Pilgrimage with your Heart

[manhagmuslim]

Pilgrimage with your Heart
Written by Sheikh Hany Hilmy


In the name of Allah the Most Beneficent, Most Merciful

Preface

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 worshiped 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 arthe Praise worthy, 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 departure free from sins and not to make anyone of us or around us miserable nor 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 thebeloved of my Beloved One. So, you are my beloved ones in Allah. Youare the guests of Allah. He invited you and you
answered. You asked Him and He gave you as the prophet (P) said in the Hadith narrated by An Nisaee and IbnMajah and classified as sahih by AlAlbani, he said: "The pilgrims and the ummar (people who do Umrah) 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 byAllah except paradise.


In your record, Pilgrimage reward is paradise and nothing less

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? 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".

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 for erasing whatever has passed.

By Allah, oh you pilgrims, 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. And in a narration of AlImamAhmad, peace be upon him said: "Accepted pilgrimage prevails all other deeds like the distance between sunrise and sunset".


Anticipate Seeking your Lord's satisfaction

What a great chance to approach your Lord in the greatest 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 women is pilgrimage and umrah".


When our mother Aisha,God bless her, asked: "Ohmessenger of Allah, we think Jihad is the best deed, shouldn't we doit? The prophet peace upon him said: But the best is an accepted
pilgrimage".

Ihave good news for you: Do you want Allah to suffice you with Hisgenerosity and fill your eyes with His wealth and flood you with Hisblessings? 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 Umrah as theywill negate poverty and clear sins as the fire will negate impurityfrom iron, gold and silver. The acceptable pilgrimage has no reward butparadise."

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".

Doyou feel the generosity of Allah? Our duty is to thank that bounty andour love for Allah will increase. By Allah, have you ever known agenerosity like this before?

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

Itis important my beloved pilgrims to have this meaning and thissensation in your hearts. Your tongues shouldn't stop thanking Allahbecause 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.

Andto achieve this greatness that Allah has blessed the pilgrimswith,don't ask for anything except for His satisfaction and nothingelse.

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".


?? How to pilgrim with your Heart

Butmy beloved pilgrims, I don't want to teach you what to do during thepilgrimage or explain your manasiks and explain the way to do it. I amintending first to explain an important and serious meaning which we tend to ignore these days.

Forexample, How to feel with your heart the manasiks of the pilgrimage?What will you think of when you circumambulate or when you go betweenSafa and Marwa and so on...

During each pillar of this big act of worship you should search for your heart.

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

Thereare many people who achieved the reward of pilgrimage without evendoing it. They achieved it because of what they believed in theirhearts 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 roadand in each valley we cross. They
couldn't join us due to a great excuse."

Allahgranted them reward of jihad although they didn't take part in thebattle 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,thereare others who did pilgrimage and came back as if they didn't go:theywent to pilgrimage and all what they gained was spending a few daysenjoying being there without
gaining the reward of the pilgrimage or achieving forgiveness.

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

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

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

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





To be Continued insha Allah