According to the third verse from the blessed chapter three in the Quran, it was communicated to the noble prophet (SA) by God:
“And a proclamation from Allah and His messenger to all men on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage that Allah is disgusted with the idolaters, and so is His messenger.”
Also it is addressed to Ibrahim, the Friend of God (PBUH) that he should call the people from all social strata to go to Hajj in order for them to witness their profits. Such profits are, of course, social, political and cultural. People need to go to the pilgrimage of Hajj to see how the great prophet offered the dearest result of his life in the cause of Allah. All the offspring of Adam must go on that pilgrimage to follow the example of the prophet and see how he broke the idols and threw away whatever was apart from God.
For a long time, for many years or perhaps for centuries this great political, social, worshiping congregation of Hajj, which could put all the aims of the Islamic school into action, had found its trend only toward superficial worshiping of individuals. And, its true prophetic mission which was the real belief in God, avoidance of any kind of polytheism, and collaboration to help Muslims to solve their problems were all forgotten. This was the situation until Imam Khomeini (s), the idol-breaker of the time once again entered the arena of Islamic issues. He wrote and announced to the Muslims their obligations and reminded them of what they should do and how they should treat on such a day of pilgrimage.
Imam Khomeini (s), on the Feast of Sacrifices, the first year after the victory of Revolution gave a message to the pilgrims of Hajj, in which he embarked upon analyzing fully how Kaaba came into existence and what the Muslims should do. He considered a place for dissemination of monotheism and negation of polytheism. He emphasized that Kaaba was the original place of monotheistic call and the center for breaking the idols, and today the devils all over the world. Reasoning on some Quranic verses then, he argued that it was incumbent upon Muslims to keep Kaaba clean of all impurities and pollutions the worst of which is polytheism. Again, he referred to the prophet's rejection of polytheists in the Quranic chapter al-Tawba and pointed out to the uprising of the Promised Mahdi (PBUH), the savior who would first appear by the House of Kaaba and invite the people to monotheism. Imam Khomeini, then, concluded that all idol-breakings would start from the Kaaba and would spread to other places and the Muslims too had to follow his example.
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The Ibrahim-like Hajj plays a very valuable role not only in the political and social life of the Muslims but also in the fate of all human beings. The great significance of Hajj with its magnificent functions has led to the fact that no other practice of worshiping can ever be an equal to it or take its place. It is quoted from the messenger of Islam (SA), who said: “There is nothing superior to Hajj except ‘prayers’, but prayers are performed in Hajj too”. This is because Hajj, in comparison with other religious practices, is the only worshiping that if it were performed in a lively and enthusiastic move together with the announcement of disgust to the polytheists, the believing Muslims never become captive to the Jews of the time, and no action can ever have such an effect. Imam Khomeini (s) says in this regard:
“The precept of Hajj among other percepts enjoys a special characteristic; perhaps it is because the political and social aspect of Hajj is prior to its religious perspective.”
With regard to such an importance, our immaculate Imams (SA) have called Hajj a means of strengthening the Islamic religion. They have introduced Kaaba as a lofty flag for Islam. This means that as long as Hajj is properly performed and is given magnificence, the Divine Religion will remain powerful with its flag hoisted and fluttering.
It is evident this role of Hajj will be put into action on the condition that it is performed spiritedly and enthusiastically to display the real Islamic unity, and this will not be possible unless we can reject the aliens and enemies of Islam by announcing our freedom of obligation toward them. It is for this reason that the enemies of Islam are trying hard not to let social and political dimensions of Hajj be elaborated for the Muslims; sometimes they consider the political movement in Hajj as a contradictory to the spiritual nature of Hajj, which is unfortunately one of the matters of grave concern for the Islamic society.
In this respect, the enemies of Islam struggle to show the glorious congregation of Muslims in the ceremonies of Hajj less attractive and make it avoid of its excellent political-social content. They have planned to render the great and important function of Hajj, in holding the Muslims in high esteem and reinforcing the religion of Islam, fruitless.
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His Excellency, the Imam became successful in 1933 (1312 solar and 1352 lunar calendar) to visit the house of God once in his life. This journey to Hajj, which was made with a lot of hardships, had a pleasant and agreeable memory for him. He told the story of that pilgrimage as follows:
“I went on pilgrimage to Mecca only once in my life. When I set off, I used different means of transportation. This trip took me 17 days to reach there.”
The Imam was not negligent of guiding the people even on the Hajj trip; he was chosen as the clergyman of the caravan to teach the people the rites of pilgrimage as his legitimate duties.
Ayatollah Mas’udi says in this regard: I will tell you what I heard about the Imam’s journey to Hajj by myself. He told me that he had gone on pilgrimage to Mecca only one year and had performed the ceremonies once in his life. He had used different means of transportation and his trip had taken 17 days to get there:
“We traveled by ship to the other side of the sea. When I entered the ship, I saw that a group of different people from Tehran and other towns were on board, but they were all anxious and uncomfortable. When I asked them the reason, they answered it was because of the difficulty of the practices and rites of Hajj they were so worried.”
“Therefore, I thought I was charged with a duty to help them not to be so agitated. I asked one of them to gather the individuals in one place so that I could explain to them the issues of performing the rites. On the first day, I said that Hajj was a movement forward in tranquility without anxiety; but that movement had to be for the sake of God. It had to be made with sincerity and good-will.”
Then, Imam Khomeini continued:
“I had to lessen their anxiety first, and then make them feel at ease, so that I might teach them the procedures. So, it took a few days to prepare the situation for those pilgrims. Then, I started like this: ‘we will go to the fixed place called Miqat first, wear our pilgrimage garbs and after that continued the journey. But there are some formalities you must observe in tranquility.’ after that I noticed that they were not anxious any more. On the sixth day, I started to tell them about the ceremonies. After we had disembarked, the passengers felt more comfortable and began to ask about the ceremonies. I had taken with me the book: Wasa’il-al-Shi’a; thus I used it to teach them the ceremonies and to myself too put them into practice.”
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- Circumambulation or rotating around the House of God shows the fact that you must not circle anyone else except Allah. Stoning the Devils in Aqabat is really stoning both devils from humans and jinn. By your stoning, you make a promise to God to drive away every human devil and also superpowers out of the dear Islamic countries.
- Take care that traveling to Hajj is not a business trip; it is neither for secular gains. It is a journey to Allah. When you are going toward the House of God, every step you take and everything you do must be Divine and for the sake of God. From the first place you set off, there your journey starts toward God, and it is a godly movement to Allah, the Exalted. Your journey must be of the same kind that the messengers (SA) traveled. Religious authorities too made their trips to God and would not violate any law all their lives. Your going on pilgrimage to Hajj now has the same schedule to reach Allah.
- The biggest problem with the Islamic societies is that they have not yet perceived the real reason of many precepts or commandments of God; and as a result, Hajj, with so much magnitude and secrets, has remained in the form of a hollow worship and a fruitless act.
- One of the crucial obligations of Muslims is that they should find out what "Hajj" really is, and why they must always use a part of their material and spiritual possibilities to keep it lively and energetic. But what has been depicted of Hajj and shown, up to now, by the self-interested, the unaware or some mercenaries as the philosophy of it is that Hajj is a collective worshiping and an excursion-pilgrimage travel. Such people argue: It does not concern Hajj how you should live, how you should struggle and combat against world capitalism and communism, and in which manner you can get back the rights of the oppressed and the deprived from the oppressors! What does it have to do with "Hajj" that we should find a solution to remove the distress, anxiety or physical sufferings of Muslims?! What business of Hajj is it that Muslims ought to rise, as a magnificent power of the third world, and contend to Hajj precept that Muslims must be instigated to stand against administrators affiliated to rulers dependent upon big powerful countries? Hajj is the very trip of excursion to see “Kibla” in Mecca and to visit the city of Madina, nothing else!
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Hajj is a divine fountain, a monotheist reality and a basic principle in Islam. This ritual, with its deep and wide dimensions and mystical rules is the most glorious religious ritual. Hajj in its iconic figure has formed especial rituals with an accurate social composition, along with its customs and special instructions; and beyond these customs and systematic motions lays a glorious manifestation of life lessons and secrets. Perhaps we could claim that Hajj with all these dimensions is the extract of Islam and in another word equal to Sharia (the moral code and religious law of Islam); as the holy prophet of Islam has counted Hajj as an equal to religion and Sharia, "And the fifth is Hajj which is the Sharia" (Wasayel al-Shia, vol. 1, p. 26). Hajj is as a little sample to the great Islam, and this is because that this general worship includes monotheism, resurrection, prophecy, Imamate, morality and spirituality, physical and financial worship, cooperation and devotion, interaction, unity, politics, economy and etc. Among the mentioned dimensions of Hajj one of its basic dimensions is its spiritual and divine dimension. Hajj is a gathering for all the lovers and devotees of God.
Imam Rida (A.S.) has also counted this as the first specification of Hajj and said: "Hajj is an obligation because it is as a journey towards God almighty." (Wasayel al-Shia, vol. 8, p. 5) Regarding this issue Imam Khomeini has said: "Keep in mind that Hajj is not as a trade journey. It is a travel toward God. You are going to God's House. Whatever you do must be divine. From the very start your journey begins toward God, the Almighty." (Sahifeh-ye Imam, vol. 10, p. 126) This saying is based on a word by Imam Ali (A.S.) that has said: "Those who attend the Hajj and perform its rituals, are taking steps towards Allah, and indeed Allah shall greet them with kindness and forgiveness." (Bahar ul-Anwar, vol. 96, p. 8)
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