We are now in the last month of the Muslim calendar, the month of dhu al-hajjah, loosely translated as the month of the pilgrimage.
According to the twelfth century metaphysician al-Ghazzali, unlike other actions the hajj comprises the salient feature “exclusive worship (al-tajarrud li-‘ibÄdatillah)” which reflects “perfect servitude and obedience to Allah (kamÄl al-riqq wa al-inqiyÄd)”.
Semantically speaking, if one were to translate the term hajj as ‘pilgrimage’, it would only capture its superficial aspect, because the term is derived from the Latin lexical root peregrinus, referring to “a journey in a foreign land.” To define the hajj as a journey to a “foreign” land is not quite correct as far as Muslim consciousness is concerned.
Conversely, performing the hajj does not imply a journey to a completely alien domain; rather, Mecca has an affinity to each and every discerning Muslim as a “spiritual metropolis”, an aura of Umm al-Qura, a fact twice mentioned in the Qur’an, al-An‘am, 6: 92 and al-Shura, 42: 7.
It is towards this numinous metropolis that millions of hujjaj (pilgrims) from various countries and continents are heading. There, pilgrims from various nations, of different physicalities, are required by God to circumambulate the Ka‘bah and perform the other rituals as taught by the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him!).
In terms of structure, the ‘house’ of Allah or Ka‘bah is nothing but a mere cube of stones and mortar. The Ihya’ ‘Ulumiddin of al-Ghazzali reminds the pilgrims, “Do not suppose the purpose to be merely your circumambulation of the ‘house’ of Allah. No, the true purpose is the circling by your heart (tawaf al-qalb) in remembrance of the Lord until remembrance begins with Him alone and ends with Him alone, just as the circumambulation begins and ends at the ‘house’ of Allah.”
While in their countries of origin the pilgrims don different garments, live in different cultures, and speak different languages; in Makkah they don matching ihram clothes, and chant the same praises to the One and only God (labbaykallahumma labbayk).
The Muslims, regardless of their nationalities, have one language of worship defined by the Speech of God-the Qur’an-and interpreted in the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims even have “one language” as far as their worldview is concerned, as reflected in the identical linguistic key terms and fundamental concepts in basic vocabulary deployed in all Muslim languages throughout the world.
The annual pilgrimage season serves as a template of universal religious brotherhood of various Muslim nations of the globe. Arab, Persian, Egyptian, Berber, Turk, the European, African, Indo-Pakistani, Caucasian, Chinese, and Malay-Indonesian pilgrims are immediately accepted as brothers and sisters in spirituality, reflecting the fact that the Muslims are all siblings of a global family, an Ummah, who without exception should be treated with justice in order to fulfil their Primordial Covenant to Allah, the One and only God (al-A‘raf, 7: 172).
To quote the Prophet Muhammad’s celebrated address during his farewell pilgrimage: “People! your Creator is One, and your progenitor was also one. All of you are from Adam, and Adam was created of dust! The noblest of you with God is the one who is most cautious in guarding himself from the commission of sins and the omission of duties (taqwa). And there is no excellence for the Arabs over the non-Arabs, for the Reds over the Blacks, or the Blacks over the Reds, if not by such piety.”
The hajj ought to remind present-day Muslims to regard as secondary the variations in gender, birthplace, skin colour, nationality, political rank, social status, and local culture. They must be prepared to shun the confusion of narrow communal and national boundaries.
Rather, primary unity among Muslims requires one and only one spiritual locus and intellectual concentration. Indeed, the secret of the pilgrimage and its ultimate purpose is-as aptly described by al-Ghazzali-“the concurrence of lofty purpose and intention, and the strength derived from proximity with the truly good people convened from all quarters of the globe (ijtimÄ‘ al-himam wa istizhÄr bi-mujÄwarat al-abdÄl wa al-awtÄd al-mujtami‘Ä«n min aqtÄr al-bilÄd).”
Such a unity is translated into the socio-political domain through the emphatic prohibition of murder, oppression, tyranny and injustice, as emphasised by the Prophet Muhammad in the aforementioned address: “People! Your life, your property and your honour are sacred till the Day of Resurrection….People! Verily the Believers are all brethen, and the property of a brother is not lawful to a man if not with his willing consent….And see that you do not go astray after me, cutting one another’s throat”.
Alas, if only present-day Muslim nations could manifest an approximate reflection of such a sanctum as that of Makkah, one which is secure (Äminan) when upon entering one finds true peace, ease of mind, and freedom from inner fear (Ibrahim,14:35; Ali ‘Imran,3:97).
The present-day socio-political upheaval and discord amongst Muslims reflect disunity and corruption of basic religious ideas. Their minds are incoherent with regard to the concepts, thoughts and meaning of fundamental elements of the worldview of Islam (ru’yat al-Islam li al-Wujud).
Muslims should be active primarily in advancing the unity of Islamic ideas and thoughts which refers to a coherent spiritual consciousness. The unity of Muslim thoughts is dependent upon how profound they understand the worldview of Islam, which comprises multiple key-concepts which have established meanings and concrete conceptions. Such key-concepts should be definitively explained and disseminated through the aforementioned treasury of identical key-terms contained in various Muslim languages.