O Malk, we are all slaves. The only question is, who is our master?

the Divine Presence, or
that one who aims only to block our path

Your choice.

@ Musa Alshuqairi: I sense that my “choice” of sharing this with you did not enthuse you like everybody else =) Thank you for your questions and above all, for humbling me. I'll try my best to answer them.
- I forged my papers of course!. like any desperate pilgrim would do, I'm going to hajj, so bribing a govt. official is halal, right? (joke, long story, but let's just say I was invited… I got very lucky.)
- I never once felt like I was performing empty rituals reminiscent of pre-Islamic pagan practices. Orientalists and skeptics often use this correlation to make hajj seem like an ancient, backward practice that their misinformed brand of Islam commands. In reality though, Islam is a creed of action, and not mere pacifism, soothsaying or heresy. The physical act of cirumbulating or throwing stones are therefore not measured for their mere ritualistic value, but their spiritual one. As a practicing Muslim, I believe in the Divine revelation of the Qur'an and the enlightened message that Muhammad brought to mankind; this entails obliging the commands therein. Hajj is one of those commands – Islam came to eradicate the ills of paganism, and DEROUTE its practices to enjoin the worship of a One God. So it really isn't about throwing stones or kissing a stone — I could care less about the stones (إنك حجر أصم لا تعقل ولا تنفع ولا تضر) . It's about the instrument of the material as a portal to the Divine. If you read Arabic, please refer to this link for more on the theological value of Hajj in Islam and even some of it's scientific revelations:http://islamtoday.net/nawafeth/artshow-92-10920.htm

Hope this helps. Peace!

@ Musa Alshuqairi: I sense that my “choice” of sharing this with you did not enthuse you like everybody else =) Thank you for your questions and above all, for humbling me. I'll try my best to answer them.
- I forged my papers of course!. like any desperate pilgrim would do, I'm going to hajj, so bribing a govt. official is halal, right? (joke, long story, but let's just say I was invited… I got very lucky.)
- I never once felt like I was performing empty rituals reminiscent of pre-Islamic pagan practices. Orientalists and skeptics often use this correlation to make hajj seem like an ancient, backward practice that their misinformed brand of Islam commands. In reality though, Islam is a creed of action, and not mere pacifism, soothsaying or heresy. The physical act of cirumbulating or throwing stones are therefore not measured for their mere ritualistic value, but their spiritual one. As a practicing Muslim, I believe in the Divine revelation of the Qur'an and the enlightened message that Muhammad brought to mankind; this entails obliging the commands therein. Hajj is one of those commands – Islam came to eradicate the ills of paganism, and DEROUTE its practices to enjoin the worship of a One God. So it really isn't about throwing stones or kissing a stone — I could care less about the stones (إنك حجر أصم لا تعقل ولا تنفع ولا تضر) . It's about the instrument of the material as a portal to the Divine. If you read Arabic, please refer to this link for more on the theological value of Hajj in Islam and even some of it's scientific revelations:http://islamtoday.net/nawafeth/artshow-92-10920.htm

Hope this helps. Peace!

Favorite line: 'like it had been waiting for me, perhaps because I turned my face to it five times, every day'.

:)

has anyone watched, le grand voyage? I think that is also a powerful experience of a father/son heading on hajj.