For other uses of " Hajj ", see Hajj (disambiguation ) .
Pilgrims in the Masjid al - Haram Hajj in 2008
The Hajj (Arabic : حج Ḥaǧǧ " pilgrimage " ) is an Islamic pilgrimage toMecca and the largest gathering of Muslims in the world each year . It is one of the five pillars of Islam, a religious duty that must be performed . By every healthy Muslim who can afford to be so at least once in his or her life The state of being physically and financially able Hajj is called istita'ah , and a Muslim who satisfies this condition is called a mustati . The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslims , and their submission to God ( Allah ) . The word Hajj means that both the outward act of a journey and the inner act of intentions implies " a travel plan ."
The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th Dhu al - Hijjah , the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar . Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar , eleven days shorter than theGregorian calendar used in the Western world , the Gregorian date of the Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the name given to the special spiritual state in which pilgrims wear two white sheets of unstitched cloth , and abstain from certain things .
The Hajj is associated with the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century , but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch for thousands of years to the time of Abraham ( Ibrahim ) back. Pilgrims join processions of hundreds of thousands of people , who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj , and perform a series of rituals : Each person walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba , the cube-shaped building which acts as the Muslim direction of prayer , runs back and forth between the hills of Al- Safa and Al - Marwah , drinks from the Zamzam Well , goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil , and throws stones in a ritual stoning the devil . The pilgrims then shave their heads , perform a ritual of animal sacrifice , and celebrate the three day global festival of Eid al - Adha .
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