Hajj

This article is about the Islamic tradition. For other uses, see Hajj (disambiguation).

A supplicating pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram

The Hajj (Arabic: حج, Template:ArTranslit) is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Islam. It is the fifth pillar of Islam, an obligation that must be carried out by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so, at least once in their life. The Hajj occurs from the 8th to the 12th day of Dhul Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic calendar.

History

The Hajj was an ancient ritual, even in the time of Muhammad. He was known to regularly perform both the Hajj and Umrah, even before he began receiving revelations. Historically, Muslims would gather at various meeting points in other great cities, and then proceed en masse towards Mecca, in groups that could comprise tens of thousands of pilgrims. One of the best known meeting points was in Cairo, where the Sultan would stand atop a platform of the famous gate Bab Zuwayla, to officially watch the beginning of the annual pilgrimage.

Significance

The significance of Hajj is the demonstration of the Muslim submission to God. The purpose of the pilgrimage is to increase one's faith in Islam.

Preparations

See also: Ihram

Traditionally, pilgrims travel to Hajj in groups with their friends or family, or people from their local mosque as an expression of unity. Some airlines have special package holidays for Muslims going to Mecca.

During the Hajj, male pilgrims are required to dress only in a garment consisting of two sheets of white unhemmed cloth, with the top draped over the torso and the bottom secured by a white sash; plus a pair of sandals. Women are simply required to maintain their hijab with no other specific requirements.

The clothing is intended to show the equality of all pilgrims in the eyes of Allah, symbolizing the idea that there is no difference between a prince and a pauper when everyone is dressed equally. The Ihram also symbolizes purity and absolution of sins. This also portrays simplicity. A place designated for changing into Ihram is called a miqat. While the pilgrim is wearing the Ihram, they cannot shave, cut their nails, wear deodorant or perfume. An invocation, known as the talbiyah, is to be chanted after the pilgrim makes his or her intention for the Hajj.

There are many prohibitions which must be observed while in a state of Ihram. For example, a pilgrim should not swear or quarrel, kill any living thing or engage in sexual intercourse.

Rites

The route the pilgrims take during the Hajj

Umrah

Main article: Umrah

Upon arrival in Mecca, the pilgrim (locally known as a 'Hajji'), performs a series of ritual acts symbolic of the lives of Abraham (Ibrahim) and Hagar (Hajar), and of solidarity with Muslims worldwide. These acts of faith are:

• a tawaf, which consists of walking counter-clockwise around the Kaaba seven times. Men are encouraged to perform the first three circuits at a hurried pace, followed by four times, more closely, at a leisurely pace.
• the sa`i, walking seven times back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwah now enclosed in the Masjid al-Haram. This is a re-enactment of Hajar's frantic search for water, before the Zamzam Well was revealed to her by an angel sent by God.

These rituals comprise the Umrah, sometimes called the lesser Hajj. The Umrah can be taken at any time throughout the year and although completing it is highly commendable, Muslims are still required to perform the greater Hajj, during the appointed time.

Despite not being part of the ritual, most pilgrims drink water from the Zamzam Well when the Umrah is completed. Also, men and women trim off approximately one inch of hair.

At this point, the pilgrim can change from the ihram to regular clothes. This release from ihram is known as the mut'ah of Hajj.

Mina

The greater Hajj (al-hajj al-akbar) begins on the eighth day of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Pilgrims again put on ihram. They leave Mecca for the nearby town of Mina, where they spend the rest of the day.

Arafat

Plains of Arafat on the day of Hajj

The next morning, on the ninth of Dhu al-Hijjah, the pilgrims leave Mina for Mount Arafat. They must spend the afternoon within a defined area on the plain of Arafat until after sunset. No specific rituals or prayers are required during the stay at Arafat, although many pilgrims spend time praying, talking to God, and thinking about the course of their lives. It is said that all prayers will be answered.

Eid al-Adha and Ramy

After sunset they leave for Muzdalifah, an area between Arafat and Mina, where 49 pebbles are gathered for the stoning of the Devil (Shaitan). Having spent the night in Muzdalifah, the pilgrims now go back to Mina. It is now the 10th of the month, the day of Eid ul-Adha. As the first part of the stoning of the jamarat ritual, pilgrims throw seven pebbles at the large jamrah (wall) in Mina. After this, an animal is sacrificed. Traditionally the pilgrim slaughtered the animal himself or oversaw the slaughtering. Today many pilgrims buy a sacrifice voucher in Mecca before the greater Hajj begins; this allows an animal to be slaughtered in their name on the 10th without the pilgrim being physically present.

On this day pilgrims are released from most ihram restrictions; they have their heads shaved and change out of the ihram garment. The head shaving is a symbol of rebirth, signifying that the pilgrim's sins have been cleansed by completion of the Hajj. On this or the following day the pilgrims visit the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca for a tawaf called the Tawaf az-Ziyarah (or Tawaf al-Ifadah) which is an obligatory part of the Hajj. The night of the 10th is spent back at Mina.

On the afternoon of the 11th, pilgrims must stone all three jamarat in Mina (seven pebbles per jamarat). The same ritual must be performed on the following day. Pilgrims must leave Mina for Mecca before sunset on the 12th. (If they are unable to leave Mina before sunset, they must perform the stoning ritual again on the 13th before going to Mecca.) The pilgrims go back to where they started their pilgrimage.

Tawaf al-Wada

Finally, before leaving Mecca, pilgrims perform a farewell tawaf called the Tawaf al-Wada.

Journey to Medina

Though it is not required as part of the Hajj, after the Umrah, pilgrims often travel to visit the city of Medina and the Mosque of the Prophet. Muhammad's tomb is enclosed by the mosque. It is one of the locations where the tomb of Muhammad's daughter, Fatima, can be found. After spending a night or more in Medina, pilgrims return to Mecca to prepare for the beginning of the greater Hajj.

Incidents during the Hajj

Main article: Incidents during the Hajj

There have been many incidents during the Hajj that have led to the loss of hundreds of lives. The worst of these incidents have usually occurred during the stoning of the jamarat. During the 2006 Hajj on January 12, 362 pilgrims died. Tramplings have also occurred at the stage known as the sa'y, when pilgrims try to run but can walk between two hills known as As-Safa and Al-Marwa. Most recently, in 2006, some 600 pilgrims died while performing the hajj.

The Saudi Government is often criticised for not being proactive in providing facilities and infrastructure for the annual pilgrimage, and many measures are put in place in response to annual catastrophes.

Non-Muslims

The second caliph, Umar, is believed by many Sunni Muslims to have expelled non-Muslims from the Hejaz (Western part of Arabia). Non-Muslims were not to visit nor to live in the holy land. There is much evidence against this claim, at least so far as it relates to the early centuries of the Islamic empire, but it is well documented that by the 18th and 19th centuries, there were small colonies of merchants in various port and trading cities as well as communities of Yemeni Jews. The prohibition was not so much imposed by the authorities as enforced by rioting crowds and was most strictly enforced with regard to the Hejaz, and the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

As one might expect, the existence of "forbidden cities" and the mystery of the Hajj aroused curiosity in European travellers. A number of them pretended to be Muslims and entered the city of Mecca and then the Kaaba to experience the Hajj for themselves. The most famous account of a foreigner's journey to Mecca is A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and Al-Madina, written by Sir Richard Francis Burton. Burton traveled as a Qadiri Sufi from Afghanistan; his name, as he signed it in Arabic below his frontispiece portrait for "The Jew, The Gypsy and al-Islam," was al-Hajj 'Abdullah'.

See also

• Hajji, honorific title of one who has completed the Hajj
• List of Islamic terms in Arabic
• List of largest religious gatherings
• Watch the National Geographic Documentary on Hajj

Arabic pronunciation

• The word Hajj
• Hajj & ummrah supplications

External links

• Ministry of Hajj Official Website
• Crowd control during the Hajj
• Hajj: The Pilgrimage
• 15th-century Hajj certificate: information, zoomable image British Library website
• Inside Mecca DVD National Geographic documentary about Mecca
• Shariati, Ali (2005). HAJJ: Reflection on Its Rituals. Islamic Publications International. ISBN 1889999385. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)[1]
• Trojanow,Ilija 'Mumbai to Mecca', Haus Publishing, 2007, London, ISBN:978-1-904950295