Every year, Muslims from all over the world gather in Mecca for the Haj. For Muslims, this pilgrimage is the highlight of their religious life, something they often save for and look forward to for years.
Pillar of Islam
The Haj is the fifth pillar of Islam, a duty for every Muslim, man or woman, who is able to do so financially, physically and spiritually. If this condition is met, a Muslim must make the pilgrimage at least once in his/her lifetime.
The ninth day of the twelfth month of the Muslim calendar, ‘Dzul-hijjahj, marks the climax of the pilgrimage. On that day the pilgrims stand in the plain of Arafat at the foot of the Mount of Mercy. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: ‘The Haj is Arafat’, so whoever misses that moment will have to wait a year to get the opportunity to perform the Hajj again.
Conditions
The conditions that a Muslim must fulfill to perform the Haj are:
- one must be Muslim
- one must have reached puberty
- be mentally healthy
- be a free man/woman, not a slave (no longer applicable today)
- be physically and financially able to complete the journey, this also means that one must be able to provide for any dependent persons who remain behind and that one must be debt-free
The Haj of women
The Haj is also a duty for women, however a woman is not supposed to go on the pilgrimage alone, but in the company of a ‘Dhu-Mahram’ (a man she cannot marry, i.e. brother, father, son, grandfather or uncle ) or her own husband. A group of women can also go on a pilgrimage together in the company of one Dhu-Mahram.
That the Haj is also so important for women is evident from the following hadith (recorded and approved tradition from the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)): Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet said: ,A woman should not travel without Dhu- Mahram and no man is allowed to visit her except in the company of the same Dhu-Mahram. A man in the company stood up and said, ,O Prophet of Allah, I intend to leave with an army and my wife wants to perform Haj., The Prophet answered him: Go with her on pilgrimage.,
The performance of the Haj
The Haj begins with ‘Ihram’, a sacred state, by preparing for the pilgrimage at a designated place, the ‘Miqat’. The physical preparation consists of a bath and white clothing. For men this consists of two unhemmed cloths, leaving the head uncovered, and for women, clean clothing leaving the face uncovered. In doing so, one formulates the intention to perform the pilgrimage and prays a prayer.
When Mecca is reached, seven circumambulations are made around the Ka’ba, the famous black stone, where people say ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is the greatest) and possibly add things to it themselves. Then they go to the Maqam Ibrahim, the place where the prophet Ibrahim/Abraham called the people to the pilgrimage, where a prayer is prayed.
The next step is to walk back and forth between Safa and Marwah hills seven times, starting at Safa hill and finally ending at Marwah hill. This symbolizes the search of Hajjar, Ibrahim’s second wife, for water. She walked back and forth between the two hills seven times and climbed them to look for caravans. Eventually she found the Zamzam spring, a freshwater spring, which the pilgrims still drink from today.
The pilgrims then stay in Makkah until the eighth day of the month of Hajj (Dzul-hijjah) arrives. On this day we leave for Mina. Traditionally, this is the day of ‘at-Tarwiyah’, the water supply, in the past pilgrims would stock up on water on this day to spend the next few days in the desert. The next day the pilgrims leave for Arafat.
This marks the beginning of the most important day of the Haj. All pilgrims gather in the plain of Arafat and the stay here is called ‘wuquf’ (also ‘standing’). Despite the name ‘wuquf’, which makes it seem as if the pilgrims only spend this day standing, every Muslim gives meaning to this day, through supplications, reading the Koran or listening to treatises. Someone reads a treatise on the Haj and also on modern issues affecting Muslims. Then all Muslims perform the noon and afternoon prayers together. This day lasts until the dawn of the next day, the tenth day of the month of Haj.
After sunrise, the Muslims spread from Arafat to Muzdalifah, where the sunset prayer and evening prayer are prayed and people collect stones to throw at the devils symbolized by stone posts. These posts were not yet present at the time of the prophet, but were placed to make the location of the stoning clear and to prevent pilgrims from accidentally pelting each other with stones. This is the place where Ibrahim was tested by the devil. Pilgrims spend the night on Muzdalifah.
After this, one visits ‘Mashar al-Haram’, the holy prayer room. Then they return to Mina, where they throw seven stones at the greatest devil, al-Aqabah. Then one can make a sacrifice, following the example of the prophet. After this, men shave their heads and women cut a number of locks of hair. On this day, the tenth day of the month of Haj, the Feast of Sacrifice is celebrated throughout the Muslim world. The sacrifice concerns the sacrifice that Ibrahim wanted to make by sacrificing his son.
Then one returns to the Ka’ba in Mecca and performs a number of circumambulations, thereby abolishing the state of Ihram, the sacred state. They now return to Mina where they spend the night and the next day the three devils are stoned, each seven times. The next day the three devils are stoned again. After this one can return to Mecca or spend another day in Mina and then go to Mecca. The farewell tours are performed there when people want to leave Mecca, the ‘Tawaf al-Wida’. This is the end of Haj.
Obligations during ‘Ihram’
The following are obligatory when one is in the ordained state:
- one must properly perform whatever Allah has made obligatory, such as prayers
- things that Allah has forbidden, such as avoiding quarrels, sins and sexual relations
- try not to offend any person in word or deed
- refrain from those things that are forbidden during ‘Ihram’: cutting nails or pulling out hair, not wearing perfume, not hunting or helping with hunting, not chopping trees or even plucking a green leaf, not marrying during this period, not helping anyone to marry and refrain from sexual relations during the state of Ihram.
Other requirements include serious repentance for confessed sins. It is also important to perform Haj only for the pleasure of Allah. A pilgrim is also expected to learn what things should be done during the Haj and, if in doubt, to seek help from more knowledgeable people.
Muslim world
For Muslims, the Haj is a highlight of their lives. For many Muslims this is the only time in their lives that they will accept such a long journey and here they are brought into contact with Muslims from all over the world, from Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the rest of the world. The Haj brings together millions of people from completely different parts of the world every year, and this has already happened in times when it was much less obvious than it is today. In this place one forgets differences, Shi’a or Sunni Muslim, Sengalese, Pakistani or Saudi Arabian, in this place every Muslim is exactly the same as the other, this is further emphasized by the simple white clothing.