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Muslim Hajj Step by Step Guide
Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. It is obligatory to visit the House of Allah, Kaba al- muazzama, in the sacred mosque of Masajid-i-Haram in Saudia Arabia, once in a lifetime provided a Muslim can physically and financially afford to undertake the journey. It is a spiritual journey of a lifetime. Millions of Muslims, men and women, old and young from the four corners of the earth, make the pilgrimage to Makkah every year. In carrying out this obligation, they have only on purpose in mind – to seek the pleasure of the Lord of the Heaven and the Earth, Allah.
The pilgrim proclaims: Here I am, O God, at Thy Command! Here I am at Thy Command! Thou art without associate; Here I am at Thy Command! Thine are praise and grace and dominion! Thou art without associate.
In respect of the obligation to perform Hajj, the Holy Qur’an states: "And Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) to the House (Ka`bah) is a duty that mankind owes to Allah, those who can afford the expenses … [3:97]
“The pilgrimage shall take place in the months appointed for it. And whoever undertakes the pilgrimage in those [months] shall, while on pilgrimage, abstain from lewd speech, from all wicked conduct, and from quarrelling; and whatever good you may do, God is aware of it. And make provision for yourselves – but, verily, the best of all provisions is God-consciousness: remain, then, conscious of Me, O you who are endowed with insight.” [2:197]
There are many ahadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) which note the importance of performing Hajj. On such hadith notes:
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Whoever performs Hajj (pilgrimage) and does not engage in marital relations (with his wife), nor commits sin, nor disputes unjustly (during Hajj), then he returns from Hajj as pure and free from sins as on the day on which his mother gave birth to him.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
The following is a brief guide pertaining to the five days when the ritual of Hajj is performed.
8th Dhul-Hijja
On the eighth day of Dhul-Hijja, a pilgrim purifies himself by bathing and he or she then makes the intention to enter into a state of Ihram. A Muslim male is to put on his two white sheets of cloth, Ihram, and proclaim “Labbayka": "Here I am, oh Allah, here I am. Here I am. You have no partner. Here I am. Surely all praise, grace and dominion is yours, and you have no partners." A pilgrim then goes to the outskirts of Makkah, known as Mina and there prays Dhuhr, Asr, Magrib, Isha and Fajr.
9th Dhul-Hijja
When the sun rises on the ninth day of Dhul-Hijja, he goes to the plane of Arafah and there prays Dhuhr and Asr combined at the time of Dhuhr, making each one two units. This is really a day to be spend out in the open, and the ritual during this day is called wuquf, "standing” and glorifying Allah and seeking forgiveness from Allah. Amongst the many prayers (dua’), the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed thus: "There is no Deity but Allah alone. He has no partner. All dominion and praise are His and He is powerful over all things.”
At sunset he goes from Arafah to Muzdalifah and there prays Magrib and Isha combined, despite the fact that the time for Magrib would have started in Arafah. But because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) left Arafah at sunset and prayed Magrib and ‘Isha combined in Muzdalifah, a Muslim is to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The Muslim should try to spend this night in the remembrance of Allah as much as possible.
10th Dhul-Hijja
The Fajr prayer is performed in Muzdalifah.
Near sunrise, a pilgrim goes from Muzdalifah to Mina. In Mina different duties await the hajji on the 10thof Dhul-Hijja. Upon reaching Mina, he does the following:
* 7 stones, pebbles, that would have been gathered in Muzdalifa the day before are thrown by each hajji at Jamrah Al-Aqaba which is the closest monument to Makkah. The Jamrahs are pillars that represent the power of Satan. At this place, Satan appeared before Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) when he was on his way to sacrifice his son Prophet Isma’il (peace be upon him). While throwing these pebbles, the hajji says: "Allah is the Greatest," and believes that he is overcoming his inner-self and throwing pebbles at his inner Satan. The chanting of "labbayka" comes to an end around this time.
* He slaughters the sacrificial animal. Nowadays hajjis do not kill the animal themselves, but professional butchers do it and Saudi authorities take care of it.
* He shaves or clips his hair; shaving is preferable and is the sunah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). A woman clips her hair the length of a finger-tip.
After having performed the above obligations, a hajji is allowed to come out of the state of Ihram. He can wear other clothing and do everything that was lawful before Ihram except engaging in marital relations. He goes to Makkah to perform Tawaf-i-Ziyarat and Sa’yi between the mounts of Safa and Marwah. With the completion of this Tawaf and Sa’yi, a pilgrim is allowed to do everything that was lawful before Ihram. After performing Tawaf and Sa’yi, he returns to Mina to spend the nights of the eleventh and twelfth days there.
11th -12th Dhul-Hijja
These two days Rami (stoning the satan pillars) is performed. He stones the three Jamrah in the afternoon of both the eleventh and twelfth days. He starts with the first Jamrah, which is furthest from Makkah, then the middle one, and lastly Jamrah Al-Aqaba. Each one should be stoned with seven consecutive pebbles accompanied by Takbeer (“"Allah is the Greatest,"). He stops after the first and middle Jamrah to make supplications to Allah. It is not permissible to stone before noon on these two days. However, due to the large crowd, stoning can be done after the Maghrib prayer till dawn.
If a hajji manages to perform stoning on the twelfth day, he can leave Mina before sunset. However, it is best to prolong his stay and spend the night of the thirteenth in Mina and stone that afternoon in the same manner as on the twelfth day.
When a hajji is ready to leave the city of Mecca, he should make Tawaf Al-Wadaa (the Tawaaf of Farewell), seven circuits around the Ka’bah.
This is a very short introduction to performing Hajj. For detailed information, please do consult either a Muslim scholar or a guidebook on Hajj.
The pilgrim proclaims: Here I am, O God, at Thy Command! Here I am at Thy Command! Thou art without associate; Here I am at Thy Command! Thine are praise and grace and dominion! Thou art without associate.
In respect of the obligation to perform Hajj, the Holy Qur’an states: "And Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah) to the House (Ka`bah) is a duty that mankind owes to Allah, those who can afford the expenses … [3:97]
“The pilgrimage shall take place in the months appointed for it. And whoever undertakes the pilgrimage in those [months] shall, while on pilgrimage, abstain from lewd speech, from all wicked conduct, and from quarrelling; and whatever good you may do, God is aware of it. And make provision for yourselves – but, verily, the best of all provisions is God-consciousness: remain, then, conscious of Me, O you who are endowed with insight.” [2:197]
There are many ahadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) which note the importance of performing Hajj. On such hadith notes:
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Whoever performs Hajj (pilgrimage) and does not engage in marital relations (with his wife), nor commits sin, nor disputes unjustly (during Hajj), then he returns from Hajj as pure and free from sins as on the day on which his mother gave birth to him.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
The following is a brief guide pertaining to the five days when the ritual of Hajj is performed.
8th Dhul-Hijja
On the eighth day of Dhul-Hijja, a pilgrim purifies himself by bathing and he or she then makes the intention to enter into a state of Ihram. A Muslim male is to put on his two white sheets of cloth, Ihram, and proclaim “Labbayka": "Here I am, oh Allah, here I am. Here I am. You have no partner. Here I am. Surely all praise, grace and dominion is yours, and you have no partners." A pilgrim then goes to the outskirts of Makkah, known as Mina and there prays Dhuhr, Asr, Magrib, Isha and Fajr.
9th Dhul-Hijja
When the sun rises on the ninth day of Dhul-Hijja, he goes to the plane of Arafah and there prays Dhuhr and Asr combined at the time of Dhuhr, making each one two units. This is really a day to be spend out in the open, and the ritual during this day is called wuquf, "standing” and glorifying Allah and seeking forgiveness from Allah. Amongst the many prayers (dua’), the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed thus: "There is no Deity but Allah alone. He has no partner. All dominion and praise are His and He is powerful over all things.”
At sunset he goes from Arafah to Muzdalifah and there prays Magrib and Isha combined, despite the fact that the time for Magrib would have started in Arafah. But because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) left Arafah at sunset and prayed Magrib and ‘Isha combined in Muzdalifah, a Muslim is to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The Muslim should try to spend this night in the remembrance of Allah as much as possible.
10th Dhul-Hijja
The Fajr prayer is performed in Muzdalifah.
Near sunrise, a pilgrim goes from Muzdalifah to Mina. In Mina different duties await the hajji on the 10thof Dhul-Hijja. Upon reaching Mina, he does the following:
* 7 stones, pebbles, that would have been gathered in Muzdalifa the day before are thrown by each hajji at Jamrah Al-Aqaba which is the closest monument to Makkah. The Jamrahs are pillars that represent the power of Satan. At this place, Satan appeared before Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) when he was on his way to sacrifice his son Prophet Isma’il (peace be upon him). While throwing these pebbles, the hajji says: "Allah is the Greatest," and believes that he is overcoming his inner-self and throwing pebbles at his inner Satan. The chanting of "labbayka" comes to an end around this time.
* He slaughters the sacrificial animal. Nowadays hajjis do not kill the animal themselves, but professional butchers do it and Saudi authorities take care of it.
* He shaves or clips his hair; shaving is preferable and is the sunah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). A woman clips her hair the length of a finger-tip.
After having performed the above obligations, a hajji is allowed to come out of the state of Ihram. He can wear other clothing and do everything that was lawful before Ihram except engaging in marital relations. He goes to Makkah to perform Tawaf-i-Ziyarat and Sa’yi between the mounts of Safa and Marwah. With the completion of this Tawaf and Sa’yi, a pilgrim is allowed to do everything that was lawful before Ihram. After performing Tawaf and Sa’yi, he returns to Mina to spend the nights of the eleventh and twelfth days there.
11th -12th Dhul-Hijja
These two days Rami (stoning the satan pillars) is performed. He stones the three Jamrah in the afternoon of both the eleventh and twelfth days. He starts with the first Jamrah, which is furthest from Makkah, then the middle one, and lastly Jamrah Al-Aqaba. Each one should be stoned with seven consecutive pebbles accompanied by Takbeer (“"Allah is the Greatest,"). He stops after the first and middle Jamrah to make supplications to Allah. It is not permissible to stone before noon on these two days. However, due to the large crowd, stoning can be done after the Maghrib prayer till dawn.
If a hajji manages to perform stoning on the twelfth day, he can leave Mina before sunset. However, it is best to prolong his stay and spend the night of the thirteenth in Mina and stone that afternoon in the same manner as on the twelfth day.
When a hajji is ready to leave the city of Mecca, he should make Tawaf Al-Wadaa (the Tawaaf of Farewell), seven circuits around the Ka’bah.
This is a very short introduction to performing Hajj. For detailed information, please do consult either a Muslim scholar or a guidebook on Hajj.
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