Hajj

The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage by Islamic religionists to the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Every Muslim is mandated by the Qur'an to make at least one visit to Mecca during their lifetime. Only Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the trip and who are able to support their families while they are away are required to fulfill this requirement. The physical and financial state of those capable of performing the Hajj is called istita’ah, and mustati is the term for a Muslim who performs the Hajj. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam mentioned in the Qur'an; they are the five religious duties expected of every Muslim. Undertaking the Hajj demonstrates the feeling of solidarity by each Muslim with the rest of their people and reflects Muslims’ collective submission to God (Allah).

History

The history of the Hajj began four thousand years ago during the time of Ibrahim (known as Abraham in the Jewish and Christian traditions). Ibrahim is considered to be the "father of all faiths." He introduced monotheism, "belief in one God," and searched for a personal relationship with God. His search took him from the city of Ur in Mesopotamia to Egypt, where he settled with his wives, Sarah and Hagar. When Hagar’s son, Ismail, was a baby, Ibrahim took him and Hagar to Arabia and left them there. The provisions they brought soon ran out, and Hagar prayed for water to feed her son.

According to the Qur’an, a spring miraculously sprang up, and water gushed forth at Ismail’s feet. With her thirst satisfied, Hagar ran up and down the two mountains—later referred to as Safa and Marwa—trying to find any passers-by who could help her. Eventually, several caravans approached asking for water for their camels, and they offered her supplies and food. The traders decided to remain in the valley and eventually the settlement grew into the city of Makkah—or Mecca as it is called today.

Ibrahim visited from time to time, and when Ismail was about thirteen years old, they constructed the Kaaba, an empty cube-shaped building as a place dedicated for the worship of the One God. During one of his visits, Ibrahim received a message from God to take Ismail to Mount Arafat and sacrifice him. Despite his love for his son, Ibrahim was willing to carry out this act, but at the last minute, he was told by God to sacrifice a ram instead. The holiday of Eid ul Adha, which is celebrated at the end of the Hajj, celebrates the obedience of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son.

Eventually, Makkah became an important trading post. As the years passed, Ismail took on prophet-like qualities and was able to teach the nomads of the desert the message to surrender to Allah. Mecca became a thriving city thanks to its reliable water source, the well of Zam Zam.

Over time, the monotheism of Ibrahim began to falter, and the inhabitants of the area adopted polytheistic ideas and took to worshiping spirits and many different gods. The Kaaba built by Ismail and Ibrahim filled with pagan idols; only after the Prophet Muhammad heard Allah’s voice was the Kaaba restored to the worship of only Allah.

In 628, the Prophet Muhammad set out on a journey with fourteen hundred of his followers. Islam considers this to be the first pilgrimage, and this reestablished the religious traditions of the Prophet Ibrahim. The Hajj was one of the last public acts of worship the Prophet Muhammad performed before his death.

Hajj Today

About two million Muslims make the Hajj journey each year. Although the rituals at the holy sites in and near Mecca have remained unchanged from the time of the Prophet Muhammad, the facilities available to the pilgrims and the setting for the pilgrimage are quite different from those that existed in the past. For hundreds of years, anyone embarking on the Hajj expected to encounter tremendous difficulties during the arduous journey. Many travelers did not return, and those who braved this journey of faith would designate a relative or trusted member of the community as the executor of their wills before they set out. It took some pilgrims more than a year before they returned home.

The Hajj is a five-day pilgrimage that begins on the seventh day of Dhū al-Ḥijjah (the last month of the Islamic year) and ends on the twelfth day. From their starting point, the pilgrims begin to walk some eight miles to the Plain of Arafat. When they are about six miles (ten km) from Mecca, they enter ihram, the state of holiness and purity, and don the ihram garments, which consist of two white seamless sheets that are wrapped around their bodies. When they enter Mecca, they walk seven times around the sacred shrine, the Kaaba, in the Great Mosque and kiss or touch the Black Stone (Ḥajar al-Aswad) in the Kaaba. Then they pray two times toward the Maqām Ibrāhīm and the Kaaba and run seven times between the minor prominences of Mount Ṣafā and Mount Marwah.

The second stage of the ritual begins between the eighth and the twelfth days of the month, when the pilgrims visit the holy places outside Mecca and sacrifice an animal in commemoration of Ibrahim’s sacrifice. The meat is donated to those experiencing poverty. Each pilgrim’s head is shaved and the next three days are spent throwing seven stones at each of the three pillars at Mina. All the pilgrims return to Mecca to perform the farewell ṭawāf, or circling, of the Kaaba before leaving the city.

In modern times, the Hajj had become a major industry, with packages from the United States often running upwards of thousands of dollars. Despite the cost, the number of pilgrims increased each year, and Saudi officials have had to limit the amount of people allowed into the country. Saudi authorities have also made efforts to expand the Great Mosque, which sits around Islam’s holiest site, to accommodate the crowd. Over the years, some incidents have occurred that have raised concerns over the safety of those taking part in the Hajj. By the time the annual pilgrimage ended in 2015, an estimated 2,400 people had been crushed or suffocated by a stampede during the ritual in Mina. In 2024, as countries around the world, including Saudi Arabia, experienced increased and more extreme heatwaves, it was reported that authorities were estimating over one thousand heat-related deaths during that year's Hajj.

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