Last year I went with my parents to Arabia to take part in the glorious ceremony of hajj.What an auspicious journey it was! And how I wish you had been there and seen those glorious rnanasik (rites) of hajj.A little distance to Makkah, we stopped at a place called the miqat.There we took off our clothes and put on ihra!m (the plain white coverings).As I put on ihram according to Islamic rules, my father said to me: "My boy, you are now in the state of Ihram.That means that you must be more mindful of Allah.In the state of ihram you must not tell a lie, you must not make an oath, you must not hurt animals, and you must not quarrel with anyone.Hopefully this will train you in overcoming your desires and remaining the same way in the future."My son, hajj to the House of Allah is a great act of worship and a sublime training ground for human development and perfection.Here we are trained in the subjects of simplicity, equality, humility, self-restraint, etc." Once we had dressed ourselves in the coverings of ihram, we headed off to Makkah with all the other hujjaj.all of us saying labbayk Allah urnrna labbayk"! Really I could hardly believe my eyes.Hundreds of thousands of people, all from different nations and races, were all wearing the same simple ihram' with one mind.with one voice, in all equality, were moving along with us to Makkah.As soon as we arrived at Makkah, we eagerly went to the Holy Kabah to perform the tawaf (circumambulation).What a sight it was! How beautiful, how glorious! The surge of the huge crowd reminded us of the Day of Resurrection, and brought home to us the greatness and glory of Allah.Around the Kabah, we performed the tawaf, and when we finished we performed the other rnanasik of hajj.Being at the hajj also had another benefit for us.Throughout we all, especially my father, had long discussions with Muslims from other countries.We talked about their economic, political and cultural conditions, and we became aware of their manners, culture and problems.When we arrived home my father talked about these things with all his friends, and so we all benefited from this good and useful information.*It is wajib for every Muslim, who is able to afford.to go once in his or her life-time to take part in the hajj, and thus come back with a radiant heart and a new resolve for perfection.Al-'Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (AS) has said: "Whoever forsakes his wajib hajj without a religious excuse.will leave this world not as a Muslim but will be considered on the Judgment Day among the non-Muslims."