My Hajj Story
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Time Will Pass | #MyHajjStory
Sh. Omar Husain recalls what he learned on his first Hajj experience leading a Hajj group and falling ill.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wassalatu wassalamu ala rasulil kareem wa ba'd. I remember the first time I went on hajj. So first a little bit of background. When I was studying overseas, I remember asking one of my teachers that I really want to go to hajj, but at this time I have to support myself during my studies. And so he had said that because of the dire necessity of scholarship in America that it is perfectly permissible for you to complete your studies and then go to hajj. So I had no idea how I was going to go, but you know, I knew Allah would make a way somehow. So I came back, I started working in my community, and about a year later one of my mentors and a dear sheikh calls me and he says, you want to come to hajj with us as a guide. This was completely out of left field, I was so excited, I didn't know how I was going to go, and here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala just made it easy for me. Now, I was going to go, but I was also going to go as a guide, and so that meant having responsibility of making sure that other people's hajj was, that they had a memorable experience. I mean, they're going on this once in a lifetime journey, and you're partly responsible for making sure that they are able to gain maximum benefit. So alhamdulillah I went, and I hadn't been there, you know, I hadn't been on hajj before, so I'm kind of studying what to do and reviewing my fiqh and things of that nature. So what happens? I get sick when we are in Mecca. And not only do I get sick, I get about as sick, or if not, one of the top two or three sickest conditions I've ever been in my life.
I was so sick I was bedridden. And so now it comes time to go to, you know, the hajj starts, so we're going to Mina. Right, and I can barely get on the bus. I actually thought at one point I'm not going to be able to make it. I'm not going to be able to get through the hajj. So I'm prodding along, I'm barely making it. We get to Mina, again I'm just kind of sick, and then the day comes to go to Arafah, which is the main day of hajj. But before Arafah, as I'm coming in, it's just an incredible scene in Mina. Without exaggeration, as far as you can see, you see nothing but white tents. You can't see anything else. There's people everywhere and there's tents as far as you can see. But you know, when you're feeling down, maybe it didn't have as big an impact as it might have had. So you spend some time there and then you do Arafah, and that's kind of those main days of hajj. So the day of Arafah comes. Arafah is powerful because Al-Hajju Arafah, as the Prophet ﷺ said, hajj is the day of Arafah. You have to make it there. The Prophet ﷺ stood all day in the blazing sun, and he made du'a in Arafah. And here I am, and I come to Arafah, and guess what? I can't even stand. I'm sitting in this little sofa seat. And I'm sitting there making as much du'a as I can, but just absolutely exhausted and just tired beyond belief. So this was my first hajj experience, and I learned many, many things, but there's a few things I want to highlight. Number one, Allah ﷻ says,
يَا أَيُّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا خُذُوا حِذْرَكُمْ O you who believe, take your precautions. Why am I mentioning that? With this corona and everything going on, the next year when I went to hajj, and every year since then when I've been able to go, I started a straight-up program of protecting my immune system. And I actually wore a mask every year when I went to hajj after that. I would wear a mask. And alhamdulillah I was protected from getting these major illnesses. So that was just part of taking precautions because I learned what happened. Now, you can still take all those precautions, and you can still get super sick. And that is part of iman in Allah ﷻ. But to have true tawakkul or trust is to do your best, but knowing that Allah is ultimately in control. So let us remember during these times, because I know there are people who plan to go to the hajj, and they wanted to go to the hajj, and they're unable to, that no matter how much we planned, and no matter how much we think we're in shape, if Allah ﷻ did not will for it to happen, then it's not going to happen. So please don't feel down. Inshallah Allah will reward the intention, and inshallah there will be another chance. Now, another lesson in this for us is, you know, hajj is wajib, it's obligatory, as soon as you are able to do it. So we don't wait. So hajj wajib ala alfawr. You have to do it immediately, as soon as you are financially capable. Not when it's convenient, you see, and this is a misconception that a lot of people have. So we want to make it as soon as possible. Who on earth could have imagined that there would be a global pandemic, and we wouldn't be able to go? Nobody could imagine this. We don't know what's going to happen, and what's going to prevent us. So please make that intention to go as soon as it is possible to go.
The second thing is that, the second lesson and the final lesson, is that time will go on and go on, but we have to plan in the meantime. What are we going to do? Right now a lot of us are at home, right now a lot of us are not getting out, but what are we going to do? We have to plan, whether it's an educational goal, whether it's a spiritual goal, career goal, whatever it is, please do not just kind of sit and stop and not do anything. I knew after that first year I probably had to change something, right, and you learn. Because the time is just going to pass. Inshallah this pandemic will end, and then we're going to wonder, I had three months, six months, what if you just started with memorizing one verse of the Qur'an every day? You know, you can, and this will be a fun task, look up a chart that shows you how long it will take to memorize the Qur'an if you take a certain amount of verses. If it takes you 15 years, who cares? Who cares if it takes 15 years? Slow, steady, and consistent, because the time will pass, and so please let us not just kind of get stuck in that and not be productive. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to make hajj, if we have not, may He accept our hajj if we have, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala put barakah in our time. Jazakumullahu khayran.
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