I rarely speak about religion.

Not because I lack faith, but because I am often dismissed before I can finish a sentence.

I don’t have the “look” people expect from someone with a Master’s in Islamic Studies.

But I studied the faith to understand, not to preach, to sit with the contradictions and reconcile the gap between the Qur’an I read, and practices I witnessed that felt at odds with its principles.

One truth emerged early and clearly:

In Islam, preserving life is sacred.

The Qur’an teaches:

“Whoever saves one life, it is as if they have saved all of humanity.” (Qur’an 5:32)

This is not a symbolic verse, it’s a foundational one. It shapes how we are meant to prioritize, especially when lives are at stake.

So I ask this question, from a place of deep concern and curiosity:

At a time when Gaza is under siege, when families are starving, when entire communities are being erased, what is the most urgent form of worship?

What if this year, those who have already performed the Hajj or who planned to go again chose to redirect those funds to urgent humanitarian aid instead, especially given the funding cuts they are facing?

What if, this year, some of the money destined for pilgrimage went, just temporarily, toward saving lives?
Toward feeding families in Gaza?
Toward keeping hospitals open, children warm, mothers alive?

Not instead of worship. But as part of it.

What if these sacred days became a turning point?
Not just for personal devotion, but for collective consciousness?

What if this became our collective intention:

To preserve life first.

To stand with the oppressed.

To fulfill the spirit of the faith before the form.

What if we saw this as a different kind of Hajj, one not defined by movement across land, but by movement of the heart toward justice?

This is not a call for division.

It is a call for foresight.

It is not about abandoning ritual but about anchoring it in justice and mercy.

And maybe the most honest pilgrimage today
is not measured in miles,
but in how we turn, again and again,
around what matters most….the right to live.