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Dear visitors,
The session has just started. Please feel free to join us with your questions.
After the session has ended, you can view the whole dialogue by clicking Recent Sessions, or later on Archive.
For feedback and suggestions, please e-mail us at EngLivedialogue@islamonline.net.
Yours,
IslamOnline Live Dialogue Editing Desk
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Nice Guy
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What is so special about the Ka`bah that people must go there anyways? I heard people say that muslims worship a god who lives there...is that true?
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Salam, Nice Guy.
The Ka`bah is not a symbol of divinity but it is a building of bricks and stones that symbolizes the worshipping of Muslims and their submission peacefully to the One and Only creator of all that exists.
This is because it's mosque was the first mosque built on earth ever to worship Allah Who is the Only Divine, worth worshipping on this earth in the human history. And, this Ka`bah was re-built more than once by different worshippers and prophets for the same cause and God has ordered Muslims who submit to His will to circumambulate around it seeking His pleasure, all equally bare footed, the poor and the rich, shoulder to shoulder, the king and the humble, there is no god who lives there, there is no prophet who lives there, there is no saint who lives there.
Muslims don't believe in a physical god who physically exists and is contained in a place, for Allah the One and Only Creator is much more Transcendental.
Related Link:
Honor the House, Kiss the Stone?
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Amina
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Assalam `AIkum. I hope you will be able to answer my question, inshallah.
Is the performance of Hajj in order to achieve forgiveness for one's sins compatible with performing Hajj for the sake of Allah (SWT)? How is one to achieve a clarity of intention?
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Salam, Amina.
Yes my dear, both intentions are one! Whom are you asking the forgiveness from? Isn't it Allah? You are going for Hajj for the sake of Allah where you worship Him according to His own rules. During Hajj you circumambulate a house of bricks and stones (the Ka`bah), you kiss a stone (the Black Stone), you throw stones on the symbol of the devil, etc. You do these things along with other rituals in complete submission where you completely render your heart and submit to God's orders. You do not stop to question or know the story behind each ritual. Whether you know it or not, you do submit and you want to obey because you want to be accepted.
This is because simply God has decreed it that way and in that manner He accepts us and have us forgiven as if we were newly born. He is the One Who has ordered us to worship Him in that way, in that specific rocky desert valley, in that specific time of the year. It is His will and His mercy to prescribe to us the path to forgiveness through that process. So, when you obey and fulfill His will, you do not have double intention here.
What is important is to have a sincere intention. You can achieve that by intensity of du`aa' and supplications asking God to help you with that. Also make sure to prepare yourself early for Hajj, by reading a lot about the rituals. Watch God in every step you move before you go, ask Him to accept you and be convinced that He will because He has promised the pilgrims that He does.
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Mikey
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How could I prepare myself spiritually before going to Hajj? I'm so excited, but I've these fears of making mistakes on my Hajj and losing the reward.
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Salam, Mikey.
The most important thing to prepare is your heart. Make sure to acknowledge to yourself that you are going there to meet God. Of course you know that Allah is Transcendental and that this does not mean that He is physically available or contained in Makkah or `Arafat. But, He has chosen this meeting point and time of year to endow His forgiveness on His servants. So, if you are going to Hajj, you do have an appointment with God. Make sure to prepare your heart for that. Before you go repent all your mistakes, sins and negative deeds with the intention of never to go back to them.
Put on your mind that you are going for the sake of God, not for the sake of the Ka`bah or for the sake of the title of a pilgrim or even for the curiosity of what is pilgrimage is all about. Make sure to train yourself to be patient, for pilgrimage needs lots of patience. You will be walking a lot, sleeping little, maybe eating little.
The Qur'an specifically advices the pilgrims to avoid vain talk and dispute. In reality and with the big number of people and the crowd, this needs lot's of patience. Always keep in your heart the verse that says what means:
*{The pilgrimage is (performed in) the well-known months; so whoever determines the performance of the pilgrimage therein, there shall be no intercourse nor fornication nor quarrelling amongst one another; and whatever good you do, Allah knows it; and make provision, for surely the provision is the guarding of oneself, and be careful (of your duty) to Me, O men of understanding}* (Al-Baqarah 2:197)
As for avoiding mistakes during your pilgrimage, make sure to start reading a lot from the correct sources. You can check the links provided at the end of this link. Also make sure to stick to istighfar (repentance and asking for forgiveness) all the time. It is also advisable to attend some lectures by specialists and scholars to teach you the shar`ii details of the rituals. Please check the provided links.
Significance of Pilgrimage
A Stand of Forgiveness
Spiritual Ethics of Hajj
Once in a Lifetime...
Rejoicing the Sacrifice
Hajj & 'Umrah
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Will
- United States
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student
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I'm reading on and off about Islam, since I'm interested in it, but I have noticed that it's quite difficult to become a Muslim and applying the five daily prayers, could I as a start pray 1 till I get used to the 5?
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Salam, Will.
I welcome you to our site and am happy to hear from you. Your question is in fact not really related to the topic of our live dialogue, so what I can briefly and shortly tell you is that of course you can. This never means that it is the right thing to do! But if you love someone and he has asked you to tell him that you love him five times a day, I cannot tell you do not tell him at all if you can't tell the five!
Prayers is the means of communication with God. It is the way the servant expresses his submission and love to his Divine and Worshipped Creator. God has decreed that to be five times a day. My answer is not that it is the right thing is to do it once a day or that once per day is enough. But, if you are choosing to connect with God once per day or not to connect, then start by and then try to increase to what He has willed by time. Hopefully by time you will be able to do it.
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Sarah
- United States
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How do you suggest that i get the most out of my pilgrimage. i am very nervous and feel overwhelmed. how do i know if my pilgrimage is accepted by Allah?
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salam, Sarah.
You should trust in Allah that He has accepted you the moment you come down from Mount `Arafat. This is because He has promised to forgive who achieve the `Arafat stand. Don't ever doubt God's promise!
What you have got to do is to watch God all the time from before going to your pilgrimage. Make sure to fulfill all your debts and ask all those you know for their forgiveness in case you ever wronged them. Make sure you owe no human anything. Go to meet God with not debts to His servants and devote your heart and body to the Lord of the servants. In case any one wronged you during the pilgrimage, make sure to forgive, for the crowd make people dispute and quarrel. Do not get yourself involved in that.
Get yourself busy all the time by asking God day and night to be accepted and to be forgiven. If you are hurt by others during the trip, devote your pain to God and forgive whoever caused you the pain. Live with your heart and have God within your heart. Speak little for much talking get you into dispute, specially getting into fiqhi discussions.
Before you go, study well your rituals to know what you will be doing. Then when you are there do not get yourself into disputes. If others are getting themselves into discussions do not share in, but __again__ get your heart and tongue busy with the remembrance of Allah.
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Egfoo Yong
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Purser
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Is the Saudi King planning on undertaking any protective measures to prevent pilgrims from being killed and trampled upon this year or is this something that the civilised world should expect to read about in our morning newspapers this year?
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Salam, Mr Yong.
Thank you for your question and for your concern for the Muslim pilgrims.
I, myself, cannot speak for the Saudi King. But, having been there last year I have personally witnessed the efforts done to regulate an event that encompassed 5 million human soul. This is an event that takes place in no other time, no other place on earth. No other country can judge the efforts of the Saudi government, for non have the same experience.
What I have witnessed myself is that people do not follow the rules and that they do not stick to the orders and this is what causes the chaos each time. It is really saddening to lose all those worshippers of Muslims each years in these tragic accidents, along with the victims of the wars on their homelands in Iraq, Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo, etc.
Brutal deaths of war killing the innocent, whether Muslims or non-Muslims are even more saddening. When will these deaths end, is a question which answer is to be answered by the leaders of the "civilized war".
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