Hajj


Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and of supporting their family during their absence from home.
In Islamic terminology, Hajj is a pilgrimage made to the Kaaba, the "House of Allah", in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, salat, zakat, and sawm. The Hajj is an annual practice when Muslim brotherhood is on display and their solidarity with fellow Muslim people and submission to God is fulfilled. The Hajj is taken by Muslims to cleanse their souls of all worldly sins, which connotes both the outward act of a journey after death and the inward act of good intentions. The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six days, extending from the 8th to the 12th or 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven-twelve days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. In 2024 AD, Dhu al-Hijjah extended from 7 June to 6 July and in 2025 AD, Dhu al-Hijjah was from 28 May to 25 June. In 2026 AD, Dhu al-Hijjah will extend from 18 May to 15 June; and in 2027 AD, Dhu al-Hijjah will extend from 24 May to 22 June.
The Hajj is associated with the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century AD, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca stated in Muslim sources stretches back to the time of Abraham. During Hajj, pilgrims join processions of millions of Muslims, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of pre-Islamic rituals : each person wears a single piece of unstitched white clothing, walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba, kisses the black stone mounted on the corner wall of the Kaaba, walks briskly back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwah seven times, then drinks from the Zamzam Well, goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, spends a night in the plain of Muzdalifah, and performs symbolic Stoning of the Devil by throwing stones at three pillars. After the sacrifice of cattle, the pilgrims then are required to either shave or trim their heads or trim the ends of their hair. A celebration of the four-day global festival of Eid al-Adha follows. Muslims may also undertake an Umrah, or "lesser pilgrimage" to Mecca at other times of the year. However, the Umrah is not a substitute for the Hajj and Muslims are still obliged to perform the Hajj at some other point in their lifetime if they have the means to do so.
According to the official published statistics between 2000 and 2019, the average number of attendees is 2,269,145 per year, of whom 1,564,710 come from outside Saudi Arabia and 671,983 are domestic pilgrims. The year 2012 marks the highest number of participants with 3,161,573. In June 2020, while not cancelling the Hajj outright, the Saudi Government announced that they would only welcome "very limited numbers" of pilgrims who are residents of Saudi Arabia due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Similar restrictions applied in 2021, but women were permitted to attend without a male guardian provided they went in a trustworthy group.

Etymology

The word in ' is similar to the ', which means "festival", from the triliteral Semitic root ح-ج-ج. The term was used to refer to the three pilgrimage festivals Israelites would make to the Temple in Jerusalem each year. Similarly, the in Islam refers to act of traveling to Mecca to perform the various rituals associated with the pilgrimage.

History

The present pattern of Hajj was established by Muhammad. However, according to the Quran, elements of Hajj trace back to the time of Abraham. According to Islamic tradition, Abraham was ordered by God to leave his wife Hajar and his son Ishmael alone in the desert of ancient Mecca. In search of water, Hajar desperately ran seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwah but found none. Returning in despair to Ishmael, she saw the baby scratching the ground with his leg and a water fountain sprang forth underneath his foot. Later, Abraham was commanded to build the Kaaba and to invite people to perform pilgrimage there. The Quran refers to these incidents in verses and. According to the tafsir of Zamakhshari, the archangel Gabriel brought the Black Stone from Heaven to be attached to the Kaaba when it was built by the Prophet Abraham.
In pre-Islamic Arabia, a time known as Age of Ignorance, the Kaaba became surrounded by pagan idols. In AD 630, Muhammad led his followers from Medina to Mecca, cleansed the Kaaba by destroying all the pagan idols, and then consecrated the building to God. In AD 632, Muhammad performed his first and last pilgrimage with a large number of followers, and instructed them on the rites of Hajj. From this point onward, the Hajj became one of the five pillars of Islam.
During medieval times, pilgrims would gather in the big cities of Syria, Egypt, and Iraq to go to Mecca in groups and caravans comprising tens of thousands of pilgrims, often under state patronage. Hajj caravans, particularly with the advent of the Mamluk Sultanate and its successor, the Ottoman Empire, were escorted by a military force accompanied by physicians under the command of an amir al-hajj. This was done to protect the caravan from Bedouin robbers or natural hazards, and to ensure that the pilgrims were supplied with the necessary provisions. Muslim travelers like Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta have recorded detailed accounts of Hajj journeys in medieval times. The caravans followed well-established routes called in Arabic darb al-hajj, literally: "pilgrimage road", which usually followed ancient routes such as the King's Highway.

Timing of Hajj

The date of Hajj is determined by the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar year. Every year, the events of Hajj take place in a ten-day period, starting on 1 and ending on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah, the twelfth and last month of the Islamic calendar. Among these ten days, the 9th Dhul-Hijjah is known as Day of Arafah, and this day is called the day of Hajj. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date for Hajj changes from year to year. Thus, each year in the Gregorian calendar, the pilgrimage starts eleven days earlier. This makes it possible for the Hajj season to fall twice in one Gregorian year, and it does so every 33 years. The last time this phenomenon occurred was in 2006.
The table below shows the Gregorian dates of Hajj in recent years. Prospective dates are approximate:
AHGregorian date
14322011, 5 November
14332012, 25 October
14342013, 14 October
14352014, 3 October
14362015, 23 September
14372016, 11 September
14382017, 31 August
14392018, 20 August
14402019, 10 August
14412020, 30 July
14422021, 19 July
14432022, 8 July
14442023, 27 June
14452024, 15 June
14462025, 5 June
14472026, 26 May
14482027, 15 May
14492028, 4 May
14502029, 23 April

Rites

Fiqh literature describes in detail the manners of carrying out the rites of Hajj, and pilgrims generally follow handbooks and expert guides to successfully fulfill the requirements of Hajj. In performing the rites of Hajj, the pilgrims not only follow the model of Muhammad, but also commemorate the events associated with Abraham.

''Ihram''

is the name given to the special spiritual state, state of holiness, which marks the start of the ritual of Hajj for each person. Ihram is initiated upon the arrival to the Miqat or prior to reaching it, depending on where they have come from.
When pilgrims enter into the state of Ihram, they are required to abstain from certain actions. In Ihram, males are required to wear two white seamless cloths, with one wrapped around the waist reaching below the knee and the other draped over the left shoulder and tied at the right side. For females this involves wearing ordinary dress that fulfills the Islamic condition of public dress, where the hands and face are uncovered. Other prohibitions include refraining from clipping nails, shaving any part of the body, having sexual relations; using perfumes, damaging plants, killing animals, covering the head or the face and hands ; getting married; or carrying weapons.
The Ihram is meant to show equality of all pilgrims in front of God, with no difference between the rich and the poor. Donning such unsewn white garments entirely is believed to distance man from material ostentation, and engross him in a world of purity and spirituality, since clothes are believed to show individuality and distinction and create superficial barriers that separate individuals. The garments of Ihram are seen as the antithesis of that individualism. Ihram clothing is also a reminder of shrouds worn after death.

''Tawaf'' and ''sa'ay''

The ritual of tawaf involves walking seven times counterclockwise around the Kaaba. Upon arriving at Al-Masjid Al-Ḥarām, pilgrims perform an arrival tawaf either as part of Umrah or as a welcome tawaf. During tawaf, pilgrims also include Hateem – an area at the north side of the Kaaba – inside their path. Each circuit starts and ends with the kissing or touching of the Black Stone. Pilgrims also point to the stone and recite a prayer known as Talbiyah. If kissing or touching the stone is not possible because of crowds, pilgrims may simply point towards the stone with their right hand on each circuit. Eating is not permitted but the drinking of water is permitted and encouraged, because of the risk of dehydration. Men are encouraged to perform the first three circuits at a hurried pace, known as Ramal, and the following four at a more leisurely pace.
The completion of Tawaf is followed by two Rakaat prayers at the Place of Abraham, a site near the Kaaba inside the mosque. However, again because of large crowds during the days of Hajj, they may instead pray anywhere in the mosque. After prayer, pilgrims also drink water from the Zamzam well, which is made available in coolers throughout the Mosque.
Although the circuits around the Kaaba are traditionally done on the ground level, tawaf is now also performed on the first floor and roof of the mosque because of the large crowds.
This rite is said to be the manifestation of Tawhid, the Oneness of God. The heart and soul of the pilgrim should move around Kaaba, the symbol of the House of God, in a way that no worldly attraction distracts him from this path. Only Tawhid should attract him. Tawaf also represents Muslims' unity. During tawaf, everyone encircles Kaaba collectively.
Tawaf is followed by sa'ay, running or walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah, located near the Kaaba. Previously in the open air, the place is now entirely enclosed by the Sacred Mosque, and can be accessed via air-conditioned tunnels. Pilgrims are advised to walk the circuit, though two green pillars mark a short section of the path where they run. There is also an internal "express lane" for elderly or disabled people. After sa'ay, male pilgrims shave or trim their hair and women generally clip a portion of their hair, which completes the Umrah.