Reflections from Hajj - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْهُ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَفِيُّهُ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ وَخَلِيلُهُ أَرْسَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَى النَّاسِ كَافَّةً بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا بَلَّغَ الرِّسَالَةَ وَأَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ وَنَصَحَ الْأُمَّةَ وَتَرَكَنَا عَلَى الْمَحَجَّةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ لَيْلُهَا كَنَهَارِهَا لَا يَزِيغُ عَنْهَا إِلَّا هَالِكٌ فَصَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ وَسَلَامُهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَمَنِ اهْتَدَى بِهَدْيِهِ وَاسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِهِ وَدَعَا بِدَعْوَتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

أُوصِيكُمْ وَنَفْسِي بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ مُحْسِنُونَ

My beloved brothers and sisters, I start by praising Allah for indeed Allah is worthy and deserving of our constant praise and gratitude, and I send blessings and salutations upon our beloved Messenger Muhammad, salawatullahi wa salamuhu alayh.

Introduction — Reflecting on Hajj

My brothers and sisters, we are still in Dhul Hijjah, though the ten most beloved days to Allah have passed, and we have passed the days of Hajj. Alhamdulillah, as many have returned from Hajj, I would like to reflect over the ibadah known as Hajj — what impact it can have on someone, and what are some of the things that we have observed over there that can be lessons for us, inshallah ta'ala.

Every ibadah that Allah legislates, there is great wisdom behind it and there are great lessons in it. And in the end of the day, my brothers and sisters, we have been created for one reason and one reason alone — and that is to worship Allah. When we are not worshipping, this is when we are not fulfilling our purpose. Everything that you do in life, it is not as important and will never be as important as the time that you are engaged in worship. What will make or break your days in this dunya, and what will make or break your akhira, will be the amount that you worship and the quality of your worship.

So it is important that we pay attention to these special occasions — Ramadan, Hajj, the Ashr of Dhul Hijjah, the month of Muharram, the blessed and sacred months. All of these, we need to pay extra attention to them and to what we can learn from them.

Lesson One — The Power of Du'a

We know the most special day of the year passed us not too long ago — a little more than a week ago — and it was the Day of Arafah. On the Day of Arafah, I have no doubt that most of us here were fasting. May Allah accept your fast. That fast was for your sins to be forgiven — the previous year and the coming year. But there were a few people — well, a few when you compare them to the rest of the Muslim world, but great in number nonetheless — at Arafah.

Arafah is not only a time; it is also a place. And what you saw at Arafah — and you see every year — is believers raising their hands and making du'a like they have never done before. It is really a beautiful sight where you see Muslims raising their hands, making du'a — not just for a few minutes, not just for an hour — but for most of the day, raising their hands high to Allah. You see them hiding in corners, trying to find a quiet place to speak to their Lord. You see them weeping and crying over their sins. You see them raising their hands and telling Allah all of their problems in this world, and all of their wishes in this world and the next — making so much du'a. Why? Because they know Allah descends and comes near His servants, blesses them and shows them mercy. Because they know that on that day, more people are freed from the Fire than any other day.

It is really a beautiful sight to see so many believers all raising their hands — sometimes standing in the heat of the sun. Rasulullah ﷺ himself raised his hands so much that day and made so much du'a, not taking a break once until the sun set. The Prophet ﷺ refused to bring his hands down; at some point he had to grab the leash of the animal he was on, but he kept his other hand raised high.

Anyway, my brothers and sisters, the Day of Arafah is gone. But you will find an amazing and magnificent energy that the Muslims have on that day making du'a. But is that the only time Allah comes near? Is that the only time — when you travel for Hajj and you are at Arafah — that you are able to make du'a with that passion, with that need, with that hajah and that desperation you have for Allah?

Yes, that day is very special — no doubt, it is very special. But Allah says in the Quran:

"If My servants ask you about Me, tell them I am near. I respond to the caller when they call upon Me." Allah says: I respond. Not only that — Rasulullah ﷺ tells us that every single night, our Creator Allah comes nearer to His servants, and He descends, and He speaks to those that are awake praying when most of us are asleep, saying to them:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1145; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 758)

"Who will call upon Me so that I may answer? Who will ask Me so that I may give?" Allah said it last night, and the night before, and will say it tonight, and tomorrow night, and every single night. In the last third of the night, when we are sleeping, many are awake benefiting from that opportunity.

Why is it that we do not benefit from this opportunity? Why is it that even though you have problems in your life, even though you have wishes and hopes, even though you want to repent from your sins, even though you want to seek Allah's forgiveness and you need His help — why is it that many of us choose to sleep instead of wake up in that very precious and special time?

There is no doubt in my heart that many of us are capable of making sincere and beautiful du'a to Allah. All we need is that reminder — which is what I am doing right now — to remind you that if you feel you have missed out on Arafah, or even if you were at Arafah and you felt a type of iman and belief and closeness to Allah as you were raising your hands — for those who went to Hajj this year or the years before — you can have a similar experience every single night, as people are asleep and you are awake raising your hands to Allah.

Allah wants us to call upon Him. Allah wants us to make du'a to Him. And the more you do, the more Allah blesses you. So one of the lessons we learn from Hajj, my beloved brothers and sisters, is: du'a, du'a, and more du'a. Raise your hands. All of your problems — the one that can remove them is Allah. All of your wishes — the one that can bring them true is Allah. That is who you need, and that is who you only need — Allah, jalla jalaluhu.

May Allah make us among those that truly go back to Him and benefit from that special time in the night. This is not to discourage you from Arafah — by all means, plan and hope and make du'a that you will be among those standing at Arafah. But in the meantime, remember: your Lord is available to you every waking moment, and especially at that blessed time.

Lesson Two — The Importance of Dhikr

Among the things that you notice when you go to Hajj is the increased amount of dhikr that you see everywhere. You hear the people reciting the talbiyah:

You hear people saying the takbir: اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ. You see people engaged in so many adhkar as they are making tawaf, as they are going between Safa and Marwa. So much dhikr. And Hajj is really about dhikr. One could even say all of our ibadah is about remembering Allah.

You need to be spending time glorifying Allah, praising Allah, saying the takbir — this is what we have to be doing with our time. And what is fascinating, my beloved brothers and sisters, is that Allah in the Qur'an never tells us to do something often except His dhikr. Allah tells us to send salawat, to pray, to give zakat, to fast — many things — but the only thing when He tells us to do it, Allah adds kathiran, is dhikr:

"Remember Allah often." Do it often — remember Allah and mention Allah often.

And Rasulullah ﷺ told us: shall I not tell you about the most beloved act to Allah?

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3377; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3790 — declared Sahih by al-Albani)

Shall I not tell you about that which is the most beloved to Allah — which act of worship is the most beloved, which act of worship is the most pure, which act of worship is even better than giving gold and silver in charity? Rasulullah ﷺ said: it is the dhikr of Allah.

So get into the habit of making dhikr. And making dhikr does not only mean the adhkar after the salawat — there is so much more. Be the kind of person that before you enter your home, you say the dhikr of entering your home. Before you leave your home, you say the dhikr of leaving your home. When you enter your car, you say the dhikr of entering your car. And so on and so forth.

On top of that, generally speaking, increase your salawat upon the Prophet. Increase the statement لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — the best statement ever uttered. Increase your statement of لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ — say it as much as you can, because it is among the treasures of Jannah. Say:

Because it will increase your scales on the Day of Judgment. Every day you do not say these statements, you are losing out on gaining more reward and closeness to Allah.

So from the lessons learned in Hajj is dhikr. And I want to share with you a powerful narration as it relates to dhikr. Allah said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2926 — declared Hasan by al-Tirmidhi)

Allah says: whoever among you is so busy glorifying Me — saying tasbih, لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — so much so to the point that they forget to ask Me what they wanted, I will give them more than they ever wished for. So just by remembering Allah, Allah will bless you and give you.

Among the lessons we learn from Hajj is the sweetness and the importance of dhikr.

Lesson Three — The Unity and Strength of the Ummah

Another thing you notice as you are in the ibadah of Hajj, my beloved brothers and sisters, is that — wallahi — the ummah is still upon much, much khair. The ummah is still upon much, much khair. To see so many millions and millions and millions of Muslims, from all walks of life, from different stages of life — some rich, some poor, some having saved for decades just to make that trip — and Allah has made it easy for all of them together, there for that one single purpose: worshipping Allah. They all look the same and are just the same. They are wearing the same ihrams, going the same directions.

And you will see that what really unites us is لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ. You see people from different nations — from America, from Asia, from Europe, from Africa — from the far east to the far west — coming together to worship Allah. This shows you the barakah of the da'wah of Rasulullah ﷺ — that the da'wah that he started in Mecca, as he climbed Mount Safa, saying to the people:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 16032)

"Say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ and you will be successful." Allah blessed that da'wah. And there is nothing more beautiful than seeing so many people praising Allah, following the footsteps of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Lesson Four — Patience and Character

Among the things that you notice there, my brothers and sisters — and this is a very fascinating thing that I have seen — is that as we were preparing for Hajj, one of the things you teach people is that you are not meant to argue during Hajj. Among the things you avoid is argumentation. Allah says:

And you find the hujjaj being hyper aware of this. I remember one lady approached me and said: "Sheikh, as I was making tawaf, someone really, really in a rude manner stepped on me, shoved me, pushed me and was very rude about it. Sheikh, I became upset — which is very natural — and when I became upset I bit my tongue and kept myself from reacting, smiled, and continued. Ya Sheikh, is my Hajj accepted?" Allahu Akbar!

How is it that although she was oppressed, she was still worried — and all she did was keep it to herself? Because she wanted to safeguard her Hajj. She did not express her anger. She had patience and cooled herself down and continued, because she did not want anything wrong to happen to her Hajj.

If we are able to do so during Hajj, we should be able to do it outside of Hajj. If you are able to have sabr in Mecca, you should be able to have sabr in Birmingham. If you are able to have sabr when someone pushes you or shoves you or insults you there, then you can do it here as well. And if the reason why you are having sabr, and the reason why you are holding your anger, and the reason why you are hyper aware of your behaviour is because you want the reward of Hajj and you want Allah to bless you and you do not want to ruin your ibadah — then similarly, outside of Hajj, when you are back home, all of us should not want to ruin our akhira. We should want to gain the pleasure of Allah and should want to have the greatest and most lofty character possible.

Like the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2018 — declared Hasan by al-Tirmidhi)

Those who are closest to me on the Day of Judgment are the best in behaviour and manners.

Wallahi, it is amazing how patient people are — they are in long queues but they are okay with it. They are in the heat but they are okay with it. Someone will cut them off; they are okay with it. Someone will oppress them; they will have patience. If Hajj teaches us anything, it is that same attitude — you have it because you came for Allah. Remember to live for Allah always, not just the days of Hajj. It is a very powerful reminder.

Lesson Five — The Worthlessness of Worldly Luxuries

Another reminder, my brothers and sisters, is that the luxuries of this dunya do not mean much. One of the fascinating things you will see over there is that a lot of people — not everyone, but many — when they arrive for Hajj, they start by living in very luxurious hotels near the Haram. You are all familiar with this. So you are in these luxurious hotels with buffet meals, a short walk to the Haram, very comfortable.

Then what happens? The days of Hajj start, buses come and they take you to Mina, and you are in a tent. Yes, these tents also have different levels of quality, but the fact of the matter is you are in a tent and you are sharing a large room with many people, and you have a small place to yourself — but you are content. You are content with that. No one says, "I wish to go back to my hotel." They are content with what Allah has given them.

There they are, lining up for food — sometimes you are told the food has been finished because you overslept. This is a common life for many people in the world, but you are experiencing it only for those few days.

Then you go to Arafah. And when you go to Arafah, the tents are temporary because you only stay there for one day — even less than that, half a day. So you find it is even more compressed; the luggage is even taken away from you. You have little space to yourself. Now you are rubbing shoulders with the person next to you, but you do not care — because you are there for a job. You are making du'a to Allah. You are so involved in your own akhira and your du'a that you do not even realize how uncomfortable it is, because there is something bigger here: your deen.

Then what happens? Buses come and people are taken to Muzdalifah. In Muzdalifah, my brothers and sisters, there is no roof over your head. You are wearing your ihram, you are sitting on the ground, and you are lucky if you have a sleeping bag. Millions of people — rich or poor — same situation. If this is not a reminder of Yawm al-Qiyamah, I do not know what is. If this is not a reminder that when Allah strips away from us all the luxuries, we are all the same — we are all Ibadullah, servants of Allah.

And that is when it truly hits you — as everyone is moving that day and you have a job to do. You have to make your tawaf. You have to walk miles and miles and miles to throw your stones, then walk even further to make tawaf for Allah. And you are getting tired and sweaty, you cannot even change your clothes, and there are so many people — yet you are happy. Why are you happy?

One person said something worth reflecting over, as we were walking together. He said: "How are you feeling?" I said: "How I am supposed to." He said: "Where else do you pay X amount of money to be this tired? Where else in the world does someone pay money to not wear the clothes that they like, sleep on the floor, walk miles and miles, get blisters and sweat?"

If that is not a sign of the truthfulness of this religion — that those who say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ will happily pay thousands and thousands of pounds, will happily put the ihram on, and happily be under the sun, and happily sleep on the floor — because they are doing it for whom, my brothers and sisters? Allah.

And perhaps that pleasure that we have to worship Allah, that pleasure that we have to get closer to Allah — may Allah allow us to be people that live by it and die on it. Alhamdulillah rabbil 'alamin.

Second Part of the Khutbah

My beloved brothers and sisters, at the end of the day — whether we are in Ramadan or the days of Hajj and Dhul Hijjah, whether we are in the sacred months or any other time of the year — one fact does not change: and that is our responsibility to worship Allah and to live our lives not according to our whims and desires, but according to the will of Allah. That is what it means to be a Muslim. That is what it means to submit to Allah. And every day we have to try our best to be true Muslims and submit to Allah.

We will not be able to do so ourselves — we need Allah's help. And that is why it is important that we constantly ask Allah to aid us. Like Rasulullah ﷺ taught that magnificent du'a to the great Companion Mu'adh ibn Jabal, when he said: "Say after every Salah:"

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1522; Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 1303 — declared Sahih by al-Albani)

"O Allah, aid me in Your remembrance. O Allah, aid me in being grateful to You. O Allah, aid me in worshipping You the right way."

Final Lesson — Learning Your Deen and Following the Sunnah

This brings me to my final point. Whenever you go on Umrah or Hajj, it is inevitable that you see many, many Muslims engaging in this great act of worship but making many mistakes, falling into error — or even worse, falling into bid'ah and innovation. The problem here is an education problem. People who are not educated about their religion, who do not take it seriously, then embark on these important journeys and have an ibadah that is missing a key condition.

Every single ibadah that we do has to be sincere for Allah, but it also has to be in accordance with the sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Part of the problem we face as an ummah is that we have moved far away from the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. This is an education problem — people are not learning their deen.

How are you meant to know what the sunnah is if no one teaches you, or if you do not attend the classes where the sunnah is being taught? You will go in blind. Then you will assume that you have to use the biggest rocks to make the jamarat, when the Prophet ﷺ said particularly to use the smallest ones. This is very important — Rasulullah ﷺ particularly said to use small rocks as you do the jamarat. And then you have well-meaning Muslims grabbing the biggest ones they can — going against the message of the Prophet ﷺ because they do not know better. And when you try to tell them, they will not listen. This is a big problem.

Learn your deen. Rasulullah ﷺ said as it relates to the salah:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 631)

"Pray as you have seen me pray." We have not seen the Prophet, so how can we know how he prayed? By learning how he prayed. And about Hajj he said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1297)

"Take from me the way you do your rituals." So it is important that we educate ourselves. Do not ever let yourself go blind into an act of worship.

And those acts of worship are not just Hajj or zakat or fasting — they also involve anything that we do that has rules from Allah's Book and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Do not start a business if you do not know the rules of transactions and business. Do not make any investment if you do not fully understand what is right and wrong related to it. Do not get married if you do not understand the rights of your wife or the rights of your husband and your responsibilities. Be governed by your deen. And that can only happen when you are someone that takes the sunnah seriously. Because when we hold on to the sunnah, khair and barakah will gravitate towards us — and the moment we do not, a lot will be lost.

Closing Du'a

May Allah protect our ummah wherever they may be. May Allah accept our acts of worship. May Allah make us among those that truly worship Him wherever they may be. Make us among those that make du'a to Him constantly, especially in the last third of the night. Make us among those that make dhikr often and benefit from the statement of the Prophet ﷺ when he told us to make dhikr as often as possible. May Allah allow us to benefit from all seasons of worship and make us among those that truly benefit from Ramadan and Dhul Hijjah and all other opportunities.

Send blessings upon your Prophet as Allah has commanded you, for Allah said:

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ.