would look through it like a magnifying glass. And it would take the picture and it would make it huge, make it large.

Many of you probably remember something like that. They used to be sold in the 80's. Maybe even in the early 90's.

And he said, every single day my mother would look at it. And I said, what are you doing ma? What are you doing? And she says, after salah, when the duas are accepted, I look at the house of Allah and the house of the Prophet. And then I turn to Allah and say, Ya Allah, this is all I can do right now. I pray that one day, that day comes true where I'm able to actually make that journey.

When I'm able to make that journey to Your house. That was the reason that people, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, their hajj was so powerful. Because they had genuine desire and love.

When they didn't have the means for it. But they had that love burning desire in a person's heart. That I wish, I wish I could go.

I wish one day my eyes can set upon this blessed lands. I remember when we went to Medina. And we would say salam to the Prophet. It would be a goose bump experience many times.

Many times, sometimes multiple times in the day would go. And it would be an experience because one is our own emotions. Which unfortunately are not where it should be.

We're not exactly at the height where we would love it to be. But then you would still see some elderly people. And weak people, sick people.

The way they break down in front of the Prophet. And the way their emotions come out. You end up crying and breaking down just looking at those emotions. And you say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, who said Islam is not alive today? Who said that the Prophet's love is not alive today? Who said that Muslims don't love their Prophet? That they don't love Allah? Where did this burning desire come into this elderly person? As though his son or his daughter has passed away.

His wife has passed away. His mother has passed away. At the departure of the Prophet. That I'm not with the Prophet. He is in his grave and I'm not with him.

Where did this huzum, this concern, this fear, or this genuine anxiety of separation? When we leave, when that last time when the bus arrives and we have to board the bus and leave the beloved city of the Prophet. And everyone says, can we not wait one more hour? He says, no, no, no, absolutely not. We have to get going. People who visited Haramain Sharif and know.

These words can't describe that remorse, that sorrow that overtakes a person. The last look as we go around Jannatul Baqir. And the last look you have from your bus on the green dome.

And the dweller who resides within that, underneath that, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ. It overtakes a person to say that, I wish most definitely I could have lived here forever. And that I would be lucky enough to be from amongst those people whose bodies accepted within the city, in the city limits in Jannatul Baqir.

So that I'd be raised first on the Day of Judgment and enjoy the intercession of the Prophet. Brothers and sisters, Islam is alive. The love of Allah and His love of Rasul is alive. And people are being accepted, people are being drawn towards that.

We have to become from those, who whether we went this year or not, regardless. But also line up from amongst those people who have genuine love for Allah, genuine love for Rasul Allah. So that we get raised from amongst these people tomorrow on the Day of Judgment.

Feeling Insignificant in the Sight of Allah

Another aspect of this hajj one would share with you is the fact that feeling insignificant, feeling insignificant about our own selves.

When a person sees, when you see millions of people walking towards together, millions of people doing tawaf, millions of people going towards the Rami al-Jamarat. A person looks at himself and sees, Who am I? What am I? What is my haythiyah? What am I? I'm a speck on the earth. I'm nobody.

I am nothing. We say we have such a nice position. I'm right now in line with the Ka'bah.

I'm on the roof enjoying the fresh air and a person so happy thinking of himself. But then you look to your right till the eye can see there's people. You look to the left till the eye can see there's people.

You look below on the first floor, on the second floor, in the mataf floor, ground floor. Then if you have possible, if you see maybe on the cameras afterwards, on all the massive sihan and exterior areas of the haram. Millions of people, millions of people.

And you say, Allah, You really don't need me here. You really don't need me to be praising You. You really don't need me to be glorifying You.

I am just one of millions of people. How do I make myself stand out? Each one of us thinks we stand out. Each one of us thinks that we're special.

But سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, in reality is when we look at the billions of people and the millions of people who Allah already has. And then let's start with the angels. When they say, Ya Allah, are You creating those who are going to shed blood? Are we not enough?

Oh Allah, we're present here. Why would You need anyone to glorify You besides You, besides us? We have millions of people. The Prophet said that there isn't a space of four finger lengths in the entire heavens and the earth.

But that there is an angel who has put his head down in prostration for Allah.

And that's why he said:

(Hadith - Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2312)

That the sky is creaking. The sky is creaking. You can hear it creaking.

But the Prophet said it's creaking due to the weight of trillions of angels.

And it's only right for it to creak because it's so jam-packed with angels. And what are they all doing?

They are performing sajda. They are performing ruku. They are prostrating, bowing down to Allah in some way, shape or form glorifying Him.

Brothers and sisters, we realize that we are not needed.

If we get accepted to come here for Jum'ah Salah, if we get accepted to come and perform our Salatul Fajr, if we get accepted to send a thousand salutations today on the Prophet, the honor is ours. If we get accepted to give five dollars sadaqa today, if we get accepted to donate a thousand dollars to a good cause, the honor is ours. We are the ones who are lucky.

Allah doesn't need I, doesn't need you, doesn't need our wealth, doesn't need our time. It is we who need Allah.

O believers, O people, you are the one who is in need of Allah, and Allah is free of all want.

Free of all want, free of all need, worthy of all praise.

The Simplicity of Life and Its Ease

Brothers and sisters, another point that a person saw and would notice very easily is how difficult our life we have made for ourselves. Life is meant to be simple.

Life is meant to be easy for us. But by adding all sorts of additional things to our life, by populating with gadgets, and by material things, and staying away from a life of asceticism and zuhud, we have made our life more difficult. Now, a person can't fall asleep.

I remember, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, that scene. We're one of the brothers, you know, in that heat. Wallahi, it's ajeeb.

In 112 degree, 110 degree, the AC is not working. The tents are hot, and literally, the entire pillow is completely soaking in sweat. And in that heat, people are snoring away.

Our own, not people from Africa, people from America, from Chicago, snoring away so loud. Sometimes you wake up, and you look at that person, you say, really? How are you snoring like this? When your whole pillow is drenched with sweat. But a person, مَاشَاءَ اللَّهُ, is sleeping.

And that same person, afterwards, he says, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, you know, I have to take, I'm on this machine, this tablet, this medication. So hard for me to fall asleep at night. So hard for me to fall asleep at night.

I stay awake on this stress and that stress. And today, here, while a person is drenched in sweat, he is snoring away, مَاشَاءَ اللَّهُ, a peaceful sleep. We have made our lives difficult.

If a person stays away from all these unnecessary additions to our life, you see how life can be so enjoyable, so simple, so beautiful. But when a person adds all these things and makes himself muhtaj and needy of it, then it seems as though life can't function without it. Life can't function without a $5,000 bed.

Life can't function without some type of pills. Life can't function without the latest gadgets and the latest smartphones and the latest connectivity. We have experience and people have experience that without that smartphone, without that connectivity, and without those expensive beds and those ACs, what beautiful night's rest a person can get.

Such beautiful night's rest where you're able to actually wake up and perform tahajjud also for half hour. What better? You got the best of dunya and akhirah. You got a good night's rest and you're able to get up and pray to Allah as well.

You got everything you wanted, what you could dream of, in difficulty. What happened? Allah is the one who gives sleep. Allah is the one who gives rest.

Beds don't, places don't. These are all means. But the actual provider of all of that is none other than Allah.

You see a manifestation of that. Simple life, enjoyable. There are brothers who lost their bags, who didn't have their suitcases, or who packed extremely light, for the five days of hajj, a bag that has maybe 3 pounds, 2 pounds.

That's it. One pair of clothes and maybe a book or two and maybe a bottle of water in their miswak. That's it.

And how are they enjoying it? Amazing. Then you see the people on the street for those five days who didn't have tents, who were not part of any other group. They were sitting on the streets.

This was something that really moved us when we would see not one or two but hundreds and thousands of people who didn't have any shelter, who had no umbrellas, who had no tents. And that direct heat of 115 degrees would be hitting him and their wife and their four to five kids. Some of them in strollers, some of them lying on a haseer, on a little mat, on the hot pavement of Mina.

And what is it? Whatever leftover foods they are. Wherever there's a pile of food, they'll go pick up something. They'll go pick up from someone else's trash.

Leftover, someone drops off a food, they'll take that. But that doesn't stop them. That doesn't say, why am I here? I was better off at home.

Why am I sitting here in this heat with my wife and my four or five kids? Absolutely not my brothers and sisters. It is that genuine desire that let me follow through the manasik of hajj the way the Prophet taught it. And let me stay here and perform this.

And all of them are looking at people who weren't able to make it. Each one is looking at someone who has less than them. If we look at people who are above us, we will never be appreciative of what we have.

We'll never be content. There's no end to that. There's always,

Over every knowledgeable person is someone who has more knowledge. Over every wealthy person is someone who has more wealth. There's no end to this hirs. There's no end to this greed.

But if a person were to look at people who don't have as much, you'll begin to genuinely appreciate. The person who is lying on the ground with his family, he's looking at those people, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, who are blind. There are people who are blind.

Yes. There's people who are crippled. They are crawling on their fours.

The entire trip, they're crawling on their fours. There are people who are carrying their children who are mentally ill. Now we see this and we would get emotional looking at what type of difficulty this parent must be going by carrying their mentally ill boy or girl, 8 years old, 7 years old, who's throwing tantrums when they see these crowds, who's not able to handle it.

But of course, they have no one to look after the children at home. No one there to look after. And so they brought these kids.

Some of them holding their kids in their hands. Some of them holding them on their necks. And you see, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, what difficulty these people are going through.

Everyone is looking at someone who has a more difficulty. And then he belittles his own difficulty. And he says, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, I'm not that bad off.

I am actually very lucky. Like, if I'm not mistaken, attributed to Sa'di, when he saw that after Salatul Jumu'ah, someone had taken his shoes and he's walking out without shoes and wondering, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, what happened? Why didn't it happen? Somebody is here as well. You lose your shoes, you get upset.

But as the thought of unhappiness came over him, he saw someone who did not have legs, whose legs were amputated. Immediately he remembered that, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, I need to be appreciative of what I have. I cannot be complaining over what I don't have.

Rather look at thousands who do not have as much as I do and be appreciative of that.

The Importance of Humility and Self-Recognition

Brothers and sisters, sometimes Allah sends a message to you by people. Once I was doing wudu here in this trip in Medina.

And a person came up to me and said, Oh, you seem to be a person of knowledge. Random person. He said, I have a question regarding the duas of wudu.

Should you be reciting various duas as a bid'ah or as a sunnah? He asked me that. And I answered. I said, many of the duas are not necessarily prescribed.

But in order to keep concentration in wudu, it's completely fine. The books mention these duas. In order to keep, for example, you're washing your right hand.

Oh Allah, grant me the book of deeds in my right hand. You're washing your left hand. Oh Allah, do not grant my book of deeds in my left hand.

You are wiping your neck. Oh Allah, save my neck from the fire of hell. So forth.

Thinking about these duas as you go through the actions of wudu is a great way to keep yourself concentrated. And then he says, as we walk out, we go back upstairs to the masjid. And right outside the masjid nabawi, we're about to enter.

And he says, you know, I want you to make dua for me. I said, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, please, you do the same. He says, no, no, but you don't understand about me.

You don't know. I said, no, I don't. I don't know anything about you.

He says, no, you don't know who I am. I said, who are you? He said, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, I am the most dirty, the most dirty scum of earth. I am the worst, because of me, darkness in the world has come.

The entire darkness in the world is my fault. I am that dirty speck of insignificant black dot on earth that has ruined the environment of the world. سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ.

And he just looked at him and I said, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, brother, that is amazing humbleness. That is amazing humbleness in front of the court of Allah and the court of the Prophet. And he tells me, no, this is not humbleness, this is the reality. You don't know me.

You don't know me, I know myself. I said, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, this is exactly, when a person truly recognizes Allah, that's what he thinks of himself. When a person has understood Allah, he will realize how insignificant he is.

How truly dirty and worthless a person is in front of Allah. Ya Allah, I don't deserve such a Lord like you. I don't deserve such a Rabb like you.

I don't deserve to put my head in front of you in prostration. I don't deserve to raise my hands and supplicate to you. When a person understands Allah, he will understand that we don't deserve this.

We are lowly people and the fact that Allah gave us Islam, gave us Iman, there's nothing greater, no greater honor than this.

The Reality of Arafat and the Day of Judgment

Brothers and sisters, the message that we all took back from there, from all of these various aspects, was the fact that a day will come. A day will come just like Arafah was there.

Millions of people in the same clothes, lined up, you could not tell the difference. You could not tell the difference between someone who drove an $80,000 car and someone who walked to the masjid. Someone who drove a bike and someone who had extra surplus of four cars.

It would be in our own group and I made mention of this. And they were, there were people who drove $150,000 cars and there were people سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ who didn't own a car. But all the same, all of us together in Arafah, all of us together in Mina, no difference.

And it hit home real hard that tomorrow on the day of judgment, the material things we own will make no difference. No one will be able to tell the difference. We won't be able to show our cards, we won't be able to show our black card and our special visa card and our master card.

We won't be able to show our business card to anyone. All of that is completely useless. What counts here today is A'mal.

The good deeds that we brought is the value that we get. This is exactly the message that Arafah taught us, that Mina taught us, that Muzdalifah taught us. The people on the ground, nothing, we hit rock bottom where there's nothing between you and the floor.

People actually sleeping on the floor. Right next to each other, millions of people, you are in someone's face, they're in your feet. And between the mountains, the only roof is the sky.

And the ground is the floor, the firash is the hard floor, the pavement, pebbles, you've got pebbles under your back, you're trying to make space. I was thinking the hadith of the Prophet,

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Establishing Prayer, Hadith 906)

When I was making salah there, the Prophet told Abu Dharr, when you're making sajdah, you can clean up your area of sujood just once. Don't keep on straightening it out.

Look, this carpet, if you ever have to straighten it out. But sometimes those pebbles are there. You know how painful it is to make a long sajdah on that? At that juncture I remembered, I said, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ, I can't even make a sajdah here, I'm so weak.

I have to wipe it clean. But then I remember the hadith of the Prophet, he said, do it once, oh Abu Dharr, otherwise leave it, don't do it. Because you're ruining the khushu and salah.

You're ruining the concentration and salah. What amazing humbleness is created within a person and realization that day will come. When we won't be able to come back to Chicago, we won't be able to come back home, this is it.

This will be the final destination, Arafat is the place where people will be gathered on the day of judgment. Only thing that will be worthy there is our a'mal and our good deeds. That manzar, brothers and sisters, I wish I could share that to you, the TV doesn't do justice if you watch some TV.

When you see just millions of people, 10 people under this tree, 5 people under that tree, some people hiding under a truck, some people standing in the heat, in the sun, everyone begging and beseeching Allah for themselves and the entire ummah, begging, ya Allah. You see people, the different modes of crying, thousands of languages being spoken, some are dumb, they can't speak as well. Some are speechless and their heart is pouring out, their tears are speaking on behalf from them in front of Allah.

And when that sun sets, and an ajeeb tranquility overtakes the entire plane, and you look at people greeting each other, millions of people hugging, hajj mubroor, hajj mubarak, but then you see many others also, they're wiping their tears off, feeling that they didn't get enough, that there was so much more that I wanted to ask for, there's so much more that I wanted from this. Ya Allah, I hope you bring me back here again. Ya Allah, I hope this is not my last Arafah.

You see that emotions as well coming out.

Brothers and sisters, that day will come true, that is the day of qiyamah, in the arasat of yawmul qiyamah, when you and I will be in the plains of hashar, when we will not have an opportunity to come back. And at that time, crying tears or tears of blood will be of no benefit.

Whatever tawbah we did on this world, on this earth while we're alive is what will count.

A Call to Renewal and Following the Sunnah

Let us insha'Allah ta'ala, take this message back to our home, and let us renew our relationship with Allah. Rekindle the love of Allah in our hearts.

Rekindle the love of Rasulullah in our hearts. Rekindle a determination to follow the teachings of the Prophet. Rekindle the determinations to revive the teachings of the Prophet in these days of chaos, in these days of fitan, wherever we live in, in every facet of our life, let us make an effort to relive the Prophet's sunnah.

Just like we did over there, and millions of people did over there, Islam hasn't changed. Yes, your environment and my environment is different, but the hajj that was done 1400 years ago is the same hajj that was done today. Hence, the Jum'ah that was done 1400 years ago is the same Jum'ah of today.

The Ramadan of 1400 years ago is the same Ramadan of today. The Rabi'ul Awwal of 1400 years ago, the Muharram of 1400 years ago is the same of today. Let us inshallah ta'ala connect ourselves back to the prophetic sunnah, prophetic teachings, prophetic way of lifestyle, and bring back a life of enjoyment, genuine enjoyment, genuine relaxation, genuine happiness.

That happiness, tamanina, and contentment lies only in the deen.

Closing Supplication

I pray to almighty Allah once again, that He accepts the hajj of the hujjaj, that He accepts their duas that they made on behalf of themselves and behalf of the entire ummah. There are all of those upon whom hajj is fardh and we have not been able to make that trip, that Allah most definitely facilitates and makes it easy for us to go this upcoming year.

We ask Allah to allow all of us who celebrated hajj over there or here, allow us to remain steadfast on the goodness that we started. Allow us to remain steadfast with istiqamah and save us from becoming entrapped by the deceptions and the tricks of shaytaan.

Kindly come forward, inshallah. There's very tight space in the back. Please come forward before you start your sunnah.

Fill up all the safs and then begin your sunnah, inshallah. Jazakumullah khair.