The miracle in Tawaf, the purpose of human existence!

Ka’bah plays a pivotal role in the life of a Muslim. It is an indispensable part of a Muslim’s life.

It is a Muslim’s anchor and nucleus. It is the centre of our life and existence. It is our Qiblah.

Ka’bah is the symbol of monotheism. The flag of Islam.

Yet Ka’bah itself is an empty building with nothing inside. 

This sends out a strong message to the people of the world that Muslim’s worship nothing but Allah: There is none worthy of worship, obedience, slavery, devotion, invocation, glorification, exaltation, submission, adoration, adulation, prostration, supplication and legislation except Allah alone, Who is One and Unique without any partner whatsoever.

Ka’bah bonds you and your world.  Keeps you together lest you stray away.

This makes us understand why Allah designated Ka’bah as the first house ever built on the face of the earth.

Subhanallah!  From the beginning man is directed to worship none but Allah and be a part of universal brotherhood.

Alas! it is only the folly of man’s mind that he takes partners with Allah causing pollution and corruption of thought, belief and action.

You can’t work with concentration when your bladder is full of urine. Piss it out and you feel comfortable.

Laa ilaaha il-lal-laah not only does the cleaning of one’s mind and heart, it also gives meaning to worship and devotion. And facilitates the purpose of human existence: Worship the Creator, not the creation.

طواف – Tawaaf which comes from the Arabic root طاف means ’round, circuit, beat, round-trip, circumambulation of the Ka’bah, to go about, walk about, move about, ride about, run around, to surround, to encompass, to encircle.

The circular movement involved in Tawaf pivots around a nucleus. This circular movement infuses and thrusts into one’s consciousness that life should have a nucleus. That nucleus is Allah. The movements of life, as the movement in Tawaf, should be pivoted around Allah and His commands. This feeling of nucleus is refreshed in one’s heart seven times in Tawaf. And, by corollary, a Muslim’s entire life – behaviour, thoughts, emotions, actions – must necessarily be in harmony with his faith in his Lord.

While in Tawaf, a Muslim’s individuality is taken away. You get “immersed in a perpetual state of motion around the Ka’bah in the company of thousands of other pilgrims. It is a glorification of Allah where the individual merges with the collective. All of creation is one, serving Allah alone.”

As a pilgrim performs his Tawaf around the Ka’bah, a real force called centripetal force starts working.

Centripetal force is a center-seeking net force that is required to keep moving objects in a circular path. This means that this force is always directed toward the center of the circle. Without this force, an object will simply continue moving in straight line motion. (Read more on Centripetal force)

The following example will help understand the working of centripetal force in Tawaf and in the practical life of a Muslim:

“When we drive in a circle, for instance as we take an exit off the highway, while centripetal forces pull the car in towards the center, an angle, the banking of the road, is introduced, to help offset the centrifugal forces that pull the car out of the curve. If the road banking is removed, the car veers tangentially off the curve and into disaster.

In the Tawaf, the banking of the road is the stream of pilgrims that surrounds us, that keeps us in phase. This is what keeps us from veering tangentially away. Fellow pilgrims are behind us, beside us and in front of us. Humanity joins together on the basis of Tawheed and helps one another for the sake of glorifying Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’aala. It is through the assistance of our fellow brothers and sisters in humanity that we remain in the natural state of worshipping our Creator. Joining in worship of Allah becomes a force of social change, enjoining what is just and forbidding what is evil in this world.”  Take time to read this article

To reiterate the point let me say that at all levels of human existence – local, regional and international levels – Ka’bah is the focus and the focal point of all Muslims throughout the world. Life must have an anchor. A focal point. Allah is our focus. His guidance is our way of life.

I would like to conclude by quoting the following from here

“As an ordering device, the Ka’bah is not the modest cube in Mecca but a monumental project that has, for over a millennium now, been redefining the world in its own image. It has been constructing its circumferences (without which the centre is a point without identity). Each time a group of Muslims gather in prayer or build a mosque, each time Muslims follow the Prophet’s practice of sleeping on the right side with their faces towards the Ka’bah, each time a Muslim dies and is buried in a grave that is always oriented towards the Ka’bah, in each instance a fragment of a circumference is being put into place. Prayer-halls, beds and graves are all rectangles with their larger side facing the Ka’bah; all chords of its circumnavigating circles. With the global consolidation of a sacred centre, the faithful barely perceive that with their bricks and their bodies, they construct and constitute an international installation, the mother of all Monumental Art.”

Ka’bah, therefore, unites people under the banner of Islam. You live in different parts of the world. Yet you have one centre, one direction. The Truth is One, The Creator is One, the Straight Path is One. The Way of Life is One. And the Role Model is One.

May Allah unite all Muslims to become One Body of Global Ummah so much so that if one part gets affected, the whole body feels the pain. Aameen.

May Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad sal-lal-laahu-alaihi-wa-sallam, his family and companions.

Jazakallaahu Khayra for reading this post.