On the first day the Pilgrims travel to Mina. Here there are over 2 million muslims staying in huge tents shared with people of all nationalities, because of this extraordinarily high concentration of tents and people, Mina has come to be known as ‘Tent City’. Once at Mina, the Muslims pray regulaly to bring themselves closer to their God. Later on in their pilgrimage they will retrurn here to throw stones at three walls called Jamarat, in Mina, east of Mecca. Pebbles to throw are usualy collected from Muzdalifah, the night before the ritual. The ritual originates from when Abraham was on his pilgrimage, when a devil appeared before him and Gabrielle told Abraham to ‘pelt him’ with stones, so he did and the devil disappeared. The first pillar represents stopping Abraham from sacraficeing his son, the second represents the temptations of Abraham’s wife and the third represents Ishmael (Abraham’s son) to avoid being sacraficed himself. These are the three times that the devil challenged Abraham and each time Abraham refused. All together they represent the devil and the temptations and challenges that Muslims must refuse in their lives. In stoning the pillars they are making them disappear like when Abraham threw the stones at the devil and he disappeared. After the stoning has taken place, each Muslim must make an animal sacrafice, but because times have changed since Abraham first travelled the pilgrimage, the Hajji does not have to complete or oversee the slaughter, but can pay a company to make the sacrafice for them. The sacrafice represents Abraham’s willingness to sacrafice his own son for God, and the Muslims’ sacrafice shows their devotion to their religion like Abraham’s. Once the sacrafice is completed, the Hajji then shaves their head bare, or if female, one can cut a small lock of hair from their head. This symoblizes renunciation, it represents being willing to give up anything for god. Allah is believed to have said: ‘truly did Allah fulfil the vision for His Messenger: ye shall enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, with minds secure, heads shaved, hair cut short, and without fear.’ (Al-Fath 48:27). After this ritual is carried out, they are then able to stop wearing their white robes.
Lastly, the Muslims return to the Ka’bah to circle the shrine in a farewell ritual, this symolizes the unity of the global Islamic community, as they all circle the shrine harmoniously in a anti-clockwise direction all worshiping one god.
b)ii) Millions of Muslims flock to the city of Mecca to perform Hajj every year, and despite it’s size the density if the people performing the pilgrimage is extremely high. The first and most obvious problem is the risk of Muslims getting trampled in the vast crowds. An example of this, was on the 12 January 2006 when an estimated 345 Hajjis were killed and many more injured after a stampede broke out, one witness of the tragedy was Abdullah Pulig, an Indian street-cleaner, who described the chaos, "I saw people moving and suddenly I heard crying, shouting, wailing. I looked around and people were piling on each other. They started pulling dead people from the crowd". These stampedes that lead to the deaths can be caused by anything, they are completely unpredictable and unstoppable making it extremely hard for the government to prevent it from happening. Despite this they have made changes to increase the safety of the Hajjis and decrease the risk of stampedes, one way they have done this is by undertaking major construction work in the area of the Jamarat Bridge, where more entrances, foot bridges and emergency exits were built. Also, the three tall pillars that were used in the stoning process to represent the devil were exchanged with two very large walls to allow more Muslims to get simultaneous access and prevent the jostling and hostilities that went on within the masses of people to get a better position.
Money is also an issue for some Muslims who have to travel from all over the world, the Islamic faith being an international religion. Some believers will find it hard to cope with the costs if they are living in poorer countries and may force them to have to cut down on luxuries or even necessities in order to afford the travel there.
Another difficulty that Hajjis may face while on Hajj is getting their required access to food and water. It is very hard for the Saudi officials to make sure that everyone taking part in the pilgrimage has a sufficient supply of food and water, considering the huge amounts of people there. Another factor that makes this even more important is the extreme temperatures that the Hajjis face especially on Mount Arafat and on the dessert near Mina where the Muslims must complete the ritual known as ‘The Stand’ which involves the Muslims standing out in the blistering heat from sunrise to sunset with no time to rest or relax. These could make it hard for Muslims to get hold of the amount of water that their body needs to stay healthy, but, thanks to good organisation of the pilgrimage by the officials, the lack of food and water is rare.
The sun can also cause other problems that have the effect of making a Muslim taking part in the Pilgrimage very ill, an example of these conditions are sun burn, swelling and fever, sun stroke, sun exhaustion, weakness and dehydration. All of these conditions are very serious, especially when on Mount Arafat or other more remote places where medical help may not be as near.
Hajjis may also face the risk of getting lost or separated from their group. In large crowds such as at the Ka’bah or at the stoning of the devil, it can be very easy to lose track of your family or friends and the process of finding them could be very long considering the millions of people that could stand between the separated parties.
The densely populated area could also be a breeding ground for diseases to spread. Despite the fact that ill Muslims are advised against going on Hajj if they are not in good health, the pilgrimage it so important to Muslims that for some, illness will not stand in between them and the once in a life time occasion that is Hajj. The living conditions, especially in Mina where Muslims are crammed into tents with very little space of their own, also provide a problem in terms of health and disease which would spread rapidly if caused by these factors. Diseases transmitted in the blood stream could also pose a threat when the Hajjis have their heads shaved after their sacrifice. As shown on Channel 4’s documentary ‘Hajj: the journey of a life-time’, it is not at all rare when the barber cuts the Hajji’s head by accident, causing the blood of the Hajji to get onto the shaving knife; then, when this knife is used again it is likely to cut their head as well, passing on any blood transmitted infections, such as HIV or AIDS, to be passed from one Hajji to the next.
Another danger of Hajj is being hit by stones when the stoning of the devil ritual takes place. With thousands and thousands Muslims all throwing stones at these two walls, it would not be suprising if a throw was to go astray, and although they may not be very large, they are certainly big enough to blind someone.
The final difficulty that a Muslim performing Hajj my come across is the extreme fatigue that they may get. This can be caused by a number of things including being constantly on their feet, for example, walking around the Ka’bah and having a lack of sleep because of the hot, loud and cramped conditions in Mina.
b)iii) Hajj’s first affect on the participater will be felt when having to pay for the journey. The Islamic faith is celebrated all over the world in developedand more conomically stable countries like England, and also in less developd and more poverty affected countries such as parts of Africa and Asia. In this poorer coutries it is harder for the Muslims to save enough money to be able to afford the travel, herefore they will have to save for a long time, cutting down on luxuries and mabye even some basic living neccesities which could have a profound affect on the Muslims life leading up to Hajj.
Once arrived in Mecca the Hajjis will be put through a lot of proud, joyful and exited emotions having completed a life time ambition. The dress code of the ihram, may also change the way they live because it will give them a sence of everyones equality which could affect the way they treat people after the pilgrimage. The Ihram also gives the muslim a sence of their lack of need for the luxury items that they have at home because the Irham represents the sepreation from the materialistic life-style they may lead at home, as Serfraz Quijyum explains, ‘I have nothing in my pockets but I feel like the richest man in the world because my heart is full’. This may lead the Hajji to separate from their materialistic needs at home.
Also, being united with all the many millions of Muslims also taking part in Hajj at the same time in the same place will make them feel welcome and a sense of belonging to their religion which will be heightened after fulfilling the five pillars of Islam.
The Hajj will also change their life because they will feel free after being forgiven for all their sins, in Mina, this will allow the Muslim to return home and feel a big weight off their shoulders because they know that they no longer have to have any regret or guilt and they know that they will never sin again. Another wieght will be lifted off their shoulders because of the sense of fulfilment and acheivment having completed all five pillars of Islam, this is shown in the word given to a muslim doing or having done the Pilgrimage, Hajji, which translates as honerable pilgrim. This will lead to the Muslims having a better attitude towards life after returning from Hajj.
c) Firstly, I disagree with the statement ‘a true pilgrimage is a journey within’ because of the physical side to pilgrimages. For example, Hajj involves a lot of physically demending rituals such as walking at a fast past or even running if possible around the shrine in the centre of the Ka’bah temple, running or walking between the two hills of Safa and Marwah seven times and, on top of these, walking from Mecca to Mina to Muzdalifah to the Mount of Mercy and to the plain of Arafat and back again all in the blistering heat. This makes up the whole of the pilgrimage which argues that it is very much a physical jouney and therefore not within. Also, pilgrimages are arguably not ‘within’ because they always take place in or between holy palces, such as in Hajj where pilgrims travel between places of sacred value such as Mecca where the profit mohhamed was believed to be born and the two hills where Abraham was told by god to leave his wife, where she walked backwards nad forwarsd between the two hills in search of water, without the physical side the Hajjis would not be able to experience the trauma and suffering she had to face. Another argument for pilgrimages not being within is the physicals actions that define them, for example with Hajj when they stone the devil, this action of getting rid of all temptations towards sins is not in their head but instead expressed physically in the throwing of the stones. Finally, the very fact that a pilgrmage is the travelling between or to a holy place makes it not a jouney within but instaed a physical passage of elightenment.
On the other hand, it could be argued that a pilgrimage is a jouney within. One example that could be used to prove this is the purpose of pilgrimages. One exmaple of this is Muslims go on Hajj in order to get forgivness from their god for their sins, this is not something physical that they are in search of which adds to the evidence that a pilgrmage is a journey within. Also, if the Hajj was not a journey within it would have no affect on them, their life and the way they live, which is the complete opposite of what a pilgrimage is meant to be, therefore making it pointless and unneccisary. Despite the many physical challenges, all of the rituals that take place have their own, inside meaning, for example, wearing the Ihram may appear to be an open expression of faith but it is worn by the Hajjis to be a constant reminder of the ‘Day of Death’ and the ‘Day of Judgment’ which helps motivate them to do more good in their life and therefore become closer to Allah.
In conclusion I think that a pilgrimage is a journey within because it is a journey in search of nothing that is physical, having said this without the physical challenges the pilgrims would not be able to feel part of the hitorical background of the religion.
Bibliography
