Article: The Hajj of the Loyal Followers
Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi
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The Hajj of the Loyal Followers
Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi
From Yahya ibn Yasar, who said: We performed the Hajj and passed by Abu ʿAbd Allah (a), and he said: Pilgrims of the House of Allah, visitors of the grave of His Prophet (s), and Shiʿa of the family of Muhammad! Congratulations to you.
The Imam’s congratulation of the loyal Shiʿi pilgrims, who visited the grave of the Prophet (s) after performing the rites of their Hajj and after their visit to Imam al-Sadiq (a), was not an arbitrary congratulation. This congratulation carries within its folds a depth as deep as the truth, for it sums up the correct map according to which the pilgrim to the Sacred House of Allah ought to proceed.
The congratulation that the Imam pronounced is a single one, for a single group of people who had performed all of those acts. That is, he did not congratulate the pilgrims on their own, the visitors on their own, and the Shiʿa of the family of Muhammad on their own; rather, he congratulated the Shiʿa of the family of Muhammad who had performed the rites of their Hajj, visited the grave of their Prophet, and come as a delegation to their Imam. That is why it gives us an important map of who, among the pilgrims to the Sacred House of Allah, deserves that congratulation from the infallible Imam. Behind the congratulation lie secrets and truths of the utmost importance, without which the Hajj will not be an accepted Hajj, and setting out on the journey toward the Sacred House of Allah will not be a response to the call of Allah the Exalted, who said: “And proclaim the Hajj to all the people: they will come to you on foot and on lean camels, coming from distant places” (Qurʾan 22:27).
In order to discover the map of the Hajj that qualifies a person for success and for deserving the divine congratulation, we must trace the relationship of the wilāyah to the Hajj and the relationship of the Hajj to the wilayah, so as to derive the clear picture of the Hajj of the loyal followers—they are the elect who proceed in the right direction so as to witness the benefits of this world and the Hereafter in the Hajj.
So what is the relationship between the Hajj and the wilayah?
To answer this great question, which reveals to us truths and secrets, we shall address in this study the relationship of the Hajj and the wilayah in three basic stages, which are:
1/ The stage before the Hajj.
2/ The stage of performing the Hajj.
3/ The stage after the Hajj.
Stage One: The Loyal Followers before the Hajj
The relationship between the wilayah of the Infallible Imams and the Hajj to the Sacred House of Allah becomes clear before the pilgrim performs his rites—indeed, before the Hajj has even crossed his mind. All the Shiʿa of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) must hold to this relationship; indeed, everyone who professes the religion of Islam ought to believe in it, because the wilayah is the true extension of Islam and the practical application of the message of the Prophet Muhammad (s). The interactions of the wilayah, for a person, with regard to the Hajj manifest themselves in several points:
1/ The Wilayah Is the Condition of Acceptance
The Hajj is an act of worship that has a set of conditions for its validity to be realized. There are juristic conditions, such as the realization of capability, and such as ablution in relation to prayer: without capability being realized, the obligation is not realized, and without ablution the prayer will not be valid, even if one prolongs its bowing and prostration. There are also doctrinal conditions without which the deed is not accepted. Have you considered: if one of the polytheists abstained from food all day long, would we count him as fasting?.. Of course not; he must be a Muslim, compliant, intending nearness to Allah the Exalted. So too is belief in the wilayah of the Household of Infallibility and Purity: this belief is a condition for the acceptance of all acts of worship. Without belief in the wilayah of the Commander of the Faithful ʿAli ibn Abi Talib (a) and the rest of the Twelve Imams from his descendants, worship will have no acceptance, and consequently abundant entreaty, humility and devotion will be of no avail.
Abu al-ʿArandas al-Kindi narrated from a man of Quraysh: We were in the courtyard of the Kaʿba while Abu ʿAbd Allah (a) was sitting, and it was said to him: How many the pilgrims are! He (a) said: How few the pilgrims are! Then ʿAmr ibn Abi al-Miqdam passed by, and he said: This one is among the pilgrims.
It is clear that Imam al-Sadiq (a) does not consider all those circling the Sacred House of Allah to be pilgrims; rather, that is a great deal of clamor, and only the few are pilgrims, because the true pilgrim is the one who bears special qualities and a special faith as one of the most important conditions for being called a pilgrim; otherwise he is merely one who circles, as anyone might circle around anything without meaning. The Imam (a) pointed to ʿAmr ibn Abi al-Miqdam as an instance of one to whom the name “pilgrim” applies. This ʿAmr is a trustworthy narrator who has a book of the narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (a); al-Najashi mentioned him in his Rijal. He narrated from Imam ʿAli ibn al-Husayn (a), was a companion of Imam al-Baqir and al-Sadiq (a), and eminent narrators narrated from him. This ʿAmr, then, is a believer in the wilayah of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), and he has fulfilled the most important of the conditions for the acceptance of the Hajj.
Here is this important narration, which shows that the wilayah is the key to all acts of worship and their most important condition. From Zurara, from Abu Jaʿfar (a), who said: (Islam is built upon five things: upon prayer, zakah, the Hajj, fasting and the wilayah.
Zurara said: I said: And which of these is the most excellent?
He said: The wilayah is the most excellent, because it is their key, and the guardian is the guide to them..).
2/ The Ahl al-Bayt’s Call to the Hajj
One aspect of the relationship of the wilayah to the Hajj is that the Ahl al-Bayt (a), who represent the wilayah and the true extension of the Messenger (s), urge people toward the Hajj, make them yearn for it, and create a spirit of love for the Hajj in people’s souls, so that they do not cut off their connection with the Sacred House of Allah. That spirit emanating from the Ahl al-Bayt (a) as a call to the Hajj is a distinctive spirit, which called for attachment to Allah the Exalted through performing the rites of the Hajj. One is not to be content with his obligatory Hajj; rather, he should reach the point of doing it constantly. The noble narrations reported from them (a) were conveyed by the narrators and have filled the pages of books. From Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Sadiq (a), who said: (Hold to the Hajj of this House and perform it constantly, for in your constantly performing the Hajj is the warding off from you of the hardships of this world and the terrors of the Day of Resurrection).
And from ʿIsa ibn Abi Mansur, who said: Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad (a) said to me: (O ʿIsa, I love that Allah should see you, between one Hajj and the next, preparing for the Hajj).
The loyal follower plants in his heart love of the Hajj and its rites, and so he is in a constant yearning that calls him to attain capability every year. Such is the import of the supplications transmitted from them (a) in the month of Ramadan and at other times: they strengthen in a person the desire that Allah inscribe him among the pilgrims whose Hajj is accepted, whose striving is appreciated, and whose sins are expiated, every year.
3/ Taking the Juristic Questions from the Ahl al-Bayt (a)
After yearning for the Hajj has formed in the hearts of the loyal followers and they resolve to set out for the Sacred House of Allah to perform the rites of the Hajj, they must learn the rulings of the Hajj and its questions regarding the permissible and the forbidden, what is stipulated, and what realizes the validity of the act in manner and performance. Allah the Exalted has legislated His rulings for His servants in His Noble Book, and explained it to His Messenger (s), and called the believers to adhere to what he calls them to, because he speaks only from the Truth, Majestic and Exalted is He. The Exalted says:
“Take whatever the Apostle gives you, and refrain from whatever he forbids you.” (Qurʾan 59:7)
The Messenger of Allah (s) explained to the believers their rites and said to them, (Take your rites from me), when he performed the Farewell Hajj—the only Hajj that the Messenger of Allah (s) performed—in which he explained the basic rites of the Hajj. After that came the role of the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) to complete the course and teach people the landmarks of their religion and the rulings of their acts of worship. The Prophet (s) commanded all Muslims to follow them so that they would not stray from the right way, as he (s) said: (I am leaving among you the two weighty things; as long as you hold fast to them you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and my kindred, my Household).
From this hadith, which all Muslims of their various schools have narrated, and from others, it is established that the pilgrim must take his rulings and rites from the Ahl al-Bayt (a) specifically, so that he thereby achieves soundness of performance and keeps away from the intrusions, personal opinions and analogies with which the religion of some claimants to the Imamate and to jurisprudence was obliterated. For the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are the pure source for learning the rulings of the Hajj and all the other acts of worship.
This is what the loyal pilgrims who deserved the title of “pilgrim” used to do. Here is Zurara, the trustworthy and eminent narrator, who says: I said to Abu ʿAbd Allah (a): May Allah make me your ransom, I have been asking you about the Hajj for forty years and you give me rulings! He said: O Zurara, a House to which pilgrimage was made two thousand years before Adam (a)—you want its questions to be exhausted
in forty years?!
Stage Two: The Loyal Followers in Performing the Rites
After the pilgrim has fulfilled the wilaʾi preliminaries before the Hajj, there comes the role of practice and performance of the rites and their relationship to the wilayah and to the Ahl al-Bayt (a). This stage is no less important than the one before it, because it realizes the true contents of the Hajj. In this stage we shall come to know how the wilayah of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) moves in the performance of the rites, and what knowledge and awareness ought to be like. The relationship here is inseparable: the pilgrim cannot separate his performance of the rites from his faith in the Ahl al-Bayt (a), because in the Hajj the contents of the wilayah become manifest in the pilgrim’s faith, and his awareness and his heart move within the circle of the wilayah.
1/ The Hajj Is Knowing the Imam
The practice of the Hajj must call one to attachment to the Imamate and to strengthening the relationship between Allah the Exalted and the Imamate, as it is the true extension of the message of heaven, and because they are the guides to Allah the Exalted: whoever desires Allah the Exalted begins with them, enters through their door and follows their path. Knowledge of Allah the Exalted is the noblest and loftiest of knowledge, and when knowledge of Allah is realized, it is accompanied by knowledge of the Messenger whom Allah the Exalted sent; then true knowledge of the Messenger leads to knowledge of his true successors. Whoever does not come to know the true successors deviates from the road and stumbles on the journey toward Allah the Exalted. That is why it has come in the supplication from Imam al-Sadiq (a):
(O Allah, make Yourself known to me, for if You do not make Yourself known to me, I will not know Your Prophet. O Allah, make Your Messenger known to me, for if You do not make Your Messenger known to me, I will not know Your Proof. O Allah, make Your Proof known to me, for if You do not make Your Proof known to me, I will stray from my religion).
This chain of faith connected to Allah the Exalted becomes manifest in the Hajj: when the pilgrim performs his rites, he is aware that his knowledge of the Imam is the path to Allah the Exalted. Thus, when he looks at the honored Kaʿba, which represents the oneness of Allah (tawḥīd), he is fully aware that tawhid calls him to know the Ahl al-Bayt (a) and to know their rights and what is incumbent upon him toward them. That is why Imam al-Sadiq (a) says: (Whoever looks at the Kaʿba with knowledge, and knows of our right and our sanctity the like of what he knows of its right and its sanctity, Allah will forgive him his sins and suffice him the concerns of this world and the Hereafter).
The pilgrim is the one who knows the stations of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) through his knowledge that they are the loci of the will of Allah the Exalted, as has come in al-Ziyara al-Jamiʿa, and that looking at the Kaʿba only reminds one of those wilaʾi truths that strengthen the tawhid which calls for acknowledging the standing and stations of the Ahl al-Bayt.
2/ The Hajj Is Meeting the Imam
The Hajj is a precious opportunity for the people of the far reaches of the earth to meet one another, for the pilgrims come from every distant place and gather for worship at a specified time and in a specified place, coming from the various regions of the earth. Islam, as a method, would not have left this opportunity without planning. In the precincts of the Hajj and its rites, the pilgrims meet their divine leadership, which is an extension from Allah the Exalted, beginning with the Prophet (s) and passing through the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), so that people may take the landmarks of their religion, provision themselves with the provision of minds and hearts from their Imam, and learn of the new positions concerning their reality and its changes.
In the Hajj there is an important pivot: meeting the infallible Imam. That is why the Infallibles did not leave off the Hajj except for a compelling reason such as siege or imprisonment; otherwise they (a) kept to the Hajj every year, as it has been reported that Imam al-Hasan (a) performed twenty Hajjs on foot. The loyal followers would perform the Hajj along with the Hajj of the Imam of their time, and were keen to follow in his footsteps and to draw inspiration from his light.
For the hearts of the believers long to meet their Imam in the precincts of the Hajj; this is the supplication of the Prophet Abraham (a), which he made for his descendants, and the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are the extension of those descendants. Allah the Exalted says on the tongue of Abraham:
“Our Lord! I have settled part of my descendants in a barren valley, by Your sacred House, our Lord, that they may maintain the prayer. So make the hearts of a part of the people fond of them, and provide them with fruits, so that they may give thanks.” (Qurʾan 14:37)
There is no doubt that Abraham did not want people’s hearts to feel tenderly toward his descendants as a social matter, for the sake of finding comfort in relationships and friendships. All the deeds of the prophets, their supplications and the goals they strive to achieve flow only into the mission-oriented direction that reinforces the divine course of their sacred mission with which Allah sent them. Comfort can be obtained through nearness to Allah the Exalted—especially since they are in the precincts of the House of Allah the Exalted and are occupied with maintaining the prayer. The friends of Allah do not feel desolate at meeting Allah; the summit of their comfort is connection with Allah the Exalted and keeping vigil for Him in prayer and supplication.
The expression “that they may maintain the prayer” (Qurʾan 14:37) reinforces this mission-oriented course, since the aim is that the prayer be maintained in society, and prayer is the most important manifestation of connection with Allah; and the supplication of the Prophet Abraham (a), which expresses this direction: “My Lord! Make me a maintainer of prayer, and my descendants [as well]. Our Lord, accept my supplication.” (Qurʾan 14:40)
Moreover, the descendants whom the Prophet Abraham mentioned are not Ishmael alone; rather, they are the extension of prophethood and the message, embodied in the prophets and the successors, since his supplication was also that the Imamate be among his descendants, as in the words of the Exalted: “When his Lord tested Abraham with certain words and he fulfilled them, He said, ‘I am making you the Imam of mankind.’ Said he, ‘And from among my descendants?’ He said, ‘My pledge does not extend to the unjust.’” (Qurʾan 2:124)
That is why Imam al-Baqir (a) says about the words of Allah the Exalted “Our Lord! I have settled part of my descendants” (Qurʾan 14:37), he says: (We are they, and we are the remnant of those descendants). al-Safi, vol. 3, p. 90
And it has come in al-Ihtijaj from the Commander of the Faithful (a): (And the hearts of people are fond of us, and that is the supplication of Abraham (a), where he said: “So make the hearts of a part of the people fond of them” (Qurʾan 14:37)). al-Safi, vol. 3, p. 91
We know from this that the Hajj is an opportunity to meet the Imam; indeed, it is a pivotal aspect that one ought to believe in. It has come from Abu Jaʿfar (a), who said: (The completion of the Hajj is meeting the Imam).
And it has come from Dharih al-Muharibi, who said: I said to Abu ʿAbd Allah (a): Allah has commanded me in His Book with a command, and I would love to carry it out. He said: And what is that? I said: The words of Allah Almighty: “Then let them do away with their untidiness, fulfill their vows” (Qurʾan 22:29). He said: “Let them do away with their untidiness”: meeting the Imam; and “fulfill their vows”: those rites.
ʿAbd Allah ibn Sinan said: So I came to Abu ʿAbd Allah (a) and said: May I be made your ransom, the words of Allah Almighty: “Then let them do away with their untidiness, fulfill their vows” (Qurʾan 22:29)? He said: Trimming the moustache, clipping the nails, and the like.
He said: I said: May I be made your ransom, Dharih al-Muharibi told me from you that you said to him: “let them do away with their untidiness” is meeting the Imam, and “fulfill their vows” is those rites. He said: Dharih spoke the truth, and you have spoken the truth. The Qurʾan has an outward aspect and an inward aspect, and who can bear what Dharih bears?!
The Hajj of Imam al-Mahdi (aj)
As we said, the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are most keen on performing the Hajj every year, and nothing prevents them except a compelling reason. In the era of the Occultation, Imam al-Mahdi, the Awaited (aj), proceeds according to the conduct of his pure forefathers and attends every Hajj season. His care, even if it is not visible to the eye, is like the sun when clouds cover it: its effect and its benefit remain even if it is veiled from sight. It has come from Imam al-Sadiq (a): “The people will miss an Imam who attends the seasons; he sees them and they do not see him.”
Muhammad ibn ʿUthman al-ʿAmri—he is the second special deputy of Imam al-Mahdi, the Awaited, in his Minor Occultation—said: “By Allah, the Master of this Affair attends the season every year; he sees the people and knows them, and they see him but do not know him.”
It has come from ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar al-Himyari: I asked Muhammad ibn ʿUthman al-ʿAmri (r), and said to him: Have you seen the Master of this Affair? He said: Yes, and my last encounter with him was at the Sacred House of Allah, while he was saying: “O Allah, fulfill for me what You have promised me.” Muhammad ibn ʿUthman—may Allah be pleased with him and make him well-pleased—said: And I saw him (a) clinging to the curtains of the Kaʿba at al-Mustajar, while he was saying: “O Allah, take vengeance for me on Your enemies.”
In addition to his noble presence in the rites of the Hajj, and the sensing of this sacred presence, which inspires the pilgrims to be keen to strive in turning to Allah, the pilgrim asks Allah the Exalted to honor him with meeting the Imam (aj) and that Allah answer his supplication by the blessing of the Imam, as one of the acts of connecting with the Imam in the Hajj season under the circumstances of his Occultation (aj).
Likewise, the pilgrim on the land of ʿArafat sets out with his spirit to visit Imam al-Husayn (a) through the text of the ziyarah reported from the Ahl al-Bayt for that day, so as to strengthen this wilaʾi bond between him and the Imam.
The other path of indirect connection is meeting the jurists who are linked to the Ahl al-Bayt (a) and follow their method, as the Imam, the Master of the Era and the Age (aj), directed people to refer, in events that occur and in their contemporary needs, to the jurists during his Occultation, in his words: “As for events that occur, refer in them to the narrators of our hadith, for they are my proof over you, and I am the proof of Allah.”
3/ Deputizing for the Ahl al-Bayt (a) in the Hajj
Among the themes that ought to be mentioned regarding the relationship between the wilayah and the Hajj is performing deeds on behalf of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), whether that be a Hajj, an ʿUmra or a circumambulation. That is among the best deeds the pilgrim performs, as a means of connection between him and the Ahl al-Bayt (a), expressing his appreciation for the efforts the Ahl al-Bayt (a) expended for the establishment of the religion and for the sake of the people, and likewise expressing acknowledgment of their stations, by which they deserve all that is good.
It has come from Musa ibn al-Qasim: I said to Abu Jaʿfar the Second (a): I wanted to perform circumambulation on your behalf and on behalf of your father, but I was told: Circumambulation is not performed on behalf of the successors. He said to me: Rather, circumambulate as much as you can, for that is permissible.
Then three years after that I said to him: I had asked your permission to circumambulate on your behalf and on behalf of your father, and you gave me permission for that, so I circumambulated on behalf of you both as much as Allah willed. Then something occurred to my heart and I acted upon it. He said: And what is it? I said: One day I circumambulated on behalf of the Messenger of Allah (s)—and he said three times: May Allah bless the Messenger of Allah—then the second day on behalf of the Commander of the Faithful (a), then on the third day I circumambulated on behalf of al-Hasan (a), the fourth on behalf of al-Husayn (a), the fifth on behalf of ʿAli ibn al-Husayn (a), the sixth on behalf of Abu Jaʿfar Muhammad ibn ʿAli (a), the seventh day on behalf of Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad (a), the eighth day on behalf of your father Musa (a), the ninth day on behalf of your father ʿAli (a), and the tenth day on behalf of you, my master; and these are the ones by whose wilayah I worship Allah as my religion. He said: Then, by Allah, you worship Allah with the religion besides which He accepts nothing from His servants. I said: And sometimes I circumambulated on behalf of your mother Fatimah (a), and sometimes I did not. He said: Do this abundantly, for it is the best of what you do, if Allah wills.
As for the proxy Hajj, in addition to Allah the Exalted conveying the reward to the one on whose behalf it is performed, the proxy has the like of that, without anything being diminished from it. If the proxy is on behalf of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), then the proxy has been honored and granted success in performing the best of deeds; and this is counted as one of the doors of reward and divine mercy for the pilgrims.
Stage Three: The Work of the Loyal Followers after the Hajj
The pilgrim’s work does not end with the end of the rites of the Hajj that became obligatory upon him through iḥrām; rather, the Hajj has an extension, and the compliance with the command of Allah the Exalted that he carried out has effects and ripples that follow the Hajj and form the steps that come after it with regard to the wilayah and belief in it. When the pilgrim has finished his rites, he must apply himself to the wilayah as a consolidation of the course of his new life.
The wilaʾi movement that began before the Hajj and interacted in the performance of its rites continues after it; it is like the seal with which the Hajj is completed, and visiting the graves of the Prophet (s) and his Household (a) is the expression of that continuity and of affirming the wilayah that is theirs. It has come from the Prophet (s): “Whoever performs the Hajj and does not visit me has shunned me.”
Imam ʿAli (a) said, on this meaning, in words that include visiting the graves of the Ahl al-Bayt (a): “Complete your Hajj with the Messenger of Allah (s) when you set out for the House of Allah, for neglecting him is estrangement, and with that you have been commanded; and complete it with the graves whose right and visitation Allah Almighty has made binding upon you, and seek sustenance at them.”
The visitation of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), embodied in visiting the Messenger of Allah (s) and visiting the Imams of al-Baqiʿ after the Hajj, as the graves nearest to Mecca the Honored, includes all the other graves of the Imams (a), even if after a while. This connection through visitation is only a return to the point of beginning, so that the pilgrim may show his steadfastness in the wilayah and show the effect of the Hajj on his faith in what concerns the guides to Allah the Exalted, and so be at peace with whoever is at peace with them and an enemy to whoever is hostile to them, in method and in stance. From al-Baqir (a), who said while facing the House: “People were only commanded to come to these stones and circumambulate them, then to come to us and inform us of their wilayah for us; and that is the word of Allah the Exalted: ‘Indeed I forgive those who repent, become faithful, act righteously, and follow guidance’ (Qurʾan 20:82)—then he pointed with his hand to his chest—to our wilayah.”
And Imam al-Baqir (a) said—regarding the words of the Exalted: “So make the hearts of a part of the people fond of them” (Qurʾan 14:37), “People ought to perform the Hajj to this House and venerate it because of Allah’s veneration of it, and to meet us wherever we are; we are the guides to Allah.”
From here we can know the secret of what has been reported in the narrations about the visitation of Imam al-Husayn (a) on the Day of ʿArafa: that Allah the Exalted looks at the visitors and forgives them their sins, then looks at the pilgrims in the valley of ʿArafat and does the same with them. This is not the opposite of the Hajj, nor a belittling of the standing of the pilgrims; rather, that is because the visitors of Imam al-Husayn (a) are the elite of the pilgrims, and they are the ones who complied with Allah the Exalted by beginning with the Ahl al-Bayt (a) and ending with them—and that is the musk-scented seal.
So congratulations to whoever began his Hajj with faith in the wilayah, blended his rites with knowledge of the Imamate, and sealed his Hajj by affirming it. From Yahya ibn Yasar, who said: We performed the Hajj and passed by Abu ʿAbd Allah (a), and he said: “Pilgrims of the House of Allah, visitors of the grave of His Prophet (s), and Shiʿa of the family of Muhammad! Congratulations to you.”
