This is an accepted version of this page Hajj (/hɑːdʒ/;[1] Arabic: حَجّ, romanized: Ḥajj; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia,[2] the holiest city for Muslims.

[3][4][5] In Islamic terminology, Hajj is a pilgrimage made to the Kaaba, the "House of Allah", in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

The Hajj is associated with the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century AD, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca stated in Muslim sources stretches back to the time of Abraham.

During Hajj, pilgrims join processions of millions of Muslim people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of pre-Islamic rituals (reformed by Muhammad): each person wears a single piece of unstitched white clothing (Ihram), walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba (a cube-shaped building and the direction of prayer for Muslims), kisses the black stone mounted on the corner wall of Kaaba, walks briskly back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwah seven times, then drinks from the Zamzam Well, goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, spends a night in the plain of Muzdalifa, and performs symbolic Stoning of the Devil by throwing stones at three pillars.

[21] The word in Arabic: حج ḥajj is similar to the Hebrew: חג ḥag, which means "festival", from the triliteral Semitic root ح-ج-ج.

According to Islamic tradition, Abraham was ordered by God to leave his wife Hajar and his son Ishmael alone in the desert of ancient Mecca.

[27] In AD 630, Muhammad led his followers from Medina to Mecca, cleansed the Kaaba by destroying all the pagan idols, and then consecrated the building to God.

[31] Hajj caravans, particularly with the advent of the Mamluk Sultanate and its successor, the Ottoman Empire, were escorted by a military force accompanied by physicians under the command of an amir al-hajj.

[35][36] Every year, the events of Hajj take place in a ten-day period, starting on 1 and ending on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah, the twelfth and last month of the Islamic calendar.

[51] While in ihram, males are required to wear two white seamless cloths, with one wrapped around the waist reaching below the knee and the other draped over the left shoulder and tied at the right side.

Other prohibitions include refraining from clipping nails, shaving any part of the body, having sexual relations; using perfumes, damaging plants, killing animals, covering the head (for men) or the face and hands (for women); getting married; or carrying weapons.

[52][page needed][56] The completion of Tawaf is followed by two Rakaat prayers at the Place of Abraham (Muqam Ibrahim), a site near the Kaaba inside the mosque.

[45] On 9th Dhu al-Hijjah before noon, pilgrims arrive at Arafat, a barren and plain land some 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Mecca,[64] where they stand in contemplative vigil: they offer supplications, repent on and atone for their past sins, and seek the mercy of God, and listen to the sermon from the Islamic scholars who deliver it from near Jabal al-Rahmah (The Mount of Mercy)[63] from where Muhammad is said to have delivered his last sermon.

Upon reaching there, pilgrims perform Maghrib and Isha prayer jointly, spend the night praying and sleeping on the ground with open sky, and gather pebbles for the next day's ritual of the stoning of the Devil (Shaytan).

[75] During their journey for Hajj, pilgrims traditionally also travel to the city of Medina (approximately 450 kilometres (280 mi) to the northeast), in particular to pray at the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Mosque of the Prophet),[76] which contains the tomb of Muhammad.

[81] Hajj brings together and unites Muslims from different parts of the world irrespective of their race, colour, and culture, which acts as a symbol of equality.

Titled Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam's Global Gathering and conducted in conjunction with Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the study noted that the Hajj "increases belief in equality and harmony among ethnic groups and Islamic sects and leads to more favourable attitudes toward women, including greater acceptance of female education and employment" and that "Hajjis show increased belief in peace, equality and harmony among adherents of different religions.

"[82] Malcolm X, an American activist during the Civil Rights Movement, describes the sociological atmosphere he experienced at his Hajj in the 1960s as follows: There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world.

But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and the non-white.

Making necessary arrangements each year for the growing number of pilgrims poses a logistic challenge for the government of Saudi Arabia, which has, since the 1950s, spent more than $100 billion to increase pilgrimage facilities.

[31][35] Major issues like housing, transportation, sanitation, and health care have been addressed and improved greatly by the government by introducing various development programs, with the result that pilgrims now enjoy modern facilities and perform various rites at ease.

[59] The Saudi government often sets quotas for various countries to keep the pilgrims' number at a manageable level, and arranges huge security forces and CCTV cameras to maintain overall safety during Hajj.

[31][35][86][87] Various institutions and government programs, such as the Haj subsidy offered in Pakistan or the Tabung Haji based in Malaysia assist pilgrims in covering the costs of the journey.

During the second half of the nineteenth century (after the 1850s), steamships began to be used in the pilgrimage journey to Mecca, and the number of pilgrims traveling on sea routes increased.

Transport, lodging, food, and waste generated an estimated 3.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent during the 2011 Hajj season.

[111] Rising global temperatures mean that in the future, people undertaking Hajj could face "extreme danger" due to heat and humidity.

[116][117] In 2021 Ummah for Earth and Greenpeace Middle East published research which suggested climate actions which included adapting the Great Mosque for solar power.

[135] In February 2020, Saudi Arabia temporarily banned foreign pilgrims from entering Mecca and Medina to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Kingdom.

The Abraj al-Bait firm intends to build hotels, shopping malls and apartments which is claimed to be an estimated value of three billion dollars.

[141] In July 2020, the WSJ reported that following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Saudi authorities curtailed the five-day event in Mecca to fewer than 10,000 people already residing in the country.