Hajj

Hajj is the pilgrimage to tlhe Ka'bah in Makkah; it is  the fifth pillar of Islam. Allah says in the Qur'an: "Hajj to the House is a duty to Al lah for mankind, for him  who can find a way to do it." (3:97).  The main purpose of the hajj is to show obedience to Allah. The hajj is a way of worshipping Allah. It is the duty  of each Muslim to go for hajj at least once in their lifetime  as long as they can find a way to it and the family left  behind is properly provided for. 

In the centre of the Grand Mosque - Al-Masjid  al-Haraam - in Makkah is the building known as the  Ka'bah: the House of Allah . This was built by Prophet  lbraaheem and his son lsma'eel . It was the first place for the worship of Allah on earth . We face the Ka'bah in  Makkah in our prayers five times a day. 

The lhram. lhram is the intention to perform hajj or umrah. Before  entering Makkah, each pilgrim takes a bath and puts on  a special dress for ihram. For men the ihram clothing consists of two unstitched pieces of cloth to cover the  upper and the lower parts of their bodies. Women wear  clothes which cover everything except their faces and  hands. In fact, ihram clothing for ladies consists of their  simple daily clothes. They are required to keep their faces  and hands uncovered while in the state of ihram. 

As all the pilgrims dress alike, many differences between them vanish. They are all equal . During the hajj , pilgrims must not cut their hair, wear perfume, or hunt or  harm any living thing in any way, while in the state of ihram. They must make efforts not to get angry with others. 

The Arabic term miqaat means the place around Makkah from which a pilgrim assumes the state of ihram. The pilgrim changes into ihram clothing at the miqaat  and pronounces his intention to perform hajj or umrah. For  people living inside the miqaat permanently, their place  of residence is their miqaat. Once the pilgrim assumes the  state of ihram, he becomes a muhrim. He offers two rak'ahsand pronounces his intention to perform hajj or  umrah as the case may be. He then starts reciting the  talbiyya loudly and frequently and continues to do so until he arrives at the Masjid ai-Haraam. Women recite the  talbiyyah silently.

Now the first thing to do is to walk around the  Ka'bah, saying prayers, seven times. This act is called 'tawaaf' . As each  person gets to the Black  Stone, he touches or kisses it  while saying Allaahu Akbar  just as Allah's Messenger (s.a.v.) did. Pilgrims who are  too far away to do so raise  their hands in its direction  and say Allaahu Akbar. 

After performing the tawaaf, pilgrims run or walk at a  pace between two hillocks near the Ka'bah cal led Saf.a  and Marwah. This act is called sa'ee. It reminds Muslims  of the time lsma'eel and his mother Haajar had been left  in the desert by Prophet lbraaheem (a.s) at Allah's Command. When their stock of water ran out and the  child was thirsty, Haajar ran frantically between these two  hillocks in search of water. Returning to lsma'eel , she  found that a spring of water had gushed forth near him.  This spring, called Zamzam, is now found underground,  beneath the courtyard of the Ka'bah. Pilgrims go to drink  some of the water before beginning the sa'ee.

After the sa'ee, halq (having  the head shaven) or taqseer  (having a haircut) follows. Pilgrims  now shower and change into  everyday clothes, depending on the type of hajj they perform. This completes the pilgrims' umrah. All restrictions of the ihram are now temporarily lifted  from the pilgrim. He will now wait for the 8th of Dhul Hijjah to  start the other rites of hajj . 

On the 8th of Dhui-Hijjah, most  pilgrims pronounce a new niyyah  at their place of residence to  perform hajj . There is no need for  them to go to the miqaat for this  reason. The pilgrims change into  ihram clothing and proceed to  Mina soon after the Fajr prayer. On the 8th day of  Dhui-Hijjah, the first day of hajj , Muslims travel to Mina, about 8 kilometres from Makkah. Here they spend the night. 

The next day (the 9th of Dhui-Hijjah), they travel to the  plain of Arafah, about 22 kilometres from Makkah. They halt  for the day in this plain and pray to Allah. They ask His forgiveness. It is a moving experience to join together with  as many as three million other pilgrims in the same  place for one purpose: to worship Allah. This gathering  reminds the pilgrims of the day when everyone will be brought before Allah for judgement.

At sunset, the pilgrims travel to Muzdalifah. This is a bare rocky place back in the direction of Makkah, midway between Arafah and Mina.  The pilgrims spend the night  there. They combine the Maghrib and lsha prayers  together and shorten the lsha prayer to two rak'ahs. They also offer the Fajr prayer there and collect pebbles ready  for the next day when they reach Mina. 

At Mina, there are three stone  pillars called jamraat. The  jamraat are located within a few  hundred feet of one another in a  line. They remind Muslims that it  was here that Shaytan hopelessly  tried to tempt lbraaheem (a.s)  not to perform the sacrifice Allah  wanted. Pilgrims pelt the Aqabah pillar with the pebbles  they have already collected from Muzdalifah. This  symbolic action shows that it was not only lbraaheem  (a.s) and lsma'eel (a.s) who had to reject Shaytan. Everyone has to struggle against evil. 

After stoning the jamraat, many pilgrims sacrifice an  animal in memory of Prophet lbraaheem's sacrifice of  a sheep instead of his son lsma'eel. They now have a  haircut or have their heads shaven and proceed to Makkah to perform Tawaaf Al-lfadah and then the Sa'ee if they have not performed Sa'ee after performing Tawaf  AI-Qodoom. 

Pilgrims stay in Mina for another two or three days to  pray, stone the jamraat pillars and remember Allah. They return to Makkah for tawaaf of the Ka'bah again. At the  end of the hajj , large numbers of pilgrims go to Madinah to  visit the Prophet's Mosque:  ai-Masjid an-Nabawee. 

Students of Secondary specialized women`s Islamic collage “Khadichai Kubro”: I.Fatxullayeva

Teacher of Secondary specialized women`s Islamic collage “Khadichai Kubro”: M.Haydarova