My Hajj Journal 2004

Oh Allah, by Your Name I begin my affairs

and by Your Qudra I make my deliberations

and unto You is our returning

If you engage upon travel

You will arrive- and may Allah,

be praise be to Him

Guide you and us !

(The Makkan Revelations –Shaykh al-Akbar)

AlhamduliLlah wa syukriLlah. I would like to thanks the wonderful muslims and fellow hajjis and hajjahs whom gave me inspirations to write this journal. Capturing all their blessed embraces, presence, advice and prayers they uttered for this humble seeker. Here are part of the names and descriptions which I managed to remember:

Sidi Muhammad Ridha Lua

Sidi Abu Bakar of Casablanca

Sidi Yassir Abdullah al- Manooni of Meknes

Sidi Abdul Jalil Ahmad and wife

Sidi Muhammad Muazzam of Kasghar, Xinqiang

(a murid of Bekthasi tariqa)

Sidi Shaji of UAE, Haji Zulkifli Jusoh of Pekan

Sidi Mustafa Sozen- a Nursi/Risalai Nur student of Turkey

Sidi Malik and wife Safia of East London

Sidi Muhammad Jiddan al-Qadiri al-Fulani of Sokoto

Sidi Ahmad Saidi of Banting

Sidi Moazzaz – nuclear scientist from Pakistan

Two noble fuqara of Nasqabandiyya Shaykh Abdul Baqi of Turkey

(who parted with their precious copy of Dalailul Khairat at MH)

Sidi Muhammad Dury of Atleb, Kuryn District Officer of Syria

Sidi Abu Bakar Rifai of Istanbul

Sidi Dato’ Abdur Rahman Ibrahim

An Uighur/Kazak Muslim who prayed incessantly

(At the outer Nabawi Mosque near the Raudhah)

Sidi Vahid Bayrak al-Madani ( over 80 years)

Sidi Luqman Chua of Kota Bharu whom I missed to meet

And Sidi Yusof Ong of Sham Alam, Sidi Ali Yahya al-Aghla al-Jiraini -born in Madinah

A Hajji from Aleppo, Syria, A Senegal student of

(who memorizing Quran in the Nabawi Mosque and corrected my recitation)

Six Fuqara of Shaykh Omar Abu Bakar al-Rifai of Ankara

A Majestic Turkish Sufi at the side of tawaf perimeter first floor

Of Masjidil haram on Friday, Three hajjis from Hotan, China

A Nephew of Dr.Yunus we met on Jabal Qubais

A Mujahidin fund raiser on the roof of MH

A group of Thai Muslims near the Raudhah

A Turkish alim at the Prophet Mosque, A faqir of Abu Ayyub Ansari descendant

(who presented us a copy of Hisbul Haqaiq an-Nuriyyah)

A hajji from Maharasta, India. Sidi Agus of Tasik Malaya, Bandung

Sidi Muhammad Shafii of Yangon, Mynmar

Dr. Shuja Ali of Tyler University, Texas

Three fuqara of Shaykh Sami Mahmud Effendi ( who passed away

and buried in Madinah near Imam Malik at Baqi)- Sidi Abdul Jalil,

Sidi Orhan and Sidi Umar. Sidi Said ibn Zakaria al-Qadiri of Kano

Haji Ramli of Gombak Setia ( Hotel Wardah Andalus roommate in Madinah)

Haji Yahaya of Kuala Lumpur. Three hajjis from Meknes who sang Lakal-hamdu

Sidi Ibrahim Hassan of Kasghar-Nasqabandi Khufiyya.

A Yemeni shopowner (who sold the Darqawi black tasbih in Madinah)

Sidi Muhammad Samin al-Madani (who recited doa for us at Masjid Nabawi

hand as greeting of salam toward the Rawdah) and not the last..

Two hajjis from Makasar, Sulawesi (land of Sh.Yusuf Makassar Khalwati)

The Beginning

1. This seeker journey to Hajj begin more than 25 years ago. One young Chinese economics student had decided that after his final third year exam in University of Malaya in January 1979 is the time to declare the mighty Witnessing of Reality , the Shahada : Ashadu anla ilaha illa Allah, wa ashadu anna Muhammadun rasuluLlah. This is the secret formula to the Door of The Garden. Whoever proclaimed it sincerely deep from his being will be granted by Allah the Garden. He only had to follow the Sunna of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him pecae in fulfilling the five basic pillars of worship. In fact, the seeker had done serious research for 5 years since 1974 in comparative religions. I still remember the magazine Nuggets of Wisdom which I read in the library of Sekolah Alam Shah which contains the excerpts from various sages of the world. Ibnul Arabi the great master said: Engage in travel, you will arrive.

2. 9 Januari 2005- Climb up to the third floor of the Mosque to pray Fajar. Can look down directly at the magnificent House of Allah drapped in black velvet with Quranic inscriptions. Thousand and thousands of pilgrims never stop swirling around it, proclaiming labayka Allahumma labayk. That morning was extra chilling and windy. I was wearing 4 layers of clothing without the outer black jacket. After finish the jamaah prayer, make my way down through the stairs. I saw sleeping figure tucked in one corner at the passageway. May be this is the right man to receive the first sadaqah. Slowly I approach him and tapped him lightly at the shoulder. Assalamualaikum. Allahu akbar, wake up. He turned and opened up the eyes still misty and saw my smiling face. Then I put the money warmly into his hand saying :

“From the Sufis-the Sufis, (meaning) please honor

and think well of the Sufis.”

They looked around for the poor and give out for the Face of Allah without hesitation. He must be poor if not why this arab looking man slept at the mosque with bare possessions, why not in his hotel room ?

I make my way down to ground floor after people had dispersed to get better dhikr position in front of Kaaba. There an ardent mumin praying the nawafil salat or Dhuha almost non-stop facing the House. Up and down may be more than 8 rakaats. Then he stops to raise his hand in prayer just beside me. Suddenly he spread across his hand to lift my copy of Diwan Shaykh Muhammad ibn alHabib without asking my permission. I glanced at him and talked with him several minutes. At last, I gave a black tasbih to him and asked his prayer for the muslims and all the Sufis. He was a student at Cairo and doing his hajj first time.

Two Old Uighurs From East Turkestan and We Are Sufiyye

After this encounter, I moved to another corner of the Mosque to continue my doa, dhikr, salawat and Quran. Two old hajji from Uighur China caught my attention. They are easily discernable by the Chinese Turkic face and wearing the cotton brown jacket. I gave salam and kissed both of them on their cheek, how happy when two strangers muslim meet each with greeting, respect, honor and love of Allah. The elder Uighur said to me : Shariat – Tariqat –Haqiqat and Marifat ! He seems to be a sufi lovers.

Nahnu kullu sufiyyat ! We are all Sufis when travel fisabilillah, we yearn for the Awliya of Allah, we see the lights of iman in their frugal faces. So I prayed for their people in Xinqiang or East Turkestan, may Allah bless you and make their deen strong there. I mentioned all the name of places I know about them : Kasghar, Urumqi and about the tariqas or menhuan: Khufiyya, Jahriyya, Qadiriyya and Nasqabandiyya. They nodded in agreement.before departing, we embraced each other again. Tears almost flowing down their cheeks.

Somewhere in midday, I encountered 3 old Hui women from China in the mosque about the age of 60-70 but still strong and healthy. They smiled at me when I gave greeting of salam, saying that I am Chinese muslim from Malaysia. I put something into their hands- baraka Allah and may Allah bless you all, your family and people at home.

Perfume of Awliya From Tetuoan, Mostaganem and Meknes

Alhamdulillah, met 3 muslims from Algeria, they wore the distinctive jellaba, noble looking and very relaxed sitting at some pillars. I gave salam, approach them and talked with them inquired where they came from : Tetouan-this place sound familiar. So I tell them I know about Shaykh Ahmad Mustafa Alawi of Mostaganem and Shaykh Abdus Salam ibnu Mashish. They are delighted with this news. Again the key word is sufi-tasawwuf seem to unite our hearts. We kissed each other hands and get a warm embrace. I bring out the little green book Diwan of SMH to show them our linkage with the Darqawi-Shadhili tariqa. They happily glanced through the introduction page…..al-Arif biLlah Shaykh Muhammad ibn alhabib al Maghari al-.Hassani. My heart indicated that if a man do dhikr intensely in one right place, it will attract the lovers of Allah to be near him without realizing it or unexpectedly.

Mistakes and Lessons From The Shoppers

During the first week at Makkah before departing to the great plains of Arafa for wuquf, we had many opportunity to wander around the streets and shops. You can see through the shopkeepers greedy look. Come, come ,come , buy, buy..at my shop, cheap, cheap..glitterings goods. The aggressive ones will stop you at your track. Pull you to their side shopwares. I was angry when one of the young arab pulled my hand despite my dislike and strong prostest. I stared my angry face tost them. You want to fight ! Not me ! Realising this nafs ugly clash with others, I quickly retreated. Make a firm resolution- no buying or shopping at Makkah until I finish my hajj !

· Mistakes learned :

a. Don’t haggle over prices.

1. Don’t set your heart upon the good displayed at the market.
2. Avoid the road/street that lined up with busy people.
3. If pulled or held by sellers, don’t fight. Just turn away fast, don’t look at them.
4. Wear a serious look and don’t loiter slowly inspecting the goods.
5. Don’t stay too long at top floor of Mosque during Fajar prayer, you will get cold/flu.

Today is Friday, a festival day of dhikr, prayer and gifts from Allah. The faqir had tasted the meaning of being poor, nothing left at the pockets. Emptying out. Yaumul Jumaat, you must be extra generous. Fisabilillah. Not nice to count your tijarah which will never lose. Allah Taala had bought the selves and belongings of the muminun in exchange for His Garden. Read surah at-Taubat : Inna Allaha sytaral minal muminuna anfusahum wa amwalahum bi-anna lahumul-jannah….

Another lesson –even performing a good action can be a trap and distraction. Not you are doing it, not your power or your intellect but the source is from Him. Min fadhliLlah-the overflowing of Allah.

To Be At The Heart of Existence

Shaykh Abdal Qadir as-sufi says in the book –The Way of Muhammad :

Hajj means – “to struggle with, to make a spiritual journey, an argument , a single hajj, a year”. To circle the Kaaba, in the phrase of the Greatest Master, ‘ to be at the heart of existence of the world’. It is clear that to the hajji that the Saee(running in straight line seven times between Safa and Marwa) is about his existence and the Tawaff (around the Ancient House) is about Allah’s reality and the slave non-existence.

The seeker was astonished to find some shops at Makkah are selling exotic teas from the East. As connosoeir of Chinese teas, he bought two packets of Rabea Jasmine Scented Tear. A Khawja Sufi from Persia hundred years ago wrote a masterpiece of story on the hidden secret of the tea where the merchants valued it highly but the common people just treat it as a boiled water with some kinds of leaves and herbs. What important is the Sufis had opened up the Shops of Tea Experience everywhere they traveled to share this divine drink.

Secrets of Hajj From Maulana Rumi

Maulana Rumi tell us something about this merchants in his Mathnawi :

‘And come to us like a caravan. This is not a long road

Can the desert stop the merchants ? The heart travels to Kaaba

Every moment. Who bow his head to the King

Not of this world. You are like the Day of Arafah

And the Day of Idhul Adha. I am at the beginning of month Dzul Hijjah

I can never reach You nor can I cut myself from You.

.Where a re you, where are you ?

The Friend is in this very place (near you), come here

. His wall and yours are one –

Bewildered in the desert, what do

You seek and roam, when you behold

Without forms of this your Friend

Then, the Lord, The House and Kaaba

Will you become yourself.

The most powerful allegory by Rumi about Kaaba and the Qibla of the worshippers are as below:

The longer the Way. The more companions are necessary –

The way to Kaaba is hard. One needs a long caravan and

A Caravan Leader (Shaykh). And how much more difficult is

It to come closer to God through so

Many veils, steep mountains and Highway robbers !

The Kaaba of Jibrail and the spirits Is a Lotus Tree

the qibla of the belly slave is food on the table cloth

The Qibla of the Gnostics.. Is the Light of Arrival,

The qibla of the philosophers.. Intellect is phantasy.

The qibla od the ascetic/zahid Is the Generous Lord (al-Karim)

The qibla of the flatterer is A purse of gold.

To be continued, insya’Allah and still 70 pages

to be retyped from old tattered diary.