Hajj is the name that Muslims give to the pilgrimage that they go on. It means to go on a journey that has a particular purpose. Hajj is one of the five pillars (Shahada, salat, saum, zakat) that Muslims follow as a guide for life. The word Hajj itself is an Arabic word that means pilgrimage. The main part of the journey takes place in Mecca and the surrounding areas such as Arafat and Mina. The expedition is something that all Muslims must take part in providing that they are well enough, are financially stable enough and that they are sane.
The trip can only be carried out once a year during the first two weeks of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hija. A Muslim would take part in the Hajj for many reasons. Some feel that it is a way of cleansing yourself from all your past sins whilst others feel that it is a way of getting closer to their god, Allah. Many Muslims see the journey as a way of strengthening their beliefs and seeing what they have dedicated their lives to.
They also see it as a form of spiritual guidance.Another reason that Muslims see the trip as something significant is because there is an aspect of self sacrifice where they only get basic things and have to live a lot less comfortably than they normally do this can mean things like they have to wear simple clothes, have limited food and they have no luxuries. Also they have to leave their friends and family for sometime this helps them to come closer to the brotherhood of Muslims as they are often travelling alongside people that they have never met before.The Hajj involves many different stages and the pilgrimage itself lasts for about five days although most people that take part are away from home for about three weeks. The pilgrimage and everything that it entails must take place in between the 8th and the 12th of the month of Dhu al-Hija. Some of the things that take place during the journey are stopping on a hill in the valley of Arafat, the traditional and famous stoning of the devil in mina and also the sacrifice of an animal, normally a sheep or goat.
The route taken by the pilgrims is as follows: They start at the Ka'aba after that there next destination is As-Safa and al-Marwa in the third stage they go to Mount Arafat and Muzdalifah then they go to Mina and their final destination is returning to Mecca. For a Muslim each place they go to has certain significance and particular rituals are performed at each place. Before the Muslims enter Mecca to begin their pilgrimage they must put all of their clothes and personal belongings to one side and then the traditional clothing is worn instead.The traditional clothing is comprised of two large unsewn sheets that are made of cotton for the men and then a very long plain garment with full length for the women- the only things left bare are their hands and faces.
The first place that they visit is the Great Mosque, which contains the Ka'aba. The Ka'aba is a cube shaped stone building that only has one room it is decorated with text from the Qur'an. When the Muslims go to the Ka'aba they walk around it seven times and then attempt to either touch or kiss the sacred black stone that is set into one of the walls.It is many Muslims life long dream and ambition to travel to the Ka'aba and kiss the black stone. This is an interesting experience for most of the Muslims as this is when they get to see what they pray towards.
This is significant because for many Muslims the Ka'aba is "The House of God" and where the ordinary meets the heavenly. The reason that the black stone is so important is because Muslims have a belief that it was given to Isma'il, (Ibrahim's son), by the Angel Jibril.After the pilgrims have visited the Ka'aba their next destination is As-Safa and al-Marwa. As-Safa and al-Marwa are two small hills that are in the middle of Mecca they are not far from the Ka'aba. The pilgrims rush between the two hills seven times climbing to the top. They recite prayers as they do this.
Of course like all Muslim traits there is a reason for running between the hills and this is so that they can remember Ibrahim's wife as she ran between the hills in a distraught state looking for water for her baby.The Muslims believe that the baby found a spring when he dug his toes in the sand and now this spring is in the courtyard of the Great Mosque (the spring is now called Zamzam) many Muslims drink from it and a lot of them take the water home with them. The next stage of the Muslims pilgrimage is to go to mount Arafat. Mount Arafat is 20 km from Mecca.
Many pilgrims gather at the foot of mount Arafat to pray for their god Allah. And then go to Muzdalifah to pray in the evening.The reason that the pilgrims travel to Arafat is so that they can stand before Allah. At this stage they ask Allah for forgiveness so as to eradicate their sins and the wrong things that they have done in their lives. Standing on the plain of Arafat is seen as the most important part of the pilgrimage and they stand there from midday until sunset.
When the pilgrims leave Mount Arafat they then go to Mina. At Mina they find the three pillars that represent certain places where Ibrahim and his family fought against temptation. Mina is a small village.When the pilgrims are in Mecca they re-enact the way in which the devil was driven away by throwing stones at the pillars, they throw the stones seven times and they are stones that were collected from Muzdalifah on the previous night. The whole reason that the stoning takes place is as a mark of respect to Ibrahim and his family who drove away the devil by not giving in to temptation.
After the 'stoning' an animal is sacrificed and it is normally a sheep a camel or a goat, this is part of a special festival called Id ul Adha.During the ceremony men of the men shave their heads and the women cut off a lock of their own hair they do this, as it is what their last prophet Muhammad did. A Muslim performing the hajj may face many difficulties. Some of the problems that they may face are that they will have to live without a lot of the comforts that they are used to, there is a high chance of illness through heat exhaustion, there is the possibility of being crushed in large crowds and also the risk of illness is generally higher.
The reason that people will not have all of their home comforts is that the pilgrimage is supposed to promote purity among the people so therefore they are not allowed to take comforts such as scented soaps and any other clothes other than the pieces of cloth that they put on when they enter Ihram. The chance of illness through heat exhaustion is high because many of the people will have travelled from much cooler places such as England and will not be used to the extreme temperatures that they will find in Saudi Arabia, obviously this causes problems because people will become sick and some will faint regularly.Because of the size of the crowds that gather around the places of interest such as the Ka'aba the places are exceptionally overcrowded which in extreme cases where people are pushing each other can lead to people, especially smaller people being crushed. And lastly the risk of disease will be quite high because as people are travelling from all over the world their immune systems will be developed in different ways so people from different cultures and backgrounds will have developed tolerance and resistance to illnesses that you would find in their countries so are at risk of catching an illness that they have no tolerance for.
Participating in Hajj may affect the life of a believer in different ways. For some of the people that participate it may strengthen their beliefs and thoughts about the religion that they follow. Many Muslims see the Hajj as a deeply spiritual journey that helps them come closer to their God, Allah. A few Muslims that didn't really have a strong belief about the theory and teachings of Islam before they went on the hajj may have been converted and now live their lives to follow the teachings of their last prophet Muhammad and their God Allah. I think that the statement 'A true pilgrimage is really a journey within.
Is true because from all of the information that I have gathered and all of the research that I have found I can see that the hajj can really teach a person a lot about themselves. The part of the hajj that makes every one equal by making them give up all of their personal possessions can make the Muslims stronger people. They learn that it is possible to live with out modern day things such as television and also what the most important part of their religion is for example the Shahada- declaration of faith and belief in only one god, Allah.The pilgrimage can reveal hidden strengths that a lot of Muslims would not of really realized were there before. It can develop people's stamina and prove to them that if they believe in their god Allah they have inner strength.
On the journey they learn a great deal about the 'brotherhood of Muslims' and ummah, this teaches them that in the eyes of Allah everyone is equal. It also teaches them about community, awareness and love and respect for others.Although I feel that the hajj can teach you a lot about yourself some Muslims may not agree with me and could say that it has just helped to confirm what they already knew about their god, Allah. In Islam hajj is a strong part of their religion and is seen as something that must be done by every adult that can participate as hajj is such a strong belief of all Muslim's many see it as a once in a life time experience that will make them a better person.
