Hajj, A symbol of unity in the world

The history of Hajj is based on a pilgrimage prior to the times of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) in the 7^th century. According to Hadith, elements of the hajj traces back to the times of Ibrahim (pbuh) around 200 BC. It is believed that Prophet Ibrahim (pubh) was ordered by almighty Allah to leave your wife Hijra and infant son Ishmael  alone in the desert, while he was gone the child became thirsty and Hajira ran back  for seven times in search of water for her son but she couldn’t find. They baby cried because of thirst and suddenly he hit the ground with his foot and miraculously water sprang forth. This water is today called Zamzam water. In 631 CE Mohammad (pubh) led his followers from Medina to Mecca to perform the first Hajj in the Islamic history and it is also the only maiden Hajj ever performed by Prophet (pubh). It was from this point that the Hajj became one of the five pillars of Islam.

Hajj is currently the world’s largest pilgrimage in which more than five million Muslims across the world are participating every year. It is a kind of solidarity demonstration by the Muslims irrespective of colour, and creed before the Almighty Allah, as it is stated in the Holy Quran, that all Muslims are brother to each other. During the Hajj male pilgrims are required to dress up only in the Ihram, a kind of garment consisting of two sheets of white unstitched clothes and women pilgrims are simply required to wear the Hijab, a normal modest dress which don’t cover face and hands.

During the Hajj the pilgrim has to perform a series of fundamental rituals like first to perform Umrah and has to walk anticlockwise around the Kabah seven times, the cube shaped building which also acts as the Muslim direction of prayers, Stone the devil, drink the water of Zamzam and walk between the hills of Safaha and Marwah. They also travel to the city of Medina, where the Prophet Mohammad’s (pubh) mosque and grave is located. After all these rituals they have to offer animal sacrifice on the day of Eidul-Ada, a festival which also marks the end of hajj.

The pilgrimage occurs from the 8^th to 12^th day of Zul-Hajj, the last month of the Islamic calendar which is eleven days shorter than the Georgian calendar used in the western world. It is mandatory for every Muslim to go for Hajj once in their life time, but it is not necessary for a Muslim who is not economically sound and physically fit. At last Hajj promotes peaceful coexistence, equality and harmony in the world which also Islam literally means and spreads.