Hajj

Hajj, in Islam, the major pilgrimage to Mecca (in Saudi Arabia). It is referred to as a duty in the Koran and is regarded by mainstream Muslims as one of the five pillars of Islam (Arabic, arkan). It is the duty of all healthy adult Muslim men and women to perform the hajj at least once in their lifetime, so long as they possess the means and their route and transport are safe. Unlike the minor pilgrimage to Mecca (umra) which can be performed at any time, the hajj can only be carried out once a year and unfolds in a set sequence on specific dates, during the first two weeks of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijja. Since the Islamic year is lunar and without intercalation, the hajj—as with all Islamic festivals—is independent of season.

Only Muslims are permitted access to the region of the pilgrimage, that is, to the holy places of Mecca, Mina, Muzdalifa, and Arafat. During the festival pilgrims must enter a state of ritual purity, before they reach Mecca, by performing the requisite ablutions and wearing the ihram, a white seamless shroud that is afterwards kept by pilgrims for the rest of their lives as their burial garb. While in such a state the pilgrim is denied a range of activities, such as conjugal relations. Once in Mecca and thus the sacred region the pilgrim carries out a set of rites as an individual, culminating in the sevenfold circling (tawaf) of the Kaaba (a rectangular building in one corner of which is fixed the sacred Black Stone) and the quick, sevenfold traversing back and forth between the two hillocks of Safa and Marwa (say). These rites make up the lesser pilgrimage and may be conducted at any time of the year. The greater pilgrimage itself is performed by pilgrims collectively, and in a sequence of rites fixed between the dates of the 8th and 12th of the month of Dhu al-Hijja. Among these are the stopping on a hill in the valley of Arafat from noon until sunset, the symbolic stoning of the devil in the valley of Mina, and the sacrifice of sheep and goats.

Once Muslims have carried out the hajj, they are permitted to give themselves the title of “Hajji”. During the first half of the 20th century some 30,000 Muslims annually made the pilgrimage to Mecca; today, the number is closer to 2 million.