Chapter 2: Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow), verse 196-197
Translation:
Make the pilgrimage and visit the Sacred House for His sake. If you cannot, send such offerings as you can afford and do not shave your heads until the offerings have reached their destination. But if any of you is ill or suffers from an ailment of the head, he must do penance either by fasting or by almsgiving or by offering a sacrifice. If in peacetime anyone among you combines the visit with pilgrimage, he must offer such gifts as he can afford; if lacks the means let him fast three days during the pilgrimage and seven when he has returned; that is, ten days in all. That is incumbent on him whose family are not present at the Holy Mosque. Have fear of God: know that God is stern in retribution. Make the pilgrimage in the appointed months. He that intends to perform it in those months must abstain from sexual intercourse, obscene language, and acrimonious disputes while on pilgrimage. God is aware of whatever good you do. Provide well for yourselves: the best provision is piety. Fear Me, the, you that are endowed with understanding. (196-197)
Commentary:
The Hajj
(pilgrimage) takes place once a year, in the month of Dhul Hijjah, whereas Umrah
(minor pilgrimage) may be performed at any time. Be it Hajj or Umrah, any
worship, when performed purely for God, is valuable in the eyes of God. When one
who is a true worshipper of God in his daily life undertakes a religious duty
like Hajj, during the performance of the rites of that act of worship, he
spiritually experiences a surrender to a Being whom he loves and fears more than
anything else. The greatest concern of such a worshipper is to escape God’s
chastisement in the Hereafter. Thus a believer is one who lives not for the
satisfaction of his desires, but for a worthy goal. His goal is to completely
abstain from all that God has forbidden. He must refrain from all kinds of
misdeeds and quarrels with his followmen. The Hajj pilgrimage serves the purpose
of this moral training very well. That is why the believers are especially
enjoined to undertake it.
The pilgrims take
provisions with them to meet their requirements during the journey. However, we
are reminded that the best provision for a believer is to live in fear of God.
“Fear Me, then, you that are endowed with wisdom.” God-fearingness (taqwa)
is something which relates to the intellect. It has nothing to do with
observance of certain outward forms. It is, in fact, a state of heightened
consciousness. When man finds his Lord at the level of the keenest awareness,
his mind is filled with God’s greatness and beauty. Then at the spiritual
level, that state which may be described as God-fearing (taqwa, or God
consciousness) is produced.