Hajj is a great equalizer

Hajj is a Great Equalizer

Is racism and discrimination. It is a plague that is eating up communities and societies. And to be honest with you, even our Muslim community is not immune to that.

We have it in a subtle way probably. We've seen this in politics — such as just recently, a couple of days ago in the Texas Congress when they passed a bill about voting suppression. It's all about controlling people of minorities or other colors and so on.

We've seen it even in sports just last weekend — the backlash when England lost the game. All of this because of what, ajma'een? Unfortunately it's like an original sin in the human race, in humankind.

No matter what legislation we put as human beings, it doesn't bring people together unfortunately. It doesn't bring them enough together. Nothing makes them equal in that sense.

However, if you look at our tradition, if you look at our deen, our practice, we find a lot of our principles can bring people together. And one of these principles we're living in today, and that is Al-Hajj. Al-Hajj is a great equalizer.

Our deen doesn't just preach these matters — it puts them into practice for you. However, it is upon us to practice this properly, follow it, believe in it, and see it in our hearts. Because if you don't practice that, what's the meaning of this?

What I want to share with you in these few minutes, inshAllah, is about the meaning of Hajj. Hajj is not an exclusive practice — it's inclusive. Everybody goes there. No matter who you are, no matter the color of your skin, your age, your social status, your wealth — it doesn't matter. If you come to Hajj, before Allah you are all equal.

Hajj is a great equalizer. We've seen that in the different rituals and rites of Hajj. Let's begin together to look at Hajj and see how it brings people back together before Allah.

The Call to Hajj

Number one — even before the ihram, the call for Hajj itself. The actual call for Hajj, when Allah ordered Ibrahim عليه السلام to build the Ka'bah, and he did. And then He ordered him to go and call the people. He asked Ibrahim عليه السلام to make that call:

Proclaim Hajj to the people — they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every distant mountain pass. That call was inclusive. It's for everybody. So he called the people to come, and they came. They responded.

If you've ever been to Hajj, you're going to see this for yourself — it's like an international community. People coming from all over the world. Allah says:

To Allah, we owe that Hajj. He said النَّاس — which means people, mankind — all of us are responsible to perform that ibadah and stand before Allah in that mission at least once in our lifetime.

The Ihram

My dear brothers and sisters, one of the greatest manifestations of that equality before Allah and among human beings is the ihram. How do we begin our Hajj? When you go to Mecca, what are you wearing? You're wearing the fancy clothes you came in — clothes that can tell who you are, where you came from, your social status, your wealth. You can tell from the kinds of brands people wear sometimes.

But once you stand before Allah for Hajj, once you start your mission, you take off all these symbols and signs of wealth and status and fame and name, and you become like everybody else. For men, two simple pieces of cloth — one wrapped around the waist and the other around the shoulders. No one knows who you are anymore. You can't tell if you're educated or not. You can't tell if you're a teacher, a doctor, an engineer. No one can tell unless you speak about it. You cannot tell at all, subhanAllah.

Which is why, ironically — and people don't pay attention to this — one of the rituals of ihram is that you must remove anything that puts any kind of symbolism on you. That's why it's simple cloth. Because you're going to be standing before Allah equally. Hajj is indeed an equalizer.

And then when you begin your Hajj, you start calling upon Allah with the exact same words. Even if you don't know the Arabic language, you're still going to say: Labbayk Allahumma labbayk — "In Thy service, my Lord, I am coming in Your service." All of you, wherever you're coming from, you speak the same language, the same tongue, the same phrase. Because in that moment, we are all equal before Allah.

The Tawaf

My dear brothers and sisters, number three — the tawaf. When you circle around the Ka'bah, have you noticed that everybody goes in the same direction? You don't have a choice. You can't say, "This is too crowded, I'm going the other way." You can't say, "Why this way? I have to go this way." You can't. You have to go with the flow. Because we're all equal. We're all fulfilling the same obligation. We're all following the same purpose. We're all going in the same direction — because we're all heading toward Allah. And the Ka'bah is just a symbol of that.

Think about this. When you make your tawaf, that moment is a moment of immersion. I don't know how many of you have experienced that. But subhanAllah, especially when it gets extremely, extremely crowded — yes, it might get tough and difficult, but there is some subtle joy in there. That joy is that you, among all these crowds, are completely lost, like a pixel in the big picture. You can't even tell. But you know. It becomes an individual experience between you and Allah. You're lost in all this crowd, but still Allah can see you. He can hear you. And that in itself is a beautiful time to connect with Allah. But once again, we're all in one place, going the same direction, for that same purpose. It's the unity of mankind in that particular moment.

The Day of Arafah

After that comes one of the greatest manifestations of the humbleness of the human race — Arafah. The day of Arafah, which is coming inshAllah this Monday. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned about this particular day — a day of rahmah, a day of mercy, a day of forgiveness. No matter how much we mess up in our lives, there is always time for redemption. There's always time to return back to Allah. And Allah, the most merciful, has given us opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. This is one of them.

What do Al-Hujjaj do there? They sit down. They stand up. And all their focus is on being forgiven. Because that is the time to seek forgiveness. And obviously, when you seek forgiveness, you admit your vulnerability. You admit your weakness. You admit your humanness. Being rich or poor, knowledgeable or not — it's completely irrelevant, because you're all equal in that moment. We all seek forgiveness from Allah. We are human beings after all. We all make mistakes. And we need to seek forgiveness from Allah.

That moment is a great manifestation of humbleness. Everybody tries to be humble to win that day. And if you don't, then you've lost it. That is the manifestation of the oneness of mankind in that moment of Hajj.

Allah says:

"And then go forth with the rest of the people, and seek forgiveness from Allah." The phrase "with the rest of the people" carries a very defined meaning in its historic context. Why? Because the Arabs before Islam — the people of Mecca — were so arrogant, so proud of themselves, they did not want to associate with the average hujjaj. They would send all the other Arabs to Arafah, while they themselves would stay in Muzdalifah, between Mina and Arafah. Why? Because they called themselves Ahlul Hums — meaning "We are the people of the covenant, we are the custodians of the House, so we are not like the average people."

So Allah gave the command to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: not anymore. Before Allah there is no status except for your taqwa — your righteousness and piety. So all of you go together to Arafah. وَأَفِيضُوا مِنْ حَيْثُ أَفَاضَ النَّاسُ — you go back with them as well. A moment that equalizes all people before Allah.

Mina — Getting to Know One Another

And finally, my dear brothers and sisters — Mina. What is Mina? They call it the city of tents. This is the only city in the world that gets built up in just a few days and then disappears after that, every single year. If you go for Umrah, you pass through Mina and wonder — what is this place? It's an empty plain. Completely empty space. But come for Hajj and you get lost in the alleys of Mina.

What is the purpose of that? Allah is commanding us that after we're done from Hajj, we need to spend two or three more days — and still in ibadah, in dhikr of Allah, and in prayer. And what else? Getting to know each other. This is a time for people to get to know one another. This is the time when people start networking with each other — a beautiful time to get to know your brothers and sisters who come from different cultures, different backgrounds, different colors, different languages. An unbelievable time to spend with all these people.

I remember those days, subhanAllah. When you go there and sit down, and then someone comes to you and tries to connect with you because they see you look different. In Mina we dress according to our cultures, so people see someone dressed differently and they come to approach them — because they want to get to know them. They want to introduce themselves. They want to tell you about their story, their culture, their struggle to stay Muslim in the land where they live. All of this is so beautiful. It brings everybody together.

The Lesson for Our Community

And what connects us all? My dear brothers and sisters, we live in a time when the subjects of equality and social justice are very challenging — wallahi. But here comes Hajj — an annual reminder of our purpose as Muslims. It means to be a good servant of Allah first and foremost, and then a good citizen of this world, a good human being. Your purpose is to be equal with others. No arrogance. Nothing makes you superior over them except for your piety. And that is what Allah commands of us:

O mankind! We have created you from male and female, and made you into tribes and nations — for what? So that you get to know each other. The most honourable of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.

I want to give this message to my dear brothers and sisters in this community. I know that when we watch the news, sometimes we hear horrible things. Unfortunately, the COVID year intensified the subject of exclusivity. Why? Because people were no longer travelling. We sat at home. And when you're at home, you're with your own family, your own kind, your own culture — like an echo chamber, with everybody speaking their own things. As a result, getting to know people and connecting with them was reduced to an online experience — no longer the human experience.

Now that everybody is out again, we carry with us those same feelings we had during those days. It's hard to reconnect with people. It's getting so hard to feel comfortable with someone from a different background, a different culture. And I want to advise my dear brothers and sisters to watch their children. Watch your children. Because maybe they got entrapped in that long period of isolation and have never really experienced being close to people from different cultures, different backgrounds, different colors, and different tongues.

Please make sure that as we start getting out and allowing our kids to go out and associate with other families, other community members, they respect one another. Make sure they know we are all one family — we are all standing before Allah equally. Teach them that lesson, please. When you bring them to the masjid particularly, let them know to be respectful to everybody else. We need to make sure that everyone who comes here is welcome, everyone who comes here is comfortable in the house of Allah. This is the spirit of Hajj. And I hope you can keep this with you, inshAllah.

Alhamdulillahi rabbil 'alameen. Sallallahu wa sallam wa baraka 'ala nabiyyina Muhammad wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam wa tasliman kathira. Amma ba'd.

Spreading Peace and Love

'Ibadallah, my dear brothers and sisters. The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 96)

You are not going to enter paradise until you have true faith. And you are not going to have true faith until you love one another — you love one another no matter where you're coming from. And then he gave us a simple instruction. He said صلى الله عليه وسلم: "Shall I guide you to something that, if you do it, you will love each other? And if you love each other, then you become true believers, and if you are, then paradise." What was that message? He said: Make sure to spread peace amongst yourselves.

What does that mean? When you meet people, greet them. We live in a culture of awkwardness these days — no one says hi, hello, good morning, good evening — not even Salamu 'alaykum anymore. Make sure that you smile in their face. Make sure to say salaam to them. Greet them. Spread that peace, and you will love one another, inshAllah.

The Day of Arafah — Fasting and Du'a

Another opportunity for khayr and forgiveness is coming this Monday inshAllah. I hope that even if you did not get the chance to fast any of the previous days — because of work or whatever — Monday is a very precious day. Do not miss the opportunity to fast on this day. That is the day of Arafah. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 2603)

The fasting of the day of Arafah — I hope for the reward from Allah that it will erase the sins of two years: the past and the one to come. Make sure that you do this inshAllah, this coming Monday.

And for those who are unable to fast, it doesn't mean you lose all reward from this day. Make sure to engage in du'a, in dhikr — particularly in the last few hours of that day after 'Asr. It is very important that you engage in ta'ah and ibadah, in du'a and seeking forgiveness from Allah.

'Ibadallah: