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Writer's pictureYahya Nurgat

al-Ghazālī on the mysteries and meanings of the Hajj (Part 1)

In his magnum opus, the Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn (“The Revival of the Religious Sciences”), Imam al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) frames the hajj as a collection of emotional, mental and physical stages. He invites the reader to contemplate on the mysteries and meanings of the Hajj at each of these stages. Here, I summarise these stages and their points of contemplation, beginning with understanding the role of the hajj in the religion and culminating in the rites of the hajj themselves (part two). For a full reading, English readers may consult Muhtar Holland’s translation of the relevant section, on which this summary is based.[1] In places where I have provided the corresponding Arabic wording, I have used the Dār al-Minhāj edition.[2]

'Picture of the City of Mecca the Great'. Photographer: H. A. Mirza & Sons [‎3r] (1/1), British Library: Visual Arts, Photo 174/3, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023483748.0x000011>

INNER STATES AT VARIOUS STAGES OF HAJJ The role of sincerity in intention. The way to respect the noble places of religious visitation (al-mashahid al-sharīfa), the manner in which to contemplate them and to reflect upon their mysteries and meanings, from the start of the Hajj to the end. UNDERSTANDING (al-fahm)

It must be realised that there is no way of attaining to God, Glorified and Exalted is he, except by devoting oneself exclusively to Him in every movement and rest. Members of the earlier religious communities asked God's Messenger, on him be peace, if the ways of the monks and anchorites[3] (sāiʾḥīn) were followed in his religion and he replied: ‘God has replaced them for us with the Jihad and the declaration of His supremacy on every elevated place [the Hajj].’[4] So God has favoured this Community by making the Hajj its form of monasticism (ruhbāniyya) and has honoured the Kaʿba, the Ancient House, by calling it His own. He has made it a goal for His servants, consecrating its surroundings as a sanctuary for His House and for the glory of His cause. He has made Arafat as it were the pipe supplying water to the pool of His heavenly court.

Muslims have been enjoined to perform in the Holy Places certain actions to which the soul does not readily conform, and the significance of which is not easily grasped by the mind. The sole inducement to perform them is therefore the command itself and the intention to comply with it as an order that must be obeyed. Rationality is thus put aside, and the natural self is deflected from where its comfort lies; for if this was something readily comprehensible to the mind, there would be a natural inclination towards it. That inclination would then provide an added incentive to act upon it, in which case it would hardly represent a perfect demonstration of homage and obedience.

The performance of inexplicable duties is a form of devotion most effective in purifying the soul, and in deflecting it from its natural propensities into the habit of servitude. If you have grasped this, you will have understood that perplexity concerning these strange actions stems from inattention to the mysteries of devotions. YEARNING (al-Shawq) Yearning arises only after understanding that the House is truly the House of God. One who goes to the House in this world will be bestowed with the vision of God's Noble Countenance in the abode of eternity. The inadequate mortal eye we possess in this earthly abode lacks the capacity to bear or receive the vision of the Face of God. But in the abode of the Hereafter, when it has been granted immunity to the causes of change and decay, it will be prepared for that vision and sight. By betaking oneself to the House and beholding it, one earns the right to meet the Lord of the House in accordance with the noble promise. The yearning to meet with God simultaneously creates a longing for all that will lead to that meeting, for the lover craves everything in any way connected with his beloved. The House is connected with God, so this connection is itself enough to make one yearn for it. This is quite apart from the wish to attain the abundant reward that is promised.

RESOLVE (al-ʿAzm) The pilgrim should be aware that by his resolve he is purposing to leave his family and homeland behind, forsaking pleasures and desires as he sets out to visit the House of God. He must know that he has resolved upon a matter of high consequence.

Where great things are at stake, the risks are also greatest. Let him be fully aware that only what is sincere in his intention and action will find acceptance, and that there is no offence more outrageous than to visit the House of God and His Sanctuary for ulterior motive (such as hypocrisy and desire for fame).


SEVERING TIES (Qaṭʿ al-ʿAlāʾiq)


To severe ties is to reject all misdeeds and to sincerely repent to God.

If you hope to have your visit accepted you should carry out His commandments, cast off transgressions, repent to Him first of all for all acts of disobedience, and sever your heart's connection from concern with what is behind you. You can then turn your heart to face Him, as you turn your visible face in the direction of His House. Unless you do this, you will get nothing from your journey except trouble and hardship at the outset and dismissal and rejection at the end. The pilgrim should sever all ties with his homeland, cutting himself off completely as if he were going into exile, never to return. While severing ties for the journey of Hajj, one should also remember severing ties for the journey of the Hereafter, for that is soon to come. All that is suggested for this earthly journey is desirable in preparation for the other, which is to eternity and the ultimate return. One should therefore not be heedless of that final journey while getting ready for the Hajj. PROVISIONS (al-Zād) Provisions must be acquired from a lawful source. If the pilgrim feels impelled to take enough provisions to last him the whole journey, let him remember that the journey to the hereafter is a much longer one than this, and that the only provision for it is true piety. Whatever else one supposes to be provision will be left behind when you die. It will no more keep than the fresh food that goes bad on the first leg of the journey, leaving one helpless in the moment of need. Beware therefore, in case the deeds which make up your provision for the hereafter do not go with you after death because they are tainted by hypocrisy or muddied by negligence.

TRANSPORT (al-Rāḥila) When the pilgrim procures a riding-beast, he should give heartfelt thanks to God for putting animals at his disposal to relieve him of pain and hardship. At the same time, he should call to mind the vehicle that will carry him to the abode of the Hereafter, namely his coffin, for the Hajj presents a certain parallel to the final journey.

He should therefore consider whether the journey he is about to make, riding this mount, will help to equip him for that other journey aboard that other vehicle. For all he knows, death may be so near that he will be riding the coffin before he has time to ride the camel. So where is the point in making careful preparations to equip oneself for a doubtful journey, while neglecting to prepare for a journey that is sure and certain?

PURCHASE OF IHRAM (Shirāʿ thawbay(n) al-iḥrām) When buying his iḥrām garments the pilgrim should recall the shroud (kafn) in which he will be wrapped for burial. While he may never finish his journey to the House of God, what is certain is that he must go to meet God wrapped in the cloth of the shroud. He should therefore remember: just as he goes to meet the House of God in unusual garb and attire, so after death he must go to meet God dressed in a fashion different from that of this world. The iḥrām garments are unstitched like the shroud.

LEAVING HOME (al-Khurūj min al-balad) The pilgrim should know that he has now left home, bound for God, on a journey unlike any worldly voyage. He should be conscious in his heart of what he wishes, where he is heading and Whom he intends to visit. He should be aware that he is journeying to the King of kings, along with a host of visitors who have been summoned and have answered the call, and who have set out for the House of God. The Pilgrim should also nourish in his heart the hope of attainment and acceptance, not by virtue of leaving behind his family and property, but through trust in the bounty of God, and in hope of confirming His promise to those who visit His House. He should nurture the hope that, if fate overtakes him en route and he does not arrive, he will meet God while coming to him, since He says: ‘Whoever sets out from his home, migrating to God and His Messenger, then death overtakes him. his recompense is incumbent upon God’ [Q 4:100].

CROSSING THE DESERT TO THE ASSEMBLY POINT (Dukhūl al-bādiya ila’l-mīqāt)

When crossing the desert to the assembly point (mīqāt), with all its attendant hardships, the pilgrim should there recall the crossing at death between this world and the assembly point on the Day of Resurrection, with the terrors and trials that intervene.

The terror of highway robbers should remind him of the terror of the inquisition by Munkar and Nakir; the savage beasts of the desert should make him think of the scorpions, snakes and worms of the tomb; his separation from family and relatives should put him in mind of the agony and solitude of the tomb. Through all these terrors he should equip himself by word and deed for the horrors of the tomb.


'Picture of the Tents of the Turks'. Photographer: H. A. Mirza & Sons [‎1r], British Library: Visual Arts, Photo 174/1, in Qatar Digital Library (https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023483748.0x00000d).

PUTTING ON IHRAM AND CRYING ‘LABBAYK’ (al-iḥrām wa’l-talbiya min al-mīqāt)


As for donning the garb of ihram and crying 'Iabbayk' from the assembly point (al-talbiya) onwards: the pilgrim should know that this signifies a response to the summons of God. Hope, therefore, to be accepted and dread being told: 'No favour or fortune for you!' (lā-labbayk wa lā-saʿdayk). Oscillate between hope and fear: rid yourself of your power and strength, and rely on the grace and generosity of God.

Just as the pilgrim recalls that he is responding to the summons of God, he should recall that mankind will be summoned by the trumpet's blast, gathered up from the tomb and crowded together at the site of the Resurrection, responding to the call of God. Here, they will be divided into the favoured and the abhorred, and the accepted and the rejected. They will be oscillating initially between fear and hope, just like the pilgrims at the assembly point, when they do not know whether or not they will be enabled to complete the Hajj and have it accepted.

[1] al-Ghazālī, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship, trans. Muhtar Holland (The Islamic Foundation, 2012): chapter 4. [2] al-Ghazālī, Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn, ed. (Jeddah: Dār al-Minhāj, 2011): Section on worship (ʿibadāt), part two: 233-254. [3] When asked about the anchorites, God's Messenger, on him be peace, said: ‘They are the ones who Fast.’ Narrated by Ḥākim in al-Mustadrak (2/335) and by al-Bayhaqī in al-Sunan al-Kubrā (4/305). [4] See Sunan Abī Dāwūd 2486; Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1797; Saḥiḥ Muslim 1344

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