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Hajj: A Journey to Meet God | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Hajj: A Journey to Meet God

Alzahraa K. Ahmed, Intern, Department of Medieval Art and The
Cloisters
Posted: Monday, April 16, 2012
Hafiz-i Abru (d. 1430). Detail from "Journey of the Prophet Muhammad," Folio from the
Majma al-Tavarikh (Compendium of Histories), ca. 1425. Present-day Afghanistan, Herat.
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Cora
Timken Burnett Collection of Persian Miniatures and Other Persian Art Objects, Bequest of
Cora Timken Burnett, 1956 (57.51.9)

The words "pilgrimage" and "sacred space," one evoking human

movement and the other performative space, are inseparable from one
another. Through pilgrimage, the pilgrim embarks on a spiritual path
toward the full submission to God in an often-distant sacred space. For
Muslims, pilgrimage, or hajj, is the most sacred ritual performance
through which pilgrims, al-hajij, annually unveil their sins to God for
purification. The core of the ritual takes place in the holiest cities of the
Arabian peninsula (al-jazeera al-arabiyya), Mecca and Medina (madinat
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About the
Author
Alzahraa (Zizi) K.
Ahmed is an
intern in the
Department of
Medieval Art and
The Cloisters.
She is also a
research
assistant for the
New York office
of the Abydos
Archaeological
Projects in Upper
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Egypt, and a
master's
candidate at the
Institute of Fine
Arts, New York
University, where
she studies the
art of Byzantine
and Islamic
Egypt.

About this
Blog
al-munawarrah, or "Medina the Radiant"), during the first ten days of the
month Dhu al-Hijjah in the lunar hijri calendar of Islam.
Nestled among the mountain passes of central western Arabia fifty
miles inland from the Red Sea is the city of Mecca, or makkat al
mukarrama (the honored Mecca). Imbued with holiness well prior to the
rise of Islam, al-haram al makki (The Holy Site of Mecca) served as the
most sacred congregational place for tribes of the Arabian peninsula
since the erection of the Kaba. According to Islamic tradition, God
commissioned Ibrahim (Abraham) with the help of his son Ismail
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/byzantium-and-islam/blog/topical-essays/posts/hajj

This blog
accompanied the
special exhibition
Byzantium and
Islam: Age of
Transition, on
view March 14
July 8, 2012.

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Hajj: A Journey to Meet God | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

(Ishmael) to go and build an edifice, the Kaba, where people would

gather and worship only Him.

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Ahmed (6)
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Umayyad (14)
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See All Tags (88)

Amir Khusrau of Delhi. "Muslim Pilgrim to Mecca Meets a Brahman on the Road," Folio
from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi, 152025. Iran. Ink, opaque watercolor,
and gold on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1913
(13.160.4)

Tribes came from all directions to visit the Kaba, bait Allah al-haram
(The Holy House of God) for pilgrimage and in order to commemorate
the God of Ibrahim. Over time, idolatry (Wathaniyya) became
widespread among the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. Quraysh,
the leading tribe of Mecca and its vicinitiesamongst whom later
emerged the Prophet Muhammadset idols around the Kaba, the
most important of which were Hubbal, Ilaat, and Naila.
Local, regional, and trans-regional tribes traveled to Mecca not only for
its religious significance, but also for its role as a commercial center.
The city's strategic location along the old caravan trade route
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connecting South Arabia, East Africa, and South Asia with the
Mediterranean world attracted Arabs as well as non-Arabs. Both the
Romans and Byzantines, for example, long maintained commercial
relations with the people of Mecca, considering the city an essential
nodal point in trade circulation of the Red Sea.
After a long struggle between the Prophet Muhammad and the people
of Quraysh, which initially led to his emigration, or Hijra, from Mecca to
Medina in 622, the monotheism of Ibrahim returned to Mecca. In the
tenth year of his emigration, the Prophet Muhummad returned to Mecca
along with almost ten thousand Muslims. This was also the year in which
Muslims revived hajj as an Islamic ritual that was obligatory for every
male and female Muslim physically and economically able to make the
journey.
Through the centuries and until today, hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, has
served to gather millions of Muslims annually from around the world in
unity. Along with its religious significance, it has played important social,
intellectual, and economic roles by stimulating the meeting of people
from disparate locales, the exchange of ideas, and widespread
commercial exchange.
Department(s): Medieval Art and The Cloisters
Tag(s): Islam, Arabia, Prophet Muhammad, pilgrimage

Newer: The Formation of

Islamic Art by Oleg Grabar
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/byzantium-and-islam/blog/topical-essays/posts/hajj

Older: Qusayr 'Amra

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