Manasik is the whole of rites and ceremonies that have to be performed by Islamic pilgrims in and around Mecca. The Qur'an differentiates between two manasiks: The Manasik of Hajj, has to be donein the month Dhu al-Hijjah and The Manasik of ʿUmra, which can be performed any time of the year. The knowledge of manasik is an independent part of Fiqh.
Qur'anic statements
The Arabic term mansak or mansik, to which manāsik forms the plural, is to the Arabic word nusuk. The term nusuk occurs even in the Qur'an in Sura 2:196, where it refers to a sacrifice that has to be made as a substitute if the pilgrim prematurely carves his head hair. As a nomen loci, the term mansak thus refers to a place of sacrifice. However, it has undergone a change of meaning over time. Even in the Qur'an itself, the term is used for certain sacrificial rites. In this sense, the term already appears in two places in the 22nd Sura named after the Hajj, in verse 34 and verse 67. In addition, the plural term occurs twice in Sura 2 in connection with pilgrimage. In the first passage, Sura 2:128, Abraham addresses the petition to God to show him and his Muslim offspring the rites. In the second passage, Sura 2:200, believers are called upon to commemorate the manasik of God, as they had inherited thought of their fathers. The term is already used in the Qur'an for the entirety of the pilgrimage ceremonies.
History
One of the earliest experts in manāsik was the Prophet's CompassionateAbdullah ibn Umar. From him, it is reported that he alternately went one year to Hajj and the other year to 'Umrah. During the pilgrimage season he was then active as Mufti. Together with Abd Allah ibn Abbas he delivered his Fatwa - Sessions on the arrival of the pilgrims. One of the earliest monographic treatises on the entirety of the pilgrimage rites is the Kitāb al-Manāsik of . The first part of this work is preserved in the tradition of his disciple Sa'īd ibn Abī'Arūba. Later, numerous other Manāsik works were written. As reported by Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, who was in Mecca at the end of the 19th century, the Manasik were taught to the pilgrims in their own colleges before the pilgrimage began. Today, Indonesian children are given the opportunity to learn the pilgrim rites with models of the Ka'aba. There are several general guidelines for Umrah and Hajj that must be known by pilgrims when in Medina and Mecca wants to do Hajj or Umrah. Things that we may not apply in the country should be done in the Holy Land such as maintaining courtesy towards other people from many countries. We must do this so that our worship is smooth and fervent.
Some further reading
Kitāb al-Manāsik by Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, which goes back to his teacher Qatada ibn Diʿama. It was published first in the year in Beirut by ʿĀmir Hasan Sabri.
al-Masālik fī l-manāsik by Abū Mansūr Muhammad ibn Mukarrim al-Karmānī in two volumes.
al-Baḥr al-ʿamīq fī manāsik al-muʿtamir wa-'l-ḥāǧǧ ilā bait Allāh al-ʿatīq by Muhammad ibn Ahmad Ibn ad-Diyāʾ. In modern printed edits of 2011, it covers more than 3000 pages.
Lubāb al-manāsik wa-ʿubāb al-masālik by Rahmatallāh as-Sindī. At the beginning of the 17th century, Ali al-Qari wrote a commentary entitled al-Maslak al-mutaqassiṭ fī l-mansak al-mutawassiṭ.
