Pilgrimages are an important part of every religion.
Whether you are a
Christian making a pilgrimage to the Vatican, or a Muslim participating in the Hajj, partaking in the pilgrimage deepens your faith. Today, I will be talking about the Islamic tradition of the Hajj. The Hajj is still an important pilgrimage today as It is part of the very foundation of the Islamic faith. To discuss why it is still important today, I will discuss the historical background of the hajj, apply a ritual theory to it, and analyse the significance of the hajj within Islamic tradition. The Hajj dates back all the way to 2000 BC, during the time Abraham. During this time, Abraham, his son Ishmael and his wife Hager were stranded in the desert. Hager ran back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwa to try to find water for Ishmael. She did this until the Angel Gabriel appeared to her and sprung a spring of fresh water known today as the Well of Zemzem. After this event, God ordered Abraham to build a monument at the site of the spring which is known today as the Kaaba. The first official Hajj was led by the prophet Mohammed in 630 AD to reclaim the holy site in the name of Allah and destroy the idols placed there by the polytheistic worshipers who flocked there. Mohammed walked the same path that Abraham, Ishmael and Hager walked in the desert, including Hager’s walk between Safa and Marwa, stoning the wall of Satan that tempted Abraham to defy God. He also climbed mount aftat, where Mohammed gave his last sermon. This is the path that modern Muslims follow today. Terrence Lovat is an Australian religious teacher who developed a five-step program to analyse rituals. The theory goes as follows: Someone Leaves the ordinary or mundane world and enters the ritual, they then engage in a type of preparatory rite, they then experience the highpoint of the ritual, they join in some form of celebration and then return to the world of the ordinary. This theory can easily be applied to the Hajj. Entering the ritual is entering the state of Ihram. Ihram is the sacred state of the pilgrim when crossing the boundaries of Mecca, called Miqat. Whilst in Ihram, men must wear 2 unstitched pieces of cloth and women must were something that Is loose fitting that covers the entire body and they must wear their hijab. Whilst in this state of ihram white signifies unity, and that everyone is equal. Most of the hajj can be seen as a preparatory rite for the climax. After entering ihram, the pilgrims will then walk to mina where they will spend the night praying. At dawn, the pilgrims will hike to Arafat, the location of the prophet Mohammed’s last sermon. They will spend they day here in prayer. At night time the pilgrims then move to Muzdalifah to sleep and collect pebbles. In the morning the pilgrims walk back to Mina where they will partake in rami, a ritualistic stoning of three pillars located a jamrat bridge. Stoning these pillars is symbolic of casting the devil out of your life, just as Abraham did. After this the pilgrims then slaughter an animal or pay for an animal to be slaughtered in their name. This is a symbol for Abraham sacrifice a goat to god instead of his son Ishmael. Men will then shave their hair and change out of there ihram clothing. Then the pilgrims head to mecca where they will perform the climax of the hajj. The climax of the hajj is walking around the Kaaba 7 times which is know as tawaf and sa’ee. Circling around the Kaaba 7 times is thought to be symbolic of the unity of the believers in the worship of one God. The celebratory rite is going back to the jamrat bridge and stoning the devil again. The pilgrims then enter the world of the ordinary after performing a final “farewell” tawaf and then leaving mecca.