Hajj by Dr. Ali Shariati

Download the whole book from here.

The book of Hajj written by Dr. Ali Shariati is translated into English by Ali Behzadnia and Najla Denny. I have put it in a pdf format for download for those of you interested in Dr. Shariati’s books. I have read several books on Hajj, but Shariati’s Hajj is very different. (The free download link is at the end of this post)

In the “Preface by the Author” He writes:

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As a person who is “knowledgeable about religion” and whose field of study is “the history of religions”, I reached the following conclusions as a result of my study and research of the historical evolution of each faith whereby I compared what the faiths were in the past and what they are now as well as a comparison in the differences between the “truth” and the “reality” of the faiths. My conclusion is not based on personal religious feelings nor prejudices:

If we study and evaluate the effectiveness of each religion in terms of the happiness and evolution of mankind, we will discover that there is no prophecy which is as advanced, powerful, and conscious as the prophecy of Mohammad (PBUH) (i.e. Islam and its role in man’s social progress, self-consciousness, movement, responsibility, human ambition and struggle for justice; Islam’s realism and naturalness, creativity, adaptability with scientific and financial progress and orientation toward civilization and the community).

Karbala, Hajj and Hussein

Today is Ashoura (the 10th day of Moharram), the day witch Imam Hussein and 72 of his followers were massacred by Yazid ibn Mavieh forces. Hussein and his people were surrounded. In the hot desert of Karbala the evil forces of Yazid cut the water on them. . . Hussein and the 72 people were killed because they didn’t bow down for injustice and corruption under the name of Islam. The following is a part of Hajj by Dr. Ali Shariati witch discusses Imam Hussein and Karbala movement.

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The fact that Imam Hussein left Mecca for Karbala where he was martyred before completing his Hajj duties taught us a more important lesson than Shahadat.

Hajj was a duty that all his ancestors struggled for. Blood was shed to vitalize this tradition. He did not finish the ceremonies and decided to leave and become a Shaheed!

He did not complete his Hajj in order to teach the Hajj makers those who pray and have faith in Ibrahim’s tradition, that if there is no Imamat and there is not true leadership, if there is no goal, if “Hussein” is not there and “Yazid” is there, making Tawaf (Circumambulating) around the house of Allah is equal to making Tawaf around the idol-house. The people who continued their Tawaf while he went to Karbala were no better than those who were circumambulating around the green palace of Muawiyah.

Brutal Mass Killings! (photos)

I was watching the following photos on mass killings of whales in one of the western country’s harbor. The images are really sad and make you feel sorrow for the poor animals struggling among their own bloods.  It came to my mind another event than happened few years ago for some Muslims living in California.