PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

with people from all over the world, clad in identical, simple, white garments, chanting, “Lord, I am present; Lord, I am present.” This serves to impress upon the mind of the pilgrim how great a gathering there will be in the presence of God on the Day of Reckoning. Once he becomes aware of its true significance, all his problems fall into their true perspective, and his life cannot but take a turn for the better. Another practice during hajj is the casting of stone at Jamrat-e-Uqba. This is a symbolic act through which the pilgrim renews his determination to drive Satan away from him. In this way, he makes it plain that his relationship with Satan is one of enmity and resistance. The next step for the pilgrim is to turn his symbolic acts into reality, so that he may be purged of all evils, for all the evils besetting man result from the instigation of Satan. After this, the pilgrim sacrifices an animal to God, an act symbolizing the sacrifice of the self (This is referred to in the Quran as sha’airullah: signs of God). His faith is such that even if it comes to any kind of sacrifice he will not hesitate to do so in the service of God. o The day of Arafath serves to impress upon the mind of the pilgrim how great a gathering there will be in the presence of God on the Day of Reckoning. To believe in God is to see the invisible force behind visible objects.