PowerPoint Presentation The Pilgrimage

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The Hajj
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The Pilgrimage

• -The 5th and last pillar of Islam (all Muslims
  should participate, either sex, if you have the
  material means)
• -The pilgrimage is called the Hajj (al Hajj).
  Held on the 8th-12 day of Dhul-Hajj (12th month
  of Muslim calendar)

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Departure for Arafat The holy mountain of
Islam, 13 miles from Mecca
The believer, upon arrival to Mecca, must cleanse
himself by removing his usual clothing and
dressing in white robes (Ihram) made of unsewn
material. He must follow the major
prohibitionsno hunting, sex, obscenity, or
wickedness.
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Preparation for Arafat (continued) The pilgrim
circles the Kaaba 7 times (counterclockwise) on
foot (tawaf). Finally, the pilgrim must undertake
a seven-fold running-(say) between Safa and
Marwa-two small hills (hillocks).
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This represents the passage to and fro when
Hagar, in panic had to find water for her son
Ishmael. To keep him from certain death, Allah
made a spring of fresh water gush up in front of
her near the mataf, the path around the kaaba,
where a large portico, recalling the race run
by Hagar, marks the entrance today. This water
is called Zamzam. The pilgrims take some home in
little jars known as zamzamiyat.


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SAY
The sa'y (or "running") commemorates Hagar's
search for water to quench Ishmael's thirst. She
ran back and forth seven times between two rocky
hillocks, al-Safa and al-Marwah and found the
sacred water known as Zamzam. The area has been
developed into a covered portico and even has
narrow passageways set aside for those in
wheelchairs
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Standing on Arafat
The pilgrims gather in Arafat and pray to God
throughout the day. Standing on Arafat the 9th
day of Dhul-Hajja is important it recalls the
last public act of Muhammadhe gave his
Pilgrimage of Farewell speech to explain he had
perfected/completed the religion for them. After
sunset, the pilgrims leave Arafat and head for
Mina. (3 ½ miles from Mecca) At the halfway
points, they stop at Muzdalifa and spend the
night.
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Arafat Mount of Mercy
Waqfa - pilgrims dressed in 'ihram', a garment
made of two seamless white sheets or towels
symbolizing purity and equality, perform the
ritual of waqfa (standing before Allah) at the
Mount of Mercy
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Muzdalifa
Day of sacrifice
This is practiced throughout the Muslim world in
homage to the act of Abraham who, tested by God,
almost sacrificed his eldest son Ishmael
(contrary to the story in GenesisIsaac) God,
in His great leniency, having dispatched the
Angel Gabriel, substituted a sheep for the
childwhich has been used ever since in this
ritual. (this is what the most traditional
interpreted of the Quran maintains).
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Ishmael is considered an ancestor of the Bedouin
Arabs and the father of their nation. It is
believed that Ishmael helped his father, when he
saw that the Holy Temple Kaaba was crumbling,
rebuild it.
Hajjis spend one night camped at
Muzdalifa between Arafat and Mina
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Day of meditation (sometimes continues the
following 2 days). An ancestral and obligatory
ritestoning of Satan with stones gathered the
previous day in Muzdalifa. The devil is
symbolized by 3 upright slabs. Next the pilgrim
sacrifices all or part of his hair thus ridding
himself of all of the taboos which still bind him.
Journey to Mina
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Stoning of Satan
Crowds at the small town of Mina cast pebbles at
pillars that symbolize evil