Muslim Views . August 201826

THEY had performed theirobligatory Hajj and were extremely grateful for havingbeen the guests of Allah. Onlyour Creator knows whether ithad been accepted but we all goon this journey knowing thatAllah’s mercy is infinite and, onthe day of Wuqoof, standing atthe peak of Hajj on Arafah, moreof His subjects are forgiven than

on any other day.We are often taught that to

doubt such a divine gift would initself be sinful and so, as long asrepentance is sincere and the be-seeching for forgiveness is fromthe heart, all of humanity presenton that day on Arafah will flowfrom that vast plain as free of sinas a new-born child.

This couple lacked nothing as

far as worldly material was con-cerned: well-travelled, relativelygood jobs and deeply religious.Their Hajj was immensely fulfill-ing and spiritually uplifting.

I was privileged to have treatedtheir illnesses before the five daysof Hajj and ensured that theywould be at their prime medicallyand physically during, undoubt-edly, the most important journeyof their lives.

Hajj can be an incredibly taxingjourney on the body and spirit.Somehow, this humbling exposureto the harsh desert, the humidity,the hellish heat, the crowds andthe inevitable breakdown of trans-port infrastructure leads to theharnessing of a deeper, innerstrength and resolve.

They experienced that and re-turned home as true ambassadors,echoing the call that Nabi Ibrahim(AS) first sounded thousands ofyears ago for all Muslims to un-dertake the Hajj once in their life-time, if possible.

They had a beautiful son. Theyhad lost their second child a fewminutes after the birth. Eventhough they knew well in advancethat their second gift would notsurvive outside the comfortingnurture of the mother’s womb, noamount of mental preparation canever soften the devastating effectof seeing your child breathing thelast breath in your arms just afteradhaan and iqama were made inher ears, and just after her namewas given.

They would forever remembera person, not just a baby, who hadpassed away after gracing the lov-ing embrace of grateful parents.They accepted what their Creatorhad destined for them. Yet, therewas something that they desired,that they felt that they still neededto do.

They needed their own form ofclosure, their acceptance. Theyneeded to be back on Arafah, backamongst the millions convergingfrom all corners of seemingly dif-ferent countries and nationalities

unifying in their ihraams to standat the time of Wuqoof.

There were multiple obstaclesin their way, though. South Africais only allowed a certain numberof pilgrims annually. The rulesallow for applications every fiveyears. The reality was that thewaiting list plus those who hadnever gone for Hajj before, andwere added to every year, wouldshift them down lower on the list.

They knew that they could nottake the place of those on whomHajj was obligatory, and wouldnever deprive anyone by takingtheir places. They were also awarethat our Prophet (SAW) had per-formed Hajj only once. Yet, thedesire to perform Hajj again wasintense and they explored all otheravenues.

They performed a very fulfillingUmrah but it did not have thedhikr on Mina, the standing withoutstretched hands on Arafah, thewonderful rest on the hard sur-faces of Musdalifah or the sym-bolic pelting at the jamaraat.

There was no way that theycould go with the official SouthAfrican quota that year as onlytwo thousand had been accreditedand twenty thousand were on thewaiting list. They went to the em-bassy and asked how they couldbe assisted.

The Saudi officials there couldnot fathom why people wouldwant to repeat an obligation thatwas mandatory only once. Theywere asked to write a letter ex-plaining why they wanted to go,and heard nothing for a while. Butthey persisted.

Initially, they were advised touse a certain company but thisturned out to be a dead end. Theywould gently enquire about anyprogress or any news but this wasnot easily forthcoming. They,however, remained positive andcontinued their prayers every dayfor their dream and wish to be re-alised.

‘Stick to the truth,’ I recall ad-vising them. There is nothing more

touching than the truth. Truth elic-its kindness, the kindness that, inan adaptation of an old phrase,elicits compassion that lets thedeaf hear and the blind see.

I know of cases where peoplehave approached the officialspleading that they want to per-form Hajj and who swore thatthey had never been to the Hijazwhen a cursory inspection of theirpassports revealed two Hajj visas.This led to marked scepticism but,as always, the truth prevails.

They received news, literallyabout a week before Hajj was tocommence that they had beengranted courtesy Hajj visas, and atlast their dream was to come true.It was not the end of their uphillbattle though but they were pre-pared to face all obstacles.

Finding accommodation so lateproved difficult. They were pre-pared to stay anywhere but eventhat took some effort. Communi-cation and service issues with theiragent led to an agonisingly longjourney from Jeddah airport totheir decidedly basic apartment inMakkah.

The intolerable heat and wait-ing in ihraam with the prospect ofan Umrah so close in distance butyet so far away in time would havefrustrated most. But they wereyoung, they were patient and theywere set on their mission.

Late that evening, after theirUmrah, I had the pleasure of meet-ing the couple who exuded im-mense appreciation for the callingthat they were about to answer.

I met them on Arafah again. Italways amazes me that, no matterhow busy we are as doctors at-tending to the sick, no matter howmany other matters demand ourattention, we always meet thosewho seem to entrench their enthu-siasm and spirituality on ourminds.

He was in tears when wegreeted but his silence spoke vol-umes of what was going throughhis mind. I have often on Arafahbeen blessed to be in the presenceof those who said absolutely noth-ing but yet conveyed everything –a son kissing his mother’s hand, adaughter hugging her cold and dis-tant father for the first time indecades, the tender wiping of tearsby a husband from the cheeks ofhis wife. No words are spoken butthe messages of love, affection andcompassion reverberate.

Way too soon the day was overand the sun started to set. Therewas always that one more prayer,one more humble request, onemore atonement that had to betaken care of. We, along with mil-lions others, started flowing fromthe vast plain of Arafah towardsMusdalifah, praying that all ourprevious transgressions were in thepast and that we would, Allahwilling, never repeat them.

They walked with the groupthat I was leading. As we walkedpast Jabal Rahmah, the Mount ofMercy, I knew exactly what theywere feeling and thinking for witheach step that we took away fromthe foot of that mountain, theforce that attracts one there in thefirst place was intensifying.

Labbaik!For more Hajj Stories visitwww.hajjdoctor.co.za. You maycontact Dr Parker via e-mail:salimparker@yahoo.com

The need to be on Arafah again

They had lost their second child a few minutes after thebirth, writes DR SALIM PARKER.

With each step taken away fromArafah, the desire to one day return intensifies. Photo SALIM PARKER