Answer
Wa`alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- Hajj maintains the spirit of unity among Muslims, individuals and communities.
2- Hajj educates Muslims, and even non-Muslims, about the true meaning of equality which is manifested in the pilgrims’ unified dress code and their observance of the rituals irrespective of their race, language, gender, or social positions.
In responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada , states:
Hajj is full of lessons for Muslims whereby we can affect real changes in the way we practice Islam as well as in the way we behave.
Let me mention just a few lessons of the hajj message:
1. Hajj should unite the Muslim Ummah on its common goals and aspirations, for Hajj teaches us to break the barriers that separate people from one another: barriers of race, nationality, ethnicity, color, and language.
2. Hajj ought to instill in us the great values of faith, surrender, trust, and sacrifice for the sake of Allah the Almighty and for the truth.
3. Hajj ought to develop sound faith in us. It should keep us mindful that we will stand before the Lord for our final reckoning.
4. Last but not least, Hajj should make us vigilant against the snares of the Devil who is constantly trying to snatch our faith and lead us astray.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.
