As many of our Muslim friends make the pilgrimage to Mecca, the annual event known as Hajj, we wish them safe travels and an profound spiritual journey! Salaam alaikum and Hajj mubarak! Every year, more than 2 million Muslims from all over the globe make their way to the holy city of Mecca, located in Saudi Arabia.
A Muslim pilgrim helps a fellow pilgrim n Mount Mercy on the plains of Arafat during the annual haj pilgrimage, outside the holy city of Mecca September 22, 2015. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood
According to Wikipedia, Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, and a mandatory religious duty for 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 can support their family during their absence. One of the five pillars of Islam (faith, prayer, charity fasting and pilgrimage to Mecca), Hajj is the largest annual gathering of people in the world. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to Allah (God). The word Hajj means “to intend a journey”, which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of intentions.
The sacred journey lasts for 5 days, beginning and ending in Mecca at the sacred Ka’aba. The pilgrims then bus and walk to Mina and then on to Mount Arafat. There they pray from noon until dusk in the Arafat Valley, where Muhammed preached his last sermon. The last few days, the pilgrims make the final leg of their journey back to the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca to perform a farewell Tawaf, or circling of the Ka’aba.
The hajj is complete and those who have taken part have performed the single most important pilgrimage in Islam.
Millions of pilgrims hope that the thousands of steps they took, in the heat and across the desert, will bring them that one important step closer to their religion and to Allah.
