Faisal Bin Ali Al-Ba’adani
Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 42 | Size: 2.5 MB
All praise is due to Almighty Allah. We praise Him and seek His
assistance and forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evils of
ourselves and from our sinful deeds. Whosoever Allah guides, there is
none to misguide him; and whosoever He leaves astray, none can guide
him. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship besides
Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
May Allah bestow His peace and blessings upon Prophet Muhammad, upon his
good and pure family, as well as upon all his noble companions and
those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Reckoning.
Hajj is one of the finest institutions of
Islam that serves a multitude of purposes. It is a demonstration of the
universality of Islam which attracts to it people from all walks of
life and from the four comers of the world; it is the largest annual
‘conference of faith’ where Muslims get to know one another, discuss
their common affairs and promote their general welfare; it is a reminder
of the Grand Assembly on the Day of Judgement when people will stand
equal before the Lord of the worlds; it also confirms the commitment of
the Muslims to their Lord and their willingness to relinquish the
material interests in His service. It is a course of spiritual
advancement and moral uplifting, a course of exceptional devotion and
disciplinary experience, and a course of humanitarian interests and
inspiring knowledge.
Allah the Almighty commands His obedient
servants to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet (pbuh) in numerous
verses of the Qur’an. Allah says, “And whatsoever the Messenger gives
you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain from it.” (59:7) He
made the Prophet (pbuh) an exemplary model to emulate: “Verily you have
in the Prophet of Allah an excellent model, for him who fears Allah and
the Last day and who remembers Allah much.” (33:21) He also informs us
that obedience to the prophet (pbuh) is a clear indication of Allah’s
love for those who do so: “Say, ‘If you love Allah, follow me: [then]
Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.'” (3:31) Besides, He
points out that this obedience is synonymous with obedience given to
Allah Himself: “He who obeys the Messenger obeys Allah indeed; and
whoever turns away then We have not sent you to watch over them.” (4:80)
For those who follow in the prophet’s footsteps Allah has prepared a
great reward in the Hereafter: “And whosoever obeys Allah and the
Messenger shall be among those on whom Allah has bestowed His blessings,
namely, the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous. And
excellent companions are these!” (4:69)
Hajj is an act of worship which tests
one’s true following in the Prophet’s footsteps. A number of Muslim
scholars have rendered Muslims a good service by delineating, in sermons
as well as in writing, its rulings, the common mistakes committed by
certain pilgrims during the Hajj, as well as the acts that are bound to
invalidate it. Talks and writings to this effect have benefited Muslim a
great deal. The fact that these rulings are indeed important, even
necessary, since the validity of the Hajj is largely contingent on them,
has made many people forget other equally important aspects of the
Prophet’s conduct during his Hajj. Consequently, a number of pilgrims
nowadays perform many acts that are not exactly in line with the
Prophet’s guidance. Therefore, the main aim of the present book is to
give an accurate account of the Prophet’s conduct during the Hajj. The
importance of knowing this neglected aspect is manifest in a number of
points, the most prominent of all are:
a. Studying this aspect
in the life of the prophet (pbuh) and acting upon the teachings it
entails helps one understand the noble purposes this great institution
could serve as well as realize the true worship and submission to Allah
as it should be.
b. Many pilgrims are not
aware of the Prophet’s conduct during the Hajj and only content
themselves with knowledge of the rulings of the Hajj rituals.
c. The Hajj is a unique
and very special act of worship in that the prophet (pbuh) dealt with
people from a variety of social strata. He also met various people who
had never before had an opportunity to witness his conduct in the course
of a few days at a certain place and time. Therefore, it reveals many
facets of his social dealings with people that do not exist anywhere
else.
d. The Prophet (pbuh)
accompanied his wives and a number of the weak members of his household
on this spiritual journey, which revealed a bright aspect of his conduct
towards them, in a manner not known before then.
e. His conduct during
the Hajj revealed a great deal of significance not known-let alone acted
upon-even by some students of religious knowledge who are concerned
with the study of the Sunnah of the prophet (pbuh).
The present study attempts to give a
general description and a lucid account of the Prophet’s conduct in
Hajj. It does not attempt to provide a description of the rules and
steps followed during the Hajj, as this is not the main concern of the
book. For details showing this, the reader may consult the elaborate
works on the subject.
Since it is next to impossible to cover
all aspects of his conduct in the present work, only the most prominent
ones will be stated. Regrettably enough, in giving examples of the
Prophet’s conduct, only one or two examples are cited. In some other
cases only the reference where such an example can be found is given.
The reader may therefore refer to major works on the subject for more
details.
Furthermore, given the enormity of the
task and the limitations of space, it is impossible to produce an
exhaustive study in a small book of this nature. The present work will
attempt to give only general hints about the subject without going into
details. For reasons of simplicity and better understanding, the present
work will be divided into three main sections:
I. The Prophet’s Conduct towards his Lord II. The prophet’s Conduct towards Muslims in general III. The Prophet’s Conduct towards his Family members In particular
We pray Almighty Allah to make the
present work beneficial to all those who intend to perform Hajj-or
‘Umrah for that matter-in the same manner the Prophet (pbuh) performed
it. We also pray Him to make all our endeavors sincere and to accept all
our good deeds. Surely, He is the Hearer of prayer.
Post a Comment