It was the office of Johnson Controls just behind Sheikh Zayed Rd where I had the meeting. And as I entered the building, there behind the reception was that picture which adorns the wall, mantle place and windowsill of every self-respecting Muslim household... Of course you know which one I am talking about, it’s the picture of Masjid al Haram in Mecca in all its divine magnificence during the peak of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. But there was something about this print which caught my fleeting attention. There was something particular about it and it wasn’t the fact that it was approximately 3 meters by 5 meters in size (imagine that in your living room!).
So as I sat there waiting for my customer, who for the record was notoriously late, it gave me the time to just look and ponder. And ponder I did over this extraordinary gathering of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children from every possible part of the world... Down there were those that had saved for a life time to make this journey, and those who were blessed with the means to be making their 3rd even 4th trip, those who were there but didn’t quite know what the point was, and those who would not remember any of it in a few years when they looked back. Those that had been good and those that had been bad, all together as equals facing toward this fascinating, unearthly structure dressed in a majestic glowing black cloth and decorated with the most exquisite glittering golden calligraphy. Suddenly, I was there wrapped in a single white cloth walking around the Ka’ba with my sister and my Mum in her wheelchair, raising our hands toward al-Hajr e Aswad. As we completed our tawaf (circumambulation), a million emotions surrounded us, some walked with tears streaming down their faces, whilst others sat trying to comprehend the magnitude of their surroundings. It was especially interesting to observe the expressions of those people who were looking upon the Ka’ba for the first time. If they were not crying they were speechless and fascinated at the site of tens of thousands of people moving around causing a perfect, mystical almost hypnotic swirl.
So after my day dream had elapsed and I found myself back in the office of JC still waiting for this guy I hasten to add, I began to think about this extraordinary image and what it was trying to convey. And just then for the first time in my life the age old adage of "A picture is worth a thousand words" finally made some sense.
There are approximately over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, though I beg to differ. And these 1.5 billion are the followers of the teachings of the final Prophet of Allah (saw) and the best of creation the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh&hf) whose miracle was not to walk on water or to have the power to control the earth and everything on it or any other miracle that previous Prophet’s had possessed. His miracle was Al Quran a compilation of divine revelations instructing the way of life as per the instructions and commandments of God.
This got me thinking, not only do the Muslims posses the most precious of the worlds natural resources but also a manual for life as prescribed by the same Prophet that all Muslims follow unconditional of sects. But, despite the evident blessings why then such detriment, desolation, distance, despair, depression, dejection, despondency, disparity and pure and simple difference amongst the faithful?
The solution to the predicament is common knowledge after all Muslims and non Muslims alike are aware that the disunity amongst Muslims, or to be more precise the politicians’ acting as Muslims is to the extreme disadvantage of the religion and its adherents. And a truly genuine and resolute reconciliation would redeem both the faith and its followers and beyond doubt give renewed life to the glorious religion of God.
Now as I stood and looked at the picture even more intensely it struck me that without much doubt this was the most uniform mass gathering of people anywhere in the world, standing side by side indifferent of any explicit characteristic of one another, dressed simply in a single white sheet, men women and children, standing before God for the sake of God. Now let’s think about this, according to all three monotheistic faiths the Almighty is so far above and beyond anything that we can comprehend or attribute, that no amount of worship and devotion, or lack of, can have any effect on His greatness. So why then are we ordered to make the pilgrimage to the holy house in our millions, surely not just to appease Him? We can perhaps speculate that in His infinite wisdom the Almighty was fully aware of the divisions that would shackle the children of Ishmael even more so than the children of Isaac. So, He instructed his Prophet to announce the gathering together of the divided to the holy house every year to be united side by side in an almost perfectly symmetric fashion as a constant reminder that the lack of this unity is at the core of the dysfunction.
In fact if we look into it more deeply, why does the Quran recommend people gather and face toward the Ka’ba and pray 5 prayers each day? With added emphasis on the Jumm’a (Friday) prayer which is null and void unless read amidst congregation? Perhaps the entire action of worship is a subtle reminder to all Muslims that when you are together in complete sincerity you are impenetrable and when you are divided regardless of the reason, you are defenceless.
Finally, as my contact arrived and ushered me into the meeting room I spent one last moment looking at the image and felt a cocktail of emotion, one of despair, shaken not stirred with hope and topped off with a little umbrella of defiance... Despair at the status quo which has lingered for as long as I have lived, yet hope that if we can throw aside our acrimonious differences and put our wholehearted faith in the unseen, then reconciliation, uniformity and ultimately triumph are only an action away.
Written in honour of all those who now find their sustenance with their Lord, from the street vendor to the Grandson.
