Hajj
| Part of a series on |
| Islam |
|---|
 |
The Hajj or Haj (Arabic حَجّ Ḥaǧǧ) is the Pilgrimage to Mecca (or, "Makkah") and is the fifth of the "Five Pillars of Islam" in Sunni Islam and is one of the Furū al-Dīn in Shi'a Islam. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so is obliged to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime. The government of Saudi Arabia issues special visas to foreigners for the purpose of the pilgrimage, which takes place during the Islamic month of Dhu Al-Hijjah. However, entrance to the city itself is forbidden to non-Muslims, and the entire city is considered a holy site to Islam.
Many people go to Mecca (Makkah) in groups with their friends or family, or friends from the local mosque, so as to save money. Some airlines do special package holidays for Muslims going to Mecca. Due to Saudi culture, and fear for their safety, a woman is not permitted to go to Mecca without being accompanied by a male relation: she must be with her father or husband or brother.
Before the journey to Mecca, the pilgrim is required to dress only in an ihram, a garment consisting of two sheets of white unhemmed cloth draped over the body; plus a pair of sandals. The ihram is intended to show the equality of all pilgrims in the eyes of Allah, as there is no difference between a prince and a pauper when everyone is dressed equally.
Performing the Hajj
Upon arrival in Mecca, the pilgrim ('Hajji') performs a series of ritual acts symbolic of the life of the prophet Muhammad, and of solidarity with Muslims worldwide. These acts of faith are:
- Perform a tawaf, which consists of circling the Kaaba four times at a hurried pace, followed by three times, more closely, at a leisurely pace, in an anti-clockwise direction.
- Walk seven times back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwah. This is a re-enactment of Hagar's frantic search for water, before the Zamzam well was revealed to her by Allah.
These rituals complete the umrah, sometimes called the "lesser hajj". After this point, the pilgrim can shed the ihram and put on regular clothes. Although not a part of the ritual, most pilgrims drink water from the Well of Zamzam when the umrah is completed.
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, wherein he is buried beside Abu Bakr and 'Umar. After spending a night or more in Medina, the Hajj continues. The pilgrim dons the ihram once again and performs the final three acts of faith. This is known as the Al Hajjul Akbar, or "greater hajj." The duties of the greater hajj are:
- Journey to the hill of Arafat and spend an afternoon there. The journey usually takes three to five days for the full round trip. At the plain of Arafat, the pilgrim stays from the afternoon until sundown. No specific rituals or prayers are required during the stay at Arafat, though many pilgrims spend the time praying, talking to Allah, and thinking about the course of their lives.
- Upon returning from Arafat, travel to the city of Mina just outside of Mecca, and participate in the stoning of the devil. This requires collecting a number of pebbles from the ground on the plain of Muzdalifah (various Hajj accounts list the number of pebbles as between 49 and 70), and throw the pebbles at the three pillars at Mina, which represent the devil. All three pillars represent the devil: the first and largest is where he tempted Abraham against sacrificing Ishmael, the second is where he tempted Abraham's wife Hagar to induce her to stop him, and the third is where he tempted Ishmael to avoid being sacrificed. He was rebuked each time, and the throwing of the stones symbolizes those rebukes.
- Perform a second tawaf around the Kaaba. This completes the requirements of the Hajj
After stoning the devil, many pilgrims will then shave their head (women cut off a lock of their hair) as a symbol of rebirth, to show that their sins have been cleansed by completing the Hajj.
The "lesser hajj" can be performed at any time of the year, but the "greater hajj" must take place during the month of Dhu Al-Hijjah. Most pilgrims perform both stages of the hajj during the time of the "greater hajj" because of the difficulty and expense of traveling to the city of Mecca. For many pilgrims (especially ones who had difficulty travelling due to health or finances), the journey to Mecca is a once in a lifetime event.
yoshimitsu is my hero
NAMU NAMU NAMU NAMU NAMU!!!!!!
Millions of pilgrims
With 1.3 billion Muslims living in the world today, modern pilgrimages have seen huge crowds in the city. During the month of the Hajj, the city of Mecca receives as many as four million pilgrims. This enormous flow of visitors has burdened the city, which has trouble preventing overcrowding and giving shelter and accommodations to everyone who wants to arrive during the holy month. This situation has resulted in a number of tragic deaths among pilgrims, largely due to the overcrowding conditions. Various organizations dedicated to organizing and managing the Hajj, such as the Hajj Commission of Saudi Arabia, have been forced to reluctantly institute a system of registrations, passports, and travel visas to control the flow of the great numbers of pilgrims. This system is designed to encourage and accommodate first-time visitors to Mecca, while imposing restrictions upon those who embark upon the trip multiple times. The registration system has prompted outcries of protest among some pilgrims who have the wherewithal to make the Hajj on multiple occasions, but the Hajj Commission has stated that they have no alternative to prevent accidents and tragedies.
Nevertheless, in spite of the physical hardships, pilgrims who complete the Hajj consider it one of the greatest spiritual experiences of their lives. The Hajj is seen in many cultures as one of the great achievements of civilization, because it brings together people from one-fifth of the population of the entire world and focuses them upon a single goal: completing the Hajj. This is an achievement unparalleled in human history, and philosophers have said that only war can compare to the Hajj in terms of scale.
Saudi Arabian law dictates that only Muslims may enter the city of Mecca.
The mystery and appeal of the Hajj have drawn a number of visitors over the years, pilgrims who entered the city in secret and risked their lives to see the Kaaba and 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 pretended to be a Qadiri sufi; his name, as he signed it in Arabic below his frontispiece portrait for "The Jew, The Gypsy and al-Islam," was al-Hajj 'Abdullah.
Fatal incidents during Hajj
The Hajj brings together huge numbers of pilgrims. With such a vast number of people in one place at one time, failures in crowd control and other organisational errors can lead to disaster. Some of the recent tragedies have included (see [1] [2] [3] [4] [5])
- In November 20, 1979 a group of around 200 militant Muslims occupied Mecca's Grand Mosque. They were driven out by French commandos (allowed into the city under these special circumstances despite their being non-Muslims) after bloody fighting that left 250 people dead and 600 wounded.
- On July 31, 1987 Iranian pilgrims rioted, causing the deaths of over 400 people.
- On July 9, 1989 two bombs exploded, killing one pilgrim and wounding a further 16. Saudi authorities beheaded 16 Kuwaiti Shiite Muslims for the bombings after originally blaming Iranian terrorists.
- On July 2, 1990 a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading to the holy sites led to the deaths of 1,426 pilgrims.
- In 1994 a stampede killed at least 270 pilgrims at the stoning of the devil ritual.
- On April 15, 1997 343 pilgrims were killed and 1,500 injured in a tent fire.
- On 1998, at least 118 pilgrims were trampled to death.
- On February 1, 2004 251 Muslim pilgrims were killed and another 244 injured in a stampede during the stoning of the devil ritual.
Another potential cause of disaster arises naturally from the Hajj: movement and contact of pilgrims on such a large scale increases the risk of epidemics.
The perceived failure to prevent these events, or to react appropriately to them, has led to strong criticism of the Saudi Arabian authorities by Muslims and onlookers outside Islam alike. It should be noted that such events are common enough at mass gatherings.