اَ لَاۤ لَا اِیْمَانَ لِمَنْ لَّا مَحَبَّۃَ لَہٗ - "There is no faith for he who has no love for the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم.” So, as Islam is centred on love, this makes ḥajj a journey of love in its entirety.

To do ḥajj, a person wears unstitched clothing (iḥrām). They circle the Kaʿbah, run between Ṣafā and Marwa, sacrifice an animal in Minā, visit the plains of ʿArafah, take up stay in Muzdalifah and throw stones at Satan when reaching Jamarāt.

These are not actions understood through mere logical deduction, but by love instead, and ḥajj is a journey of love from beginning to end. The only people who go on this journey or even want to in the first place, are those who love Allah and His Messenger صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم.  If people of love had to crawl to Makkah for ḥajj, they would consider this a priceless honour.

The ḥāji who couldn’t walk

Shaqīq Balkhī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه explains:

On my way to Makkah to perform ḥajj, I saw a man who could not walk, dragging himself across the ground. I was taken aback by his determination. Nearing him, I asked, “My brother! Where do you come from?”

He replied, “I have come from Samarqand (A district of Uzbekistan 4417km from Makkah)”. He had come from this astonishingly far away, all whilst unable to walk and dragging himself on the floor. “My brother!”, I then asked, “How long ago did you leave Samarqand?”

 “Ten years have passed”, he revealed.