What Makes Omra and Hajj Big Part of Islam - Essay Example

The Hajj Islam is one of the major religions in the world and this is attested to through the over a billion individuals who profess to it. This religion has five main pillars which all of its adherents have to follow as a basic part of their lives. The first pillar of Islam is the Shahada, or faith, which is where a Muslim has to profess that there is only one God and that the Prophet Muhammad is his messenger. Such a profession is what is considered to be a declaration that an individual has accepted Islamic teachings and has essentially become a Muslim1. The second pillar of Islam is the Salat, or prayer which are Muslims are required to do five times a day. The Salat is done at dawn, noon, afternoon, evening, and at night and it is done facing the Kaaba in Mecca, and while it can be held anywhere, it is normally preferable that they be conducted in mosques. Zakat, or the giving of alms to the poor, is another pillar of Islam and it is considered to be a form of purification in situation where individuals have either committed sins, or have a desire to ensure their personal growth. This pillar is obligatory for all Muslims because it is believed that all Muslims have a responsibility of easing the economic burdens that the less privileged individuals in society have to endure. The fourth pillar of Islam is Sawm, or fasting; three types of which are recognized by the scriptures as well as tradition. Among these are ritual fasting, fasting as a form of repentance, and finally, ascetic fasting; the first of which is an essential practice for all Muslims because it is conducted during the month of Ramadan. The fifth and final pillar of Islam is Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca, which is mandatory for all Muslims who have the means to do so. It is a requirement that Muslims conduct a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes and it is as a result that all Muslims with the means often make the effort fulfill this pillar. There are two forms of pilgrimages to Mecca, the first and most important of which is the Hajj, while the second and of slightly less importance is the Omra. The Hajj is normally conducted during the Muslim month of Dhu al-Hijjah and it is considered mandatory for all Muslims who are able bodied to take part in it at least once in their lifetime2. There are various rituals which are conducted during the Hajj and the most important of these is walking around the Kaaba seven times. The Omra, on the other hand, it a pilgrimage which is conducted by Muslims at any time during the year and this is normally based on their own means. Similar rituals to those that are conducted during the Hajj are conducted during Omra, with minor differences between them. While the latter is not mandatory, it is normally strongly recommended as a means of strengthening the faith of all Muslims through their presence in the holy city. Both the Hajj and Omra are important practices of Islam because they ensure that Muslims profess their faith through taking part in them. The Hajj in Arabic means a resolve and this is a form of resolve where an individual is determined to ensure that he accomplishes an outstanding duty3. This is essentially a culmination of those acts that are performed by Muslims in the process of preparation for their going for their pilgrimage to Mecca. The acts that are associated with the Hajj are those which are involved in situations where there individuals seek to have a connection with the divine in such a way that it transcends their normal lives and can be defined as a form of divine ecstasy. The Hajj has in some cases come to be described as an act of love from Muslims towards their creator as well as a journey whose main intention is spiritual fulfillment rather than just a duty that has to be performed. However, before undertaking Hajj, the individual has to realize that it is not just a matter of seeking a connection with God, but also come to the realization that it is not a simple journey, but one that is full of hazards and hardships that have to be overcome. Therefore, it is a requirement for Muslims to prepare themselves mentally before undertaking Hajj because this is the only way that they can be able to recognize that the hardships that they are likely to endure during their journey is all part of their devotion towards Allah. It is a means of their learning patience as well as facing problems that they encounter with a smiling face rather than dwelling on these problems to such an extent that they end up forgetting about what the pilgrimage is all about. All of those individuals who undertake the Hajj have to completely submit to Allah and place their lives in his hands because it is only he that can guide them through their journey to the holy city for the Hajj. The individual who wishes to undertake Hajj has to realize that he has to endure all hardships that he might encounter in the service of Allah because endurance in the latter’s name is pleasing to him and will lead to the Muslim involved to attain great rewards in future. It is necessary for the pilgrim to make sure that he only goes for Hajj as a means of pleasing God rather than for the purpose of ensuring that he attains some form of recognition from having done so; essentially for their own personal benefit. The pilgrim must only undertake the Hajj with the knowledge that the undertaking will bring about a greater connection between him and God. The teachings of Islam state that a person who endures hardship in a patient manner and without any form of complaints is one who will have great recompense thereafter because he will not be left unrewarded by God. Patience, perseverance, and dedication to Allah are among the most important characteristics that pilgrims should develop before undertaking the Hajj because it is these which will allow them to greatly benefit from the experience of the pilgrimage. Before undertaking the Hajj, pilgrims have to be sincere in their feelings that they are indeed responding to the call of their creator and that they are accepting this call with a clean conscience. This is especially the case in situations where these individuals, because they have the means of accomplish it, decide to go for Hajj. There are circumstances where there are some individuals who often go for Hajj not because they are responding to the call of Allah, but because it is their obligation as Muslims to do so. Under such circumstances, it is often difficult for them to achieve the spiritual connection to Allah that is a basic part of the pilgrimage and instead only go back home with their lives being as empty as they were before. It is therefore essential that all pilgrims only undertake Hajj in situations where they feel that it is the right time for them to do it and not for the sake of fulfilling obligations. The pilgrims have to go to Mecca in the hope that once they get there, Allah will be willing to not only accept them, but also the sacrifices that they have made for his sake and this will ensure that they are able to achieve spiritual satisfaction. Moreover, when undertaking the Hajj, pilgrims should do so in such a way that they feel as if they are leaving the world on a permanent basis. They should leave all of their worldly problems and affairs behind and instead seek to make sure that their sole focus is being in communion with Allah because this is a once in a lifetime experience where they have an opportunity to submit themselves completely to Allah without any doubt in their hearts. In situations where the pilgrim has wronged others in his society, he should undergo a form of cleansing where he seeks the forgiveness of all of those that he has wronged because going for Hajj requires that an individual goes with a clear conscience. In addition, where such an individual has denied others what is rightfully theirs, he should take the necessary action to make sure that the latter have been redressed. Without a clear conscience, the individual involved will not have the peace of mind necessary to ensure that the pilgrimage is beneficial for him because he will be weighed down by the guilt of wrongs that he will have committed against others. Pilgrims are also required to sincerely repent of all their sins because the latter tend to weight an individual down since they are not able to commune with Allah in a clear manner4. Allah requires that all of those people that journey towards achieving communion with him be free of sins because this is the only way through which their heart will be open towards receiving his love for all mankind. The repentance of sins in addition to sending of blessings as well as salutations ensures that the pilgrims’ minds are cleared of all guilt while also hardening the resolve of these individuals not to ever commit any of the sins that they had committed before their repentance. In this way, the pilgrims submit their lives to Allah in such a way that they firmly believe that he will guide their lives according to his will rather than on their own terms where they will be susceptible to sin. It is with such a clear mind that pilgrims should seek to go for Hajj because it allows them to have the divine experience without being hampered by other matters of the world. There are several stages involved when a pilgrim goes for Omra and these are often similar to those that are conducted during Hajj. These stages can be divided into two main ones which are tawaf and sa’y and these have to be performed in order for a pilgrim to be considered to have completed Omra5. In tawaf, the first action that a pilgrim should do is to enter the mosque in Mecca through the door to its north and this is closely followed by his passage through the port of Banu Shaiba. Later, the pilgrim has to approach the Black Stone in the Kaaba and circumambulate it seven time in an anticlockwise manner. While the pilgrim is circumambulating the Kaaba, he has to recite his prayers with the first three circumambulations being conducted at a speed of almost running while the rest are conducted in a stately pace where the pilgrim is not in any particular hurry. It is also essential that the pilgrim presses his chest against the Kaaba and this should be done at a point between its doorway and that of the Black Stone. After this process is completed, the pilgrim has to ensure that he performs a short prayer after which he can drink from the well of Zamzam. During Sa’y, the pilgrim leaves the mosque through the courtyard of the Kaaba and gets into the path between two points that are known as as-Safa and Marwa with the starting point being the former. It is a requirement that the pilgrim walk between these two points seven times and as he does so, he has to stop for a few moments at each point in order to say prayers, with the ritual eventually ending at Marwa. After performing all of these actions, the pilgrim is free to leave Mecca but before he leaves, he has to ensure that his hair is shaven by a barber as a sign to show that the Omra has been successfully completed. The stages of the Hajj as slightly different from those that are undertaken during the Omra and this are mainly because of their organization. On the first day of the Hajj, the pilgrims who have gathered travel from Mecca to the village of Mina where they stay in tents and spend their rime praying and reading from the Quran6. The second day of the pilgrimage consists of pilgrims making their way to Mount Arafat where they spend the entire day asking Allah for forgiveness and making supplications. Furthermore, they travel to a place halfway between Mina and Arafat and spend the night looking for pebbles to be used the nest day. On the third day, the pilgrims take part in a ritual in Mina where they throw pebbles at pillars as a sign of their shunning of the temptations placed on them by the devil. The symbolic throwing of pebbles also symbolizes the manner through which Abraham rejected Satan’s temptations and remained firm in his faith through his willingness to part with something that was precious to him; his son. The rest of the pilgrimage is similar to Omra because it involves tawaf, which is going around the Kaaba in Mecca seven times. The entire process that is described in Omra above is repeated almost to the point with few variations and this allows for the attainment of the goals of Hajj by the pilgrims. This process also ends with the pilgrims drinking in the well of Zamzam which is believed to have come into existence for the purpose of quenching the thirst of Abraham’s wife Hagar and their son. The stages of Omra are different from those of Hajj because while the former is quite simple, where the rituals involved all take place within or near the Kaaba in Mecca, the latter is more involved because it takes several days for all of the stages to be completed7. It should also be noted that while the rituals within the mosque and Kaaba are quite similar, there are some marked differences and these involve the period where pilgrims drink from the well of Zamzam. This is because in Omra, the pilgrim can drink from the well as soon as he finishes circumambulating the Kaaba while in Hajj, the pilgrim has to complete the ritual of walking between as-Safa and Marwa before drinking from the well of Zamzam. However, one would sggest that despite the slight difference in the rituals involving them, it should be noted that Omra and Hajj serve the same purpose which is to bring Muslims into the holy city where they can serve Allah. Both of these pilgrimages involve the ability of Muslims to make the journey and it is not necessary for one to be considered more beneficial than the other because they both facilitate the process where pilgrims are able to commune with Allah at a more personalized level than in other circumstances where they are in their own homes8. They are both a means of helping Muslims to appreciate the different factors that make them unique while at the same time providing them with an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad. While the Omra is an important aspect of Muslim pilgrimage, it is not often given the importance that it deserves. This is because the Hajj involves large numbers of Muslims communing together in the Great Mosque and this means that they not only bring in big business to Saudi Arabia, but the process also involves people from all over the world congregating together. However, while this may be the case, one will find that both Omra and Hajj are important to Muslims because they make it possible for pilgrims to have a closer relationship with God. Furthermore, they both help individuals to fulfill their obligations through visiting Mecca at least once in their lifetime as long as they are able. The rituals that are conducted in both Omra and Hajj are essentially the same, especially when it comes to those rituals that are conducted inside the Great Mosque9. When it comes to finding out the benefits of these two pilgrimages, one has to consider the fact that both of them involve a visit to the Great Mosque and the Kaaba within it and they both have the same rituals ranging from entry to the mosque to drinking from the well of Zamzam which ensure that the pilgrimage is authenticated. The authentication of lack of it in these two pilgrimages is based on the process of preparation, as stated above, and the need to decipher whether the pilgrim involved has sincerely made the pilgrimage in the service of Allah, or whether they do so out of obligation. If it is the former, them one would state that the pilgrimage has been authenticated and that it has succeeded in improving the lives of the pilgrims who have undertaken it. It is a requirement that Muslims conduct a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes and it is as a result that all Muslims with the means often make the effort fulfill this pillar. The discussion above has shown that there are two forms of pilgrimages to Mecca, the first and most important of which is the Hajj, while the second and of slightly less importance is the Omra. The pilgrim who wishes to undertake Hajj has to realize that he has to endure all hardships that he might encounter in the service of Allah. Moreover, the pilgrims have to go to Mecca in the hope that once they get there, Allah will be willing to accept them. It has been noted that in situations where the pilgrim has wronged others in his society, he should undergo a form of cleansing where he seeks the forgiveness of all of those that he has wronged. The discussion has further shown that despite slight differences, both Omra and Hajj are important parts of the pillar of Islam that requires all Muslims to visit Mecca at least once in their lifetimes. Finally, Omra and Hajj have been found to be essential aspect of Islam because they allow pilgrims to commune with God according to the manner that they feel is best for them. Works Cited Adelowo, Dada E. Perspectives in Religious Studies: Volume III. Ibadan: HEBN Publishers Plc, 2014. Clark, Malcolm. Islam For Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2003. Farah, Caesar. Islam: Beliefs and Observances. Hauppauge, NY: Barrons Educational Series, 1994. Harrison, David. Tourism and the Less Developed World: Issues and Case Studies. Wallington, UK: CABI, 2001. Husayn Haykal, Muhammad. The Life of Muhammad. Selangor: Islamic Book Trust, 2008. pp. 439–40. Khan, Qaisra, "Hajj & Umra", in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014. Lee, Keath. "Robed Muslims Flood Mecca as Annual Hajj Pilgrimage Begins." Oakland Tribune: 1. Dec 29 2006. Long, Matthew. Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2011. Peters, Francis Edward. "Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World." The Middle East Journal 59.2 (2005): 333-4. Read More