AFTER THE QUIET of Muzdalifah, after sleeping on the earth beneath the open sky, the pilgrim rises in darkness and begins to move again. This is Yawm al-Nahr, the 10th of Dhul Hijjah. For those who have not made the journey, this is Eid, a day of celebration and feasting. For the hujjaj, it is … Continue reading Stoning the Jamarat
WE LEFT ARAFAH at maghrib in silence. It isn’t far from Arafah to Muzdalifah. In normal circumstances it is only 10 minutes by taxi or bus. But when you have two million people moving all at the same time, buses and taxis very quickly come to a gridlock that takes hours. For the more fortunate … Continue reading Muzdalifah
THERE ARE MOMENTS in Hajj when words stop feeling like speech and start feeling like atmosphere. The takbir was like that. اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ لَا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ وَاَللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ وَلِلَّهِ الْحَمْد Allah is Greater, Allah is Greater. There is no deity but Allah. Allah is Greater, Allah is Greater, and all … Continue reading Takbirat
I STOOD WITH my hands open to the sky and said the truest thing I have ever said in my life. Allah, I need You. This was Arafah. The ninth of Dhul Hijjah. And for months, this is what I and the two million other pilgrims standing on that plain had been waiting and preparing … Continue reading Allah, I Need You
EVERY JOURNEY OF Hajj begins at Mina. At first glance, Mina appears temporary and functional, endless rows of white tents spread across a valley outside Makkah. But Mina is not merely a staging post before Arafah. It is, in the deepest sense, where the pilgrim begins to shed illusion. This is fitting. Mina is where … Continue reading A Place Where Illusions Fall Away
AFTER TAWAF YOU leave the Ka’bah and walk up towards Safa. Hajar once stood here too. Not in a marble clad corridor, but in an empty valley with her infant son. Ibrahim (as) had left them there by Allah’s command. Limited food and water. No shelter. No people. When she understood that this came from … Continue reading Sa’i
NOTHING QUITE PREPARES you for tawaf. You have seen images. You think you know what to expect. Then you arrive at the mataf and see it, a vast human sea, swirling endlessly around the Ka’bah, and whatever you thought you knew just disappears. Whether on the mataf immediately around the Ka’bah or on the upper floors, you find yourself sometimes … Continue reading The Centre That Does Not Move
THERE ARE CERTAIN images every Muslim grows up with. For many of us, the most powerful of all is the sight of the Ka’bah. Long before we ever travel to Makkah, we already know it intimately. We see it in our homes, in masajid, in taraweeh broadcast from Makkah during Ramadhan, in Hajj documentaries, on … Continue reading The House That Lives in the Heart
THE BUS FROM Jeddah to Makkah was packed with pilgrims from a dozen countries, dressed in the same two white cloths. On my second Hajj, I was handed the microphone to lead the talbiyah for the journey into Makkah. One voice began it, others joined, and within moments the bus was one sound. It didn’t matter which … Continue reading Labbayk
THERE IS A moment I will never forget. Standing in the departures hall at London Heathrow, surrounded by the particular chaos of a busy international terminal: trolleys, announcements, the smell of coffee and duty free. And yet something was happening that had nothing to do with any of it. Around me, hundreds of fellow pilgrims … Continue reading Two White Cloths
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