Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen – Khalifatul Masih I – The Way of the Righteous — Page 32
Pilgrimage to Mecca 31 in the footprint of his master (the Holy Prophet sa ) and entered Mecca via Kadaa ’ and spent the night with an elder of the place. Second Hajj Since more than a year had elapsed, while spending time in education in Medina and Mecca, the season of another Hajj came again upon him, and he availed himself of the opportunity of performing the second Hajj. Writing about what he gained out of performing the second Hajj, Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen observed: “ I learnt an interesting point. It dawned upon me that every year pilgrims come and go and they go away in a few days and that is why no person ever developed a real love and affection for this place. One is apt to lead to the conclusion that here, in Mecca, one is ever involved and encompassed by the love and devotion to God and that is the true object of Hajj to fully imbibe oneself in the love and devotion to God; other loves are transitory and vain. ” Return Home After having been away from his home for years, which he spent in quest of religious and medical education and performing Hajj twice, he left Jeddah for Bombay and from Bombay, he left for Delhi by rail. This was the time when Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi held the spiritual sway in Delhi. He was engaged in the teaching of the Holy Qur'an and Hadith (Maulana Qasim was born in 1832 at Nanota and was among one of the founders of Madrassa Darul Uloom Devband ). It was during that time Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen had the opportunity of attending one of his sessions. Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen gave an account of such a meeting in his own words ( Al-Badr , October 2, 1913, p. 10): I have seen Maulana Qasim Nanotvi. He is a very intelligent and sharp man. He has an intellectual temperament and handles all