Getting spiritual lift from 'umrah'
By Santi W.E. Soekanto & Wisnu Pramudya
The Jakarta Post editorial staff members Santi W.E. Soekanto and Mulkan Salmona recently performed umrah pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. They report on their travels to the holy Islamic cities and to other major cities in the Middle East, including Jordan, Jerusalem, Cairo and Turkey, on Page 1, 8 and 12.
MECCA (JP): First, you weep.
Almost everybody who has been on umrah pilgrimage is able to recount how they burst into tears the first time they saw the Kaaba in Masjid Al-Haram, Mecca, and the Prophet's tomb in Masjid Nabawi in Medina.
"Tears sprang forth, just like that, as soon as I saw the black-curtained Kaaba. I could not do anything else," said one.
"I could not see my way around the mosque because I was too busy crying," said another. "I was swamped, all of a sudden, with various emotions. Mostly guilt. It's like I could see all the sins, all the mistakes, I had committed in the past. They were being played back to me.
"I wanted only one thing when I went on the umrah. Forgiveness from Allah. After all that time spent crying, I felt as if I was drained, but, serene, too. It's as if I was cleansed in some way, and became closer to Allah."
This is the most common response when people are asked about their time on umrah, the minor pilgrimage.
Some people have described haj pilgrimage as a dress rehearsal for death, given the arduous, emotionally draining, sometimes unfathomable, rites that Moslems have to perform in the sun- stricken Sahara.
Umrah, then, could be considered a spring-cleaning of the heart. Much less taxing than haj, but it is very much an emotional experience as well. If one can say so, it "cleanses" one to the point where one feels one is being overhauled.
While haj appears to be a massive exercise, umrah is a religious experience of a more individual nature.
Like haj, however, it does not start in Mecca; it begins at home. Once a person expresses niyat (intention, the statement of purpose preceding any ritual) to go, he or she is obliged to start a process of repentance.
The person is also encouraged to refrain from any deeds which are in violation of Islam, and to settle his or her worldly affairs such as paying debts and writing a will.
Obligation
Certainly there is more to say about going on umrah aside from the spiritual lift one gets from the experience.
One of them is a sense that one is actually meeting an Islamic obligation, though not exactly the same as with the mandatory haj pilgrimage.
Moslems are enjoined to make the sacred journey of haj to the House of Allah in Mecca once in a lifetime. But there are people who believe that umrah, which can be carried out any time, is as obligatory.
Ulemas from certain schools believe that umrah is mandatory because of verse 196 of Sura Al Baqarah which says: "Complete the haj and the umrah in the service of Allah."
Certainly, there are also ulemas who think otherwise and believe that only haj is mandatory, with umrah being sunnat, a commendable deed.
What is clear, however, is that the Indonesian government would rather see more people going on umrah than on repeated haj pilgrims, given that Saudi Arabia allocates a quota of only 190,000 haj pilgrims, while the number of those wishing to go keeps increasing every year.
Aside from the discourse on laws of ritual obligation, umrah remains a spiritual experience most Moslems would like to recapture again and again.
Vacation
There is another reason why more people now go on umrah.
Because "It's cool. Exciting..."
This was how Dewi, a first-semester university student in Jakarta, expressed her thoughts on going on the minor pilgrimage with her parents and two older brothers on their 1996 year-end vacation.
Many people would think her statement odd, if not downright unsuitable, but Dewi could only have been describing in her own youthful way the same spiritual lift that people get from the pilgrimage. And even more odd considering she spent 1995 New Year's Eve partying with her friends in a star-rated hotel in Jakarta.
Dewi is just one of the increasing number of young people who now choose to spend their vacation going on pilgrimage. Early last year, for instance, the Saudi Arabian Embassy issued more than 50,000 visas for people going on umrah.
The trend continues this year. A number of umrah and haj operators said they were being overwhelmed because the number of people registering to go on umrah continues to rise.
"It increases even more significantly during year-end holidays," said Mayasardita of Intan Tour.
Intan Tour offers two packages of umrah; the first being the umrah plus pilgrimage to Masjid Al-Aqsa, another holy place for Moslems, in Jerusalem. This price of this package is US$2,300.
The other package is umrah plus a tour to three other cities in Palestine, Istanbul and Cairo for $3,150.
Another travel agent, Tiga Utama, offers a 14-day trip, umrah plus pilgrimage to Palestine for $2,990.
During the fasting month of Ramadhan, the number of people going on umrah usually peaks, sometimes exceeding the number of the annual haj pilgrims.
One of the reasons is that Moslems believe that the divine reward promised for a pilgrimage during this particular time is as great as the haj. Most Moslems want to spend their fasting month praying and staying at the Masjid Al-Haram during this particular time.
Tiga Utama, in cooperation with Hilton International chain, has a set price of $2,290 and $2,490 for an umrah trip for the first 10 days of Ramadhan; $2,390 and $2,590 for the second 10 days; and $2,990 and $3,590 from the 21st to 30th day of Ramadhan.
This increase in price seems to be a commercial interpretation of Moslems' belief that Allah promises even greater reward for deeds conducted toward the end of Ramadhan.
Intan Tour provides a $2,750 trip for the second 10 days of Ramadhan and a $3,250 trip from the 21st to 30th day of Ramadhan.
Ash-Shofa wal Marwah, another tour operator, offers three packages -- costing $950, $1,950, and $2,100 respectively -- for a nine-day trip.