This page discusses the social meaning of the Hajj pilgrimage, that the title of pilgrim should encourage concern for others, not merely status or personal pride.
For Muslims, performing the Hajj pilgrimage is a special blessing, a precious gift, and a source of personal pride. Setting out to the holy land is like going to meet someone long yearned for. Deep longing accompanied by burning faith makes light the steps of a Muslim toward the pleasure of Allah, the Merciful.
How could it be otherwise? Hajj is an obligation with the following connotations:
1. Answering the Divine Call. Performing any religious teaching, in whatever form, is the reality of answering Allah's call. However, Hajj has a special connotation with this call. For this reason, when a person begins with the intention to worship (ihram), he is required to pronounce "Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik" (Here I am in answer to Your call, O Allah). 2. Hajj is the fifth (final) pillar of Islam. Thus by performing it, one can interpret it as fulfilling the entirety of Islamic teaching. In other words, performing Hajj also means a Muslim perfects his Islam. 3. The root word of Hajj can also yield another meaning besides "hajjun or hijjun" meaning Hajj. That meaning is "hujjatun" meaning "sign, proof, reason." Thus Hajj can be a sign of the perfection of Islam, proof of one's Islamicity, and reason for a Muslim's safety in this world and the hereafter. 4. From a material perspective, the Hajj performer also has the connotation of "capability," which is generally interpreted as material capability. Thus one who performs Hajj can be understood to belong to the group of those who are affluent (the haves). 5. With the status of a pilgrim, one will be increasingly motivated to study, appreciate, and practice Allah's teachings, for it would be odd if someone with the title of pilgrim had increasingly confused Islam. Regular prayers are neglected, zakat is ignored, conduct toward others deviates from Islamic norms, etc.
These five matters, among others, are what give a person pride in the status of pilgrim they possess. For indeed it is natural that nowadays performing Hajj is so trendy and tends to be taken as a measure of piety, besides being a social prestige for its possessor. It is unfortunate if then the "pilgrim" status becomes a "taqiyyah" or shield protecting the performer from various deviations and sins. In other words, sometimes a person feels safer committing evil, only because they hide behind the status of pilgrim they possess.
The Qur'an explicitly mentions that performing the Hajj pilgrimage can result in two kinds of pride: worldly only, which is futile as the performer gains no benefit in the Hereafter, or both worldly and otherworldly, and the performer will be protected from the blazing fire of Hell (see Surah al-Baqarah 200-201, and verses before and after which all relate to Hajj matters). In other words, it is not wrong if a person performs Hajj both to seek its otherworldly value and simultaneously to seek its worldly value. This is described by Allah: "There is no blame upon you for seeking bounty from your Lord." (The verse). What is indeed wrong is if Hajj is made a justification for deviating behavior. Social Hajj
The term social Hajj is not actually something new in discussions of worship in Islam. Because in essence, all ritual worship in Islamic religion has social consequences, whether direct or indirect. Even more forcefully, it seems as though ritual worship that does not yield the fruit of "social concern" is like a tree bearing no fruit (see, for example, Surah al-Ma'un).
Prayer, which begins with the takbir "Allahu Akbar," shows that a Muslim's life is based on a strong relationship of "Uluhiyah" or devotion to Allah the Most Great (Al-Akbar), and has a high social effect, spreading peace and safety (Salam) to all, both left and right.
Fasting is an act of worship special only between Allah and His servant. "Fasting is for Me and I alone will reward it." Yet its social implication is clear: it is hoped that through refraining from various worldly pleasures (eating, drinking, and sexual relations), one will be able to feel the feelings of those less fortunate. Thus it is fitting if a person, for one reason or another, cannot perform the fast, they must replace it with "fidyah" (feeding the poor).
Likewise with dhikr, mentioning the Names of Allah. Without producing evidence of social concern, it becomes futile, and can even bring divine displeasure. Ibn Umar said, "Glorifying the Names of Allah without honoring His servants brings curse upon the doer."
Hajj pilgrimage, as the fifth pillar of Islam, besides emphasizing its ritual value, is filled with messages of human, political, international relations, and economic content, etc. Thus it is fitting, as mentioned earlier, that verses in the Qur'an discussing Hajj are closely related to discussion of human life broadly.
Hajj performed on the basis of "istita'ah" (capability) at present has a special meaning. The number of poor people continues to increase, which consequently increases our concern to help them. Thus it is greatly hoped that Hajj is no longer performed by millions of people merely as a tradition of religious ritual, but rather should produce solid social concern for its performer. In other words, Hajj is hoped not only to cultivate individual piety (kesalehan fardi), but also to cultivate social piety (kesalehan jama'i). Accepted Hajj Without Hajj
There is mentioned in a Sufi story that someone performing Hajj fell soundly asleep when standing in the blazing heat of the plain of Arafah. In his sleep he dreamed of meeting the Messenger of Allah.
This feeling of meeting the Messenger of Allah gave him hope that his Hajj had been accepted. However, to be certain, he dared to ask the Messenger of Allah: "Who among them has had their Hajj accepted as accepted Hajj, O Messenger of Allah?" The Messenger of Allah, breathing deeply, replied: "None of them has had their Hajj accepted, except a barber, your neighbor."
Immediately the pilgrim was amazed and shocked. For he knew precisely that his neighbor was a poor man, and moreover that he did not perform Hajj this year.
Consumed with sadness, his chest felt heavy, he awoke from his sleep. Throughout the standing at Arafah, the pilgrim reflected deeply on himself, pondering the meaning behind this dream.
Upon returning from Mecca, he immediately visited his neighbor the barber. He told all his experiences during the pilgrimage. But the story he most wanted to convey was about the barber himself. With surprise, he asked: "What deed have you performed that you are deemed to have performed accepted Hajj?"
His neighbor calmly and with emotion replied: "That I have long dreamed of performing Hajj. And for many years I had been saving for it. But when the funds were sufficient and the time for Hajj had come, suddenly an orphan neighbor of mine was afflicted with a disaster that nearly took his life. So the barber gave nearly all the funds that had been saved for many years to help the orphan, thus failing to perform Hajj."
Since then, the newly returned pilgrim realized that often we take the wrong steps in seeking Allah's pleasure. His pleasure is sometimes sought with excessive egoism and unknowingly goes against His pleasure. In other words, how often our acts of worship are tainted by the mud of petty egoism on the part of the performer, far from the values of "compassion for all the worlds" (rahmatan lil'alamin).
Have it not occurred to those who perform Hajj, especially those performing Hajj repeatedly, to consider the fate of millions of orphans caused by "disaster" of the economic crisis at this time? Because of this crisis, millions of people have lost their "support" (livelihood) in life. Or has not the time come for Muslims to set priorities in their lives as an ummah? If, for example, from the thousands of Muslims performing repeated Hajj (more than once) were to postpone doing so, and the Hajj expenses were used for the education of the children of this ummah, how bright would be our future.
The problem is, once again, to what extent does the influence of the acts of worship we perform affect our social life? Perhaps preachers need to return to socializing Surah al-Ma'un to this ummah. Abu Bakr was asked about accepted Hajj; he replied: "See if you have returned to Madinah." This answer proves that accepted Hajj can only be identified when the pilgrim returns to his hometown. To what extent does the "pilgrim" status raise piety, both in individual life and in collective life.
Finally, to Him alone do we entrust ourselves. May our Hajj change our morality toward a more divine level without diminishing our sense of concern for "social responsibility" (mas'uliyah ijtima'iyah) toward others. In other words, may the Hajj pilgrimage lead its performer to become people of God-consciousness (insan taqi), not only on the individual level but also on the social level.
M. Syamsi Ali
Source: http://media.isnet.org/
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