The Hajj

We attended a "Coffee Morning" at the Islamic Cultural Centre yesterday, a once-monthly event for women that focuses on an aspect of Qatari culture. The Hajj refers to one of the five pillars of Islam. Specifically it refers to the journey to Makkah (to Mecca) that all Islams are required to make at least once during their lifetime if they are able and only if they are free of debt. The other four pillars are:

Shadadah: declaring that there is no god except God and Muhammad, God's messenger
Salah: praying five times a day
Sawn: fasting during the month of Ramadan
Zakat: giving 2.5% of one's earnings to the poor

Yesterday's talk was very interesting. The speaker, a Qatari woman, has done the hajj four times during her lifetime. She was joined by a woman originally from Tennessee who converted to Islam when she was 20 and has also completed the hajj. For Muslims, two of the holiest pilgrimage sites, Mecca and Medina and located in Saudi Arabia, the country where Islam was revealed. The third pilgrimage site is in Jerusalem.

Making the pilgrimage to Mecca used to be done by overland caravan and it could take people their entire lives to get there. We heard the story of one man who left for Mecca as a single man and arrived a married man of seven. Another man started the journey to Mecca as a child and completed it during his 70s. Muslims who complete the journey to Mecca have earned the right to be known as hajji (male) or hajjia (female) and it's not uncommon to see art work displayed on the homes of those who have recently completed the journey.

So important is the journey to Makkah, there is a channel on TV here that broadcasts a live image of the mosque there 24 hours a day.

The black box in the centre of the mosque is a one-room building of worship called the Ka'aba and while Muslims don't worship the box itself it is the focal point of Muslim prayer. It is believed by Muslims to be the first house of monotheistic worship in the world and dates back over 1,000 years.

When Muslims pray five times a day they must always pray toward the Ka-aba.  Hotels and prayer rooms here will have signs telling people in which direction to pray, and of course nowadays there is also an app for your phone. The mosque in Makkah is the only mosque in the world where Muslims pray inward.

When making the hajj, clothing plays a very important role. Muslims must shed all signs of wealth and rank and enter a state of purity where everyone is an equal. Men wear a simple white garment and women wear a simple dress. Once in Makkah, there are many rituals that are performed as part of the Hajj but they are too numerous to mention here.

Due to the large number of Muslims in the world, Saudia Arabia restricts the number of visitors who are granted Hajj visas. Last year, only 500 people from Qatar were able to go.