The Politcisation of Hajj

[showkot]

Allah (swt) distinguished this Ummah with the noble charcteristic of ‘the last Ummah’.. He (swt) gave her a great objective, placing upon her the blessed work of the prophets. When the messenger and the sahabah established the first Islamic state in Medina, he (saw) instituted a document which defined the unity of the Ummah.

“This is a document from Muhammad the Prophet, governing the relations between the believing Muslims of Quraysh and Yathrib (Madinah), and those who followed them and joined them and fought alongside them. They are one Ummah to the exclusion of all people.”

He (saw) engendered a situation of brotherhood, and love amongst the Muslims. The Tribalism of old was replaced with the ties of Islam, this was manifested by the way the society was organised, the Muslims would pray together, they would trade and intermarry and they would fight Jihad for the sake of removing all physical obstacles to the supremacy of Islam. For once Islam became the practical reference point for the believers, all physical obstacles and superficial attributes concerning unity were demolished. Muhammad (saw) declared:

“A believer shall not slay a believer for the sake of a disbeliever, nor shall he aid a disbeliever against a believer. Allah’s covenant amongst them is one, the least of them is responsible. Believers are protectors (Awlia’a) of one to the other to the exclusion of outsiders.”

Islam therefore broke the sectarianism and nationalism, and made no distinction as to race or ethnic origin. This is far removed from our current reality where great emphasis is placed upon nationality. The Jordanians and the Iraqis are seen as distinct people in their own right, even though they neighbour each other and possess the same Islam which unified a disunited, tribalistic people. Similarly, the Pakistanis and the Afghanis are seen as different peoples with their own traditions and languages which separate them from each other. Therefore just as the Muslims of Jordan are told not to worry about the problems of Iraq, the Muslims of Pakistan are reassured that Afghani problems do not concern them, whether this be a famine or an earthquake.

Unification of Hajj

An event which occurs annually is a small snapshot of what Islam envisaged, where nationality, race, degrees of wealth or poverty count for very little, whilst draped in the Ihram, the Hajjis are a true manifestation of brotherhood. Yet when they return back to their respective countries, they are again flung into the artificiality of nationalism, the Muslim from Sudan bids farewell to the Muslim from Egypt and their respective governments’ political allegiances and squabbles, again become a daily reality for the Muslims whose want is to remove such disgusting artificial borders.

The Hajj has come to signify a measure for the Muslims, a measure of the stark contrast between the current reality we as Muslims live in, and the one which Allah (swt) obliges.

Every Muslim aims to be in a position to perform the Hajj. Whilst possessing this mentality, we must reflect upon situation of this best Ummah, when we scrutinise this, we realise that the current reality we reside and that which we are obliged to reside in are at odds with each other.

A Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saw) best illustrates the profound and stark difference between the two.

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said to Adi ibn Hatim when he came to him,

“Do you know Al-Hirah?

Adi replied: “I do not know it, but I have heard of it,”

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

“By the one in whose hand is my soul, Allah will make this matter (i.e Islam) prevail until a woman riding a camel will come from Al-Hirah (a part of modern Iraq) and perform Tawwaf around the house without needing the protection of anybody, and the treasures of Kisra the son of Hurmuz will be opened.”

Adi queried: “Kisra the Son of Hurmuz?”

The Prophet of Allah (saw) replied,

“Yes, Kisra the son of Hurmuz, and wealth will be distributed until there will be no one who will accept it.” [Ahmad]

The Messenger of Allah (saw) illustrated to Adi ibn Hatim the vision of Islam. Two characteristics will accompany the dominance of Islam,

Firstly: The one who performs the Hajj or the Umrah will find no obstacles in their path.

Secondly: This time will herald the absence of poverty.

Both of these characteristics are absent from the world, and many realities illustrate this fact.

Every year when the Muslims want to perform the Hajj, obstacles are placed in their way in some shape or form. Only last week, the Israeli authorities stopped the Muslims from Palestine from fulfilling their obligation. The Zionist troops cordoned off the Allenby bridge crossing on the Jordan river and turned back scores of pilgrims for what they termed- “security reasons”. They accused them of being vociferous in challenging the occupied Zionist entity.

Also, the Iraqi Muslims have been either stopped or strongly curtailed by the UN No-fly zone over Iraq. Any flights to Saudi Arabia from Baghdad, have in the past been turned back for flouting the UN blockade.

Even on a more basic level, the fact that Muslims have to seek permission from Saudi Arabia in order to fulfil a basic Pillar of Islam stands in huge contrast to the Hadith just quoted, which states a time whereby the dominance of Islam will be mirrored by the fact that a woman from Iraq will be able to travel freely to perform the Tawwaf around the Ka’bah unhindered.

Emulating the Hajj of the Prophet (saw)

We have already made clear that the Hajj is used for political reasons by different regimes for their own ends, all of these reasons seem to coincide with the fact that Islam is not the dominant system in the world. A similar situation occurred in the Past, where the Prophet (saw) used a situation to advance the call of Islam.

News had already reached Allah’s Messenger (saw) that the people of Khaybar and Makkah were conspiring to raid the Muslims. Muhammad (saw) designed a plan with the aim of appeasing the people of Makkah. It was hoped that this would result in them leaving the way clear for the Messenger of Allah (saw) to pursue his Da’wah within the Arabian Peninsula as well as to isolate the Jews of Khaybar from their allies, the Quraysh. To achieve this, the plan called for a peaceful visit to the Sacred House of Allah. He (saw) knew that his plan would be easy to fulfill because the Arabs would not fight during the sacred months. He (saw) also knew that the Quraysh were divided and had become fearful of the Muslims, therefore they would have to think twice before attempting any rash move against him. So he (saw) decided to go to the Sacred House as a pilgrim, if the Quraysh were to prevent him then he would use this as a powerful propaganda tool against them and this would serve to further promote the Message of Islam in the eyes of the general public.

The Messenger of Allah (saw) wanted to change the perception of certain tribes who supported the Mushrikeen. He ( saw ) sent to the tribes informing them he is going together with some Muslims to Makkah to perform ‘Umrah. He even invited them to join him in this trip. He wanted to place the Quraysh in an awkward political position. To achieve this he exuded all the trappings of pilgrimage, he (saw) and the Muslims who accompanied him donned the Ihram. When the Quraysh heard of the impending approach of the Muslims, they sent out Khalid ibn Al-waleed and Ikramah ibn Abi Jahl to stop them. When the messenger of Allah (saw) heard this, he mentioned the immortal words,

“Woe to Quraysh, war has devoured them! What harm would they have suffered if they had left me and the rest of the Arabs to go our own way? If they should kill me that is what they desire, and if Allah should provide me with victory over them they would enter Islam in flocks. If they do not do that, they will fight while they have the strength. So what are the Quraysh thinking of? By Allah, I will not cease to fight for the mission with which Allah has entrusted me until He makes it victorious or I perish.”

However, Allah’s Messenger (saw) had not come out for war and he had decided not to fight. He had instead come out to accomplish the Hajj and had only peace in mind. He (saw) thought that if he was prevented from fulfilling the Hajj, which he expected, he wanted it to be peacefully; not aggressive prevention nor a Hajj performed under hostile circumstances. The peaceful plan which Allah’s Messenger (saw) had masterminded was designed to create public opinion within Makkah and amongst the Quraysh about the glory and nobleness of the Message of Islam, and to contrast it with the misguidance, arrogance and aggression of the Quraysh. This public opinion was crucial and it had to be built if the Islamic Da’wah was to have the right grounds to prosper and spread. Public opinion was one of the most important contributory factors which would help to spread the Da’wah and enable it to emerge victorious. Allah’s Messenger (saw) was in danger of slipping in his chance to gain the public opinion on his side if he was to fight, therefore he decided not to change his original plan and to continue on in peace.

The Muslims reached the valley of Hudaibiyah which was situated below Makkah. They encamped there and the Quraysh were thrown by this sudden move and began to contemplate their next step. They decided to try to expose the intentions of the Muslims.

The Quraysh first sent Budayl ibn Warqa’ with some men of Khuza’ah to ask Allah’s Messenger (saw) what he had come for, and after a short exchange of words they were convinced that the Muslims had not come out to fight but to visit the Sacred House and venerate the sacred precincts.

The envoys returned to inform the Quraysh and persuade them of this, but the Quraysh accused them of being biased towards Muhammad (saw) and did not trust them. The Quraysh sent out another delegation and it too returned shortly with the same findings. Then the Quraysh sent to Allah’s Messenger (saw) al-Hulays, chief of al-Ahbash (Abyssinians) to negotiate. Quraysh was counting on al-Hulays to stop Muhammad (saw). They actually meant to incite him against the Muslims. The Quraysh hoped that once he had failed in his negotiations with Muhammad (saw) his hatred towards Muhammad (saw) would increase and he would become more determined to defend Makkah. However, when the Messenger of Allah (saw) heard that al-Hulays was coming he (saw) ordered the sacrificial animals to be let loose to meet him so as to demonstrate to him and make him realize that what the Muslims intended was Hajj and not war.

Al-Hulays saw the animals going past him from the side of the valley and people about to perform ‘Umrah, through observing their camp site engulfed in an atmosphere of worship, and that they did not appear to be equipped for fighting, he came to be greatly impressed. He was certain that these people really had come to worship and not to fight and so he went back to the Quraysh even before meeting Allah’s Messenger (saw) and he informed them of what he had seen. He demanded that the Quraysh allow the Muslims to perform the Hajj, and became furious threatening to withdraw his troops if the Quraysh attempted to come between Muhammad (saw) and the Ka’bah. The Quraysh, however, managed to calm him by changing their tone to a conciliatory one, and they asked him for extra time in the hope of obtaining more acceptable terms. He agreed so and the Quraysh then sent ‘Urwa ibn Mas’ud al-Thaqafi after reassuring Thaqafi that they trusted his judgment. He went to Allah’s Messenger (saw) and tried in vain to convince him to go back.

Eventually, he had to concede that the Messenger of Allah (saw) was in the right. So he returned to the Quraysh and said to them, “O people of Quraysh! I have been to Chosroes in his kingdom, Caesar in his kingdom, and the Negus in his kingdom, but never have I seen a king among a people like Muhammad among his Sahabah; whenever he performed his ablutions they performed ablutions the same way he did. If a hair of his head fell they ran to pick it up. They will never abandon him for any reason, so make up your mind.”

The Messenger of Allah (saw) then sent Uthman ibn Affan to discuss with the Quraysh who had lost the propaganda war, after which a rumour was spread that Uthman had been murdered by the Quraysh. Due to this the Messenger took a pledge from the Muslims to fight the Quraysh for their apparent transgression, this sent a political message to the Quraysh who did not want to fight the Muslims. It is interesting to note that the Messenger of Allah (saw) never took a pledge to fight from the Muslims; rather it was designed as a political manoeuvre to fulfil the objectives of the Muslims. After this the Muslims signed a peace agreement with the Quraysh.

From being stopped from performing the Hajj, the Messenger of Allah (saw) used the situation to achieve very calculated political objectives. Not only had he foiled a potentially disastrous alliance between the Jews of Khaybar and the Quraysh, he had also won over certain tribes who had previously been antagonistic towards the Da’wah. This series of astute political moves laid the ground for the dominance of Islam over the whole of the Arabian Peninsula and within a relatively short space of time.

Conclusion

This discussion highlights the fact that the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saw) in relation to leadership is the use of the political situation to aid the spread of Islam. The current Muslim countries which are led by rulers devoid of political thinking and who lead nations which are visionless, is a stark reminder of the way in which the dominance of Islam can be achieved. Whenever a Muslim country is boycotted or is attacked, the reactions to these situations follow the line of asking for aid from Western food agencies or merely staying silent to the situation. Rather the future Khilafah whose reason for existence is to apply Islam and spread its message to the world, will be one which uses such things as turning away peaceful pilgrims from performing the Hajj, or the unprovoked bombing of towns, or the unjust sanctions to the advantage of the Muslims. She will use these situations to create a public opinion against the Western Nations, highlighting, like the Messenger of Allah (saw) did with the Quraysh, the injustice of the Kuffar as compared to the liberation Islam promises mankind.

“Verily, those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (people) from the path of Allah, and so will they continue to spend it; but in the end it will become an anguish for them and at length they will be overcome.” [TMQ Al-Anfal, 8:36]

Yusuf Patel
ME & Asia Correspondent
28 February 2001 - 04 Zilhaj 1421

Source: K Journal