Hajj - Pilgrimage of a lifetime

Dhul Ḥijjah (the 12th month of the Islamic Calendar) is a very important time of the year for Muslims. The first ten days of this blessed month have been especially favored by Allah over any other days throughout the year.

Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, the name given to the pilgrimage to Makkah, happens during this time. At Hajj, Muslims from all over the world gather to perform a special type of congregational worship. This includes the Days of Tarwiyah, An-Nahr and Arafat, and ends with the celebration of Eid-ul-Adha, the festival of sacrifice. Those Muslims who can afford it, must go for Hajj at least once in their lifetime. During the Hajj, there is a symbolic enactment of certain Islamic teachings, requiring both spiritual and material observance. The scale on which individual acts of Islamic worship take place during Hajj and their close combination produces an intensification of the overall effect. Individual pilgrims have a sense of belonging to a unified whole.  

Every year some Muslims are blessed with the opportunity to answer the call of Allah and perform Ḥajj, while others remain behind. However Allah, the Most Kind and Merciful, allows even the Muslims who remain behind to gain a share of the reward. Any worship and good deed that is performed in these first ten days is better and more beloved to Allah than all the other days of the world.