You are commanded to keep patient and endure the difficulties and annoyance from others, and do not react to other’s harassment except in good way and with toleration.

Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is one of the best deeds. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was once asked, “Which deed is the best?” He said, “Belief in Allah and His Messenger.” He was asked, “Then what?” He said, “Jihad for the sake of Allah.” He was asked, “Then what?” He said, “An accepted Hajj.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

We talked in the previous article about four messages that one catches from visiting the sacred House of Allah, the Ka`bah, for Hajj. We are going to continue this interesting topic as we find it useful for the pilgrims to take these messages into their consideration, having returned from Hajj.

Fifth: Message of Belonging to Islam

When one puts the first foot in Mecca, one gets amazed not only by the enormous numbers of people but also by the diversity of their colors, genders, ages and languages. One sees the Arab and the non-Arab, the males and the females, the old and the young, and people with different colors, nationalities, cultures, histories, jobs and life conditions. The common factor between all of those is one thing, namely belonging to Islam. If you want to describe all of them with one word, you can simply say “Muslims”, a designation given to them long ago by the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham, peace be upon him). The Glorious Qur’an says:

And strive for Allah with the striving due to Him. He has chosen you and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty. [It is] the religion of your father, Abraham. Allah named you “Muslims”. (Al-Hajj 22:78)