The Hajj: Day Three

Day Three

(Mission for the day: Pray morning prayer in Mina; go to Arafat, pray and supplicate, leave before evening prayer; go to Muzdalifah, spend the night, collect 7 pebbles)

We prayed the morning prayer, and the imam again gave a small lecture, and I stayed awake, reading my book of supplications. I ate breakfast today. We got cornflakes, milk, sugar, bread and Kiri cheese. What? No butter? Oh well, I will have to make do with cheese. That kid is finally awake. Thank God, otherwise I would have definitely poked him to see if he was alive!

Today we are going to Arafat, where historically speaking, the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) gave his final speech to his followers. Immediately after breakfast, as soon as the first signs of sunlight began to show in the horizon, people from our tent started picking up their belongings and walking downhill to where or bus would pick us up. I realized that there were more people today than yesterday. The Arabs had descended on the other side of our compound, and they were going to share the same bathrooms with us!

My parents and I picked up our sleeping bags, blankets and our personal belongings, and walked down to our meeting place. It was pure exhilaration to see large groups of people walking towards their buses. There was a mass exodus of people from Mina to Arafat. It was extremely crucial to get to Arafat today, because The Prophet (pbuh) said: The Hajj is Arafat.

The traffic jam tested our patience. For a distance that only a few kilometers, it took us four hours to cover that distance. It’s understandable because there are millions of people trying to get to the same spot. I tell you, this was probably one of the best road journeys. No other road journey has exposed me to such an incredible number of people from all over the world, dressed in same clothes, sitting inside and on top of buses. People from Kenya, Turkey, Philippines, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, Egyptians, Saudis, Europeans, Bosnians, Malaysians and countless others. Stuck in a traffic jam in our huge bus on a road that’s only four lanes wide was one of the most enjoyable experiences. I remember one pick up truck in the middle, which was occupied by three adults and two kids, who were throwing bottles of waters to all the pilgrims. To see bottles of water flying across roads, being caught with absolute glee by pilgrims sitting on top of their buses was definitely a Kodak moment. Of course, some bottles were missed which would crash on the bus and split open, showering the people with water! The immense joy of these pilgrims was infectious, and I could not help but smile and wave at them with a friendly gesture and be amazed at the wonderful creations of God.

Four hours later, we were finally in our tent in Arafat. There is a small mountain not far from here, often dubbed as Mountain of Mercy, where people were jam-packed. In our tent, we prayed our prayers and then were served lunch, which again was not spectacular. After lunch, a few men went to sleep, while I got out my book of prayers and read my supplications, over and over. About a hour into supplicating, I went outside of the tent and stood there, facing the Qibla. I raised my hands, and for about a little over an hour, I prayed for every single person I know. This is where my email to all my friends asking for any prayer requests came in handy. I prayed for my parents, my family, my friends, my relatives, and for the Muslim world in general. It was important for me to stand and pray because that is part of what praying is about in Arafat. I don’t think I could recall a moment before in my life where I could say I felt closest to God than this moment of standing here, looking skywards, asking sincerely for forgiveness. God tells us that the day in Arafat is a day when “Allah frees as many of his servants from the Fire.” This is the day when “Allah boasts to the angels about the people” who have come to Arafat, and says to the angels, “what do they want?” And all we ask for is His favor and Forgiveness.

Our imam led us into a collective prayer, where he eventually started weeping, and then later lost his voice, which made his "dua" undecipherable. I think his crying led some of the men to cry as well. It was a chain reaction of sorts. The people closest to him started weeping, and then the middle group started to weep and finally the ones at the end started to weep. I was trying so hard to understand what he was saying in between his he sobs, I could not make out. I think I was the only person in the tent who was not crying (although I had wept a little when I was standing earlier and supplicating). I asked my dad if we was able to understand the imam, and he said no too. So I wonder, why were the people crying? Were they really genuinely crying, or was it because a our imam, our leader, was crying that led the other to cry too. Well, whatever it was, there was a lot of crying, and then as soon as the "dua" was over, all the crying stopped in an instant, and people were roaming about looking for tea and company.

Evening had come, and the next part of the mission is to go to Muzdalifah. Again, a distance of only a few kilometers, took about four hours to cover. Again a mass exodus of people from Arafat to Muzdalifah was taking place. The buses, people, cars, trucks, carts, every one and everything were on its way out of Arafat. I get goose bumps, even as I write this now, when I was going on the same road as the millions of other people. I just get this realization that I am part of a bigger group, a bigger community that I belong to.

It was quite cold when we finally reached in Muzdalifah. Here, as we re-traced the steps of our Prophet (pbuh), we have to spend a night out in the open. We laid down our sleeping bags and lied down. My parents went to sleep rather quickly. Our friends from the UK also chose to be next to us (tolerating more British accent!) I went up to a small mountain that was close by to collect 7 pebbles each for myself, and my parents. Pilgrims in white ihram were climbing all the hills in this area, and from a distance it looked like as if it had snowed on the mountains.

Finding a secluded spot, I stayed on top of the hill for quite a while, contemplating on who I am, and what my purpose in life is. Why am I here on Hajj? What is the meaning of my life? What does it mean to be a Muslim?

Mansur