By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwī and translated by Dr. Abu Zayd To access the original arabic, follow this link Standing in ʿArafah is ṣalāh just as ṭawāf is ṣalāh, for Ḥajj combines all forms of ṣalāh together. Ṣalāh essentially signifies entry into the presence of God. When an ordinary person comes before a powerful king into his majesty’s immediate presence, he becomes apprehensive and humbled. When that same person becomes removed and distant from his majesty’s presence, then that sense of humility becomes diminished or even absent. In ṭawāf (circumambulation around the Kaʿbah), God’s presence is ever present in the…
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Hajj
By Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi The hajj represents for Muslims all the hopes and aspirations, all the testing and hardships, and all the consolations, of worship. It combines all the major pillars of worship: affirmation of trust in God and His Messenger; detachment, for God’s sake, from one’s wealth and possessions; disciplining of the body’s appetites, weakening their hold on the mind and heart; dedication of mind and heart to God in salah, which carries formal, scripted prayer into spontaneous, inward supplication. In Islam, the prayer is not simply the words that one utters. Rather, the words are closely related…
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