If you are a Muslim, you would surely know about the most important pillar of, Hajj. Hajj is named as the religious pilgrimage of the Muslim community and it is obligatory for them to perform Hajj at least once in their life if they have the resources. Hajj has been named as the largest gathering of the Muslim community in the whole wide world. As per the stats, every year, around 3 million Muslims visit the Mecca to perform Hajj for almost three to five days. These three to five days. If you want more information related to this holy and religious pilgrimage of the Muslims because we have added Hajj Information – Facts, Process, And Why Is It Important in this article. At the end of this article, we are sure that you will have full-fledged knowledge about Hajj. So have a look!
Fact About Hajj
Table of Contents
In this section, we have added the facts related to Hajj which will give you insights about this whole situation. Read on to find out!
- The Hajj is performed in the honor of Ibrahim (A.S) and the duration is about three to five days
- Every year, almost three million Muslims from all around the world gather in Mecca to perform the Muslim pilgrimage
- Hajj is done on the eighth day of the Islamic
- The Muslims are performing Hajj since 630 CE when Our beloved Prophet (PBUH) led his “Sahaba” for it
Significance of The Hajj
The Muslim pilgrimage is known as Hajj in the Arabic language and it is known as Hajj in all over the world. When we talk about the significance of the Hajj, there are so many of it. The first significance is that the three million Muslims from all around the world gather in the city of Mecca regardless of their race, color, gender, and creed to perform Hajj. The second significance is that the Hajj was started by our beloved Prophet (PBUH) when he led his 1400 followers to the Mecca city to perform Hajj in the honor of Ibrahim. The third significance of the Hajj is that our beloved Prophet (PBUH) gave his farewell summons to the Muslim community of that time in the Medaan-e-Arafat
Preparation For The Hajj
In the old times, the pilgrimage was very simple and easy but with changing circumstances, the pilgrims need to arrive the Mecca by air or water or land some time prior to the obligatory time. The Muslims usually land in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and after that, they are guided to the optimum places. Once they arrive in Jeddah, they are made into the groups among other pilgrims and they are directed to Mecca which is around 45 miles away. Once they arrive in Mecca, they all stop change their clothing to Ihraam (white clothing) after taking the bath. This is because they clean out every impurity and enter the state of utmost purity. The measurements if Ihraam are as follows;
- In the case of men, the Ihraam needs to be two white cloth lengths without the appearance or presence of the seams. One is wrapped around the waist to cover the lower body area and the other one is wrapped around the shoulders to cover the upper body area
- In the case of women, they can wear abayas or anything that covers their body with modesty. But the condition is that the clothing must be clean and pure. The cloth over the head is mandatory to hide the hair but putting a veil on the face is optional
After all this, for the next three days, pilgrims need to avoid the following things;
- Smoking
- Shaving
- Swearing
- Cutting the nails
- Sex
- Hunting
- Killing
- Using perfumes, colognes, soaps, and makeup
After this, the invocation needs to be recited which is;
Here I am, Oh God, at Your command!
Here I am at Your command!
You are without associate!
Here I am at Your command!
To You are all praise, grace, and dominion!
You are without associate!
Day One
One the first day of the Holy Pilgrimage, every Muslim does the tawaf of Holy Kaabab seven times and kiss the black stone of the Kaabah. Walking around the Kaabah seven times is known as circumambulation of the Kaabah. Then, everyone says their prayers and have a sip of holy water, Zamzam. Zamzam is the water which comes from the lake which appeared when the only son of Ibrahim (A.S), Ismail (A.S) rubbed his heels on the ground crying for water.
During the pilgrimage, every Muslim has to walk the lands and grounds of Safa & Marwah seven times at the spot of the Grand Mosque. There is no limit if pilgrims can walk or run on the lands and ground of Safa and Marwah. This walk symbolizes when the mother of Ismail, Hajjar was running forth and back in the search of water for his son
Day Two
On the second day, after offering the Fajr prayer, every pilgrim is directed to the Mina where they spend the whole day doing prayers and reciting the Quraan
Day Three
On the third day of the Hajj, Muslims and pilgrims are directed to the Medaan-e-Arafaat where they stay from noon to sunset seeking forgiveness from the Almighty, offering supplications, and listen to the Khutbas (Sermons) The sermons symbolizes when out Prophet (PBUH) gave his last sermon in the Medaan-e-Arafaat. This third day is the most important day as it is considered as the last day of the Hajj and is obligatory to attend in order to consider the Hajj a successful one. After that, they all stay in the open skies of Muzdalifah and offer two prayers, Maghrib and Isha and collect 49 pebbles from the ground to perform the stoning of the devil.
Day Four, Five, and Six
After saying the Fajr prayer, Muslims move to Mina where they hit the three tombs known as the devil. They hit each stone with seven stones which are known as the stoning of the devil.
After that, animals are slaughtered in the name of Allah in the honor of Ibrahim and his sacrifice of slaughtering his son. They slaughter the sheep or goats and this day is known as the day of Eid-Ul-Adha where Muslim all over the world slaughters the animals. After the slaughter, male pilgrims shave their heads and the female pilgrims cut the pieces of their hair. After cutting and shaving the hair, everyone moves to Kaabah for the tawaaf.
After that, they do another round of stoning the devil on the fifth and sixth day. For the last time, Muslims will do the last “farewell tawaaf” to bid goodbye.
Why Is Hajj Important
There are many people who do not know the importance of Hajj and they often question its importance. As a Muslim, we all must know the importance of Hajj and why is it asked to perform it at least once in life. However, if you do not have a clear idea of the importance, we can help you with that as we have added all the must-know points in this section. Let’s have a look!
- Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of the Islam and that is enough to tell you that you must perform Hajj if you are physically fit and if you have the money. The minimum is one but if you can, you can perform Hajj as many times as you want
- During the pilgrim aka Hajj, millions of Muslim gather together in the land of Mecca from all over the world regardless of their race, color, gender, and creed and this show the unity of Muslims. During the Hajj, everyone wears the same clothing and there is no cast and wealth difference and they all stand as unity
- During the Hajj, every Muslim is purified by cleaning all their sins and they are as new as a newborn baby which is all possible through the forgiveness and worship
- The Hajj portrays the real meaning of life to them bringing them to close the creator, Allah Almighty. During Hajj, all the status and wealth and pride is taken away from the pilgrims which reminds that what they truly are in the eyes of Allah
- During Hajj, Muslims from all over the world are gathered at one place and they interact with each other without any obstructions and barriers
- During Hajj, everyone meets new people and they get to learn a great deal from each other by interacting and talking
- During Hajj, all the sins of the Muslims are wiped off and they become pure as the newborn with no past and only the fresh start. This shows that Hajj is the new start of the life. As per our beloved Prophet (PBUH), “ “One who comes to this House for Hajj and avoids all lewdness and sins, he returns as he was on the day his mother gave birth to him.” (Bukhari & Muslim).
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