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 MONTHLY * Vol 11-02 No:121 * FEBRUARY 1997/ SHAWWAL 1417H email: editor@islamicvoice.com |
EditorialPastime Vs. PenanceThe Ramazan-eve annual Umrah trip is the latest fad to catch the eyes of the Muslim elites. Thanks to the economic liberalisation and easy availability of the foreign exchange, the traffic to the Holy land has increased manifold since the dawn of the 90s. Not-withstanding steep increase in airfares and expenses pertaining to such visits, a section of the community has almost made such trips an annual ritual. The elite mohallas are agog with talk of who made how many Umrahs. Even the winters are proving an added help and they promise to be around this time for next five years. A rough reckoning reveals that nearly 6,000 Muslims undertake the Umrah trip every year from Karnataka alone and 80 percent of them do so for a second or umpteenth time. Even repeat performance of Hajj has come to be recognised as a symbol of social prestige. Reports suggests that number of such pilgrims from Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kozhicode and several other centres are increasing. While at this stage we are reluctant to term this as religious tourism, we must not shirk from drawing the attention towards false notions of religiosity that inspire some Muslims to perform pilgrimages time and again. Repentance, penance and seeking of forgiveness are indeed the hallmark of a concerned Muslim. If genuinely sought, Allah’s blessings are not denied even to the most incorrigible sinner. Islam neither ties them down to the precincts of Holy Harem nor to a particular time of the year. Harem or Ramazan may enjoy a degree of superiority. But if sincerity is absent or if there is no will to turn a new leaf in life, repentance will be invalid. Hajj is not necessarily the time and place to set the final seal. Had this not been the case, the Holy Prophet (Pbuh) would have recommended repeat performance of pilgrimage. But the ideal Man that he was, he set the precedent by performing the Hajj just once in his life even while staying so close to Makkah. Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi, Allama Iqbal, Tippu Sultan, Aurangazeb and several other luminaries of Islamic history did not perform even the obligatory Hajj despite a burning desire for it. Their preoccupations with administration, expansion, or reconquest of Baitul Maqdis in the case of Salahuddin did not allow them to carry out the ritual even perfunctorily, let alone making it a ritual. If the phenomenon has gathered an elitist ring in the current society, it must raise eyebrows of concern. Such ritualistic addictions have no place in Islam. The Holy Prophet (Pbuh) is reported to have warned his companions of a time in future when Muslim elites would come to the Holy Place as part of pastime, people of average means would visit for the purpose of trade, while the poor would utilise the opportunity for begging. The saying carries tacit discouragement for turning the visits to holy place into a periodic ritual. If indeed this is the case all of us must be worried at this fulfillment of the prophesy. One is only reminded of the recent reports of deported child-beggars by Saudi authorities in recent days. Let not our hedonistic instincts be camouflaged by such religious zeal that is without sanctions from Islam. This does point to a serious flaw in the religious understanding of the contemporary Muslim society. Notice of the phenomenon should have been taken by the Ulema. Far from discouraging the repeat performance, they have unfortunately become part of the ritual traffic. At least 22 imams from Bangalore alone performed the Hajj for a second or more time during 1996, says a study. Mushrooming Haj and Umrah tours indicate that the business is booming. It is time our elites did some introspection and reviewed the social priorities. They need not look very far. The children of these very elite miss out Islamic education, training, discipline and upbringing owing to their education in missionary-run schools. They pay through their noses in the missionary-run hospitals for their medical needs. Should then we need to point out where our priorities lie? Umpteen social assignments await resources whereas numerous others remain starved of funds. In this bleak scenario, can we allow the resources to be sacrificed at the altar of superficial religiosity. |