Wednesday, April 17, 2013

..the title..



...we were called 'Hajji' the moment after we stepped down from the plane in Jeddah...as we trailed into the waiting foyer, Bangladeshi pedlars called out to us with their Mobily and Zain simcards...henceforth the cry 'Hajji..Hajji..' was an often heard cry...most times followed by 'Toreek..Toreek..' when in the Holy City...inevitably it was someone being wheel-chaired, asking for the right of way....but  pakmat got used to it soon enough...and it was easier calling fellow pilgrims Hajji or Hajjah, having no talent memorising names...


..pakmat knew the responsiblities it bring, being called a hajji.....not so much because he is a hajji, for titular means nothing to him...but more because he has set his feet in the Holy Land,  tawaf the house of God, wukuf in Arafat, stayed a moment at Muzdalifah, stoned the satans in him and outside of him, and sheared his hair....


..more because of the tears that he shed just a few meters away from His House...imploring the Lord to forgive him of his sins...imploring the Lord to accept his repentance...imploring Him for His Blessings....His Bounty....beseeching His Clemency....not just for him...but also for his late mother and father...his children and his grandchildren....his family and friends....the people of his village...muslimin and muslimat....



...'Lord, You are the Most Compassionate and Most Loving....there is no God but You, Allah...and Mohammad is Your Prophet....I stand now before Thee...bringing doa's from my children, brethren and friends..from the people in my village...they seek your forgiveness, Lord...as they seek Your bounty...their lists are long as Your Compassion is endless....please, Lord, grant them their wishes...if You find them fair and of benefit to them....for truly, Lord, I know not what You know'...


..for pakmat, the haj is the divide...that separates him from the old and the new...but inasmuch as he knew his weaknesses, he knew his strength...


...and his journey starts not from the day he left  for Makkah....but from the day he returned...

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