Postscript: An Emotion-Filled Hajj

February 3, 2006-A month has gone by, and yet it seems like yesterday I was in Mecca performing my Hajj. I cannot seem to rightly describe the beauty of Hajj. The entire atmosphere of Hajj is one that is simply beyond description. Every sense I have was elevated to a place that I didn't know existed.

When I close my eyes I can still see the sky as I sat back and watched it from dusk to dawn running through every shade of red, orange, yellow, blue and black. Its beauty was only increased by the Kaa'ba that it surrounded.

When I take a breath I can still smell that wonderful scent of desert sand and the wind that would blow it; that wondrous wind that carried the prayers and supplications of millions of pilgrims who left behind their homes, their families, and their belongings in search of something greater.

When I put my head to the ground I can still feel the cool marble floor of the Haram (the Grand Mosque in Mecca) pressing against my forehead in an offering of comfort to a position that is already most comfortable, and thus making it even harder for me to get up from my prostration.

When I take a sip of water, I can still taste that refreshing

, a liquid so pure that it was used by the angels who came down to clean the Prophet Muhammad's (SAW) heart. That water,

, was all around me for 17 days, and now there is none to find.

When I sit in silence I can still hear the pilgrims calling out to Allah, saying

(the Talbiya), testifying to their presence in that blessed city of Mecca. I can still hear the call to prayer echoing through the streets, inviting everyone to come and stand side by side. An endless number of individuals--young and old, male and female, black, white, brown, and yellow--stood together as equals during those times of prayer.

Each sense I have was affected, changing the way I perceived things that exist all around me. Everything was so beautiful, so exquisite. But what I learned about a person's character was even more remarkable.

I am reminded of the story of Musa ibn Esa, who served as a governor during the classical period of Islam. One night he was sitting with his wife, and as it is said in Islamic texts that he tells her that she is more beautiful then the moon--and if she isn't that beautiful, then he is divorced from her.

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The Beginning of the Hajj Journey The "Other" Hajj City A Hajj For My Daughter

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