tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/mecca-20550/articlesMecca – The Conversation2024-03-11T12:24:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2251522024-03-11T12:24:50Z2024-03-11T12:24:50ZRamadan will be difficult for those in Gaza or other war zones – what does fasting mean for those who might be already starving?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580797/original/file-20240309-20-1w4qtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C11%2C3730%2C2144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Palestinians gather at the area where aid was distributed in Gaza City on Feb. 19, 2024.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/palestinians-struggling-with-hunger-gather-at-the-area-news-photo/2015671793">Karam Hassan/Anadolu via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ramadan in the Gaza Strip this year will be anything but “normal.” </p>
<p>Malnutrition and disease are claiming dozens of lives. The Gaza Health Ministry said on March 6, 2024, that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/famine-gaza-hunger-israel-hamas-war-rcna141891">at least 20 people had died</a> of malnutrition. Many others, it said, were “dying silently,” unable to reach medical facilities.</p>
<p>According to humanitarian organizations, the proportion of people in Gaza deprived of food <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/06/colleagues-starvation-gaza-no-precedent-famine">exceeds any other place in the world</a>. </p>
<p>What meaning can the holy month’s fast have for those who have nothing to eat? </p>
<h2>Ramadan and the Quran</h2>
<p>Fasting in Islam requires believers to abstain from certain acts that are necessary for sustaining life – mainly eating, drinking and sexual – from dawn to dusk. But it is not just about food. It also requires that people abstain from lying or criticizing others behind their backs. </p>
<p>Muslims access “the sacred” primarily through the Quran, which is recited collectively from cover to cover in <a href="https://gulfnews.com/uae/ramadan/ramadan-2023-all-you-need-to-know-about-taraweeh-prayers---when-why-and-how-to-perform-it-1.1618320387277">communal night nighttime vigils during Ramadan</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://keough.nd.edu/people/mahan-mirza/">As a scholar of Islam</a> and as a practicing Muslim, I often think of how Islamic scripture describes the purpose of this sacred month. “Fasting is prescribed to you,” <a href="https://quran.com/2/183">says the Quran</a>, “that ye may learn self-restraint.”
The revelation of the Quran to Muhammad commenced in Ramadan, and Muslims take this time of the year to renew their connection to God’s words. </p>
<p>Fasting in Ramadan was prescribed in 624 C.E., the second year of Islam. This was shortly after the Prophet Muhammad’s emigration from Mecca to Medina in today’s Saudi Arabia to escape persecution. This episode, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Hijrah-Islam">known as the Hijra</a>, came to mark the first year of the Islamic calendar. </p>
<p>While Muslims may fast voluntarily throughout the year, it is mandatory in the month of Ramadan. Sick or pregnant people, as well as travelers, must make up missed days. The chronically ill or elderly must make amends by feeding others. </p>
<p>Fasting in Ramadan is believed to rejuvenate spiritual strength. The <a href="https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:1690">Prophet Muhammad said</a> the mere ritual of fasting without inner transformation results in nothing but hunger.</p>
<p>“Goodness does not consist in your turning your face towards East or West,” <a href="https://quran.com/2/177">the Quran cautions</a>, in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/qiblah">reference to the orientation</a> that is required in ritual prayer. Rather, goodness consists in caring for the neighbor and stranger. These are principles that <a href="https://www.acommonword.com/the-acw-document/">all religions have in common</a>. </p>
<h2>Ramadan and charity</h2>
<p>In Muslim culture, Ramadan is experienced primarily as a month of prayer, ascetic practice, family life and generosity. A select few engage in a practice known as “<a href="https://www.zakat.org/on-ritual-retreat-itikaf">i’tikaf</a>,” a voluntary retreat in partial seclusion at the mosque, typically during the last few days and nights. </p>
<p>A highlight of Ramadan is increased acts of charity and the feeding of others. Many mosques offer meals, which is believed to be an act of particular virtue at sunset to facilitate breaking of the fast, at this time of the year. Muslims often pay their <a href="https://www.muslimaid.org/what-we-do/religious-dues/ramadan/zakat-facts/">annual mandatory alms known as zakat</a> during Ramadan in order to reap the special rewards of this month. </p>
<p>Islamic educational and humanitarian organizations increase their appeals for donations every year in Ramadan, and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2022/apr/11/ramadan-2022-around-the-world-in-pictures">rhythm of life in Muslim communities transforms</a> with pre-dawn family meals, lazy mornings, working afternoons and communal feasts.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Several children and adults share a meal while being seated in a circle on the floor where a number of dishes are placed in the center." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580575/original/file-20240307-28-ap9at8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A family living in a tent breaks their fast during Ramadan 2021 in Deir Al Balah, a city in Gaza, on April 19, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tawfik-al-akraa-and-his-family-are-seen-during-the-iftar-news-photo/1232406941?adppopup=true">Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Ramadan in Gaza</h2>
<p>The meaning of Ramadan in a war zone is poignant for Muslims who are suffering directly. War is neither prescribed nor prohibited during Ramadan. <a href="https://sunnah.com/abudawud:2406">Muhammad urged</a> his troops to break the fast when entering into battle in order to preserve their strength. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Badr">Battle of Badr</a>, the first of many military confrontations under Muhammad’s command, which became a turning point in early Islamic history, took place in Ramadan. </p>
<p>For those who witness that suffering on screens from the comfort of their homes, the question of moral responsibility still remains. Muslims who seek to fulfill <a href="https://quran.com/2/3">God’s command</a> are “to spend out of what God has provided for them” in worthy charitable causes in Ramadan. Many of them will ask what more could be done to feed the hungriest of hungry in the world, who are <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/80-of-world-s-hungriest-people-live-in-gaza-palestine/3156190">now in Gaza</a>.</p>
<p>Religions help us come to terms with our mortality. They help us make sense of life beyond this life. In a time of war and famine, when death is near, <a href="https://quran.com/50/16">Ramadan can remind us that God is nearer</a>: “closer than the jugular vein.”</p>
<p>For countless innocent victims of all ages and every gender who are breathing their last – in the direst of circumstances and the deepest of anguish – this thought can be a source of solace, if not joy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mahan Mirza does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ramadan encourages acts of charity. This also poses a question for many Muslims as they consider what more could be done to feed the hungriest in the world, many of whom are in Gaza.Mahan Mirza, Executive Director, Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, and Teaching Professor of Teaching Professor of Islam and Global Affairs, University of Notre DameLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2152942023-10-09T16:16:13Z2023-10-09T16:16:13ZWhy Al-Aqsa remains a sensitive site in Palestine-Israel conflict<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552792/original/file-20231009-18-w1sjg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C25%2C5580%2C3712&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-picture-taken-from-the-mount-of-olives-shows-a-view-of-news-photo/1708612985?adppopup=true">Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a <a href="http://www.kenchitwood.com/">scholar of global Islam</a>, I teach an introduction to Islam course and include a discussion about Al-Aqsa as part of the syllabus. That’s because Al-Aqsa has deep religious significance for Muslims around the world. </p>
<p>But it is also important to highlight its remarkable political relevance for Palestinians. </p>
<p>These two facts make it a focal point for conflict. </p>
<h2>The night journey of Muhammad</h2>
<p>The Masjid al-Aqsa, or simply Al-Aqsa, means “the farthest mosque” or “the farthest sanctuary,” and <a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/The_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&redir_esc=y">refers to the lead-domed mosque</a> within the sacred precinct of Haram al-Sharif – “the Noble Enclosure.” The precinct includes the Dome of the Rock, the four minarets, the compound’s historic gates and the mosque itself.</p>
<p>Mentioned in Sura 17, verse 1 of the Quran, the mosque is linked to the story of Muhammad’s “Isra” – the “night journey” from Mecca to Jerusalem – that in part confirms him as the last and most authoritative of the prophets for Muslims. <a href="https://quran.com/53">The Quran says</a> the prophet was “carried … by night from the Sacred Mosque [in Mecca] to the Farthest Mosque [al-Aqsa], whose precincts we have blessed.” </p>
<p>From there, it is believed that Muhammad ascended to heaven – called the Mir'aj. The Dome of the Rock – Qubbat as-Sakhra – is said to shelter the rock <a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/The_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&redir_esc=y">from where Muhammad physically ascended</a>. </p>
<p>The mosque’s origins stretch back to the seventh century. It was <a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/The_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&redir_esc=y">first built in A.D. 637</a>, just five years after the prophet’s death. It has been destroyed, rebuilt and renovated multiple times.</p>
<p>The current building largely dates to the 11th century and hosts daily prayers and Friday gatherings that draw large crowds. It lies adjacent to important Jewish and Christian religious locales, particularly the site of the First and Second Jewish Temples. </p>
<p>At times, the Dome of the Rock – a shrine – and Al-Aqsa – a mosque – have been confused as one and the same. While part of the same “Noble Sanctuary,” they are two distinct buildings with different histories and purposes. </p>
<p>However, the term Al-Aqsa is sometimes used to indicate the entire “Noble Sanctuary” complex. Originally, it is believed that the term <a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/Aspects_of_Islam.html?id=FAWPAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">“the farthest sanctuary” referred to Jerusalem as a whole</a>. </p>
<h2>Place in Islamic history</h2>
<p>After Mecca and Medina, the vast majority of Muslims worldwide consider <a href="https://www.google.de/books/edition/Palestinians_Born_in_Exile/qRnUAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=palestinians+born+in+exile&printsec=frontcover">Jerusalem the third-holiest place on Earth</a>. </p>
<p>Referenced frequently in Islamic tradition and hadith – records of something the Prophet Muhammad said, did or tacitly approved of – it is believed that while in Mecca, Muhammad originally oriented his community’s prayers toward Al-Aqsa.</p>
<p>In A.D. 622, the community fled Mecca because of persecution, seeking refuge in Medina to the north. After a little over a year there, Muslims believe God instructed Muhammad to face back toward Mecca for prayers. In Surah 2, verses 149-150, the Quran says, “turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque [the Kaaba in Mecca] … wheresoever you may be, turn your faces toward it.”</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Jerusalem and its sacred locales – specifically Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock – have remained sites of Islamic pilgrimage for 15 centuries. </p>
<h2>The ‘most sensitive site’ in conflict</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A golden dome and columns decorated by elaborate byzantine decorations." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The decorated interior of the golden dome inside the Dome of the Rock mosque at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, in Jerusalem’s Old City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/picture-taken-with-a-fisheye-lens-on-january-10-shows-the-news-photo/903284924?adppopup=true">Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Given its sacred significance, there was great concern about the precinct’s fate after Israel’s victory in the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/de/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/1967-arab-israeli-war-origins-and-consequences?format=PB">1967 Arab-Israeli War and its subsequent annexation of East Jerusalem</a>.</p>
<p>Although Israel granted jurisdiction of the mosque and complex to an Islamic waqf – “endowment” – Israel still commands access to the grounds and security forces regularly perform patrols and conduct searches within the precinct. Under the <a href="https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Protection+of+Holy+Places+Law.htm">Preservation of the Holy Places Law</a>, the Israeli government has also allowed entry to different religious groups – such as Christian pilgrims. </p>
<p>Many Israelis respect the sanctity of the place as the holiest site in Judaism. In 2005, the <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/1.4706117">chief rabbinate of Israel said it is forbidden for Jews to walk on the site</a> to avoid accidentally entering the Holy of Holies – the inner sanctum of the Temple, believed to be God’s dwelling place on earth. Nonetheless, certain ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups controversially advocate for <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/laying-the-groundwork-for-a-third-temple-in-jerusalem/">greater access and control of the site</a>, seeking to reclaim the historic Temple Mount, in order to rebuild the Temple.</p>
<p>Described as “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/violence-erupts-al-aqsa-mosque-israel-marks-jerusalem-day-2021-05-10">the most sensitive site in the Israel-Palestinian conflict</a>,” it has frequently been host to political acts. </p>
<p>For example, in August 1969, an Australian Christian named Dennis Michael Rohan <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-an-australian-sheepshearers-al-aqsa-arson-nearly-torched-middle-east-peace/">attempted to burn down</a> Al-Aqsa, destroying the historically significant and intricately carved minbar – or “pulpit” – of Saladin, a treasured piece of Islamic art. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Israeli security forces fire sound grenades inside the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Israeli security forces fire sound grenades inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on Aug. 11, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/israeli-security-forces-fire-sound-grenades-inside-the-al-news-photo/1160931707?adppopup=true">Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>On Sept. 28, 2000, Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon and a delegation guarded by hundreds of Israeli riot police <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/29/world/sharon-touches-a-nerve-and-jerusalem-explodes.html">entered the precinct</a>. This sparked protests and a violent crackdown by Israeli authorities, with multiple casualties. Many Muslims worldwide considered this a “<a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/111_Questions_on_Islam.html?id=fkZAnNDuNvsC&redir_esc=y">desecration” of the sacred mosque</a>, and the event helped ignite the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising. </p>
<p>Tensions peaked again after an attack on Yehuda Glick, a controversial right-wing rabbi, in autumn 2014. In response, Israeli authorities <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/03/world/meast/jerusalem-temple-mount-crisis-lister">closed down access to Al-Aqsa for the first time since 1967</a>. In March and April of that year, Israeli police <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/israeli-forces-storm-al-aqsa-mosque/2014/07/18/8ab345c0-0ea4-11e4-b0dd-edc009ac1f9d_video.html">used tear gas and stun grenades on Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa</a>, prompting an international outcry. </p>
<p>Numerous other incidents between Israeli forces and worshipers <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/3/12/israeli-police-assault-worshippers-close-al-aqsa-compound">have occurred at Al-Aqsa</a> in recent years. </p>
<p>Controlled access to the site reminds Palestinians of their relative powerlessness in their ongoing land disputes with Israeli authorities. At the same time, attacks at Al-Aqsa resonate with Muslims across the world who react with horror to what they see as the desecration of one of their most sacred sites. </p>
<p>Defending Al-Aqsa and fighting for rights to access it, I argue, have become proxy conflicts for both Palestinian claims and the need to defend Islam as a whole.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-al-aqsa-mosque-has-often-been-a-site-of-conflict-160671">piece originally published on May 12, 2021</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215294/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Al-Aqsa mosque, a flashpoint in Hamas’ recent assault against Israel, hosts daily prayers and Friday gatherings. It lies adjacent to important Jewish and Christian religious locales.Ken Chitwood, Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, USC Dornsife Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern CaliforniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2122452023-09-06T12:23:07Z2023-09-06T12:23:07ZThe untold story of how Howard University came to be known as ‘The Mecca’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546503/original/file-20230905-29-n66c1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4772%2C3250&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Howard University students assemble for a graduation ceremony in 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Obama/6f638c11ec3448a7854719759a121bd3/photo?Query=howard%20university&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=27&currentItemNo=2&vs=true">Jose Luis Magana for the Associated Press</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you ask just about anyone at Howard University what’s the other name for their school, they will readily tell you: “The Mecca.”</p>
<p>The name has been extolled by former students, such as acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who wrote in his 2015 book “<a href="https://ta-nehisicoates.com/books/between-the-world-and-me/">Between the World and Me</a>” that his “only Mecca was, is, and shall always be Howard University.”</p>
<p>But ask anyone in the Howard community how and when the school came to be known as The Mecca – a question I’ve been researching for the past year – and blank stares are mostly the response.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A woman gestures as she speaks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546502/original/file-20230905-27904-33dilf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546502/original/file-20230905-27904-33dilf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546502/original/file-20230905-27904-33dilf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546502/original/file-20230905-27904-33dilf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546502/original/file-20230905-27904-33dilf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546502/original/file-20230905-27904-33dilf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546502/original/file-20230905-27904-33dilf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vice President Kamala Harris, then a U.S. senator, speaks at Howard University in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election2020Democrats/08266c06a61a4dcbac23af1c6bdacb42/photo?Query=howard%20university%20kamala%20harris&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=95&currentItemNo=1">Manuel Balce Ceneta for the Associated Press</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a 2019 article, The New York Times tried to find the origins of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/arts/howard-university-homecoming.html">the use of the term</a> for Howard when U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, <a href="https://magazine.howard.edu/stories/raising-up-kamala">one of the school’s most well-known alumnae</a>, was still a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.</p>
<p>Greg Carr, an <a href="https://www.drgregcarr.com/about">associate professor of Africana Studies at Howard University</a>, told the newspaper that the term “emerged after the Civil Rights Movement.”</p>
<p>“In the wake of the death of Malcolm X and in the spirit of the Black Power movement, students began to informally refer to the campus as ‘The Mecca of black education,’” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/arts/howard-university-homecoming.html">wrote Bianca Ladipo</a>.</p>
<p>It seemed intriguing to me as a <a href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/2013/08/18/dropouts-tell-no-tales/">longtime admirer of Malcolm X</a> – and also as one who made the pilgrimage to the original Mecca in Saudi Arabia, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/08/archives/malcolm-x-pleased-by-whites-attitude-on-trip-to-mecca.html">Malcolm famously did in 1964</a>. Still, as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=W8iRI5cAAAAJ&hl=en">veteran education writer</a> with an <a href="https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/multimedia/media-coverage">extensive history</a> of covering <a href="https://www.diverseeducation.com/students/article/15101319/innovative-strategies-for-hbcus-proposed-at-cbc-conference">historically Black colleges and universities</a> – <a href="https://www.diverseeducation.com/news-roundup/article/15101322/comeys-speech-at-howard-prompts-protests">including Howard</a> – I decided to dig deeper. My efforts were not in vain. </p>
<h2>A new era</h2>
<p>Using Howard University’s <a href="https://dh.howard.edu/">digital archives</a>, I discovered that one of the earliest documented references to “The Mecca” is found in the Feb. 26, 1909, edition of the <a href="https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=huj_v6">Howard University Journal</a>, a student-run publication. This was – contrary to what The New York Times said about the term emerging after the death of Malcolm X in 1965 – nearly 15 years before he was even born. </p>
<p>My finding comes at a time when Howard, located in Washington, D.C., is entering a new era. Its new president, Ben Vinson III, a <a href="https://alumni.dartmouth.edu/content/give-rouse-ben-vinson-iii-%E2%80%9992">leading scholar on the history of the African diaspora</a>, took the helm at the <a href="https://wamu.org/story/17/03/03/as-howard-university-turns-150-students-find-inspiration-in-its-history/">storied university</a> on <a href="https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/howard-university-appoints-revered-historian-and-academic-leader-ben-vinson-iii-phd-18th-president">Sept. 1, 2023</a>. </p>
<p>Thanks to a <a href="https://www.diverseeducation.com/institutions/hbcus/article/15306096/howard-earns-90-million-dod-contract-a-first-for-an-hbcu">five-year, US$90 million Department of Defense contract</a>, the school recently became the <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/howard-university-hbcu-partner-pentagon/story?id=96636121">first HBCU to partner with the Pentagon to conduct research in military technology</a>.</p>
<p>The university is also <a href="https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/howards-historic-90-million-contract-university-affiliated-research-center-spotlights-stem-and-r1">on a quest to attain R-1 status</a>. R-1 is a classification level reserved for universities that grant doctoral degrees and also have <a href="https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/carnegie-classification/classification-methodology/basic-classification/">“very high research activity.”</a> </p>
<h2>Going way back</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/november-20/">Named after one of its founders</a>, Union general and <a href="https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/2473">Civil War hero</a> Oliver Otis Howard, the school opened in 1867 and was <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/3-organized/howard-university.html">established through an act of Congress</a>. </p>
<p>Its founders <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/november-20/#:%7E:text=Howard%20University%20was%20incorporated%20on,four%20million%20recently%20emancipated%20slaves.">envisioned Howard</a> as a school for educating and training Black physicians, teachers and ministers from the nearly 4 million newly freed slaves.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/04/howard-chess-fundraise-competition-hbcu/">Malik Castro-DeVarona</a>, a political science major and a former president of the Howard University Chess Club, unwittingly helped me discover how the school came to be known as “The Mecca.” He suggested that I look in the <a href="https://dh.howard.edu/hilltop/">digital archive for The Hilltop</a>, the campus newspaper <a href="https://thehilltoponline.com/2023/01/23/the-nations-oldest-celebrating-99-years-of-the-hilltop/">co-founded in 1924</a> by novelist <a href="https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/zora-neale-hurston/">Zora Neale Hurston</a>. </p>
<p>In my online search, I discovered a different digital archive: <a href="https://dh.howard.edu/huarchives/">Digital Howard</a>. There, I did a simple search for the term “Mecca” and got <a href="https://dh.howard.edu/do/search/?q=mecca&start=0&context=4339039&facet=">more than 400 results</a>, including the one from 1909.</p>
<h2>The meaning of ‘The Mecca’</h2>
<p>Through my research, I discovered that over the years “The Mecca” has been used in different ways. It is most often meant to preserve Howard’s reputation as a beacon of Black thought. </p>
<p>That first reference from February 1909 came in an article written by J.A. Mitchell, a student who referred to Howard as a potential Mecca for young Black students. Specifically, Mitchell wrote: “Howard indeed bids well to become the Mecca, toward which the eyes of our youth will instinctively turn,” Mitchell wrote in the <a href="https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=huj_v6">Howard University Journal</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black-and-white image shows a large building with a clock tower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545827/original/file-20230831-21-fl6tsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545827/original/file-20230831-21-fl6tsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545827/original/file-20230831-21-fl6tsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545827/original/file-20230831-21-fl6tsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545827/original/file-20230831-21-fl6tsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545827/original/file-20230831-21-fl6tsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545827/original/file-20230831-21-fl6tsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this 1900 image, the exterior of Founders Library is seen at Howard University in Washington, D.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photo-shows-an-exterior-view-of-founders-library-howard-news-photo/515351082?adppopup=true">Bettmann/GettyImages</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“In fact,” Mitchell continued, “it seems as if the present outlook already forecasts a new era in the history of our school and tells of a future Howard, situated on a hill overlooking the national capital, that is second to no institution of its kind.”</p>
<p>That statement was prophetic. In its 2022 rankings, U.S. News and World Report ranked Howard as <a href="https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/howard-university-1448">No. 2 among historically Black colleges and universities</a>, making Howard second only to Spelman College, an HBCU for women, located in Atlanta, according to the magazine.</p>
<p>Mitchell’s reference was not the only one. A few years later, in a <a href="https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=huj_v11">1913 edition of the Howard University Journal</a>, an article stated: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Howard is a strategic institution. She is "The Mecca” of higher education attended in main by Negro youths. … She commands the interest of multitudes of people throughout the land and gives impetus to the life of thousands of alumni and alumnae. Again, she nurtures fifteen hundred select youths of a race.“</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A different Mecca?</h2>
<p>Anyone familiar with the culture at Howard knows there’s a <a href="https://www.flofootball.com/articles/7960976-the-real-hu-behind-the-history-of-the-hampton-howard-rivalry">long-standing rivalry</a> between Howard University and Hampton University, located in Hampton, Virginia, over which school is ‶<a href="https://hbcubuzz.com/2021/02/who-is-the-real-hu/.">the real HU.</a>” My research shows there might have once been a debate over which school is “The Mecca” as well.</p>
<p>When Booker T. Washington <a href="https://virginiahistory.org/learn/civil-rights-movement-virginia/hampton-institute-and-booker-t-washington">arrived at Hampton in 1872</a> – five years after Howard University was <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/november-20/">founded in 1867</a> – Hampton, Virginia, was known as the “<a href="https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=booker_manu">Mecca of the ambitious colored youth of the dismantled South</a>,” according to a 1910 Howard manuscript titled “A Ride with Booker T. Washington.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Scores of Black students are standing in rows for a school assembly." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545831/original/file-20230831-23-764upu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545831/original/file-20230831-23-764upu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545831/original/file-20230831-23-764upu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545831/original/file-20230831-23-764upu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545831/original/file-20230831-23-764upu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545831/original/file-20230831-23-764upu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545831/original/file-20230831-23-764upu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students attend an assembly at Hampton Institute in January 1899.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/school-assembly-in-hampton-institute-hampton-va-between-news-photo/1425873980?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hampton isn’t the only U.S. city to be known as a Black Mecca.</p>
<p>As noted in a <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_crisis_1925-07_30_3/page/146/mode/2up?q=mecca">1925 edition of “The Crisis”</a> – the NAACP magazine <a href="https://modjourn.org/journal/crisis/#:%7E:text=Du%20Bois%20founded%20The%20Crisis,social%20injustice%20in%20U.S.%20history.">founded in 1910</a> by <a href="https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/web-dubois">W.E.B. DuBois</a> – Washington, D.C., was “regarded as the Mecca of the American Negro, for here he is under the wing of the eagle and can’t be made the victim of hostile legislation or rules.”</p>
<p>Around the same time, <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/alain-locke">Alain Locke</a>, who taught English and philosophy at Howard in the early 1910s and started the school’s philosophy department, proclaimed Harlem as the “<a href="https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/17368696">Mecca of the new Negro</a>.” Locke is also known as the <a href="https://www.doaks.org/resources/cultural-philanthropy/alain-locke-collection-of-african-art">“dean of the Harlem Renaissance.”</a> </p>
<p>The point is this idea of a Black Mecca was constantly shifting and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/14/black-migration-south/">continues to shift to this day</a>.</p>
<h2>The Mecca of the future</h2>
<p>Despite archival records that show Howard was called The Mecca as early as 1909, other details have yet to be discovered. Perhaps under the leadership of President Vinson, a <a href="https://www.acls.org/digital-commission-sustaining-diverse-scholarship/">champion of digital scholarship</a>, Howard students and scholars can continue to research how Howard came to be known as The Mecca.</p>
<p>Doing so would be a fitting tribute to one of Howard’s most illustrious deans, Carter G. Woodson. </p>
<p>Hailed as the “<a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/02/celebrating-black-history-months-founder/">father of Black history,</a>” Woodson launched <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/black-history-month-legal-resources/history-and-overview">Negro History Week</a> in 1926. That <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/history-of-black-history-month.html">paved the way</a> for what today is known as <a href="https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/carter-g-woodson">Black History Month</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212245/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamaal Abdul-Alim has served as a volunteer adviser for the Howard University Chess Club. In addition to his role as an adjunct at the University of Maryland, he currently serves as education editor at The Conversation.</span></em></p>While it’s widely believed that Howard University came to be known as “The Mecca” in the 1960s, new evidence shows the nickname is more than half a century older than that.Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Lecturer in Journalism, University of MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2094722023-07-25T12:23:14Z2023-07-25T12:23:14ZWomen can now undertake Islamic pilgrimages without a male guardian in Saudi Arabia, but that doesn’t mean they’re traveling alone – communities are an important part of the religious experience<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538621/original/file-20230720-33531-ec3kdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C6%2C1013%2C760&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">American Muslim women on pilgrimage at the Prophet's Mosque in Medina in 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Iqbal Akhtar</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Saudi Arabia has changed its decadeslong rule that <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-hajj-umrah-women-no-male-guardian-required">mandated single women be accompanied by a male relative</a> when performing an Islamic pilgrimage, facilitating the participation of thousands of single Muslim women in the Hajj in 2023.</p>
<p>The new rules don’t apply just during the Hajj. Women can also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2021.1930878">perform the Umrah</a>, known as the “lesser pilgrimage,” or other <a href="https://spaceandculture.in/index.php/spaceandculture/article/download/1102/448">routine pilgrimages such as ziyarat</a> that can be undertaken any time of the year to Islamic holy sites, without a “mahram,” or male guardian. </p>
<p>The fact that women can now travel unaccompanied is part of a campaign by the political leadership of Saudi Arabia to improve the rights of women in the kingdom, which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10646170701490849">Western societies view</a> <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/apjur5&div=6&id=&page=">as oppressive</a>. </p>
<p>My research looks at issues of identity and “<a href="https://templetonreligiontrust.org/covenantal-pluralism/#:%7E:text=The%20philosophy%20of%20covenantal%20pluralism,as%20equally%20true%20or%20right">covenantal pluralism</a>,” which refers to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2020.1835029">mutual obligations that different faith communities have toward one another</a> to support the pursuit of each one’s spiritual truth. I focus on the geographical area that encompasses the Indian Ocean, and I argue that these changes need to be viewed within a larger historical context and as they relate to Muslim women’s engagement with the sacred sites of Islam. </p>
<h2>Saudi Arabia and the West</h2>
<p>There is no Quranic injunction against women’s traveling alone. Nevertheless, in some patriarchal societies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2017.1293920">where sexual harassment is common</a>, restrictions are put on women irrespective of religious affiliation.
Currently, Islamic medieval-era injunctions are applied in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. </p>
<p>However, Saudi Arabia is an exception. Conservative Sunni Muslim countries often see the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, <a href="https://www.sciencegate.app/document/10.4018/978-1-4666-4749-7.ch014">as the bulwark against</a> Western secularization. <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191835278.001.0001/acref-9780191835278-e-91">Medieval Islamic laws</a>, such as capital punishment for apostasy, are used to give an appearance of authoritative piety in present times.</p>
<p>Indeed, the cities of Mecca and Medina are visible manifestations of piety. To enter the holy cities is to be transported into a ritual space of sacred time based on the Muslim call to prayer, in which pilgrims from around the world unite in the idealized Prophetic vision of a nation of faith. It is not a world of punctual appointments set by a work schedule. Rather, worshippers serve God through devotion in prayer in accordance with the ancient Islamic prayer timings set by the rhythm of the Sun and Moon. </p>
<p>Colonization created a dichotomy within the world where Islam was often seen to be the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/islam-and-the-west-9780195090611?cc=us&lang=en&">opposite of the values of the West</a>. Keeping women segregated from male worshippers, and viewing that separation as an expression of piety, is part of the rejection of Western norms while legitimizing the Islamic credentials of the Saudis both domestically and internationally. </p>
<h2>Insider perspectives</h2>
<p>Generally in mosques around the world, women and men worship separately. To some it may appear to violate the norms of Western egalitarianism, but it’s an ancient practice meant to encourage a spiritual intimacy and fellowship. </p>
<p>Until now, single women who did not have a male relative to escort them to the Two Holy Mosques – Al Masjid Al Haram in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina – would join an organized tour group of women. Their accommodations, meals, sermons and prayers would be organized together. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the holiest site in Islam – the mosque in Mecca – is circular, and historically men and women have worshipped openly together with few, if any, barriers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538576/original/file-20230720-25-k8khvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People walk around a black cubic structure along circular rows." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538576/original/file-20230720-25-k8khvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538576/original/file-20230720-25-k8khvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538576/original/file-20230720-25-k8khvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538576/original/file-20230720-25-k8khvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538576/original/file-20230720-25-k8khvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538576/original/file-20230720-25-k8khvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538576/original/file-20230720-25-k8khvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims walk around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SaudiHajj/9af9be3fcf7140e4bbda5c893e1d44c5/photo?Query=hajj%20circular&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1167&currentItemNo=7&vs=true">Saudi Ministry of Media via AP, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These barriers, erected for women in Saudi Arabia in the 20th century, are being removed in accordance with the older <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Feminism_and_Islam/PygUCgAAQBAJ?hl">prophetic tradition of women’s independence</a>. For example, the first wife of the Prophet, Khatija, was an independent businesswoman who initially hired the Prophet as an employee for her trading caravans.</p>
<p>What is also important to consider is that whereas the Hajj is the preeminent Muslim pilgrimage, additional sacred sites exist for Shiite pilgrimage in countries such as Iran, Iraq and Syria. In these countries there is no mahram rule, though the threat of violence in Iraq and Syria means that both male and female pilgrims who visit from abroad come in groups.</p>
<h2>Community and camaraderie</h2>
<p>Islamic pilgrimages are global gatherings of Muslims organized into groups, communities and families in which the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14766825.2021.1953046">individual’s identity</a> is a dynamic one. The ultimate truth in Islam is the unity of God, and a Muslim pilgrimage is a manifestation of that unity through integration and service to the community. In this integration, the individual ego is subsumed through a <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mystical_Dimensions_of_Islam/EMLYeqhKEokC?hl">communal religious experience</a>, which can be ecstatic. </p>
<p>Additionally, Islam is a <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Heart_of_Islam/oAbB52U0icgC?hl">religion of right action</a> in which individuals find realization by integrating into the community. The communal model of pilgrimage helps them go through a physically demanding schedule of ritual observance and creates camaraderie, that continues beyond the pilgrimage. </p>
<p>The changes to the mahram rule allowed single Muslim women to join the Hajj pilgrimage in 2023. Over <a href="http://www.hajjreporters.com/hajj-2023-over-4000-indian-women-to-perform-hajj-without-male-guardian/">4,000 women from India</a> performed the Hajj without a male guardian. Nonetheless, community participation remains important, and most women do not actually travel alone. A majority of women join groups that share the same language, rituals and cuisine to facilitate navigation of the foreign world of Muslim religious tourism. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44364151">reshaping, reinterpretation and reconstruction</a> of Islamic pilgrimages has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-remains-at-the-heart-of-the-hajj-206267">going on for centuries</a>; this time, women are leading it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209472/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iqbal Akhtar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A religion scholar argues that the communal nature of Islamic pilgrimage helps worshippers go through a physically demanding schedule and creates camaraderie that continues beyond the pilgrimage.Iqbal Akhtar, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Florida International UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2085712023-06-28T00:18:39Z2023-06-28T00:18:39ZAn unbroken covenant with God: what the Hajj means for Muslims<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534208/original/file-20230627-15-rjhwty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ashraf Amra/ AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of men, women and children have converged on Mecca this week for the Hajj pilgrimage. The Saudi government says it will be the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/25/largest-hajj-pilgrimage-in-history-begins-in-saudi-arabia">largest crowd ever</a> for the pilgrimage.</p>
<p>The Hajj pilgrimage is, at its core, a pilgrimage towards God. This presents a paradox of sorts. If God is beyond time and space, then what is the purpose of travelling to a particular place? Is God not present now, everywhere? </p>
<p>The celebrated author Gai Eaton <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1398960">offers an elegant response</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our sense of the divine Presence is blunted. We need to find it focused on a particular place and, for the Muslim, that place is the Ka'ba at Mecca, which he has faced every time he prayed and to which he now journeys in pilgrimage.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A transformative experience</h2>
<p>Within the Islamic worldview then, the Ka’ba functions as the locus of hearts. I use the plural “hearts” here, for the pilgrimage is not only an individual religious obligation. It is a communal act that strengthens ties of kinship between Muslims in a way that resembles nothing else. </p>
<p>When the pilgrims prepare to don the Hajj attire, they discard more than their clothes. Nationality, race and socio-economic status are tossed to the wayside — prince and pauper unite as pilgrims. All distinctions are left behind. </p>
<p>The experience can be transformative, particularly for those embarking on the pilgrimage for the first time. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Female police officer welcoming Hajj pilgrims with rose petals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534215/original/file-20230627-26-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534215/original/file-20230627-26-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534215/original/file-20230627-26-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534215/original/file-20230627-26-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534215/original/file-20230627-26-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534215/original/file-20230627-26-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534215/original/file-20230627-26-evdjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Saudi policewoman throws flowers at Bangladeshi pilgrims as they arrive at the airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the hajj this week.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amr Nabi/ AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The renowned activist and minister Malcolm X was compelled to re-evaluate his views on race in the wake of his Hajj experience. In his <a href="https://islam.uga.edu/malcomx.html">Letter From Mecca</a>, he wrote: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colours, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. 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 non-white.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Coupled with his societal reflections was an internal revolution, one that stirred his heart. In <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/malcom-x-in-mecca-2353496">his autobiography</a>, he writes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In my thirty-nine years on this earth, the Holy City of Mecca had been the first time I had ever stood before the Creator of All and felt like a complete human being.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-muslims-prepare-to-perform-the-hajj-amid-calls-for-a-boycott-121618">Millions of Muslims prepare to perform the hajj amid calls for a boycott</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Road to Mecca fraught with challenges</h2>
<p>For Muslims then, the return of Hajj pilgrims to pre-pandemic numbers this year (or even surpassing them) represents another opportunity for this reorientation towards God. </p>
<p>Granted, globalisation has drawn the world closer, denting the impact of encountering people from completely different walks of life. Despite this, the Hajj pilgrimage remains unparalleled in its capacity to turn hearts, both individually and collectively.</p>
<p>All this is not to say that the experience is one of ease and comfort. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1673407059747028992"}"></div></p>
<p>If the history of the Hajj pilgrimage has demonstrated anything, it is the road to Mecca is often fraught with challenges. The most recent challenges confronting potential pilgrims have been unforeseen, drastically altering the Hajj experience. </p>
<p>The COVID pandemic saw pilgrimage to the holy sites halted for two years, with only <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2021/7/18/in-pictures-hajj-in-mecca-during-covid-pandemic">a limited number of Saudi residents</a> permitted to perform the pilgrimage. </p>
<p>As the pandemic slowly subsided, many Muslims in other countries who had waited with eager anticipation booked their travel plans. But they were met with a new complication. </p>
<h2>The struggle for getting a spot</h2>
<p>In 2022, the Saudi government announced that all those intending to perform the pilgrimage from several Western countries, including the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union, must <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/01/motawif-hajj/">register through the Motawif website</a>. Those who had already made bookings were advised to immediately cancel them and register through Motawif. </p>
<p>This would place the registrant into a lottery-type system, replacing the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/7/7/a-new-hajj-booking-system-leaves-tour-operators-out-in-the-cold?traffic_source=KeepReading">Hajj travel tours</a> that had operated locally in these countries for many years.</p>
<p>The Saudi administration claimed it was trying to remove the middle man and make the Hajj travel package process smoother and more affordable. Many testimonies, however, appear to confirm the contrary. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-remains-at-the-heart-of-the-hajj-206267">Technology remains at the heart of the hajj</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Registrants criticised the persistent technical failures of Motawif, and those who were lucky enough to make it to Mecca bemoaned the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/6/29/hajj-booking-system-changes-leave-many-muslims-disappointed">disorganised mess</a> that greeted them upon their arrival.</p>
<p>The Saudi claim of increased affordability was also contested. Prices for a Hajj package vary, depending on the level of luxury that the pilgrim desires during their stay in the holy cities. When factoring in all costs, however, the total <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-22/hajj-lottery-saudi-arabia-upsets-muslim-australians-pilgrimage/101169798">price for the package hovered</a> in the range of US$7,000 to $13,500 (A$10,000 to $20,000) per person. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Picture of a security officer looking at CCTV monitors in Mecca during Hajj" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534210/original/file-20230627-29-7mwt03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534210/original/file-20230627-29-7mwt03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534210/original/file-20230627-29-7mwt03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534210/original/file-20230627-29-7mwt03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534210/original/file-20230627-29-7mwt03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534210/original/file-20230627-29-7mwt03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534210/original/file-20230627-29-7mwt03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Saudi authorities have put in place a large-scale security plan to ensure the safety of the pilgrims and smooth proceedings of the Hajj.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amr Nabil/ AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For many Muslims in the West, a more affordable Hajj package was viewed as desirable. In reality, though, prices remained high — the only difference being the Saudi government collected the profits.</p>
<p>This year, the Saudi authorities have ditched the short-lived Motawif system. Rather than operating on a lottery basis, it has now been replaced with a new <a href="https://hajj.nusuk.sa/">first-come, first-serve</a> system. Only time will tell whether this new system is feasible, or whether it will go the way of Motawif.</p>
<p>Despite these challenges, Muslims from around the world continue to flock to the Hajj. Through this ritual, they direct their hearts individually and collectively towards the Ka’ba. In doing so, they step out beyond time, linking the past and present in an unbroken covenant with God.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208571/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ali Hammoud does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Millions of men, women and children are converging on Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage, a return to pre-pandemic numbers.Ali Hammoud, PhD candidate, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1895542023-05-08T04:35:21Z2023-05-08T04:35:21ZAustralia now has its own grand mosque: a brief history of how these buildings fold into the urban landscape<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519210/original/file-20230404-28-bgr4gy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C0%2C4937%2C6211&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Olah/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A referee’s whistle pierces the air. A player dribbles a ball across a court; goal! Cheers erupt. </p>
<p>These are the familiar sounds of Australian life. Children squeal with laughter. The barbecue sizzles. The muezzin calls the faithful to prayer. </p>
<p>Opened in 2022, Melbourne’s Grand Mosque and the Werribee Islamic Centre offer a host of facilities that connect with the multicultural community of Tarneit, 25 kilometres west of Melbourne’s CBD. </p>
<p>Grand mosques mark the urban space of major historical cities such as Mecca, Medina, Cordoba and Tunis. More recently, these buildings have been built in cities like Algiers and Abu Dhabi. </p>
<p>The notion of a “grand mosque” has been shaped by the location of the mosque, its scale and its historical importance. </p>
<p>But what makes a grand mosque “grand”?</p>
<h2>Building the grand mosques</h2>
<p>Historically, ruling and social elites such as religious leaders, monarchs, princes and princesses financed and built mosques for their communities. </p>
<p>This charitable act was an important legacy, and mosques were also a reflection of the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Contemporary_Mosque.html?id=mLIyAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">powers of dynasties</a>. </p>
<p>There was great community involvement with the mosque, primarily through attending daily prayers. But mosques also provided civic, educational and cultural spaces to provide for extensive community involvement. These buildings were intellectual, scientific and literary centres, playing a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815054051">crucial role</a> in Arab-Islamic civilisation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519215/original/file-20230404-24-nq3k5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519215/original/file-20230404-24-nq3k5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519215/original/file-20230404-24-nq3k5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519215/original/file-20230404-24-nq3k5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519215/original/file-20230404-24-nq3k5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519215/original/file-20230404-24-nq3k5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519215/original/file-20230404-24-nq3k5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519215/original/file-20230404-24-nq3k5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The University of al-Qarawiyyin was founded as a mosque in the ninth century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The idea of a “civic mosque” dates back to the early days of Islamic civilisation, with universities attached to mosques, such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_al-Qarawiyyin">University of al-Qarawiyyin</a> in Fez, Morocco.</p>
<p>The most famous mosque in the world is the Great Mosque of Mecca, or the al-Masjid al-Ḥarām. Located in Saudi Arabia and first built in 638 AD, it can be called a grand mosque because of its historical significance, its capacity of 2.5 million and the way it intersects with the global Muslim community. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519211/original/file-20230404-19-q8r0qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519211/original/file-20230404-19-q8r0qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519211/original/file-20230404-19-q8r0qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519211/original/file-20230404-19-q8r0qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519211/original/file-20230404-19-q8r0qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519211/original/file-20230404-19-q8r0qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=942&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519211/original/file-20230404-19-q8r0qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=942&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519211/original/file-20230404-19-q8r0qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=942&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Al-Masjid Al-Haram, Mecca, Saudi Arabia has a capacity of 2.5 million.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ishan @seefromthesky/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is a centre of science and knowledge which can accommodate 40,000 worshippers. The largest mosque in the UAE, its design includes references from Pakistani, Egyptian, Moorish, Arab and Indo-Islamic architecture. </p>
<p>Completed in 2019, Djamaa El Djazair in Algiers, Algeria, is the third-largest mosque in the world, with a capacity of 120,000 worshippers.</p>
<p>A “grand mosque” doesn’t need to have a capacity in the tens of thousands. With a capacity of 1,000 worshippers, the Grande Mosquee de Paris is the <a href="https://www.islamicity.org/8463/the-great-mosque-of-paris/">largest in France</a> and the third-largest in Europe. </p>
<p>Constructed in the 1920s, the mosque’s unique architecture and the provision of social and communal spaces all testify to the important role Islam plays in the diversity of Paris.</p>
<p>Through a combination of scale and architectural design, these grand mosques make their mark in the urban landscape. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519213/original/file-20230404-18-aiedni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519213/original/file-20230404-18-aiedni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519213/original/file-20230404-18-aiedni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519213/original/file-20230404-18-aiedni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519213/original/file-20230404-18-aiedni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519213/original/file-20230404-18-aiedni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519213/original/file-20230404-18-aiedni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519213/original/file-20230404-18-aiedni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grande Mosquee de Paris in the 5th arrondissement of Paris is the third-largest mosque in Europe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/french-row-over-mosque-isnt-simply-about-state-financing-it-runs-deep-into-islamophobia-and-french-secularism-158565">French row over mosque isn't simply about state financing – it runs deep into Islamophobia and French secularism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>An Australian grand mosque</h2>
<p>The first contact of Muslims with Australia dates back to the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14443050802471384">18th century</a>, when Macassan fishermen travelled to the Kimberley region and Arnhem Land to collect sea cucumbers. </p>
<p>Muslims began to settle in Australia from the 1860s, largely working as cameleers and pearlers. The first mosque in Australia was completed in 1882 in Maree, 600 kilometres north of Adelaide. Since then, mosques have been built in cities, towns and suburbs throughout Australia.</p>
<p>Now, Australia has its own grand mosque.</p>
<p>Melbourne’s Grand Mosque opened its doors <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-14/melbourne-grand-mosque-opens-in-tarneit/100906358#">last year</a>. </p>
<p>Planning, fundraising and building by the community are pillars of the new design processes and identity of mosques in Australia. The prayer hall can fit 2,000 worshippers. The building also includes a sporting centre, a community hall and a childcare centre. </p>
<p>Built for A$8.5 million, the community raised the funds to realise their vision over a period of ten years. The community wanted to make a grand architectural statement which would meet the spiritual and social needs of Australia’s Muslim community. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Melbourne Grand Mosque" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519989/original/file-20230409-24-p92xtj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519989/original/file-20230409-24-p92xtj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519989/original/file-20230409-24-p92xtj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519989/original/file-20230409-24-p92xtj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519989/original/file-20230409-24-p92xtj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519989/original/file-20230409-24-p92xtj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519989/original/file-20230409-24-p92xtj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Melbourne Grand Mosque, Tarneit, Victoria, Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Afif Rashid</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Eventually the complex will incorporate a library, sports facilities, childcare, educational spaces and hospitality. </p>
<p>Architecturally, the mosque respects traditions of a central dome above the prayer hall, bringing light into the most sacred space. However, the dome is smaller than in traditional mosques and is set back into the building, allowing it to not dominate the streetscape. </p>
<p>This allows the building to play a social role in a suburb where there are multiple religious groups of similar size.</p>
<h2>A mosque for the community</h2>
<p>The “grand mosque” is not just about the scale of architectural features – the minarets, arches and calligraphy.</p>
<p>The grand mosque of today is about community: their involvement in the design processes and its openness as a hub for diverse communities of the 21st century.</p>
<p>Grand mosques have long punctuated the urban space in major cities. Today, the realisation of a grand mosque such as the one in Melbourne transforms the idea of “grand” to a level of social interaction and community aspirations.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/graffiti-arson-death-threats-new-research-finds-widespread-violence-against-australian-mosques-156843">Graffiti, arson, death threats: new research finds widespread violence against Australian mosques</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189554/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Majdi Faleh receives funding from Australian Research Council. Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200989
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dijana Alic receives funding from Australian Research Council. Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200989</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span> Md Mizanur Rashid receives funding from Australian Research Council. Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200989</span></em></p>Grand mosques mark the urban space of major historical cities such as Mecca, Medina, Cordoba and Tunis. Now, Melbourne has its very own.Majdi Faleh, Academic Fellow in Cultural Heritage, Nottingham Trent UniversityDijana Alic, Associate Professor, Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW SydneyMd Mizanur Rashid, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1844182022-07-06T19:20:07Z2022-07-06T19:20:07ZFrom caravans to markets, the hajj pilgrimage has always included a commercial component<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472864/original/file-20220706-24-ndntzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=85%2C24%2C8045%2C5388&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A view of the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque during the hajj pilgrimage in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on July 6, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SaudiArabiaHajj/1ac9b0704ee7470688d0e419c9ed06af/photo?Query=hajj%202022&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=65&currentItemNo=25">AP Photo/Amr Nabil</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early June 2022, <a href="http://www.eumuslims.org/en/media-centre/news/saudi-arabia-western-pilgrims-no-longer-able-book-hajj-travel-agencies">Saudi Arabia announced a hajj “lottery” for Western pilgrims</a> that made it mandatory for people from Europe, the Americas and Australia to apply for visas through a random draw through the <a href="https://www.motawif.com.sa/home/en-eu">Saudi government-backed website</a>. This new website also offered customized and <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-hajj-website-crashes-lottery-western-pilgrims-opens">VIP packages</a> while attempting to replace the services that tour agencies had offered for decades. </p>
<p>This year, an estimated 1 million people will perform the hajj, which is considered one of the five pillars in Islam. Under the lottery, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/saudi-arabias-new-hajj-lottery-has-many-muslims-fuming/a-62368626">only 50,000 permits were allowed</a> from these 50 countries, compared with <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/saudi-arabia-hajj-british-muslims-in-uproar-over-travel-chaos-12642092">25,000 for U.K. Muslims</a> alone in previous years.</p>
<p>The resulting chaos left both pilgrims and travel agencies frustrated. Many Muslims who had already made their plans found they could not rebook under the new plan because of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/01/motawif-hajj/">malfunctioning websites</a>, among other issues. Several among those who were able to arrive in Saudi Arabia found <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hajj-western-pilgrims-left-no-hotel-room-days-pilgrimage">that the hotel rooms they had paid for were no longer available or were double-booked</a>. </p>
<p>The impact extends beyond individual pilgrims. Tour agencies will potentially lose out on thousands of dollars in revenue per prospective pilgrim. The cost of hajj packages has been rising <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-haj-egypt/higher-living-costs-fees-force-many-egyptians-to-drop-haj-plans-idUSKBN1L21FB">for many years</a> across the globe. For pilgrims leaving from the United States, trips can range between <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-hajj-pilgrims-and-tour-operators-question-lottery-system">US$12,000 and $20,000</a>. <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hajj-lottery-saudi-arabia-decision-devastates-uk-muslims">Cutting out travel agencies</a> that function as middlemen might help reduce these costs. But under the new system, the money will be channeled to the Saudi government, which aims <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/01/tourism-to-replace-oil-economy-in-saudi-arabia.html">to decrease its dependence on oil revenue through an increase in tourism activities</a>. This has reignited an ongoing debate on the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/14/mecca-hajj-saudi-arabia">commercialization of the hajj</a> under Saudi Arabia’s influence. </p>
<p>While Saudi Arabia sought to cut out the Western tour agencies reaping profit from hajj, their own offerings outlined “silver,” “gold” and “platinum” packages, boasting of “<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hajj-lottery-explained-random-draw-western-pilgrims">luxurious services,” five-star stays in Mecca and Medina, and “superior camping spots equipped with excellent facilities and modern furniture</a>.” </p>
<p>The current changes to the hajj system are just one example of centuries of economics mixing with tradition. Generally, pilgrims try to emulate the <a href="http://www.jstor.com/stable/20789596">hajj rituals in the order of the Prophet Muhammad’s own last pilgrimage before his death</a>. Those rituals emphasize the cleansing of the soul, detachment from worldly concerns and rejection of status distinctions among Muslims, symbolized by the donning of the <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/life-style/travel-and-tourism/2015/09/22/The-white-robes-of-Hajj-make-all-pilgrims-equal">white garments that all pilgrims wear</a>. Pilgrims continue to wear these robes in the service of these goals, but they also <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ed3493baea0c4cb9a81dcb58e2a7cef0_18.jpeg">travel to the various sites</a> in luxurious high-speed trains and buses. </p>
<p>In the past, too, the commercial, technological and secular aspects of the hajj have been a topic of much <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hajj-saudi-arabia-mecca-pilgrimage-commercialisation-riches-reclaim-worship-a7919606.html">debate</a> about whether they <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43133576">change the spiritual</a> nature of the pilgrimage. <a href="https://history.umbc.edu/spotlight-dr-noor-zaidi/">As a scholar of pilgrimage, ritual and Islam</a>, I know that the focus on commerce and profits has been part of the long history of the hajj. </p>
<h2>Early roots of trade and commerce</h2>
<p>Across religious traditions, pilgrimages have always had a commercial component. From pilgrimage caravans and markets that grow around religious sites to the gifting of relics and souvenirs, <a href="https://durkheim.uchicago.edu/Summaries/forms.html">religion and commerce have been deeply linked</a>. </p>
<p>The hajj is no different. As F.E. Peters, an eminent scholar of Islamic studies, noted in his 1994 <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=EK5MqskDYC0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=commerce&f=false">significant study</a> on the hajj, the Quran itself acknowledges that Muslims were permitted to indulge in commerce around the pilgrimage: Verse <a href="https://quran.com/2/198">2:198</a> in the Quran says, “There is no blame on you for seeking the bounty of your Lord during this journey.” Quranic commentaries have explained this verse to mean that Islam <a href="https://aboutislam.net/counseling/ask-the-scholar/hajj/can-i-engage-in-business-during-hajj/">allows commercial activity</a> before and after the days of hajj rituals. </p>
<p>As Islam spread, so did the commerce. While the narrow set of ritual acts of hajj remained, the total pilgrimage experience was shaped by business. For centuries, <a href="https://www.arabnews.pk/sites/default/files/userimages/20/routes-to-makkah-map.jpg">major overland caravan routes</a> traveled through Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad, with merchants attaching themselves to these caravans. </p>
<p>Traders targeted the pilgrims as consumers, and many pilgrims themselves <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2pwuAh0ujPMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false">engaged in trade</a> to pay their way. As traveling overland for the hajj journey could take <a href="https://doi.org/10.21832/9781845416157-015">up to two years</a>, pilgrims traded fruits, wines, silk, carpets and other items. They purchased goods such as coffee and pearls for <a href="http://www.uplbooks.com/book/pious-passengers-hajj-earlier-times">their return journey</a>. </p>
<h2>A changing world, a changing hajj</h2>
<p>The evolution of technology and means of travel inevitably brought new economic considerations into the organization of the hajj. The invention of the steamship was central to the development of mass pilgrimage to Mecca in the 19th century – the total number of pilgrims per year rose from an estimated 112,000 participants in 1831 <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/30069613">to some 300,000 in 1910</a>. </p>
<p>European liner companies <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4125193">controlled major</a> pilgrim sea routes, linking hajj to imperial business opportunities. In 1886, the British government called in the famed Thomas Cook & Son, the original package holiday entrepreneurs, to become <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/package-tour-to-mecca-how-the-hajj-became-an-essential-part-of-the-british-calendar">official travel agents of the hajj</a>. </p>
<p>The use of a for-profit tourism company to regulate the hajj may have seemed a new development, but agents and intermediaries had been central to the process for centuries. The “mutawwifin,” the hereditary guilds of pilgrimage guides, provided pilgrims with guidance in carrying out the rituals of the hajj and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/30069613">were central to Mecca’s government and its economy</a>.</p>
<p>Over the centuries, these local guides would develop contacts in foreign lands, encouraging Muslims to perform the pilgrimage. In addition to linguistic and ritual guidance, the mutawwifin would also arrange meals, lodgings and tents – acting in ways that were <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4125193">similar to modern-day tour operators</a>.</p>
<h2>The modern era</h2>
<p>The steamship was just one technological innovation that altered the hajj landscape into a more commercial venture. At the turn of the 20th century, Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire was an adamant promoter of the construction of the <a href="https://books.openedition.org/ifpo/docannexe/image/5005/img-1.jpg">Hejaz Railway</a>, meant to establish a connection between Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. </p>
<p>Proponents of the railway argued that it would both significantly improve conditions for pilgrims on the overland routes and <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=EK5MqskDYC0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=al-Munir&f=false">help the establishment of commerce and trade</a>. </p>
<p>The establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 and the eventual replacement of shipping and rail with air transport transformed the nature of the hajj further. The new Saudi state adhered to the doctrine of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wahhabi">Wahhabism</a>, an Islamic reform movement originating in the 1700s that rejected all forms of innovations outside of the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad in his time. </p>
<p>Yet despite this condemnation of innovation, the Saudi government has overseen decades of commercial development of the hajj, encouraging the <a href="https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/v2030/vrps/pep/">tourism atmosphere</a> and deriving <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/is-saudi-arabia-unfairly-profiting-from-its-holy-sites-28899">significant profits</a> from the obligatory pilgrimage. </p>
<h2>Commerce or politics?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472867/original/file-20220706-4568-h7xf2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men dressed in loose white garments sitting on top of a hill, while multitudes of people are gathered below." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472867/original/file-20220706-4568-h7xf2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472867/original/file-20220706-4568-h7xf2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472867/original/file-20220706-4568-h7xf2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472867/original/file-20220706-4568-h7xf2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472867/original/file-20220706-4568-h7xf2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472867/original/file-20220706-4568-h7xf2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472867/original/file-20220706-4568-h7xf2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muslim pilgrims pray on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MideastSaudiHajjPhotoEssay/67c1fda03dba48fc9df73c7b07ba7c9e/photo?Query=hajj%20%20&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=3237&currentItemNo=4">AP Photo/Amr Nabil</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the hajj has historically been linked to commerce, pilgrims of late have <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/188182221.pdf">expressed dissatisfaction</a> with the overt emphasis on the touristic experience and the sense that it is now diminishing the spiritual nature of the pilgrimage. </p>
<p>Indeed, commercial revenues from the hajj remain a contested and even a political topic. In 2018, Yusuf al Qaradawi, a prominent Muslim Brotherhood cleric based in Qatar, issued a fatwa calling for limiting spending on pilgrimage. “Seeing Muslims feeding the hungry, treating the sick and sheltering the homeless are better viewed by Allah than spending money on the hajj and <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/umrah-islamic-religious-pilgrimage-explained-mecca-saudi-arabia">umrah</a> every year,” he declared. This statement was viewed as an attempt <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2018/08/23/Qaradawi-fatwa-about-hajj-draws-Muslim-ire">to undermine Saudi Arabia</a> by discouraging Muslims from performing the pilgrimage, as the revenues go to the government. </p>
<p>Al Qaradawi’s fatwa drew ire from certain circles, as all Muslims who are financially and physically capable must attempt to complete the hajj, regardless of any geopolitical sentiment toward Saudi Arabia. Yet there is no doubt that the current hajj has refocused attention on whether the business of hajj remains in line with the original allowance to “seek bounty” during the pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Noorzehra Zaidi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The start of the hajj is reigniting debates around its commercialization, but pilgrimages are also a time for seeking business opportunities, writes a scholar of Islam.Noorzehra Zaidi, Assistant Professor of HIstory, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1658532021-08-11T12:29:55Z2021-08-11T12:29:55ZWhat is the Islamic New Year? A scholar of religion explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415549/original/file-20210810-25-ouym6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C22%2C1499%2C754&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A late 19th-early 20th century painting by Abbas Al-Musavi depicting the Battle of Karbala, which occurred in 680.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/3054">Gift of K. Thomas Elghanayan in honor of Nourollah Elghanayan, Photo: Brooklyn Museum</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Much of the world today follows the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gregorian-calendar">Gregorian solar calendar</a>, which has its origins in medieval Western Christianity. Conversely, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvwrm4gj.8">Islamic calendar</a> or hijrī, is a lunar calendar. There are 12 months in the hijrī calendar, with each month being 29 or 30 days long. </p>
<p>It would be over 32 to 33 years that the lunar calendar will completely cycle the solar calendar. That’s why the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan can fall in October one year, and a few years later it would be in July. It also means that the Islamic New Year is never on the same date and would also depend on the sighting of the <a href="http://adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1994QJRAS..35..425L">moon</a>.</p>
<p>Year one of the hijrī calendar is based on the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Muhammad-the-Prophet-and-Arabia/Rubin/p/book/9781409408468">emigration of the Prophet Muhammad</a> from Mecca to Medina in the year A.D. 622 to establish the first Muslim community. Despite Muhammad being from Mecca, his new faith and followers were persecuted for their beliefs. The Islamic calendar marks that beginning in Medina. </p>
<p>Additionally, the Islamic New Year is associated with the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23081">prophets</a> of the Christian faith as well: This is the day when Noah’s Ark is believed to have to have come to rest on land, the day on which God forgave Adam, the day of Joseph’s release from prison, the day of the births of Jesus, Abraham, and Adam, throughout the ages. It is also believed to be the day of the Prophet Muḥammad’s conception in the year 570.</p>
<p>Currently, while much of the world sees this as 2021, it is the Islamic year 1443, <a href="https://www.news18.com/news/lifestyle/islamic-new-year-2021-date-significance-and-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-hijri-new-year-4060433.html">starting on Aug. 10</a> A.H.. In Latin, A.H. means Anno Hegirae – the year of the hijra, or emigration.</p>
<p>Unlike many traditions that celebrate the new year as a joyous occasion, the Islamic New Year is typically a somber affair. The first Islamic month is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20837003.pdf">Muḥarram</a>, a sacred time for prayer and reflection for both <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Sunni and Shiite</a> Muslims.</p>
<h2>Why the Islamic New Year matters</h2>
<p>The 10th day of Muḥarram, known as Ashura, is particularly significant to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hk0qh">Shiite</a> Muslims. In the year 680, the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_30572">Ḥusayn</a> was killed along with most of his family and supporters in the <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/185346/pdf">Battle of Karbala</a> in present-day Iraq. </p>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_SIM_6019">Yazīd</a>
the caliph of the Ummayad dynasty, which ruled an area spanning from Spain to Persia from 661 to 750, saw Ḥusayn as a political threat and brutally suppressed him and his movement. </p>
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<p>The battle was a turning point for the Shiites, who saw indifference by the majority in the massacre of the rightful heirs of Muhammad as final proof of a fundamental irreconcilability with Sunni Islam. It solidified the <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Islam%3A+A+Brief+History%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781444358988">Sunni-Shia</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">schism</a> in Islam. </p>
<p>For the Shiites, Ḥusayn represents someone who stood against the forces of injustice and evil. They <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110803310">commemorate the battle during the first two Islamic months</a> of Muḥarram and Ṣafar.</p>
<p>In many countries like India and Iran, the Islamic New Year and Ashura are public holidays. Life events, such as birthdays and marriages, historically were not celebrated for the first 10 days of the month. Sunnis also observe Ashura. Many observe fasts as a way to atone for their sins and perform acts of charity. </p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. publishes short, accessible explanations of newsworthy subjects by academics in their areas of expertise.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165853/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iqbal Akhtar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Islamic New Year marks the first day of Muharram, a sacred month of prayer and annual reflection.Iqbal Akhtar, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Florida International UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1606712021-05-12T18:20:47Z2021-05-12T18:20:47ZWhy the Al-Aqsa Mosque has often been a site of conflict<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400318/original/file-20210512-14-xeolar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C23%2C5168%2C3422&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslims pray at the Mihrab, a niche in a wall indicating the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, at the Foundation Stone, located under the Dome of the Rock in the Al- Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muslims-pray-at-the-mihrab-a-nich-in-a-wall-indicating-the-news-photo/486224293?adppopup=true">Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This piece was updated on Oct. 9, 2023</em></p>
<p>The violence that spread from Jerusalem to cities across Israel and the Palestinian territories, leaving <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/35-killed-gaza-3-israel-violence-escalates-2021-05-12/">at least 60 dead so far</a>, has both historical and contemporary roots.</p>
<p>In recent weeks, tension has flared over the eviction of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities blocking access to the important Damascus Gate plaza during Ramadan, and a march of thousands of Israeli ultra-nationalists through the city on May 6, 2021, in celebration of “<a href="https://news.yahoo.com/violence-erupts-israel-marks-jerusalem-072749484.html">Jerusalem Day</a>,” which marks the capture of East Jerusalem in 1967. </p>
<p>But the one incident that led to a significant escalation involved Israeli security forces <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/thousands-pack-al-aqsa-mosque-protest-palestinian-evictions-jerusalem-2021-05-07/">firing rubber-coated bullets, tear gas and stun grenades</a> at worshipers gathered at Al-Aqsa mosque on May 7. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1392026529291542533"}"></div></p>
<p>As a <a href="http://www.kenchitwood.com/">scholar of global Islam</a>, I teach introduction to Islam and include a discussion about Al-Aqsa as part of the syllabus. That’s because Al-Aqsa has deep religious significance for Muslims around the world. But, it is also important to highlight its remarkable political relevance for Palestinians. These two facts make it a focal point for conflict. </p>
<h2>The night journey of Muhammad</h2>
<p>The Masjid al-Aqsa, or simply Al-Aqsa, means “the farthest mosque” or “the farthest sanctuary,” and <a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/The_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&redir_esc=y">refers to the lead-domed mosque</a> within the sacred precinct of Haram al-Sharif – “the Noble Enclosure.” The precinct includes the Dome of the Rock, the four minarets, the compound’s historic gates and the mosque itself.</p>
<p>Mentioned in Sura 17, verse 1 of the Quran, the mosque is linked to the story of Muhammad’s “Isra” – the “night journey” from Mecca to Jerusalem – that in part confirms him as the last and most authoritative of the prophets for Muslims. <a href="https://quran.com/53">The Quran says</a> the prophet was “carried…by night from the Sacred Mosque [in Mecca] to the Farthest Mosque [al-Aqsa], whose precincts we have blessed.” </p>
<p>From there, it is believed that Muhammad ascended to heaven – called the Mir'aj. The Dome of the Rock – Qubbat as-Sakhra – is said to shelter the rock <a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/The_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&redir_esc=y">from where Muhammad physically ascended</a>. </p>
<p>The mosque’s origins stretch back to the seventh century. It was <a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/The_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&redir_esc=y">first built in A.D. 637</a>, just five years after the prophet’s death. It has been destroyed, rebuilt and renovated multiple times.</p>
<p>The current building largely dates to the 11th century and hosts daily prayers and Friday gatherings that draw large crowds. It lies adjacent to important Jewish and Christian religious locales, particularly the site of the First and Second Jewish Temples. </p>
<p>At times, the Dome of the Rock – a shrine – and Al-Aqsa – a mosque – have been confused as one and the same. While part of the same “Noble Sanctuary,” they are two distinct buildings with different histories and purposes. </p>
<p>However, the term Al-Aqsa is sometimes used to indicate the entire “Noble Sanctuary” complex. Originally, it is believed that the term <a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/Aspects_of_Islam.html?id=FAWPAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">“the farthest sanctuary” referred to Jerusalem as a whole</a>. </p>
<h2>Place in Islamic history</h2>
<p>After Mecca and Medina, the vast majority of Muslims worldwide consider <a href="https://www.google.de/books/edition/Palestinians_Born_in_Exile/qRnUAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=palestinians+born+in+exile&printsec=frontcover">Jerusalem the third holiest place on Earth</a>. </p>
<p>Referenced frequently in Islamic tradition and hadith – records of something the Prophet Muhammad said, did or tacitly approved of – it is believed that while in Mecca, Muhammad originally oriented his community’s prayers toward Al-Aqsa.</p>
<p>In A.D. 622, the community fled Mecca because of persecution, seeking refuge in Medina to the north. After a little over a year there, Muslims believe God instructed Muhammad to face back toward Mecca for prayers. In Surah 2, verses 149-150, the Quran says, “turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque [the Kaaba in Mecca]…wheresoever you may be, turn your faces toward it.”</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Jerusalem and its sacred locales – specifically Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock – have remained sites of Islamic pilgrimage for 15 centuries. </p>
<h2>The ‘most sensitive site’ in conflict</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A golden dome and columns decorated by elaborate byzantine decorations." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400320/original/file-20210512-19-btu5d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The decorated interior of the golden dome inside the Dome of the Rock mosque at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, in Jerusalem’s Old City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/picture-taken-with-a-fisheye-lens-on-january-10-shows-the-news-photo/903284924?adppopup=true">Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Given its sacred significance, there was great concern about the precinct’s fate after Israel’s victory in the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/de/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/1967-arab-israeli-war-origins-and-consequences?format=PB">1967 Arab-Israeli War and its subsequent annexation of East Jerusalem</a>.</p>
<p>Although Israel granted jurisdiction of the mosque and complex to an Islamic waqf – “endowment” – Israel still commands access to the grounds and security forces regularly perform patrols and conduct searches within the precinct. Under the <a href="https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Protection+of+Holy+Places+Law.htm">Preservation of the Holy Places Law</a>, the Israeli government has also allowed entry to different religious groups – such as Christian pilgrims. </p>
<p>Many Israelis respect the sanctity of the place as the holiest site in Judaism. In 2005, the <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/1.4706117">chief rabbinate of Israel said it is forbidden for Jews to walk on the site</a> to avoid accidentally entering the Holy of Holies – the inner sanctum of the Temple, believed to be God’s dwelling place on earth. Nonetheless, certain ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups controversially advocate for <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/laying-the-groundwork-for-a-third-temple-in-jerusalem/">greater access and control of the site</a>, seeking to reclaim the historic Temple Mount, in order to rebuild the Temple.</p>
<p>Described as “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/violence-erupts-al-aqsa-mosque-israel-marks-jerusalem-day-2021-05-10">the most sensitive site in the Israel-Palestinian conflict</a>,” it has frequently been host to political acts. </p>
<p>For example, in August 1969, an Australian Christian named Dennis Michael Rohan <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-an-australian-sheepshearers-al-aqsa-arson-nearly-torched-middle-east-peace/">attempted to burn down</a> Al-Aqsa, destroying the historically significant and intricately carved minbar – or “pulpit” – of Saladin, a treasured piece of Islamic art. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Israeli security forces fire sound grenades inside the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400322/original/file-20210512-14-1tuw3mj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Israeli security forces fire sound grenades inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on Aug. 11, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/israeli-security-forces-fire-sound-grenades-inside-the-al-news-photo/1160931707?adppopup=true">Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On Sept. 28, 2000, Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon and a delegation guarded by hundreds of Israeli riot police <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/29/world/sharon-touches-a-nerve-and-jerusalem-explodes.html">entered the precinct</a>. This sparked protests and a violent crackdown by Israeli authorities, with multiple casualties. Many Muslims worldwide considered this a “<a href="https://books.google.de/books/about/111_Questions_on_Islam.html?id=fkZAnNDuNvsC&redir_esc=y">desecration” of the sacred mosque</a>, and the event helped ignite the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising. </p>
<p>Tensions peaked again after an attack on Yehuda Glick, a controversial right-wing rabbi, in autumn 2014. In response, Israeli authorities <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/03/world/meast/jerusalem-temple-mount-crisis-lister">closed down access to Al-Aqsa for the first time since 1967</a>. In March and April of that year, Israeli police <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/israeli-forces-storm-al-aqsa-mosque/2014/07/18/8ab345c0-0ea4-11e4-b0dd-edc009ac1f9d_video.html">used tear gas and stun grenades on Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa</a>, prompting international outcry. </p>
<p>Numerous other incidents between Israeli forces and worshipers <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/3/12/israeli-police-assault-worshippers-close-al-aqsa-compound">have occurred at Al-Aqsa</a> in recent years. </p>
<p>Controlled access to the site reminds Palestinians of their relative powerlessness in their ongoing land disputes with Israeli authorities. At the same time, attacks at Al-Aqsa resonate with Muslims across the world who react with horror to what they see as the desecration of one of their most sacred sites. </p>
<p>Defending Al-Aqsa and fighting for rights to access it, I argue, have become proxy conflicts for both Palestinian claims and the need to defend Islam as a whole.</p>
<p>[<em>This week in religion, a global roundup each Thursday.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-global-roundup">Sign up.</a>]</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: The piece has been updated to add details related to Jewish beliefs about the site.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160671/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Masjid al-Aqsa of Jerusalem is linked in the Quran to the story of the night journey of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem and has deep religious meaning for Muslims across the world.Ken Chitwood, Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, USC Dornsife Center for Religion and Civic Culture, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1600432021-05-11T14:39:51Z2021-05-11T14:39:51ZPilgrimage in a pandemic: lessons from Mecca on containing COVID-19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398665/original/file-20210504-22-1kzedqh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslim worshippers perform the evening Tarawih prayer during the fasting month of Ramadan around the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque complex in the holy city of Mecca, on April 13, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a Muslim, at least once a year I go on pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, located in Saudi Arabia. Muslims perform the short “Umrah” pilgrimage at any time of the year, and there could be <a href="https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/592545">over</a> 19 million pilgrims each year. I have also been to Mecca a couple of times for “Hajj” – the annual major pilgrimage. Held once a year, this is a mass gathering of <a href="https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/592545">over</a> 2.5 million Muslims. </p>
<p>Both the Umrah and Hajj pilgrimages weren’t possible for most of 2020 <a href="https://theconversation.com/hajj-cancellation-due-to-coronavirus-is-not-the-first-time-plague-has-disrupted-this-muslim-pilgrimage-135900">due to</a> the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>However, Saudi Arabia as a whole has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/">fared well</a> in handling the pandemic. It’s had low mortality rates and minimal social <a href="https://insights.omnia-health.com/hospital-management/prompt-action-defines-saudi-arabias-success-story-emerging-covid-19">and</a> economic disruption. There’s been widespread testing and vaccine access. This allowed it to open up for pilgrims. </p>
<p>I had avoided travel to minimise unnecessary exposure to the new coronavirus, SARS-COV-2. But <a href="https://www.haramainsharifain.com/2021/04/how-can-foreign-pilgrims-perform-umrah.html">information</a> on stringent rules to ensure the safety of pilgrims in Mecca encouraged me to go. </p>
<p>As a pathologist who has been at the forefront of tracing the spread of the new coronavirus in Kenya, I was impressed by what I experienced in Saudi Arabia. </p>
<p>I believe there are valuable lessons here for other countries where mass religious gatherings <a href="http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20120119-travelwise-10-sites-of-religious-pilgrimage">take place</a>. The strategies could also be emulated by specific industries – such as hospitality and tourism, sports and entertainment. These also handle large numbers of people and need to balance public health and the protection of people’s livelihood.</p>
<h2>Test and quarantine</h2>
<p>For starters, the Saudi authorities required foreign pilgrims to have a negative PCR test result. These had to be taken within 48 hours before arrival in Saudi Arabia. </p>
<p>Upon arrival, all pilgrims either had to do a mandatory quarantine at a government approved hotel for six days, or take a PCR test after 48 hours of quarantine and, if it was negative, could leave the hotel. Travellers from countries categorised as <a href="https://www.who.int/teams/health-product-and-policy-standards/access-to-assistive-technology-medical-devices/medical-devices/policies/high-risk-countries">“high-risk”</a> were required to do a mandatory seven day quarantine, but also needed to have a negative PCR test upon completion.</p>
<p>In addition, all pilgrims who wanted a permit to enter Haram – the Grand Mosque of Mecca – needed to have a COVID-19 vaccination certificate. </p>
<p>It’s important to use all these measures as they add layers of protection and prevent situations from becoming super-spreader events. A negative PCR test alone may not be enough. There’s always the risk of a <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/covid-tests-rt-pcr-coronavirus-negative-result-7297329/">false negative</a> for technical reasons or due to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55092387">fraud</a>. There have been <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/covid-19-kenya-added-to-uk-red-list-travel-ban-3346510">reports of</a> large numbers of travellers testing positive at their destination points after testing negative at departure.</p>
<h2>Social distancing</h2>
<p>Before COVID-19, there would be congestion and crowding. This time the flow of people within the Grand Mosque was well organised. A limited number of worshippers were allowed in at a time and there was clear demarcation to ensure physical distancing. Police and mosque orderlies monitored and directed the pilgrims.</p>
<p>Face masks – <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/masks-protect-you-and-me.html">which</a> provide a barrier and keep the new coronavirus from spreading – were mandatory. <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1682441/saudi-arabia">Harsh penalties</a> were imposed on anyone not wearing a mask or trying to enter the Haram without a valid permit. <a href="https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/Ministry/MediaCenter/News/Pages/News-2020-11-08-007.aspx">Daily text messages</a> reminded us about the penalties and public health measures.</p>
<p>The markedly restricted number of pilgrims – to 50,000 a day from a huge capacity of hundreds of thousands – made it easier to manage people and enforce measures. </p>
<p>In addition, the iftar meal – taken at the break of fasting – was provided in neatly sealed packages. Indicated by a label, these were prepared under stringent hygiene conditions eliminating the risk of the SARS-CoV-2 transmission from handling. In the past pilgrims would eat these meals together, sometimes from communal plates. This is a high risk situation for the virus transmission. </p>
<p>Also, unlike before when people would crowd to collect <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1712901/saudi-arabia">ZamZam holy water</a> from watering points, it was dispensed by mobile porters. They poured water from portable backpack tanks and also dished out sealed bottled water. </p>
<h2>Mobile apps</h2>
<p>An innovative intervention was the use of mobile apps to record, track and monitor all COVID-19 related personal records. These included test results and vaccination status. The apps were also used to apply for access to move around in public places. We were told which apps to download by our Umrah travel agent. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sa.gov.nic.tawakkalna&hl=en&gl=US">Tawakkalna app</a> is being used across the country for contact tracing. It’s the most important app, needed to access every place you go, for instance every shop, restaurant, hotel and vehicle. This app required a record of PCR results and vaccination to enable entry.</p>
<p>Those with a positive PCR were barred from moving around. <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/1804601/saudi-arabia">The app</a> has a constant location tracker and warns if someone is out of their allowed zone.</p>
<p>If groups wanted to gather for social events they would use the Tawakkalna app to apply for a gathering permit. The app would then provide contact tracing in the case of any positive case emerging after the event.</p>
<p>For pilgrims wanting access to the Haram, there is an app called <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sejel.eatamrna&hl=en&gl=US">Eatmarna</a>. Created by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (the government’s ministry dedicated to pilgrim matters) the Eatmarna app allows pilgrims to book a specific time-slot for access to the Grand Mosque, meaning numbers are capped. The app is also linked to the Tawakkalna app <a href="https://www.haj.gov.sa/en/InternalPages/Details/10234">which means</a> access is granted based on COVID-19 status.</p>
<p>As a foreign pilgrim, I was issued with a bar-coded wrist band that could be scanned to confirm my status in case I couldn’t display my Tawakkalna or Eatmarna status. </p>
<p><a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/coronavirus/2020/06/28/Saudi-Arabia-s-coronavirus-social-distancing-app-Tabaud-All-you-need-to-know">Tabaud</a> was another app that was used. It’s a social-distancing app which, using bluetooth, can check on the Tawakkalna app of people around you. It essentially warns of people nearby who have tested positive.</p>
<p>As a pathologist, I see these apps as crucial in preventing the spread of the new coronavirus. They limit crowding and also allow for the movement of those who are safe while restricting those who are unsafe. </p>
<p>Apps that track people’s movements – and that store their medical and personal data – do raise <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/inaccurate-and-insecure-why-contact-tracing-apps-could-be-a-disaster/">privacy concerns</a>, particularly if the data falls into the wrong hands or is misused. </p>
<p>However I also feel that their use is a price that we need to pay in these unprecedented times, and steps <a href="https://www.ictworks.org/protect-digital-privacy-security-covid-19-response/">can be taken</a> to protect the data. </p>
<h2>Avoiding superspreader events</h2>
<p>In the past, Mecca was a convergence point for millions of pilgrims and has always been a flashpoint for the spread of various contagious diseases, including <a href="http://www.ph.ucla.edu/EPI/snow/pandemic1826-37.html">cholera</a>.</p>
<p>Strict and decisive steps taken for mass gatherings can prevent them from becoming superspreader hotspots, as has happened in <a href="https://qz.com/india/2006872/lancet-editorial-blames-modi-for-mismanaging-indias-covid-crisis/">India</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/27/3/taaa044/5817958">Iran</a>.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia’s handling of the pilgrimage provides many lessons worth emulating by sectors and events that bring together large numbers of people, including sports, religion, entertainment and hospitality industries. </p>
<p>People wishing to use these facilities would have to accept that to enjoy these privileges they would need to be checked and monitored – for the welfare of everyone. </p>
<p>Of particular interest is the use of mobile phone technology which could be a very potent tool in combating the pandemic in all countries, including <a href="https://www.geopoll.com/blog/mobile-phone-penetration-africa/">those in Africa</a>, where internet and mobile phone penetration is high.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160043/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ahmed Kalebi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Entertainment, sports and tourism industries can learn valuable lessons from how Saudi Arabia managed the annual pilgrimage during a pandemic.Ahmed Kalebi, Independent Consultant Pathologist & Hon. Lecturer, Department of Human Pathology, University of NairobiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1436472020-07-30T12:10:23Z2020-07-30T12:10:23ZWhy is Eid celebrated twice a year and how has coronavirus changed the festival?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350236/original/file-20200729-29-pu6dip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=411%2C37%2C4580%2C3255&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Worshippers wearing protective face masks and gloves offer Eid al-Fitr prayers in Teheran.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Iran-Virus-Outbreak-Ramadan-Holiday-Lockdown/fd5f9fa5779b4aefb7784268357b2ae5/37/0">AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: At sundown on July 30, Muslims all over the world celebrated one of the principal festivals, Eid al-Adha. Earlier in May, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr. Ken Chitwood, a scholar of global Islam, explains the two Islamic festivals.</em></p>
<h2>1. What is Eid?</h2>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid literally means a “festival” or “feast” in Arabic</a>. Eid is celebrated twice a year as Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr. </p>
<h2>2. Why is it celebrated twice a year?</h2>
<p>The two Eids recognize, celebrate and recall two distinct events that are significant to the story of the Islamic faith. </p>
<p>Eid al-Fitr means “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">the feast of breaking the fast</a>.” The fast, in this instance, is that of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Ramadan</a>, the holy month observed by Muslims, which recalls the revealing of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad. </p>
<p>Eid celebrations can last up to three days. In many countries with large Muslim populations, it is a national holiday. Schools, offices and businesses are closed so family, friends and neighbors can enjoy the celebrations together. In Turkey and in places that were once part of the Ottoman-Turkish empire such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, it is also known as the “<a href="http://oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1342?_hi=0&_pos=4734">Lesser Bayram</a>,” meaning “lesser festival” in Turkish. </p>
<p>The other festival, Eid al-Adha, is the “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">feast of the sacrifice</a>.” It commemorates the end of hajj, an annual pilgrimage by millions of Muslims to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is obligatory once in a lifetime, but only for those with means.</p>
<p>Eid al-Adha recalls the story of how God commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as a test of faith. A similar story is told of Abraham and Isaac, as they were known, in the Hebrew Torah and Christian Old Testament. As narrated in the Quran, it describes Satan’s attempt to tempt Ibrahim so he would disobey God’s command. Ibrahim, however, remains unmoved and informs Ismail, who is willing to be sacrificed. </p>
<p>But, just as Ibrahim attempts to kill his son, God intervenes and a ram is sacrificed in place of Ismail. This story has institutionalized the practice of sacrifice in Islam and continues to be commemorated each year.</p>
<p>During Eid al-Adha, Muslims slaughter an animal – usually a sheep, goat or cow – to remember Ibrahim’s sacrifice and remind themselves of the need to submit to the will of God. Eid al-Adha is also known as the “<a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e740?_hi=0&_pos=2592">Greater Bayram</a>.” </p>
<h2>3. When are they celebrated?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Adha is celebrated on the <a href="https://www.oupjapan.co.jp/en/node/2191">10th day of the 12th and final month in the Islamic calendar</a>.</p>
<p>Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ry_aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT175&lpg=PT175&dq=islam+the+straight+path+eid+esposito&source=bl&ots=OpTvV-P-BD&sig=vO86ofKfVTFj4ZZdz2iCg2-s1P4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR-qaVlbzVAhWHs1QKHW53AiQQ6AEIWTAM#v=onepage&q=islam%20the%20straight%20path%20eid%20esposito&f=false">first day of the 10th month in the Islamic calendar</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2">Islamic calendar</a> is a lunar calendar and dates are calculated based on lunar phases. Due to this, the Islamic calendar year is shorter than the solar Gregorian calendar year by 10 to 12 days. </p>
<p>Thus, Ramadan and Eid “rotate” through the Gregorian calendar and can be celebrated during different seasons in the Southern and Northern hemispheres. In 2019, for example, Eid al-Fitr was celebrated in the U.S. on June 4. In 2020, the date for Eid al-Fitr was 24 May. For Eid al-Adha, the date this year is July 31, beginning at sundown on July 30. In 2019, it fell on August 11. </p>
<h2>4. What customs are common during the two Eids?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Fitr features two to three days of celebrations that include <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">special prayers</a>. People greet each other with “Eid Mubarak,” meaning “Blessed Eid.” Gifts are given out to the poor before the morning prayers. In addition, Muslims are encouraged to forgive differences and let go of grudges. There are a multitude of other practices that vary from country to country. </p>
<p>On Eid al-Adha, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Hajj.html?id=EK5MqskDYC0C">pilgrims in Mecca reenact Ibrahim’s rejection</a> of Satan’s temptation. During the pilgrimage, Muslims cast stones at a pillar, which represents Satan. In remembrance of how Ibrahim was given a ram to sacrifice, they proceed to sacrifice animals.</p>
<p>Those unable to go on the pilgrimage <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">visit mosques and even family gravesites.</a></p>
<h2>5. What is the spiritual meaning of sacrifice during Eid al-Adha?</h2>
<p>The sacrifice represents how, like Ibrahim, pilgrims and practicing Muslims worldwide are willing to give up <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=L31e4m2GUTwC&source=gbs_similarbooks">even their most precious possessions</a>. </p>
<p>Charity to the poor is a highly emphasized value in Islam. <a href="http://quranexplorer.com">The Quran says</a>, “Believe in Allah and his messenger, and give charity out of the (substance) that Allah has made you heirs of. For those of you who believe and give charity – for them is a great reward.” </p>
<p>So, as part of this practice, only around a third of the meat is consumed by the family or group of friends; the rest is given to the poor and needy. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the sacrifice of animals is carried out <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/introduction-to-islam-9780190467487?cc=us&lang=en&">according to specific instructions</a>. This is all part of the religious and moral obligation of Muslims. </p>
<h2>6. What are some of the modern-day challenges?</h2>
<p>With more than 2 million visitors normally arriving in Mecca for hajj, the pilgrimage often presents a <a href="https://tradearabia.com/index.php?/news/MISC_290820.html">logistical challenge</a> for countries providing meat for the sacrifice. Saudi authorities strive to <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/flash-freezing-takes-care-of-surplus-meat-from-haj-sacrifice-1.310668">find alternative methods</a> of preserving, distributing and dealing with the vast amount of meat that comes from the animal sacrifices. </p>
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<p>The coronavirus pandemic has led to a new set of challenges to the celebrations in 2020. Most of all, the hajj pilgrimage has been limited to <a href="https://theconversation.com/hajj-cancellation-due-to-coronavirus-is-not-the-first-time-plague-has-disrupted-this-muslim-pilgrimage-135900">only those Muslims residing in Saudi Arabia</a>. Additionally, many families are unable to get together for Eid celebrations, due to restrictions on travel and social distancing rules. </p>
<p>Leaders around the world have imposed restrictions on religious gatherings. In Saudi Arabia, for example <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/muslims-celebrating-eid-al-adha-coronavirus-200727170212075.html">people are being asked to hold Eid prayers inside mosques</a>, rather than outside, which is customary. In the U.S., <a href="https://www.amjaonline.org/fatwa/en/87758/praying-eid-prayer-at-home-due-to-covid-19coronavirus-pandemic">the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America issued a fatwa</a> – a formal ruling on a point of Islamic law – dictating that praying be done at home this Eid.</p>
<p>The World Health Organization even issued guidelines for a “<a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:IaWfNtco6OQJ:https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1288874/retrieve%20&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-b-d">Safe Eid</a> addressing social distancing at prayer and public gatherings. It also included best practices for sacrifices and distribution of charity to the poor. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">of a piece first published</a> on August 28, 2017.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143647/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood receives funding from the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. </span></em></p>Muslims throughout the world will celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Adha, or Festival of Sacrifice, beginning at sundown on July 30, but the coronavirus has changed many things.Ken Chitwood, Lecturer, Concordia College New York | Journalist-fellow, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, Concordia College New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1411422020-06-26T14:34:03Z2020-06-26T14:34:03ZHajj 2020: coronavirus pandemic frustrates Saudi vision for expanded religious tourism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344251/original/file-20200626-104510-kekfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C43%2C5691%2C3742&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslim pilgrims circle round the Kaaba in Mecca in 2019. The numbers will be dramatically reduced in 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Saudi Arabia has <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/hajj-2020-year-pilgrimage-200623085733669.html">finally clarified</a> that due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic only very limited numbers of local pilgrims will be allowed to perform Hajj in 2020. During the past decade, the kingdom has typically welcomed between <a href="https://www.stats.gov.sa/sites/default/files/haj_40_en.pdf">1.9 to 3.2 million</a> pilgrims per year from across the Muslim world, generating more than <a href="https://www.accaglobal.com/an/en/member/member/accounting-business/2018/07/insights/economics-hajj.html">US$8 billion</a> in annual revenue for the Saudi economy.</p>
<p>No Hajjis from outside Saudi Arabia will be permitted to travel to Mecca in 2020 due to the high risk of infection. Managing crowds is normally a challenge during the pilgrimage. So, over the five days prescribed in the Islamic lunar calendar – which fall between July 28 and August 2 in 2020 – at most 10,000 Saudis and nationals from other countries resident in Saudi Arabia will perform the rituals. They must follow physical and social distancing protocols. </p>
<p>While the Hajj has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/hajj-cancellation-due-to-coronavirus-is-not-the-first-time-plague-has-disrupted-this-muslim-pilgrimage-135900">restricted and suspended</a> in the past because of conflict or disease, 2020 is the first time Saudi Arabia – established in 1932 – has so significantly curtailed the pilgrimage. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, given huge drops in the current demand for oil due to the economic crisis provoked by COVID-19, the longer-term impact of the virus could deal a real blow to Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to diversify its economy by expanding pilgrimage-based tourism. It also highlights concerns about governance and regulation of the pilgrimage industry beyond the kingdom, raised <a href="https://hajj.leeds.ac.uk/industry/">in my own research</a> mapping the challenges of the Hajj sector in the UK.</p>
<h2>A changing political economy</h2>
<p>When the Saudis first took control of the Hijaz area of western Arabia – where Mecca is situated – in the 1920s, Hajj was the most significant source of revenue for the region. This financial dependence on Hajj ended in the years following the discovery of oil in the late 1930s. </p>
<p>As oil prices quintupled during the 1970s and international air travel became the norm, the Saudi rentier state increasingly deployed Hajj as part of its diplomacy beyond the Arab world. The House of Saud also demonstrated its largesse to the “guests of God” by expanding pilgrimage infrastructure as the number of overseas Hajjis expanded from <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/guests-of-god-9780195171075?cc=gb&lang=en&">100,000</a> per year in the mid-1950s to nearly 1 million, 20 years later. </p>
<p>Into the 1990s, however, global recession began to focus Saudi attention on the benefits of systematically commercialising pilgrimage despite the challenges of rapid modernisation for <a href="https://hajj.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/69/2019/08/Mapping-the-UK-Hajj-Sector-Full-Report.pdf#page=16">safety, heritage and the environment</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hajj-how-globalisation-transformed-the-market-for-pilgrimage-to-mecca-97888">Hajj: how globalisation transformed the market for pilgrimage to Mecca</a>
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<h2>A bid for pilgrim-tourists</h2>
<p>The Saudi government has sought to offer pilgrims improved transport, accommodation, retail and other pilgrimage-related services by partnering with international private investors. During the past decade <a href="https://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-4802-10-ksa-projects-you-should-be-involved-in">US$8.5 billion</a> has been invested in the new King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the Haramain high-speed railway, which connects Mecca and Medina to the new airport.</p>
<p>Even so, <a href="https://vision2030.gov.sa/en#">Vision 2030</a>, launched in 2016 by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, represents a revolution in Saudi Arabia’s plans to open up the kingdom. Extremely ambitious targets were set to more than double current Hajj numbers to around 6 million a year – and Umrah to 30 million annually – by 2030. </p>
<p>In 2019, Umrah numbers reached <a href="https://www.stats.gov.sa/sites/default/files/umrah_2019_e-15-3_kp.pdf">20 million</a> with Saudi Arabia launching a new tourist e-visa the same year. Notably, single Muslim women can use this visa to complete the pilgrimage without the usual <em>mahram</em> (male relative). Umrah takes just half a day and it can easily be included in itineraries including the Red Sea coast and the ruins at Al-‘Ula.</p>
<p>Vision 2030 is especially focused on the global Muslim middle-classes with disposable incomes. As my <a href="https://hajj.leeds.ac.uk/industry/">own research</a> showed, costs across the pilgrimage industry have been driven up by marketisation. Between 2013-18 the price of all packages had risen by around <a href="https://hajj.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/69/2019/08/Mapping-the-UK-Hajj-Sector-Full-Report.pdf#page=28">25%</a>. In 2018 even an “economy” Hajj package from the UK cost more than <a href="https://hajj.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/69/2019/08/Mapping-the-UK-Hajj-Sector-Full-Report.pdf#page=28">£4,000</a> (US$5,000). </p>
<h2>Hajj tourism regulation</h2>
<p>Speaking on a <a href="http://cbhuk.org/news/cbhuk-news/hajj-2020-update-webinar/">Council of British Hajjis</a> webinar in late June, an imam reminded disappointed pilgrims that Muslims are rewarded even for the religious intention of making Hajj. </p>
<p>But given the unprecedented late cancellation of millions of Hajj packages in 2020, business relations between suppliers and customers along transnational pilgrimage chains will undoubtedly be fraught for months – and possibly years.</p>
<p>Muslims worldwide are now wondering whether the 2021 pilgrimage will go ahead as before if they defer their package by a year. There is also a question about what quota each country will receive, if global demand doubles. And in <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/06/coronavirus-what-it-means-for-your-travel-insurance/#COVID">many cases</a>, travel insurance will not now cover COVID-19-related issues. </p>
<p>Even in Europe, where travellers are due refunds <a href="http://cbhuk.org/news/general-news/hajj-2020-guidance-if-cancelled/">under EU law</a>, cashflow problems mean that some Hajj travel agents are seeking to defer refunds until 2021. In the UK, some agencies have not issued the <a href="https://www.caa.co.uk/atol-protection/">necessary certificates</a> to pilgrims – which offer protection should providers go out of business – or have <a href="https://hajj.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/69/2019/08/Mapping-the-UK-Hajj-Sector-Full-Report.pdf#page=32">fraudulently advertised</a> that they are covered. </p>
<p>The fallout of COVID-19 will magnify challenges that the Muslim pilgrimage industry was already confronting. The <a href="https://hajj.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/69/2019/08/Mapping-the-UK-Hajj-Sector-Full-Report.pdf#page=44">lack of professionalism and compliance</a> among some Saudi-licensed Hajj organisers is exacerbated by <a href="https://hajj.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/69/2019/08/Mapping-the-UK-Hajj-Sector-Full-Report.pdf#page=38">inconsistent approaches to regulation and enforcement</a>. What’s needed is more effective self-governance by the pilgrimage industry, as well as more transparent and better co-ordinated communication between pilgrims, travel companies as well as the Saudi and other authorities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141142/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Seán McLoughlin has received funding to support his research on the organisation of Hajj from the Arts and Humanities Research Council/British Museum (2011-12), the British Academy (2013-14), the Economic and Social Research Council (2018-19) and Research England (2019-20).
His report, Mapping the UK's Hajj Sector: Moving Towards Communication and Consensus, was launched in 2019 at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hajj and Umrah at Westminster.</span></em></p>Expanding pilgrimage is a key part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 – COVID-19 has put that on hold.Seán McLoughlin, Professor of the Anthropology of Islam, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1329432020-03-06T13:01:38Z2020-03-06T13:01:38ZCoronavirus fears put a halt to the Muslim pilgrimage of umrah – but not yet the hajj<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318706/original/file-20200304-66064-18m5nlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C44%2C2986%2C2020&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Umrah pilgrims pray near the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-Travel/a27f0772a875452aa0505e3f78da95df/12/0">AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Due to concerns over the global spread of the coronavirus – especially in nearby Iran – Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended travel to its holy sites. <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-02-26/saudi-arabia-halts-travel-to-islams-holiest-site-over-virus">Millions of Muslims visit the Saudi kingdom</a> around the year for pilgrimage. </p>
<p>The current travel restrictions <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-coronavirus-umrah-ban-tourism-what-we-know">prevent the entry of both overseas pilgrims and Saudi citizens</a> into the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. This has had a direct impact on the umrah pilgrimage, known as the “lesser pilgrimage,” that can be performed at almost any time of the year. </p>
<p>Whether or not the restrictions will extend to the hajj, which begins around July 28, can be known only after it becomes clear how long the coronavirus outbreak will last.</p>
<p>Both the umrah and hajj are important pilgrimages for Muslims, but they differ in many respects.</p>
<h2>When do Muslims undertake umrah?</h2>
<p>Millions of pilgrims undertake these pilgrimages. In 2019, for example, <a href="https://www.haj.gov.sa/en/News/Details/12324">Mecca welcomed over 7 million international pilgrims</a> for umrah in addition to millions from within the kingdom. The number of hajj pilgrims for the same year was <a href="https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/28">over 2 million</a>.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cQRzNv8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholar of global Islam</a>, I listen to stories of people from around the world who performed these pilgrimages.</p>
<p>Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad performed both the umrah and the hajj. Muslims have been following this tradition for the last 1,400 years. The pilgrimages retrace events from the lives of Ibrahim, Hajar, Ismail and Muhammad.</p>
<p>While the hajj is a <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?format=HB&isbn=9781107030510#r1EAFLxwIhcoTB6d.97">once-in-a-lifetime obligation</a>, compulsory for all Muslims according to their finances and physical ability, umrah is voluntary. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.iium.edu.my/deed/hadith/bukhari/026_sbt.html">According to certain hadiths</a>, the recorded traditions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, both pilgrimages offer the forgiveness of sin.</p>
<h2>Hajj takes many days</h2>
<p>Umrah and hajj also differ in duty and duration. Hajj is longer and far more involved than umrah.</p>
<p>Umrah requires that pilgrims consecrate and cleanse themselves beforehand and circle the <a href="https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/kaaba">Kaaba</a>, a cubic structure draped in black at the center of the Great Mosque of Mecca, seven times in a counterclockwise direction. </p>
<p>In doing so, they join in a long line of pilgrims to Mecca who have circled the Kaaba. Some may also kiss, touch or approach the black stone embedded in the Kaaba as a sign of their respect and devotion. </p>
<p>The Kaaba is central to Muslims because of its role in the history of prophets like Ibrahim and Muhammad and its symbolism of their worship of the one God. Across the world, Muslims pray in its direction.</p>
<p>Afterwards, pilgrims perform prayers and walk about 100 meters <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?format=HB&isbn=9781107030510">between two hills known as Safa and Marwah</a>. This recalls a <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?format=HB&isbn=9781107030510">significant event</a> recorded in the Quran.</p>
<p>After Ismail was born, God instructed Ibrahim to leave his newborn son and his mother, Hajar, out in the desert, and he complied. But when baby Ismail cried out with thirst, Hajar ran between the two hills looking for water, until finally she turned to God for help.</p>
<p>God rewarded Hajar for her patience. He sent his angel Jibreel to reveal a spring, which today is known as the Zamzam well. </p>
<p>Pilgrims go on to drink from the well, marking the moment when God provided water to a thirsty Ismail. </p>
<p>Umrah can be completed in a matter of hours. Hajj, however, takes <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-muslim-hajj-a-spiritual-pilgrimage-with-political-overtones-120807">five to six days</a>. It also includes additional rituals outside of Mecca.</p>
<h2>Past epidemics</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318710/original/file-20200304-66099-tq97d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318710/original/file-20200304-66099-tq97d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318710/original/file-20200304-66099-tq97d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318710/original/file-20200304-66099-tq97d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318710/original/file-20200304-66099-tq97d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318710/original/file-20200304-66099-tq97d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318710/original/file-20200304-66099-tq97d1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Muslim families were stranded at airports after Saudi Arabia halted the entry of pilgrims to holy sites.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-Indonesia/8678a393d3964bffaa8b4707aa91a092/9/0">AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana</a></span>
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<p>This is not the first time diseases have impacted pilgrimages. <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(17)30454-1/fulltext">Cholera outbreaks in 1821 and 1865</a> claimed thousands of lives during hajj. In 2012 and 2013, Saudi authorities encouraged the ill and the elderly not to undertake the pilgrimage amid concerns over <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/4/13-1708_article">Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS</a>. </p>
<p>While the recent decision halting umrah will disappoint Muslims looking to perform the pilgrimage, they might refer to a hadith that provides guidance <a href="http://www.iupui.edu/%7Emsaiupui/071.sbt.html">about traveling during a time of an epidemic</a>. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place.”</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132943/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended pilgrimage to its holy sites. Many Muslims travel to these holy sites round the year for a pilgrimage known as Umrah. Here is what it means to their faith.Ken Chitwood, Lecturer, Concordia College New York | Journalist-fellow, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, Concordia College New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1216182019-08-09T04:22:16Z2019-08-09T04:22:16ZMillions of Muslims prepare to perform the hajj amid calls for a boycott<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287447/original/file-20190809-144862-1hsz24u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This year's hajj has attracted controversy, with growing calls for a boycott.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Sunday, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/617696/saudi-arabia-total-hajj-pilgrims/">2.4 million Muslims</a> will gather in Mecca to perform the Islamic practice of hajj (pilgrimage). This year’s pilgrimage has been marred by regional politics and an unprecedented call to boycott the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>The boycott was brought to prominence in April when Libya’s Grand Mufti, <a href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Libyan-Mufti-Urges-Muslims-To-Boycott-Hajj-Over-Saudi-Crimes-20190429-0007.html">Sadiq al-Gharawani, called</a> on Muslims not to travel for the hajj, alleging the revenues were being used against civilians in the Yemen war. The boycott calls spread through social media, finding <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australian-muslims-are-joining-international-calls-to-boycott-the-hajj">supporters</a> around the world.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.accaglobal.com/an/en/member/member/accounting-business/2018/07/insights/economics-hajj.html">Estimates</a> put Saudi income from the hajj at around US$16 billion a year. While important, this amounts to a relatively small 2% of <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/country/saudi-arabia">Saudi GDP</a>. Saudi Arabia also <a href="https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/412193-saudi-arabia-to-raise-36bn-for-transport-infra-investment">invests heavily</a> in hajj infrastructure and associated services to cater for millions of pilgrims.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-syrian-war-is-not-over-its-just-on-a-new-trajectory-heres-what-you-need-to-know-110292">The Syrian war is not over, it's just on a new trajectory: here's what you need to know</a>
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<p>The call to protest against Saudi Arabia on moral grounds is understandable. According to <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/02/1032811">UN reports</a>, the conflict in Yemen has adversely affected 24 million civilians, with 3.2 million, mostly children, needing urgent treatment for malnutrition.</p>
<p>Curiously, the Saudi military intervention in Yemen <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-44466574">started in 2015</a> with the support of eight other Arab states, including Qatar, and backed by the US, UK and France. Four years of silence from Muslim religious and political leaders only to raise concerns now suggests deeper issues at play.</p>
<p>The negative turn in sentiment towards Saudi Arabia started with its role in the diplomatic and economic blockade of Qatar. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40173757">Saudi Arabia and its supporters alleged</a> that Qatar funded radical groups in Syria, supported <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/world/middleeast/is-the-muslim-brotherhood-terrorist.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FMuslim%20Brotherhood%20Egypt&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=collection">Muslim Brotherhood</a> activities that are often seen as a threat to regimes in the region, and collaborated with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival.</p>
<p>Qatar responded with an aggressive diplomatic and media campaign to discredit Saudi Arabia and its effective ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Qatar’s influential Al-Jazeera news channel labelled Saudi Arabia’s <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/analysis-punishing-blockade-qatar-190430154256454.html">blockade of Qatar as unfair</a>. It has published numerous articles holding <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/yemenis-die-uae-saudi-withhold-aid-funds-190718164718969.html">Saudi Arabia responsible</a> for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and highlighting links that <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/murder-jamal-khashoggi-190624190644822.html">point to the Saudi regime and Prince Mohammed</a> as the chief culprits in the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.</p>
<p>Qatar seems to be succeeding in the war to win hearts and minds. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-21/mckinsey-horrified-saudi-arabia-report-may-have-been-misused">Negative sentiment</a> towards Saudi Arabia and its leaders is growing in the Middle East. </p>
<p>Despite this, the call for boycott is not likely to make any significant dent in the hajj attendance. Saudi Arabia applies a 1% <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/09/23/how-to-score-a-ticket-to-the-hottest-event-in-saudi-the-hajj/">quota</a> on the population of each country for attendance. There are always people on the waiting list desperate to make the journey. Most Muslims also do not like <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-07-19/politics-complicate-hajj-spiritual-journey-some-muslims">mixing temporal political issues with religious observances</a>.</p>
<h2>What is the hajj?</h2>
<p>The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islamic practice. Every adult Muslim is required to perform hajj once in a lifetime if they can afford the journey. It is staged on the eighth to 13th days of <em>Dhu’l Hijjah</em>, the final month of the Islamic lunar calendar.</p>
<p>Literally meaning to set out for a place, the hajj refers to the annual pilgrimage Muslims embark on to Mecca with the intention of visiting holy places and performing prescribed religious rites.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/everything-in-mecca-gets-5-stars-and-online-reviews-of-other-holy-sites-are-wildly-inflated-too-119614">Everything in Mecca gets 5 stars — and online reviews of other holy sites are wildly inflated, too</a>
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<p>Rituals of the hajj include putting on a simple two-pieced cloth (<em>ihram</em>), prayers for forgiveness on the first day on the Plain of Arafat (20km from Mecca), a night visit and vigils at Muzdalifah on the way back to Mecca, then to Mina to throw pebbles at three pillars symbolising Satan, followed by a fast walk between the two hills of Safa and Marwah. Finally, pilgrims circle Ka’bah (the sacred cube building) seven times and finish with cutting their hair.</p>
<p>The hajj is about more than just performing rituals. It is a collective act of worship and a way of establishing a connection with the monotheistic legacy of Prophet Abraham and spiritual beginning of humanity with Adam. </p>
<h2>What does the Quran say about the hajj?</h2>
<p>According to Islamic tradition, on God’s orders Abraham left his wife Hagar and son Ishmail in the valley of Baccah after a dispute between his wives Sara and Hagar. Stranded and out of supplies, Hagar frantically searched for help and water by running seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah. Miraculously, water gushed under the feet of baby Ishmael. The water became the well of Zam Zam, attracting nomads who eventually settled in the area to found the city of Mecca.</p>
<p>Abraham later returned with his teenage son Ishmael to build Ka’bah, the main cube-shaped building inside the Great Mosque of Mecca. This was a time when people began to develop city settlements around a large central temple dedicated to a pantheon of gods. Ka’bah was to be the monotheistic shrine alternative to the prevailing polytheism of the time.</p>
<p>Abraham began the tradition of pilgrimage with an invitation to humans from all corners of the world to visit the Ka’bah. The Quran says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Remember, again, that We made the House (Ka‘bah) a resort for people, and a refuge of safety. Stand in the prayer in the Station of Abraham. And We imposed a duty on Abraham and Ishmael: ‘Purify My House for those who go around it as a rite of worship, and those who abide in devotion, and those who bow and prostrate in prayer.’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mecca, and more precisely Mina, is also the place where Abraham attempts to sacrifice his son Ishmail in the Islamic tradition. Abraham and Ishmail were tempted three times with an apparition of Satan. Determined to carry out the sacrifice, they threw stones at Satan in three places, today marked by the pillars where pilgrims also throw stones hoping to cast out evil temptations within and commit to a more righteous life.</p>
<p>Over thousands of years, Abraham’s legacy was lost and Ka’bah became a storage house of tribal gods. With the triumph of Islam in Arabia, Prophet Muhammad cleared Ka'bah of idols and restored it as a shrine dedicated to one God. The hajj rituals were reformed to honour the legacy of Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael. </p>
<h2>The spiritual significance for Muslims</h2>
<p>The rituals of hajj convey a number of profound meanings and deliver spiritual benefits to pilgrims. </p>
<p>Believers obey the call of God by turning up in their millions at the time of pilgrimage. The central aims of worship – exalting, glorifying and praising God – occur individually and collectively.</p>
<p>The circling of the Ka’bah simulates the most common act of worship observed in the universe where things orbit a central point – an act common to electrons in atoms, and stars and planets in the cosmos. While God does not change, we change for the better by joining the constant flow of life around Ka’bah.</p>
<p>The main climax of the pilgrimage is when all Muslims gather on the plain around Mount Arafat. According to Islamic tradition, this is the place where the first man, Adam, and his partner, Eve, sincerely repented and received forgiveness for the mistake that brought them down to earth from paradise. </p>
<p>Muslims gather in the same place and time, as Adam and Eve did, to repent of their sins and to seek forgiveness. According to Prophet Muhammad, sincere pilgrims will rid themselves of their sins and attain the sinless state of a newborn.</p>
<p>The hajj addresses one of the most enduring of human weaknesses. The racism and tribalism of much religion is the foundation of intolerance. When Muslims all dress in the same simple white gown, all worldly status disappears. </p>
<p>During the hajj, Muslims see countless Muslims from all over the world. They truly appreciate that Islam is a universal religion that belongs to all humanity.</p>
<p>Pilgrimage is a total human experience. The hajj simulates the Day of Judgment when believers gather <em>en masse</em> in one place, wearing only a two-piece white garment. Seeing millions of people worship one God at one time in one place is powerful testimony for the existence and the unity of God.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121618/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mehmet Ozalp is affiliated with Islamic Sciences and research Academy of Australia.</span></em></p>Despite the calls for a boycott, millions of Muslims will make the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islamic practice.Mehmet Ozalp, Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1196142019-08-06T13:05:45Z2019-08-06T13:05:45ZEverything in Mecca gets 5 stars — and online reviews of other holy sites are wildly inflated, too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286954/original/file-20190805-36377-100995x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Like any other travelers, Muslim pilgrims review their hajj trips on sites like TripAdvisor — usually with extreme enthusiasm.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Saudi-Hajj/9cedc4c90c064c02baebb81350ada65e/9/0">AP Photo/Khalil Hamra</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the millions of Muslims preparing to gather in Saudi Arabia on Aug. 9 for <a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-the-muslim-pilgrimage-of-hajj-83284">the hajj</a>, an obligatory pilgrimage to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, planning is a major part of the process. </p>
<p>Back in the year 630 CE, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mecca/Economy#ref37835">when the first hajj was made</a>, pilgrims journeyed for months to reach Mecca, many by camel. Today, followers of Islam mostly fly there. Many also book hotels and restaurants based on reviews posted on websites like <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g293993-d6881993-Reviews-Grand_Mosque-Mecca_Makkah_Province.html">TripAdvisor</a>, <a href="http://www.hajjratings.com/">Hajj Ratings</a> or <a href="https://www.ummah.com/forum/forum/islam/hajj-umrah-forum/508076-hajj-reviews">Ummah.com</a>.</p>
<p>Yet online reviewers who have gone to Saudi Arabia before may mislead today’s pilgrims. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0267257X.2018.1550434">study</a> of the online reviews of the Grand Mosque indicates they may be unreliable. Reviews of Mecca’s accommodations, clothing stores, eateries and transportation options all have much higher ratings than can be reasonably expected: Mecca’s sites average 4.96 TripAdvisor stars out of 5, while <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1938965513481498">Europe’s 200 best-rated tourist destinations average 3.96 stars</a>. </p>
<h2>Hajjis are not alone</h2>
<p>To see if this phenomenon was specific to Mecca, we also analyzed online reviews of other religions’ most sacred sites: Haridwar, India, which is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1323848.Sacred_Waters">sacred to Hindus</a>; the <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/666">Maya Devi Buddhist temple</a> in Nepal; and, in Jerusalem, Christianity’s <a href="https://churchoftheholysepulchre.net/history-of-the-church-of-the-holy-sepulchre/">Church of the Holy Sepulchre</a> and Judaism’s <a href="https://english.thekotel.org/kotel/about/what_is_western_wall/">Western Wall</a>. </p>
<p>Online reviews for these spiritual places were similarly enthusiastic, with a combined average rating of 4.63 stars on TripAdvisor. </p>
<p>We determined that the ratings for holy sites are so high because they primarily reflect the contributor’s spiritual experience – not their experience of more mundane, practical details like the crowds, the weather or souvenir sellers. </p>
<p>In her <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g293983-d318216-r430084126-Western_Wall-Jerusalem_Jerusalem_District.html">5-star TripAdvisor review of the Western Wall</a>, for example, Jennifer O of Orlando Beach, Florida, declares that, “No words can adequately describe what happens.”</p>
<p>“For my husband everything went white and completely quiet,” she writes. “For me a quiet buzzing radiated throughout my whole body and everything went quiet as well. … One has to go there to experience the incredible effects.” </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286956/original/file-20190805-36367-13ze65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286956/original/file-20190805-36367-13ze65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286956/original/file-20190805-36367-13ze65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286956/original/file-20190805-36367-13ze65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286956/original/file-20190805-36367-13ze65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286956/original/file-20190805-36367-13ze65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286956/original/file-20190805-36367-13ze65w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Five stars all around for Mecca’s Grand Mosque.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293993-d6881993-r281837940-Grand_Mosque-Mecca_Makkah_Province.html#REVIEWS">Screenshot/TripAdvisor.com</a></span>
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<p>Internet evaluations of the Grand Mosque, Wailing Wall and other places are not entirely useless for trip-planning, though. Many 5-star reviews include a more moderate, realistic depiction of what to expect on a spiritual pilgrimage in the text itself.</p>
<p>“Be patient with the crowds and remember Allah at all times,” reads a <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g293993-d6881993-r281837940-Grand_Mosque-Mecca_Makkah_Province.html">5-star TripAdvisor review</a> of the Grand Mosque headlined “Greatest place on Earth,” written by user Mr. McFaren, of Kuala Lumpur. </p>
<p>He offers concrete advice for future hajjis: “Be careful with your shoes/slippers as it might disappear. … If you lose them during the hot day, be careful of the hot floor surface which are not marble. If you are lucky,” concludes Mr McFaren, “you might find someone selling slippers.”</p>
<h2>Read carefully</h2>
<p>Pilgrims reserve different writing styles when discussing the spiritual and practical elements of their trip.</p>
<p>Reviews highlighting the spiritual aspects of the pilgrimage feature elaborate stories with exaggerated characters and exciting events – a <a href="https://theconversation.com/perfect-information-the-customer-reviews-most-likely-to-influence-purchasing-decisions-103904">persuasive form of communication</a> that people tend to find quite convincing, consumer research shows. </p>
<p>In contrast, reviews that assess tour guides, hotel rooms, other pilgrims, road signs, site managers and the weather typically adopt a more analytical tone. </p>
<p>Recognizing these holy site review trends can help pilgrims planning a trip make more conscious decisions while planning their journey. Whether for sacred sites in Mecca, Haridwar, Jerusalem, Lumbini or another sacred city, the super high ratings and compelling storytelling mostly reflect past visitors’ spiritual experiences – not the real-world practicalities that actually affected their spiritual journeys. </p>
<p>In God we may trust, it seems – but we cannot always trust how God is reviewed.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=thanksforreading">Thanks for reading! We can send you The Conversation’s stories every day in an informative email. Sign up today.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119614/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hajj pilgrims looking online for advice about their upcoming pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, may not find TripAdvisor so useful.Tom van Laer, Associate Professor of Narratology, University of SydneyElif Izberk-Bilgin, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1208072019-08-01T12:32:03Z2019-08-01T12:32:03ZThe Muslim Hajj: A spiritual pilgrimage with political overtones<p>Nearly <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/hajj-2018-explained-two-million-muslims-descend-on-makkah-for-a-journey-of-a-lifetime-1.759610">2 million Muslims</a> will gather in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Aug. 9 for an annual pilgrimage known as <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hajj">the hajj</a>. </p>
<p>The five-day journey <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?format=HB&isbn=9781107030510#r1EAFLxwIhcoTB6d.97">is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation</a> for all Muslims who are physically and financially able to undertake it. It is considered the fifth pillar of Islamic practice, along with professing faith, saying five prayers daily, giving to charity and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">fasting during Ramadan</a>. </p>
<p>In calling Muslims to perform the hajj, the Quran <a href="http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran/">says</a>: “Proclaim to men the pilgrimage: they will come to thee on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every remote path.” </p>
<p>The millions of Muslims from around the world who meet each year in Saudi Arabia dress simply to mask any differences in wealth and status. Women wear plain, white dresses and headscarves. Men drape themselves in seamless, unhemmed clothing.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://florida.academia.edu/KenChitwood">scholar of global Islam</a>, I’ve interviewed many Muslims who have gone on the hajj. They have described to me having profound experiences on the pilgrimage, both political and spiritual.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims dressed in white.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4123390204/in/photolist-7hnsfy-dqsVVf-7duYF4-8RpkCH-79riDe-f7bkTc-4Hh1A1-5VrCdR-5EQert-aECwxs-WfuiKx-5Zp6RG-5vEWkL-5Zp3Nd-UkvMJu-bbLaB4-baMrWa-dnXjRu-aaj4Pe-7yfUEo-6X522A-aNLLcn-dtNpmB-prVQPP-xpBTq-efCN2o-7ZiP1B-7ab1dG-7ab1du-eg4WRc-689Sed-fntKkM-RaUt4-5YD77K-7iU1uN-Sk6Z3y-5Xbum3-8UiyE8-vNjgG-pS5hEz-62kErs-dtw7BT-RtMFKv-5L8q5Y-5MNzJw-aECKRw-S8Wdyh-2jjQt-Jq48b-baj3MZ">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The first day of the hajj</h2>
<p>The rites of the hajj are believed to retrace events from the lives of prominent prophets like Ibrahim and his son Ismail. </p>
<p>Pilgrims start by declaring their intentions for the journey and then circling seven times the “<a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">Holy Kaaba</a>,” the black, cube-shaped house of God located at the center of the most sacred mosque in Mecca. </p>
<p>In doing so, they join in a long line of pilgrims to Mecca who have circled the Kaaba, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-life-of-muhammad-9780196360331?cc=us&lang=en&">including Prophet Muhammad</a>. Some may also kiss, touch or approach the Kaaba as a sign of their respect and devotion. However, Muslims do not worship the Kaaba or any of its elements.</p>
<p>The Kaaba is so central to the Islamic faith that, across the world, Muslims pray in its direction. </p>
<p>After circling the Kaaba, pilgrims walk about 100 meters to two hills known as Safa and Marwah, where they recreate <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?format=HB&isbn=9781107030510">another significant event</a> recorded in the Quran.</p>
<p>After Ismail was born, God instructed Ibrahim to leave his newborn son and his mother Hajar out in the desert, and he complied. But when baby Ismail cried out with thirst, Hajar ran between these two hills, looking for water, until finally she turned to God for help. </p>
<p>God rewarded Hajar for her patience. He sent his angel Jibreel to reveal a spring, which today is known as Zamzam Well. Pilgrims drink water from the sacred well on the first day of the hajj before making their way to Mina – also known as the “tent city” – about three miles from Mecca, to perform their five daily prayers. </p>
<h2>The second day of the hajj</h2>
<p>The hajj climaxes with a sojourn in the plains of Arafat, nine miles from Mina. </p>
<p>There, pilgrims gather in tents and spend the day together in prayer and contemplation. Some pilgrims will also ascend a hill known as the Mount of Mercy, where an aged Prophet Muhammad delivered his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_Sermon">farewell sermon</a>.</p>
<p>For many Muslims, this period is the highlight of the hajj. Muslims believe that the <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">spirit of God comes closer to Earth</a> in this place at the time of the pilgrimage. </p>
<p>In my conversations with pilgrims, many have told me they <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LkmkAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=a+close+communion+with+god+plains+of+arafat&source=bl&ots=xfljL0qqXO&sig=ST3pnAIcye_QJ2ZbbcPA2gfMBIM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjitdWOp4LWAhVDQiYKHamnA9QQ6AEIPjAG#v=onepage&q=a%20close%20communion%20with%20god%20plains%20of%20arafat&f=false">feel a close communion with God</a> when standing in the plains of Arafat. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims praying on Arafat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4135906354/in/photolist-7itASf-7ipEj8-7m6S5M-4kgEVJ-7iw61y-8TRppx-97r2W7-arbDH-7iscY6-7ifhd9-7ygqjr-7hX95R-fBsJ1X-7ykfkW-7ygrB8-7ygrne-7ykeTq-an6Zn-8TULHS-5Hycc7-5HtS4v-7ykf8J-5Hu33g-5HtUxP-7ygrbR-5HyeCd-5HtTPn-5HyrAE-8TUqFh-7ygrRD-8TRKpi-5HtRhv-8TRnNz-8TREd4-7ykdSq-4qY7wP-an6Zo-arbS4-qXKmg2-dcec1H-8TRzCc-8TUp9s-8TRU4c-7rR3ib-8TUVES-8TRJ9r-8TRH3K-8TRSuH-8TUUFE-8TRx2n">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Final three days</h2>
<p>After collecting pebbles at Muzdalifah, an open area near Mecca, pilgrims gather again in the tent city of Mina. There, they reenact another part of the story about Ibrahim and his son Ismail: when Satan tried to tempt Ibrahim to disobey <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">God’s call to sacrifice his young son</a>. </p>
<p>Ibrahim remained unmoved. Ismail, too, was willing to be sacrificed as a vow to God. To reenact this rebuff of Satan’s temptation, pilgrims throw their pebbles at a stone pillar.</p>
<p>Just as Ibrahim was about to kill his son, the Quran says, God intervened and a ram was sacrificed in place of Ismail. In remembrance, hajj pilgrims – or someone in their place – will sacrifice an animal. Muslims around the world join the sacrifice by celebrating <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">Eid al-Adha</a>, a ritual meal that this year falls on Aug. 10 and Aug. 11. </p>
<p>As a final sacrifice, pilgrims shave their head or cut off a portion of hair after the stoning of the pillar.</p>
<p>Many pilgrims will spend the next few days at Mina, repeating the stoning. Most will also return to the Holy Kaaba in Mecca at least once more. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims in Mina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4142094316/in/photolist-7iXrgk-7iXrAK-7iXrqk-7j2iPq-8U9pyc-7iXrtK-7iXrxn-7j2jd3-7j2jfj-7ykkpd-7j2iSQ-7j2jkf-7j2j7E-7iXrcV-7j2jFy-7j2jJU-7ykk2L-7iXr7Z-7iXriZ-7iXryR-7j2job-7j2iVd-7iBtP1-7j2jGS-7iXrSX-7ykhiS-7ygxAz-7iXrLe-7j2j2d-7ygwp8-8UbHdp">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the hajj draws to a close on days four and five, pilgrims start to put on their everyday clothes <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">to indicate a transition back to their worldly life</a>. </p>
<p>Muslims believe that a proper performance of the hajj can absolve Muslim pilgrims of any previous sins. But it is up to God to <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam#O3cwEbjxDttkhEyF.97">judge whether the pilgrimage was acceptable</a>. </p>
<h2>Unity over division</h2>
<p>The hajj may be a holy journey for pilgrims, but for Saudi authorities it is also a massive <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">organizational undertaking</a>. </p>
<p>Crowd management, security, traffic and sectarian tensions <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">are annual challenges</a>. A stampede in 2015 left <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/middleeast/hajj-pilgrimage-stampede/index.html">more than 700 dead</a>. Saudi Arabia is constantly <a href="http://www.arabnews.com/node/1355906/saudi-arabia">renewing its safety protocols</a> to protect the million of hajjis who flock to their country. </p>
<p>This year, concerns over Saudi human rights abuses have cast a cloud over the pilgrimage. Between the murder of <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-06-19/un-report-sees-credible-evidence-linking-saudi-crown-prince-khashoggi-murder">journalist Jamal Khashoggi</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/yemen">Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Yemeni civil war</a>, some pilgrims are debating whether travel to the country is morally acceptable.</p>
<p>In hopes of avoiding such conflicts of conscience, which can divide the ummah – the global Muslim community – <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&q=OIC#v=snippet&q=OIC&f=false">many Muslims have called</a> for the <a href="http://www.oic-oci.org/">Organization of the Islamic Cooperation</a>, an intergovernmental group, to create an international, multi-partisan hajj organizing committee. </p>
<p>The hajj is any individual Muslim’s <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">single most</a> symbolic ritual act that reflects <a href="http://imjcr.com/journals/imjcr/Vol_3_No_1_June_2014/3.pdf">the ideal of unity</a>. By requiring Muslims to don the same clothes, pray in the same spaces and perform the same rituals, the hajj can connect Muslims across national and class boundaries – but only when politics do not divide them.</p>
<p><em>This article is an updated version of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-the-muslim-pilgrimage-of-hajj-83284">story</a> originally published on Aug. 31, 2017.</em></p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=signupinsight">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter to get insight each day</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120807/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Millions of Muslims will convene in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 9. The annual five-day pilgrimage, known as the hajj, is required of all Muslims who can physically and financially make the journey.Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1166292019-05-07T11:21:11Z2019-05-07T11:21:11ZWhat Ramadan means to Muslims: 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272824/original/file-20190506-103057-ss2d5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women pray at a mosque during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on May 6 in Bali, Indonesia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Indonesia-Ramadan/16d80ba4869d4bbd995f866e518e14b1/9/0">AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world will not eat or drink from dawn to sunset. Muslims believe that the sacred text of Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad in the final 10 nights of Ramadan.</p>
<p>Here are four ways to understand what Ramadan means for Muslims, and in particular for American Muslims. </p>
<h2>1. Importance of Ramadan</h2>
<p>Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Each pillar denotes an obligation of living a good Muslim life. The others include reciting the Muslim profession of faith, daily prayer, giving alms to the poor and making a pilgrimage to Mecca.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mohammad-hassan-khalil-274989">Mohammad Hassan Khalil</a>, associate professor of religious studies and director of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">explains</a> that the Quran states that fasting was prescribed for Muslims so that they could be conscious of God. He writes,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“By abstaining from things that people tend to take for granted (such as water), it is believed, one may be moved to reflect on the purpose of life and grow closer to the creator and sustainer of all existence.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>He also notes that for many Muslims, fasting is a spiritual act that allows them to understand the condition of the poor and thus develop more empathy.</p>
<h2>2. Halal food</h2>
<p>During Ramadan, when breaking fast, Muslims will eat only foods that are permissible under Islamic law. The Arabic word for such foods, writes religion scholar <a href="https://divinity.uchicago.edu/myriam-renaud">Myriam Renaud</a>, is “halal.”</p>
<p>Renaud <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-halal-foods-95696">explains</a> that Islamic law draws on three religious sources to determine which foods are halal. These include “passages in the Quran, the sayings and customs of the Prophet Muhammad, which were written down by his followers and are called ‘Hadith’ and rulings by recognized religious scholars.”</p>
<p>In the United States, some states such as California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Texas restrict the use of halal label for foods that meet Islamic religious requirements. Various Muslim organizations also oversee the production and certification of halal products, she writes.</p>
<h2>3. Puerto Rican Muslims</h2>
<p>In Puerto Rico, where many have been reverting to the religion of their ancestors – Islam – Ramadan could mean combining their identity as a Puerto Rican and as a Muslim. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ken-chitwood-160245">Ken Chitwood</a>, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Florida, <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-eid-2017-a-peek-into-the-lives-of-puerto-rican-muslims-78798">explains</a> that Muslims first came to Puerto Rico as part of the transatlantic colonial exchange between Spain, Portugal and the New World. There is evidence, he writes, of the first Muslims arriving somewhere around the 16th century.</p>
<p>In his research, he found Puerto Rican Muslims in search of a “Boricua Islamidad” – “a unique Puerto Rican Muslim identity that resists complete assimilation to Arab cultural norms even as it reimagines and expands what it means to be Puerto Rican and a Muslim.”</p>
<p>He saw the expression of this identity in the food as Puerto Rican Muslims broke fast – “a light Puerto Rican meal of tostones – twice-fried plantains.” </p>
<h2>4. Jefferson’s Quran</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272823/original/file-20190506-103049-19tdgra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ramadan dinner at White House in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Trump/4f78727c77824939b266126cae30a8d8/44/0">AP Photo/Andrew Harnik</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With an estimated 3.3 million American Muslims, Ramadan is celebrated each year at the White House, except for one year in 2017. Scholar <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/denise-a-spellberg-212270">Denise A. Spellberg</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-jeffersons-vision-of-american-islam-matters-today-97915">explains</a> that the tradition was started by Hillary Clinton when she was the first lady. </p>
<p>She writes that “Islam’s presence in North America dates to the founding of the nation, and even earlier.” Among the most notable of the key American Founding Fathers who demonstrated an interest in the Muslim faith was Thomas Jefferson. Her research shows that Jefferson bought a copy of the Quran as a 22-year-old law student in Williamsburg, Virginia, 11 years before drafting the Declaration of Independence. And as she says,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The purchase is symbolic of a longer historical connection between American and Islamic worlds, and a more inclusive view of the nation’s early, robust view of religious pluralism.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>This article is a roundup of stories from The Conversation’s archive.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116629/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam – acts that denote the obligations of living a good Muslim life.Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor/ Director of the Global Religion Journalism InitiativeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1121692019-02-27T19:20:20Z2019-02-27T19:20:20ZTen tips for surviving a crowd crush<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259945/original/file-20190220-148530-n9kvr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C40%2C3017%2C1964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The 2010 "Love Parade" festival in Germany.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arne Müseler </span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On July 24, 2010, more than a million dancing partygoers converged on an industrial zone in Duisburg, in Eastern Germany. They were attending the Love Parade, one of the most popular music festivals in the world. Decked out in sunglasses and fluorescent wigs, the happy revellers funnelled into a 200-meter-long tunnel, heading toward a former freight station where part of the festival was taking place.</p>
<p>In the mid-afternoon, heavy congestion formed at the end of the tunnel – the underground passage was too small to allow such an immense crowd to pass. As the minutes went by, the human density rose dangerously. The festivalgoers, pushed up against each other, soon could barely move their arms or even hands. At the core of the crowd, some no longer had enough room to breathe. Around 5 p.m., to the sound of techno beats played by the best DJs in the world, the first victims began to suffocate. In the end, <a href="https://epjdatascience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1140/epjds7">21 people died, and 651 were injured</a>. One survivor told the newspaper <em>Bild</em>: “It was impossible to get out of the tunnel. There was a wall of people in front of me.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h4_EVu0zMpk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A glimpse of the 2010 Love Parade prior to the accident (amateur video).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Just one month earlier, I was defending my doctoral thesis in an amphitheatre at Paul Sabatier University, in Toulouse, France. The topic of my research was the movement of crowds. Over three years, I had examined mass movements in all sorts of places – shopping streets, markets, even in lab experiments. When the Love Parade accident hit the news, my friends and family all asked me the same thing: what should they do if they found themselves in that kind of situation? How could they survive if they were trapped in a crowd, like the victims at the Love Parade? Let’s find out.</p>
<h2>Why crowds kill</h2>
<p>There has been a steady rise in such crushes since the 1990s. On average, they claim the lives of 380 people every year. The most recent was October 29, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea, when at least <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/30/asia/seoul-crowd-surge-investigation-intl/index.html">154 people died</a> during Halloween festivities. On April 29 last year, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/dozens-said-hurt-as-stand-collapses-at-mass-lag-bomer-gathering-in-mount-meron/">45 people were crushed to death and more than 150 injured</a> at the Lag B’Omer religious festival in Meron, Israel. It is thought to be the largest peacetime tragedy the country’s history. The deadliest killed <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/01/the-mecca-stampede-that-made-history-hajj">2,300 in Mecca in September 2015</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mjJJWre7oT0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Time-lapse footage showing the crowd of pilgrims arriving in Mecca.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Three things draw the biggest crowds: religion, sports and festivities – a good summary of human interests. The Mecca pilgrimage, for example, attracts <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/23/world/middleeast/hajj-attendance-expansion.html">2 to 3 million faithful every year</a>. The capacity of a football stadium is of course far lower, in the tens of thousands, but public celebrations following key victories can attract hundreds of thousands into city streets. Think of the Champs-Élysées, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ_UhqRstko">swarming with people on July 15, 2018</a>, after the triumph of the French team in the World Cup. Last but not least, music festivals draw enormous crowds. The largest on record – 3.5 million people – gathered at Jean-Michel Jarr’s sound and light show in Moscow in September 1997.</p>
<p>In these extreme situations, the smallest organisational lapse can quickly lead to disaster. But what exactly happens in a crowd crush? Surprisingly, the dynamics of this phenomenon were only understood in the wake of a fresh tragedy.</p>
<h2>Crowd-quake</h2>
<p>In 2006, crowd turbulence caused the deaths of 362 pilgrims in Mecca. This time, the accident was filmed by a CCTV camera and the footage was sent 5,000 kilometres away, to the laboratory of German physicist Dirk Helbing. A researcher specialised in crowd behaviour, Helbing was able to uncover the key to the mystery: the “crowd-quake”, a phenomenon that arises spontaneously when human density reaches a critical threshold of about six people per square meter. At this level of crowding, physical contact between bodies becomes so intense that the slightest movement causes a surge of turbulence through the crowd. Similar to those that occur during earthquakes, these <a href="http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/100727_Massenpanik_Helbing_sch/Dynamics_of_crowd_disasters.pdf">shockwaves</a> cause people to fall and places them all under crushing physical pressure.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kxCHz1UY40k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In this video of an Oasis concert in 2005, the crowd-quake and surges are clearly visible.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ever since this important discovery, crowd-quakes have been observed during deadly crushes like that at the Love Parade in 2010. Although our understanding of it is increasing, there’s currently no way of stopping this phenomenon once it arises.</p>
<h2>Survival guide</h2>
<p>What should you do if you are trapped in a crowd and you start to feel the walls are closing in? Here are a few survival tips from our research in our “Fouloscopie” (crowd studies) labs.</p>
<p><strong>1. Keep your eyes open</strong></p>
<p>Your number-one goal is to get out of the sea of people as quickly and calmly as possible. Look around you: is it better to turn back or go forward? To find out, try to guess where the epicentre of the crush is located – where it is most crowded – and then move toward where the crowd thins out. Don’t forget to look up. You might find a quick escape by climbing a fence or getting up onto a ledge.</p>
<p><strong>2. Leave while you can</strong></p>
<p>If the crowd thickens around you, the available space is reduced and your freedom of movement gradually diminishes. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to escape. Given this, don’t hesitate to leave the highly congested area as soon as you start to feel uncomfortable, and while you still have enough room to move. By getting out of the crowd, you will also reduce the danger for others, since the area will be less crowded for those who stay.</p>
<p><strong>3. Remain upright</strong></p>
<p>If it’s too late to flee, the most important thing to do is retain your balance and stay upright. In a crowd crush, people are pressed so tightly together that if someone falls, they create a domino effect, immediately taking down those around them. Should you fall, the weight of other bodies will pin you to the ground before you have a chance to right yourself. So stay on your feet.</p>
<p><strong>4. Save your breath</strong></p>
<p>Oxygen is your most precious resource. The vast majority of deaths in stampedes are caused by asphyxiation. Avoid screaming unless you have to, and control your breathing.</p>
<p><strong>5. Arms at chest level</strong></p>
<p>Should the pressure become intense, fold your arms up in front of you like a boxer. In that position you can protect your ribcage and keep a few centimetres of space around your ribs and lungs so you can breathe.</p>
<p><strong>6. Go with the flow</strong></p>
<p>When pushed, our natural reflex can be to resist the pressure and push back. In a crowd crush, however, resisting will be a waste of precious energy. Instead, let yourself be carried by the flow while always retaining your balance.</p>
<p><strong>7. Move away from barriers</strong></p>
<p>The only time when the previous tip does not apply is if you’re next to a wall, fence or other solid object you can’t climb up. The first victims of a crush are often pinned against barriers, as was the case in Turin in 2017 and in <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/11635476/Heysel-disaster-of-1985-is-footballs-forgotten-tragedy-and-Liverpool-and-Juventus-minimal-reaction-prolongs-hurt.html">Heysel</a> and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hillsborough-disaster-investigations-six-people-charged-ipcc-operation-resolve-david-duckenfield-a7813441.html">Hillsborough</a> disasters in the 1980s. If possible, move away from any walls, pillars and fences.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260001/original/file-20190220-148530-kba1ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260001/original/file-20190220-148530-kba1ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260001/original/file-20190220-148530-kba1ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260001/original/file-20190220-148530-kba1ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260001/original/file-20190220-148530-kba1ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260001/original/file-20190220-148530-kba1ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260001/original/file-20190220-148530-kba1ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">High pressure zones (in red) during a crowd crush.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>8. Understand the signs of density</strong></p>
<p>To make good decisions, you must be able to evaluate the gravity of the situation. Here are a few rules of thumb for estimating crowd density:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>If you have no physical contact with those around you, the density is probably still under three people per square meter, so at present all is well.</p></li>
<li><p>if you are bumping against one or two people around you without meaning to, the crowd density must be around four to five people per square meter. There is no immediate danger, but it would be better to move <em>away</em> from the centre of the congestion.</p></li>
<li><p>If you can’t freely move your hands, to the point that it is difficult to touch your face, there are too many people – the danger has become acute.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cC342Crwxrk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A panic in Place de la République in Paris on November 15, 2015.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>9. In case a panic</strong></p>
<p>A panic is a specific situation in which a crowd rushes in the same direction to escape a real or suspected danger. Examples include the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Madhya_Pradesh_stampede">Madhya Pradesh stampede in India</a> (2013), the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-16/false-alarm-causes-parisians-to-flee-in-panic/6943062">Place de la République in Paris</a> (2015), the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/falls-festival-organisers-accept-blame-for-crowd-crush">Falls Festival in Victoria, Australia</a> (2016), the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40147813">Piazza San Carlo in Turin</a> (2017) and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/29/nyregion/central-park-panic-global-citizen-festival.html">Global Citizen Festival in New York City</a> (2018). </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254908/original/file-20190122-100261-10oifng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254908/original/file-20190122-100261-10oifng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254908/original/file-20190122-100261-10oifng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254908/original/file-20190122-100261-10oifng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254908/original/file-20190122-100261-10oifng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1116&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254908/original/file-20190122-100261-10oifng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1116&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/254908/original/file-20190122-100261-10oifng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1116&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author’s book <em>Fouloscopie</em> examines the behaviour of crowds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Humensciences</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In these kinds of situations, the movement of the crowd can be more dangerous than any threat, real or imagined. Take a moment to evaluate the situation and calmly move to safety, while staying as far as possible from the crowd.</p>
<p><strong>10. Help each other</strong></p>
<p>A dangerous situation for you is just as dangerous for those around you. Research by psychologist John Drury from the University of Sussex demonstrates that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/014466608X357893">altruism and mutual assistance</a> are key to avoiding tragedy. A united crowd is more likely to survive than a crowd of individualists. So remain human and be kind to others, offer help when you can, avoid tripping up those around you and look out for the weakest members of the group. This will benefit everyone, yourself included.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en/">Fast For Word</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mehdi Moussaid is the author of "Fouloscopie", published by Humensciences.</span></em></p>When you find yourself trapped in an immense crowd, what are the right reflexes to adopt to survive?Mehdi Moussaid, Chercheur interdisciplinaire spécialisé dans le comportement des foules, Max Planck Institute for Human DevelopmentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1104062019-01-29T11:44:32Z2019-01-29T11:44:32ZWhat are Muslim prayer rugs?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255439/original/file-20190124-196228-1sikc3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslims can pray anywhere in the world using the prayer carpet.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Muslims-in-Hollywood/a7d6715d97494b5eb17fe03347a25bb9/212/0">AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1086252588088082432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-1599397641671435474.ampproject.net%2F1901081935550%2Fframe.html">recent tweet</a>, President Trump stated that ranchers have been finding prayer rugs scattered along the U.S.-Mexico border. Late last year, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1054351078328885248">he tweeted</a> that “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners” were mixed in with the caravan heading to the U.S.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FvTDlCsAAAAJ&hl=en">My research</a> indicates that Islamophobia often targets visible signs of Muslimness, such as modest clothing like headscarves, as well as prayer rituals and mosques. This time it is the prayer rug.</p>
<p>These fearmongering tweets bear an uncanny resemblance to a 2018 action film, <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/movies/sicario-day-of-the-soldado-movie-review-20180627.html">“Sicario: Day of the Soldado</a>.” Its trailer shows a scene of a Muslim man praying and a row of prayer rugs at the border. In the movie, U.S. officials who find the rugs use them as “evidence” that Muslims are entering the U.S. illegally in order to expand the jurisdiction of the war on terror.</p>
<p>Other than these recent mentions, carpets found fame through Disney’s “Aladdin,” where they were imagined to have the power to fly. However, prayer carpets actually have a much more mundane daily use among Muslims. </p>
<h2>Much more than a plain carpet</h2>
<p>Ritual purity is extremely important for Muslim prayers practices. As Islamic studies scholar <a href="https://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/faculty/marion-h-katz.html">Marion Katz</a> explains, prayer carpets <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=allSNvtTpZwC&lpg=PR9&ots=GBfhgR7H4P&dq=islamic%20prayer%20carpet&lr&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q=%20carpet&f=false">provide a protective layer</a> between the worshiper and the ground, protecting the clothing from anything on ground that is polluting.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255632/original/file-20190125-108334-1ylx7pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255632/original/file-20190125-108334-1ylx7pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255632/original/file-20190125-108334-1ylx7pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255632/original/file-20190125-108334-1ylx7pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255632/original/file-20190125-108334-1ylx7pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255632/original/file-20190125-108334-1ylx7pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255632/original/file-20190125-108334-1ylx7pg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A prayer niche in a mosque.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/royluck/31897950555">Roy Luck</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://muslimheritage.com/article/muslim-carpet">Muslim carpets</a> have been traditionally produced for centuries in Muslim majority regions, sometimes known as “the rug belt,” spanning from Morocco to Central Asia and northern India. There is a wide variety of designs and materials. Islamic art historian <a href="https://www.umass.edu/arthistory/member/walter-denny">Walter B. Denny</a>, in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=D7vDBQAAQBAJ&lpg=PA5&ots=WFU05K0dne&dq=islamic%20prayer%20rug&lr&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q=islamic%20prayer%20rug&f=false">“How to Read Islamic Carpets,”</a> explains the different materials and symbolism in weaves used in these carpets. </p>
<p>For example, it is common to find symbols such as the prayer niche, a recess in the wall indicating the direction of Mecca; also a lamp, which is a reference to God; as well as flowers and trees that symbolize the abundance of nature in God’s paradise. </p>
<p>Prayer carpets that are used in homes are generally sized for one individual. Those used in mosques are much bigger, <a href="http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tr;Mus01;17;en">often with a motif showing a row of arches</a> to indicate where each worshiper should stand in prayer.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255438/original/file-20190124-196250-2tb7dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255438/original/file-20190124-196250-2tb7dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255438/original/file-20190124-196250-2tb7dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255438/original/file-20190124-196250-2tb7dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255438/original/file-20190124-196250-2tb7dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255438/original/file-20190124-196250-2tb7dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255438/original/file-20190124-196250-2tb7dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prayer carpets in mosques have a row of arches.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Muslim-Day-Oklahoma/539b10997667400897d9e9f7aaf5c65c/139/0">AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Islamic carpets have been popular for centuries in Europe and beyond, often picking up symbolism, social meaning and ways of being used. Islamic carpets <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/isca/hd_isca.htm">were popular</a> among the wealthy of Europe, displayed proudly on the floor of their living rooms and on the walls. </p>
<p>Carpets designs have come down through generations. Some depict simple geometric patterns in rough wool, while other are <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452553">produced by professional artisans</a> for the elite and show hunting scenes and elaborate scenes of paradise. </p>
<h2>Different costs and forms of practice</h2>
<p>Practices vary according to personal and sectarian preference among Muslims. </p>
<p>For everyday use, Muslims purchase simple prayer carpets, mass-produced in Turkey, throughout the Middle East and even China. For use outside, they often carry a thinner travel rug. There are also high-priced versions. An antique carpet was auctioned for <a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-expensive-carpets-at-auction-slideshow">US$4.3 million in 2009</a> and an <a href="http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2015/carpets-textiles-n09323/lot.51.html">Ottoman-era prayer rug</a> sold for $30,000 in 2015. </p>
<p>Not all sects of Muslims use the prayer carpet. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=YF4BAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PR1&pg=PR8#v=onepage&q&f=false">Shiite Muslims usually pray</a> on a clay disk called a “turba” in Arabic and “mohr” in Persian. This disk is often made from <a href="https://www.al-islam.org/articles/why-prostrate-karbalas-turba-yasin-t-al-jibouri">soil from Karbala</a>, the place of martyrdom of Hussein, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson in today’s Iraq, or another sacred site. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/utn94yJIAdU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Shiite Muslims use a clay disk.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They often place the disk on top of a prayer carpet. When Shiites prostrate their foreheads on the floor during prayer, they want their forehead to be in contact with an organic material rather than the synthetic fibers of a carpet. So, depending on circumstance, they might also place any natural material such as a small straw mat where they pray.</p>
<p>It is highly unlikely for Muslims to leave behind their prayer rugs or to even carry one on a perilous journey through the harsh desert.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rose S. Aslan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trump recently tweeted about prayer rugs being left along the border. Many may not know the role and history of Muslim prayer rugs and why they are not likely to be left behind.Rose S. Aslan, Assistant Professor of Religion, California Lutheran UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1016412018-08-16T10:35:00Z2018-08-16T10:35:00ZWhat is the Hajj?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232118/original/file-20180815-2912-37rz21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslim pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in August 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Khalil Hamra</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/hajj-2018-explained-two-million-muslims-descend-on-makkah-for-a-journey-of-a-lifetime-1.759610">2 million Muslim pilgrims</a> are gathering in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hajj">the Hajj</a>. This five-day pilgrimage <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?">is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation</a> for all Muslims who have the physical and financial ability to undertake the journey.</p>
<p>What is the religious and political significance of this annual pilgrimage?</p>
<h2>The fifth pillar</h2>
<p>Millions of Muslims come from countries as diverse as Indonesia, Russia, India, Cuba, Fiji, the United States and Nigeria – all dressed in plain white garments. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims dressed in white garments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4123390204/in/photolist-7hnsfy-dqsVVf-7duYF4-8RpkCH-79riDe-f7bkTc-4Hh1A1-5VrCdR-5EQert-aECwxs-WfuiKx-5Zp6RG-5vEWkL-5Zp3Nd-UkvMJu-bbLaB4-baMrWa-dnXjRu-aaj4Pe-7yfUEo-6X522A-aNLLcn-dtNpmB-prVQPP-xpBTq-efCN2o-7ZiP1B-7ab1dG-7ab1du-eg4WRc-689Sed-fntKkM-RaUt4-5YD77K-7iU1uN-Sk6Z3y-5Xbum3-8UiyE8-vNjgG-pS5hEz-62kErs-dtw7BT-RtMFKv-5L8q5Y-5MNzJw-aECKRw-S8Wdyh-2jjQt-Jq48b-baj3MZ">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Men wear seamless, unstitched clothing, and women, white dresses with headscarves. The idea is to dress plainly so as to mask any differences in wealth and status. </p>
<p>The pilgrimage is considered to be the fifth pillar of Islamic practice. The other four are the profession of faith, five daily prayers, charity and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">the fast of Ramadan</a>. </p>
<h2>The first day of the Hajj</h2>
<p>The rites of the Hajj are believed to retrace events from the lives of prominent prophets such as Ibrahim and Ismail. </p>
<p>Pilgrims start by circling <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">the “Holy Kaaba</a>,” the black, cube-shaped house of God, at the center of the most sacred mosque in Mecca, seven times. The Kaaba occupies a central place in the lives of Muslims. Muslims, all over the world, are expected to turn toward the Kaaba when performing their daily prayers.</p>
<p>The Quran tells the story of Ibrahim, who when commanded by God, agreed to sacrifice his son, Ismail. Muslims believe the Kaaba holds the black stone upon which Ibrahim was to carry out his oath. </p>
<p>Pilgrims are bound by <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">specific rules</a> regarding going around the Kaaba. They may kiss, touch or approach the Kaaba during the pilgrimage as a sign of their devotion.</p>
<p>In performing these rituals, they join a long line of pilgrims to Mecca – <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-life-of-muhammad-9780196360331?cc=us&lang=en&">including Prophet Muhammad</a>, who circled the Kaaba. </p>
<p>Pilgrims then proceed to a ritual walk – about 100 meters from the Kaaba – to hills known as “Safa” and “Marwah.” Here they re-create <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?">another significant event</a> recorded in the Quran.</p>
<p>The story goes that Ibrahim was granted a son by God through his Egyptian slave girl Hajar. After the birth of Ismail, God instructed Ibrahim to take Hajar and her newborn son out into the desert and leave them there. Ibrahim left them near the present-day location of the Kaaba. Ismail cried out with thirst and Hajar ran between two hills, looking for water until she turned to God for help.</p>
<p>God rewarded Hajar for her patience and sent his angel Jibreel to reveal a spring, which today is known as “Zamzam Well.” Pilgrims drink water from the sacred well and may take some home for blessings.</p>
<h2>The second day of the hajj</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims praying on Arafat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4135906354/in/photolist-7itASf-7ipEj8-7m6S5M-4kgEVJ-7iw61y-8TRppx-97r2W7-arbDH-7iscY6-7ifhd9-7ygqjr-7hX95R-fBsJ1X-7ykfkW-7ygrB8-7ygrne-7ykeTq-an6Zn-8TULHS-5Hycc7-5HtS4v-7ykf8J-5Hu33g-5HtUxP-7ygrbR-5HyeCd-5HtTPn-5HyrAE-8TUqFh-7ygrRD-8TRKpi-5HtRhv-8TRnNz-8TREd4-7ykdSq-4qY7wP-an6Zo-arbS4-qXKmg2-dcec1H-8TRzCc-8TUp9s-8TRU4c-7rR3ib-8TUVES-8TRJ9r-8TRH3K-8TRSuH-8TUUFE-8TRx2n">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The hajj “climaxes” with a sojourn in the plains of Arafat near Mecca. There, pilgrims gather in tents, spend time with one another and perform prayers. Some pilgrims will ascend a hill known as the “Mount of Mercy,” where Prophet Muhammad delivered the <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/muhm-sermon.asp">farewell sermon</a> toward the end of his life. </p>
<p>They then proceed to an open plain near Mecca, often a highlight of the journey for many pilgrims. Muslims believe that the <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">spirit of God comes closer to Earth</a> in this place at the time of the pilgrimage.</p>
<p>As a <a href="http://florida.academia.edu/KenChitwood">scholar of global Islam</a>, during my fieldwork I have interviewed those who have gone on the Hajj. They have described to me their personal experiences of standing in the plains of Arafat or circling the Kaaba with fellow Muslims and <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LkmkAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=a+close+communion+with+god+plains+of+arafat&source=bl&ots=xfljL0qqXO&sig=ST3pnAIcye_QJ2ZbbcPA2gfMBIM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjitdWOp4LWAhVDQiYKHamnA9QQ6AEIPjAG#v=onepage&q=a%20close%20communion%20with%20god%20plains%20of%20arafat&f=false">feeling a close communion with God</a>. </p>
<h2>Final three days</h2>
<p>Afterwards, pilgrims move to Mina, also known as the Tent City <a href="https://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/08/mina-city-of-tents.html">where more than 100,000 tents house the millions of pilgrims</a> about 5 kilometers from the holy city of Mecca. </p>
<p>Here they recall how Satan tried to tempt Ibrahim to disobey <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">God’s call to sacrifice Ismail</a>. Ibrahim, however, remained unmoved and informed Ismail, who was willing to be offered to God. To reenact Ibrahim’s rebuff of Satan’s temptation, pilgrims throw small stones at a stone pillar. </p>
<p>They then proceed to follow Ibrahim in the act of sacrifice. The Quran says just as Ibrahim attempted to kill his son, God intervened and a ram was killed in place of Ismail. In remembrance, Muslims all over the world ritually slaughter an animal on this day. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">“festival of the sacrifice” is known as Eid al-Adha</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims stoning the devil in Mina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4142094316/in/photolist-7iXrgk-7iXrAK-7iXrqk-7j2iPq-8U9pyc-7iXrtK-7iXrxn-7j2jd3-7j2jfj-7ykkpd-7j2iSQ-7j2jkf-7j2j7E-7iXrcV-7j2jFy-7j2jJU-7ykk2L-7iXr7Z-7iXriZ-7iXryR-7j2job-7j2iVd-7iBtP1-7j2jGS-7iXrSX-7ykhiS-7ygxAz-7iXrLe-7j2j2d-7ygwp8-8UbHdp">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many pilgrims spend the next few days in Mina, where they repeat some of the rituals. It is where they start to <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">transition to their worldly life</a> by putting on their everyday clothes. </p>
<p>Muslims believe that a proper performance of the Hajj can absolve them of any previous sins. However, they also believe that just undertaking the pilgrimage is not enough: <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam#O3cwEbjxDttkhEyF.97">It is up to God to judge</a>, based on the intention of those undertaking the pilgrimage. </p>
<h2>Creating one Muslim community</h2>
<p>Of course, the pilgrimage does not take place in a political void. The Hajj is a massive <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">organizational project</a> for the Saudi authorities. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">Issues concerning</a> crowd management, security, traffic and tensions constantly plague the successful organization of the event. A tragic stampede in 2015 left <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/middleeast/hajj-pilgrimage-stampede/index.html">over 700 dead</a>. Since then Saudi authorities <a href="http://www.arabnews.com/node/1355906/saudi-arabia">review preparations even more carefully</a>. </p>
<p>There are other tensions too that come up at this time: Some <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Shia</a> governments such as Iran, for example, have leveled <a href="http://www.alterinter.org/spip.php?article4502">charges alleging discrimination</a> by <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Sunni</a> Saudi authorities. </p>
<p>This year, Muslims from Canada are <a href="https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/08/10/hajj-pilgrims-are-concerned-that-a-spat-between-canada-and-saudi-arabia-could-affect-their-travel-plans.html">concerned about logistics</a> traveling back from the Hajj. Saudi Arabia has suspended all direct flights to Canada in a diplomatic feud <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/suspension-of-direct-saudi-flights-to-canada-marks-worsening-of-diplomatic-feud/4526381.html">sparked by tweets</a> related to the Kingdom’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/saudi-women-can-drive-but-are-their-voices-being-heard-99183">human rights violations</a>. </p>
<p>To address such issues, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&q=OIC#v=snippet&q=OIC&f=false">Muslims in the past have called</a> to put together an international, multi-partisan committee to organize the pilgrimage.
Perhaps that could help avoid regional or sectarian conflicts. The Hajj, after all, is any individual Muslim’s <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">single most</a> symbolic ritual act that reflects <a href="http://imjcr.com/journals/imjcr/Vol_3_No_1_June_2014/3.pdf">the ideal of unity</a>.</p>
<p>By requiring Muslims to don the same clothes, pray in the same space and perform the same rituals, the Hajj has the potential to unite a global Muslim community across national and class boundaries.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article <a href="https://theconversation.com/explaining-the-muslim-pilgrimage-of-hajj-83284">originally published</a> on Aug. 31, 2017</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101641/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Each year, Muslims from all over the world go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, known as Hajj. A scholar explains its spiritual significance.Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/978882018-08-15T13:19:12Z2018-08-15T13:19:12ZHajj: how globalisation transformed the market for pilgrimage to Mecca<p>More than 2m Muslims are currently gathering in Mecca ahead of the annual <a href="https://arts.leeds.ac.uk/hajj/exhibition/">Hajj</a>, which begins on August 19. As long as they are fit and financially able, the pilgrimage is an obligatory act of worship that followers of Islam owe to God once in their lifetime. Reenacting the faith-testing ordeals of Ibrahim (Abraham, the Biblical founder of monotheism) and his family, Muslims believe that an “accepted Hajj” will cleanse them of all their sins. Their hope is to return home as pure as the day they were born.</p>
<p>But until the introduction of <a href="https://arts.leeds.ac.uk/hajj/exhibition/the-changing-hajj-in-modern-times/">modern transport systems</a>, most Muslims beyond the Arab world had little expectation of completing this fifth and final pillar of Islam. Before the mid-1950s, the number of overseas pilgrims rarely exceeded 100,000 and modern Saudi institutions were still developing. Yet by the early 2000s, the total number of Hajj pilgrims had passed the 2m mark, reaching a recent peak of just over <a href="https://www.arabianbusiness.com/hajj-pilgrims-total-3-1m-says-saudi-arabia-477638.html">3m in 2012</a>.</p>
<p>New opportunities for pilgrimage in the jet age have put immense pressure on the infrastructure of Mecca. Hundreds have lost their lives during <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidents_during_the_Hajj">periodic disasters</a> including fires and stampedes, most recently in <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/11892425/Hajj-stampede-carnage-caused-by-roadblocks-set-up-for-VIP-visit.html">2015</a>. Undoubtedly, the Saudi authorities have invested huge sums in continually seeking to <a href="http://www.kapl-hajj.org/">improve facilities</a> and the overall management of the Hajj. Hajj organisers and guides I have interviewed compare overseeing the pilgrimage to hosting the Olympics every year.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-how-to-make-the-hajj-safer-by-better-understanding-crowd-psychology-48128">Here's how to make the Hajj safer – by better understanding crowd psychology</a>
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<p>But the kingdom’s <a href="http://vision2030.gov.sa/en">Vision 2030</a>, published by Crown Prince Salman in 2016, underlines that the Islamic tourism market has a significant role to play in diversifying Saudi Arabia’s non-oil-based economy. While the strategy is focused mainly on the Umrah (the year-round, non-obligatory minor pilgrimage), <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/business/economy/saudi-religious-tourism-set-to-rise-following-50bn-infrastructure-investment-1.623575">US$50 billion investment</a> in new transport and other infrastructure also aims to double the size of the Hajj by the end of the next decade.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232061/original/file-20180815-2903-tfuvgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232061/original/file-20180815-2903-tfuvgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232061/original/file-20180815-2903-tfuvgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232061/original/file-20180815-2903-tfuvgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232061/original/file-20180815-2903-tfuvgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232061/original/file-20180815-2903-tfuvgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232061/original/file-20180815-2903-tfuvgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artist’s personal take on the more formal views of Makkah and Madinah which typically grace British-Muslim front rooms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ahrc.ukri.org/research/readwatchlisten/imagegallery/hajjethnographybritish/">Kamel Baksh, 2015.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Supply and demand</h2>
<p>A look at <a href="https://arts.leeds.ac.uk/hajj/">Hajj-going among British Muslims</a> in an age of globalisation underlines the growing role of the market for religious tourism in shaping the organisation of the pilgrimage. At an industry event I attended earlier this year, <a href="http://cbhuk.org/">The Council of British Hajjis</a>, suggested that this niche sector of the UK economy is worth around £150m (£310m including Umrah).</p>
<p>Unlike all Muslim-majority nations, Muslim minorities in the West are not restricted to a <a href="http://www.hajinformation.com/main/m40.htm">Hajj quota</a> of 1,000 pilgrims per million of population. Relatively prosperous, literate and increasingly socially mobile, they are generally free to perform the pilgrimage at a time of their choosing. Pilgrims in the West are also often younger than those in the rest of the Muslim world. The number of British Muslims performing Hajj each year rose from <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/guests-of-god-9780195171075?cc=gb&lang=en&">759 in 1968</a> to around 25,000 by the mid-2000s – about <a href="https://crp.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2013/09/RESEARCH-PAPER-HAJJ-001.pdf">twice the rate</a> of UK Muslim population growth for the same period. About 100,000 now go annually for Umrah.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232062/original/file-20180815-2897-1fdf316.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232062/original/file-20180815-2897-1fdf316.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232062/original/file-20180815-2897-1fdf316.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232062/original/file-20180815-2897-1fdf316.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232062/original/file-20180815-2897-1fdf316.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232062/original/file-20180815-2897-1fdf316.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232062/original/file-20180815-2897-1fdf316.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232062/original/file-20180815-2897-1fdf316.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">El-Sawy Travel was perhaps the first agency to organise a formal Hajj ‘package’ during the early 1980s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Seán McLoughlin, 2014</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the West, secular governments play no direct role in organising Hajj. Until the 1990s, there were also just a few companies formally arranging Muslim pilgrimages in Britain. So, most UK Muslims travelled to Saudi Arabia as individuals or as part of a small community group. But during the early 2000s, in a bid to improve services to pilgrims, the Saudi authorities insisted that anyone organising Hajj should form a registered company and be properly licensed. By the mid-2000s, they also made buying a “package” from one of these organisers the only way for Muslims in the West to perform Hajj.</p>
<h2>Rising prices</h2>
<p>Today there are around 117 UK Hajj organisers licensed by Saudi Arabia. Each is responsible for their own annual quota of 150-450 Hajj pilgrim visas. British Muslims now have plenty of choice in terms of package options. But UK pilgrims wanting to perform Hajj in 2018 probably spent as much as £5-6,000 on their package. At an industry event last spring, I was told that a top company selling half their packages for £9,500 per person sold out in six weeks. Even an “economy” Hajj this year cost more than £4,000. Overall, the cost of Hajj-going has <a href="https://arts.leeds.ac.uk/hajj/2018/06/09/price-of-uk-hajj-packages-rose-around-25-2013-18-suggests-new-university-of-leeds-research/">increased by around 25%</a> in recent years.</p>
<p>Long-established pilgrim welfare charities such as the <a href="https://www.abhuk.com/">Association of British Hujjaj</a> (established 1998) complain that high prices reflect UK organisers’ profiteering. But the bigger picture is that the restructured Hajj industry in Saudi Arabia is increasingly privatised and commercialised. The 2-3m Muslims arriving to the city of Mecca for one key week in the calendar create a huge demand for travel, accommodation and other services. And for all its investments in pilgrimage infrastructure, the Saudi government does not control the pricing of flights, rents and so on. Certain local subsidies are being reduced and Saudi VAT and municipality taxes have increased recently, too.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232063/original/file-20180815-2894-o8h06z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232063/original/file-20180815-2894-o8h06z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232063/original/file-20180815-2894-o8h06z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232063/original/file-20180815-2894-o8h06z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232063/original/file-20180815-2894-o8h06z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232063/original/file-20180815-2894-o8h06z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232063/original/file-20180815-2894-o8h06z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232063/original/file-20180815-2894-o8h06z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims must circumambulate the Ka’ba anticlockwise seven times (tawaf).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Sanders, mid-1990s.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Members of the UK’s newly formed <a href="http://www.licensedhajjorganisers.com/lho/">Licensed Hajj Organisers</a> national trade association (established 2016) are in a risky business. In the tourism industry, payments are usually made in arrears, but UK Hajj organisers often make large down payments before packages are even sold. And because they lack the bargaining power of large Muslim governments, Hajj organisers in the West can pay a premium for some services. Political and economic instability, such as wars in the Middle East and the negative impact of Brexit on the pound, also affect pricing.</p>
<h2>Regulation and the future</h2>
<p>The new leadership of <a href="http://www.licensedhajjorganisers.com/">Licensed Hajj Organisers</a> are keenly aware of the complex issues faced by the Hajj and Umrah industry. Few UK Hajj organisers can sell their entire quota without maintaining relationships with <a href="http://npoa.org.uk/">networks of sub-agents</a>. Spot checks for “<a href="https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/action-fraud-warns-of-hajj-fraud-apr18">Hajj fraud</a>” by <a href="https://www.tradingstandards.uk/news-policy/news-room/2017/hajj-travel-firm-boss-jailed-for-14-months-for-fraud">Trading Standards</a> suggest that long selling chains and a lack of proper documentation can encourage “over-selling” and even <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8144531.stm">criminal scams</a>. </p>
<p>That there is a new willingness in the trade to hold fellow organisers to account in this regard is clear from a new code of conduct launched by <a href="http://www.licensedhajjorganisers.com/">Licensed Hajj Organisers</a> before Hajj this year. At the same time, many Hajj organisers still argue that the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/consumers/travel-and-timeshare-law/package-travel-directive_en">European Package Travel Regulations</a>, intended to regulate “package holidays”, cannot account for the logistical and business complexities of Hajj.</p>
<p>Transformations in the organisation of Hajj-going in Britain represent only a local case study of challenges the Hajj and Umrah industry is facing worldwide. Piety and commerce have always existed cheek-by-jowl in Mecca. But the development of a consumer-capitalist model of religious tourism on the scale envisaged by Saudi Arabia is unprecedented. Great chains of buying and selling as well as believing now connect Muslims to the birthplace of Islam. But there are major issues to resolve across quite different regimes of regulation. For some, this suggests a need for <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/6/2/36">greater international governance of the Hajj and Umrah</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97888/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Seán McLoughlin has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2011-12, 2015) and the British Academy (2013-14), as well as from the University of Leeds (2017-18). See <a href="https://arts.leeds.ac.uk/hajj/">https://arts.leeds.ac.uk/hajj/</a> </span></em></p>A look at Hajj-going among British Muslims shows how modern transport and marketisation have led to huge changes.Seán McLoughlin, Professor of the Anthropology of Islam, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/832842017-09-01T01:09:20Z2017-09-01T01:09:20ZExplaining the Muslim pilgrimage of hajj<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184264/original/file-20170831-25608-184cppy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslims start the hajj by circling the Kaaba, the black, cube-shaped house of God.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/76868981@N04/7046120441/in/photolist-bJDd8c-bJDcVB-bvJqzh-bvJqps-bvJqa5-bJDdzt-bJDdD8-bvJrjq-UXioFx-bJDeJ8-bJDeik-bvJrLu-bJDen6-bJDdvx-bJDeDT-UUv7ZY-bvJqJo-bJDf1Z-bJDh3c-bJDgPc-bJDeyX-bvJrzj-bvJr8J-4jm9Qy-5xJFjV-bvJtZ9-bJDgKn-bJDe3n-bvJs97-bJDeX8-bJDeSD-6swosD-bJDdV4-DzA3BL-66teWG-GoPNXs-WgkeQE-oy7hPr-ogmKsH-3fy5NJ-8TmNoJ-4qY7BM-TSsycj-8XnFcZ-5GFF6S-bJDe8c-WiLAgB-5GBNZM-38PLcY-WW4FUY">UmmSqueaky</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/more-than-17-million-muslims-gather-for-start-of-hajj/2017/08/30/5f03d726-8d60-11e7-9c53-6a169beb0953_story.html?utm_term=.c7c4707d4140">1.7 million Muslims</a> have gathered this year in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage – <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hajj">the hajj</a>. The five-day pilgrimage <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?format=HB&isbn=9781107030510#r1EAFLxwIhcoTB6d.97">is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation</a> for all Muslims who have the physical and financial ability to undertake the journey.</p>
<p>So, what is the hajj and what is its spiritual significance? </p>
<h2>The fifth pillar</h2>
<p>Millions of Muslims from diverse countries such as Indonesia, Russia, India, Cuba, Fiji, the United States, Nigeria and others congregate in Mecca during the last month of the Muslim lunar year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184265/original/file-20170831-32045-gdggwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims dressed in white garments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4123390204/in/photolist-7hnsfy-dqsVVf-7duYF4-8RpkCH-79riDe-f7bkTc-4Hh1A1-5VrCdR-5EQert-aECwxs-WfuiKx-5Zp6RG-5vEWkL-5Zp3Nd-UkvMJu-bbLaB4-baMrWa-dnXjRu-aaj4Pe-7yfUEo-6X522A-aNLLcn-dtNpmB-prVQPP-xpBTq-efCN2o-7ZiP1B-7ab1dG-7ab1du-eg4WRc-689Sed-fntKkM-RaUt4-5YD77K-7iU1uN-Sk6Z3y-5Xbum3-8UiyE8-vNjgG-pS5hEz-62kErs-dtw7BT-RtMFKv-5L8q5Y-5MNzJw-aECKRw-S8Wdyh-2jjQt-Jq48b-baj3MZ">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pilgrims wear plain, white garments. Men drape seamless, unstitched clothing and women dress in plain white dresses and headscarves. The idea behind dressing simply is to mask any differences in wealth and status. </p>
<p>The pilgrimage is considered the fifth pillar of Islamic practice (the other four being the profession of faith, five daily prayers, charity and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">the fast of Ramadan</a>). In calling Muslims to perform the hajj, the Quran <a href="http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran/">says</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Proclaim to men the pilgrimage: they will come to thee on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every remote path.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The rites of the hajj are believed to retrace events from the lives of prominent prophets such as Ibrahim and Ismail. </p>
<h2>The first day of the hajj</h2>
<p>Pilgrims start by circling <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">the “Holy Kaaba</a>,” the black, cube-shaped house of God (at the center of the most sacred mosque in Mecca), seven times.</p>
<p>The Kaaba occupies a central place in the lives of Muslims. In all parts of the world, Muslims are expected to turn toward the Kaaba when performing their daily prayers.</p>
<p>Specific rules <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">concerning going around</a> the Kaaba are prescribed for pilgrims. They may also kiss, touch or approach the Kaaba during the pilgrimage as a sign of their respect and continued devotion.</p>
<p>The Quran tells the story of Ibrahim’s sacrifice, who when commanded by God, agreed to sacrifice his son, Ismail. Muslims believe the Kaaba holds the black stone upon which Ibrahim was called to sacrifice Ismail. </p>
<p>In performing the rituals, they join in a long line of pilgrims to Mecca – <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-life-of-muhammad-9780196360331?cc=us&lang=en&">including Prophet Muhammad</a> – who circled the Kaaba. </p>
<p>Pilgrims then proceed to a ritual walking – about 100 meters from the Kaaba – to hills known as “Safa” and “Marwah.” Here they re-create <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam?format=HB&isbn=9781107030510">another significant event</a> recorded in the Quran: when Ibrahim was granted a son by God through his Egyptian slave girl Hajar. After the birth of Ismail, God instructed Ibrahim to take Hajar and her newborn son out into the desert and leave them there. Ibrahim left them near the present-day location of the Kaaba. Ismail cried out with thirst and Hajar ran between two hills, looking for water until she turned to God for help.</p>
<p>God rewarded Hajar for her patience and sent his angel Jibreel to reveal a spring, which today is known as “Zamzam Well.” Pilgrims drink water from the sacred well and may take some home for blessings.</p>
<h2>The second day of the hajj</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184267/original/file-20170831-22397-zsohp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims praying on Arafat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4135906354/in/photolist-7itASf-7ipEj8-7m6S5M-4kgEVJ-7iw61y-8TRppx-97r2W7-arbDH-7iscY6-7ifhd9-7ygqjr-7hX95R-fBsJ1X-7ykfkW-7ygrB8-7ygrne-7ykeTq-an6Zn-8TULHS-5Hycc7-5HtS4v-7ykf8J-5Hu33g-5HtUxP-7ygrbR-5HyeCd-5HtTPn-5HyrAE-8TUqFh-7ygrRD-8TRKpi-5HtRhv-8TRnNz-8TREd4-7ykdSq-4qY7wP-an6Zo-arbS4-qXKmg2-dcec1H-8TRzCc-8TUp9s-8TRU4c-7rR3ib-8TUVES-8TRJ9r-8TRH3K-8TRSuH-8TUUFE-8TRx2n">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The hajj “climaxes” with a sojourn into the plains of Arafat near Mecca. There, pilgrims gather in tents, spend time with one another and perform prayers. Some pilgrims will ascend a hill known as the “Mount of Mercy,” where Prophet Muhammad delivered the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_Sermon">farewell sermon</a> toward the end of his life. </p>
<p>They then proceed to an open plain near Mecca, often a highlight of the journey for many pilgrims. Muslims believe that the <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">spirit of God comes closer to Earth</a> in this place at the time of the pilgrimage.</p>
<p>As a scholar of global Islam, during my fieldwork I have interviewed those who have gone on the hajj. They have described to me their personal experiences. </p>
<p>Many pilgrims, when standing in the plains of Arafat, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LkmkAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=a+close+communion+with+god+plains+of+arafat&source=bl&ots=xfljL0qqXO&sig=ST3pnAIcye_QJ2ZbbcPA2gfMBIM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjitdWOp4LWAhVDQiYKHamnA9QQ6AEIPjAG#v=onepage&q=a%20close%20communion%20with%20god%20plains%20of%20arafat&f=false">feel a close communion with God.</a> </p>
<h2>Final three days</h2>
<p>Afterwards, pilgrims move to Mina, also known as the Tent City, about five kilometers from the holy city of Mecca. Here, they reenact another part of the story of Ibrahim’s test of faith in the sacrifice of his son. </p>
<p>They recall how Satan tried to tempt Ibrahim to disobey <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">God’s call to sacrifice Ismail</a>. Ibrahim, however, remained unmoved and informed Ismail, who was willing to be sacrificed. To reenact Ibrahim’s rebuff of Satan’s temptation, pilgrims throw small stones at a stone pillar.</p>
<p>They then proceed to follow Ibrahim in the act of sacrifice. The Quran says just as Ibrahim attempted to kill his son, God intervened and a ram was sacrificed in place of Ismail. In remembrance, Muslims all over the world sacrifice an animal on this day. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-muslims-celebrate-eid-twice-a-year-6-questions-answered-80949">“festival of the sacrifice” is known as Eid al-Adha</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184266/original/file-20170831-2020-czju2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims stoning the devil in Mina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aljazeeraenglish/4142094316/in/photolist-7iXrgk-7iXrAK-7iXrqk-7j2iPq-8U9pyc-7iXrtK-7iXrxn-7j2jd3-7j2jfj-7ykkpd-7j2iSQ-7j2jkf-7j2j7E-7iXrcV-7j2jFy-7j2jJU-7ykk2L-7iXr7Z-7iXriZ-7iXryR-7j2job-7j2iVd-7iBtP1-7j2jGS-7iXrSX-7ykhiS-7ygxAz-7iXrLe-7j2j2d-7ygwp8-8UbHdp">Al Jazeera English</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many pilgrims spend the next few days repeating the stoning at Mina (at least six more times) and going around the Holy Kaaba in Mecca (at least once more). Pilgrims also start to put on their everyday clothes <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">to indicate a transition to their worldly life</a>. </p>
<p>It is believed that a proper performance of the hajj can absolve Muslim pilgrims of any previous sins. However, Muslims also believe that just undertaking the pilgrimage is not enough: <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/hajj-pilgrimage-islam#O3cwEbjxDttkhEyF.97">It is up to God to judge the pilgrimage as acceptable or not.</a> </p>
<h2>Creating one Muslim community</h2>
<p>The hajj is a massive <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">organizational project</a> for the Saudi authorities. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/08/world/meast/how-hi-tech-manages-millions-during-the-hajj/index.html">Issues concerning</a> crowd management, security, traffic and tensions constantly plague the successful organization of the annual event. A deadly stampede in 2015 left <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/middleeast/hajj-pilgrimage-stampede/index.html">over 700 dead</a>.</p>
<p>There are other ongoing tensions as well: Some <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Shia</a> governments such as Iran, for example, have leveled <a href="http://www.alterinter.org/spip.php?article4502">charges alleging discrimination</a> by <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216">Sunni</a> Saudi authorities. Furthermore, this year, citizens of <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/hajj-qataris-year-saudi-row-170825192148831.html">Qatar were not able to perform the hajj</a> following the decision by Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations to severe diplomatic ties with the country.</p>
<p>To address such issues, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC&q=OIC#v=snippet&q=OIC&f=false">many Muslims have called</a> for the <a href="http://www.oic-oci.org/">Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC)</a>, an intergovernmental organization, to put together an international, multi-partisan committee to organize the pilgrimage.</p>
<p>Perhaps that could help avoid regional or sectarian conflicts. The hajj, after all, is any individual Muslim’s <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580">single most</a> symbolic ritual act that reflects <a href="http://imjcr.com/journals/imjcr/Vol_3_No_1_June_2014/3.pdf">the ideal of unity</a>.</p>
<p>By requiring Muslims to don the same clothes, pray in the same spaces and perform the same rituals, the hajj creates a global Muslim community, with no class distinctions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83284/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Each year, Muslims from all over the world go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, known as hajj. A scholar explains its spiritual significance.Ken Chitwood, Ph.D. Candidate, Religion in the Americas, Global Islam, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/809492017-08-29T01:27:01Z2017-08-29T01:27:01ZWhy Muslims celebrate Eid twice a year: 6 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183635/original/file-20170828-1612-1wnyyra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C2029%2C1293&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslims saying Eid prayers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iioc/2143824090/in/photolist-4grEdj-97qcDA-7m6S5M-azpJNa-8UmW5w-4gnAcc-4gnztg-4grBjN-4gnA7i-4grBpG-4grBuW-4grBAW-azsps9-7k8Cpz-4gnxTP-8TRk2k-4gnAke-azpLgZ-4grEns-dnYEaC-8Utw7d-8Uw7He-azsr4y-4grEsu-8Suuxc-dnYy78-dnYySF-dnYyF4-7kcwPJ-8U9xPG-94EVPR-8U6tFD-dnYDbA-dnYENS-dnYxGR-dnYzoK-dnYF1G-8U9xSW-M987uB-gQTHth-gUszJc-LbN59b-M62wcY-M9829B-M1YgT2-LGrXGu-M62uhA-LGrZjC-M62uab-M984jD">IIOC Masjid Omar AlFarouk</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: At sundown on June 28, Muslims all over the world celebrated one of the principal festivals, Eid al-Adha. Earlier in April, Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr. Scholar Ken Chitwood explains the two Islamic festivals.</em></p>
<h2>1. What is Eid?</h2>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid literally means a “festival” or “feast” in Arabic</a>. It is celebrated twice a year as Eid al-Adha, (pronounced eed al-Ahd-huh) and Eid al-Fitr. </p>
<h2>2. Why is it celebrated twice a year?</h2>
<p>The two Eids recognize, celebrate and recall two distinct events that are significant to the story of the Islamic faith. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid al-Fitr means “the feast of breaking the fast.”</a> The fast, in this instance, is that of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Ramadan</a>, which recalls the revealing of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad. </p>
<p>Eid celebrations can last up to three days. In many countries with large Muslim populations, it is a national holiday. Schools, offices and businesses are closed so family, friends and neighbors can enjoy the celebrations together. Saudi Arabia has announced a <a href="https://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabia-announces-16-day-eid-al-adha-holiday">16-day holiday</a> this year for Eid. In Turkey and in places that were once part of the Ottoman-Turkish empire such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, <a href="http://oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1342?_hi=0&_pos=4734">it is also known as the, “Lesser Bayram”</a> (meaning “lesser festival” in Turkish). </p>
<p>The other festival, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Islam.html?id=6VeCWQfVNjkC">Eid al-Adha, is the “feast of the sacrifice.”</a> It commemorates the end of Hajj, an annual pilgrimage by millions of Muslims to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is obligatory once in a lifetime, but only for those with means.</p>
<p>Eid al-Adha recalls the story of how God commanded Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as a test of faith (the story is of Abraham and Isaac in the Hebrew Torah and Christian Old Testament). The story, as narrated in the Quran, describes Satan’s attempt to tempt Ibrahim so he would disobey God’s command. Ibrahim, however, remains unmoved and informs Ismail, who is willing to be sacrificed. </p>
<p>But, just as Ibrahim attempts to kill his son, God intervenes and a ram is sacrificed in place of Ismail. This story has institutionalized the ideal of sacrifice in Islam and continues to be commemorated each year. During Eid al-Adha, Muslims slaughter an animal to remember Ibrahim’s sacrifice and remind themselves of the need to submit to the will of God. Eid al-Adha is <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e740?_hi=0&_pos=2592">also known as the “Greater Bayram</a>.” </p>
<h2>3. When are they celebrated?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Adha is celebrated on the <a href="https://www.oupjapan.co.jp/en/node/2191">10th day of the 12th and final month in the Islamic calendar.</a></p>
<p>Eid al-Fitr is celebrated on the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ry_aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT175&lpg=PT175&dq=islam+the+straight+path+eid+esposito&source=bl&ots=OpTvV-P-BD&sig=vO86ofKfVTFj4ZZdz2iCg2-s1P4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR-qaVlbzVAhWHs1QKHW53AiQQ6AEIWTAM#v=onepage&q=islam%20the%20straight%20path%20eid%20esposito&f=false">first day of the 10th month in the Islamic calendar</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2">Islamic calendar</a> is a lunar calendar, and dates are calculated based on lunar phases. Due to this, the Islamic calendar year is shorter than the solar Gregorian calendar year by 10 to 12 days. </p>
<p>Thus, Ramadan and Eid “rotate” through the Gregorian calendar and can be celebrated during different seasons in the Southern and Northern hemispheres. In 2017, for example, Eid al-Fitr was celebrated on June 25. In 2018, the date for Eid al-Fitr will be June 15. For Eid al-Adha, the date this year is September 1. In 2018, it will fall on August 21. </p>
<h2>4. What customs are common during the two Eids?</h2>
<p>Eid al-Fitr features two to three days of celebrations that include <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">special prayers</a>. People greet each other with “Eid Mubarak,” meaning “Blessed Eid.” Gifts are given out to the poor before the morning prayers. In addition, Muslims are encouraged to forgive differences and let go of grudges. There are a multitude of other practices that vary from country to country. </p>
<p>On Eid al-Adha, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Hajj.html?id=EK5MqskDYC0C">pilgrims in Mecca reenact Ibrahim’s rejection</a> of Satan’s temptation. During the pilgrimage, Muslims cast stones at a pillar, which represents Satan. In remembrance of how Ibrahim was given a ram to sacrifice as a substitute for his son, they proceed to sacrifice animals such as goats, cattle, sheep or camels. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large number of people gathered around a black structure, the Kaaba." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534637/original/file-20230628-15-559n37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, located in the center of the Masjid al-Haram, Saudi Arabia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muslim-pilgrims-circumambulate-the-kaaba-islams-holiest-news-photo/1161809345?adppopup=true">Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those unable to go on the pilgrimage <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam.html?id=L31e4m2GUTwC">visit mosques and even family gravesites.</a>.</p>
<h2>5. What is the spiritual meaning of sacrifice during Eid al-Adha?</h2>
<p>The sacrifice represents how, like Ibrahim, pilgrims and practicing Muslims worldwide are willing to give up <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=L31e4m2GUTwC&source=gbs_similarbooks">even their most precious possessions</a>. </p>
<p>Charity to the poor is a highly emphasized value in Islam. <a href="http://quranexplorer.com">The Quran says</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“believe in Allah and his messenger, and give charity out of the (substance) that Allah has made you heirs of. For those of you who believe and give charity – for them is a great reward.” (57.7)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, as part of this practice, only around a third of the meat is consumed by the family or group of friends; the rest is given to the poor and needy. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the sacrifice of animals too is carried out <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/introduction-to-islam-9780190467487?cc=us&lang=en&">through specific instructions</a> that minimize their suffering. This is part of the moral obligation of Muslims. </p>
<h2>6. What are some of the modern-day challenges?</h2>
<p>With more than two million arriving in Mecca these days, the pilgrimage presents a <a href="https://tradearabia.com/index.php?/news/MISC_290820.html">logistical challenge</a> for countries providing meat for the sacrifice. Saudi authorities strive to <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/world/flash-freezing-takes-care-of-surplus-meat-from-haj-sacrifice-1.310668">find alternative methods</a> of preserving, distributing and dealing with the vast amount of meat that comes from the animal sacrifices. </p>
<p>In the U.S. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/09/12/eid-al-adha-muslims/90261968/">Muslims consume halal meat</a> – that is, meat that has been prepared by adhering to the rules – but they are not allowed to perform the sacrifice themselves. Food laws require that meat be acquired from certified butchers who follow standard federal and halal rules. However, some Muslims might send money to their friends and relatives in other countries to help fund a sacrifice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Chitwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Muslims throughout the world will celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) beginning this Friday evening. Here’s an introduction to this important feast.Ken Chitwood, Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern CaliforniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/546442016-03-01T19:05:58Z2016-03-01T19:05:58ZHow the political crises of the modern Muslim world created the climate for Islamic State<p><em>How do we account for forces and events that paved the way for the emergence of Islamic State? <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/understanding-islamic-state">Our series on the jihadist group’s origins</a> tries to address this question by looking at the interplay of historical and social forces that led to its advent.</em></p>
<p><em>In the penultimate article of the series, Harith Bin Ramli traces the Muslim world’s growing disaffection with its rulers through the 20th century and how it created the climate for both the genesis of Islamic State and its continuing success in recruiting followers.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Islamic State (IS) declared its re-establishment of the caliphate on <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/29/isis-iraq-caliphate-delcaration-war">June 29, 2014</a>, almost exactly 100 years after the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, <a href="http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/archduke-franz-ferdinand-assassinated">was assassinated</a>. Ferdinand’s death set off a series of events that would lead to the first world war and the fall of three great multinational world empires: the Austro-Hungarian (1867-1918), the Russian (1721-1917) and the Ottoman (1299-1922). </p>
<p>That IS’s leadership chose to declare its caliphate so close to the anniversary of Ferdinand’s assassination may not entirely <a href="http://www.jonathanhtodd.com/2014/06/27/6-degrees-geopolitcal-separation-franz-ferdinand-isis/">be a coincidence</a>. In a sense, the two events are connected. </p>
<p>Ferdinand’s assassination and the events it brought about (culminating in the <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/treaty-of-versailles">1919 Treaty of Versailles</a>) symbolised the <a href="http://ejil.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/2/463.full">final triumph of a new idea</a> of <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sovereignty/">sovereignty</a>. This modern conception was based on the popular will of a nation, rather than on noble lineage. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113015/original/image-20160226-26719-1crjex5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113015/original/image-20160226-26719-1crjex5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113015/original/image-20160226-26719-1crjex5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113015/original/image-20160226-26719-1crjex5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113015/original/image-20160226-26719-1crjex5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113015/original/image-20160226-26719-1crjex5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113015/original/image-20160226-26719-1crjex5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated on June 28, 1914.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria_-_b%26w.jpg">Carl Pietzner [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In declaring the resurrection of a medieval political institution almost exactly 100 years later, IS was announcing its explicit rejection of the modern international system based on that very idea of sovereignty. </p>
<h2>Early secularisation</h2>
<p>Other than the Ottoman Sultanate’s <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2014-11-19/myth-caliphate">very late and disputed claim</a> to the title, no attempt has been made to re-establish a caliphate since the fall of the Abbasid dynasty at the hands of the Mongols in 1258. In other words, Sunni Islam has carried on for hundreds of years since the 13th century without the need for a central political figurehead. </p>
<p>If we go further back in history, it seems that <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100141493">Sunni political theory</a> had already anticipated this problem. </p>
<p>The Abbasid caliphs began to lose power from the mid-ninth century, effectively becoming puppets of various warlords by the tenth. And the caliphate underwent a serious process of decentralisation at the same time. </p>
<p><a href="http://ilsp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/hurvitz.pdf">Key contemporary texts on statecraft</a>, such as Abu al-Hasan al-Mawardi’s (952-1058) Ordinances of Government (<em>al-Ahkam al-sultaniyya</em>), described the caliph as the necessary symbolic figurehead providing constitutional legitimacy for the real rulers – emirs or sultans – whose power was based on military might. </p>
<p>As in the case of the <a href="http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/buyids">Shi'i Buyid dynasty (934-1048)</a>, these rulers didn’t even have to be Sunni. And they were often expected to provide legislation based on practical and functional, rather than religious, considerations. </p>
<p>The Muslim world, then, had arguably already experienced secularisation of sorts before the modern age. Or, at the very least, it had for quite some time existed within a political system that balanced power between religious and worldly interests. </p>
<p>And when the caliphate came to an end in the 13th century, both the institutions of kingship and the religious courts (run by the scholar-jurists) were able to carry on functioning without difficulty.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113020/original/image-20160226-26673-dwg0r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113020/original/image-20160226-26673-dwg0r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113020/original/image-20160226-26673-dwg0r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113020/original/image-20160226-26673-dwg0r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113020/original/image-20160226-26673-dwg0r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113020/original/image-20160226-26673-dwg0r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113020/original/image-20160226-26673-dwg0r7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWilayah_Abbasiyyah_semasa_khalifah_Harun_al-Rashid.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was the 19th-century Muslim revivalist and anti-colonial movement known as <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1819?_hi=3&_pos=1">Pan-Islamism</a> that was responsible for reviving the Ottoman claim to the caliphate. The idea was revived again briefly in early 20th-century British India as the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/event/Khilafat-movement">anti-colonial Khilafat movement</a>. </p>
<p>But anti-colonial efforts after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, even those primarily based on religious beliefs, have rarely called for a return of the caliphate. </p>
<p>If anything, successors of Pan-Islamism, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, have generally worked within the framework of nation states. Putting aside doubts about their actual ability to commit to democracy and secularism, such movements have generally envisioned an Islamic state along more modern lines, with room for political participation and elections.</p>
<h2>Modern utopias and old dynasties</h2>
<p>So why evoke the caliphate in the first place? The simple answer is that it has never been completely dismissed as an option. </p>
<p>In Sunni law and political theology, once <a href="http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e989?_hi=0&_pos=3182">consensus</a> over an issue has been reached, it is hard for later generations to go against it. This was why Egyptian scholar <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2009/apr/09/religion-islam-secularism-egypt">Ali Abd al-Raziq</a> was removed from his post at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Azhar_University">Al-Azhar University</a> and attacked for introducing a deviant interpretation after he wrote an argument for a secular interpretation of the caliphate in 1925.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113021/original/image-20160226-26697-17h3h4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113021/original/image-20160226-26697-17h3h4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113021/original/image-20160226-26697-17h3h4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113021/original/image-20160226-26697-17h3h4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113021/original/image-20160226-26697-17h3h4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113021/original/image-20160226-26697-17h3h4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113021/original/image-20160226-26697-17h3h4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thinkers such as Abul Ala Mawdudi tried to place a revived caliphate within some type of democratic framework.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAbul_ala_maududi.jpg">DiLeeF via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As <a href="http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-inevitable-caliphate/">many</a> <a href="http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/13267/new-texts-out-now_madawi-al-rasheed-carool-kersten">recent</a> <a href="http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/recalling-the-caliphate/">studies</a> show, the idea of the caliphate and its revival has had a certain utopian appeal for a wide spectrum of modern Muslim thinkers. And not just those with authoritarian or militant inclinations. </p>
<p>Some leading Muslim revivalists such as <a href="http://muhammad-asad.com/Principles-State-Government-Islam.pdf">Muhammad Asad (1900-1992)</a> and <a href="http://www.meforum.org/151/islams-democratic-essence">Abul Ala Mawdudi (1903-1979)</a>, for example, have tried to place a revived caliphate within some type of <a href="https://www.academia.edu/421254/Democracy_in_Islam_The_Views_of_Several_Modern_Muslim_Scholars">democratic framework</a>.</p>
<p>But, in practice, the dominant tendency here too has really been to seek the liberation or revival of Muslim societies within the nation-state framework. </p>
<p>If anything, national aspirations and the desire to modernise society existed before the formation of the new political order after the first world war. The majority of the populations of Muslim lands welcomed the fall of the three empires, or at least didn’t feel very strongly about the survival of traditional ruling dynasties. </p>
<p>And, with the exception of Saudi Arabia, most dynasties that stayed in power did so by reinventing their states along modern, mainly secular, models. </p>
<p>But this did not always succeed. The waves of <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/7/newsid_3074000/3074069.stm">revolutions</a> and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/1/newsid_3911000/3911587.stm">military coups</a> that swept the Middle East and other parts of the Muslim world throughout the 1950s and 1960s amply illustrate that popular sentiment identified traditional dynasties with the continuing influence of colonial powers. </p>
<p>In Egypt, under the Muhammad Ali dynasty (1805-1952), for example, the control of the then-French Canal epitomised the interdependent relationship between the dynasty and Western power. This was why <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/focus/arabunity/2008/02/200852517252821627.html">Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970)</a> made great efforts to regain it in the name of Egyptian sovereignty when he became the country’s second president in 1956.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113027/original/image-20160226-26679-ul3rf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113027/original/image-20160226-26679-ul3rf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113027/original/image-20160226-26679-ul3rf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113027/original/image-20160226-26679-ul3rf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113027/original/image-20160226-26679-ul3rf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113027/original/image-20160226-26679-ul3rf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113027/original/image-20160226-26679-ul3rf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inauguration of the Suez Canal at Port Said, Egypt, in 1869.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASuezkanal1869.jpg">Public domain via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Dissolving political legitimacy</h2>
<p>Either way, the success of the new Muslim nation states could be said to be predicated on two major expectations. The first was improvement of citizens’ lives – not only in terms of material progress, but also the benefits of freedom and the ability to represent the popular will through participatory politics. </p>
<p>The second was the ability of Muslim nations to unite against outside interference and commit to the liberation of Palestine. On both counts, the latter half of the 20th century witnessed abysmal failures and an increasing sense of frustration with Muslim leaders. </p>
<p>In many places, populism eventually gave way to authoritarianism. And the loss of further lands to Israel in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War">1967 Six-Day War</a> revealed the inherent weakness and lack of unity among the new Muslim nations.</p>
<p>Anwar Sadat’s peace treaty with Israel after the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/6/newsid_2514000/2514317.stm">1973 Yom Kippur War</a> was widely seen as an act of betrayal, for breaking ranks in what should have been a united front. His decision to do so despite lacking popular support in Egypt only revealed the extent to which the country had evolved into a dictatorship. </p>
<p>Sadat’s consequent <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/6/newsid_2515000/2515841.stm">assassination</a> at the hands of a small radical splinter group of religious militants acted as a warning to other Muslim leaders. Now they couldn’t simply ignore or lock away religious critics, even if the majority of the population still subscribed to the secular nation-state model. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113031/original/image-20160226-26697-q9jcf8.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113031/original/image-20160226-26697-q9jcf8.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113031/original/image-20160226-26697-q9jcf8.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113031/original/image-20160226-26697-q9jcf8.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113031/original/image-20160226-26697-q9jcf8.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1125&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113031/original/image-20160226-26697-q9jcf8.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1125&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113031/original/image-20160226-26697-q9jcf8.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1125&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s peace treaty with Israel was widely seen as an act of betrayal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APresident_Anwar_Sadat_of_Egypt_arrives_in_the_United_States.JPEG">US Department of Defence Visual information via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This idea was reinforced by Iran’s <a href="http://www.britannica.com/event/Iranian-Revolution-of-1978-1979">1979 Islamic Revolution</a>, as well as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Mosque_seizure">failed religious revolution</a> in the holy city of Mecca the same year. </p>
<p>Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, Muslim leaders around the world increasingly made compromises with religious reactionary forces, allowing them to expand influence in the public sphere. In many cases, these leaders increasingly adopted religious rhetoric themselves.</p>
<p>Showing support for fellow Muslims in the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1987) or the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Intifada">First Palestinian Intifada</a> provided an opportunity to manage the threat of religious radicalism. National leaders probably also saw this as an effective way to deflect attention from the authoritarian nature of many Muslim states. </p>
<p>And, as demonstrated by <a href="https://kyleorton1991.wordpress.com/2015/09/12/did-saddam-hussein-become-a-religious-believer/">Saddam Hussain’s turn to religious propaganda</a> after the 1990-91 Gulf War, it could be used as a last resort when other ways of demonstrating legitimacy had failed.</p>
<h2>The longer view</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.britannica.com/event/Persian-Gulf-War">The Gulf War</a> also brought non-Muslim troops to Arabian soil, inspiring <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/military-july-dec96-fatwa_1996/">Osama bin Laden’s call for jihad</a> against the Western nations that participated in it. And it eventually led to the US invasion of Iraq. That set off a chain of events that created in the country the chaotic conditions that enabled the rise of Islamic State. </p>
<p>If the IS leadership is really an <a href="http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/mideast-crisis-iraq-islamicstate/">alliance between ex-Ba'athist generals and an offshoot of al-Qaeda</a>, as has often been depicted, then we don’t have to go far beyond the events of this war to explain how the group formed. But the rise of Islamic State and its declaration of the caliphate can also be read as part of a wider story that has unfolded since the formation of modern nation states in the Muslim world. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/86c958c2-ff78-11e3-8a35-00144feab7de.html#axzz367SAUfPl">some commentators</a> have pointed out, it’s not so much the Sykes-Picot agreement and the drawing of artificial national borders by colonial powers that brought about IS. </p>
<p>The modern nation-state model – as much as it’s based on <a href="https://nationalismstudies.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/benedict-anderson/">a kind of fiction</a> – is still strong in most parts of the Muslim world. And, I believe, it’s still the preferred option for most Muslims today. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113024/original/image-20160226-26669-1pzyzn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113024/original/image-20160226-26669-1pzyzn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113024/original/image-20160226-26669-1pzyzn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113024/original/image-20160226-26669-1pzyzn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113024/original/image-20160226-26669-1pzyzn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113024/original/image-20160226-26669-1pzyzn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113024/original/image-20160226-26669-1pzyzn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People of Arak toppled the Shah’s statue in Bāgh Mwlli (central square of Arak) during 1979 revolution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AIranian_Revolution_in_Arak.jpg">Dooste Amin [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the long century that has passed since the first world war has been increasingly marked by frustration. It’s littered with the broken promises of Muslim rulers to bring about a transition to more representative forms of government. And it has been marked by a sense that Western powers continue to control and manipulate events in the region, in a way that doesn’t always represent the best interests of Muslim societies.</p>
<p>An extreme <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-arab-spring-five-years-on-a-season-that-began-in-hope-but-ended-in-desolation-a6803161.html">high point of frustration</a> was reached in the events of the so-called <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12813859">Arab Spring</a>. The wave of popular demonstrations against the autocratic regimes of the Arab world were seen as the first winds of change that would bring democracy to the region. </p>
<p>But, with the possible exception of Tunisia, all of these countries underwent either destabilisation (Libya, Syria), the return of military rule (Egypt), or the further clamping down on civil rights (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other Gulf monarchies). </p>
<p>I would hesitate to describe IS’s declaration of a caliphate as a serious challenge to the modern nation-state model. But the small, albeit substantial, stream of followers it manages to recruit daily shows it would be wrong to take for granted that the terms of the international order can simply be dictated from above forever. </p>
<p>When brute force increasingly has the final say over how people live their lives, it becomes harder for them to differentiate between the lesser of two evils.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is the eighth article in our series on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/understanding-islamic-state">historical roots of Islamic State</a>. <a href="http://bit.ly/UnderstandingIS">Download our special report</a> collating the whole the series.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54644/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harith Bin Ramli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The rise of Islamic State and its declaration of the caliphate can be read as part of a wider story that has unfolded since the formation of modern nation states in the Muslim world.Harith Bin Ramli, Research Fellow, Cambridge Muslim College & Teaching Fellow, SOAS, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/469702015-09-21T13:55:25Z2015-09-21T13:55:25ZHajj 2015: the precarious balance between pilgrimage and consumerism<p>The tragic news that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34346449">more than 700 people</a> have been killed in a crush during one of the Hajj’s ritual events, the stoning of a pillar representing the devil at Mina, reminds us that such tragedies have occurred at various times in the pilgrimage’s history – partly fuelled by a massive growth in the number of pilgrims. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jan/13/saudiarabia">series of tragic incidents</a> occurred in the 1990s; over 1400 pilgrims were killed in one incident in 1990. Measures by the Saudi authorities to improve the infrastructure around the sites and increase crowd control had meant that, until today, there had been only been one major such tragedy in the current century, in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jan/12/saudiarabia.religion">2006</a>, when well over 300 pilgrims died in a crush, also at Mina. </p>
<p>This latest tragedy reminds us that even with greater measures being taken to control the flow of pilgrims, the potential for disaster has not been wholly eradicated.. </p>
<p>Preparations for this year’s Hajj had already been marred by the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/13/mecca-crane-crash-shows-dangers-citys-construction-boom">collapse</a> of a crane at the Grand Mosque, which killed more than 100 people. The tragedy came just over a week before the pilgrimage was set to get underway, and raised serious questions about the repercussions of rapid construction growth in Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/practices/hajj_1.shtml">Hajj</a> is one of the world’s largest faith gatherings, attracting increasing numbers of pilgrims in recent decades – from around 30,000 in the 1930s to more than 3m in <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204616504577172402386772604">2012</a>. This is a striking case of an ancient religious practice transformed by modernity. In earlier times, the arduous journey to Mecca its dangers – many pilgrims perished crossing the deserts of Arabia or drowned in <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1203697.stm">sea crossings</a> – and the time it took restricted numbers considerably. </p>
<p>From the 19th century onwards, better transport and health facilities greatly mitigated the dangers and <a href="http://www.healthmap.org/site/diseasedaily/article/infectious-disease-and-hajj-11411">diseases</a> that afflicted mass gatherings. Along with the involvement of commercial agencies offering organised tours, this made the journey much safer and more predictable.</p>
<p>Growing economic resources, especially <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eZkIXdsZpPsC&pg=PA323&lpg=PA323&dq=history+of+saudi+oil+growth&source=bl&ots=kJ9gfAentW&sig=reBpOT3rlKfpzDvIdQ6CltoL2a8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBDgKahUKEwjs28_ZnIDIAhXKfhoKHfaWDNw#v=onepage&q=history%20of%20saudi%20oil%20growth&f=false">oil</a>, in many parts of the Muslim world also provided increasing numbers of people with the money to embark on pilgrimages. In recent years, an increase in the worldwide Muslim population and the perception that their faith is under attack from the “war on terror” have encouraged participation in this affirmation of a universal Muslim community. </p>
<p>Most significant of all has been the inception of air travel, which enables Muslims from around the world to make the journey safely in a matter of hours rather than months.</p>
<p>The Saudi Arabian regime has also <a href="http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/meccas-makeover">developed</a> facilities to support pilgrims – and to control them. </p>
<p>Massive building projects, rapid transport services and even air-conditioned walkways have been developed to ensure that pilgrims move quickly through the various stages of the pilgrimage. These developments, along with the recent <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/business/property/king-salman-launches-five-projects-at-grand-mosque-in-mecca">expansion</a> of the mosque’s capacity that led to the crane tragedy, have enabled the authorities to increase pilgrim numbers and enhance the Hajj’s contribution to the Saudi economy.</p>
<p>They have also changed the face of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/oct/14/as-the-hajj-begins-the-destruction-of-meccas-heritage-continues">Mecca</a>, angering many who complain of cultural vandalism as the city’s older quarters are being erased and replaced by high-rise complexes and luxury hotels for rich pilgrims, while poorer pilgrims find it increasingly difficult to afford lodgings. </p>
<p>At the same time, the kingdom’s official <a href="http://www.sauditourism.sa/en/Explore/Regions/Mecca/Mecca/Pages/default.aspx">tourist agency</a> promotes these new edifices as sightseeing attractions in its campaign to increase tourism in the region.</p>
<p>The developments outlined above reflect a common pattern central to the nature of pilgrimage across religious cultures. Although often portrayed as a journey of faith and even asceticism, pilgrimage has long served a simple desire to get away from home and has served as a mechanism for travel and <a href="http://www.historyextra.com/article/culture/medieval-tourism-pilgrimages-and-tourist-destinations">tourism</a> as well as for faith.</p>
<h2>Pilgrims’ progress</h2>
<p>In earlier eras, pilgrimage was often the only way people could travel. In pre-modern Japan, for instance, permits to travel beyond one’s region were only issued in order to take part in pilgrimages to well-known but distant religious sites. Unsurprisingly, this led would-be travellers to take on the guise of pilgrims, while pilgrimage sites also became major entertainment <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=pW6_AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=pilgrimage+sites+become+tourist+sites&source=bl&ots=xkPo5Uk-wF&sig=3mqV3dVFHPAf8SFSNbkO7Qq9tOo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDUQ6AEwBGoVChMI4NCPmrmAyAIVBjkaCh2D6QGT#v=onepage&q=pilgrimage%20sites%20become%20tourist%20sites&f=false">centres</a> offering visitors the chance to relax and enjoy themselves as well as to express their faith and engage in religious rituals. </p>
<p>Civil, commercial and religious agencies have long been keen to promote pilgrimage not just to enhance faith but, like Saudi Arabia, to spur local and national <a href="http://www.arabnews.com/revenue-pilgrims-makes-3-saudi-gdp">economies</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://en.lourdes-france.org/">Lourdes</a>, for example, pilgrimage is rooted in the supposed apparitions of the Virgin Mary in <a href="http://en.lourdes-france.org/deepen/bernadette-soubirous/the-apparitions">1858</a>. However, other factors were also important in transforming Lourdes from being just one of many localised French pilgrimage sites into a major national and international site. The entrepreneurialism of local authorities and merchants who avidly seized on the rumoured apparitions and the miracles connected to them as a way to regenerate the town’s failing economy, and who helped develop a local infrastructure of cheap lodgings, sightseeing attractions and shops selling goods associated with the shrine, was important. So was the opening, in 1866, of a <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=cng49eP-hdwC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=Kaufman+Lourdes+railways&source=bl&ots=8IY8T1jpqZ&sig=9ijHQHG-qwsj81mSub57seK5nrs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAmoVChMIhcbN2sj4xwIVR7oUCh0ckAV7#v=onepage&q=Kaufman%2520Lourdes%2520railways&f=false">railway</a> connecting Lourdes to Paris that made the once-remote town accessible to the general populace.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.tourismshikoku.org/henro/">Shikoku pilgrimage</a>, a 900-mile journey around Japan’s fourth island to 88 Buddhist temples, was initially an ascetic journey embarked on mainly by young men. By the late 1940s, it had almost died out, but it was revived and transformed in the 1950s after local bus <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xewPRcUD6hgC&pg=PA152&dq=Shikoku+pilgrimage+bus+companies&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAGoVChMImrKW-cj4xwIVp6HbCh3o0gq0#v=onepage&q=Shikoku%2520pilgrimage%2520bus%2520companies&f=false">companies</a>, seeking to regenerate the island economy and branch out into new areas of enterprise started package pilgrimage tours. </p>
<p>With support from both the mass media and local authorities intent on promoting the island as a travel destination, the pilgrimage has increasingly been portrayed less as a religious journey and more as an example of Japanese cultural heritage – an orientation that resonates especially with older generations in Japan. The temples, eager to boost pilgrim numbers in an age of declining religious fortunes, supported these developments, as did a growing infrastructure of comfortable lodgings and transport links. </p>
<p>As a result, previously remote mountain temples can now be reached by road or cable cars (very popular among modern pilgrims), and the pilgrimage is readily performed by people of all ages. </p>
<h2>The ‘true’ essence of pilgrimage?</h2>
<p>Commercial engagement and the actions of civil authorities and tourist agencies are often dismissed as antithetical to pilgrimage’s “true” essence – but in reality, the dynamics of the marketplace are central to the whole practice of pilgrimage. </p>
<p>They have been embraced both by assorted religious authorities seeking to promote their shrines and by pilgrims themselves, who are keen to pray, enjoy a bit of comfort and even go shopping at the markets that commonly surround famous shrines. They have expanded the clientele of pilgrimage sites and democratised the practice. That much is evidenced by the elderly Japanese who now travel around Shikoku, or the villagers from Indonesia who can fly to Mecca.</p>
<p>Yet such democratisation comes at a cost. In Shikoku, for example, the emphasis on attracting visitors has led to a downplaying of religious motifs in the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RsZrgy4TiGUC&pg=PT106&lpg=PT106&dq=shikoku+pilgrimage+downplaying+of+religious+motifs+in+the+pilgrimage&source=bl&ots=3e8TLNl1uJ&sig=CTDBsNPktoIeKPgqwXosgq9xmCs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAWoVChMI777uu7uAyAIVy2waCh2i4A4f#v=onepage&q=shikoku%20pilgrimage%20downplaying%20of%20religious%20motifs%20in%20the%20pilgrimage&f=false">pilgrimage</a>, while a recent report by Catholic authorities stated that more visitors to Lourdes could be considered as tourists than as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/09/france.catholicism">pilgrims</a>. </p>
<p>Such issues are evident, too, in the aftermath of the Mecca crane crash and they raise questions about the modern changes that have been so useful in increasing pilgrim numbers. Perhaps it’s time for the Saudi authorities to consider whether the precarious balance between pilgrimage and consumerism may be shifting inexorably in favour of the latter. The destruction of Mecca’s old quarters, the rise of luxury hotels and the Saudi tourist agency’s promotion of the Mecca tourist sights all point to that conclusion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46970/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Reader does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.</span></em></p>A deadly crowd crush has killed over 300 people at this year’s Hajj. Is the pilgrimage industry just too big?Ian Reader, Professor of Japanese and Religious Studies, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.