What is the function of Hajj?
The purpose of Hajj that I alluded to briefly is in fact that a person has to get a new life, that they’re starting a fresh. that they’ve accumulated the dirt of sins and sadness and grievance in their life. And now Allah has given them an opportunity to face him like they will on Judgment Day, but ahead of it to prepare themselves from judgment, a new a new life all over again.
So when we go for Hajj, the idea that I no longer carry any of the recognition. that I had before I left nothing, you know, like Allah describes on judgment day
وَكُلُّهُمْ آتِيهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَرْدًا
And each of them will return to Him on the Day of Judgment all alone.
(Surah Maryam:95)
everyone will come before Allah on that day as an individual.
Hajj is one of the biggest, if not the biggest gathering you’ll ever be a part of, and you’ll never feel more alone than at Hajj.
You’ll feel like you’re the only one there. It’s just you and Allah and just people pushing you’re on it. And the fact that people are pushing you around and you’re not getting your personal space and you’re not being treated like a VIP that you’re normally used to being treated and all of that is actually a training that you are meaningless now you’re worthless.
You’re before Allah you have no pride left
فَلَا رَفَثَ وَلَا فُسُوقَ وَلَا جِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ
Let there be no obscenity, nor wickedness, nor wrangling in the Hajj
(Surah Al-Baqarah:197)
there’s a reason for that. There’s no arguing in Hajj, there is no “Hey, you can’t do that to me.” There’s none of that.
Because you have no self respect left. You’ve completely given yourself for Allah. being tossed and thrown around. That’s literally what you go there for.
You don’t go there to be treated well, you go there to in that barren place for a reason. Notice the place Allah chose for Hajj, Notice this land.
How barren and hot and uncomfortable it is. How unworldly it is. There’s nothing there’s no reason to go there. That can be worldly. You know, there’s it’s just entirely a spiritual place to be actually in a worldly sense. It’s a very uncomfortable place. Had it not been for the kava (كعبة), I can guarantee you mecca was not a hot like vacation destination.
It’s not going to compete with California or Hawaii or Malaysia or something else. It’s not going to there’s no reason somebody’s going to go into burnt rock. You know, they’re not going to go there.
But we go there before Allah azza wa jal and literally it’s almost describes the barren nature of what judgment is going to look like.
You know, because Allah azza wa jal will describe that he’s going to make everything into flat it’s going to be there’s not gonna be any life left. And it’s going to be, you know, this barren nature to judgment day. That’s what we’re preparing ourselves for.
Now, these 10 nights of training, and these days that go by, and that night that quiz quickly passes by, Allah says to those people who carry this remarkable tradition, the custodians of this remarkable tradition, he says to them
هَلْ فِي ذَٰلِكَ قَسَمٌ لِّذِي حِجْرٍ
Is all this ˹not˺ a sufficient oath for those who have sense?
(Surah Al-Fajr:5)
in that is there enough of a Is there enough of a remarkable oath and all of that for those that possess the great solid mines.
حِجِر actually originally comes from حَجَر, which is yet another literary reason, I’m compelled to think this is referring to the Hajj, because حجر shares their origin in Arabic with the word حَجَر and حَجَر goes back to الحجر الأسود also.
But anyway حجر in Arabic is one of the words for the intellect. Barrier actually means
حجرة الأرض واحتجرتها إذا ضربت عليها منار تمنعها به من غيرك
it actually means to create a barrier keeping people from passing through.
like somebody puts a gate or a tower or something, and you can’t get through. This is the word you one of the Arabic words used for the intellect and you’ll notice the intellect in the Arabic language. Many of its words have to do with restraint or stopping. So you have
كُلُوا وَارْعَوْا أَنْعَامَكُمْ ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّأُولِي النُّهَىٰ
˹so˺ eat and graze your cattle. Surely in this are signs for people of sound judgment.
(Surah Ta-ha:54)
إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّأُولِي النُّهَىٰ
people of prevention. Prevention literally means to stop and that’s the word for intellect. عقلmeans to tie something up عقال to tie something up. Again, prevention, restraint. حجر is a barrier. Why is the intellect called a حجر?
It’s called a حجر because your emotions and your temper and your greed and your lust and your desire has no limits.
It just wants to do what it wants to do. And your brain, your mind, if you possess حجر will stop it and control it.
And you’re going to restrain yourself. That is the exercise of Hajj. We all have greed, we have lust, we have temptation, we have these things inside of us that are animal desires. That are uncontrolled, unchecked, wild stallions that are out of control inside of us. We go to Hajj to put all of those in check. To to put a restraint on all of them.
