Hajj (pilgrimage)
The Hajj is an Islamic pilgrimage to
Mecca and the largest gathering of Muslim people in the world every year. It is
one of the five pillars of Islam, and a religious duty which must be carried
out by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so at least once in his or
her lifetime. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim
people, and their submission to Allah. The word Hajj means “to intend a journey”.
The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th Zul-Hijjah, the 12th and last month
of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar,
eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar used in the Western world, the
Gregorian date of the Hajj changes from year to year. The Hajj is associated
with the life of the Prophet Muhammad from the 7th century, but the ritual of
pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years
to the time of Abraham (Ibrahim). Pilgrims join processions of hundreds of
thousands of people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the
Hajj, and perform a series of rituals: Each person walks counter-clockwise
seven times around the Ka'aba, the cube-shaped building which acts as the
Muslim direction of prayer, runs back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa
and Al-Marwah, drinks from the Zamzam Well, goes to the plains of Mount Arafat
to stand in vigil, and throws stones in a ritual Stoning of the Devil. The
pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, and
celebrate the three day global festival of Eid al-Adha.
Source:
www.en.wikipedia.org/
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