Another reasons why people may argue that Hajj is more about history than religion because there many rituals and practices that may support this. For instance the running between Sarwa and Marwa which is called Sa’y, this is performed by all pilgrims during Hajj. The history for performing Sa’y is because it commemorates for when Ibrahim’s second wife Hagar was stranded in the desert with her son Ibrahim. Her son was crying as he wanted water, so his mother ran between the hills of Sarwa and Marwa to search for water. Then where Ishmail kicked his foot as spring of water gushed out, this is known as Zam Zam water. Another example of a ritual which is performed in Hajj because it has originated from the history of Abraham would be the stoning of the devil. Muslims perform this when they are Mina; they stone three pillars which represents the stoning of the devil. This ritual originated from the time of Ibrahim, where by Allah asked him to sacrifice his son Ishmail, three times in a form of a man the Satan occurred to prevent him from sacrificing his son. Therefore there are many rituals and practices which are performed in Hajj which originate from the past, which is classed as history.
However many people may argue the Hajj as being more about religion, this is because it is the fifth pillar in Islam which must be performed by all Muslims if they can afford to. Being a pillar of Islam makes it religious as it has to be performed by all Muslims as part of their faith as it set by Allah so that all Muslims perform it. This consequently can be argued for Hajj to be a religious practice.
Another reason why Hajj can be seen as being religious is because when pilgrims go to Hajj they go to cleanse and purify themselves. The purpose of going to Hajj is to improve you spiritually, physically and mentally. Hajj spiritually brings you closer to God and become more God conscious. Hajj physically makes you feel cleansed and finally mentally you feel stronger, this therefore can be another point for why Hajj can be argued to be religious.
Hajj is a religious place for Muslims as this was the central place for the Muslim community, as this was were Islam officially emerged. Muslims believe that Muhammad (PBUH) was born in Arabia which makes it holy land. Also Mount Arafat is a sacred place as this was where Muslims believe Adam and Eve were reunited, also on this Mount the great flood stopped and finally this was were the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) gave his last sermon.
In conclusion I conclude that Hajj can be equally argued religious as well as being about history. This is because there are many religious factors about Hajj which are listed above, however Hajj can also be about history as there are historical features such as how the Kabbah was formed.
