Issue 151

Hajj - journey of a lifetime

29th January 2007

Toward the end of last year, Millions of Muslims have gathered in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Hajj ,or pilgrimage to the ancient house Kaba, brings Muslims from all the four corners of the Earth and mixes them for one week in the holy place of Makkah and its sour rounding hills washing their sins away.

The Hajj, or pilgrimage to Makkah, a central duty of Islam whose origins date back to the Prophet Abraham, brings together Muslims of all races and tongues for one of life's most moving spiritual experiences.

Pilgrimage in Islam is compulsory for Muslims in good health and with sufficient funds to make the journey. The length of the obligatory rituals with the hajj covers about 6 days. It takes place each year between the eighth and the 13th days of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th month of the Muslim lunar calendar.

For 14 centuries, countless millions of Muslims, men and women from the four corners of the earth, have made the pilgrimage to Makkah, the birthplace of Islam. According to the Qur'an, it was Abraham who, together with Ishmael (Isma'il), built the Ka'bah, "the House of God," the focal point toward which Muslims turn in their worship five times each day. Its importance lies in its allowing the believer to approach the assumed centre of the world, as well as the place where the Koran's divine revelations began.

The Hajj consists of several ceremonies, meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of prophet Abraham and his family. Prophet Muhammad had said that a person who performs Hajj properly 'will return as a newly born baby [free of all sins].' The pilgrimage also enables Muslims from all around the world, of different colors, languages, races, and ethnicities, to come together in a spirit of universal brotherhood and sisterhood to worship the One God together.

The celebration concluding the Hajj marks one of the two most important Islamic festivals, Eid al-Adha begins on the 10th day of Dhu'l- Hijja, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Lasting for three days, it occurs at the conclusion of the annual Hajj (Dec 30, 2006). Eid al- Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, commemorates the Prophet Abraham's willingness to obey Allah (God) by sacrificing his son Ishmael. According to the Qu'ran, just before Abraham sacrificed his son, Allah replaced Ishmael with a ram, thus sparing his life.

Muslims all over the world celebrate, not simply those undertaking the hajj, which for most Muslims is a once-alifetime occurrence. Muslims worldwide gather for communal prayers on the first day of Id al-Adha. The festival is celebrated by sacrificing a lamb or other animal and distributing the meat to relatives, friends, and the poor. The sacrifice symbolizes obedience to Allah and its distribution to others is an expression of generosity, one of the five pillars of Islam.

So when was the New Islamic Year? January 1st 2007? No, Well in accordance to the Islamic calendar it was on Jan 20th, 2007. The New Year 2007 marks the beginning of A.H. 1428.

The Islamic calendar (or Hijri calendar) is a lunar calendar. It contains 12 months that are based on the motion of the moon, and because 12 lunar months is 12 x 29.53=354.36 days, the Islamic calendar is consistently shorter (11 Days) than a solar year, and therefore it shifts with respect to the Gregorian calendar.

Month of Muharram marks the beginning of the Islamic liturgical year. The Islamic year begins on the first day of Muharram, and is counted from the year of the Hijra - the year in which Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina (A.D. July 16, 622).

Mahfuza Zaman