Bidding farewell to soon-to-be Hujaaj, insha Allah, it seems apt to reminisce how the Hajj journey of previous eras didn’t only encapsulate spiritual dimensions, but held enormous, political, social and economic aspects too. In the past, Hujjaj brought back not only bags of taqwa and forgiveness from the Hajj journey, but new ways of interacting, learning and living which changed their lives and the lives of their communities for the better. It would be negligent on our parts to ignore these integrative dimensions along the journey to Hajj and on the Hajj. In part, because the Prophet (ASwS)’s last sermon at the Hajj hinged on this too.
O mankind, who were created from a man and woman, divided into castes and tribes to identify each other; you are equal, but he is more respectable who fears Allah. All Muslims are a single brotherhood.
Mansa Musa (I)
One example was of Mansa Musa.
When we think of the world’s all-time richest people, names like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet may come to mind. Few would have thought, or even heard of, Mansa Musa I of Mali – the obscure 14th century African king who in 2012 was named the richest person in all history.
With an inflation-adjusted fortune of $400 billion, Mansa Musa (I) would have been considerably richer than the world’s current richest man, Carlos Slim, who ranks in 22nd place with a relatively paltry $68 billion.
While his Hajj may have been solely intended as an expression of religious devotion, Musa’s hajj and the wealth he displayed had far-reaching effects. He brought back four sharifs (descendants of the Prophet (saw) family) to live in Mali. He also established lasting relationships with other rulers whom he had encountered during his hajj.
On his return, Mansa Musa laid foundations for Walata, Djenne, and Timbuktu to become the cultural and commercial centers of the Western Sudan, eclipsing those of North Africa and producing Arabic-language literature in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Diplomatic relations were established and ambassadors were exchanged between Mali and Morocco, and Malinke students were sent to study in Morocco. Timbuktu rose to become not only an important city in the trans-Saharan trade route but also the centre of Islamic scholarship. Timbuktu became a meeting-place of the finest Quranic theologians, poets, scholars, and artists of Africa and the Muslim world. Many of the teachers at these schools were said to be paid from the king's own personal treasury.
Ibn Batuta (1304-1377), the great world traveler, visited the region in 1354. Ibn Batuta met the ruler of the state, stayed with jurists and common folk. According to him the Africans were punctual in their observance of salah; were extremely fastidious in observing rules of cleanliness and competed with each other in the giving of zakat. Memorising, learning and recitation of the Qur’an were honoured and encouraged. Poetry and culture flourished. Women enjoyed dignified freedom unequaled in the Islamic world at that time. Mansa Musa died in 1337 after a reign of twenty-five years. [Source]
In Egypt
Mansa Musa had to face his own test of humility because it was required, when greeting the sultan, to kiss the ground. This was an act that Mansa Musa could not bring himself to perform. Ibn Fadl Allah Al-Omari, who spent time with Musa in Egypt, reports that Musa had made many excuses before he could be persuaded to enter the sultan’s court. At the end, he made a compromise by announcing that if he had to prostrate on entering the court, it would be before Allah only, and this he did.
Ibn Battuta recorded that in Mansa Musa’s court, the Shari`ah was rather informally practiced in matters of marriage. He records that Ibn Amir Hajib, a member of the Mamluk court, noted how Mansa Musa strictly observed prayer and knew the Qur’an, but had maintained “the custom that if one of his subjects had a beautiful daughter, he brought her to the king’s bed without marriage.” Ibn Amir Hajib informed Mansa Musa that this was not permitted under Islamic law, to which Mansa Musa replied, “Not even to kings?” Ibn Amir Hajib said, “Not even to kings.” Henceforth Mansa Musa refrained from the practice. [Source]
In Gujerat
The Hajj had a huge impact on the development of safe passage by land and of regular seaborne passenger traffic in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.
This is reflective in India, where after filling the 1.19 lakh available seats this year, the Haj Committee of India (HCOI) was left with 1.79 lakh excess applications. The highest — 36,171 excess applications — are from Muslims hailing from Gujarat.
Surat, the second largest city in Gujarat, is located on the bank of the River Tapti and was a major port in the 17th and 18th century. Surat was the first European settlement in India. It was also host to the Dutch and the Portuguese. At the beginning of the 17th century, the East India Company established its warehousing facility there.
Surat was also used as the main port for Muslim pilgrims to travel to Mecca for Hajj. Both the Makkai Pul and the Mughal Sarai guesthouse for hajjis (pilgrims) are still indicators of this historical significance.
Today, the city is one of the most prosperous cities in India. It has a flourishing diamond industry and a major chunk of the world's diamonds are cut and polished here. Local newspapers, while analysing the number of Indian applicants from Gujrat say that with the average expense for an adult's Haj pilgrimage coming to around Rs 2 lakh, it reflects the prosperity of Gujarat Muslims.
In 2012, India's Supreme Court barred the government from giving subsidies to Muslim pilgrims going on the Hajj. The court said the policy was "best done away with" and told the authorities to gradually reduce the subsidy and abolish it in 10 years. The court also said that the government's "goodwill delegation" to Mecca must not exceed two members. It currently has 30 people. India provides billions of rupees every year to people going on the Hajj. Pilgrims apply through the Hajj Committee of India and are offered a concessionary fare on the national airline, Air India. Every year, about 125,000 pilgrims take the subsidy.
Conclusion
“Hajj is a spiritual journey of each and every pilgrim that merges into the journey of the masses. It is the coming together of every nation that makes hajj so special. It is personal yet collective. Hajj is about an individual and collective renewal of the faith. The cost of hajj has trebled over the last five years, making the pilgrimage unaffordable for ordinary people. The new high-rise five-star hotels surrounding the Ka'bah are available to those who can afford them. The essence of hajj lies in creating equality between all people by putting on two unstitched white pieces of cloth. This instantly eliminates social and economic inequality. The current trend is making equality a distant dream. I came to hajj to give up material pursuits but materialism is here in full force. There is no spirituality in this.” Ajmal Masroor
It seems now more than ever those fortunate enough to go on the journey of a lifetime realise they owe a collective civic responsibility to their families, communities and societies. They need to be open to benefit exhaustively from every dimension of the Hajj. This includes spending less time sleeping or shopping and more exchanging ideas and religious thought, as was the case with Mansa Musa. This means rigorously engaging fellow Muslims from around the world on all topics, having study circles and Quraan lessons, it means reviving the spirit of an Ummah without the constraints of nationalism. Widespread social and economic benefits could then follow as we see with the example of Muslims in Gujerat.
Radio Islam Programming
2013.09.13
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