وَأَذِّن فِى ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًا وَعَلَىٰ كُلِّ ضَامِرٍ يَأْتِينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِيقٍ
And proclaim the Hajj [pilgrimage] among people; they will come to you on foot and on every kind of camel (transportation) on account of journeys; through deep and distant mountain passes. (Surah Hajj:27)
Dear elders, brothers, sisters and young ones,
As-salamu Alaikoum / Peace be upon you,
On behalf of MAPS, let me welcome you to MAPS on this auspicious day. Today is a momentous day for 2 to 3 million Muslims who made the journey to Islam’s holiest of the holy places, the Ka’ba at the sacred masjid in Makkah. Let us pray Allah SWT accept their pilgrimage, their sacrifice and their prayers. And let us pray that He accept our own our prayers and sacrifice and that He grants us the opportunity to fulfill this hajj obligation.
The Hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah, is one of the 5 pillars of our faith. In one sense, it is one of the most challenging of our faith requirements since it requires health, wealth, and the personal circumstances (perhaps you have an young child or an elderly parent that needs to your attention which can prevent from making the journey). In another sense it is also a very rewarding experience because of its numerous benefits. Hajj reinvigorates our spirituality, rejuvenates our humility and helps experience the beauty in the diversity of the world. What I find more valuable are the timeless life lessons we learn from Hajj. I want to highlight 3 of them here.
Unity
The first thing that to one’s comes to mind about Hajj is the magnificent display of the oneness of humanity. Where else can you find millions of people of all races, nationalities, all dressed in the simplest dresses, performing the same acts of worship, all in one place. The most important lesson of hajj is that we are all same in front of the creator. It is also a reminder of the Hereafter and that what matters in front of our creator are our actions and not the privileges we accumulated in this world. It was in his last sermon on Arafat that the Prophet (pbuh) said, “Verily in the sight of Allah, the most honored amongst you is the one who is most God-fearing. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab, nor for the white over the black nor for the black over the white except in God-consciousness.”
Such was the profound statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him) 1400 years ago. In one sense, it is almost inconceivable to see the lack of progress we have made in overcoming our race relations even today. We live in an increasingly racially polarized world. With increasing threat of white supremacy, we witnessed horrible shootings in Dayton, El Paso and Gilroy over the past few weeks. We are witnessing forcible separation of 100s of children from parents as a result of our immigration policies, again driven by fear with no consideration for compassion. The real purpose of Hajj is to overcome these evil tendencies. It was in the context, that prompted Malcom X to state after his Hajj experience. “America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem.”
At MAPS, we try to embody this principle by building bridges of understanding with people of other faith and the society around us. Our relationship cannot be based on victim mentality or one in which we are the recipients and never the givers. The fact the 2000 people, primarily people of other faiths showed up to demonstrate their support in the aftermath of Christchurch shooting is a testament to the positive relationship we have nurtured and our own commitment to the local community.
Faith and Patience
Secondly, Hajj is all about strengthening faith and faith’s necessary companion, namely patient perseverance. The Hajj is centered on the experiences of prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) who surrendered his rational judgment to the will of God even when that command was to sacrifice his own son. Ibrahim (pbuh) was time and again tested and every time he proved to be patient and perseverant. The lesson we draw in our life is that it is not always possible for us to comprehend all the intricacies of life, or to understand all the challenges that come our way. Often times all we need is to simply have trust and faith in our Creator and be patient and perseverant.
Compassion
The last aspect of Hajj I want to highlight is compassion for fellow human beings regardless of race, religion or nationality. Hajj offers the opportunity to meet and interact with people of every type of race, nationality and language. Most of the conflicts in the world are rooted in these areas. It is by getting to know others, that we become compassionate towards others. We realize that we have more in common than our differences. Omar RAW, the second caliph, became a Muslim when he actually got to know and read the Quran and was able to overcome his apprehensions based on propaganda. I was recently was listening on NPR the story of Christian Picciolini, a white supremacists who now leads an organization called Free Radicals Project, an organization working to de-radicalize extremists. The story of his transformation is fascinating. He opened a record store for selling hate songs. He said Black Americans kept coming to the store to buy black music. That was the first time he got to know a black person and began to learn and understand how much they had in common which started his journey of transformation. In a recent Pew Study on What Americans know about Religion, the participants were asked about the views of other faith – in rating scale from favorable to negative. Those who were most knowledgeable of other faith and knew someone of another faith, rated the religion favorably than those who did not. That’s why we at MAPS spend enormous amount of time and money helping people who are less fortunate whether it is offering meals, housing, transportation, or addressing medical or legal needs or taking care of our environments.
I summarize this brief remark by recapping the lessons of Hajj. (1) unity of fellow human beings that leads to racial harmony (2) strengthening of faith with patience and perseverance and finally compassion for fellow human beings.
I want to leave you with 3 Take Aways:
1. I am sure there will be invariably many first-time comers and occasional visitors among us. To you I say, we are more than a place of worship. We offer Quran classes, Islamic education, Sunday school. In addition, we offer classes on digital economy to software development for all age groups including programming for teenagers and girls. We have sports programs such as basketball and badminton classes for kids and women. Do checkout our website and take advantage of services we provide. Go to our website and sign up for our newsletter. We promise not to spam you. We are working hard to make the information relevant and useful.
2. We are a volunteer organization and you will be surprised how many of our activities are led by volunteers out of their own passion. If you have a particular passion, please send an email to volunteer@mapsredmond.org and specify your is area of passion to volunteer and how much time in a week or month you can provide.
3. Finally, no organization can sustain without financial support of the community. 80% of our operating budget stills comes from donations. While our community has been very generous, we need to grow our donor base. We would very much like to expand and grow so we can continue to serve the community. You can donate at the kiosk, website and text via your phone at 1-425-654-2989.
Eid Mubarak to all you and may Allah SWT make this a blessed day for you, your family and all of the ummah.
Hyder Ali
MAPS President