Pilgrimage with your heart

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the name of Allah the Most Beneficent, Most Merciful

Pilgrimage with your heart

Praise be to Allah, we thank Him and His aid we seek and ask Him for forgiveness. We seek protection by Allah from our evil souls and bad deeds. Whom He guides, no one can lead astray and whom He leads astray, no one can guide. I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and Mohammad is Allah's messenger. Oh Allah, have mercy on Mohammad and those related to Mohammad just that Thou had on Ibrahim and those related to Ibrahim; surly Thou art the Praiseworthy, the Great. Oh Allah, bestow your blessing on Mohammad and those related to Mohammad as Thou had bestowed it on Ibrahim and those related to Ibrahim; surly Thou art the Praiseworthy, the Great.

Thus, I ask Allah, the Exalted to bless our gathering and make our apart free from sins and not to make anyone of us or around us miserable or deprived. Oh Allah, forgive us and have mercy on us and guide us and be generous, Praise be to the Generous.

My beloved in Allah, I usually say my brothers in Allah but you are the beloved of my Beloved One. So, you are my beloved ones in Allah. You are the guests of Allah. He invited you and you answered. You asked Him and He gave you as the prophet (Peace be upon him) said in the Hadith narrated by An Nisaee and Ibn Majah and corrected by Al Albani, he said: «The pilgrims and the Ommar (people who do Omrah) are the guests of Allah». Oh Allah what a great bless.

You are the guests of Allah if you ask Him He will answer. If you seek forgiveness, He will forgive you..

Oh Allah, accept every step your guests walk on this great blessed land.

Oh Allah, bless us all with an accepted pilgrimage which has no reward by Allah except paradise. In your record the Pilgrimage will not equal good deeds, no the reward is paradise.

For this reason, the blessing of the pilgrimage is the greatest blessing Allah will give.

Imagine how valuable it is if your records are white clear? By Allah, how much does this value?,The prophet Peace be upon him said: «Whoever does pilgrimage to this house and didn't say or do wrong, he will return as pure as the day he was born» [Reported by Al-Bukhary].

Oh Allah, clear our records and faces in the day where some faces turn bright and some will turn dark.

All praise be to Allah for His forgiveness and erasing whatever has passed.

By Allah, oh you pilgrimmers, we all wish for this great bounty that you have been blessed with.

Do you remember the old sin which was between you and Allah? It is over.

Not only that, but the pilgrimage is one of the greatest things that help you approach Allah. The prophet peace be upon him was asked what is the best deed?, He said: «to believe in Allah and his messenger». They said: "then what?", He said: «jihad in the sake of Allah». They said: "then what?". He said: «Accepted pilgrimage» [Reported by Al-Bukhary]. And in a narration of Al Imam Ahmad,prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said: «Accepted pilgrimage prevails all other deeds like the distance between sunrise and sunset»

What a great chance to approach your Lord in a great way when the reward is paradise.

It is like you are fighting for the sake of Allah. The prophet peace be upon him said: «The fighting of the elderly, the weak and the woman is pilgrimage and omrah» [Reported by Al-Nisa'e & classified as hasan by Al-Albany].

When our mother Aisha, God bless her, asked: "Oh messenger of Allah, we think Jihad is the best deed, shouldn't we do it? The prophet peace upon be him said: «But the best is an accepted pilgrimage» [Reported by Al-Bukhary].

And I also tell this good news: Do you want Allah to suffice you with His generosity and fill your eyes with His wealth and flood you with His blessings? Do you want Allah to suffice you with all that is halal and make you rich never knowing poverty? By Allah you can gain all of this by doing pilgrimage this year. The prophet peace be upon him said: «Keep doing the pilgrimage and Omrah as they will negate poverty and clear sins as the fire will negate impurity from iron, gold and silver. The acceptable pilgrimage has no reward but paradise» [Reported by Al-Tirmizi & Al-Nisa'e & classified as Hasan Saheeh by Al-Albany].

So, you should be delighted by the bounty of Allah. Allah all Mighty said: {Say: in the bounty of Allah and His Mercy therein let them rejoice. That's better than what they collect} [Surat Yunus: 58].

Do you feel the generosity of Allah?, Our duty is to thank that bounty and our love for Allah will increase. By Allah, have you ever known a generosity like this before?

Oh our Lord, You are so generous. Oh Allah our Lord, we don't deserve that. But you are the Generous, the Merciful, the Sustainer, the Thankful, and the Grateful. (Oh Allah all praise to You Allah).

It is important my beloved pilgrims to have this meaning and this sensation in your hearts. Your tongues shouldn't stop thanking Allah because we know now how many blessings He has bestowed upon us. We need to protect these blessings, do you know how?

As you know the pilgrimage is an act of worship and for Allah to accept this act, it should fulfill two conditions:

First the intention:
It should be pure for the sake of Allah. So, pray as our beloved prophet peace be upon him taught us: "Oh Allah, I seek a pilgrimage clear of hypocrisy and without seeking reputation".

So be careful to have something else in your heart except seeking closeness to Allah and His satisfaction.

And to achieve this greatness that Allah has blessed the pilgrims with, don't ask for anything except for His satisfaction and nothing else.

Second: a pilgrimage according to his guidance, peace be upon him.
Our prophet peace be upon him taught us and said: «Learn your Manasik (the way to do worship) from me» [Reported by Muslim].

But my beloved pilgrims, I don't want to teach you what to do during the pilgrimage or explain your manasiks and explain the way to do it. I am intending first to explain an important and serious meaning which we ignore these days.

For example, what should be in your hear when you are doing the pilgrimage?, What will you think of when you circumambulate or when you go between Safa and Marwa and so on?

During each pillar of this big act of worship you should ask where my heart is.

This is what I would like to guide you to, doing pilgrimage with your heart.

There are many people who achieved the reward of pilgrimage without even doing it. They achieved it because of what they believed in their hearts and because of their purified intentions.

The prophet peace be upon him was once in a battle and he said to his companions: «There are people in Al Madinah behind us who are with us on every road and in each valley we cross. They couldn't join us due to a great excuse» [Reported by Al-Bukhary].

Allah granted them reward of jihad although they didn't take part in the battle and this is because they had an excuse which restrained them.

Likewise, Allah will give the reward of pilgrimage to those who intended pilgrimage but were halted due to excuses.

Unfortunately, there are others who did pilgrimage and came back as if they didn't go: they went to pilgrimage and all what they gained was spending a few days enjoying being there without gaining the reward of the pilgrimage or achieving forgiveness.

Hence, dear brothers and sisters, Allah is my witness; I am giving this lesson to explain to you the meaning and secrets of pilgrimage step by step.

I will explain the Manasik (the steps) and the meanings that you should have in your heart while doing them. And I don't deny that I also seek the reward from our Generous Lord so please don't forget me in your duaa..

Oh Allah please grant us truthfulness and sincerity in what we say and do.

And now, let us start with the preparation for the journey...

To be Continued insha Allah ....

Shaykh: Hany Helmy
manhag.net