‘The feeling in my heart was just pure bliss’
◆ The rapper and TV chef talks about his BBC Two documentary Big Zuu Goes To Mecca, in which he embarks on a pilgrimage to reconnect with his faith
Big Zuu might be best known for his rap career and work as a TV chef but, in a new documentary on BBC Two, he’s getting introspective about his faith with the journey of a lifetime.
The 28-year-old, whose real name is Zuhair Hassan, was raised in west London by a mum from Sierra Leone and dad from Lebanon, with Islam in his heritage on both sides of the family.
That said, he didn’t grow up following the rules of Islam to the letter, instead blending the traditions of multiple cultures. While he might not have been raised praying five times a day, he’s always been devoted to his faith, just in his own way.
Recently, he says, his relationship with his faith has been “very up and down”. So he decided to perform Umrah – a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam – during the holy month of Ramadan, out of a desire to connect more deeply with his faith.
Umrah is a shorter version of the annual Hajj gathering, though, unlike the Hajj, it is not a pillar of Islam and therefore not obligatory for Muslims. However, it’s an opportunity for Muslims to refresh their faith, pray for their needs and connect with others.
The pilgrimage involves two key rituals: Tawaf, circling the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque, Masjid al-haram, seven times, and Sa’i, the ritual of walking back and forth seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah. To conclude the pilgrimage, pilgrims cut or shave their hair, which marks the end of the sacred state of Ihram.
In Big Zuu Goes To Mecca he shares his experience each step of the way, giving us an insight into his relationship with Islam, showing what it’s like to perform Umrah, and discussing how the pilgrimage has affected his faith.
Ahead of the documentary airing on BBC Two this weekend, let’s hear more from Big Zuu himself about what he learned.
How would you describe your religious background?
My dad comes from a very religious background, whereas I’ve been raised with my mum being more spiritual, more into faith than religion – so I’ve kind of been raised with both spectrums.
My mum always raised me to be God-fearing, whereas my dad is more strict on what it means to be a good Muslim. They both really had an impact on where I’m at now – I think I have a little blend of both.
Why did you decide to embark on the pilgrimage of umrah and make a documentary?
I decided to do the documentary for a combination of things. It was at a time in my life where my relationship with my faith was very up and down. So I think exploring that was something I wanted to be able to do. I hope what people take away from the documentary is that there is no true form of what it is to be religious, it’s just about who you are and what you care about.
From the outside looking in, you wouldn’t think I was a religious guy, but I performed one of the most religious things you could do in Islam.
You’re never too many steps away from being able to be good within your faith, you just have to have that intention. And I’m very lucky, through my job, that I was able to go to this experience of Umrah.
What was your experience of going to Mecca?
I definitely learned (that) being in front of the Kaaba, the House of God, in the Grand Mosque, is something you really need to experience to understand the beauty of Islam.
Walking around the Kaaba with my friends, the feeling in my heart was just pure, pure bliss. Words cannot describe how happy I felt at that time, I felt so pure. I felt so relieved of everything. I felt so connected to so many different people and it was just such a beautiful moment.
When you pray in a congregation, when you pray with a lot of people, when you perform a religious act with such a big group of people, that energy you feel is real. There’s nothing that can tell me it’s not. It was overwhelming, it just felt so good.
How did performing umrah challenge you, and what did it teach you? Cutting my hair was definitely the number one challenge in my mind. What it taught me was that vanity is such a real thing, because I cared so much about my Ihram [the spiritual clothing worn on pilgrimage] and cutting my hair. Those are the two things I should care about the least. What impact did the experience have on you?
It was really emotional, I learned a lot about myself and it was something that I feel like I needed in life.
You really see me change over the course of the documentary and that was a real life change – I still carry that with me to this day. I’m very lucky that such a poignant moment in my life was able to be captured. I hope it will inspire others. How has your faith changed since your pilgrimage? There’s definitely been a big change in terms of my spirituality since the pilgrimage. I think it made me become closer to God.
Sometimes with the parameters of religion, you don’t understand it until you go through it. I didn’t grow up following all the rules of Islam, I didn’t follow every single strict regimen that you were supposed to do.
So going through the steps required to perform Umrah and the discipline it gave me, that is what I loved the most about it.
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Tom Ballantine
Edinburgh