What is the hajj?

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The hajj, 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.

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What is the hajj:
Hajj is the annual pilgrimage that Muslims make to Mecca with the intention of performing certain religious rites as taught by the Prophet Mohammad to his followers 14 centuries ago. The hajj is mandatory once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it.

A pilgrimage:
About two million people go to Mecca each year from every corner of the globe providing a unique opportunity for those of different nations to meet one another. The annual hajj begins in the twelfth month of the Islamic year (which is lunar, not solar, so that hajj and the fasting month of Ramadan fall sometimes in summer, sometimes in winter). Pilgrims wear special clothes: simple garments which strip away distinctions of class and culture, so that all stand equal before God. Men wear two white unsewn sheets, women, a simple robe.

Rituals of the hajj:
A number of rituals are performed, including the stoning of a pillar symbolising the devil, erected where Muslims believe the devil appeared to the Prophet Abraham.

Pilgrims later visit the Grand Mosque, which houses a large black stone monolith called the Kaaba - a relic of Abraham's original shrine.
Praying all the while, the pilgrims circle the Kaaba seven times and walk or run between the two sacred hills of Safa and Marwa inside the huge mosque seven times.

The close of the hajj is marked by the Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, celebrated with prayers and the slaughtering of hundreds of thousands of cows, sheep and camels on behalf of pilgrims.

The sacrifice symbolises God's last-minute command to Abraham to slaughter a sheep instead of his son Ismail, according to the Muslim holy book, the Koran. It says God wanted to test Abraham's faith when he ordered him to cut the throat of his son. Most of the meat is distributed later to needy people in dozens of Muslim countries.

Muslims believe pilgrims, called 'guests of God' in the Quran, return home from the hajj as pure as the day they were born.

This, and the Eid al-Fitr, a feast-day commemorating the end of Ramadan, are the main festivals of the Muslim calendar.

Sources:http://www.islamicity.comand Reuters copy