HAAJAR: THE SACRED FEMININE OF HAJJ

By Mariam Sheikh Hakim

As Muslims worldwide celebrate the culmination of the Hajj pilgrimage with Eid-Al Adha, Mariam Sheikh Hakim reflects on a core ‘Sacred Feminine’ lesson contained within the pilgrimage.

This is the story of a matriarch, who was once a slave girl. Abandoned and alone with her child Ismail, both deserted in the desert. Stranded in the sterile sands, she searched for signs of life. But God is ever-present, watching, waiting and working.

This is the story of a woman who God has ensured will never be forgotten, no matter how much patriarchy we lapse into. It is the story of Haajar, of life and death itself and the Sacred Feminine within our Hajj.

There are many who may be confused with the words ‘Sacred Feminine’, thinking it’s a recent innovation with layers of politics, but you need not be afraid. God has always been empowering women equally and raising their narratives alongside men, it is the nature of the divine. It is the nature of One. Look for the signs and you will see it clearly.

The Almighty is a balance and a unification of masculine and feminine principles, wisdom, and energy. But often it’s the masculine that’s emphasised through organised religion.

Appreciating the ‘Sacred feminine’ is an answer to this problem. The Sacred Feminine is about valuing the qualities of the Divine and of the Creator that are traditionally viewed as feminine. It is also about honouring female wisdom; truth and messages that are inspired by women’s faith in God.

If we don’t reflect on these lessons from an early age it will later sabotage us all as adults – either in our self-development, in our relations with one another or as a community. We will miss out on wisdom relevant to us all because divine truth is beyond gender or at least our understanding of gender. It is us humans that have limited our own concept of God’s truth.

We all know the Hajj pilgrimage is a pillar of the Islamic faith, and the rituals involved commemorate Prophet Ibrahim. However, there is a core part of the pilgrimage that is solely about the narrative of Haajar (his second wife) and their infant son Ismail. In Ibrahim’s absence, something extraordinary took place, something pivotal to the history of all believers.

Through Haajar we honour the unique feminine experience of a mother whose faith in God was resolute while being tested. We honour her story through the ritual and ceremony of Sa’ee. As pilgrims hurry in her footsteps, they keep alive a religious expression that remembers her for eternity.

Sa’ee (search, searching, quest)

Sa’ee is the part of Hajj where pilgrims hasten between the hills of Safa and Marwa, to emulate the narrative of Haajar. According to the Quran (14:37) we learn that Prophet Ibrahim takes Haajar and their infant son Ismail into the desert as part of a resettlement plan, but the details are missing.

Other sources tell us of Haajar’s back story(1)(2). Initially, Haajar was reluctant at being left alone in the desert, but after she learns it is divine instruction she accepts and puts her trust in Allah. Once there her food and water supplies run out and Haajar desperately searches to find signs of life. It is said that she ran seven times back and forth between the two hills searching, only to return exhausted to her screaming son and miraculously find him with water trickling beside him.

“This ritual of Sa’ee is keeping Haajar’s story alive”

The water rapidly multiplied and became a spring – today known as the Zam Zam well in Makkah. This was enough to sustain Haajar and her breastfed infant till the area soon attracted inhabitants and became the thriving holy city of Makkah. Through perseverance, faith and God’s blessing Haajar and Ismail literally made the desert bloom.

“Indeed, the first House [of worship] established for mankind was that at Makkah – blessed and a guidance for the worlds.” (Quran 3:96) The importance of this city to Islam cannot be overstated. It was through Haajar that the world has come to know of Makkah, and to reinstate it as a house of worship. Therefore, it is right some state Haajar is a “a role model for every pilgrim, for everyone”(3).

Sa’ee symbolises the ongoing struggle that we encounter throughout our lives, as Haajar had experienced. Through her unwavering Tawakkul (reliance on God), her supplications were answered and her needs were met(4).

Hasten in her footsteps

One can’t imagine how alone Haajar must have felt searching while she ran between those hills.

Nevertheless, thousands of years later, millions of people now hasten in her footsteps in the exact same spot. Her moment of struggle has been immortalised, frozen in time forever through Hajj. She will never be forgotten.

Each Muslim is made to reflect on and experience Haajar’s struggle in order to complete their Hajj pilgrimage. The re-enactment of her struggle every day, every single year, even outside of the Hajj season makes it an eternal remembrance of Haajar’s courage and faith in God. Her story is an exemplary symbol of faith through testing times.

It also evidences the importance placed on ‘experience’ in the Islamic faith. With the Sa’ee, pilgrims are not merely walking a route she took, they are living her experience. They’re living a moment in time that she lived, to understand about getting closer to God.

This feminine narrative has already been marked for us as a point of religious significance through Hajj and Umrah – it is our duty to consider it further and to promote it.

The Quran states; “Indeed, as-Safa and al-Marwah are among the symbols of Allah” (2:158) Haajar’s struggle between these mounds are literally a symbol of God.

“And whoever honours the symbols of Allah – indeed, it is from the piety of hearts” (Quran 22:32)

The entire ocean in one drop

The desert is a special place in Abrahamic religions, it’s a prophetic place, of revelation, of tribulation and transformation. It is a microcosm of the barrenness and wealth of this dunya (world). It is a symbolic place, that with your faith in the universal truth of one God, the impossible can flourish.

The desert is a special place in Abrahamic religions, it’s a prophetic place, of revelation, of tribulation and transformation.

This narrative is not just about a mother’s struggle who is alone in the desert without food or water. It is clear Haajar is fulfilling an important prophecy from God. What seemed like a close encounter with death in the desert actually became the beginning of life. It is the establishment not just of the holy city of Makkah, but of a new nation and of its matriarch.

The Sa’ee recollects a pivotal moment in the narrative of Haajar – previous to this her story was about being passed from one form of bondage to another. It’s at this moment that she’s no longer the ‘slave girl’ of other humans, but is free. But freedom is always precarious, and her ordeal signifies a difficult metamorphosis. Fearless in her faith and after braving the tests of the desert she begins a new chapter as Umm Ishmael from this moment onwards. And it’s this exact moment chosen to be re-enacted for Muslims during the pilgrimage.

It has been noted in a number of narrations that Haajar repeats to Ibrahim before he left “God will not abandon us”(5). This removes her dependence on Ibrahim, and affirms her individual relationship with God. It is a statement that confirms Allah is the best of planners. It re-centres the Creator to her own narrative.

“The Islamic faith has many stories of independent, exemplary women and the story of Haajar is merely one of them”

She takes control and finds her resolve in the face of absolute uncertainty. In this crucial moment she wasn’t so much ‘cast out’ into the desert dust, but more casting off her own figurative chains as a former slave, while she affirms the only authority she answers to is God. Her words can always be used as a mantra in times of hardship and can end battles with doubt (similar to the concept of Qadar).

Asma Lamrabet calls Haajar’s declaration an example of “true submission to the creator”(6)

This is a lesson for all humanity about faith. To channel the words of a famous Persian Islamic scholar and poet, here Haajar’s struggle is not a drop in the ocean of Islam, but instead ‘the entire ocean in a drop’ (Rumi)(7).

In the moment of emulating her struggle, we are all Haajar in the barren desert searching for water, to sustain and keep alive that which we love.

This ritual of Sa’ee is keeping her story alive, and is articulating the relevance of this Sacred Feminine to every generation.

Western narratives

The Islamic narrative of Haajar is unmistakeably one of strong faith and liberation. Western narratives, however, have traditionally been quite unkind to Haajar. The belief has been that she was ordered to be ‘cast out’ with Ismail, both were ‘driven to the desert’, banished and expelled by Ibrahim. This was a result of Sarah’s jealousy (Ibrahim’s first wife). Genesis 21:10

The only mention of this entire narrative in the Quran is Ibrahim’s prayer as he returns: “Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley near Your sacred House, our Lord, that they may establish prayer.” (Quran 14:37)

We know, therefore, that the Islamic narrative points to this being a resettlement of Haajar and Ismail for a greater purpose, rather than just a ‘banishment’ or the result of Sarah’s sentiments.

These women are not presented in the context of their emotions – rather it is a fulfilment of divine instruction for the common good of humanity. Allah was aspiring for more for all involved and is always working behind the scenes.

Conclusions

The Islamic faith has many stories of independent, exemplary women and the story of Haajar is merely one of them. Their trials and triumphs are often laid bare, where their faith in God has been confirmed but also challenged and changed for the better. Yet most patriarchal societies and cultures don’t tend to reflect on these narratives as much as they should.

And so we should ask ourselves: are women reflecting enough on these narratives? Are men reflecting on these women’s narratives?

How many of us know people that have more allegiance to religious looking men that churn out sexist and misogynistic tropes, rather than to God’s own (clearly ‘feminist’) messages in the faith?

Silencing the female narrative is actually undoing God’s work; this is lapsing yet again into patriarchy and misogyny – which is a form of idolatry of men. But by remembering the power in women’s narratives we can drive out inequality and injustice.

There are life lessons to be learned here with the Sa’ee. The moral of the story is for all. Some truths must eventually force their way to the fore no matter how much they’ve been pushed to the periphery.

So please, spread word of Haajar’s story. May we too be blessed to be so firm in our faith.

“What will explain to you what the steep path is [towards righteousness]? It is the freeing of a slave” (Quran 90:12-13)

By Mariam Hakim

References

1 Through Nasir al-Din al-Rabghuzi V, the famous Turkish author of Qisas al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets), we get to know more about Haajars story.

2 Narrated by Ibn Abbas http://www.alim.org/…/Hajar%20and%20Ishmael%20%20-%20by%20I…

3 Jeroen Schilder https://ilmfeed.com/a-forgotten-ode-to-hajar-beyond-the-ha…/

4 https://hajjumrahplanner.com/sai/

5 pg. 39, Women in the Quran, Asma Lamrabet

6 Ibid

7 Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī’s full quote:
“You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop”

A jahili Hajj

By Abu Dharr

Makkah and al-Madinah were always open to all Muslims but under the Saudis, these have become off-limits. If the Prophet (saws) or Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail (as) wanted to perform Hajj today, the Saudis would insist they obtain a visa before coming!

The Hajj (the annual journey to sanctified Makkah) is in progress as these words are being written. Alas, the Hajj this year, as has been the case for many, many years, is a non-Hajj. Why? Simply because it is a fact, and a recurring one at that. Hajj was meant to have meaning(s).

In Hajj we have the tears of Hajar (Isma‘il’s loving mother); we have the survival of Isma‘il, the dying baby. We have the desperate but hopeful mother Hajar running between al-Safa and al-Marwah to save the life of her infant son who was dying of natural and social causes on the hot Arabian sands of that desolate area in Hijaz. Hajj was meant to relay to humanity the physical and behavioral construction of Allah’s (swt) sanctuary and asylum for the homeless and the stateless.

Makkah itself came into existence to lodge and accommodate Prophet Ibrahim (a) who was expelled by his own people from his original society and its culture. Prophet Ibrahim (a) lived humanity’s first dispersion and homelessness. Thus came a time and place where Ibrahim and his son Isma‘il (a) would (re)construct Allah’s (swt) sanctuary — the inviolable Ka‘bah — as a haven for the world’s displaced and destitute. One of the meanings of circling around the Ka‘bah is to establish the fact that we (the displaced, the marginalized, the oppressed, the victims) do exist — in the manner that neutrons (elementary particles with zero charge and mass about equal to a proton) enter into the structure of the atomic nucleus, eventually becoming a mass — crowds of people, critical mass with meaningful and life-sustaining movement.

The Hajj is meant to motivate us to take issue with Satan in a physical way. The pelting of stones (ramyu al-jamarat) at the symbol of Satan demonstrates our willingness to do battle with the forces of evil, and not be satisfied with words of condemnation alone. These are the forces of evil that have rendered us the forlorn Rohingya, the rootless African-American Muslims, the exiled Islamic movement members, the landless Palestinian populations of the world and the tens of millions of refugees who have been scattered all over the world.

One of the meanings of Makkah, alienated from our conscience, is to offer meat and food to the starving, the poor, the hungry, and the malnourished. When Prophet Ibrahim was ordered to sacrifice his eldest and begotten son Isma‘il (a), the very fiber of human nature said “no.” How can a father (Ibrahim) sacrifice his own son Isma‘il (a) who together with Hajar are the genesis of Makkah, their newly and only home and homeland? How can an alienation of a lifetime suffered by Ibrahim be permitted to revisit him again as a consequence of Isma‘il (a) being sacrificed? But Allah’s will had to be done. And when the father began to actualize the putting to death of his beloved Isma‘il (a), Allah’s (swt) mercy, His sole prerogative, intervened and overturned His command to Ibrahim (a). Allah (swt) did not want human sacrifice; it was a test of Ibrahim (a).

Thus we have, at a minimum, a meaning and a lesson: (a) obeying Allah (swt) eventually leads to feeding the hungry, the thirsty, and the dying; and (b) the intention to sacrifice the most precious thing one has in life becomes reclamation of life itself.

This inclusive and hospitable Makkah lost its meaning and identity, the first time around, when its rulers forced our beloved Prophet (pbuh) to leave under the threat of assassination — when he went to Yathrib (Madinah). Nowadays, Makkah has again lost its meaning and identity when its rulers forbid the Hajj and the ‘Umrah to anyone who recaptures and assimilates the character of Prophets Ibrahim, Isma‘il, and Muhammad (a).

The Hajj was meant to break down all barriers and to fulfill the objective of unity and uniformity among all those who attend. Muslims shed their worldly positions and their social status when they don the ihram. You can’t tell by looking at a person whether he/she is upper class or lower class, military or civilian, from the elite or from the working class, etc.

All of these meanings and much more are absent from the Saudi-ized Hajj. Initially, their British masters and now their American overlords have managed to macro-manage the Hajj through the Saudi petro-family. And due to the absence of the thinking Muslim Ummah the Yahudi-Saudi Hajj has become meaningless ceremonial customs and ossified observances and programmed practices.

Who said that Muslims are only allowed two or three weeks in the land of the Prophet (pbuh) and the Qur’an? With current Saudi rules and regulations Prophets Ibrahim, Isma‘il, and Muhammad (a) would have to apply for visas to go to Makkah and Madinah, and then have to endure security checks once they arrive.

Makkah, Madinah, and the Hijaz have always been open to all the Muslims of the world, until, that is, the advent of the Anglo-Yahudi Saudis. Makkah was the melting pot of the Muslims of the world. Any Muslim from anywhere in the world — from Sumatra to Timbuktu — had he/she so intended and was able to do so, could go to Makkah for the Hajj and/or the ‘Umrah and stay there for the love of Allah (swt) and His Prophet (pbuh). Not any more. Now the Saudi regime sees to it that all Muslims who come to perform the Hajj and ‘Umrah must leave the land of Muhammad (pbuh)… and stay away. The security setup is going electronic and the Saudis with coaching from Washington and Tel Aviv will have files on Muslims coming for Hajj!

Poor Muslims! Under these imposed conditions, they do not have it within their larger selves to take these hydrocarbon Saudis to the cleaners. O Muslims! Where is the ‘Umar and ‘Ali in you? Don’t you know you have all the Allah-given rights to go and be in the vicinity of the Prophet (pbuh) and be there as long as you can support yourselves without the Saudi bid‘ahs of imprimaturs, visas, and other secular endorsements that beg the permission of royals to obey Allah (swt)?

At a time when Palestine is occupied in the bloody manner that breaks out in wars every few years, resulting in thousands of people killed, tens of thousands wounded, and hundreds of thousands becoming homeless, why can’t you the Muslims demand to go to Khaybar? Is Khaybar off-limits to the hujjaj (pilgrims)? Is Khaybar occupied territory? At a time when the Saudis are meeting incessantly with the Yahudis to do war against Islamic self-determination, at a time when their intelligence chiefs are frantically exchanging notes and ideas on how to defeat an awakening of Muslims in Asia and Africa, at a time when Wahhabi Arabia finds common purpose with Talmudic Zionism, at a time when Riyadh receives its orders to classify activist Muslims as “terrorists,” with all the accompanying legal and penal consequences, isn’t it high time that we the Muslims who are going to a purposeful Hajj also go to Khaybar to recollect our thoughts and inspire our generation with our Prophet’s (pbuh) defeat of Yahud in Arabia the first time around?

You heard it here first. Hajj has to become meaningful — it has to have a meaning and a purpose. Al-Hijaz has to be accessible to all Muslims every day of the year. And every place the Prophet (pbuh) went in Arabia should be approachable by any Muslim who so intends to walk the footsteps of the Prophet (pbuh) That obviously and boldly includes Khaybar, the stronghold of Yahud, that was liberated by the Prophet (pbuh) and his committed generation of combat-ready Muslims.

Have you ever taken a few minutes to think about the fact that we don’t have even a picture of Khaybar today? Even the Muslims, who are Saudi citizens and who — it would appear — do not have the same restrictions and restraints placed upon them as other Muslims have — even they do not trek up to Khaybar and have programs there about Zionism and its evil nexus of clients who all cooperate to reduce Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims to what we have become in today’s world.

Why can’t we, the Muslims of the world, think about holding an international and global conference about Palestine in Khaybar itself? Is there any sacred or secular law that says we can’t or shouldn’t? Why aren’t all programs pertaining to Palestine — political, humanitarian, social, educational, academic, etc. — convened in Khaybar?

The simple answer is that Yahud have reoccupied Khaybar through their Saudi soulmates. Just like Palestine no longer belongs to the Muslims, Khaybar, too, no longer belongs to the Muslims. Palestine is under Hebrew occupation and Khaybar is under Arabian occupation.

The Saudi regime is wasting our precious time on their imperialist and Zionist sponsored Hajj. They are wasting our holy places by physically and morally demolishing them in Makkah and Madinah. They are wasting our wealth by financing the imperialist-Zionist military industrial banking complex. They are wasting our din by their Wahhabi nihilist outfits.

And what is due to Allah is for people to journey to the Inviolable House — whoever is able to trek that path… (3:97).