Posted by: TheMajlis

'Umrah' Also a Deception

A MONG THE INNUMERABLE ploys and deceptions of shaitaan is his strategy of using acts of ibaadat to ensnare people. Shaitaan has divided his armies into two main groups—the shayaateen of the east and the shayaateen of the west. Once the shayaateen were asking the question: Which of the two groups is the greatest? That is, the vilest in their sphere of satanism.

In Mawaahibul Khaleel, a Fiqh kitaab of the Maaliki Math-hab, in the discussion on the question of Hajj, it is mentioned: “If a man knows that if he embarks on a sea voyage he will be overwhelmed by dizziness which will prevent him from performing Salaat, then it is not permissible for him to journey (to perform Hajj). There is no difference of opinion on this issue. A person who has this problem, and inspite of it, sets off for Hajj, his Hajj is the desire of the nafs. In fact, it is the prompting of shaitaan.

Al-Barzali said: “Verily, our Shaikh Abu Muhammad Ash-Shabeebi narrated from Taalib that: ‘The shayaateen of the east and the shayaateen of the west disputed (among themselves)—Who are the greatest perpetrators of deception?

The shayaateen of the east said to the shayaateen of the west: ‘We are the greater conspirators than you because, most certainly, we exhort a man to sin and violate prohibitions in the places of the Ambiya.’

The shayaateen of the west said: ‘We are the greatest deceits. We find a man (in the peace and comfort of his home) with his wife and children. He fulfils the Faraaidh obligations of Salaat, Zakaat, etc. comfortably and with peace of mind while the Malaaikah are in his company. Then we suddenly send an agent (like the Hajj agents and SAHUC—The Majlis) to entice him into journeying to the Land of Hijaz. We poke him with a knife (a figurative expression for shaitaani manipulation). Thus he cries (yearns to go for Umrah). We exhort him to emerge from his home (to undertake the Umrah journey). Then he comes out of his home and embarks on the journey.

From the very day he emerges from his home (to go on the journey), we induce him to neglect his Fardh obligations and to commit violations (of the Shariah’s Ahkaam), from the day of departure to the day of return.

In consequence, he suffers loss of wealth and has harmed his Deen (whether it be) in the east of the world or in the west of the world.” The shayaateen of the east conceded to their counterparts of the west that indeed they are the greatest deceits.

Al-Barzali adds: “I myself have observed some of these perpetrations on my Hajj journey. We seek the protection of Allah.” In this discussion of the two groups of shayaateen is a sombre lesson for the droves of people who go for Umrah. Most of them embark on the journey under a spell of self and shaitaanideception. While their ostensible argument to soothe their conscience and dupe people is the ibaadat of Umrah or Nafl Hajj, their true agenda is nothing but nafsaaniyat.

They go for a holiday. They squander wealth and time in evil, in sin and futility. They proceed to the Holy Places with foul intentions and loaded with sins. They return from the Holy Places with a greater burden of sin and corruption.

Hadhrat Fudhail Bin Iyaadh (rahmatullah alayh) said that there are people who emerge from their bathroom purified of sin while others return from the Ka’bah loaded with the burden of sin.

When the Mu’min makes wudhu or takes ghusl, and he observes the Sunnat rules of these acts of ibaadat, his sins are washed and eliminated as the water rolls off his body. He therefore emerges from the bathroom purified from sins. On the other hand, people commit many Shar’i violations and indulge in acts of flagrant sin in the Holy Places. Thus, instead of being purified, they return from the Ka’bah with a heavy burden of sin.

Right from the time a man sets out from his home for Umrah, he invariably becomes trapped in sin and neglect of ibaadat even if he happens to be a sincere and a pious man. All hijaab totally evaporates. His females are all exposed to fussaaq and fujjaar at the airports, at the immigration, at the customs, in the transit lounges, in the hotel foyers, in the hotel lifts, in the streets, in the taxis, in the buses, in the planes, and in every place. Every rule of Hijaab, morality, shame and honour in the sacred Book of the Shariah is violated.

These acts of baatini persecution and torture have to be suffered and committed from the very first day until entry into the blessed sanctuary of the home.

Even in the Holy Cities, the exposure to moral crimes and violations saps the spiritual energy of one who is conscious of his Imaan. Men and women brush against one another right in the Harmain Shareefain. A total breakdown of Hijaab and Akhlaaq occurs in the Holy Places where the Hajj and Umrah have been thoroughly commercialised and transformed into a holiday. Ibaadat is furthest from the heart and mind.

The modern shaitaani shopping malls—the haunts of the shayaaten— are overcrowded 24 hours of the day with those who had ostensibly undertook a Journey of Love—Love for Allah. The treachery of the claimants of Divine Love is absolutely revolting and shocking.

They argue, they fight, they abuse and they project everything of the worst which the nafs of insaan has to offer. They fight over food, over accommodation and over the inconveniences which have to be incumbently tolerated.

On the plane, Salaat is either abandoned or performed in a mock display. Interacting with faajirah and faajir plane staff is incumbent. The majority of those who proceed for Umrah blissfully forget about Salaat in the plane. Haraam food is ingested with the greatest relish. Food is accepted from the same impure hands which serve wine and pork.

In a nutshell, nothing is correct on the journey. Assault on and mutilation of the Ahkaam of the Shariah are acceptable norms of the journey. Every man has to incumbently become a dayyooth in this era on a journey. Females enjoy the air of ‘liberation’ in the Haramain Shareefain. They have gained the idea that everything goes for permissibility in Makkah and Madina. Roaming the streets, prowling around on shopping sprees, eating in the public, close contact and interaction with the male shopkeepers, etc., all become acceptable for the socalled Purdah Nasheen females. The evils perpetrated in the ‘national’ tents at Mina is a story of a different kind where even divorce takes place.

Molvis have added their weight to the criminilisation of the Hajj and Umrah with their commercial agenda. In the name of ibaadat, they have become mercenaries. Because they are in Makkah and Madina, they have the outer cover of ibaadat. Women freely trot to the Harams, mixing with the thousands of males in the streets and in the Musjids. This is not ibaadat. This is not Umrah. It is the ploy of Iblees. Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: “Journey is a portion of the Fire.” Today, this Naar (Fire) blazes most fiercely on the Umrah journey. Stay at home and gain the thawaab of a Maqbool Hajj and a Umrah on a daily basis by performing forur raka’ts Ishraaq Salaat.