Alhaju Aleazim

الحج العظيم

The Alhaju Alzeazim is a branch of Islam that arose as a result of The Great Cataclysm. The core tenet of the movement is that the Scourging of Earth was a Test of Faith that humanity has failed, and that in order to regain the favor of Allah, the faithful must rally together for a Great Hajj, clearing the Jred from Earth, and bringing together the surviving pieces of the Kaaba of Mecca. Only when the Kaaba is reforged, they believe, will humanity be restored to favor with Allah. Members of the Alhaju Aleazim, usually known as Hajaajun are well represented in important galactic organizations such as the Galactic Surveyor's Guild, and other such organizations that seek to restore Earth to human habitation.

Structure

The Hajaaji are relatively loosely organized, as a widespread movement on a galactic scale a lot of power is placed in the hands of regional clerics, who are usually responsible for maintaining the spiritual wellbeing of their own local faithful. These regional clerics known as Ulama are highly educated on matters of religion and are responsible for issuing rulings on matters of theology, in effect writing the rules by which Faithful Hajaajun are to abide. Each Ulam is generally responsible for three or four closely located star systems though a rare few may lay claim to a larger territory. 

On a more local level, more depends on the status of Alhaju Aleazim, or indeed Islam in general in the local areas. In Hajaajun tradition, local groups of the faithful are guided by an Imam, typically the most educated member of a community, especially on matters of religious law, who is responsible for leading the Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha prayers. In Islamic societies, and especially Hajaajun societies the process of becoming Imam is a formalized process with prospective Imams typically educated in specialized Madrasas specifically to take on the role. In societies with non-Muslim majorities, or those of non-Hajaaji traditions, it is often a more informal matter. Imams are selected by the community. Tradition dictates that a member of an Alnaaji (الناجي) family (descended from one of the survivors of Scourging of Earth) takes priority over any other consideration, with religious education being the next most important matter. In mixed gender groups, men are preferred for the role of Imam, though the Hajaaji are less strict on the matter of gender than many other Islamic traditions.

For some however, there is a more important calling than simply tending to the faithful. For those that seek to take their place in the eternal struggle, they take up the mantle of Shahid. The Shahidun are dedicated to protecting the faithful from outside threats, declaring their lives forfeit in service to the Great Hajj. Though this can be done through peaceful means, indeed, a large number of the Galactic Surveyor's Guild members are Shahidun seeking the means to restore the Earth, many dedicate themselves to war, these Shahidun often take a vow of silence after declaring themselves Shahid, in effect transforming themselves into ghosts who seek to reclaim their afterlives with Allah by defending the Hajaaji from any outside threat, with the Jred being seen as the primary target. The matter whether the the latter Shahidun or righteous in their defense of the faith, or blasphemers committing ritual suicide, is up for contentious debate among the religious scholars of the Hajaaji faith.

In the first generations after the Scourging of Earth, there was an overarching religious authority in the form of the Mujaddid, the renewer of the Faith, who sought to bring a new age to the Islamic world following the destruction of many of the faith’s most holy sites. However, central religious authority broke down as the Hajaaji split from the Harakat Al Nahda, and other New Islamic communities. 

History

The Alhaju Aleazim traces its origin to the Scourging of Earth. In that event, most of humanity’s most important cultural sites were overrun and destroyed by the Jred. Among them was the Holy City of Mecca, which was overrun within days of the Jred invasion, and in the chaos the Kaaba was destroyed by a massive explosion. Within Hajaaji religious tradition, it is said that the most pious of the faithful attending the Hajj at the time picked up the shattered remains of the Kaaba and carried them away as they fled the Jred. As the survivors escaped from Earth, the Islamic world, like many of the other venerable religions of humanity, found itself in a place of great difficulty as no Muslim could again complete the Hajj.  

In the fallout, a person claiming to be Mujaddid by the name of Hasan ibn-Rashid az-Zaidi claimed that humanity was being punished by Allah. He claimed that it was necessary to restore humanity to Allah’s favor by restoring his most sacred site. This Great Hajj he claimed, would be the final culmination of the faithful’s struggle against evil, and the struggle will resto

In the traumatic aftereffects of the Scourging of Earth, and The Great Cataclysm, Zaidi’s message found a large number of listeners. Within fifteen years of the Cataclysm, Zaidi found himself established as one of the most important religious scholars in the contemporary Islamic movement, taking control of the largest surviving religious school in the New Raqqa System. With this the Hajaaji movement was born. Many of this first generation of Hajaajun swore themselves to the cause of rebuilding Earth, which provided an enormous boost to the Galactic Surveyor's Guild in its own early development.

The newfound unity of this movement was short lived however, as within three generations of Zaidi’s death, religious disagreements would arise over the nature of the Great Hajj, and eventually the Alhaju Aleazim would fracture first with the Harakat Al Nahda, with several other splintering sects and movements breaking away shortly thereafter. After that, the capital of the Hajaaji movement shifted to its new location in Dewa.  Other smaller sects also broke away though for the past century breakaway sects have gone into decline, and many of their faithful have returned to the Hajaaji movement or to more traditional sects of Islam.

Tenets of Faith

The Alhaju Aleazim follows all of the five traditional pillars of Islam, The Shahada, The Salah, The Zakat, The Sawm, and The Hajj, as with all Islamic sects however, the Hajaaji have had to confront the realities of clashes between an Earthbound religion and an interstellar civilization, and have done so in their own ways.

The Shahada

All Hajaajun must declare their faith, proclaiming that Allah is the one true god, and that Muhammad is his messenger. This pillar is perhaps the most unchanged since before the Age of Unity.

The Salah

All Hajaajun must pray five times a day, at dawn, noon, in the afternoon, evening, and at night. These prayers, if possible, should be offered in a mosque, though if this cannot be done for practical reasons, any suitable space will suffice. The Hajaaji are relatively unique in that they and some breakaway sects from them are the only Islamic sects to still pray towards Earth during the Salah, instead of adopting the more recent post Scourge tradition of praying towards the nearest known fragment of the Kaaba. 

The Zakat

The act of Zakat, or Almsgiving, has changed somewhat since the Scourge, and precepts of it have shifted to meet the needs of a more integrated, and dispersed humanity. Those offering Zakat must still declare such before Allah, pay when it is due, be humble about the offering, and pay in kind if they lack money, however, the element of direct community distribution has been de-emphasized slightly. Donation of the Zakat to wider projects that will benefit humanity as a whole, including the local community, are also acceptable, even if this means outside communities, even nonbelievers will also benefit.

The Sawm

The Sawm, must be observed unless a person is incapable of doing so for medical reasons, which can delay necessary practice of Sawm. For most believers, this means that, during the Holy Month of Ramadan, they may not eat, drink, smoke tobacco, and are expected, though not strictly required to refrain from anger, violence, lust, avoid unholy sights or sounds, and act in community with fellow Muslims. This practice is to occur between dawn and dusk on a world or at a latitude where such an arrangement is possible. On tidally locked worlds, or in another situation where a regular day/night cycle does not exist a period of ten hours is expected, or if at a polar latitude with the expectation that a day/night cycle will return, up to half of the Sawm obligation may be delayed to a period outside of Ramadan to a period of equinox. During this time, it is expected that a believer appreciates their dependence on Allah, and has some perspective of the struggle of the dispossessed. Some believers also participate in voluntary fasts, often temporary, which should be observed if an oath is sworn before Allah. The most extreme examples of these are the Three Hundred Thirtyers, a group of shahidun that swear to fast from dawn to dusk on every month except al-muḥarram, only eating during the day that month to avoid condemnation for fasting every day of the year. 

The Hajj

 All believers must make a pilgrimage during the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar to the largest surviving shard of the Kaaba, located in the New Raqqa System, at one point during their lives. During this pilgrimage, they are expected to be dressed in similar, all white clothing to strip each pilgrim of the various social distinctions that would separate pilgrims from one another. During Hajj, each member of the faithful must engage in a procession around the Kaaba fragment, before engaging in a ritual hike between the recreations of Mount Safah and Mount Marwa that must be repeated seven times. After the Scourging of Earth and the resulting destruction of Mecca, this has become the standard of most major sects of Islam. Though many sects instead center the Hajj around different Kaaba fragments. Extremist Hajaajun instead insist on a pilgrimage to Earth, these people, often Shahidun are expected to make the Hajj at the overrun ruins of the historical city of Mecca, and must do penance by destroying the Jred wherever encountered on their procession, and their hike between Safah and Marwa. The extremist position, it is said, is a part of the penance they undertake by helping to clear the Holy City of the great destroyer, so that it may be prepared for the reforging of the Kaaba, and the restoration of Allah’s favor.

Ethics

In addition to the basic tenets of the faith, the Hajaaji have other expectations for conduct as members of the faithful. Avoidance of wrong and promotion of right (al-amru bi-l-maʿrufi wa-n-nahyu ʿani-l-munkari) is one such area, with Hajaaji scholars generally coming down in favor of collective expectation for the forbidding of wrong, and believing that secular institutions may also be enabled to carry out this duty. Hajaaji thought generally believes that rebellion for the enforcement of Shariah is not permissible, though it is likewise not considered Haram in circumstances where the breach of ethics is so severe that it cannot be suffered (if for example, a state power were engaging in an act of cultural repression, or indeed genocide of the believers, rebellion would be perfectly acceptable within Hajaaji lines of thought). 

Hajaaji are generally fairly strict compared to other Muslims on the matter of dietary restrictions, requiring that the faithful consume only terragenic, or partially terragenic plants and animals, with xeno-organisms being seen as impure and therefore Makruh, or often Haram to consume. They are also fairly puritanical in terms of conspicuous consumption, believing the excess of the upper classes in the Arabian governorate were in fact part of the reason the Jred Scourge occurred, and modesty in dress, especially in avoiding needless ornamentation and extravagance is strongly encouraged. Similarly, covering the body, including the head is encouraged, though not strictly required.

Alnaajun (those who survived the destruction of Mecca), and their families are held to a higher regard than other peoples, similar to the status of Sayyidi, on Old Earth. They are privileged in certain respects, and are entitled over others to lead communities in prayer as Imams. Similarly unlike most other communities, Hajaaji have no distaste for psionic peoples, seeing them as having been marked by Allah to purify their communities through the absorption and expulsion of sin from the community. These Akli Alkhatiya (literally, sin eaters) are held in high esteem, and many command relatively high positions within their communities.

Political Influence & Intrigue

The Hajaaji movement of Islam is currently the strongest single movement in the known Galaxy with roughly a third of all known Muslims followers of the movement. This affords the Hajaaji a great deal of political leverage, particularly in areas where they are concentrated. Alhaju Aleazim is considered an official state religion in the Mensa League, and shares this status with other religions in the Dromedary Republic. It is additionally very popular in many areas of the Aseni Sector, the Gemini Sector, and the Fracana Sector where many independent systems also promote the faith as an official state religion.

Founding Date

AC 15 (4119)

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Alternative Names

Hajaaji

Demonym

Hajaaj, Hajaaji, Hajaajun