Page 167 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1468 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

The Hajj (Muslim
Pilgrimage to Mecca)

The hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, is one of the five that distinguish it from other activities. Only Muslims are
pillars of Islam.The following description of Mus- allowed to enter the holy city; the timing of the pilgrim-
lim Kurd pilgrims in Iraq shows how making the age is fixed at certain days within the twelfth month of
hajj influences one’s status in the community. the Muslim year; and pilgrims, dressed in two sheets of
unsown cloth or plain dresses, must perform a predeter-
Another requirement is the duty of pilgrimage to
mined sequence of ritual actions, including walking
Mecca at least once during the believer’s lifetime.
seven times around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped stone
In spite of the high cost and the arduous charac-
building in the court of the Great Mosque.
ter of the journey, a surprising number of persons
Just as the practices of the hajj developed out of ear-
in the Rowanduz district have made the trip, and
lier traditions already extant in the Arabian Peninsula of
are entitled to call themselves hajji or “pilgrim.”
the seventh century CE, so Islam emerged within a wider
Three men from the town went in 1950, and the
sacred landscape already occupied by Judeo-Christian
wealthy merchants, such as Hajji Ibrahim and
religious assumptions and influences. The Prophet
Hajji Muhammad Amin, who have completed
Muhammad (c. 570–c. 632 CE) regarded Jerusalem as
the task have been mentioned.The return of pil-
sacred, and the seventh-century Dome of the Rock—
grims is an event of great importance in Rowan-
even today an object of Muslim pilgrimage—was con-
duz, and a crowd gathers to greet them at Kaw-
structed on the site of the former Jewish Temple and rest-
lokan below the town.The pilgrims are escorted
ing place of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. The
from the bus to their homes, accompanied by the
hajj had some parallels with the haggim of Judaism, the
music of drum, flute, and tambourine. Banquets
ancient pilgrimage feasts involving the convergence of
are held for them, and each is expected to give a
the Israelites on Jerusalem. (The Hebrew term hag
detailed account of his journey.They return with
implies the actions of turning around and dancing.)
many souvenirs, such as rosaries, which are dis-
However, such feasts also expressed specific aspects of
tributed to relatives and friends. A pilgrim com-
Jewish history. Passover, the oldest, celebrated deliver-
mands a certain amount of public respect, and
ance from servitude in Egypt.Tabernacles was a feast that
persons often stipulate sums in their wills for
involved the construction of temporary shelters and com-
another to make the pilgrimage in their name. It
memorated the forty years spent by the Jews in the
is interesting that wealthy commoners can afford
wilderness. Shavuot (Weeks) was a harvest festival that
this undertaking, while many mullas or priests
also marked the giving of the Ten Commandments to
are rarely able to realize it. Chieftains or mem-
Moses on Mount Sinai. These gatherings therefore pro-
bers of the government elite who are pilgrims are
vided occasions for pilgrimage while also recalling dif-
comparatively few in number. Hajji Muhammad
ferent forms of movement: escape from slavery, wander-
‘Ali Agha of Jindian made the pilgrimage to
ing in the desert before locating the Promised Land, or
avoid the police. Few of the aristocrats or officials
ascending a mountain.They are still celebrated by mem-
in Rowanduz itself could claim the distinction.
bers of a faith whose identity remains rooted in the expe-
Source: Masters, W. A. (1953). Rowanduz: A Kurdish administrative and mer-
cantile center (pp. 303–304). Doctoral dissertation. Ann Arbor: University of rience of dispersal, the so-called Diaspora (the settling of
Michigan.
scattered colonies of Jews outside Palestine after the
Babylonian exile). Even today, two thousand years after
the final destruction of the Temple but with the state of
is required to perform the hajj (pilgrimage to the holy Israel restored, Passover is an occasion when many Jews
city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia) at least once unless pre- proclaim: “Next year in Jerusalem!”
vented by illness or lack of economic resources.The bind- Christianity echoes Islam and Judaism in its reverence
ing nature of the hajj is combined with other features for Jerusalem, both in relation to scripture and in relation