The Cursed Pilgrimage — The Commerce of Fear and the Voice of a Sufi Heart
By Raja Zahid Akhtar Khanzada
“She said to me: ‘I am going to the House of God. Beware, if you do not do what I ask, I will curse you!’
And I fell silent for a moment, lost in thought. What kind of pilgrimage is this, where the traveler carries hatred instead of humility? What kind of devotion begins not with love, but with threats and resentment? What kind of worshipper approaches God’s house without first cleansing the stains of the heart?”
Umrah ceases to be an act of worship when suspicion clouds the intention, the tongue turns into a weapon, and the heart hides worldly grudges.
I am a man of Sufi temperament, and my heart whispers to me: “Purity of intention is the true worship — otherwise, even the circling of the Kaaba becomes mere spectacle.”
To a Sufi, Umrah is not only the outer pilgrimage but also the inner one. The Kaaba is not made only of stone — there is also a Kaaba within the heart. And in any heart where resentment, envy, and vengeance reside, neither the pilgrimage is complete nor the prayer accepted.
As the Qur’an declares:
“وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ”
— “They were commanded only to worship Allah, making the faith pure for Him.”
Yet what I witnessed was far from purity. The fear of God had been turned into a bargaining chip, prayer into a weapon, faith into a threat. What should have been devotion became transaction, a marketplace where fear is sold and faith mortgaged.
In Dallas, everyone knows this woman.
Her business thrives under the pretense of “restaurant reviews.”
After years of investigation, I discovered that deceit now dresses itself in the robe of piety, that lies are being marketed as “Halal branding.” I traced the web of fake accounts, the trail of fabricated reviews, and the silence of those too frightened to speak, a silence born of hatred for truth.
Restaurant owners confided that she and her partner have for years extorted between $300 and $500 per restaurant, labeling it “marketing.” Those who comply are left alone; those who refuse are punished — targeted with fake accounts, slanderous reviews, and character assassination.
Thus, dozens of small businesses across Dallas have fallen victim to this racket, a marketplace where honesty was buried and deceit was sold under the banner of faith.
The scam soon expanded, from “Halal marketing” to charity, politics, and fundraising mafias.
They began using the banners of political parties and humanitarian causes, projecting influence and authority.
The message to the community was clear: “Don’t even think of challenging us.”
Restaurant owners whispered complaints in private but dared not speak publicly.
So, I took it upon myself to be their voice, to expose what they could not.
I revealed how these so-called “philanthropists” looted Zakat, Sadaqah, and charitable donations — all under the protection of a powerful network.
One of their closest associates, who once posed as a saintly figure of compassion, built real estate empires in Bani Gala, Islamabad, and Bahria Town through this fraud.
She used photos of people in wheelchairs to exploit emotions, collecting millions of dollars in their name.
When we made her tax returns public, the community finally saw the truth — that this wasn’t hearsay, but evidence.
It was a grotesque industry, fraud in the name of faith, theft in the name of charity.
Under the banner of Halal, the trade of Haram prospered. From politics to philanthropy, everything was cloaked in the fear of God, but it wasn’t fear; it was manipulation.
And this is the deceit of which the Prophet ﷺ warned:
“من غشنا فليس منا” — “Whoever deceives us is not of us.”
These are the people who sell faith in the name of faith, who trade belief for influence.
I am not a saint, I am a sinner who has performed Hajj and Umrah, who has studied the essence of Islam. Yet never, before any pilgrimage, did I ever think of cursing even my harshest critic.
Those who do so, I ask them: Is God only yours?
A Sufi knows, in the Court of the Divine, there are no complaints, only humility.
There, one does not confront enemies but the self.
For the Prophet ﷺ said: “The greatest enemy is your own ego that dwells within you.”
When that ego dresses itself in piety, worship becomes theater.
The one who sets out for pilgrimage carrying vengeance in the heart is not circling the Kaaba, he is circling his own pride.
We now live in a time when falsehood speaks the language of faith and fake reviews carry more weight than truth.
These are people who run pages in the name of Halal, yet their actions reek of deceit and hypocrisy.
Perhaps this is the age the Prophet ﷺ foresaw:
“A time will come when the liar will be believed and the truthful called a liar.”
When I read their posts, their threats cloaked in divine phrases, the Sufi within me simply smiles and whispers:
“Those who sell fear will never reach God, for God seeks love, not commerce.”
I am a journalist — one who neither takes bribes nor sells space.
I report truth for the community at my own expense, for truth is not a profession to me — it is a calling.
I have faced lawsuits in American courts — one recently filed in Houston was dismissed at the very first hearing. The plaintiff, a wealthy man accustomed to silencing critics through intimidation, failed to shake my resolve.
Truth prevailed — as it always does.
They too tried to smear me through fake accounts, but the community knows me for over twenty-five years. Their fabrications could not shake my faith, nor my mission.
And through it all, I heard a voice within say:
“They may try to bring you down, but when you stand upon truth, God stands with you.”
This piece is not revenge, nor accusation — it is a reminder:
When falsehood seeps into worship, devotion turns to poison.
The robe of Umrah may be white, but if the intention beneath it is dark, it is no longer a robe — it is a mask.
O pilgrim of the sacred house!
If you truly go to the House of God,
cleanse your heart on the way.
Take your own flaws to Him, not others’.
At His threshold, there is no curse — only forgiveness.
For God does not dwell in stone,
but in hearts as pure and transparent as glass.
So before you depart, cleanse your heart.
Carry no malice, no vengeance, no curse.
Because worship born from hatred
never reaches the Divine.
