Historical background

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1864624,00.html

 Dates back to 2000 BC

 Ishmael (son of Abraham) Abraham and his wife hager were stranded in dessert
 Ishmael was close to death, Hager ran back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwa
looking for water until Gabriel and created a spring of fresh, known as the Well of Zemzem.
 Abraham was ordered by god to build a monument at the well known as the Kaaba
 In 630 AD the prophet Mohammed led the first hajj
 He walked the same path that Abraham, Ishmael and hager walked

Lovats Theory
https://sorislamicrituals2014.weebly.com/lovat-model.html

1. Leaves the ordinary or mundane world and enters the ritual.

2. Engages in some type of preparatory rite.
3. Experiences a central of highpoint of the ritual.
4. Joins in some form of celebration in the ritual.
5. Leaves the ritual and returns to the ordinary world.

What happens in the hajj

https://www.aljazeera.com/focus/hajj/2009/11/2009111895127111168.html

 Day 1: Enter Ihram

 First rite of the hajj is entering ihram - a pilgrim's sacred state - when crossing the outer
boundaries of Mecca, called Miqat.
 Men must wear 2 unstitched white cloth
 Women must wear loose fitting clothing that covers their entire body and a hijab
 Muslims must not give into anger when in ihram
 Then they head to Mina to pray and sleep until dawn
 Day 2: they hike to Arafat
 Arafat was the scene of Muhammad’s last sermon
 They spend the day here in prayer
 They then move to Muzdalifah to sleep and collect pebbles
 Day three: they head back to mina
 Once in mina they prefrom the rami, throwing 7 of the pebbles at 3 pillars. Symbolic of
Abraham casting the devil away
 Then the pilgrims slaughter an animal as a sacrifice or pay for one to be slaughtered in their
name which is symbolic of Abraham sacrificing Ishmael in the name of god, but then is
stopped and Ishmael is replaced with a goat
 Then the men shave their head and remove their ihram clothes.
 Then the pilgrims proceed to to Mecca to perform tawaf and sa'ee, first circling the Kaaba
seven times, then walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwa.
 They then head back to mina to sleep
  Day 4 and 5
 They symbolically stone the devil again
 when their time in Mina is finished, the pilgrims return to Mecca to perform the final
circulation of the Kaaba, a "farewell" tawaf.

Mina
https://www.islamiclandmarks.com/makkah-other/mina

Mina is referenced in Surah Baqarah in the Quran: “And remember Allah during [specific] numbered
days. Then whoever hastens [his departure] in two days – there is no sin upon him; and whoever
delays [until the third] – there is no sin upon him – for him who fears Allah . And fear Allah and
know that unto Him you will be gathered.” [2:203]