Community is a messy and wild business. As someone who loves her community deeply, sometimes my impulse is to withdraw and be in my own little bubble. It is not easy to get along, collaborate, communicate and cooperate. Giving up the “I” — the ego — and building the “We” is complicated, daunting, and many times disappointing. In my years of community service, I have learned that there is no perfect community. Perfection is reserved to God alone.
Community has meant many things to me throughout my life: my body and self as a micro-community, my family, my neighborhood, my workplace, my Muslim community, my interreligious community, and the creation — this sacred planet as a whole. They are all my community and I try to maintain healthy connections with each of these circles. As Muslim pilgrimage season — and travel season — is upon us, I ponder about what it means to be in community and I arrive at the holy shrine in Mecca — the Kaaba. With three million people every year, the hajj continues to be the largest religious gathering of humankind.
According to Muslim tradition, it is in this ancient land that Prophet Abraham established the pillars of monotheism along with his son Ishmael. Muslim scholars even advanced the thought that angels prepared the first House of God in anticipation of the arrival of humanity or that Prophet Adam — the Ur-Father of all humanity — had done so. As two billion Muslims around the world turn to the Kaaba in their five daily prayers as their shared focal point, they are reminded of their sacred ties with the human family as a whole and their particular sibling relationship with the Abrahamic religions. In doing so, they reaffirm their commitment to live a life that aligns with God’s vision and guidance for humanity.
This journey — even with all the modern conveniences now — is still most physically demanding and emotionally exhausting, as testified by Muslims. It is quite an extraordinary challenge to move along and find your pace with millions of people who come from all walks of life in a tiny spot. Yet despite all hardships it is possible to move together. What character virtues are required of every human being so that this can be accomplished in harmony and peace?
I return to some of the timeless virtues to navigate the overwhelming sea of people who are pushing, pressing, and moving along in this limited narrow space. These character traits have endured the test of time and have universal value when being in community: Compassion, respect, selflessness, kindness, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, humility, curiosity, open-mindedness, simplicity, contentment, adaptability, and flexibility.
Despite all the hurdles of being in community, you cannot escape the beauty of it. It is still in those very human relationships that our best comes to shine. Character virtues are cultivated not in a vacuum but by maintaining social connections. How can I show compassion, patience, forgiveness, humility, and curiosity if not engaging in a human encounter? My sense of self is expanded and I grow in my humanity.
God — the host of the hajj — welcomes all of us: the broken, the weak, the needy, the wounded, the flawed. With our imperfections and deficiencies, we are embraced by God’s sacred and compassionate presence. God assures us we can be both a perfect piece of divine art and a work in progress. If God accepts us with our innate impotence and our mistakes, can we perhaps be more accepting and content with one another? Here — at the re-enactment of Judgment Day in which all human souls will gather — age, gender, wealth, titles, ranks do not matter. Here I am, Here I am oh my Lord, the pilgrims proclaim incessantly. I have nothing to offer but here I am. And God says, according to the Qur’an, “O humankind! It is you who stand in need of God, but God alone is the Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.” Here, we are spiritually and morally equal as a Prophetic narration suggests: “Indeed, God does not look to your faces and your wealth but He looks to your heart and to your deeds.”
As with many religious rituals, there is always a danger that they can become empty and devoid of meaning. The hajj did not become one of the major pillars in Islam for no reason. It has endless wisdom to offer and continues to transform minds and hearts. Malcolm X’s Letter from the Hajj is a powerful testament on how this ritual can radically change one’s outlook on life and humanity if one sincerely seeks that spiritual sustenance. The hajj stands as an extraordinary, embodied witness and reminder that we are fundamentally one human family. Every human being is sacred. Each one has been bestowed with honor and dignity by God, as stressed in the Qur’an: “We have honored the children of Adam and carried them by land and sea; We have provided good sustenance for them and favored them specially above many of those We have created.” If God has elevated the human being, how can we honor each other and this holy social contract?
Migration, movement, and mobility are part of our spiritual DNA. No one is bound to stay. “Be in this world like a stranger or a traveler,” says a prophetic paradigm. This suggests a paradoxical state of living: To be at home everywhere but truly belong nowhere. Humanity is therefore called to cultivate healthy attachments to the world, to treat this planet with respect and care, focus on what is essential on this journey of life, and leave a lasting spiritual or moral legacy.
Muslim theologian Bediüzzaman Said Nursi therefore encourages his fellow human beings to emulate the living example of the creation — the ecosystem of the world. We can and must embrace one another (teanuk), support one another (tesanüd), respond to each other’s needs (tecavüb), and help one another (teavün). At our core we are social beings intricately connected and interwoven. Standing in solidarity and unity at the Kaaba, we renew our promise to honor this sacred social contract: we aspire to transcend racial, ethnic, national, political, and social boundaries and constructed labels. Together as one, we challenge the spiritual diseases of our time and eliminate egotism, racism, sexism, materialism, and all types of injustices and work for the preservation of this sacred planet. When we uplift one another on this shared journey of life, we will not only thrive and flourish together but we will also reach our ultimate destination in peace and safety.
