This year, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2024/06/06/eid-al-adha-hajj-start-dates/" target="_blank">Hajj</a> is expected to return to its largest pre-pandemic numbers as <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/saudi-arabia/" target="_blank">Saudi Arabia</a> welcomes up to two million pilgrims to Makkah. In 2019, before Covid-19 spread around the world, about 2.6 million people performed <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/hajj/" target="_blank">Hajj</a>. The pilgrimage generates about $12 billion in revenue for Saudi Arabia every year. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2024/06/14/hajj-begins-as-more-than-15-million-pilgrims-arrive-in-saudi-arabia/" target="_blank">Hajj</a>, the Arabic word for pilgrimage, is one of the five pillars of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/islam/" target="_blank">Islam</a>. Every Muslim able to do so is obligated to perform Hajj at least once during their lives. Millions of faithful make the pilgrimage to the holiest sites of Islam in the cities of Makkah and Madinah, beginning on the eighth day of Dhu Al Hijja, the last month of the Islamic calendar. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/saudi-arabia/2023/06/15/what-is-hajj-why-is-it-important/" target="_blank">Hajj</a> is the most revered spiritual experience for devout Muslims – considered a chance to start afresh and celebrate the spirit of unity in Islam. Pilgrims are required to perform the same rituals taught by the Prophet Mohammed, to remind them that they are all equal before God. Hajj begins on Friday, June 14. The pilgrimage takes three days, but most pilgrims extend their stay by a week to pray in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. The Hajj ministry announced four categories of packages for domestic pilgrims, beginning at 4,099 Saudi riyals ($1,092). The most expensive package will cost 10,366 Saudi riyals, with pilgrims accommodated in the six towers in Mina, near Jamarat. During Hajj, as with Umrah, men wear two sheets of plain white cloth, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/2022/06/27/what-is-the-ihram-and-why-is-it-such-a-significant-part-of-hajj/" target="_blank">to cover the upper and lower body, called the ihram</a>. Women must wear modest clothes that cover their bodies to the ankle and scarves to cover their hair. The clothes are usually white, although there is no restriction on colour. On the first day, Muslims perform Umrah, which includes Tawaf and Sa'i. The first involves <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/gulf/2024/05/23/saudi-authorities-raise-lower-part-of-kaabas-kiswa-before-hajj/" target="_blank">circumambulating the Kaaba</a>, the holiest site in Islam, built by the Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail, at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. During Sa'i, pilgrims walk seven times between two hills, called Safa and Marwa, in the mosque complex. After Umrah, Muslims travel to Mina, a holy site south-east of Makkah, by bus and camp overnight. Mina, also known as the city of tents, can host up to three million people. On the second day, pilgrims travel to Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his last sermon. Pilgrims spend the day praying at Arafat until sunset, then walk 7km to the third holy site, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/saudi-arabia/2022/07/08/hajj-pilgrims-conclude-arafat-and-head-for-overnight-stay-in-muzdalifah/" target="_blank">Muzdalifah</a>. There, they perform sunset and night prayers under the open sky. On the third morning, pilgrims gather pebbles and return to Mina for the stoning ceremony. They throw seven pebbles each at Jamrat Al Aqabah, a stone monument that signifies the temptations of the devil, between sunrise and sunset. The pilgrims’ three concluding acts include sacrificing an animal to feed people in need, which can be done by purchasing a voucher, cutting or shaving their hair, and returning to Makkah for another Umrah. Most women cut a few strands of hair, while men prefer to shave it all off.
