WHEN THE HEART IS UNCLEAN

WHEN THE HEART IS UNCLEAN

DURING the Hajj season some 15 year ago, a friend came to meet me while I was resting at the Jeddah Airport. At that time, our group were waiting for the plane for our flight back to Malaysia.

     "Ustaz, look at our friend there. Always sleeping," my friend said, almost sighing.

     "It's fine, better that he sleeps. Now it is only 10.00am; we're only leaving at 6.00 pm. Perhaps our flight will be delayed again. Let him sleep."

     "It's not that, Ustaz. Ever since we arrived in Mecca he has just been sleeping. Eat, sleep, eat, sleep."

     "Well, he obviously like to sleep. What are we to do?"

     "But Ustaz, there's something strange about him."

     "In that way?" I asked, confused.

     "He loves to sleep so much that when I was leading him to do the Tawaf, he couldn't see the Kaaba."

     "Couldn't see the Kaaba? Are you sure?" I said, shocked. Not seeing the Kaaba while doing the tawaf is not something that should be experienced by the pilgrims. This was the first time for me in heading a Hajj and Umra package that pilgrim could not see the Kaaba. There surely must be something wrong with the man.

     "How can he not see it? Isn't the Kaaba big enough?" I said.

     "I really don't know Ustaz. That's why he is always sleeping."

     I couldn't say for sure whether the man's tawaf was valid or not considering that one need to be conscious while doing it. How could he not see the Kaaba? Was he aware or not? Or was he sleeping during the tawaf? Or were his eyes merely 'shut'? Wallahualam. I really don't know the answer.

     It didn't make any sense for me that everybody could see Kaaba except for him. It was very unfortunate that I never really got round to check his background. Anyway, we were getting ready to go back at the time, so I didn't get the opportunity to 'dig'. Whoever he was, this situation, as far as I was concerned, would not have happened if his heart was clean while performing his Hajj. Maybe his money was not clean, or his eyes had seen too many things which were haram.

     I believe that the main reason behind that incident is because the man's heart was unclean. There were still many sins that had yet to be discarded. This is why it's so important that we repent and cleanse our heart before going to Mecca. None of us are without mistakes, so before going to the Holy Land, it is truly best to repent.

I WANT TO TIE UP MY BUFFALO

     As far as I am concerned, some of the strangest things often occur because of what's inside all of us. The incident above is just one of the many examples. During a Hajj season several years ago, there was a female pilgrim in our package group.

     The woman was initially quite healthy, but upon reaching Mecca, she suddenly became unwell. All the others were happy to arrive in the Holy Land but she appeared very restless. It was as if something was bothering her. The others would go back and forth to Al-Masjid al-Haram to perform their ibadah but she would remain in her room by herself.

     We started to wonder about her condition. Why was she like that? Was she unhappy with us?

     By the third day in Mecca, I discovered that the woman was ill. As the head of the group, I immediately went to see her at the place where she was staying. By the time I got there, I saw that there were already many other pilgrims there, including our staff, looking very anxious.

     "Send me back! Send me back!" the woman shouted for no reason.

     "Say a prayer kak, Istighfar..." I said.

     "Where do you think we are now?" I subsequently asked her. I just wanted to find out whether the woman was actually aware of her whereabouts or not.

     "I remember! I remember! We are in Mecca. But I want to go back. I want to go home!" replied the woman.

     "Alhamdilillah. If you can remember, that's good. But why do you want to go home? Didn't you come here to do your Hajj?"

     "I haven't tied up my buffalo yet." Upon hearing the woman's reply, we all broke into laughter. How could she want to go back and tie up her buffalo while everyone was busy wanting to perform their Hajj?

     "Send me back now, I want to tie up my buffalo!!" she screamed. This is awful, I said to myself. I tried to calm her down.

     "Akak... how are you going to go back? The plane is full."

     "You're lying! The flights are empty. After they send everybody off, they'll be empty again!" she said.

     The woman caused many of us to have stomach ache for laughing too much. Alhamdulillah, after treatment, she recovered and could finally perform her Hajj.

     For me, even though it was funny, the incident did contain some valuable lessons. When in Mecca, the mind must be focused on ibadah, and not on worldly goods, wealth, cows or buffalos. If the heart is unclean, and the mind is still absorbed in other things, then this is the consequence.

WANDERING AROUND HOLY LAND

     Prior to that, in 1985, there was an old man who joined our package. If that woman's body was in Mecca but her heart back home, this man was a different story altogether. His body was in Mecca, but his heart was elsewhere, not in Mecca. He came to Mecca not to perform his Hajj but to go on holiday.

     The story goes like this.

     I was busy doing my work when I was approached by a pilgrim.

     "Ustaz, could you give some counselling to one of our friends?" the man asked.

     "Why, what's wrong? Has he done something wrong?" I replied.

     "It's like this, Ustaz. He just likes to wander around. Other people are doing their ibadah, and he's busy vacationing. People go to the mosque; he goes off for a walk. Basically, he has not carried out any ibadah at all. He's just having a good holiday."

     "Where did he go?"

     "I really don't know. But I heard that he even got up to Ta'if."

     "Hah? Ta'if? There's not been a Malaysian who has reached there. Even I haven't stepped foot there," I said, confused and shocked at the same time. Ta'if was not nearby; it was around 50km away from Mecca.

     "How did he have the strength to walk so far? How could he get there?" I asked again.

     "I really don't know ustaz. It's very strange."

     "How old is he?"

     "Seventy, ustaz."

     "Hah... he's 70?" I couldn't really believe what I'd heard from my friend. "He's 70 and he can still walk that far... forgetting the ibadah. Is the man still ok?"

     "He's fine, ustaz. Please ustaz, go and advise him. Tomorrow he plans to go to Arafat. He's not in his room... I don't know where he has gone today."

     This happened every day. He never carried out his ibadah, wuquf, stoned the Jamraat... in short, he did nothing. He was only found when everyone had returned to Mecca. Where he went, who brought him for Hajj. I really didn't know.

     Even though he never carried out the ibadah that he was supposed to, the old man just looked happy, well, and he had lots of money. Not only that, whenever he returned from his jaunts, he never displayed the slightest remorse for not doing his ibadah. Instead, he displayed his arrogance to the others.

     "Wah, I had a good time in Ta'if. It's your loss you didn't come with me," and "I went to visit Jabal Nur just now," and "Things in Ja'arana is so cheap," and "Tomorrow I'm going shopping in Ghazzah. Do you want to come?" Those were his words every time he returned from his many jaunts. He was not in the least regretful that he never did his duties to Allah.

     After conducting some checks, I later discovered that the guy was actually a medicine supplier. No wonder he liked to travel. And he had the gift of the gab. In fact, I was told that even during the Hajj course, he would constantly disappear. While others were focused on following the course, he would wander everywhere. When other attended the courses, he would travel to Penang, Kota Bharu, Kuantan and sometimes right up to Seremban... selling medicine. Because he loved to travel, he also did the same while in Mecca.

     So, it was his loss. We go to Mecca to attain the perfect Hajj, to earn merits, while he only wanted to travel. While others were rewarded for their ibadah, he only went to and fro.

     Allah is All-Knowing. Whatever is in our hearts, He knows. If we ask for goodness in Mecca, Insya-Allah, He will grant it to us. But if our intentions are merely to travel, that is all we shall get.

N / F : FROM "THE BEST COLLECTION OF STORIES IN MECCA", BY MASTIKA. - THE END -