| Hajj: The Great Pilgrimage To Mecca |
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About 70 years ago, the highest number of pilgrims recorded during a single pilgrimage was a mere 108,000. Today, over one-and-a-half million foreign pilgrims only arrive in Saudi Arabia each year. The Pilgrimage is a miracle of faith and organization, the world’s most astonishing peacetime logistical exercise. Pilgrims generally travel to Hajj in groups, as an expression of unity. They arrive in Jeddah in an unceasing stream. They come in huge jet planes and ocean-going liners. In the peak days of the pilgrim season, almost one million passengers land at Jeddah airport from all over the world. Some are men of wealth while some are illiterate peasants, who only know of poverty and have devoted life savings to the journey. Yet on the road to Mecca they are all joined in a common bond of devout servitude to God and obedience to the world of the Prophet. When they arrive in Saudi Arabia, pilgrims complete their preparations for their visit to the Holy City. There is a rigid ritual for each stage of the pilgrimage and these rites should be followed without deviation. The crowds which throng the specially built pilgrim city on the outskirts of Jeddah form a vivid splash of white. The white is a sign of the pilgrim’s search for spiritual purity, a mark of chastity. Once one has donned it, the pilgrim enters a state of Ihram, in which he/she may not adorn any jewellery or other decorations, involve in argument or dispute, commit violence or have sexual relations, uproot or damage plants, cover the head [for men] or the face and hands [for women], marry, wear shoes over the ankles, perform any dishonest acts or carry weapons.. The word Ihram refers to both the garment and the special duties it imposes on the pilgrim. Male pilgrims are required to dress only in the ihram, while women are simply required to maintain their hijab - normal modest dress, which does not cover the hands or face. However before putting on the Ihram the pilgrim must clean-up, cut nails, perfume and wear sandals. The Ihram is meant to show equality of all pilgrims in the eyes of God and is also symbolic for holy virtue and pardon from all past sins. Upon arrival in Mecca the pilgrim, now known as a Hajji, performs a series of ritual acts symbolic of the lives of Ibrahim (Abraham) and his wife Hajar (Hagar). The acts also symbolize the solidarity of Muslims worldwide. On the first day of the Hajj (the 7th day of the 12th month in other words, Dhu al-Hijjah), the pilgrims perform their first Tawaf, which involves all of the pilgrims entering The Sacred Mosque (Masjid Al Haram) and walking seven times counter-clockwise around the Kaaba, kissing the Black Stone (Hajr Al Aswad) on each circuit. If kissing the stone is not possible due to the crowds, they may simply point towards the Stone on each circuit with their right hand. The next morning, on the eighth of Dhu al-Hijjah, the pilgrims proceed to Mina where they spend the night in prayer. On the ninth day, they leave Mina for Arafat where they stand in contemplative vigil and pray and recite the Qur'an, near a hill from which Muhammad gave his last sermon, this hill is called Jabal Al Rahmah (The Hill of Forgiveness, Mount Arafat). As soon as the sun sets, the pilgrims leave Arafat for Muzdalifah, an area between Arafat and Mina, where they gather pebbles for the next day's ritual of the stoning of the Devil (Shaitan). At Mina the pilgrims perform Ramy al-Jamarat, throwing stones to signify their defiance of the Devil. This symbolizes the trials experienced by Abraham while he decided whether to sacrifice his son as demanded by Allah. After the Stoning of the Devil, the pilgrims perform animal sacrifices, to symbolize God having mercy on Ibraham and replacing his son with a ram, which Abraham then sacrificed. On this or the following day, the pilgrims re-visit the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca for another tawaf, to walk around the Kaaba. This is called the Tawaf az-Ziyarah or Tawaf al-Ifadah, which symbolises being in a hurry to respond to God and show love for Him, an obligatory part of the Hajj. The night of the 10th is spent back at Mina. Finally, before leaving Mecca, pilgrims perform a farewell tawaf called the Tawaf al-Wada. Though it is not required as part of the Hajj, many pilgrims also travel to the city of Medina and the Mosque of the Prophet, which contains Muhammad's tomb and Riaz ul Jannah and also pay visit to Grave of Prophet's Companion, Umhat ul Momineen and Ahle Bait in Jannat ul Baqi. For many pilgrims, a visit to Medina and the Mosque of the Prophet is the only way to end the Pilgrimage, bearing in mind Muhammad’s words: “One prayer in my mosque is better than a thousand in another, excepting the Holy Mosque of Mecca.”  |
