User:Sarfaraz Hussain Naqvi

A PROPOSAL FOR HAJJ

Hajj may be performed by the believers begining with the siting of moon in the region of their domicile.

2:125. And when We made the House (at Mecca) a resort for mankind and a sanctuary, (saying): Take as your place of worship the place where Abraham stood (to pray). And We imposed a duty upon Abraham and Ishmael, (saying): Purify My house for those who go around and those who meditate therein and those who bow down and prostrate themselves (in worship). 126. And remember Abraham said: "My Lord make this a City of Peace and feed its people with fruits such of them as believe in Allah and the Last Day." He said: "(Yea) and such as reject faith for a while will I grant them their pleasure but will soon drive them to the torment of fire an evil destination (indeed)!" [AL-BAQARAH]

9:28. O ye who believe! Truly the Pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque. And if ye fear poverty, soon will Allah enrich you, if He wills, out of His bounty, for Allah is All-Knowing, All Wise. [AT-TAUBA]

Performance of Hajj as a religious duty has been there since pre-historic days. Almighty Allah made the House at Makkah a place of assembly for the guidance of humankind and to worship Him as Prophet Abraham [PBUH] used to do. It indicates the universality of Prophet Abraham’s message of Islam and it must serve as a guide for all those who believe in his prophet hood to facilitate humankind to visit the sacred House for worship and guidance. In reply to the prayer of Abraham [PBUH] of making Makkah a city of peace and full of worldly provisions for the believers in Allah and the Last Day, Allah extended this to the non-believers as well. This however was for ‘a while’ and declared that ultimately they would be driven to the hell fire in case they continued persisting on the rejection. The term ‘a while’ over here, I think, implies to the life of this world. Peace and provisions mentioned in the prayer are for all visitors to Makkah during and/ or off pilgrimage season. It can therefore be said that from amongst the humankind (at least) all those who believe in Prophet Abraham [PBUH] must worship Allah and visit the sacred House.

Do the above not imply that all those claiming to be the followers of Abraham [PBUH] and Jacob [PBUH] are required to assemble at Makkah and worship Allah as taught by their prophets ? This will open the hitherto shut doors of peaceful dialogue between various civilizations at the grass roots level. Does the above not mean that Makkah be made an international city filled with peace and provisions of all kinds for all those who believe in Allah Almighty and the Last Day and wish to assemble at one platform? Does this also not imply that the believers and the nonbelievers (as understood and implied today) are alike permitted by Allah to visit Makkah and perform Allah’s worship as per their knowledge and practice? Those on the helm of affairs need to devise methodology to allow ALL to worship in Makkah but surely in keeping with the teachings and the spirit of Verse 28 of At-Tauba that disallows Pagans from going near the Sacred House.

Abraham [PBUH] was neither a Jew nor a Christian and certainly not a Pagan. He was a true believer of Allah Almighty. Guidance and salvation is not for those who resort to paganism from amongst the People of the Book. Jews and Christians joining gods with Allah and not following the religion of Abraham [PBUH] are like Pagans. Guidance and salvation is in fact for those who follow the religion of Abraham [PBUH]. Not to be Pagan (Mushrik) is a common ground amongst the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims. For this, they are guided to ponder over the teachings of Abraham [PBUH]. On this point, the followers of these monotheistic religions can built the infrastructure of rules of conduct of coexistence in the present-day world. The Jews and the Christians who declare to follow the religion of Abraham [PBUH] and shun paganism are not to be included in the list of Pagans who are not allowed to come near the Sacred Mosque for Pilgrimage in the light of Verse 28 of At-Tauba. Following the Religion of Abraham [PBUH] can be the basis of peaceful and harmonious coexistence between the supporters of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Following are the common grounds that provide a broad structure for coexistence amongst the People of the Book as mentioned in the Qur’an :- a.	Worshiping Allah and not associating any partners with Him. b.	Bowing only to Allah’s will in all affairs of human dealings. c.	Avoiding desires and designs of domination over other humans and nations. d.	Remaining sane (rational, sensible, reasonable, sound, normal, wise and commonsensible) in faith (at least) and the day-to-day affairs concerning the fellow humans. e.	There should be no disputing in the matters of which you have incomplete knowledge. This regulation will save you from many embarrassments in your day-to-day life and fill your existence with joy and happiness at least in this world. Hajj is a duty to Allah for all humans. Salient aspects in this regard contained in verses 25 to 49 of Surah Al-Hajj are:- a.	The humankind from all over the world is required to perform the Pilgrimage in order that they may witness the truth and the things of their benefit and for this, the managers of the Holy House must assist them. In this context, The Holy House must remain purified for the visitors thereto. The aspect of purity (hygienic cleanliness) assumes immense importance because a place visited by the people from all over the globe can result in enormous tragedy if the hygienic conditions are not of the highest order. b.	The believers managing the affairs of The Holy House and those visiting the House must magnify sacred things of Allah to demonstrate devotion of their hearts. This requires detailed planning and thorough going in to. Believers must also demonstrate as to how worship is established; the poor are paid their due, kindness is commanded and iniquity forbidden publicly. It must also be ensured that nothing is ascribed as partner to Allah because attributing partners to Him amounts to making you fall from the sky and in the process being snatched away by the birds or scattered away by the winds. c.	Your strength, your might and your fighting potential against those who have wronged and expelled believers from their homes must also be demonstrated fully. All should witness your state of readiness and indulgence in fighting in His cause in order to save and preserve all places of Allah’s worship including the Cloisters and Churches and Oratories and Mosques. d.	The visitors to the Holy House must learn to remain humble, display being patient, continue worshiping Allah and go on spending from all that has been given by Almighty Allah. The visitors of the holy House must also learn to sacrifice in the name of Allah for their own benefit, and for the benefit of those who are poor and unfortunate. e.	The visitors also get to learn as to how Allah treated those who disbelieved although they lived for thousands of years and built great townships. This aspect actualizes when the people coming for Hajj see for themselves while traveling and/ or on coming in close contact with the people from all over the globe gathered for pilgrimage.

Verses 1-29 of At-Tauba single out the Pagans (polytheists, idolaters, and disbelievers in the oneness of Allah) from amongst humankind who are debarred from going near Masjid-al-Haram at Makkah. Following need to be examined in this context:- a.	Instructions about Mushrikeen in above-mentioned verses pertain to all those who do not believe in Allah’s oneness. They are not to be amongst those who can maintain the mosques of Allah. This implies that they are not to worship in the mosques or look after the mosques until they believe, profess and practice in Allah’s oneness. b.	Door of repentance remains open for the Mushrikeen. They (Mushrikeen) are bared from going near Masjid-al-Haram and not disallowed from visiting Makkah. The reason given for this is that they (Mushrikeen) are impure. This impurity is physical and spiritual. Physical impurity implies involvement in world against the wishes and desire of their Creator. Spiritual impurity entails that they have wronged their self and their surroundings by not remaining on the path shown to all by Allah. c.	The believers are asked to respect the treaties concluded with the Mushrikeen till the appointed term but with following conditions:- (1) The Mushrikeen should have never failed believers in keeping with the spirit of the concluded treaty. (2) The Mushrikeen should not have supported and helped others in the event of open hostilities against the believers. d.	Those Mushrikeen who seek asylum with the believers are to be well looked after so that they come to know the truth with personal experience through interaction with the believers. e.	Allah prohibits taking helpers, advisors and/ or consultants from the disbelievers especially in defense matters.

People of the Book having no faith in Allah, the Last Day and the prophet hood of Muhammad [PBUH] and the Pagans have been against the Prophet and the Muslims. The enmity that is due to no logical reasons and instead is in violation of their revealed scriptures as well is a clear proof to classify some individuals or group(s) as Pagans. It must however be remembered that such People of the Book and also the Pagans were/are convinced in their heart that all good is from Allah; and the Muslims should therefore continue exerting in the prescribed manner to show the right path to such people. It can be said that anyone who insists on wrong only due to obstinacy having clearly understood the reality is a Pagan or MUSHRIK. Those individuals from amongst the People of the Book who have gone astray from the path shown by Allah through His prophets are at par with the Pagans. They should therefore be treated as such in the light of various Qura’nic injunctions guiding Muslim’s attitude and behaviour towards them such as in Verse 28 of Tauba wherein they are debarred from going near the Sacred Mosque in performance of Pilgrimage. Moreover, it stands to reason and logic as such people are only pigheaded to accept the truth.

Verse 13 of Ash-Shura makes it abundantly clear that all the Apostles sent by Allah brought the same message of remaining steadfast in religion and making no divisions therein. This is indeed hard for Pagans. It, however, must be understood well that Allah chooses to Himself those whom He pleases, and guides to Him those who turn to Him. Final destiny of Pagans (elaborated in verse 31 of Al-Hajj ) is absolute annihilation and total destruction at the hands of Allah Almighty. In Verse 6 of Al-Baiyina it is declared very plainly that all those who reject the truth may they be from People of the Book and/ or from the Polytheists, will dwell in Hell-fire and that such people are the worst of creatures. In verse 42 of Ar-Rum Allah invites the humans to look around by traversing the globe they live on and see for themselves the end of those who had been content with paganism. Setting up partners with Allah is a sin of most heinous nature. Those involved in this will neither be forgiven nor allowed entry in to the heavens by Him. Such people stray far, far away from the right path. There will be no one who would help them and hell fire will be their abode. Those who assign partners with Allah from amongst the people of the Book are termed as rejecter (Kafar) and wrongdoer (Z’alim). So all those who claim to follow any of the revealed Books must watch their actions and analyze their beliefs lest they resort to assigning partners with Allah. Allah has indicated Jews and Pagans as the most ardent enemies of believers while there are good Christians who are nearest in love for the believers. Believers are required to turn aside from the Pagans. Those who indulge in the most heinous and unforgivable offence of assigning partners with Allah are not to be judged as such and mistreated in any way by those who ostensibly believe in one God merely because they perceive that others are setting up partners with Allah. Allah will decide their fate on the day of reckoning.

Verse 186 of Al-i-Imran contains the realities with details of the conduct of the People of the Book (minus the followers of Qur’an) and the Pagans viz a viz those who claim to be true believers of Allah Almighty and dedicated followers of the Qur’an. This conduct and behaviour is undoubtedly a test and a trial of true believers. It also contains the guidelines for the desired conduct of believers based on patience and guarding against evil viz a viz the People of the Book and the Pagans. In the given scenario, guarding against evil implies not to indulge in immoral, unethical and/ or incorrect behaviour with the aim of replying in retaliation. It must be understood at this point that the desired conduct of true believers has to be in the backdrop of possessing power otherwise it will be only helplessness and inability to guard you and will never prove to be the determining factor in interpersonal, intertribal or international affairs.

With the above background let us now turn to the following Qura’nic verse that appears to be helping in opening the doors of new thoughts in so far as observance of Hajj rituals is concerned:- They ask thee concerning the New Moons. Say: They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the affairs of) men, and for pilgrimage. It is no virtue if ye enter your houses from the back: it is virtue if ye fear Allah. Enter houses through the proper doors: and fear Allah: that ye may prosper. 2:189

In the above quoted Verse 189 of Al-Baqarah, Allah Almighty is talking to the believers through His Messenger Muhammad [PBUH]. In the first portion of this verse i.e., four words are worth noting with extra care and concentration. These are, ,  and. The first of these stands for moons. The second stands for signs of marking fixed periods, the third  means for humans and the last  stands for Hajj. It must be noted that the first three words are in plural form and as you know in Arabic a plural comprises of minimum three. Using plural for moon when it has to mark fixed periods of time for Hajj provides that the humans can (or should) undertake performance of various rituals of Hajj beginning with the sighting of moon in respective regions they live in. Planet earth from the viewpoint of sighting moon is divisible (at the least) in three regions. Inhabitants of each region beginning their Hajj rituals with the sighting of moon in the region they live in will distribute the humankind in three groups. These groups will perform Hajj rituals without much rush and providing space for more humans from the respective regions to join in the performance of Hajj. In the above proposal, humans of first region will begin performance of Hajj rituals in accordance with the sighting of Hajj moon in their region of domicile. The humans of second region where Hajj moon is sighted a day later will start performance of Hajj rituals one day after the first region. Likewise, the inhabitants of third region will begin performance of Hajj rituals when the people of first region have entered the third day rituals and those of the second region in second day rituals. This will ensure staggering of the performance of Hajj rituals over a total of five days for the humans of three regions of the globe from the standpoint of the sighting of Hajj moon as mentioned in the above quoted verse 189 of Al-Baqarah. Above proposal allows more humans to be able to perform Hajj as desired by their Creator Lord. It may be examined and reviewed by the experts of Hajj rituals, the learned ones in the science of moon sighting and the administrative managers of Hajj in Saudi Arabia for sorting out details of its practicability. Looking in to future where the world population in general and the Muslim population in particular are increasing at a pretty fast pace, this proposal will serve to provide a tool of handling the pilgrims with ease and in accordance with the desires of Allah Almighty.

By Lt Col Sarfraz Hussain (Retired) 168- Faiz Ahmed Faiz Road H-8/2; Islamabad 0333-5225009; 0332-5148200 Email: latifan14@yahoo.com paksec@live.com