SURAH ANBIYA OPENS with an unexpected urgency and force. Something momentous is drawing near, yet people are acting as though nothing is happening. ٱقْتَرَبَ لِلنَّاسِ حِسَابُهُمْ وَهُمْ فِى غَفْلَةٍۢ مُّعْرِضُونَ (The time of) people’s account has drawn near, yet they are heedlessly turning away. (al Anbiya 1) It is a wake-up call. It confronts a common … Continue reading Inside Ghaflah
ALLAH SAYS IN Surah Ta Ha: وَأَضَلَّ فِرْعَوْنُ قَوْمَهُۥ وَمَا هَدَىٰ And Pharaoh led his people astray and did not guide. (Ta Ha 79) This is amongst one of the shortest verses in the story of Pharaoh, yet it contains one of the most profound lessons about leadership in the entire Qur’an. Consider everything that … Continue reading The Qur’anic Measure of Leadership
SURAH ṬA HA opens with a striking reassurance: مَآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِتَشْقَىٰٓ “We did not send down the Qur’an to you to cause you distress.” (Ṭā Hā 2) The word translated as “distress” is shaqāʾ (شقاء). The root (ش ق و) conveys a sense of wretchedness, suffering, distress, and the absence of blessing. The … Continue reading Seeing Revelation Through the Wrong Lens
WHEN I WROTE the introduction to the Remembering Hajj series just over ten days ago, I framed it as a murāqabah, a watchful, honest revisit. I wanted to reflect on my own story, hold it up to the light, and ask the uncomfortable question: have I lived up to any of it? Thirteen posts later, I am not … Continue reading Eid ul Adha Mubarak, 1447AH
AFTER THE STONING of the jamarat comes the sacrifice. A thought came to me that comes every year. Ibrahim (as) was asked to sacrifice his son. Not in a moment of impulse, but through a recurring dream, and the dreams of the prophets are revelation. He knew what he was being asked. He had to … Continue reading Sacrifice
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
