ASK MAULANA

ASK MAULANA Your Questions Answered What is the significance and message of Hajj? Man should turn towards God, making God the central focus of his life, this is the significance and message of the pilgrimage. Although hajj lasts for just a few days, the lessons it provides have a much broader significance. Hajj is a comprehensive guide for the entirety of one’s life. When we take leave of our homes and families and set off for hajj, we feel that we are journeying towards God. It is as if we have left our world and are entering the world of God. We feel we are heading towards the House of God, to the abode and place of action of God’s Prophet and his Companions—to the historically significant places of people who had devoted their entire lives for the sake of God, and who gave their lives in God’s path. With this, the pilgrim also realizes the fact that he is setting off for that place which God specially chose to reveal his final guidance to humankind. In this manner, hajj leads the pilgrim towards becoming a God-oriented person. He recalls and remembers God. His mind is filled with thoughts of God. If earlier he used to think principally about himself, now he thinks mainly of God. What is the meaning and importance of the words which a pilgrim utters repeatedly during the journey? During the journey, the pilgrim calls out the following words: God is the Greatest! God is the Greatest! There is none worthy of worship other than Him! And God is the Greatest! God is the Greatest! And all praise is for Him! Repeating these words constantly, a consciousness develops in a hajj pilgrim that all greatness is for God alone. In comparison to God, everything else pales into insignificance. This is the real secret of social consciousness. You cannot have unity and harmonious collective living where every person thinks that they are greater than the others. On the other hand, when everyone surrenders their sense of individual greatness, they will find unity and harmony. Disunity is a result of the dispersal of greatness and unity is a result of the acknowledgement of a single greatness. People can live harmoniously together only when everyone surrenders their sense of greatness before a single being.