Hajj

Hajj is a sacred pilgrimage that is required of every Muslim at least once in their lifetime.it is one of the fifth pillars of Islam. Each year, millions of Muslims from across the world travel to and perform Hajj in Makkah, modern day Saudi Arabia.

Hajj is an annual practice when Muslim brotherhood is on display and their solidarity with fellow Muslim people, and submission to Allah is fulfilled.

The word Hajj means “pilgrimage made to the Kaaba”, a long pious journey 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.

The Hajj is associated with the life of Islamic Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from the 7th century AD, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca stated in Muslim sources stretches back to the time of Ibrahim (a.s). During Hajj, pilgrims join processions of millions of Muslim people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of pre-Islamic rituals reformed by Muhammad ﷺeach person wears a single piece of unstitched white clothing (Ihram),walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba (a cube-shaped building and the direction of prayer for Muslims), kiss the black stone mounted on the corner wall of Kaaba, walks briskly back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwahseven 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 Muzdalifa, and performs symbolic Stoning of the Devil by throwing stones at three pillars. After the sacrifice of cattle (which can be accomplished by using a voucher), the pilgrims then are required to either shave or trim their heads (if male) or trim the ends of their hair (if female). A celebration of the four-day global festival of Eid al-Adha proceeds afterwards.