Walking between the mountains of Safa & Marwah, I ask Allah why He wants me to play the part of Bibi Hajra & re-trace her footsteps as she desperately searched for water for her dying baby on the desolate land of Makkah. But why must I do this re-enactment? I am not searching for water. I don’t have a baby who is dying of thirst.
I have a lot of questions as I perform Saee, walking 7 times between 2 mountains, which is incumbent upon every visitor to Makkah.
Saee, means to strive, to struggle, to exert one’s utmost effort, to do one’s best.
From the vantage point of Safa you can see the sea of humanity who have converged near the Kabah from all corners of the globe….brown, white, short, tall, fat, thin, male, female…. different yet stripped of their differences and ordered to wear the garb of simplicity, humility and solidarity. You see the constant stream of humanity, continuously moving, never stopping for day or night since thousands of years till the end of time.
Tell me, Allah. Why do You want us to do this?
Who was Hajra? What was so remarkable about what she did that You have commanded people to enact this scene again and again and traverse the same 2 horizontal paths in Hajra’s footsteps.
Hajra was an Ethiopian slave. The 2nd wife of Prophet Ibrahim. Left in an unwelcoming, uninhabited desert with her baby without any vegetation or water till as far as the eye could see. Her only possession was her trust in Allah.
As the sun blazed brighter and the baby became thirstier the desperate mother couldn’t sit still.
She ran 7 times on the same track, back and forth, from the top of 1 mountain, to the top of the opposite mountain, searching for water, searching for her child’s life. When the baby’s cries got weaker & finally stopped she assumed the baby had perished, only to find a gushing spring of cool, refreshing water near the baby, quenching his thirst. ZAMZAM- the spring of life that till today rejuvenates tired pilgrims. A gift from the Creator. A connection between me & Hajra that still flows today.
I too must become Hajra. I must run between Safa & Marwa. But what am I desperately seeking?? Teach me Hajra. The Lord wants everyone to be your student. I too am desperately seeking …the essence of life. Hajra tells me, “Become a perpetual seeker, hopeful, constantly striving.”
I learn that Hajra didn’t give up. The mountains were far from each other. She was thirsty too. Yet she didn’t sit down next to the baby and cry. Nor did she become hopeless. She didn’t complain to Allah for being unjust nor did she blame her husband for their predicament.
Instead, she did Saee, she tried her best!
There is so much to reflect upon. The amazing ways of Allah. He did not provide her as a direct effect of her efforts. She didn’t find water because she searched and located it herself. She may then have assumed the water was found due to her own efforts, her hard work, her clever thinking & strategy. Instead Allah sent ZamZam – a miracle. Amidst the gurgling water Allah reminds us that He is the provider, now & always. Whenever you look at ZamZam, taste it & remember that message! Ultimately He is ALWAYS the provider, in every instance, yet we get fooled into believing we acquired this and that due to our own efforts, intelligence, abilities, skills, funds etc. How deluded we are! If Hajra had spotted water on the other side of the mountain we wouldn’t call it a miracle. But wouldn’t spotting a lake, a stream, an oasis have been just as miraculous? All wonderful creations of Allah.
Also, Allah could have created ZamZam sooner, couldn’t He? Why let the poor, tired, thirsty, distraught mother run back and forth 7 times before sending the water. Why let the baby reach the brink of death before answering her prayer?
Allah wants all Muslims to enact this scene, to play the character of Hajra so we can ponder on His ways, find answers and apply them to our life..
Surah At-Talaq, Verse 2- 3:
وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا
وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَالِغُ أَمْرِهِ قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدْرًا“And whoever is careful of (his duty to) Allah, He will make for him an outlet,
And give him sustenance from whence he thinks not; and whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him; surely Allah attains His purpose; Allah indeed has appointed a measure for everything.”
Those who go to Makkah drink ZamZam there and every Hajji takes back the blessed water of ZamZam to their homeland, to those who couldn’t go to Makkah. It seems Allah wants the message of ZamZam to reach all corners of the earth through the visitor to Makkah. The message that He is the provider, of EVERYTHING! Is not everything we consume sent from Him? Isn’t everything we have our ZamZam? Isn’t everything we possess lovingly provided by Allah?
The dua to be recited whenever drinking the water of ZamZam is
اللهم اني اسألك علمًا نافعًا
و رزقًا واسعًا
و شفاء من كل داء
Drink ZamZam & remember that it is Allah who puts benefit in ilm, plentitude in rizq & bestows health after illness.
We do not control anything. We are completely dependent on Allah.
Yet we must keep striving (doing Saee) like Hajra and He will provide our ZamZam.
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