ACCORDING to a saying of the Prophet, when a believer returns home after performing Hajj, he is as he was on the day on which his mother gave birth to him (Sahih al-Bukhari). In other words, such a person returns after Hajj as a newborn child. Here, a newborn refers to the pure nature of a child.

The above saying can be understood in the light of another teaching of the Prophet according to which every person is originally born on nature, but then he gets conditioned in the environment he lives in.

Reflecting on the above words of the Prophet, we realize that if one performs Hajj in its right spirit, one will return to one’s pure nature.