My caravan and I traveled from Baghdad, Iraq to Mecca in Arabia. During the course of this arduous journey, our caravan visited the town of Kufa in Iraq, and the Arabian towns of Ha’il, Madinah, al-Rabadha, and finally Mecca. My pilgrimage took place in the year 780 CE. Three days after the caravan left Kufa, the former Iraqi capital, the travelers and I crossed paths with friendly Roman merchants from the Byzantine Empire. The merchants told the caravan guides, or mutawwifs, about the recent change of governmental power in the massive Byzantine Empire. Because of the death of Leo IV earlier in the year, Constantine VI was now the new Byzantine Emperor. The merchants also described to us their unique faith, Christianity, which has rapidly spread through the Empire. The merchants noted that Christian beliefs were similar to Islam in many ways, but differed as well. In Christianity, Jesus is believed to be the divine Son of God. Although he lived as a man in Judea eight hundred years previously, my fellow travelers and I knew about Jesus but we Muslims viewed him only as a great prophet. The Christian merchants worshipped Jesus as one of three parts of God (or Trinity) and told us that Jesus’ main teaching was that people must love one’s neighbor as oneself, and to love God with all one’s heart. Christians believe that Jesus later died on a cross in expiation for mankind’s sins and, but rose from the dead three days later and ascended into Heaven. After fervently expressing their Christian beliefs to our Muslim caravan, the merchants warned us about the sandstorm that was coming our way. Indeed, two days later, when the caravan was staying at a hostel near Ha’il, a massive sandstorm hit. The wind relentlessly blew painful, gritty sand into everyone’s faces and bodies, covering many in the caravan and making them, especially the young children and elderly, become too weak to stand or even breathe. It ravaged the entire area, leaving only me, my family and 3,000 other pilgrims alive, out of the 8,000 in the caravan that departed Baghdad. When the remainder of the caravan finally entered Ha’il, caliph Muhammad al-Mahdi of the Abbasid Caliphate met us at the town center. He sadly noticed that many of the Hajj pilgrims had been killed by the vicious sandstorm, so he walked to the town mosque and shouted the Muslim Call to Prayer. Soon the mosque was crammed with Ha’il’s citizens and Baghdad pilgrims. Al-Mahdi then announced that all the citizens of Ha’il, if they could, should accompany the Baghdad pilgrims on their Hajj to make up for those killed in the sandstorm. The caliph then permitted our pilgrim group to stay for three days in Ha’il to recuperate from the sandstorm and to prepare for the remaining trials of the Hajj. During those three days, I discovered a unique contraption in a nearby field, a stone tower with a wheel of sails covered with fabric. I asked the landowner of the field what the device was, and the landowner explained it was a windmill. He then explained its history and use. The windmill was invented in 634 CE by a Persian caliph and was used to grind corn and draw up water from the oasis for irrigation. In the Arabian deserts, when the seasonal storms ran dry, the only source of power was the wind, which blew steadily from one direction for months. During those three restful days, my family and I stayed with a polite and kind Arabian family. This family gave us golden dinars and silver dirhems, the coins of the Abbasid Caliphate. Abu, the male head of the family, told me that 10 dirhems equalled one dinar. Abu was a poor merchant who was struggling to make a living, but, like most Arabians, wanted to provide proper hospitality to visitors such as my family and me. He was very grateful to have my family living in his house and to attend the pilgrimage with them. I was curious about the people who lived in Ha’il and tried to greet the people in its streets as they walked by, but they refused to respond. Surprised, I considered this to be an act of rudeness. When I asked Abu about this behavior later, Abu told me that, in the Arabian culture, no one greets others outside of the family in public. I found this custom fascinating, although a little strange. Later, when we were going to eat, I asked Abu whether he ate with both hands or just one. Abu replied that in Arabia, one must only eat with the right hand, since the left one is considered unclean. I smiled, and replied that the same custom applied in Iraq. I began to feel more at home in Arabia. I also discovered that in Arabia, the family and tribe, or group of families that are related, are the basis of the social structure. Some tribes are made up of noble families, and are called the qabila, but I didn’t see many of them, because I was just a traveling pilgrim. While in Ha’il, I saw more khadira tribes, who consisted of tradesmen, artisans, merchants, and scholars, whose social class mirrored his own. In Arabia, people primarily made money through trade and commerce, however, the khadira and the qabila barely interacted with each other. I also saw some members of the abd class, who were slaves and at the bottom of the tribal-linked social class. The highest class, even above the qabila, was that of the ashraf, who claimed that they were descended from the Prophet Mohammad. Given Abu’s poor merchant class, no one in his family had even once met any one of the ashraf. By the time my three days in Ha’il had ended, I had gained a fair understanding of life and the social classes of Arabia. After thanking Abu for his hospitality, my family, the remainder of the caravan, the Ha’il citizens and I set out on their trek for Madinah. After five days of weary traveling, I was delighted to arrive at Madinah. Madinah was special to me, and most Muslims, because it is the city where the Prophet Mohammad fled to when his hometown of Mecca wouldn’t accept his teachings. In Madinah, however, his sacred teachings from God received positive attention and acceptance. I knew that my opportunity to enter the City of the Prophet was a limited one, so I decided to spend the day praying and sightseeing. First, I decided to walk to the town just outside Madinah called Quba, and pray at the Quba Mosque, the world’s first mosque. When Mohammad migrated to Madinah, he first stopped in Quba, built a mosque in the town, prayed in it, and declared it to be the first mosque. The Quba Mosque was elaborate and stunning and included 56 small domes, 6 large domes, and 4 minarets. After I prayed in the impressive mosque, I decided to go back to Madinah and visit the Prophet’s Mosque. This mosque stands on the site of an earlier mosque built by Mohammad himself and contains both Mohammad’s home and tomb. It is even larger than the Quba Mosque and contains stone foundations with a teak roof supported on stone columns. The mosque acts not just as a site for prayer and meditation, but also as a community center, court, and religious school. The mosque walls are decorated with mosaics by Coptic and Greek craftsmen. The courtyard is surrounded by a gallery on four sides, with a minaret on each of the four corners of the mosque. A mihrab or mosque niche was topped by a small dome and was built on the qibla wall which faces Mecca. Caliph al-Mahidi had ordered the renovation of the mosque, so its northern section had been demolished to further enlarge it. Despite the rubble, I was still willing to pray in the mosque, with my family and Abu’s family, at the mosque’s main area, and at Mohammad’s house and tomb. With my day and prayer and observation at an end, my caravan and I decided to set out for al-Rabadha the next day. It wasn’t far from Madinah, so I knew that it would be an easy journey. When the caravan arrived at al-Rabadha, everyone decided to stay there for one night. In my room, I had one thing on my mind, and that was the reverence and power of Allah I had experienced while at prayer in Madinah. I was amazed that the power of Allah exposed to me in Madinah was only a small fraction of Allah’s full vigor. This was the reason why I had traveled this far to al-Rabadha and had braved a sandstorm. The next day, my caravan and I continued on our way. Just northeast of Mecca, we stopped at a station at the mawaqeet. This is a geographic boundary hajjis can’t cross unless they attain ihram, or the normative state of mind and body. To attain ihram, I had to put on particular clothing, which included 2 pieces of white sheets. The larger sheet covered my body from my navel to my ankles, secured by a strip of fabric torn from the sheet. I draped the smaller sheet over my back and shoulders and put on new unstitched sandals that didn’t cover my ankles. In the state of ihram, I had to keep my head uncovered at all times and couldn’t shave, cut my hair, clip my nails, use perfume, or wear sewn clothes. When my caravan and I arrived at Mecca and traveled to the Great Mosque, I was mesmerized by the aura of Allah that emanated from the building. The Great Mosque’s high outer walls, gold-painted capitals, teak ceiling, marble columns and arches covered with mosaics, and enormous prayer hall overwhelmed me and convinced me that Allah himself was present. As we slowly progressed through the enormous prayer wings, the Kaaba shrine began to be more visible to me. When we got to the Kaaba, we, due to Islamic traditions, walked seven times around the shrine in a counterclockwise direction in the ritual of turning, or tawaf. The next moment, the most memorable moment for me during my Hajj, involved entering the Kaaba and kissing the Black Stone, a sacred stone built by Abraham and Ishmael. It was mounted on a stone wall four feet above the ground surrounded by a silver frame. It consisted of seven small stones of different sizes and shapes joined together with cement. When I kissed the shrine, I hoped that my kiss wouldn’t darken the stone anymore than it had been, since the white stone gets darker when more sinful mortals, like the offspring of Adam, kiss it. Then, my caravan and I walked a ritualized route. First, we traveled to Mina, east of Mecca, which is the traditional starting place of the main pilgrimage. Then, we continued southeast of Mina to Mount Arafat, a 70-meter high granite hill. Muslims believe that this was the place where Adam and Eve, after being separated for 200 years following their exile from the Garden of Eden, recognized and reunited themselves once more, and were forgiven by Allah for their transgression. Mt. Arafat had another Islamic connection, however, that made it even more sacred to me. It was at Mt. Arafat that Mohammad revealed the last verses of the Koran and delivered one of his famous farewell addresses. After praying and staying at Mt. Arafat for the night, the caravan and I left Mt. Arafat and traveled northwest to the town of Muzdalifah, where we collected as many stones as we could carry. My caravan and I then entered the Jamarat Valley in the Mina Valley to perform the ritual Stoning of the Devil. In the Stoning of the Devil rite, after denouncing sin, everyone in our caravan stoned three pillars symbolizing Satan the Devil, the perpetrator of all evil. This ritual represents Abraham’s stoning of the Devil who appeared to him three times. The Angel Gabriel, the same angel who gave Mohammad messages from God, guided Abraham in this regard. Finally, we returned to the town of Mina for the Festival of Sacrifice, bringing our healthy animals out for sacrificing. This ceremony honors Abraham’s near sacrifice of Ishmael that made the Arabs God’s chosen people. After the festival, my caravan and I left Mina and returned to Mecca to gaze at the Kaaba one last time. Once my caravan and I arrived back at the Kaaba, our Hajj was officially completed. My family, the other pilgrims and I gathered our camels together for the journey back to our homes. As my family and I traveled the long road back to Baghdad, I reflected on my amazing journey. I now realized why the Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Hajj allowed me to fully realize Allah’s spirit and witness His aura in Mecca. Before I undertook the Hajj, I had simply perfor
(Paul took the picture on the left when he traveled to Mecca last year.)
(Paul took the picture on the left when he traveled to Mecca last year.)
I visited town mosques and prayed exactly five times every day, like always. Then, to beat the crowds, I left on my fourth day to go Arafat, the place where Muhammad performed his last sermon to the people before he died. I also got to stone the pillar that is supposed to represent Satan and God’s struggle. The crowd control stopped us from killing each other by-accident.
After all the excitement, I planned on slaughtering a goat as is the tradition honoring Abraham’s struggle in almost sacrificing his son with God’s word. Unfortunately, the goat I had got away from me as I came towards it with the knife. Oh well! I took a bus to Madinah and saw a lot of intricate mosques there. I finally arrived at Mina, where I met up with my brother and uncle again. As we were leaving the city, a horrible incident occurred. A man was running down the street with a gun in hand, shooting. I got hit in the chest, like 20 others, b
This is my family, I miss them so much.
