If you want to understand Islam-- the world’s second largest religion-- at at least a basic
level, you’ll need to look towards to Five Pillars of Islam: shahada, the proclamation
that there is no god but God; salat, praying five times every day in the direction of the
Kaaba in Mecca; zakat, donating 2-3% or more of your income to charities; sawm, fasting
from sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadhan; and Hajj, pilgrimage to the city
of Mecca.
Hajj is mandatory for all able-bodied Muslims, so with over 1.8 billion adherents around
the world, just how does this whole thing get put together?
So first, what /exactly/ is Hajj?
Obviously I just explained it in the opening, but that was just a brief synopsis to get
everyone who might watch this video up to speed.
As said prior, Hajj (literally meaning “pilgrimage”) is indeed mandatory for all devout Muslims,
except for those who are unable to do so, be it out of poverty or poor health.
If one’s health and wealth is secure in a given year, it is also generally encouraged
that they come that year, unless unable to due to unforeseen circumstances (like a global
pandemic).
Mecca is the holiest city in all of Islam, seeing as that‘s where the Prophet Muhammad
was from, thus it was from here the religion first spread.
One does not complete Hajj merely by going to Mecca however, there are also a few other
things you need to do and keep in mind.
First, Hajj only happens at a select time, Hajj is actually a 5-6 day long annual event
held from the 8th to the 12th or 13th day of the Islamic calendar month Dhu al-Hijjah,
the 12th and final month of the year.
Worshippers may also embark on a lesser pilgrimage called Umrah on other dates of the year, but
this does not count as a substitute for Hajj.
Although Hajj is extremely important religiously, it also requires a vast array of planning
and logistics just to get worshippers safely in and out of the city.
According to official public statistics over two million per year on average head toward
the holy city at this time of year from basically everywhere all around the world where Muslims
happen to live, from Mali to Bali, and everywhere else really.
While Mecca does indeed have an airport, it is far more common for one to first fly into
the nearby larger city of Jeddah, about 70km west.
Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport is the busiest airport in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, and built a special terminal specifically for the Hajj.
Several airlines including Air India, Air China, Turkish Airlines, Etihad, and several
others also expand service to connect numerous smaller cities directly to Jeddah specifically
for Hajj.
To get into Saudi Arabia however, many nationalities need a Saudi visa, and while the kingdom has
started to lift visa restrictions for many nationalities, a special Hajj visa also exists
for nationalities still requiring a visa, and those visas are generally granted with
a limit on how many from each country may perform Hajj in a given year.
Some countries even grant special Hajj passports, special passports used only for the purposes
of Hajj, if the person in question doesn’t normally carry a passport.
As mentioned in a previous video, Jordan even gives these passports to Israeli Muslims,
who are otherwise banned from traveling to Saudi Arabia.
It’s not just the pilgrims that need to prepare for Hajj though, Mecca also needs
to prepare for a vast influx of people equivalent or even greater than its entire population
during the off-season.
For this purpose, the Saudi government has set up an official Ministry of Hajj and Umrah,
tasked with the safety of pilgrims and the infrastructure allowing them to safely enter,
perform the required rituals, and go back home afterwards.
In light of deadly stampedes in 1990 and 2015, crowd control techniques were improved and
many of the rituals became more symbolic, such as merely pointing to the Black Stone
in the Kaaba rather than physically kissing it.
Once the rituals are ready to begin, the first duty of every pilgrim is to enter a state
known as Ihram.
Ihram-- stemming from the same 3-letter root as words like Haram-- is a state where pilgrims
essentially put aside their Earthly obligations to focus on God and prayer, which must be
reached before arriving at the boundary of the Miqat.
In this state, worshippers must not cut or trim their hair or nails, wear anything scented
like soaps or deodorant, swear, fight, smoke, demonetize my video, or take oaths.
Pilgrims are also expected to set aside thoughts related to personal affairs, sexual relations,
or business deals, as these are thought of as distractions from the entire reason one
comes here in the first place.
Men also wear two simple white cloths, one wrapped around the waist, and the other over
the left shoulder, while women generally wear typical modest garments while still exposing
the face and hands.
This dress is intended to effectively put all the pilgrims on equal footing, with no
distinction whatsoever based on social or economic class.
Once a pilgrim is finally on the ground in Mecca, they head to the Masjid al-Haram.
You might have already seen pictures of this building before, also known as the Grand Mosque
of Mecca, the second largest building in the world surrounds the Kaaba in an area extending
over the equivalent of more than 50 football fields, capable of holding up to 4 million
worshippers at once.
On the 8th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, worshippers begin the rituals of the Hajj with Tawaf,
entering the Grand Mosque and encircling the Kaaba counterclockwise seven times.
After completing Tawaf and drinking from the Zamzam well, pilgrims then spend the rest
of the day at Mina, often known as the city of tents for… obvious reasons.
The next day they move on to the hill known as Arafat, about 20km to the east, to repent
and ask for forgiveness for their sins.
That evening they leave Arafat for Muzdalifah, where they gather stones for the next day’s
ritual.
The ritual in question of course is the symbolic stoning of Satan (“shaytan” in Arabic),
known as Ramy al-Jamarat.
Satan is represented as three large pillars (although now they’re long walls, due to
safety concerns), of which on the third day of Hajj only the largest is stoned with 7
stones from each person.
This symbolizes when the Devil appeared before Abraham during his pilgrimage to Mecca, and
was promptly stoned in this manner.
After the stones are cast, an animal is slaughtered either by the pilgrim or with them present
(though vouchers can also be bought ahead of time), with the meat generally processed
and sent to charities around the world.
After this is Halak, where men shave their heads and are now called “Hadjis” whereas
women trim their hair and are called “Hajjahs”.
After the animal sacrifice also begins the 3-day celebration of Eid al-Adha (not to be
confused with Eid al-Fitr).
Pilgrims then perform another Tawaf, then stone each of the three pillars at Mina on
the fourth and fifth days (and sixth if they can’t make it back to the Kaaba in time)
followed by the final Tawaf al-Wadaa (‘wadaa’ roughly meaning ‘farewell’).
As previously mentioned, over one and a half billion people-- more than the combined populations
of China and the US-- are required to come to this city in western Saudi Arabia at a
certain time of year at least once in their lifetimes, meaning that Mecca has become the
Mecca of… Mecca comparisons.
Thanks for watching.
Now I’m not Islamic, so I really hope I was able to do this topic justice.
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