FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Dr. Farida Khanam has been a professor at the Department of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. A Study of World's Major Religions, A Simple Guide to Sufism are two of the books amongst many others, of which she is the author. She has also translated many books on Islam authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently, the chairperson of Centre for Peace and Spirituality (CPS International), an organization founded by her father Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, she is a regular contributor of articles to journals, newspapers and magazines. Dr. Khanam has edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his Urdu commentary of the Quran into English. Under Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Peace Foundation, along with the CPS team, she has designed a series of courses on peace-building, countering extremism and conflict resolution. HAJJ—THE PILGRIMAGE H AJJ or pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Prophet observed: “There are five basic pillars of Islam. To bear testimony that there is no deity save Allah, and that Muhammad is His Prophet; to say prayers regularly and pay the poor due, to make a pilgrimage to the house of God, and fast during the month of Ramazan. The root meaning of the word “Hajj” is ‘to set out’ or to make a pilgrimage. Canonically it has come to refer to a Muslim act of worship, performed annually in the month of Zul Hijjah, the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. To perform Hajj is incumbent at least once in a lifetime, upon every Muslim, who is an adult, free, in good health and has sufficient money for the expenses of the journey. Women have to be accompanied by a close relative like husband, father, son or brother. Among all Muslim acts of worship, Hajj holds a prominent position. In one Hadith, the Prophet called it “the supreme act of worship”. But it is not just the rites of pilgrimage that constitute this importance, it is the spirit in which Hajj is performed. Let us put this another way and say that it is not merely a matter of going to Makkah and returning. There is much more to Hajj than that. Hajj has been prescribed so that it may inspire us with a new religious fervour. To return from Hajj with one’s faith in God strengthened and rekindled—that is the hallmark of a true pilgrim. Hajj assumes a supreme act of worship when it is undertaken