ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Hajj (The Pilgrimage) Allegiance and the Black Stone Circumambulation must begin at the point where the BLACK STONE is located. This is where you enter the universe's system. You join the other people and assimilate among them as a drop entering the ocean. This is the way to survival, the way to find your "orbit"! If you do not join the people, you will not be able to pursue the orbit nor approach Almighty Allah.

Firstly, with your right hand you must touch or point to the BLACK STONE. Then, immediately, you must be assimilated among the people. What does this stone symbolize? It symbolizes a hand - a right hand! And - whose right hand? The right hand of Allah! In the past, individuals and tribes made contracts with the chiefs of other tribes. This was done to assure their maintenance and survival in the desert. The contract was known as an allegiance. How was it actualized?

The individual involved had to extend his right hand to shake and hold the right hand of the other in order that he becomes his ally. Automatically, it was understood that his previous allegiances were cancelled. At the Black Stone, the moment of selection, you must choose your path, goal, and future. When joining the people, you must shake hands with Allah who is extending His right hand - therefore taking the oath to become Allah's confederate.

You will be free from all previous allegiances; no longer will you be an ally of the powers, the hypocrites, the tribal chiefs, the rulers on this earth, the aristocrats of Quraish, the landlords, nor money. You are free! The hand of Allah is over their hands. Qur’an, 48:10 Touch Allah's hand. He is superior to all who have TIED your hands in previous allegiances!

Upon acquiring the status of being free (after shaking Allah's hand and re-asserting your "original promise"' to Him), it is your duty to join the people. Do not stop, continue on. You must find and select your "orbit". Enter the system and move with the others. As you circumambulate and move closer to Kaaba, you feel like a small stream merging into a big river. Carried by a wave, not by your feet, you are detached from the ground.

Suddenly, you find yourself floating and carried on by this flood. As you approach the middle, the pressure of the crowd squeezes you so hard that you are endowed with a new life. You are now a part of the people; you are now a man alive and eternal! You move not "by yourself" but "with others".