THE HAJJ OF PROPHET IBRAHIM (a.s), A SPIRITUAL ONE
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HAJJ, SPIRITUAL JOURNEY NOT PHYSICAL ACTS
The Imams' sayings act as warning to the ignorant ones that Hajj is the journey of soul, not distance. If a man's soul gets into the state of Ihram, reaches the House of God, touches the Black Stone2 with the hand of the heart, stays on Mount Arafat with full heart, stops in al-Mash'ar al-Haram with full soul, sacrifices the sheep of the carnal desires with the knife of certitude and submission (to the Lord), he has performed a true Hajj.
HAJJ, SPIRITUAL JOURNEY NOT PHYSICAL ACTS
The Imams' sayings act as warning to the ignorant ones that Hajj is the journey of soul, not distance. If a man's soul gets into the state of Ihram, reaches the House of God, touches the Black Stone2 with the hand of the heart, stays on Mount Arafat with full heart, stops in al-Mash'ar al-Haram with full soul, sacrifices the sheep of the carnal desires with the knife of certitude and submission (to the Lord), he has performed a true Hajj.
THE HAJJ OF PROPHET IBRAHIM (a.s), A SPIRITUAL ONE
Prophet Ibrahim (a.s) reached such a stage of contentment and submission (to the Lord) inspired by God that he was ready to sacrifice his son for his Lord. He rolled up his sleeves without hesitation, laid down his endeared son, put the sharp knife on his throat, and thought of nothing but carrying out God's order. Such a degree of cognition of God is the result of his true spiritual journey.
He truly visited God's House and out of sincerity took off the garment of pleasure and worldly inclinations from his soul and put on a garment of submission to God and said 'Labbayk' from the bottom of his heart, entered into the sanctuary, stayed in the lap of the mountain of cognition, immersed his senses in divine thoughts, and saw world ornaments as worthless pebbles. He took his son to the altar and put the knife on his throat in Mina saying to himself, 'I turn my face to the direction of the One Who originated the heavens and the earth.'3
Reaching such a state requires traversing different stages including giving up pleasures, forgetting one's desires, and throwing pebbles at the alluring Satan to a degree that God's pleasure is considered above the life of even the endeared son.
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1 See Sheikh Saduq's al-Khissal; vol. 1 p. 160 Hadith 189
2 Black Stone is the sacred reddish-black stone built into the outside wall of the Kaaba
3 In the Holy Quran, God has related this statement to Prophet Abraham.
