10 facts to know about Haj, a religious duty performed by Muslims

New Delhi, Oct 25: Haj in Arabic means "pilgrimage". It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in a lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. Haj is a demonstration of solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to Allah (God). The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th day to the 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar used in the Western world, the Gregorian date of the Haj changes from year to year. Ihram is the name given to the special spiritual state in which Muslims live while on pilgrimage. Haj is associated with the life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) from the 7th century, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years to the time of Abraham (Ibrahim). Pilgrims join processions of hundreds of thousands of people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Haj, and perform a series of rituals: each person walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped building which acts as the Muslim direction of prayer, runs back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, drinks from the Zamzam Well, goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, and throws stones at the Devil in a ritual. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, and celebrate the three day global festival of Eid al-Adha. Haj is based on a pilgrimage that was ancient even in the time of Muhammad in the 7th century. According to Hadith, elements of the Haj trace back to the time of Abraham (Ibrahim), around 2000 BCE. Abraham's wife, Sarah, was unable to conceive, and upon her request, Abraham had taken their female servant, Hagar, as a second wife. Hagar bore Abraham a son, Ishmael. It is believed that Abraham was ordered by God to leave Hagar (Hājar) and Ishmael alone in the desert. Looking for shelter, food and water, Hagar ran back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwa seven times with her son. In desperation, she laid the baby on the sand and begged for God's assistance. The baby cried and hit the ground with his heel (some versions of the story say that the angel Gabriel (Jibral) scraped his foot or the tip of his wing along the ground), and the Zamzam Well miraculously sprang forth. Upon arrival in Mecca the pilgrim, now known as a Haji, performs a series of ritual acts symbolic of the lives of Ibrahim (or Abraham in English) and his wife Hajar (or Hagar in English). The acts also symbolize the solidarity of Muslims worldwide.