Hajj at Young Age

I was supposed to write about this entry a month ago when my colleague set off to Mecca, the holy city of Muslims which houses the holy Kaabah. But as usual, lazy, bad time management and emotion management took place resulting in no posting of this topic.

My colleague that I was talking about received the honor of being invited to go to one of holiest place on earth, Mecca to perform the Hajj. He was in his 29th year of life when he got the invitation, subhanallah. I felt so envy towards him for being invited to complete the pillar at the very young age. According to him, he has registered with Tabung Haji for Hajj after sitting for SPM. And later after about 10 years of queue, his name was up. 10 years of waiting for the Hajj`s turn with Tabung Haji is quite reasonable period given that he is young and thus facing stiff competition with others who are at their golden age.

Priority for the turns is given to elder people. It is truly my vision to go to Mecca and perform Hajj when my strength is at its peak since Hajj is full of rituals that would consume much energy from us and thus require us to be well physically fit. You name it: Sai`ee, Tawaf, throwing pebbles, all of these acts demand such an endurance and perseverance from us.

And while i`m writing this entry, Hajj season has already ended. Actually, the core ritual of Hajj is the Wukuf at Arafah on 9th Zulhijjah, without which a person`s hajj is nullified and not completed. He/She has to redo it in next Hajj season. Gathering in Padang arafah and spending time there from about noon till sunset or morning till sunset according to another opinion of scholars is the essence, or summary of what Hajj is about. This gathering of about 2-3 million of people in Arafah emulates the real and The Gathering that will take place on the day of judgement. Everybody in the gathering, regardless of which nation they are from, which country they belong to, what color of skin they have and how much wealth they possess, in the sight of Allah, stands on the same level, with no distinction from one another except their piety and emaan dwelling in their hearts. It is the only criterion that will make him/her stand out from others in the sight of Allah. Subhanallah.