JEDDAH, 5 February 2003 — Conversion — or as Muslims prefer to call it, “reversion” — to Islam is becoming more common. In the United States, Islam is the fastest growing religion. Of the 1,200 mosques in the US, some 80 percent were built in the last 12 years.
Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam and regarded as a duty that every Muslim should fulfill.
How do converts view it?
American Thomas W. Webber embraced Islam over 25 years ago when he was living and working in Damascus. It was the result of a long and thoughtful approach by someone from a Western cultural background.
Saudi Arabia has since been the environment in which his commitment to grow and mature as a Muslim has been cultivated.
“Even though Haj is a duty, I don’t see it in the sense of just duty. I feel it is as natural and integral a part of my belief as daily prayer,” he told Arab News. “Haj and other duties form part of the experience that is Islam and is the fabric of daily life.”
He intends to perform Haj next year, when his son will accompany him.
“When I went on Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) in Ramadan, I had a foretaste of the power of Haj. The experience of Fajr (dawn) prayer with more than a million other Muslims in the Grand Mosque was overwhelming. I could feel the silence — the sense of unity and rightness was incredible.”
He sees no need to rush to Haj. Rather, he views the pilgrimage as a natural outcome of his gradual maturation as a Muslim.
The same gradual realization that a Muslim was “who I really was” came to Rashid Ocheltree, director of studies at a military English language school in Jeddah. He worked in a number of Islamic countries and, after returning to America, realized that he related to Islam more closely than to Christianity.
“I realized I was on a spiritual journey, on the way to somewhere else,” he said. “When I arrived in Saudi Arabia in 1983 I felt immensely relieved. The journey was complete. It was not a hurried thing and I am still learning. Islam is very deep.”
Shortly after coming to the Kingdom, he embraced Islam.
“My first Haj was quite an incredible experience,” he recalls. “I didn’t really know what to expect. It was a Haj Akbar (Friday Haj), and Makkah was exceptionally crowded. The facilities were not as developed as they are today. It gave me a hint of how it must have been in the old days.”
He described the need, because of the press of pilgrims, to follow the traditional courtesies and respect the space of others.
“It was a street Haj,” he said. “There was little transport and we walked everywhere. The feeling of single-mindedness and brotherhood was uplifting.”
Compared with modern Haj, Rashid thought that while the Spartan facilities of his first Haj lent atmosphere and relevance, the “luxury” Haj by bus and with air conditioning has other benefits.
“I feel more able to concentrate on the devotions and spirituality of Haj,” he said. “When I was struggling to buy food and attending to domestic arrangements, I couldn’t fully concentrate.”
