Prophet Moses Performed Hajj Too

A lot of times we fail to connect our good deeds in following the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the way he did these good deeds with the prophets that came before.

And doing so allows us to connect at a deeper spiritual level with the prophets that came before the Prophet Muhammad… Also understanding the way that Allah allowed these times and these deeds to coincide with one another.

So, for example the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned how all of the holy books were revealed within the month of Ramadan… The Injeel the Torah the tablets of Ibrahim and Moses were all revealed in the month of Ramadan, the Psalms of David all revealed in the month of Ramadan.

So, Allah who controls time Allah chose that time to coincide with the time in which these books would be revealed. So, there’s a deep spiritual connection across.

Obviously with Hajj, Abraham (peace be upon him), you think of him raising the foundations; but that’s also the first place of worship where Adam and Eve resided and the Angels built a place of the worship of Allah; Ibrahim raised the foundations.

We find the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioning Prophets that visited the holy place in Makkah at some point in their lives and made Hajj or Umrah.

Moses in Hajj

Prophet Muhammad mentioned Hud (peace be upon him); and he mentioned Moses (peace be upon him).

So, imagine Moses making tawaf around the Ka’bah, the place that was established by his grandfather and the grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, Abraham… that Abraham raised the house with his son Ishmael and so other Prophets honored that as well.

So, the Prophet Muhammad mentioned Moses visiting Makkah. There’s a narration which Moses asked Allah:

“What the best form of remembrance was on the day of Arafah?

And he was told:

‘La ilaha illa Allah.’ (the testimony of faith, simply bearing witness to the oneness of Allah).

When we were extracted from the back of Adam, on that day, we all testified to the oneness of Allah. So the best form of remembrance on the day of Arafah is testifying to the oneness of Allah in any way.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

I and the prophets have not said anything better on this day of Arafah than: ‘La ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika la, laho al molk wa laho al hamd, wa howa ‘ala kol shay’en qadir‘.

Just as we bore witness on that day when we were originally extracted ‘la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika laho;‘ testifying that He has no partner; ‘lahul mulku wa lahul hamd’; He’s alone in His dominion and He is the most worthy of praise alone in being praised in a way that a God would be praised; ‘wha-howo ala kulli shayin qadir’ and He has power over all things.

So, all of the forms of the testimony of faith all of the prophets used to do that on the day of Arafah to remember the day when we were extracted from the back of the prophet Adam doing so.

So, there’s another interesting connection in the Quran for us to think about: That on the day of Eid, that is the day that Allah spoke to Moses directly according to the majority of the scholars.

Now, what is this referring to?

Allah mentions and the 40 days of Moses of fasting. So in the Exodus 34:28, it says:

Moses was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights without eating bread or drinking water and he wrote the tablets in the words of the Covenant.

As Muslims we also have in the Quran:

We made an appointment with Moses for 30 nights and perfected them by the addition of 10. (7:142)

So Moses initially had 30 days of fasting and then Allah gave him an additional 10 days and in that he completed the 40 nights with Allah.

Allah mentions at the end of that:

When Moses came at the time and place appointed by Us and his Lord spoke to him. He said: “Oh, my Lord allow me to look upon you.” (7:143)

So, what is this referring to again?

The scholars mentioned that the 30 days of Moses fasting were the days of Dhul Qi’dah; and then Allah gave him an extra 10 which coincided with the tenth of Dhul Hijjah.

So, those 10 days that Moses was fasting were the 10 days of Dhul Hijjah. We have a relationship to this as Muslims because we just finished not so long ago the 30 days of Ramadan or the month of Ramadan and then Allah gives us another the most blessed 10 days of the year after the most blessed month of the year.

So, we should think of it in that same way that we draw close to Allah with these 10 days.

And at this point, think about how much withdrawal a person starts to feel from Ramadan now; you felt like you had your goals, you set your highs… And then Ramadan ended and you fell off.

This is your chance now with these additional 10 days that Allah has given you to come close to Him, to draw close to Him, to make sure that you take the full advantage of it.

And as we go out on the day of our Eid, this day of the sacrifice, now we should be thinking about how Allah spoke to Moses directly. Allah honored His Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) by speaking to him directly on that day of our eid.

 

About Omar Suleiman
Imam Omar Suleiman is the President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research and a professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Methodist University. He’s also the resident scholar of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center and Co-Chair of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square, a multi-faith alliance for peace and justice.