The Role Of The Hajj In Muslim Culture And Tradition

Pilgrimages play a key role in all religions, providing a journey for pilgrims searching for moral and spiritual development. There are three main monotheistic religions being Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Islam was founded by Muhammed a believed messenger of God in the 7th century CE. Currently it is the second largest religion with more than 1.9 billion followers, normally known as Muslims (Wikepedia, 2019). Once in every Muslims life they must travel to Mecca and stand before the Kaaba and will praise Allah all together, occurring annually every year. This pilgrimage is called the Hajj. It’s a ritual aimed to help the bonds of Islamic brotherhood and sisterhood by demonstrating to them that in Allah’s eyes everyone is an equal. The Kaaba was built as a shrine for Allah where the angel Gabriel had come down and provided Abrahams wife (Hagar) and son (Is’mail) with a huge spring of water from the Earth. The Quraysh tribe rebuilt the Kaaba in 608 CE, in the central point of Mecca the holiest city for Muslim’s. The Hajj is of high importance to Muslim culture and tradition, as it teaches Muslims to be equal by stripping away all marks of social status, wealth and pride, bringing together and uniting Muslims from different parts of the world. Being performed by Muhammed it plays a key role in Islamic tradition.

Terence Lovat a member of the philosophy, religion and education forum through analysing multitudes of rituals has concluded that every ritual has five steps. The first step of Lovats theory is leaving the ordinary, this is when the pilgrim will leave their ordinary life behind and enter the ritual. This step can be applied to the Hajj when the pilgrims enter Ihram this is when the followers will dress up in plain white garments and will follow certain rules for the pilgrimage such as not giving into anger. This step is done at Miqat the outskirt border of Mecca where the pilgrims will begin their pilgrimage leaving their old life behind, this is the very first rite of the Hajj. After this they will do an 8km journey either by foot, car or bus to the tent-city of Mina the pilgrims will spend the day in Mina only to set out at dawn the next day. The second step of Lovats ritual is preparation this is when the pilgrims prepare for the climax of the ritual. This step starts with a 14.4 Km journey to Arafat were Muslims will spend the day here in reverent prayer. After sunset the pilgrims will move to Muzdalifah where they will sleep under the night stars. The third step is the climax, this is the peak of the ritual the reason the ritual was partaken. This day for the Hajj is known as yawm-ul hajj al-akbar (The big Hajj day) the day starts with Muslims first performing the rami throwing seven pebbles at the largest column of three known as Jamarat, signifying stoning the devil. Re-enacting the story of Abraham as this is the spot the devil was believed to appear, trying to stop Abraham from following Gods command and sacrificing his son. The next step involves all pilgrims making a sacrifice or paying for one in their name, just like Abraham did when he went to sacrifice his son but found God had placed a ram instead. Next they circle the Kaaba seven times then walk seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwa. The fourth step is the celebration where participants get ready to re enter the ordinary world, this is done perform in Mecca a final circulation of the Kaaba ending their ritual and getting ready to enter their ordinary lives again. The fifth step is the return, this is when the ritual brings the pilgrim back into ordinary time. Pilgrims have now finished the pilgrimage and will begin to head home.

The Quran the holiest bible for Muslim people stated that “It is on people for the sake of Allah to perform Hajj of his house, anyone who is able to undertake the journey to him”. Meaning that all people following the Islamic faith should be doing the Hajj as it is Allah’s wish to do so. Signifying its importance and significance for Islamic followers.

Overall to conclude, the Hajj is of much importance to Muslim followers helping their moral and spiritual development towards their faith and themselves. The Hajj teaches all Muslims to be equal stripping them of their social status and pride, helping them to learn to be equal amongst others. The hajj is an Islamic pilgrimage that will be continued for many years due to its high importance and significance for followers of the faith, reliving a part of Muhammad’s life.