This is the story of Hagar and Hajj. Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia during the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar. Able-bodied Muslims who can afford it are expected to go on hajj at least once in their lives. Three million Muslims from all over the world join in the rituals of the hajj as a glorious reminder of the importance and unity. To transcend differences, women wear simple and modest clothes and men wear two unstitched pieces of white cloth.
Mecca is sacred because it is where Abraham and his son Ishmael built the Kaaba, the cubicle structure for the worship of the One God. It is the birthplace of Prophet Muhammed, and is also the direction in which Muslims from all corners of the world face while performing their prayers.
During the week long pilgrimage, Muslims re-enact many sacred rituals as follows: they touch the Black stone, a relic from the heaven to remember of God’s covenant with humanity; then they contemplate on Mount Arafat to reflect on Prophet Muhammed’s last sermon; and they pray in the sacred sanctuary; they circumambulate seven times around the Kaaba to heed God’s call; then they cast seven pebbles to reject Satan from tempting Abraham, then they re-enact Abrahams sacrifice of his only son in submission to God’s will, and then finally, the most important story of them all, that goes back 4000 years to the battle of a woman struggling to survive.
This is the story of Hagar, who is mentioned in the Bible and is a key figure in Islam.
One day, Abraham brought Hagar and their infant son to the desolate valley of Bacca, current day Mecca. When he was about to leave them alone with bags of dates and water, Hagar asked him if God had instructed him to leave them alone. When Abraham replied yes, she said “Then God will not abandon us”.
So, she remained steadfast until all her provisions ran out and her son began to cry of thirst. With deep conviction in God, Hagar ran desperately between two hills Safa and Marwa in search of water. After trying seven times, as she lay despondent, Angel Gabriel appeared to her, told her that God had heard Ishmael cry and with his wingtip struck the ground open to allow a miraculous spring of water to gush forth.
Today, Muslims reenact the rite of “striving, by walking fast between the two hills in honor of Hagar’s sacrifice and as a reminder of their own personal struggle. They quench their thirst by drinking the holy water, called Zum Zum which continues to run to this date. This well of water became the bloodline of Mecca converting it into a hustling town and eventually leading to the development of a new world civilization.
Most people believe God has entrusted male Prophets and Messengers with major responsibility, but do we ever think about Hagar, a women of African descent, a single mother expected to raise her son, Ishmael, in the wilderness. It was her faith and reliance in God and her assuming of the mandate God had thrust upon her. Alone, she rose up to the challenge and shaped the destiny of Muslims and of the world.
But what if Hagar had not submitted to the will of God as conveyed by Abraham? Would the town of Mecca have flourished? Would Ishmael have become a Prophet? Would Prophet Muhammad have been born there, and received his revelations? Would Khadijah, a tradeswoman, offered marriage to a young Muhammad? Would Bilal, a enslaved African, be freed by the prophet to exemplify human equality?
This Hajj, we honor Hagar, the “matriarch of monotheism” who founded Mecca, home to the two holiest sites of Islam. This African woman’s trust in God, her determination, bravery, and self-sacrifice continues to inspire women of faith all over the world.
