A notification on my mobile phone screen some time ago brought\npleasant news. It came from Dr Fahmi Salim, a friend and fellow board\nmember of the Indonesian Ulema Council.<\/p>\n
Fahmi informed me that his latest work on the Hajj had just been\npublished, and asked whether I would be willing to receive a copy of the\nbook.<\/p>\n
I naturally welcomed the offer with open arms. There is a particular\njoy whenever a new book arrives at home. For a book collector, the\narrival of a work is not merely a matter of adding another thick volume,\nbut of welcoming a thinking guest who brings new stories and\nperspectives to discuss.<\/p>\n
The book by Fahmi Salim is titled Hajj: from Purification of the\nProphetic Mission to the Revolution of Awakening. It is 360 pages long,\nand its first printing was published in June 2026 or Muharram 1448 H\nunder the banner of Al-Fahmu Institute with ISBN number\n978-634-97065-0-6.<\/p>\n
My personal library already holds a fairly abundant collection of\nbooks on the Hajj. Some are written in Indonesian, and many others are\nArabic-language works covering the treasures of tafsir, hadith, fiqh,\nhistory, and the thought of classical and modern scholars.<\/p>\n
For that reason, I initially opened the pages of Fahmi\u2019s book with a\nmind full of questions. What new thing could possibly be offered on the\ntheme of the Hajj pilgrimage, which has been studied extensively for\ncenturies?<\/p>\n
That question was soon answered by the surprising ideas within. Fahmi\ndoes not limit his discussion to technical matters of fiqh and rituals\nalone \u2014 such as the procedures for ihram, tawaf, sa\u2019i, wuquf, the\nstoning of the jamarat, and a complete collection of prayers.<\/p>\n
Fahmi goes further by reading the Hajj as a process of human\ntransformation. For him, the Hajj is a journey that subdues the ego,\ndissolves symbols of worldly status towards an identity of equal\nservanthood, and transforms personal spiritual experience into a\nconcrete movement of social awakening.<\/p>\n
This explains why the title of his book is quite weighty, placing the\nHajj pilgrimage between the purification of the prophetic mission and\nthe revolution of social consciousness. The Hajj is affirmed as a school\nof life where Muslims learn anew to arrange their relationship with the\nCreator as well as with fellow human beings.<\/p>\n
The part that most captured my attention lies in three subsections at\nthe end of the book, grouped in the chapter \u2018Reflections on the\nJourney\u2019. These three closing sections examine fundamental issues that\nare often overlooked in practical religious discourse, namely ethics,\nunity, and peace.<\/p>\n
In the subsection \u2018From the School of Ethics to the Laboratory of\nMuslim Unity\u2019, Fahmi summarises his reflections by synthesising the\nthought of scholars and intellectuals across the ages, such as Imam\nal-Ghazali, Ibn al-Qayyim, Sheikh as-Sa\u2019di, Sayyid Qutb, and Muhammad\nRashid Rida.<\/p>\n
From this synthesis of thought, a very strong common thread emerges:\nthat the Hajj pilgrimage is in essence an inner journey to purify the\nsoul from the root of all human conflict, namely egoism.<\/p>\n
If we unravel the history of tension between human beings, almost all\nsocial and political conflict begins with an uncontrolled ego. That is,\nthe desire to dominate, the reluctance to yield, one-sided claims to\ntruth, and group and tribal fanaticism.<\/p>\n
The Hajj pilgrimage demolishes this entire construction of the ego\ndrastically. In the wrapping of ihram clothing, all signs of worldly\ngreatness are removed. Clothing no longer serves as a marker of social\nstrata, rank is left outside the miqat boundary, and wealth grants no\nspecial right to stand closer in front of the Kaaba.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-peaceful-reflection-from-the-hajj-pilgrimage-1788691910", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }