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On sacred paths

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BY CHERYL BENTLEY

THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: December 27, 2008

Updated: 12/29/2008 05:33 pm

Earlier this month, about 3 million pairs of feet walked the ancient deserts of Saudi Arabia to draw closer to their god.

Between Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, Muslims from around the world gathered in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to make the Hajj pilgrimage, a series of ceremonies and stops at sacred sites in the Mecca area.

Their footsteps retraced some of the locations believed to have been in the life of Abraham, who is revered as a patriarch by Muslims, Jews and Christians.

They also evoked the life of the prophet Muhammad, who lived and made pilgrimages in the same area in the sixth and seventh centuries.

The Hajj is one of the five pillars of faith within the Sunni branch of Islam. It is required of all healthy Muslims who can afford the trip to Mecca. Because the Hajj follows a lunar calendar, its date changes every year.

Two area physicians, Dr. Abdur Rahim and Dr. Hayath Javeed, credit it for deepening their spiritual lives.

A Holiday-based internist who lives in Tarpon Springs, Javeed repeated the Hajj last year. It reinforced and deepened the profound changes made during his first Hajj in 1989 when he was just out of medical school, he says.

Before the first pilgrimage, Javeed did not follow all of the tenets of Islam, such as praying five times a day. "I believed in God, but only because my parents did," he recalls. "After I went on my first Hajj, that's when it became real within me."

A New Port Richey cardiologist, Rahim made the pilgrimage in 1999. "It's meant for self purification," he says. "You're praying to God. You feel so close to God."

He left the Hajj with a feeling of humility. "I think of God more often."

The Hajj includes pilgrimages to sacred areas in Islam, such as the Kaaba, a cube-shaped shrine that is believed to have been built by Abraham. The Kaaba is so important in the Islamic faith that Muslims pray five times daily facing in its direction. During the Hajj, pilgrims walk around the Kaaba seven times and ritually blow kisses at the Kaaba's Black Stone, another sacred object.

As if to underline the equality of humans before God, male pilgrims are required to dress identically in two white unhemmed sections of cloth covering the body. Women dress modestly.

Both Rahim and Javeed speak of the commonality with other humans they experienced during the Hajj. Rahim recalls Muzdalifa, an area in which Muslims are required to camp overnight. "Whether you're a king or poor, you sleep on the open ground. The only canopy you have is the sky."

Javeed remembers going to the Kaaba. "You see all those different people, different nationalities, different races. It makes you feel everybody is at the same level." He smiles. "The Koran says everybody is a brother."

One of the highlights for both men was praying on the Plain of Arafat, where Muhammad is said to have given his last sermon. Beginning slightly after noon, pilgrims begin praying and continue without stopping until sunset.

"You cry like a child," Rahim remembers. "You're overwhelmed with the occasion. You're overwhelmed your prayers will be accepted."

Javeed talks about seeing a sea of white cloth, the garb of the pilgrims, and feeling all people were essentially the same. "The Hajj humbles people," he observes. "You don't have socio-economic status. All are dressed the same. All are praying the same."

The experience changed him. Before his first Hajj, he was short-tempered, he says. He could not have previously handled difficult patients without becoming angry. Today, he remains calm, no matter how problematic the patient, he notes. His patients respond. "They send me flowers," he smiles.

The pillars

The five pillars of faith of Sunni Muslims are:

Shahadah - Professing that Allah is the one God and Muhammad was his prophet.

Salah - Praying five fixed times a day while facing Mecca.

Zakaat - Giving alms to the poor.

Sawm - Ritual fasting during the month of Ramadan.

Hajj - Making at least one pilgrimage, if affordable, to Mecca.

Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 cbentley@suncoastnews.com.

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