Iman Boot Camp: Worship Workout

The following days went by in a haze, between worship, intense study, and meeting our basic needs of food, drink, and sleep. Blessed by visitation of honored scholars on a daily basis, we were constantly under their instruction, gaining useful knowledge, and striving to visit the Holy Sanctuary as often as possible between classes.

One of the sisters brought light, like a beacon, into our hearts, with her daily invitations to perform Tawwaf in the darkness of the night. She opened my eyes to the nightly workout essential to uplift our spirituality, and the performance of the Tawwaf as a means of strengthening our iman, purifying our soul, and building a stronger connection with our Lord to draw upon after going back to the US. She taught me how veils of light and purity can be lifted with persistence in our ibadah.

While performing Tawaf along hundreds of Muslims, I would often look up directly above the Kaa’ba and imagine the angels circumambulating the Kaa’ba Maruf (surah Tur) in the heavens.

Throughout these days of intense learning, at times my heart called me to worship and skip class. In one such occasion, I retreated to the masjid to perform salatul Tasbih, a training of the soul that brings coolness to the eyes, and remembrance to the heart and tongue. Although the praying area was relatively deserted, as I began my prayer an elderly sister sat close by, placing her feet directly in the place where I would make prostration. Aggravated, I took a deep breath and drew my attention back to remembering Allah, dismissing the sister’s poor choice as a weapon of Shaitan to distract me from worship. Alhamdulillah, as I soon as I redirected my attention to the salah, the sister moved her feet eventually living altogether, providing me with ample space and peace for prolonged prostration.

Another time, I skipped class to perform Tawwaf in the time preceding the sunset prayer. Given the lessened crowded, I began my circumambulation with my eyes on the corner of the Black Stone, and set the intention in my heart to touch it if possible. The heat of the day had already dissipated as hundreds of people gathered around the Kaa’ba in worship. In my second round, I attempted to come close to the black stone but the danger of getting caught up in the crowd made me shy away from it. Yet I was blessed to hold my gaze and look at it clear as the day, when one of the sisters kissing it moved away from it. It was that glance that quenched my desire for it. Another glance, this time at the station of Ibrahim, added awe upon peace, wonder upon security.

I continued with the tawwaf and in the round before last, between the Yemeni corner and the Black Stone and with my hands high in supplication, an old man took his dhikr beads and placed them in my hands, as he moved away with the crowd. This act of kindness was a cool breeze from which I would draw comfort and relief to reconcile being yelled at, pushed away, and harshly taken out of my salah by a male guardian after having started the maghrib prayer in the main floor of the masjid.

It was during this week that we also had the unique opportunity to witness the washing of the Kaa’ba. This is a challenging ordeal, since thousands of worshippers need to be moved away by security officers to make space for the equipment needed for it and for those honored to perform the washing, amongst who is the keeper of the key to the Kaa’ba. Wondrous to be entrusted with this key!