XXII.—HAJJ, OR PILGRIMAGE TO
MECCA.[1]
Hajj, or Pilgrimage to Mecca, is the fifth of the five foundations of practice. It is said, by Muhammad, to be of Divine institution, and has the authority of the Qurán for its observance.[2] Its performance is incumbent upon those men and women who have sufficient means to meet the expenses of the journey, and to maintain their families at home during their absence.
The ceremonies observed on this occasion are so ridiculous that they do more to reveal the imposture of Muhammad than any other part of his system. They are, even by the confession of Muhammadans themselves, the relicts of the idolatrous superstitions of ancient Arabia; and they are either evidences of the dark and superstitious character of Muhammad's mind, or, what is perhaps even more probable, they show how far the "Prophet" found it suit his purpose to compromise with the heathen Arabians of his day. The merits of the pilgrimage are so great, that every step taken in the direction of the Kʾaba blots out a sin; and he who dies on his way to Mecca is enrolled on the list of martyrs.
However ingeniously the apologists of Islám may offer excuses for some of the weak points of Muhammad's religious system, and endeavour to shield the "Prophet of Arabia" from the grave and solemn charge of having "forged the name of God," the pilgrimage to Mecca can admit of no satisfactory solution. In its institution the false prophet layeth open his own folly, for in the ridiculous ceremonies of the Hajj, we see the law-giver, whose professed mission it was to uproot the idolatry of Arabia, giving one of its superstitious customs the authority of a Divine enactment. The pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the numerous inconsistencies of Muhammad's pretended revelation.
The following is the orthodox way of performing the pilgrimage, founded upon the example of the "Prophet" himself.
Upon the pilgrim's arrival at the last stage[3] near Mecca, he bathes himself, and performs two rakʾat prayers, and then divesting himself of his clothes, he assumes the pilgrim's sacred robe, which is called Ihrám. This garment consists of two seamless wrappers, one being wrapped round the waist, and the other thrown loosely over the shoulder, the head being left uncovered. Sandals may also be worn, but not shoes or boots. After he has assumed the pilgrim's garb, he must not anoint his head, shave any part of his body, pare his nails, nor wear any other garment than the Ihrám. Immediately on his arrival at Mecca he performs the legal ablutions, and proceeds to the Musjid-ul-Harám, or Sacred Mosque, and kisses the Hajr-ul-aswad, or the black stone, and then encompasses the Kʾaba[4] seven times. This act, which is called Tawáf, is performed by commencing on the right and leaving the Kʾaba on the left. The circuits are made thrice with a quick step or run, and four times at a slow pace.[5] He then proceeds to the Maqám-i-Ibrahím (the place of the prophet Abraham) and performs two rakʾat prayers, after which he returns to the black stone and kisses it. He then goes to the gate of the temple leading to Mount Safá, and from it ascends the hill and runs from the summit of Mount Safá to that of Mount Marwah seven times! On the top of the hill he remains for a few moments, and raising his hands heavenwards supplicates the Almighty.
On the eighth day, which is called Tarwíah, he unites with his fellow-pilgrims at Miná in the usual services of the Muslim ritual, and stays the night.
After morning prayer he rushes to Mount ʾArifát, where, having said two rakʾat prayers with the Imám and heard the Khútbah (or oration), he remains until sunset. He then proceeds to Muzdalífah, and having said the sunset and night prayers, he stays the night at that place.
The next morning, which is the ʾId-ul-Azhá, or great feast, he comes to three places in Miná, marked by three pillars called Jamra. At each of these pillars he picks up seven small stones, or pebbles, and having said some particular prayer over each pebble and blown upon it, he throws it at one of the pillars. This ceremony is called Rami-ul-Jamár, or the throwing of pebbles.
He then proceeds to the place of sacrifice at Miná, and performs the usual sacrifice of the ʾId-ul-Azhá; after this sacrifice he gets himself shaved, and his nails pared. The pilgrim garb is then removed and the pilgrimage is ended, although he should rest at Mecca the three following days, which are called the Ayyám-ut-Tashríq, or the days of drying up the blood of the sacrifice. These are three days of well earned rest after the vigorous peripatetic performances of the last four days.
The pilgrimage must be performed on three days of the month of Zul Hijja, namely from the seventh to the tenth; a visit to Mecca at any other time has not the merit of a pilgrimage.
Before he leaves Mecca the pilgrim should once more perform the circuits round the Kʾaba, and throw stones at the sacred pillars, each seven times.
He then proceeds to Medina, and makes his salutations at the Shrine of Muhammad. The Wahhábis do not perform the last act, as it is contrary to their principles to visit shrines.
The Musulmán who has performed the pilgrimage is called Hájí.
The Kʾaba is also called the Qibla, or the direction to which Muslims are to pray. Mosques are, therefore, always erected Qibla-wards. At the commencement of Islám, the Qibla was Jerusalem; but when Muhammad failed to conciliate the Jews to his prophetic pretensions, he made the Kʾaba the Qibla, or the direction in which to pray.
The pilgrimage cannot be performed by proxy, as some English authors have stated, although it is considered a meritorious act to pay the expenses of one who cannot afford to perform it. But if a Muhammadan on his death-bed bequeath a sum of money to be paid to a certain person to perform the pilgrimage, it is considered to satisfy the claims of the Muslim law. If a Muslim have the means of performing the pilgrimage, and omit to do so, its omission is equal to a kabíra, or mortal sin.
- ↑ Only three Englishmen are known to have visited Mecca, and to have witnessed the ceremonies of the Pilgrimage:—Joseph Pitts, of Exeter, A.D. 1678; John Lewis Burckhardt, A.D. 1814; Lieut. Richard Burton, of the Bombay Army, A.D. 1853. The narratives of each of these "pilgrims" have been published. The first account in English of the visit of a European to Mecca, is that of Lodovico Bartema, a gentleman of Rome, who visited Mecca in 1503. His narrative was published in Willes and Eden's Decades, A.D. 1555.
- ↑ Vide Qurán, Sura xxii. 28.
- ↑ These are six in number, and are situated about five or six miles from Mecca in different directions. They are called Míqát.
- ↑ Some confusion exists in the minds of English authors with regard to the word Kʾaba. The Temple or Mosque at Mecea is called Musjid-ul-Harám (the sacred Mosque), or Bait-ullah (the house of God). The Kʾaba (lit. a cube) is the square stone building in the centre, containing the black stone. And the Hajr-ul-aswad is the black stone itself, which Muslims say was originally white, but became black by reason of men's sins.
- ↑ Sharastani informs us, that there was an opinion prevalent amongst the Arabs that the walking round the Kʾaba, and other ceremonies, were symbolic of the motion of the planets, and of other astronomical facts. (Rodwell.)