Fiqh
The Hajj, day by day
The pilgrimage to Makkah
6 min, Intro
The Hajj is the pilgrimage every Muslim who is able must make once. It takes place over five days in the month of Dhul-Hijjah, and it retraces the story of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael.
Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
The thread
Once in a lifetime, every Muslim who is able must make the pilgrimage to Makkah. This lesson follows the pilgrims day by day through Dhul-Hijjah: into ihram, onto the plain of 'Arafah, to the stones and the sacrifice, and around the Ka'bah. The Hajj retraces the story of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael.
Ihram: everyone the same
The Hajj starts before the city. Before reaching Makkah, pilgrims enter ihram, a state of consecration, with an intention and a ghusl.
Men wear two unstitched white sheets. Women wear simple, modest everyday clothing. Rich and poor can no longer be told apart.
In ihram, pilgrims avoid perfume, cutting hair or nails, hunting, marital relations and quarrelling. They repeat the talbiyah: "Here I am, O God, here I am."
ٱلۡحَجُّ أَشۡهُرࣰ مَّعۡلُومَٰتࣰۚ فَمَن فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ ٱلۡحَجَّ فَلَا رَفَثَ وَلَا فُسُوقَ وَلَا جِدَالَ فِي ٱلۡحَجِّۗ وَمَا تَفۡعَلُواْ مِنۡ خَيۡرࣲ يَعۡلَمۡهُ ٱللَّهُۗ وَتَزَوَّدُواْ فَإِنَّ خَيۡرَ ٱلزَّادِ ٱلتَّقۡوَىٰۖ وَٱتَّقُونِ يَٰٓأُوْلِي ٱلۡأَلۡبَٰبِ ١٩٧
197 The pilgrimage is in known months. Whoever commits himself to perform the pilgrimage, there should be no intimacy, foul language, and arguments during the pilgrimage. Whatever good you do, Allah is aware of it. And take provisions for the journey, but the best provision is righteousness. So fear Me, O people of understanding.
Two white sheets erase every rank.
The day of 'Arafah
Now the pilgrims, in ihram, begin to move. On the 8th of Dhul-Hijjah they go to Mina, a valley of tents.
On the 9th they move to the plain of 'Arafah. There they stand in prayer and repentance from after midday until sunset. This standing is the heart of the Hajj. Missing it means missing the Hajj itself.
After sunset they move to Muzdalifah. They pray, sleep under the sky, and collect small pebbles.
The heart of Hajj is a day of standing and asking.
Stones, sacrifice and Eid
On the 10th, pilgrims throw seven pebbles at the largest pillar in Mina, recalling Abraham's rejection of Satan's temptation.
Most sacrifice an animal, as Abraham sacrificed a ram in place of his son. In the Hanafi school it is required of those who combine Hajj with 'Umrah.
Then men shave or shorten their hair, and women cut a lock. Most of the restrictions of ihram end.
That same day, far beyond Mina, Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha. They sacrifice animals and share the meat with family, neighbours and the poor.
لَن يَنَالَ ٱللَّهَ لُحُومُهَا وَلَا دِمَآؤُهَا وَلَٰكِن يَنَالُهُ ٱلتَّقۡوَىٰ مِنكُمۡۚ كَذَٰلِكَ سَخَّرَهَا لَكُمۡ لِتُكَبِّرُواْ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمۡۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ ٣٧
37 It is neither their flesh nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is your piety that reaches Him. This is how He has subjected them to you, so that you may proclaim Allah’s greatness for having guided you. And give glad tidings to those who do good.
One day's sacrifice, shared with the whole world.
Around the Ka'bah, in Hagar's footsteps
Then the pilgrims come to the Ka'bah. They perform tawaf al-ifadah, circling it seven times anticlockwise.
Next is sa'i, walking seven times between the low hills of Safa and Marwah. Here the story is Hagar's. Sa'i retraces her desperate search for water for her infant son, which Muslims believe ended with the spring of Zamzam.
On the 11th and 12th, and the 13th for those who stay, they remain in Mina and stone all three pillars each day. Then they make a farewell tawaf before leaving Makkah.
۞ إِنَّ ٱلصَّفَا وَٱلۡمَرۡوَةَ مِن شَعَآئِرِ ٱللَّهِۖ فَمَنۡ حَجَّ ٱلۡبَيۡتَ أَوِ ٱعۡتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيۡهِ أَن يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَاۚ وَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيۡرࣱا فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَاكِرٌ عَلِيمٌ ١٥٨
158 Indeed, Safa and Marwah [mounts] are among the symbols of Allah. So whoever performs the pilgrimage or ‘Umra, there is no blame upon him to go between them. And whoever does good voluntarily, then Allah is All-Appreciative, All-Knowing.
Millions retrace the steps of one mother's search.