Hajj

Hajj is an annual <a href="/facts/Islam/zDLbL45C">Islamic</a> <a href="/facts/Pilgrimage/e0Gvd7TV">pilgrimage</a> to <a href="/facts/Mecca/udqyuk0k">Mecca</a>, <a href="/facts/Saudi_Arabia/uyUpe1J2">Saudi Arabia</a>, the <a href="/facts/Holiest_sites_in_Islam/7ojI7NmR">holiest city</a> for <a href="/facts/Muslims/W2ukq4pg">Muslims</a>. Hajj is a <a href="/facts/Fard/Pytrmb8g">mandatory religious duty</a> for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and of supporting their family during their absence from home.
In Islamic terminology, Hajj is a pilgrimage made to the <a href="/facts/Kaaba/HtXr4Knl">Kaaba</a>, the "House of Allah", in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the <a href="/facts/Five_Pillars_of_Islam/LmdL77oJ">Five Pillars of Islam</a>, alongside <a href="/facts/Shahadah/DH7A50mJ">Shahadah</a> (oath that one believes there is no god but <a href="/facts/Allah/7U7KpU9p">Allah</a>), <a href="/facts/Salat/ugIxkezS">salat</a> (prayer), <a href="/facts/Zakat/yLQ4Mygk">zakat</a> (almsgiving), and <a href="/facts/Sawm/bYpG2Vn8">sawm</a> (fasting during Ramadan). The Hajj is an annual practice when Muslim brotherhood is on display and their solidarity with fellow Muslim people and submission to <a href="/facts/God_in_Islam/L2VNNRJm">God</a> (<a href="/facts/Allah/7U7KpU9p">Allah</a>) is fulfilled. The Hajj is taken by Muslims to cleanse their souls of all worldly sins, which connotes both the outward act of a journey after death and the inward act of good intentions. The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six days, extending from the 8th to the 12th or 13th of <a href="/facts/Dhu_al-Hijjah/fXfMFUeQ">Dhu al-Hijjah</a>, the last month of the <a href="/facts/Islamic_calendar/7n4UBAYy">Islamic calendar</a>. Because the Islamic calendar is <a href="/facts/Lunar_calendar/llUN81gP">lunar</a> and the Islamic year is about eleven-twelve days shorter than the <a href="/facts/Gregorian_calendar/axJfTXV1">Gregorian</a> year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. In 2024 AD (1445 <a href="/facts/Anno_Hegirae/YLhMRWU1">AH</a>), Dhu al-Hijjah extends from 7 June to 6 July. In 2025 AD (1446 <a href="/facts/Anno_Hegirae/YLhMRWU1">AH</a>), Dhu al-Hijjah will extend from 28 May to 25 June; and in 2026 AD (1447 <a href="/facts/Anno_Hegirae/YLhMRWU1">AH</a>), Dhu al-Hijjah will extend from 18 May to 15 June.
The Hajj is associated with the life of the <a href="/facts/Prophets_of_Islam/WPWy6Gdp">Islamic prophet</a> <a href="/facts/Muhammad_in_Islam/fqeL2kAm">Muhammad</a> from the 7th century AD, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca stated in Muslim sources stretches back to the time of <a href="/facts/Abraham_in_Islam/5cMzq6Ez">Abraham</a>. During Hajj, pilgrims join processions of millions of Muslim people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of pre-Islamic rituals (reformed by Muhammad): each person wears a single piece of unstitched white clothing (<a href="/facts/Ihram/xAtp1PNB">Ihram</a>), walks counter-clockwise seven times around the <a href="/facts/Kaaba/HtXr4Knl">Kaaba</a> (a cube-shaped building and the <a href="/facts/Qibla/yh7VHnjU">direction of prayer</a> for Muslims), kisses the <a href="/facts/Black_stone/carCNGtk">black stone</a> mounted on the corner wall of <a href="/facts/Kaaba/HtXr4Knl">Kaaba</a>, walks briskly back and forth between the hills of <a href="/facts/Safa_and_Marwah/yFCIGIA5">Safa and Marwah</a> seven times, then drinks from the <a href="/facts/Zamzam_Well/bgXjtb4e">Zamzam Well</a>, goes to the plains of <a href="/facts/Mount_Arafat/bonClAAA">Mount Arafat</a> to stand in vigil, spends a night in the plain of <a href="/facts/Muzdalifa/8LborEyP">Muzdalifa</a>, and performs symbolic <a href="/facts/Stoning_of_the_Devil/WQYFuHtz">Stoning of the Devil</a> by throwing stones at three pillars. After the sacrifice of cattle (which can be accomplished by using a voucher), the pilgrims then are required to either shave or trim their heads (if male) or trim the ends of their hair (if female). A celebration of the four-day global festival of <a href="/facts/Eid_al-Adha/lxHKhuDt">Eid al-Adha</a> proceeds afterwards. Muslims may also undertake an <a href="/facts/Umrah/xYoFxhDq">Umrah</a> (<a href="/facts/Arabic_language/A1e66hVV">Arabic</a>: عُمرَة), or "lesser pilgrimage" to Mecca at other times of the year. However, the Umrah is not a substitute for the Hajj and Muslims are still obliged to perform the Hajj at some other point in their lifetime if they have the means to do so.
According to the official published statistics between 2000 and 2019, the average number of attendees is 2,269,145 per year, of which 1,564,710 come from outside Saudi Arabia and 671,983 are local. The year 2012 marks the highest number of participants with 3,161,573. In June 2020, while not cancelling the Hajj outright, the Saudi Government announced that they would only welcome <a href="/facts/Impact_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_on_Hajj/XccUJSbM">"very limited numbers" of pilgrims</a> who are residents of Saudi Arabia due to the global <a href="/facts/COVID-19_pandemic/0xTsh7Ut">COVID-19 pandemic</a>. Similar restrictions applied in 2021, but women were permitted to attend without a male guardian (<a href="/facts/Mahram/QQQsTJn5">mahram</a>) provided they went in a trustworthy group.

Hajj open-in-new

Hajj