By: Ayatullah al-Uzma Nasir Makarem Shirazi
Hajj is a great Islamic worship. This is a social worship, which is performed on prescribed days of the year in Mecca. This is such a worship, which not only creates a relation between God and His creatures, but also has different effects on the Islamic society, because:
· It is a worship gathering that begins with complete celibacy and full freedom, by just wearing simple clothes, it is a sign of equality of Allah’s creatures before Him and man himself keeps aside the distinctions of genealogy, language, color and wealth and stand before God without any distinction. Hajj is that worship act, which fulfils this purpose and creates the feeling among the faithful that no one should think that his status is high in the society.
· Hajj is such a huge gathering, whose pillars are formed through the representatives of the different Muslim countries. Hajj is a yearly gathering of the Muslims of the world.
The religion of Islam is not only a combination of few ethical laws and training whose purpose is just to improve spirituality and remain away from weekly or yearly gatherings of political parties. It is the opposite, that it is a heavenly and comprehensive religion which keeps an eye on all the spheres of a person’s life, whether it may be ethical, social, political, economical or from a different point of view.
For this reason the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) made the political rules and invited people for the yearly gathering at Mecca, and guaranteed its existence; and due to the grace of Allah the effect of this gathering is more than the worldly political parties.
After all the worldly leaders of the present time started giving importance to such type of gathering, whereas Islam had laid this down fourteen hundred years ago and used it to derive the desired results. Muslim thinkers who naturally participate in this gathering can analyze the present condition and acquire detailed information and then exchange their views and improve the conditions of Muslims and initiate their progress.
It is a gathering, which brings together the Muslims of the world and informs them about the conditions of other Muslims. Which other gathering can give such benefits?
This gathering can help to improve the economic and social conditions of the Muslims because the scholars and expert people after performing the rituals of Hajj can peacefully, sincerely and in a spiritual atmosphere exchange their views about social and economic basics of the Muslim Ummah.
The yearly gatherings of Hajj has always opposed injustice and force and there has been always freedom movements and it creates a spirit and emotions and from Islamic history and turning towards the Revolution. This point becomes clear that the seeds of downfall of imperialism and communist governments were sowed in the period of Hajj and this land has been the source of such freedom movements.
This was one of the secrets of Hajj. According to some scholars the time has come that the world understands the philosophy of Hajj.
From whatever is said above we conclude that all the Islamic worship acts carry such secrets, which are revealed to the individuals performing the worship or on the society in which he is leading his life.