Does God demand blood sacrifice ?

"Theology is-- or should be-- a species of poetry, which read quickly or encountered in a hubbub of noise makes no sense. You have to open yourself to a poem with a quiet, receptive mind, in the same way you might listen to a difficult piece of music..."

- Karen Armstrong, The Spiral Staircase


Every year, on Eid al Adha, the issue of animal sacrifice stirs up the controversial debates over the nature and purpose of this practice.

This article is an attempt to engage in such ongoing debates. Care has been taken to maintain maximum objectivity, however it is impossible to be objective beyond a point in the matters of faith. There are somethings which we may never be sure of because of lack of historical or scientific evidence.

For Muslims, sacrificing goats, sheep or camels on Eid al Adha all over the world, has become a symbol of their religiosity as well as their identity. Any debate on this issue is a sensitive matter for them. However, not talking about a controversial issue is never a good idea.

Most people view this issue through the lens of the classic "Vegetarianism versus Non-vegetarianism debate". However, as we shall see that this issue goes beyond such conversations.


The Sacrifice of Abraham and Ishmael

People often use the words "sacrifice" and "slaughter" interchangeably in the conversations regarding Eid al Adha. This inability to distinguish between the "philosophy of sacrifice" and the "ritual of slaughter" is, in my opinion, the root of all misunderstandings about the subject. So, let us start from the very origin of this festival.

The Qur'an narrates a story from the life of prophet Abraham. It tells us that Abraham once had a dream, which he believed was a vision from God. In the dream Abraham saw himself sacrificing his own beloved son. The Quran does not mention the name of the son. Abraham had two sons - Ishmael and Isaac. In the Biblical version of the story and according to early Muslim Quranic commentators like at-Tabari, the son in question was Isaac. Later Muslim commentators like al-Razi and Ibn Kathir were in the favour of Ishmael. It is a completely separate discussion.The message is important, not the name of the son. For simplicity, we shall assume that the son was Ishmael while talking about the Muslim perspective.


The Quran tells us that Abraham narrated the dream to Ishmael. "My son, I have seen myself sacrificing you in a dream. What do you think?" Upon hearing the dream, Ishmael replied, "Father, do as you are commanded and, God willing, you will find me steadfast.” (37:102)


In obedience to what he believed was the will of God, Abraham decided to sacrifice his son. The moment he was about to slit the throat of Ishmael, God intervened and saved Ishmael's life.

“‘Abraham! You have  fulfilled the dream.’ It is thus indeed that  We reward those who do good- that surely was  a manifest trial. We ransomed him with a great sacrifice." (Quran 37:104-107)


According to the traditional Muslim account (based on secondary sources, and not the Quran) and the Biblical version (Book of Genesis 22:1-19) God saved Abraham's son by replacing him with a ram (male sheep). To commemorate the spirit of sacrifice of Abraham and Ishmael in obedience to the will of God, every year majority of Muslims all over the world celebrate Eid al Adha (literally meaning “the feast of sacrifice”) by slaughtering a sheep or a goat. They distribute the meat among the poor and among the relatives and friends.


We shall discuss this ritual of sacrifice but before moving forward, three things we must pay attention to :

1. The Quran doesn't explicitly say that the dream of Abraham was from God, or that God demanded the sacrifice of Abraham's son. This subtle fact often goes unnoticed.

2. The Quran states that God interjected and stopped the act of sacrifice of Ishmael.

3. The Quran does not say that God replaced the son with a sheep. Notice the words in the above verse, when the son is ransomed with “a great sacrifice”, not with a sheep or camel or goat. Scholars have deliberated over the meanings of the phrase "great sacrifice". I shall present one interpretation of this “great sacrifice” later in this article.


Was Abraham's dream a command from God? Did God really want Abraham to sacrifice his son?

This is one such question which we may never be able to answer objectively, unless God himself appears today and speaks for himself. Since the Quran doesn't explicitly say that the dream of Abraham was from God, this question was left open to be addressed by various scholars over history. In his work ‘The Bezels of Wisdom’, the famous 12th century mystic and scholar Muhiyiddin Ibn Arabi interprets Abraham's story in an interesting way. To quote Omnia El Shakry, professor of history at the University of California, Davis,


“According to Ibn Arabi, sleep and dreams occur in the plane of the imagination (hadrat al-khayal) and must be subject to interpretation. As Ibn Arabi relates, God said to Abraham: ‘You believed in a vision,’ which Ibn Arabi understands as Abraham’s quintessential error. Ibn Arabi thinks that Abraham errs in taking the dream literally when he should have interpreted it instead.”


On the other hand, most of the orthodox scholars of Islam had agreed upon an idea that "the visions  of prophets are (always) true and their actions are (inspired) by the command of God". And therefore they concluded that Abraham's dream had to be truely a command from God. Abraham had unlimited and unwavering faith in God's wisdom. So he went ahead with the plan to sacrifice his son.


However, this raises some questions which were dealt by another great medieval scholar Imam Fakhruddin al-Razi (1150-1210). To describe al Razi’s thoughts on this matter, I would like to quote Isra Yazicioglu, associate professor at Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia.

“if it were entirely clear to Abraham that a prophet’s dream equals to a genuine revelation, why would Abraham think about it after the first night? Why would he consult with his son and proceed only after the son supports his interpretation? And yet if it was a mere dream, then how is it possible that a prophet, who is an exemplary individual for all believers, tries to sacrifice his son based on a mere dream? Razi’s solution is to suggest a combination: perhaps the dream he saw was also confirmed by an additional clear revelation. Razi also raises the question whether it is possible to talk about God as having commanded something, and then, before the command was carried out, having abrogated that command. For Razi, the answer is in the positive: it is quite possible that God first commands the sacrifice of the son, and then abrogates that command by stopping Abraham from doing it.”

This reveals Razi’s theological position that “God may command something without  actually wishing that thing to happen”. According to him, the distinction between God’s will and God’s approval is a crucial one.

It is interesting to bring into discussion the Christian perspective of the story. The famous Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), while analysing the Biblical narrative of the Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac, wrote in his work Fear and Trembling, “The story of Abraham contains a teleological suspension of the ethical” (Teleological means “with regards to the end, purpose or goal”). Abraham performed a teleological suspension of the ethical when he decided to kill Isaac because he had faith in God’s wisdom i.e. God will not allow an unethical end (telos). This allowed Abraham to make what seemed to be an unethical decision.


This means that one may commit an act that is unethical, when instructed by God to do so. This is based on the idea that the wisdom of God transcends our concepts of ethics.  In simple English, "the teleological suspension of the ethical" means much the same as "the end justifies the means."

I have presented different viewpoints but I make no conclusions here.


The Philosophy of Sacrifice

The Arabic word used for slaughtering animals for sacrifice on Eid al Adha is Qurban or Qurbani. Literally, it means “a way or means of approaching someone” or “nearness”. This word is related to the Hebrew word Korban (plural Korbanot), which occurs in the Hebrew Bible (i.e. Old Testament) in the books of Leviticus, Numbers and Ezekiel. From a religious perspective, Qurbani or Korban refers to a sacrificial offering to God as a way to approach or get near to Him. We learn from the Hebrew Bible that animal sacrifices were offered by Israelites to God for various purposes in the ancient Tabernacle, then in Solomon’s temple and the Second Temple in Jerusalem until its destruction in 70 CE by the Romans. The sacrifice of the Paschal lamb was one of the major sacrifices offered at the Temple on the eve of the Passover holiday. Since the destruction of the Temple, the ritual of the passover sacrifice of the lamb has been discontinued. Jews eat a piece of a special type of bread, now known as afikomen to finish the Passover meal.

Some later Jewish scholars have emphasized that prayer, charity and acts of kindness are better than offering sacrifice, after all the purpose of sacrifice is nothing but to draw ourselves “near to God”.

The traditional Christianity has a different philosophy of sacrifice. Jesus Christ is believed to be born without sin, lived without sin and died without sin, and so his Crucifixion is believed to be the perfect sacrifice. Jesus, therefore, is known as Agnus Dei meaning the “lamb of God”, who chose to sacrifice himself for the atonement for the sins of whole of mankind. Therefore, for Christians no ritual of animal sacrifice is needed after Christ.

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Gospel of John 1:29)

Let us come back to the topic under discussion. For Muslims, Abraham's near-sacrifice of Ishmael was an act of unflinching trust in God. For symbolical commemoration of that act, the yearly animal slaughter on Eid was established as a religious institutionalization of Abraham’s sacrifice, in the context of the seventh century Arabian society.

“We have appointed for you the sacrificial camels as one of the symbols set up by God, in which there is much good for you. So invoke God's name over them as you line them up for slaughter, and when they have fallen down dead, feed yourselves and feed the needy, those who do not ask as well as those who do. We have thus subjected them to you so that you may be grateful.” (Qur’an 22:36)


Most people (including Muslims) have the misconception that the idea of sacrifice on Eid al adha is about "appeasing" an angry god or "gaining some favor" from him by offering the blood of an animal. This is not true. Moreover, the Quranic philosophy of sacrifice is also not based on the idea of "vicarious atonement of sins through blood". On the contrary, the Qur'an puts an end to the idea that God can be appeased by blood sacrifice. The Qur'an specifically and unambiguously states:

"It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches God: it is your piety that reaches Him." (Qur’an 22:37)

The Quranic idea of sacrifice is about:

1. Personal sacrifice and submission to God as the way to "annihilation of the ego" and to attain a higher level of piety and,


2. Sharing the bounty of God with fellow human beings as a way of thanking Him for providing us sustenance.


There is no doubt that the essence of sacrifice is far greater than the external-visible-symbolic institution of animal slaughter.

To quote Shahid Ali Muttaqi, an activist for ethical treatment of animals, "Animals are mentioned in the Qur’an in relation to sacrifice only because in that time, place, and circumstance, animals were the means of survival. Islam offered conditions to regulate life in that time and place, ensuring the best possible treatment for all under those circumstances, while at the same time broadening people’s understanding of life to include a spiritual dimension and a respect for all life as a part of a unified whole. But let us not assume for a minute that we are forever stuck in those circumstances, or that the act of eating meat, or killing an animal is what makes one a Muslim."

I have only discussed the philosophy of sacrifice from the Judeo-Christian-Islamic perspective. I did not discuss the perspectives of other religious traditions on sacrifice to avoid digressing away from the central theme of this article.

Is animal slaughter on Eid al Adha a religious obligation for Muslims?

There is no denying the fact that there are reports which mention that Prophet Muhammad himself performed animal sacrifice on Eid and also advised others to do so. As I mentioned earlier, this ritual developed in the context of seventh century Arabian desert, where slaughtering an animal for food was no big deal.

However, some anecdotes from the Prophet's life suggest that he definitely encouraged showing mercy and compassion towards animals.

In one such anecdote, a man told Prophet Muhammad,

“O Messenger of God, I would have slaughtered a sheep but I had mercy on it.”

The Prophet replied, “If you had mercy on the sheep, then God will have mercy on you twice.”
(Source: Imam al-Bukhari's al-Adab al-Mufrad)

Some of the companions of the Prophet and some Islamic scholars have prioritized charity over slaughtering an animal.

Abd al-Razzaaq narrated in al-Musannaf (8156), that Bilal, one the most trusted and loyal companions of the Prophet Muhammad, once said, "To give the price of the sacrificial animal in charity to an orphan or a debtor is dearer to me than sacrificing it."

One of the contemporary conservative scholars Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen once said,

"If it is a matter of choice between animal sacrifice and paying off debt on behalf of a poor person, then paying off the debt is better, especially if the debtor is a relative." (Majmoo‘ Fataawa wa Rasaa’il Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 13/1496)

This indicates that animal sacrifice is not mandatory in Islam. Not sacrificing animals with the intent of having mercy on them is not only permissible but in fact be considered a good thing. We can also pay the amount of sacrificial animal as charity to the poor or a debtor.

Hussain's martyrdom - the great sacrifice

There is another interpretation of the Quranic story of Ishmael's sacrifice. Some scholars are of the opinion that the ultimate purpose of Ishmael’s sacrifice was fulfilled more than a two thousand years later when Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad was martyred in the land of Karbala by the army of a tyrant caliph called Yazid. So according to this interpretation, when the Quran says “We ransomed the son with the great sacrifice”, it refers to Hussain’s sacrifice as a ransom for Ishmael. What started with Ishmael, had concluded with Hussain.

Even those who may not agree with this interpretation of the Qur'anic verse, have to agree upon the fact that Hussain's sacrifice in the face of oppression and injustice, embodies the true philosophy of sacrifice. The moral lesson is to sacrifice one’s worldly possessions, even one’s life for a noble cause. For some, this is what Islam stands for.

The great poet and philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal once said,

Gharib-o-sāda-o-rangi’n hay dāstān-e-Haram
Nihāyat iski Hussain, ibtida hay Ismāil

The tale of the Holy Shrine, if told, is simple, strange and red in hue,
Its beginning is Ishmael, its epitome is Hussain.


If we are to address the question in the title of this article, the answer for some would be Yes! But not merely by ritually slaughtering an animal on Eid, instead by understanding and practicing the true spirit of sacrifice in real life for a good cause, as practically demonstrated by Hussain in Karbala.


The wine or the wine-cup?

I have chosen to conclude my article with this section because I would like to emphasize that the Islamic practices of daily prayers, fasting in Ramadan, charity, Hajj and animal sacrifice on Eid are external symbols and rituals. They are the metaphors which Muslims use to express their faith to themselves and also to those who understand the language of these metaphors. The religious symbols, metaphors and rituals are like the cups that carry the wine of higher spiritual truths. An empty cup has no value. The wine is more valuable than the cup that carries it.

One can find numerous lengthy lectures and books on the subject of who is a true "Muslim" and what is proper Muslim behavior. I believe that only the words of Prophet Muhammad himself are sufficient to answer this question.

A man asked the Prophet Muhammad, “Which Islam is best?” The Prophet, said, “To feed the hungry and to greet with peace those you know and those you do not know.” (Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 28, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 39)

The Prophet defined a Muslim in the following way, "A Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hands the people are safe, and the believer is the one people trust with their lives and wealth."(Source: Sunan al-Nasā’ī 4995, Grade: Sahih)

At another occasion the Prophet said, "Love for people what you love for yourself and you will be a believer. Behave well with your neighbors and you will be a Muslim."
(Source: Sunan Ibn Mājah 4217, Source: Sahih)

The very purpose of Muhammad's prophethood was character building. He once said, “God has sent me as an apostle so that I may demonstrate perfection of character, refinement of manners and superiority in behavior." (Malik, Mawatta; Ahmed, Musnad and Mishkat al-Masabih)

Sadly, for most Muslims the mere performance of the rituals and the mechanics of those rituals have become important than the spiritual message behind those rituals.

Most muslims do not put so much thought into their minds on the day of Eid al Adha. They simply slaughter an animal to just perform an external ritual without reflecting deep on the story of Abraham. Sometimes such rituals are devoid of any true spirit of sacrifice and no efforts are made for overall spiritual development.

Most cups have no wine these days. Most scabbards have no swords in them. As allama Iqbal once said,

Ishq Ki Taigh-e-Jigardar Uda Li Kis Ne?
Ilm Ke Hath Mein Khali Hai Niyam, Ae Saqi!

Who Snatched Away the Piercing Sword of Love?
Knowledge is Left With an Empty Sheath Alone, O Cupbearer!

Heretical Musings...

O Moses, take me to the Promised land,

O Jesus, show me your eternal Love,
O Muhammad, reveal to me what was revealed to you,
O Buddha, guide me on your path to Peace,
O Krishna, advice me for I am lost.

The religions misguide me, I know not what to follow.
I need solace, O Teachers, grant me your esoteric knowledge.
The books are silent, I need your letters.
I need gospels straight from your hearts.
Take me to the Father in Heaven, for I need answers.
How long shall this silence last?
How much shall I pray, how much shall I fast?
O Prophets, where have you gone?
O Apostles, why no answer comes?

Despair surrounds me, as i fall into the Nihilism.
Take me out of this void, O Masters of mysticism.
There was a guy, they call him Rumi,
In his couplets I often find some clues.
But incomplete is his poetry, empty is his cup.
My heart is still thirsty for the wine of true Love.

A Memoir of my Hajj

“Traveling, first it makes you speechless and then it turns you into a story-teller.”

- Ibn Battuta,

14th century Moroccan jurist, geographer and traveller

    “Welcome to Medina! We wish you a pleasant stay here!”, announced the flight attendant. It was 'the moment' for all the pilgrims, including me, my mom and my aunt, as the flight carrying Indian Hajj pilgrims started to descend. Although actual Hajj is the visit to the holy sanctuary in the city of Mecca, but the emotional attachment to the city of Medina is a feeling that in many ways makes Medina much more dearer to the Muslims. Maybe it is the answer of the Prophet Muhammad's prayer he made more than fourteen centuries ago, “O God, make Medina as beloved to us as you have made Mecca, or even more beloved than Mecca!” This city was originally called as Yathrib. In the honour of Prophet Muhammad, it was renamed as Medinat-an-Nabi (the City of the Prophet), or Medina al-Munawwarrah (the Radiant City) or to put simply Medina (the City). It is the city wherein lies the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad. His blessed body rests beneath the chamber of his beloved wife Aisha, inside the Masjid al-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque). This Mosque is one of the Haramayn, (or the “two blessed sanctuaries” of Islam), and it is the second of the three most venerable places of worship in the world; the other two being the Masjid al-Haram at Mecca and the Masjid al-Aqsa of Jerusalem.

    After we got down we had no idea what's going to happen next. We were simply following the instructions of the volunteers of Indian Hajj committee (under the Indian Ministry of External Affairs) who were working in collaboration with the Ministry of Hajj of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Clearing the immigration and the custom formalities, we were boarded on buses that took us to our hotels. I was elated to find that the Masjid al-Nabawi was so near to our hotel that I could easily see the beautifully illuminated minarets of the Mosque from the window of our hotel room, specially the light relected from the Gumbad-e-Khizra or “the Green Dome”, which is directly above the Prophet's grave.

I remember it was late night so we went to sleep as quickly as possible. We woke up to the sound of Azaan, coming from the Holy Mosque, as we got up for the early morning (Fajr) prayers. Me, my mom, and my aunt hurriedly walked towards the Mosque. Built by Prophet Muhammad himself in the year 622 after his arrival in the city of Medina, today this Mosque mesmerises the pilgrims with grand and spacious prayer halls, walls decorated with Arabic calligraphy, minarets and beautiful carpets on the floor. Worshippers from all over the globe stand together in congregation inside the Mosque.

A view of Masjid an-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque) at Medina.

    The most awesome moment among all was to visit the grave of the Prophet. I could see the tears flowing down the eyes of almost all pilgrims as if they stand in the very presence of one of the greatest man to have ever walked on earth, the one who was conferred with the titles such as Al-Mustafa “The Chosen One”,  Habib-Allah “The beloved of God”, Rahmatulil Aalameen “Mercy for all mankind”, Al-Saadiq “The Honest”, Al-Ameen “The Trustworthy” and Al-Insan al-Kamil "The Perfect Man". We presented our salutations to the Noble Prophet. Next to his grave are the graves of his close companions Abu Bakr and Umar, and a fourth grave is reserved for Jesus, as it is believed that he will return and will be buried at the site. There is a very special but small area named Riad ul-Jannah (Garden of Paradise), which extends from the Prophet's tomb (Rawdah) to his pulpit (minbar). It is covered with green carpet, while the rest of the Mosque with red carpet, for the purpose of identification. Riad ul-Jannah is believed to be a part Jannah (Paradise). Closeby, is the place from where Bilal, a very dear companion of the Prophet, used to call out the Azaan, in those days.

    Located to South-East side of the Holy Mosque is a place called Jannat-ul Baqi, wherein lie the graves of Prophet's beloved daughter Fatima al-Zahra and his grandson Hasan, alongwith other noble personalities of his time. We offered our salutations to them. May the peace and blessings of God eternally descend upon our beloved Prophet, his family and his companions !

   

    Masjid an-Nabawi is not just a normal mosque. It has a legacy of functioning as a community center, a court, and a religious and legal school. Even today, we can spot teachers sitting with their students teaching the Qur'an, Arabic language and Islamic law. We can also attend the lectures organized occasionally in the mosque. The best part of all was to meet people from different parts of the world. I used to interact with pilgrims from Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was a wonderful experience.

During our sojourn in Medina, we were able to visit other historically and religiously important places in the city. We also visited the local markets specially to buy some good quality dates (a special variety known as Ajwa), olive oil, tasbeeh, carpets and perfumes. Another thing we found interesting was the exhibitions set around the Mosque, displaying the replicas of the artifacts associated with the life of the Holy Prophet and his family.
   

A group of people reading Qur'an inside the Prophet's Mosque (Masjid al-Nabwi)

    Another striking feature of this Mosque worth noticing is that women are welcomed to pray inside the mosque, as opposed to majority of other mosques around the world. Of course, there are physical barriers separating the women's congregation from that of men's, but nevertheless they are free to enter, sit, read the Qur'an and pray in the mosque.

We stayed in Medina for 8 days, and prayed at the Holy Mosque 5 times each day, so completing a total of 40 prayers, which is expected for a pilgrim when he visits Medina. Then we had to leave for  Mecca. It was a moment of mixed feelings. Honestly, nobody was happy that they had to leave Madina, but we had no choice because the rites of Hajj had to be performed in Mecca.

Hajj: its Meaning and Religious beliefs

“And Hajj to the House (Kaaba) is a duty that mankind owes to God, for those who are able to undertake the journey.”

- Quran 3:97

    To put things into proper context, I ll have to write little bit about the background of the beliefs associated with Hajj.

    According to one of the most comprehensive and well-known dictionaries of the Arabic language, Lisān al-`Arab, Hajj is defined as:

"Purpose. As in, 'So-and-so did Hajj unto us,' which means he presented himself before us."

    So the general lexical meaning of the word is "intended purpose". From the Islamic point of view, Hajj refers to the pilgrimage to the Holy sanctuary in Mecca, which is the intended destination or purpose of a pilgrim. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Every healthy and financially able Muslim is obliged to make the Hajj once in his or her lifetime. Every year, the events of Hajj are performed in a five-day period, starting on 8th and ending on 12th of Dhul-Hijjah, the twelfth and last month of the Islamic calendar.

    Mecca is the city which was the birth-place of Prophet Muhammad. This city holds the holiest site of Islam, the Masjid al-Haram ('Sacred Mosque'). Inside the Mosque is the Kaaba, literally meaning “the cube”.     Kaaba was “the first temple of the one God” to quote Karen Armstrong from her book History of God. It is a bricked cubical structure made of granite covered with a black silk cloth. Inside the Kaaba, the floor is made of marble and limestone. The four corners of the Kaaba, namely the “Black corner”, the “Iraqi corner”, the “Levantine corner” and the “Yemeni corner”, roughly point towards the four cardinal directions of the compass. David A. King, writes in his article, The orientation of medieval Islamic religious architecture and cities, “The major axis of the rectangular base is aligned towards the rising of the star Canopus, and the minor axis towards summer sunrise and winter sunset, these directions being roughly perpendicular at the latitude of Mecca.”

A view of the Kaaba surrounded by pilgrims

    The origin of Kaaba remains a mystery till today. It existed long before the birth of Prophet Muhammad. Edward Gibbon writes about Kaaba in his book, The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, “The genuine antiquity of Caaba ascends beyond the Christian era: in describing the coast of the Red sea the Greek historian Diodorus has remarked, between the Thamudites and the Sabeans, a famous temple, whose superior sanctity was revered by all the Arabians; the linen of silken veil, which is annually renewed by the Turkish emperor, was first offered by the Homerites, who reigned seven hundred years before the time of Mohammad.” Mecca was also mentioned by the famous mathematician and astronomer Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria, in his atlas of the world, about 400 years before the birth of Muhammad. He mentioned Mecca by the name of Macoraba and identified it as “as a South Arabian foundation created around a sanctuary”.

    Islamic tradition states that Kaaba was first constructed by Adam and Eve. It was destroyed in the Great Flood during the time of Prophet Noah and it was re-constructed by Prophet Abraham. Very near to the Kaaba is a stone inside a glass and metal enclosure with what is said to be an imprint of Prophet Abraham's feet. This place is famously known as Station of Abraham (Maqam Ibrahim). Abraham is said to have stood on this stone during the construction of the upper parts of the Kaaba.

        Today, Kaaba is an empty cube. There are no idols, icons or images. But in the Pre-Islamic Arabia, there were 360 idols of different gods and goddesses in and around the Kaaba, which were worshiped by different pagan tribes of the Arabian peninsula. After the conquest of Mecca in 629 AD, Prophet Muhammad, with the help of his cousin and son-in-law Ali, broke the pagan idols in the Kaaba and wiped out all paintings from the walls of the Kaaba. However, according to Al-Azraqi, a 9th-century historian, Prophet Muhammad did not wipe out a fresco of Jesus and his mother Mary which was painted on one of the inner walls of Kaaba, but that was later erased by the rulers of Umayyad dynasty in the year 683.

    
One of the most popular ritual of the Hajj is the circumambulation of pilgrims around the Kaaba, seven times, counter-clockwise. This ritual, called as Tawaf, is intended to mimic the circumambulation of angels around the heavenly abode of God.  All Muslims, no matter where they are in the world, offer prayers called Salah or Namaz, facing towards the Kaaba. H. Masud Taj, in his article, The Kaaba: Guarding the Centre, Generating the Circumference (2001), explains the significance of Kaaba:

“Every mosque in the world is a segment of a circle whose centre is the Kaaba... This global concentric system made up by all the mosques in the world oriented to a single centre is a geometrical analogue of Tawhid - a doctrine of the Oneness of God and the unity of all existence. Tawhid is the foundation of Islam. Hence the cube is an ordering device; it is a marker that locates the centre of the concentric system. In it, all the axes of our horizontal plane of material existence converge and connect to the vertical axis mundi.”

   There is a “Black Stone” called Hajar-al-Aswad, set into the eastern corner of Kaaba, inside a metallic casing. It is believed to have fallen from Heaven to show Adam and Eve where to build an altar for God. It is also believed to be a token of God's covenant with Prophet Abraham and his son Ismail. Pilgrims try to touch or kiss this stone during the circumambulation around the Kaaba. The composition and the nature of this stone is much debated. Most descriptions vary from it being a basalt stone, an agate, a piece of natural glass, or a meteorite material. Paul Partsch, the former curator of Austro-Hungarian Imperial Natural History Museum first published the theory of the meteorite origin of Black stone. In the year 1980, Elsebeth Thomsen of the University of Copenhagen proposed that the Black Stone could possibly be a an impactite (fused sand mixed with meteorite material) from the Wabar Crater in the Rubʿ al-Khalī desert of Saudi Arabia. Thomsen suggested that after the fall of the meteorite, a piece of impactite might have been transported to Mecca along a caravan route that may have passed close to the crater. However, to be fair, I would say there are some geologists who doubt the meteorite origin theory of the Black stone.
 

    It is important to bear in mind that Muslims neither worship the Kaaba nor the black stone because the worship of idols, images, stones, or any kind of physical representation of God is strictly prohibited in Islam.

Our arrival at Mecca:

    The bus carrying the pilgrims from Medina to Mecca passed through the middle of a desert. Heat and thirst were the main concerns for us. The bus halted at a place, which generally speaking is called a Miqat. It is a place from where the pilgrims enter into a state of Ihram. Ihram is a word which has two meanings, one is the spiritual state of a pilgrim, and secondly it is the name of a pair of seamless white sheets of cloth, specifically for male pilgrims. I wore the Ihram, and performed the obligatory prayers to make up my mind for Umrah or 'the lesser pilgrimage'. Since, it was almost a month before the actual Hajj would begin so we thought of performing the Umrah which can be performed at anytime of the year. We are supposed to make intention of observing some rules as long as we wear Ihram, for example, NOT to gossip, fight, curse, lie, physically harm a human being, unnecessarily kill an animal, deliberately pluck a flower or a leaf, kill insects, wear perfume, cover head (for men), cover face (for women), or to have sexual intercourse during the state of Ihram. Breach of any of these prohibitions may nullify one's Hajj or Umrah.

    From the Miqat we continued our journey to Mecca. Lunch boxes, sweets, snacks and water bottles were provided to us by the government officials and/or volunteers, on a regular basis. We were dropped at the apartments reserved for pilgrims. There we received color-coded ID cards, badges and bracelets bearing a unique identification number for each pilgrim. We checked into our apartment to rest after a tiresome journey. We shared our flat with a Shia Muslim family, from Jaunpur, a city in Uttar Pradesh. I will always remember them throughout my life. With them we developed a special bond of friendship and care. The kind lady treated me like her own son. Most of you might think that why I mentioned the word 'Shia' Muslim. That is because I belong to a family of 'Sunni' Muslims, so it was a good opportunity for us to understand them and for them to understand us in a better way. After all, one of the primary  objectives of Hajj is to re-energize the spirit of unity among the followers of Prophet Muhammad. We used to have a lot of interesting religious and political discussions with them. 

    Me, my mom and my aunt, performed the Umrah or 'lesser pilgrimage' at the Grand Mosque of Mecca. It includes the seven circumambulations of the Kaaba, a short prayer, the back and forth movement from Mount Safa to Mount Marwah seven times bare foot, and then finally shaving off of the head for male pilgrims and cutting some hairs of female pilgrims. 

    There is a nice library inside the Masjid al-Haram too. It has a good collection of books on subjects like history, theology, religious jurisprudence, science and technology, available in multiple languages. It has some rare manuscripts of the Qur'an too. I used to visit this library a lot. It was a very soothing experience to sit in silence and read books, sometimes just to escape the heavy crowd of pilgrims.

The tragedy unfolds...

    It was a Friday, I remember, I had gone to the Grand Mosque , to pray the Friday Salah (or Jummah Namaz). After the prayer, I decided not to stay there and I returned back. In the afternoon as I was resting in my hotel when I heard the sound of winds and thunder. That was weird. It was an unexpected shift in the weather. Some said it was a sand storm. Whatever it was, it didn't last too long but it's intensity seemed terrifying. When everything started to calm down, I dozed off to sleep which was broken by an impatient knock on the door.

“Did you hear about what happened at the Haram?", the man standing at door asked me. I knew him. He was a fellow pilgrim often used to come to our room for small talks but today he seemed to be in a state of shock. I had no answer to his question. But very soon everybody knew what had happened. It was one of the biggest tragedies to have ever happened in Mecca during Hajj. The storm had caused one of the construction cranes surrounding the Sanctorum to collapse, leading to the death of more than a 100 pilgrims and leaving behind many injured.

Panic stated to spread like wildfire. Our relatives and friends were calling us from India, but there was no news of the family with whom we shared our flat. I made several calls to enquire about them, but there was no news of them. After a long time, they came back to our flat. Thanks to God, it was a relief to see them safe. They narrated to us the horror that they witnessed at The Haram.

Time stops for none

    It was 8th of Dhul Hijjah, the twelfth month of Islamic calendar. The time had come to make a move for the actual Hajj rites. We were transported to the valley of Mina, approximately 8 km to the east of Mecca, in buses. We had to stay there for the next five days. Mina is a huge place, and has more than 100,000 air-conditioned tents to provide temporary accommodation to almost 3 million people. Each of the tents are color-coded and numbered according to country, and all the pilgrims are urged to wear badges with their color and number on it. We were provided with a map of the Mina valley to find our way back to the tent, in case we get lost. It is not a very comfortable place to stay but then who said Hajj is about comfort?

“Arafat is Hajj”

The most awaited of Day of the Arafat, finally arrived.

Arafat is a vast desert plain approximately 20 km southeast of Mecca. Hajjis have to stay there for one full day till sunset. This is the most important day of all. Even if a pilgrim misses all other rituals but he stays in the plain of Arafat, on this day, during the stipulated time, then his Hajj will be considered valid. Prophet Muhammad said, “Arafat is Hajj”.  It is said that this is the place and time wherein all the doors of God's Mercy are opened for all pilgrims. He forgives sins and bestows His grace upon anyone who asks Him sincerely.

This is the day, when you can see millions of people gathered at one place, eyes filled with tears. men and women, rich and poor, young and old, all sitting on the ground under the sun, praying to one God. There is no discrimination of any kind whatsoever. Even the small theological and sectarian differences among Muslims seem to have no significance on that day. All brothers and sisters are united together.

Some say that if there is any place and time on earth which bears resemblance to the final Day of Judgement then it is the Day of Arafat. In this place, is a mountain called Jabal-al Rahmah where  Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon. On that day he said,

"No Arab is superior to a non-Arab. No black man is superior to a white man and no white man is superior to a black, except through piety. The most noble among you is the one who is deeply conscious of God."

    After sunset, we all moved from that place. Slowly and patiently we walked to the metro station to take a train to a place called Muzdalifa. We had to spend the night there. What a night it was! So many pilgrims, in not as much a big place. It was one of the most difficult nights we spent. Sleeping on the ground with so many others around us cramped together. I remember how some people trampled upon us while we were sleeping. One of the tests which a pilgrim has to face during Hajj is the test of patience. My mom and my aunt had to go through a lot of trouble in Muzdalifa, but they never gave up their patience, and that is truly remarkable. 

“Stoning of the Devil”

    In the morning, we went back to our tents in Mina. From there we had to go to a place called Jamarah, to perform the most well known yet most misunderstood practice of "Stoning of the Devil". Metro trains connected the Mina to the Jamarah. We were planning to make a move when we heard the news of another tragic incident. The most feared incident. The stampede.

Around 200 people lost their lives in such a sad incident which could have been avoided if people had been more patient. But Alas! As it is said, it's God's will. Just about an hour after this incident, me and my mom went to Jamarah to perform the "Stoning". Army was deployed to control the crowd and we could hear the military choppers hovering above us.  To provide relief to pilgrims from scorching heat, the police officers and other volunteers were sprikling cold water on the crowd at reguler intervals.

Seven pebbles to be thrown at each of the three pillars (now walls), so a total of 21 pebbles to be pelted while reciting:

“Allah hu akbar!” God is the greatest.

It is a symbolic re-enactment of Prophet Abraham's stoning of the Devil, thrice, each time warding off the temptation to disobey God.

The Sacrifice

After the stoning, pilgrims sacrifice sheeps, goats or lamb, to celebrate Eid Al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, popular in India by the name of Bakri Eid, to commemorate the story of Prophet Abraham's test of faith when he was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Ismail. The meat from the sacrifice of animals is distributed among the poor and the needy.

The Tawaf of the Kaaba

The Sanctum Sanctorum of the Mecca, swells with the crowd of pilgrims coming to circumambulate the Kaaba. All pilgrims move towards the Kaaba, reciting the energizing and electrifying phrase, Labaik Allahummah! Labaik!, “Here I am, O God, (responding to your call) Here I am!”.  I could see the children and the old, healthy and the crippled, all making efforts to circumambulate this holy shrine. I saw women holding babies in the arms, elderly men on wheel chairs, young couples holding hands all filled with zeal and spiritual fervour. I remember how my aunt, despite her age, gathered all the courage and strength she could possibly gather to perform this strenuous act. It was a strange site.

    After completion of the seven circuits around the Kaaba, we drank the Zamzam water by standing behind the Maqaam Ibrahim 'Station of Abraham'. This water is from the well of Zamzam, located within the Masjid al-Haram about 20 m eastwards of the Kaaba. In the words of Kristiane Becker from her book, From Mtv to Mecca, “it tastes slightly sweet and its consistency is thicker than normal water.” It is believed that this water has intrinsic properties to heal the diseases of the body and the soul.

Al-Safa and Al-Marwah: In remembrance of the Mother of Ismail

    As an integral part of Hajj rituals, we had to perform the back and forth movement between the hills of Safa and Marwah in Mecca. It is a symbolic reminder of the search for water by Lady Hajara for her thirsty son Ismail. Ismail was the son of Hajara and Prophet Abraham, among whose descendants was Prophet Muhammad himself.

Cave of Hira and the story of the “First Revelation”

    Although it is not a part of Hajj rituals, yet we took time out to embark on a trip to the famous Cave of Hira, about three miles north-east of Mecca on the Jabal al-Noor, the Mountain of Light. The Prophet often used to go there to engage in deep meditation and it was there that he is received his first revelation from God. This one event is so important in Islamic history, that I thought I would include a short description of it for those who are interested. Dr. Reza Aslan, in his book No god but God, describes this mystical incident in the life of Prophet Muhammad, as follows,

One night in 610 C.E., as he was meditating on Mt. Hira

during one of his religious retreats, Muhammad had an encounter

that would change the world.

He sat alone in a cave, deep in meditation. Suddenly an invisible

presence crushed him in its embrace. He struggled to break free but

could not move. He was overwhelmed by darkness. The pressure in

his chest increased until he could no longer breathe. He felt he was

dying. As he surrendered his final breath, light and a terrifying voice

washed over him "like the break of dawn."

"Recite!" the voice commanded.

"What shall I recite?" Muhammad gasped.

The invisible presence tightened its embrace. "Recite!"

"What shall I recite?" Muhammad asked again, his chest caving in.

Once more the presence tightened its grip and once more the

voice repeated its command. Finally, at the moment when he thought

he could bear no more, the pressure in his chest stopped, and in the

silence that engulfed the cave, Muhammad felt these words stamped

upon his heart:

“Recite in the name of your Lord who created,

Created humanity from a clot of blood.

Recite, for your Lord is the Most Generous One

Who has taught by the pen;

Taught humanity that which it did not know.” (Qura'n 96: 1-5)

This was Muhammad's burning bush: the moment in which he

ceased being a Meccan businessman concerned with society's ills, and
became what in the Abrahamic tradition is called Prophet.

The philosophy of Hajj 

“Hajj is the anti-thesis of aimlessness.”

- Dr. Ali Shariati

    Before you leave for Hajj, it is advisable to settle all affairs, clears all debts, seek forgiveness from your near and dear ones and try to undo whatever harm you may have caused to someone in your life. It is as if you may never return back, or you may never be the same again.

    Hajj, externally is the journey to the Holy land, but internally it is a journey into one's own heart. It is the time to reflect upon one's own soul and to think about higher metaphysical matters. To those pilgrims who sincerely intend to seek truth, can understand during their Hajj that there is something much more profound and much more sublime to our lives than mere aimless material existence.  Hajj teaches us to think beyond just the basal struggle for food, clothing and shelter. A sincere Hajj would reveal to the pilgrims what the famous German theologian Rudolf Otto referred to by the Latin phrase Mysterium tremendum et fascinans— the mysterious tendency of the Divine, also called as "numinous", to invoke both fear and fascination, or both repulsion and attraction in a human being. I admit that I did not perform the hajj with a conviction necessary to have such an esoteric experience, but I believe there are a few pilgrims who do have some life-changing experiences.

    Hajj is a reminder that all people are equal before God. The two plain sheets of white cloth (Ihram) worn by all men, King or beggar, Prime Minister or peasant, CEO or sweeper, all look the same in this simple attire. Hajj annihilates all false divisions such as class, caste, region, nationality, skin color, race, etc. and it is this unifying spirit of universal brotherhood that Malcolm X referred to when he wrote about his own Hajj,

“I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together.”

    The whole point of Hajj, in my opinion, is not to concentrate too much on rituals, but to try to grasp the subtle messages hidden in those rituals. It is this thought which the great Islamic scholar and poet Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi aptly presents in the form of his poetry,

"God enjoined the ritual
of circling the Kaaba
as a way for you to find a heart.
But if your feet walk
around the Kaaba a thousand times,
and yet you injure a heart,
do you expect to be accepted?"