By Sabur Abdul-Basit •

As we are in the season of the Hajj, millions of Muslims are thronging to Makkah to perform the Hajj in the manner of Rasulullah (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him) and answering the call of Ibraheem (Peace Be Upon Him) as mentioned in the Qur’an: “And proclaim to mankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel. They will come from every deep and distant mountain highway (to perform the Hajj). Qur’an:22-27. Also: “Then let them complete their prescribed duties (Manasik of Hajj) and perform their vows and circumambulate the Ancient House (the Ka’abah in Makkah). Qur’an:22-29.
It has been thousands of years since Ibraheem and his son Isma’eel built the Ka’abah, which is the first house on Earth built for the worship of Allah alone. From that time until now people have been answering the call of Ibraheem and coming to the Ka’abah on foot and riding animals. Later they came by ship and now they come riding in cars, buses and by airplane as well.
Imagine how many people have attended the Hajj through the millenniums! Answering the call of Ibraheem and responding by saying “Labaik Allahumma Labaik”! “Here I am O Allah, here I am”! From the time of Ibraheem until now his call has been heard to every corner of the Earth and witnessed on the highest mountain tops. Hajj has been performed by people as far away as Australia and beyond in the east and Alaska in the west.
In Australia the Aboriginal people or natives of the land first became exposed to Islam through interacting with Muslim traders from Indonesia. After a period of time some of the Aboriginal people embraced Islam. During the 1860’s Muslims from Central Asia went to Australia to work with camels in the desert areas of Australia. As with the previous group from Indonesia, some of the native population also reverted to Islam, becoming Muslims. The character and behavior of these two groups of Muslims were very impressive to a segment of the Aboriginal populace, so much so that they left the way of their fathers and forefathers returning to the natural state of Tawheed (Belief and worship of Allah alone.)
If we travel northwest from Australia to Alaska we cover a vast distance that traverses most of the known world. Alaska is a very beautiful state and part of the United States of America. While much of it is breathtakingly stunning to the eye, most of it is a very frigid environment. For thousands of years it was only inhabited by native people known as Eskimos. Muslims from various parts of the world have moved to Alaska in recent years and slowly some members of the Eskimo tribes have been reverting to Islam, the vast majority being women.
You might ask me how I arrived from talking about Hajj to discussing native reverts to Islam. Of course it is very simple indeed. They, like the billions of others before them, are answering the call made out by Ibraheem by performing the Hajj and also saying “Labaik Allahumma Labaik”! “Here I am O Allah, here I am!”

• Sabur Abdul-Basit is a freelance author from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America.