Hajj

"Haj" redirects here. For other uses, see Hajj (disambiguation) and Haj (disambiguation).

Hajj
حَجّ
Pilgrims at the Al-Masjid Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca on Hajj in 2010
StatusActive
GenreReligious pilgrimage
Begins8th day of Dhu al-Hijja
Ends12th or 13th day of Dhu al-Hijja
FrequencyAnnual
Location(s)Mecca
Coordinates21°25′22.3″N 39°49′32.6″E / 21.422861°N 39.825722°E / 21.422861; 39.825722
CountrySaudi Arabia
FounderIbrahim (historical)
Muhammad (current form)
ParticipantsMuslims
Attendance2,489,406 (2019)
(10,000 limit in 2020 due to COVID-19)
(60,000 limit in 2021 due to COVID-19)
1,000,000 (2022)
1,845,045 (2023)
Organised byMinistry of Hajj and Umrah (Saudi Arabia)
Air-conditioned tents for Hajj pilgrims in Mina, Saudi Arabia, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away from Mecca
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Hajj (/hɑːdʒ/;[1] Arabic: حَجّ, romanized: Ḥajj; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia,[2] the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and of supporting their family during their absence from home.[3][4][5]

In Islamic terminology, Hajj is a pilgrimage made to the Kaaba, the "House of Allah", in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah (oath that one believes there is no god but Allah (God)),[6] salat (prayer), zakat (almsgiving), and sawm (fasting during Ramadan). The Hajj is an annual practice when Muslim brotherhood is on display and their solidarity with fellow Muslim people and submission to God (Allah) is fulfilled.[7][8] The word Hajj means "pilgrimage made to the Kaaba", a long pious journey taken by Muslims to cleanse their souls of all worldly sins, which connotes both the outward act of a journey after death and the inward act of good intentions.[9] The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six days, extending from the 8th to the 12th or 13th[10] of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar.[11] Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven-twelve days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. In 2024 AD (1445 AH), Dhu al-Hijjah extends from 7 June to 6 July. In 2025 AD (1446 AH), Dhu al-Hijjah will extend from 28 May to 25 June; and in 2026 AD (1447 AH), Dhu al-Hijjah will extend from 18 May to 15 June.

The Hajj is associated with the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century AD, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca stated in Muslim sources stretches back to the time of Abraham. During Hajj, pilgrims join processions of millions of Muslim people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of pre-Islamic rituals (reformed by Muhammad): each person wears a single piece of unstitched white clothing (Ihram), walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba (a cube-shaped building and the direction of prayer for Muslims), kisses the black stone mounted on the corner wall of Kaaba, walks briskly back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwah seven times, then drinks from the Zamzam Well, goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, spends a night in the plain of Muzdalifa, and performs symbolic Stoning of the Devil by throwing stones at three pillars. After the sacrifice of cattle (which can be accomplished by using a voucher), the pilgrims then are required to either shave or trim their heads (if male) or trim the ends of their hair (if female). A celebration of the four-day global festival of Eid al-Adha proceeds afterwards.[12][13][14] Muslims may also undertake an Umrah (Arabic: عُمرَة), or "lesser pilgrimage" to Mecca at other times of the year. However, the Umrah is not a substitute for the Hajj and Muslims are still obliged to perform the Hajj at some other point in their lifetime if they have the means to do so.[15]

According to the official published statistics between 2000 and 2019,[16][17][18] the average number of attendees is 2,269,145 per year, of which 1,564,710 come from outside Saudi Arabia and 671,983 are local. The year 2012 marks the highest number of participants with 3,161,573.[19] In June 2020, while not cancelling the Hajj outright, the Saudi Government announced that they would only welcome "very limited numbers" of pilgrims who are residents of Saudi Arabia due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.[20] Similar restrictions applied in 2021, but women were permitted to attend without a male guardian (mahram) provided they went in a trustworthy group.[21]

  1. ^ "Hajj" Archived 30 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi (26 March 2016). The Laws of Islam (PDF). San Bernardino: Enlight Press. p. 471. ISBN 978-0-9942409-8-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  3. ^ Long, Matthew (2011). Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures. Tarrytown, N.Y.: Marshall Cavendish Corporation. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-7614-7926-0. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  4. ^ Nigosian, S. A. (2004). Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 110. ISBN 0-253-21627-3.
  5. ^ Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs - Islam Archived 2 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine See drop-down essay on "Islamic Practices"
  6. ^ "Surah Al-An'am - 19".
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nigosian111 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Hooker, M. B. (2008). Indonesian Syariah: Defining a National School of Islamic Law. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 228. ISBN 978-981-230-802-3. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  9. ^ Adelowo, E. Dada, ed. (2014). Perspectives in Religious Studies: Volume III. Ibadan: HEBN Publishers Plc. p. 395. ISBN 978-978-081-447-2. Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  10. ^ 13th of Zil Hajj, heliohost.org, archived from the original on 28 October 2019, retrieved 29 March 2015
  11. ^ "Hajj The Holy Pilgrimage". Salamislam. 3 January 2021. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  12. ^ Karen Armstrong (2002). Islam: A Short History. Modern Library Chronicles (Revised Updated ed.). Modern Library. pp. 10–12. ISBN 0-8129-6618-X.
  13. ^ "Eid ul Adha". BBC. 7 September 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  14. ^ Sahih Bukhari-hadith No-732-733
  15. ^ Matt Stefon, ed. (2010). Islamic Beliefs and Practices. New York City: Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-61530-060-0.
  16. ^ "Haj Statistics". General Authority for Statistics, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 2017. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference RESA1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "Saudi Arabia will sharply limit Hajj Pilgrimage". Live Global Coronavirus News. The New York Times. 22 June 2020. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ AFP (20 July 2021). "In Mecca, Women Take Part in Hajj as 'Guardian' Rule Dropped". VOA. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.