Unifying

When looking at the serried ranks of pilgrims,

similarly dressed, shoulder to shoulder circling the Kaaba,

it is tempting to see the muslim ummah as a unified group,

yet looking at the muslim world where those pilgrims came from,

that is very obviously not the case.

Muslims are fighting each other everywhere,

and often fighting about the nature of their Islam,

and it has been this way since the death of the Messenger.

From that moment muslim history was shaped by the arguments,

assassinations and civil war

of the first few decades,

many of which still continue to the present day,

the same old feuds and power struggles

now being fought out using hi-tech modern weaponry.

That appearance of unity that we see in the Hajj

doesn't seem to be reflected in

the social and political lives of the pilgrims when they return home.

But political power in the muslim world can be as disparate as its climate and landscapes,

and power is not always held by those most interested in spiritual devotion and surrender.

Since the time of the Messenger, Makkah itself has been run by both Sunni and Shi'a,

as well as some rulers whose connection to Islam appears to have been tenuous to say the least.

And along with all the political power grabs of history,

the intellectual framework of Islam constantly swayed back and forth between opinions,

as scholars did their best to control their wild variety

and reduce them to something more stable and concrete,

something more communally fixed

and less open to individual interpretation.

But as one might imagine in a family that so quickly spread around the world,

trying to get people to agree on a single way of thinking

proved rather difficult,

but that problem was dealt with

by not really dealing with it at all.

It is often said that Islam is not a religion of orthodoxy,

but is one of orthopraxy,

in other words, it doesn't matter what you think

so much as what you do.

But in the crossover between thought and behaviour that is found in politics and law,

the reduction of Islamic thought to a narrow range of permitted opinions

eventually led to rigidity and ossification

and that left it too inflexible to cope with

the vibrant colonial expansion of the west.

Since when it seems that many muslims think the answer

is to go back to being more rigid than ever.

Yet wherever you see muslims in the world,

you will see them doing exactly the same things.

It is still possible for a muslim to visit a mosque anywhere in the world

and find other muslims making Wudhu and Sala

in the same way.

They will be reading the same Qur'an,

and treating the Messenger with the same reverence.

They will be united in their concern for giving charity,

and whatever their differences, they will all agree

that they are worshipping One God alone.

And of course they share in that great annual coming together

at the point on the earth that they face when they pray,

when the wild disparate variety of cultures that are represented in the Ummah

join together to discard their cultural distinctions,

and dress the same,

and walk and stand and bow

and make Sajda

side by side

in the great pilgrimage that is the Hajj.

Of course, the place to look for guidance concerning the Hajj

is the Qur'an,

where Sura 22 bears its name.

There is a beautiful passage, 22.26-38, in which the word appears.

It begins by informing us that the place of the Ancient House is not arbitrary,

God having directed Abraham to the place.

Then God makes clear what is to be associated with that place,

the recognition that God has no partners,

and the need for cleanliness and purity,

and associating with Ibrahim those primal forms of Sala,

standing, bowing, and Sajda.

And over the millenia since Ibrahim announced the Hajj to humankind,

people have come in their millions from the far reaches of the world

so they can witness things that are of use to them.

The Qur'an says little of the rituals of Hajj,

but here we find the experience

entwined with a consideration of the livestock

which the pilgrims are killing for their daily meals,

and some of which will end up as charitable sacrifice.

Making clear that eating meat is permitted

moves straight to giving up idols, and giving up telling lies.

Again the need for pure belief is stressed,

as those who associate partners with God

will feel as though they have fallen from heaven

and been snatched away by birds

or swept away by winds.

The aim is to be Mindful of God in our hearts.

And Taqwa needs to be present when we consider

the way that we treat our livestock animals,

with our attitude to taking their lives for our benefit

being illuminated by the way we approach

the ritual sacrifice of Hajj.

We are told that God gives good news to those who surrender,

and are humble, and patient, and accepting,

and who make Sala, and give charity,

and in the next breath the Reading stresses again

that the sacrifice is a necessary ritual

that is good for you.

Especially now that most peoples meat

comes neatly butchered and wrapped in plastic,

it's easy to ignore the bloody reality of how it got there.

God put other creatures in our power

as a reason for us to be thankful.

The flesh of a sacrifice doesn't reach God.

What reaches God is our Taqwa.