Spiritual Tourism

[Haris]

Reading over my other post I think I may have been slightly patronising at times. My sincerest apologies if it came out like that.

Thanx for such a detailed reply. I have no doubts that Hajj is an obligation for Muslims and an injunction of the Holy Quran. Quran says do it and Muslims do it. My concern is performing it many times in life when you have many other more optimum opportunities to spend or invest your income.

Yes, I wonder what the opinion of the scholars is regarding returning to Hajj again & again or using your resources to help yourself & others either spiritually or by other means.

Quran has not mentioned names of all the mosques where Muslims perform prayers. Similarly for the obligatory Hajj Muslims should go to Mecca but for spiritual gratification they should also visit other spiritual centres in the non Arab world. Quran has not prohibited doing so.

That is true & I agree with you there.

On the pattern of Shia Muslims who visit many holy places in Iraq and Iran Sunni Muslims should also visit these places where Shia Muslims go as the people buried there are equally respectable for all Muslims and beside that both Sunni and Shia Muslims should visit places like Mazar Sharif, Lahore, Cairo, Multan etc where one can find spiritual satisfaction as well as there are opportunities of tourism , recreation and economic benefits.

Perhaps, if they have the time & resources to do so but I think that unlike Hajj it should not be as great a priority.

However I definetely think that some sort of agreements between the respective countries should be drawn up to help promote tourism and reap the benefits that you mentioned, not only for the popular sites but the less famous ones too.

[Badlun]

Yes an agreement is required to be reached specially by Muslims and Pashtuns and hence this thread.

Some points to ponder over

Two fundamentally different concepts of the world
(Grayling, 2003)
• 1. secular, where ones point of reference is in nature and
natural laws
• 2. transcendental, where ones point of reference is
outside the human realm and beyond the boundaries of
this world
• These two competing principles are increasingly in
conflict: Humanist versus Religious conceptions
• A “deep characteristic of human nature [is] the desire to
travel and be in motion” (Senn, 2002, p. 124)

According to the World Tourism Organization, an estimated 300 to 330 million pilgrims visit the world's key religious sites every year. Spiritual tourism can be religious or secular.

“Spiritual tourist could be defined as someone who visits
a place out of his/her usual environment, with the
intention of spiritual growth (which could be religious,
non-religious, sacred or experiential in nature)” (Haq and
Jackson, 2006, p. 5)

The focus is on the journey, not the destination
• Allocentric person is more likely to travel for spiritual
reasons because they are interested in learning, “inner
directed, self-reliant, active and somewhat meditative”
(Chesworth, p. 7)

Search for meaning cannot be bought, exchanged or
gifted, it must be discovered by the individual.

Many authors challenging religious pilgrimage and argue
that secular tourists travel to what are sacred sites for
them
• Spiritual tourism “secular travel which purposely or
inadvertently includes an experience, beyond the norm
for the individual traveller, which impacts that individual’s

Spiritual journeys are undertaken by many in a search
for meaning to their modern individualistic lives in
industrial societies
• As society became more secular, so too did the ideas of
what we see as spiritual.
belief system (Chesworth, 2006, p. 2)

http://www.iipt.org/africa2007/PDFs/CatherineJRogers.pdf

[Badlun]

Its again the season of Hajj and many questions arise in mind for which I will need your feed back. I am still convinced that once Hajj is obligatory but performing it many times is extravaganza and directly falling in the trap of Saudis to spend money for them.

My most important question is that what about the great spiritual centres in Non Arab Muslim world on the pattern of Mazar Sharif, Multan, Konya, Mali etc.

Muslims after performing hajj once do not go to other spiritual centers to enrich their spiritual experiences but repeatedly go to Saudi. This may become an opportunity of interaction with other Muslim communities. Why all the time Saudi and not other Muslim lands?

Also Muslims may go to other countries for exposure and tourism instead of benefiting Saudis all the time by spending millions of dollars.

[ډګروال]

Its again the season of Hajj and many questions arise in mind for which I will need your feed back. I am still convinced that once Hajj is obligatory but performing it many times is extravaganza and directly falling in the trap of Saudis to spend money for them.

My most important question is that what about the great spiritual centres in Non Arab Muslim world on the pattern of Mazar Sharif, Multan, Konya, Mali etc.

Muslims after performing hajj once do not go to other spiritual centers to enrich their spiritual experiences but repeatedly go to Saudi. This may become an opportunity of interaction with other Muslim communities. Why all the time Saudi and not other Muslim lands?

Also Muslims may go to other countries for exposure and tourism instead of benefiting Saudis all the time by spending millions of dollars.

shut the hell up and get a life ,pathetic loser.

[ډګروال]

Only people like Osho bring up these topics to demean Islam even further .
Our beloved PROPHET P.B.U.H belonged to that place QURAN talks about that place Ibrahim P.B.U.H and his beloved son Isma'il P.B.U.H built the kabah,not everyone goes for shopping not everyone comes back and talks about other things, i have heard people say ''We forgot all our problems, we felt peace,we felt protected we felt guided.

cha tha yee weway.
dey khalko de lasa kho mung deltha de pukhtano pe halath bandey bahas neshoo kaweley,pe arey kharey ke doy radangey.

da mordar mekhey ,tor mekhey es insanyath ne laree aw zor kayee pe ekhpeley zedey islami.
ka de pukhtano hujra da no dasey faltho khalko ta se haq warkayee che da hujrey tol khalk aw tol pukhtano be ezatha key?

[Karachi]

shut the hell up and get a life ,pathetic loser.

he is right, saudi royals are using the money for their own luxury, obviously you wont understand this

[randolph85]

he is right, saudi royals are using the money for their own luxury, obviously you wont understand this

all muslim leaders used hajj as a means of revenue. there is no haram in this and no fault of the muslims who go to hajj to fulfill a religious duty even with the current 100 story clock tower eyesores. muslims will never abandon hajj even if americans rule the city as this is a duty beyond politics. the money that the pilgrims bring and their intentions are pure, what the saudis do with this money is to be judged by allah.

[Badlun]

cha tha yee weway.
dey khalko de lasa kho mung deltha de pukhtano pe halath bandey bahas neshoo kaweley,pe arey kharey ke doy radangey.

da mordar mekhey ,tor mekhey es insanyath ne laree aw zor kayee pe ekhpeley zedey islami.
ka de pukhtano hujra da no dasey faltho khalko ta se haq warkayee che da hujrey tol khalk aw tol pukhtano be ezatha key?

zama khoga wrora de ke da pakhtano da bezatai tsah di? hajj kho da islam rukan dey da pashto rukan kho na dey da zarhgi sara!

aw za kho da wayam che da pakhtano seemo ke che kum zyaratuna di laka per baba, saidu baba, rahman baba, kaka saib, mazar sharif,
ta de hum khalak larh shi che halta hum hotaluna jorh shi aw da ghareebu pashtano rozgar rawan shi

da musalmanai na ta sok wistaley shey kho da pakhto aw basharyat na nashey wistaley
lag khabarey ta pam kawa kaidey shi zama de khabara ke lag rishtya wi che khalak da wlagey na mri aw haji saib pa hajuno sar dey da yaw zal da haj na inkar neshta kho pa lakuno afghanai pa hajj lagawal har wakht zyatey dey

[Badlun]

Here I would like to share with you some famous shrines in Afghanistan which can become great centers of spiritual tourism

The shrine complex of Gazar Gah in Hirat
Tomb of famous 15th century Persian poet, Nur-ud-din Abdurrakhman Jami in Hirat
MOUSALLAH COMPLEX in Hirat
CHISHT-I-SHARIF near Hirat
ROZA MUBARIK (Shrine of Hazrat Ali) in Balkh(Mazar Sharif)
MAUSOLEUM OF AHMED SHAH DURRANI in Qandahar
DA KHERQA SHARIF ZIARAT in Qandahar
SHRINE OF HAZRAT JI BABA in Qandahar
MAUSOLEUM OF MIR WAIS BABA in Qandahar
The shrine of Baba Wali in Qandahar

and many others

I invite all Muslims and Pashtuns to undertake spiritual journeys to these centers of holy aura where bliss can be found in a second

[ډګروال]

zama khoga wrora de ke da pakhtano da bezatai tsah di? Hajj kho da islam rukan dey da pashto rukan kho na dey da zarhgi sara!

Aw za kho da wayam che da pakhtano seemo ke che kum zyaratuna di laka per baba, saidu baba, rahman baba, kaka saib, mazar sharif,
ta de hum khalak larh shi che halta hum hotaluna jorh shi aw da ghareebu pashtano rozgar rawan shi

da musalmanai na ta sok wistaley shey kho da pakhto aw basharyat na nashey wistaley
lag khabarey ta pam kawa kaidey shi zama de khabara ke lag rishtya wi che khalak da wlagey na mri aw haji saib pa hajuno sar dey da yaw zal da haj na inkar neshta kho pa lakuno afghanai pa hajj lagawal har wakht zyatey dey

زه ستا ورو نه یمه او ته خو زمږ پښتنو غټ دښمن یی.
پښتون معنی مسلمان او کوم چه د اسلام سپکاوی کوی د پمن سپی نه بد تر دی.
مردره! خلک مکه له د اخپل دینی فریضی لپاره ځی او پښتانو د زیارتونو څه شوق نشته.
ته د غریب پښتنو ازادی نه منی او مږ سترګو ته د خاورو اچولو کوښښ کوی.
غلط ! اسلام درجه پښتو نه جګه ده او کوم پښتون چه اسلام نه ووزی او یا د پښتنو بی لاری توب
کوښښ کوی هغه د یو دله دوس نه کم نه دی.
ستا خبرو ته زما ښه پام دی او زه ستا شیطانی خبرو باندی ښه پوه یم.
دا د دی ځای ایډمینان غیرت نه کوی چه دا ځای ستاسو په شان کم اسل او شیطان خلکو نه پاک کړی
چه مږ پښتانه یو بل سره خپل وطن په هکله خبری وکړو.
ستا په کښی څه کار چه لکونه په حج لګوی دا زمږ پښتنو کار دی ،خپل کار سره
کار لره پمنه مسلمانانو (پښتنو) سپکاوی پریده.

[Badlun]

za sta sara sta pa lehjey ke na sham ghagedey kho da darta wayal ghwarham che da bal khabara lag pa sabar zghama ka ta da ghwarhey che za sam sham no pa dey lyar ta ma na shey samawaley pa hikmat aw dranawi khabarey kawa ka za kafir hum shum kho zama pa spakawi ta kha na khkarey

zama da pakhtano da baryalitob aw azadai na inkar neshta
za da hum na wayam che pakhtana de islam pregdi kho yaw zal haj na wrusto bya bya haj kawal muhim na di da paisey de nor zayano ke walagawaley shi pa zaye da dey che makhta na maldar arabyano ta de norey paisey larhey shi

zyaratuno ta tlal da pashtano kaltur dey aw pa lakuno pashtana zyaratuno ta zi ta hagha tolo ta kafir na shi wayaley aw ya ye da pashtunwaley na nashey wistaley

ta da pashtano pa larh ke khabaro kawalo na cha na ye isar karhey
ka zama khaabrey khey na di no ta khey khabarey kawa che khalak aw gharhi pe mashghul wi

aw pashtana 7000 kala na pashtana di no sta sah fikar dey che kala pashtana 1400 kala na makhkey musalmanan na woo no aya hagha pashtana hum na woo? oss hum dasey pashtana shta che hagha muslamanan na di islam mazhab dey aw pashto jaba, kaltur aw nasal dey

[Badlun]

Aas we have again the Hajj season so I will repeat my thoughts to have fresh ideas on the subject matter:

Performance of Hajj and Umra once in life is obligatory and understandable but doing it each year and many times is beyond my comprehension.

How people spend millions of dollars just to go there and ignore many other urgent social and economic obligations in their families and countries.

I came to the following thoughts on this issue with the request of a free and frank discussion whether you agree with my these conclusions or otherwise.

1. It seems to be the strategy of Saudi Arabia to earn huge amount of money each year by the visits of thousands of Muslims to Saudi Arabia ?

2. Who are the economic/spiritual beneficiaries from this type of tourism?


3. What about the great spiritual centres in Non Arab Muslim world on the pattern of Mazar Sharif, Multan, Konya etc.

4. Why Salafi Wahabis encourage Muslims to visit only Makkah and Madina and not other holy places in Muslim world?

5. Why Muslims after performing once the Hajj do not spend money to go to other places so that there also spiritual tourism is developed and those places have more economic activities as tourism is now a days a big industry.

[Reactants]

Ah such a materialist!

[Badlun]

Ah such a materialist!

Who is materialist? Saudis that they doscourage that Muslims only go to Makkah and Madina and no where else to other holy places or myself?

If you are calling me materialist then I am all for spiritualism as well as materialism as body and soul/higher mind/consciousness both are realities.And I do not want that Muslim spiritual sites should only be Makkah and Madina, no doubt they are the most important ones.

[Reactants]

Who is materialist? Saudis that they doscourage that Muslims only go to Makkah and Madina and no where else to other holy places or myself?

If you are calling me materialist then I am all for spiritualism as well as materialism as body and soul/higher mind/consciousness both are realities.And I do not want that Muslim spiritual sites should only be Makkah and Madina, no doubt they are the most important ones.

The materialists are one such people who believe that all life is what is observable. What cannot be observed cannot be real.

objections?