Why haj pilgrims return to Mecca
Why haj pilgrims return to Mecca
By Santi WE Soekanto & Wisnu Pramudya
JAKARTA (JP): "There is an unexplainable feeling of longing, a
yearning, to see the Baitullah (House of God) in Mecca again, and
again, and again."
This was expressed by a person who has gone on pilgrimage to
Mecca more than once. The pilgrimage to Mecca is a religious duty
for Moslems who are able, as mandated by the last of the five
tenets of Islam.
The first time usually provides a person with such an
exhilarating spiritual experience that he will yearn for those
moments of spiritual highs.
Dr. Umar Syihab, an ulema and legislator from the Golkar
faction, is a case in point of a Moslem who feels the urge to go
on pilgrimage again and again.
He has been on the haj ten times, and twice on umrah (minor
pilgrimage), and is planning to go again this year.
Of the ten times, Syihab felt his first time was the most
memorable.
"It's not only me. Everyone who has gone on pilgrimage will
feel the desire to go again," he said. "It's probably also
because pilgrims pray during their time in Mecca that Allah helps
them return to the holy land for another pilgrimage."
The graduate of the Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt,
likened the urge to return to Mecca with a feeling of love that
someone has toward a beloved.
"If you love someone, you want to see him again and again," he
said. "That is exactly what happens to us who want to go to Mecca
again and again."
He understood the government's reason for trying to impose a
quota on the number of people going on pilgrimage. However, he
believed the government's campaign would be more effective if it
also encouraged people to go on umrah which can be done at other
times of the year.
Moslems go on haj during the month of Dzulhijjah in the lunar
Moslem year, which falls in May this year.
"Moslems try to go on pilgrimage more than once mostly because
they feel a certain feeling, a yearning ... and the essence of this
longing is actually toward the Kaaba (the Holy Shrine in Mecca),
instead of toward the pilgrimage rite itself," Syihab explained.
"Prophet Muhammad went on pilgrimage only twice in his
lifetime, but he suggested that people do more of the thawaf (the
rite of circling the Kaaba seven times, as first shown by
Abraham)," he said.
The ritual circling of the Kaaba automatically constitutes an
umrah.
Moslem singer Neno Warisman has gone on the haj twice and on
umrah five times. The graduate of the French program of the
University of Indonesia's Faculty of Letters acknowledged the
longing to see the House of God again and again.
"I definitely have those moments," said the pretty young
mother of one who is known for her efforts to find suitable songs
and entertainment for Moslem children.
"I feel this urge to go again, this longing ... but now I'm
trying hard to control the urge. I tell myself this feeling is
valid but I don't have to act on it."
Neno added that she can go on pilgrimage often, but
understands that it could deprive someone else of an opportunity
of a lifetime to go, given the quota. "Other people have the
right to go too," she said.
She pointed out that going on pilgrimage is not "everything"
in the life of a Moslem. "We have many things to deal with here,
like poverty ... how can we go on pilgrimage many times over if
one of our neighbors can't even afford to send a child to
school?"
The feeling of love and longing toward Allah, she said, "could
be channeled through other forms of worship," she said. And so
she set a prerequisite for herself.
Despite the many offers she receives from various travel
bureaus annually to go on haj for free, she vowed never to go on
pilgrimage again until she masters Arabic.
Abdullah, a journalist, has gone only once on the haj but his
father has gone 16 times and is planning to go again this year.
"I'd like to be able to go again ... but I can't stand the
crowd, so I think I'd better go on minor pilgrimage instead," he
said.