By Professor Abdullahi Danladi
As I was driving and listening to the live broadcast and translation of this year’s Khutbah on the Day of Arafat, something deeply pricked my mind. The scholar providing commentary suddenly delved into the issue of politics and strongly argued that Hajj has no political bearing whatsoever. He went further to criticize pilgrims who chant political slogans or carry posters of renowned Islamic and political figures. According to him, Hajj should remain purely spiritual and detached from worldly political concerns.
That statement immediately forced me into deep reflection. Can Hajj truly be separated from politics? Can the greatest annual gathering of the Muslim Ummah, where millions converge from every race, nation, and social class, be stripped of its social and political significance? Was the message delivered by the Holy Prophet Prophet Muhammad on the plains of Arafat merely a sermon about rituals and personal piety, or was it also a bold declaration concerning justice, equality, oppression, human dignity, and the future direction of the Muslim community?
The more one reflects on the reality of Hajj and the Farewell Khutbah, the more impossible it becomes to deny its political dimensions. In fact, to completely depoliticize Hajj is to reduce one of Islam’s most powerful institutions into a mere collection of disconnected rituals stripped of their transformative purpose.
Hajj was never intended to produce passive worshippers disconnected from the affairs of humanity. Islam itself is not a religion confined to private spirituality alone. It is a comprehensive way of life that addresses worship, morality, economics, governance, justice, social relations, and resistance against oppression. Therefore, how can Hajj — one of the greatest pillars of Islam — be divorced from the realities facing the Muslim Ummah?
Every ritual in Hajj carries profound social and political symbolism. When millions abandon their expensive clothing and wear the simple garments of Ihram, Islam is demolishing artificial barriers of race, tribe, nationality, social class, and worldly status. Kings and presidents stand shoulder to shoulder with laborers and peasants. No throne exists in Arafat. No palace exists in Mina. No military rank or worldly title carries value before Allah except righteousness.
This itself is a revolutionary political message.
At a time when humanity continues to suffer from racism, nationalism, tribal arrogance, colonial mentality, and class oppression, Hajj announces before the world that human equality is not a slogan but a divine principle. This was clearly emphasized in the historic Khutbah of the Prophet Prophet Muhammad on the Day of Arafat when he declared:
“No Arab has superiority over a non-Arab, and no non-Arab has superiority over an Arab; neither does a white person have superiority over a black person nor a black person over a white person except through piety and righteousness.”
What was this if not a direct challenge to systems of racial supremacy and social domination?
The Prophet’s Khutbah on Arafat was not simply a spiritual lecture disconnected from society. It was a manifesto for building a just human civilization. He spoke about the sanctity of life, wealth, and human honor. He condemned oppression and exploitation. He abolished the oppressive economic practices of usury. He shattered the foundations of tribal vengeance and endless cycles of violence. He emphasized accountability and justice.
These are political issues in the deepest sense of the word.
Politics, in its true meaning, concerns the organization of human society, protection of rights, distribution of justice, and management of collective affairs. If a sermon addresses oppression, economic exploitation, racial inequality, corruption, bloodshed, and human dignity, how can anyone honestly claim it has no political relevance?
The problem, perhaps, is that many people have reduced politics to mere partisan competition, elections, state power, or slogans. But the political spirit of Islam is far broader and more profound. Islam stands against tyranny, exploitation, injustice, and humiliation of humanity. Hajj therefore naturally becomes a platform that awakens the consciousness of the Ummah concerning its collective condition.
Historically, Hajj always functioned as more than a ritual gathering. Muslims from different regions met, exchanged ideas, discussed challenges affecting the Ummah, and strengthened bonds of solidarity. The pilgrimage created intellectual and political consciousness across the Muslim world long before modern communication systems existed. Colonial powers themselves understood this reality and often feared the political awakening that could emerge from Hajj gatherings.
Even the symbolism of the Hajj rituals points toward resistance against oppression. The stoning of Shaytan is not merely about throwing pebbles at stone pillars. It symbolizes rejection of evil, arrogance, corruption, injustice, and rebellion against divine guidance. The sacrifice commemorates the struggle and submission of Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Ismail, who were prepared to sacrifice everything for truth and obedience to Allah. Safa and Marwa immortalize the struggle, resilience, and determination of Hajar in the face of hardship and uncertainty.
Thus, Hajj is a school of moral resistance, courage, sacrifice, unity, and social awakening.
This does not mean Hajj should descend into chaos, hatred, violence, or reckless partisan agitation. Certainly, sacred spaces must be respected and the spiritual sanctity of Hajj preserved. But preserving spirituality should not mean silencing every cry against oppression or erasing the Ummah’s collective concerns from Muslim consciousness. A spirituality completely detached from justice and human suffering is not the spirituality taught by the Qur’an or embodied by the Prophet Prophet Muhammad.
The Qur’an itself consistently links worship with justice, faith with responsibility, and devotion with defense of the oppressed. A Muslim who stands before Allah in Arafat while remaining indifferent to the suffering of humanity has failed to fully grasp the spirit of Hajj.
Perhaps this is why the plains of Arafat feel so powerful. Millions gather in one place dressed like the dead awaiting judgment before Allah. Every worldly illusion collapses. Wealth disappears. Titles disappear. National borders disappear. Human beings stand equal before their Creator. In that atmosphere, the Prophet Prophet Muhammad delivered a message that shook the foundations of injustice and established eternal principles for human civilization.
Today, the Muslim world suffers from division, corruption, authoritarianism, foreign domination, sectarian hatred, economic exploitation, and moral decline. In many places, Muslims are killed, displaced, humiliated, and deprived of justice. Under such circumstances, how can anyone insist that Hajj has no political dimension? How can the Ummah gather annually in the millions yet remain silent about its own condition?
The Khutbah of Arafat was never meant to produce a sleeping Ummah. It was meant to awaken conscience, revive dignity, establish justice, and unite humanity under the guidance of Allah.
To reduce Hajj into a purely private spiritual exercise while ignoring its message of justice, equality, unity, and resistance against oppression is to empty it of much of its transformative power. The Day of Arafat was not only a day of tears and supplication; it was also a day of declaration — a declaration that human dignity is sacred, oppression is forbidden, racism is abolished, exploitation is condemned, and the Ummah must stand as one body guided by truth and justice.
That is the political spirit of Hajj. And that spirit can never truly be erased from Arafat.
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