Next week two million Muslim pilgrims, drawn from every corner of the world, will make their way to Mecca for the haj
By John Esposito
“I am here, O Lord, I am here!” Approximately 60 days after the end of Ramadan two million Muslims, from all over the world repeat this chant as they enter the holy city of Mecca to begin their pilgrimage, the haj, which is one of the Five Pillars or basic requirements of Islam.
Every adult Muslim who is physically and financially able is required to make the haj at least once in his or her lifetime. Many make the pilgrimage more often. Muslim tradition teaches that God forgives the sins of those who perform the haj with devotion and sincerity. Thus, many elderly make the pilgrimage with the hope that they will die cleansed of their sins.
A global community living out their faith, they represent a tremendous diversity of languages and cultures, social classes and professions: Nigerians and Egyptians, Saudi Arabians and Iranians, Americans and Europeans, Turks, Pakistanis and Indonesians; monarchs, presidents and prime ministers, doctors, lawyers, and engineers; corporate leaders and workers.
Whatever their backgrounds and class, all who participate in the pilgrimage wear simple garments, two seamless white cloths for men and an outfit that entirely covers the body, except face and hands, for women. These coverings symbolise purity as well as the unity and equality of all believers, an equality that transcends class, wealth, privilege, power, nationality, race and colour.
Mecca, the most sacred location in the Islamic world, was the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and is the site of the Grand Mosque, which houses the Kaaba. Thus, when pilgrims enter Mecca their first obligation is to go to the Kaaba. Located inside the compound of the Grand Mosque at Mecca, the Kaaba (literally, cube) is a cube-shaped structure known as the House of God.
It contains the sacred Black Stone, a meteorite believed to have been placed by Abraham and his son Ismail in a corner of the Kaaba, a symbol of God’s covenant with Abraham and Ismail and by extension with the Muslim community itself. The Kaaba is approximately 45ft high and 33ft by 50ft wide and is draped with a woven black cloth embellished with Koranic verses embroidered in gold.
The Kaaba is seen as the most sacred space in the Muslim world, the site to which hundreds of millions of Muslims throughout the world turn each day when they pray. Muslims believe it was the first house of worship of the one God, originally built by Adam and replicating the heavenly House of God, which contains the divine throne that is circumambulated by the angels.
Adam’s Kaaba is believed to have been destroyed by the neglect of believers and the Flood, but according to the Koran (2:127) Abraham and Ismail rebuilt the holy house. However, by the time of Muhammad the Kaaba was under the control of the Quraysh of Mecca, who used it as a shrine for the tribal gods and idols of Arabia and an annual pilgrimage to the Kaaba and fair that attracted pilgrims from all over Arabia.
Muslim tradition tells us that one of the first things Muhammad did when he returned from exile and triumphantly entered Mecca was to cleanse the Kaaba of its 360 idols and restore the “religion of Abraham”, the worship of the one true God.
The re-enactment of heavenly ritual by pilgrims, who circumambulate the Kaaba seven times, symbolises their entry before the divine presence. Actions of worship such as the circumambulation of the Kaaba are believed to be duplicated in Heaven at the Throne of God.
In the days that follow, pilgrims participate in a variety of ritual actions and ceremonies re-enacting and commemorating (symbolising) key religious events. They walk and sometimes run seven times along a quarter-mile corridor of the Grand Mosque to commemorate Hagar’s frantic search in the desert for water for her son Ismail. In great contrast to the circumambulation of the Kaaba, which centres on spiritual contact with God, this rite symbolises humankind’s ongoing effort, movement, and struggle through life, expressing a believer’s persistence in life’s struggle for survival. The pilgrims drink water from the well, called Zamzam (meaning “bubbling”), which is located within the Grand Mosque, where Muslims believe God provided water for Hagar and Ismail. They symbolically reject the Devil, the source of all evil, by throwing stones at three pillars that stand at the site where Satan met Abraham and Ismail and tempted them to disobey God when Abraham was preparing to sacrifice his son in obedience to God’s command. Towards the end of the pilgrimage, pilgrims spend a day at Arafat, a vast, empty plain, in commemoration of the final pilgrimage of Muhammad, where he delivered his farewell sermon to his people from the Mount of Mercy, a hill in the middle of the plain.
Those who have made the haj describe the incredible experience of two million pilgrims praying together as equals, entering into the divine presence, connecting them to something greater than themselves. Many see this as a symbolic experience preparing them for death, when all humans will eventually come together to meet their creator on the Day of Judgment.
The haj had a transforming effect on the black American activist Malcolm X, whose time on pilgrimage led to a spiritual transformation and a new understanding of human brotherhood. As he explains: “There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colours, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and nonwhite.”
In addition to the hajj there is a devotional ritual that is referred to as the “lesser pilgrimage”. It is called the umrah (visitation) and involves visiting the holy sites at other times of the year. Many who are on pilgrimage also perform the umrah rituals before, during or after the haj. However, performing the umrah does not fulfill the haj obligation.
At the end of the five-day haj, Muslims throughout the world celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice commemorating when God sent Abraham a ram as a substitute for sacrificing his son. This is a time of grand celebration as Muslim families, much like Jews and Christians in their celebrations of Hanukkah and Christmas, come together to visit and exchange gifts.
Professor John L. Esposito is founding director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington
(Published in The Times, November 20)
By John Esposito
“I am here, O Lord, I am here!” Approximately 60 days after the end of Ramadan two million Muslims, from all over the world repeat this chant as they enter the holy city of Mecca to begin their pilgrimage, the haj, which is one of the Five Pillars or basic requirements of Islam.Every adult Muslim who is physically and financially able is required to make the haj at least once in his or her lifetime. Many make the pilgrimage more often. Muslim tradition teaches that God forgives the sins of those who perform the haj with devotion and sincerity. Thus, many elderly make the pilgrimage with the hope that they will die cleansed of their sins.
A global community living out their faith, they represent a tremendous diversity of languages and cultures, social classes and professions: Nigerians and Egyptians, Saudi Arabians and Iranians, Americans and Europeans, Turks, Pakistanis and Indonesians; monarchs, presidents and prime ministers, doctors, lawyers, and engineers; corporate leaders and workers.
Whatever their backgrounds and class, all who participate in the pilgrimage wear simple garments, two seamless white cloths for men and an outfit that entirely covers the body, except face and hands, for women. These coverings symbolise purity as well as the unity and equality of all believers, an equality that transcends class, wealth, privilege, power, nationality, race and colour.
Mecca, the most sacred location in the Islamic world, was the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and is the site of the Grand Mosque, which houses the Kaaba. Thus, when pilgrims enter Mecca their first obligation is to go to the Kaaba. Located inside the compound of the Grand Mosque at Mecca, the Kaaba (literally, cube) is a cube-shaped structure known as the House of God.
It contains the sacred Black Stone, a meteorite believed to have been placed by Abraham and his son Ismail in a corner of the Kaaba, a symbol of God’s covenant with Abraham and Ismail and by extension with the Muslim community itself. The Kaaba is approximately 45ft high and 33ft by 50ft wide and is draped with a woven black cloth embellished with Koranic verses embroidered in gold.
The Kaaba is seen as the most sacred space in the Muslim world, the site to which hundreds of millions of Muslims throughout the world turn each day when they pray. Muslims believe it was the first house of worship of the one God, originally built by Adam and replicating the heavenly House of God, which contains the divine throne that is circumambulated by the angels.
Adam’s Kaaba is believed to have been destroyed by the neglect of believers and the Flood, but according to the Koran (2:127) Abraham and Ismail rebuilt the holy house. However, by the time of Muhammad the Kaaba was under the control of the Quraysh of Mecca, who used it as a shrine for the tribal gods and idols of Arabia and an annual pilgrimage to the Kaaba and fair that attracted pilgrims from all over Arabia.
Muslim tradition tells us that one of the first things Muhammad did when he returned from exile and triumphantly entered Mecca was to cleanse the Kaaba of its 360 idols and restore the “religion of Abraham”, the worship of the one true God.
The re-enactment of heavenly ritual by pilgrims, who circumambulate the Kaaba seven times, symbolises their entry before the divine presence. Actions of worship such as the circumambulation of the Kaaba are believed to be duplicated in Heaven at the Throne of God.
In the days that follow, pilgrims participate in a variety of ritual actions and ceremonies re-enacting and commemorating (symbolising) key religious events. They walk and sometimes run seven times along a quarter-mile corridor of the Grand Mosque to commemorate Hagar’s frantic search in the desert for water for her son Ismail. In great contrast to the circumambulation of the Kaaba, which centres on spiritual contact with God, this rite symbolises humankind’s ongoing effort, movement, and struggle through life, expressing a believer’s persistence in life’s struggle for survival. The pilgrims drink water from the well, called Zamzam (meaning “bubbling”), which is located within the Grand Mosque, where Muslims believe God provided water for Hagar and Ismail. They symbolically reject the Devil, the source of all evil, by throwing stones at three pillars that stand at the site where Satan met Abraham and Ismail and tempted them to disobey God when Abraham was preparing to sacrifice his son in obedience to God’s command. Towards the end of the pilgrimage, pilgrims spend a day at Arafat, a vast, empty plain, in commemoration of the final pilgrimage of Muhammad, where he delivered his farewell sermon to his people from the Mount of Mercy, a hill in the middle of the plain.
Those who have made the haj describe the incredible experience of two million pilgrims praying together as equals, entering into the divine presence, connecting them to something greater than themselves. Many see this as a symbolic experience preparing them for death, when all humans will eventually come together to meet their creator on the Day of Judgment.
The haj had a transforming effect on the black American activist Malcolm X, whose time on pilgrimage led to a spiritual transformation and a new understanding of human brotherhood. As he explains: “There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colours, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and nonwhite.”
In addition to the hajj there is a devotional ritual that is referred to as the “lesser pilgrimage”. It is called the umrah (visitation) and involves visiting the holy sites at other times of the year. Many who are on pilgrimage also perform the umrah rituals before, during or after the haj. However, performing the umrah does not fulfill the haj obligation.
At the end of the five-day haj, Muslims throughout the world celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice commemorating when God sent Abraham a ram as a substitute for sacrificing his son. This is a time of grand celebration as Muslim families, much like Jews and Christians in their celebrations of Hanukkah and Christmas, come together to visit and exchange gifts.
Professor John L. Esposito is founding director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington
(Published in The Times, November 20)
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