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Published on 14th September
2008/14 Ramadhan 1429 Al-Hajj
Conversation between our fourth Holy Imam
Zainul Abidin ('a) and Shibli.
When the 4th Imam ('a) returned from Hajj, Shibli came
to meet him. The Imam asked him:
Imam: Did you go for Hajj O Shibli?
Shibli: Yes O son of the Messenger of Allah
Imam: Did you stop at the Miqaat and put away the sewn
clothes and perform the sacred bath?
Shibli: Yes
Imam: When you stopped at miqaat did you make the
intention that you are taking off the clothes of disobedience and putting on
the clothes of
obedience?
Shibli: No
Imam: And when you had taken off your sewn clothes did
you make the intention that you had taken off hypocrisy and entering
dubious acts?
Shibli: No
Imam: And when you took the bath did you have the
intention that you are washing yourself from all sins and errors?
Shibli: No
Imam: You did not stop at Miqaat, nor did you take off
sewn clothes nor did you perform the sacred bath.
Imam: Did you cleanse yourself and put on Ihram and
fulfil your covenant of Hajj?
Shibli: Yes
Imam: When you did this did you have the intention that
you are cleaning yourself with the nurah of the sincere repentance to
Almighty Allah the most
high?
Shibli: No
Imam: When you put on the Ihram did you have the
intention that you are forbidding yourself everything that Almighty Allah has
forbidden?
Shibli: No.
Imam: When you fulfilled the covenant of Hajj did you
have the intention that you have nullified all other covenants with other
than Allah?
Shibli: No
Imam: You did not cleanse yourself nor did you put on
the Ihram nor did you fulfil the covenant of Hajj.
Imam: Did you enter the Miqaat and pray the two rakats
of the Ihram and did
you chant Talbiyah
Shibli: Yes
Imam: When you entered the Miqaat, did you make the
intention of entering as a visitor?
Shibli: No
Imam: When you prayed the two rakaats did you make the
intention that you are trying to get closer to Allah
('s) with the best of
acts from the prayers and the biggest of good deeds from the acts of worship?
Shibli: No
Imam: When you chanted the Talbiyah did you have the
intention that you were talking to Almighty Allah with all obedience and keeping
quiet from all disobedience?
Shibli: No
Imam: You did not enter Miqaat nor did you pray nor did
you chant the Talbiyah
Imam: Did you enter the Haram and did you see the Kaaba
and did you pray there?
Shibli: Yes
Imam: When you entered the Haram did you have the
intention that you were prohibiting on yourself all backbiting of all the
Muslims from the Nations of Islam?
Shibli: No
Imam And when you reached Makka did you make the
intention with your heart
that you had come to Almighty Allah (swt)?
Shibli: No
Imam: You have neither entered Haram nor seen the Kaaba
nor prayed.
Shibli:
Imam: Did you go round the house and did you touch the Rukn and did you make
Saee?
Shibli: Yes
Imam: And when you did the Saee did you have the
intention that you were running towards Almighty Allah and did Allah the knower of all secrets know this?
Shibli: No
Imam: You did not go round the house nor did you touch
rukn nor did you make Saee.
Imam:
Did you touch the Hajar al- Aswad and did you stand at the
Maqame Ibrahim and did you pray two rakats on it?
Shibli: Yes
Here the Imam gave a scream as if he was about to leave
this world saying Ah! Ah! Whoever touches the black stone it is as if he
has shaken hands with Almighty Allah ('s). So Look O poor chap that you do not
destroy the reward of something whose sacredness has been made very great
and you do not spoil your Handshake by disobedience and by grasping evil like
the sinners. Then
Imam asked: Did you have the intention when you were
standing on Maqame
Ibrahim that you were are standing on every obedience and that you have put behind
you all disobedience?
Shibli: No
Imam: When you prayed two rakaats there did you make the
intention that you are praying the prayers of Ibrahim and that you are
humiliating Shaitan with your prayers?
Shibli: No
Imam: You did not stand on Maqame Ibrahim nor did you
pray two rakats on it.
Imam: Did you look over the well of Zamzam and did you
drink from its water?
Shibli: Yes.
Imam: Did you have the intention when you were looking
over the well that you looking at obedience to Almighty Allah and closing
your eyes from all disobedience?
Shibli: No.
Imam: You did not look over it nor did you drink from
it’s water.
Imam: Did you run between Safa and Marwa and did you
walk between it repeatedly?
Shibli: Yes.
Imam: Did you have the intention that you were between
hope and fear?
Shibli: No
Imam: You did not run between Safa and Marwa.
Imam: Did
you go out to Mina?
Shibli: Yes.
Imam: Did you have the intention that every Muslim was
safe from your tongue, your heart and your and hands.
Shibli: No. You did not go out to Mina.
Imam: Did you stay a short time at Arafat and did you
climb Jabal Al Rahman and
did you recognize the wadi of Namira and did to supplicate to Almighty
Allah near Al-Mil and Al-Jamaraat?
Shibli: Yes
Imam: Did you conceive by your stay in Arafat the gnosis
(Irfan) of Almighty Allah ('s) and the knowledge of good things and acts; and
did you conceive that your book of deeds was in the hands of Allah and
that Allah had full knowledge of your secrets and what is in your heart?
Shibli: No.
Imam: And when you climbed the Jabal Al Rahman did you
have the intention that Almighty Allah may have mercy on all believing men
and all believing women and that He will help all Muslim men and women?
Shibli: No.
Imam: Did you have the intention at Wadi Namira that you
would not enjoin good until you practice it yourself and you would not
forbid evil until you leave it yourself?
Shibli: No
Imam: and when you stopped at Alam and Al-Amirat did you
have the intention that they were witnessing all your acts of worship and
that they were guarding you together with guardian angels by the order
of Almighty Allah?
Shibli No
Imam: then you did not stay at Arafat nor did you go up
the Mountain of Mercy nor did you recognize the Wadi of Namirah nor did
you supplicate to Almighty Allah Imam: Did you pass between the two
columns pray two rakah before crossing, go to Muzdalifah pick up pebbles and
cross the Mash’arul Haram?
Shibli: Yes
Imam: When you prayed the two Rakats, did you have the
intention that you were praying the prayer of thanksgiving within the ten nights which
removes every hardship
and facilitates every ease?
Shibli: No.
Imam: At the time of passing between the two columns
without deviating to the right or the left did you have the intention that
you would never deviate from the true religion to the right or the left
neither with your heart, tongue nor with your limbs?
Shibli: No.
Imam: When you walked through Muzdalifah and picked up
the pebbles did you
have the intention that you have plucked all acts of disobedience and
ignorance and that you had affirmed knowledge and action?
Shibli: No.
Imam: Then when you walked in the Mash’aril Haram did
you have the intention
that you had embossed your heart with the identification of those who
have taqwa and fear of Almighty Allah the Most High?
Shibli: No.
Imam: Then you did not pass between the two columns nor
did you pray the two
rakah, nor walked into Muzdalifah, nor picked up the
pebbles nor walked in
the Mash’arul Haram.
Imam: Did you arrive at Mina, throw stones at the
Jamarah and did you shave your head and slaughter the sacrifice and did you pray
in Masjid al-Kheef and did you return to Makka and perform the Tawaf of
Ifadha (return) to Makka?
Shibli: Yes
Imam: When you reached Mina and pelted the Jamaraat did
you have the intention that you have attained your goal and your Lord
has fulfilled all your needs?
Shibli: No.
Imam: And when you pelted the Jamaraat did you have the
intention that you had pelted your enemy Iblees and by completing this
precious Hajj you had disobeyed him?
Shibli: No.
Imam: And when you shaved your head did you have the
intention that you had
cleansed yourself from all filth and from all the
injustice of the children of Adam and that you had purified yourself from sin just
like a new born baby.
Shibli: No.
Imam: And when you slaughtered your hadiya did you have
the intention that you are cutting the artery of greed by holding fast to
the reality of piety and that you are following the tradition
of Ibrahim ('s) when he was prepared to slaughter his
son, the fruit of his heart, through which he established the sunna of gaining
nearness to
Almighty Allah for those who came after him?
Shibli: No.
Imam: And when you returned to Makka and did the tawaaf
of Ifadha did you have the intention that you had come back with the Mercy
of Almighty Allah to His obedience and that you had clasped His love that
you had performed your duty to Him and had gained nearness to him?
Shibli: No.
Imam: Then you did not reach Mina nor did you pelt the
Jamaraat nor did you shave your head nor did you slaughter the hadiya nor did
you pray in the Masjid Al-Kheef nor did you return to Makka and perform
the tawaaf of Ifadha. Go back because you have not performed Hajj!!
Having heard all this Shibli started to cry because of
what he had missed in
his Hajj and he continued to learn the secrets of Hajj
until he could
perform the Hajj through knowledge and understanding.
"And
remember when Abraham raised the foundations of the
house with Ishmael"
(2:127)
 The Black
Stone
 The most
sacred thing in the House of God is the Black stone (Al-
Hajar Al- Aswad). The Prophet of God Abraham ('a) placed it in the eastern Corner of the Kaaba, then
our Prophet Muhammad ('s) put it again, with his
hands, in the same place when Quraysh rebuilt
the House, the Prophet ('s) was only 35
years old. It was narrated that the different tribes
disagreed on who would be honoured to put the stone in
its original place, until the Prophet ('s) came and solved
the problem.
The Black
stone is a heavy elliptic shape stone, with a 30cm
diameter. From it "Tawaf" starts around the
House and since Abraham ('s) put it in place, it has ever
been respected and exalted. It stands about 1.5
meters above the ground.
Abraham used to make Pilgrimage to the House every year,
as did all the succeeding prophets and nations. In some
of the narrations, it is said that "...Between the
corner and the standing place up to Zamzam, there
exists the graves of ninety nine Prophets who came for
pilgrimage and were buried there".
Maqam
Ibrahim
Across from
the door of the Kaaba, and a few meters away, there
exists a stone inside a cage, it is called the
standing place of Abraham (Maqam Ibrahim).
God the Almighty said:
"And
Take ye the standing place of Abraham, as a place of prayer"
(2:125)
Here, it is note worthy to say that the Holy House and
its Mosque have been subject to expansions and
renovations, in the past and recent times. Currently,
its surface area is about 193 square meters, which fits
about 400,000
pilgrims at one time.
As for the
exterior areas, they are 40 thousand
square meters, which can hold about 65 thousand
pilgrims. After the end of the on going renovations, it
is expected that the surface area would reach 309
thousand square meters, which can fit around 605
thousand pilgrims at one time.
The
Holy Kaaba
The
Kaaba is located in the middle of the Holy Mosque. It is
one big square shaped room, with an elevation of 15
meters. Its main door is 2 meters from the ground. The corners of the Kaaba are called Arkan and
they are as follows:
-
The Northern
corner is called the Iraqi Ruqn
-
The Southern
corner is called the Yemani Ruqn.
-
The Western
corner is called the Sammi Ruqn.
-
The Eastern
corner is called the Black stone Ruqn.
The Kaaba is
standing on a foundation made up of marble, and its
walls are of greyish stones brought from the
neighbouring mountains. The walls are covered with a
huge silky textile coloured in black with some tree
drawings. On it was sewn the statement of testimony, and
at two thirds of its height a golden
belt of Qur'anic verses is woven.
Across from the North-western wall, there is
a white marble wall, in a Semi- circular shape, called
(Al- Hatim). Its elevation is 3 feet and thickness 5
feet. Between Al Hatim and Al Kaaba, Hijr Ishmael
is buried, which is better known as "Hijr
Ishmael".( Ishmael's Mother).
Zam
Zam
It
is a sacred well, also called the well of Ishmael, and
located in the precinct across the Eastern Ruqn. Its
depth is about 140 feet.
Safa
and Marwa
They
are two rocks within the honourable precinct. The
pilgrims would jog between them seven times, as one of
the mandatory ceremonies during Al- Hajj and Umra.
Arafat
 It
is a mountain 12 miles east of Mecca, with a height of
150 feet. It is also called the Mountain of Mercy. The
pilgrims go to it after Tawaf around Kaaba, to perform
the ceremony of standing there at noon time
of the 9th of Dhu'l Hijja. The standing there is meant
as a presence in that place.
Al-Muzdalifa
It
is somewhere on the road between Mina and Arafat. When
the pilgrims end their ceremony in Arafat at sunset of
the 9th of Dhu'l- Hijja, they walk to Al Muzdalifa where
they stay the night picking up some stones for casting
away (Rajem) the Shaitan later on.
Mina
Mina
is 6.5 kms away from Mecca and exists between the
mountains, in a narrow valley, extending from East to
West, with a total distance of about 1500 paces.
In Mina,
pilgrims begin casting away the Shaitan by symbolically
throwing stones at him on the first day of the feast
During this time also, pilgrims present their
Sacrifices (slaughtering the lambs), then shave or
shorten their own hair.
The
Mosques of Mecca
-
The house where Prophet Muhammad ('s) was born is
transformed into a mosque and today it exists in the suburb
(Shiaab) of Bani Hashem or Ali.
-
Dar Al- Arqam, where the Prophet used to meet secretly
with his close companions.
-
The Rayat
mosque at the highest place in Mecca, where the Prophet
('s) fixed the flag at the day of opening
Mecca.
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The "Jinn" or "Harass" mosque, also called ''Al Bayaat" mosque, is the place where
the Jinn have pledged allegiance to the Prophet ('s), after his return from Taef where he was hurt.
Besides
these, there are other mosques like (Al-Surur), (Al- Muttakee), and (Dhee- Towa).
Ghar
Hiraa
 One of the most
honourable traces remaining from the time of the Prophet
is ''Ghar Hiraa''. It is a cave at the top of the mountain of light "Annoor", where the Prophet
('s) used to
go for worshipping and meditation, before he was
sent and chosen as a Messenger. In it, revelation was brought down and from it the Holy Qur'an
began its descent.
Another one
is "Ghar Thowr" at the mountain (Thowr), where
the Prophet sought refuge in his migration from Mecca to
Medina. |