What is Hajj? How to Perform Hajj?

Islam is precious God-gifted religion for humans. There are five pillars of Islam, namely Shahdat (Faith), Prayer (Salat), Alms (Zakat), Fasting (Soam), and Pilgrimage (Hajj). Hajj is also an important pillar of Islam. Literal meaning of Hajj is “to intend”. Hajj is obligatory for every Muslim (man and woman) who is bodily fit and can afford the expenses of travelling for Hajj. The word Hajj means “will to visit”.Hajj was made compulsory in the 10th year of Hijrat. Holy Prophet SAW himself performed in the 10th year of hijrah.

Hajj is a holy pilgrimage that is required for every Muslim to perform once in life. Every year, Muslims from all over the world come and perform Hajj and sacrifice animals in the month of Zul-hajj. Muslims usually perform Hajj from the 8th to the 12th Zul-hajj. Also, this is the finest way of visiting Makah because performing Hajj and seeing the Kaba is every Muslim’s desire. Muslims believe that Hajj is a precious journey for wiping their past sins and new starting in front of Allah.

Hazrat Abu Huraira narrates that the Holy Prophet said: “When a person performs Hajj and does not talk about sex and nor does any sin, he will return purified from sins as if he was born on the very day.”

Who is eligible to perform Hajj?

Hajj is one of the precious gift and important ritual in Islam. If someone is willing to visit, one should perform it with heart and soul. But before performing Hajj, there are some things that you should take care of.

• Firstly, Muslims can perform Hajj in the month of Zul-Hajj.
• Secondly, make sure your health is in good condition. Because if you are sick or physically incapable, you should rest till you get better.
• Thirdly, Hajj means “will to visit”, So if your financial conditions are good, you can perform Hajj.
• If you own someone’s money, you should clear all your debts before performing Hajj.

Essentials of Hajj

Three things are faraiz (essentials) of Hajj.

• Ihram (pilgrimage Shroud)
• Continuously staying at Arafat from the evening of 9^thZil-Hajj to the morning of 10^thZil-Hajj.
• Performing Tawaf (circumambulation of Kaabah from 10^th of Zil-Hajj till the end of the pilgrimage. The latter two are the most important essentials of Hajj and keeping sequence in them is also compulsory. In this way, putting on Ihram, staying at Arafat between Mount Safa and Marwa is also allowed before that.

How to perform Hajj step by Step?

There are mainly 19 steps which you should perform to complete your Hajj.

1. Intention for Hajj, As every prayer in Islam, starts from worship, you have to make a firm intention to perform Hajj.
2. Ihram, you have to enter the state of Ihram.
3. Tawaf, you have to perform seven times tawaf around Kaba Shareef.
4. Safa and Marwa, It is a ritual to take seven rounds around the Marwa mountains to complete Hajj.
5. Shave hairs; after the seven rounds, you have to shave all hairs.
6. Resting, after your journey of seven rounds, it is time to take a break and relax for the upcoming trip.
7. Ihram, again after the shaving of hair, you have to wear Ihram and continue your journey.
8. Mina, after wearing you have to reach mina.
9. Day of ‘Arafah, now is the day of Arafah, when the Holy Prophet delivered his last sermon.
10. Muzdalifah, Now you have to take a rest under the night sky.
11. Rami, It is the part where you start stoning the devil.
12. Hady, now you must sacrifice an animal in the name of Allah.
13. You are again shaving your head.
14. Tawaf Al-Ifadha, Is an important part of Hajj; you must perform tawaf of Kaba Shareef seven times and perform prayers behind Maqam Ibrahim.
15. Sarai is a ritual of again walking back and performing rounds of two small hills, Safa and Marwa.
16. Rami, Again stoning of the devil
17. Mina, also another time you have to spend a night in the plains of Mina.
18. Rami, Again stoning of the devil, you must perform rami three times.
19. Farewell Tawaf-al-Wida, last day you have to farewell and make niyyat of good doing from now on.

So, Hajj is the last but very important pillar of Allah to get clean from your sin. This is a special gift of Allah for Muslims. Performing Hajj is obligatory but for those who have the will to visit. Also, ensure that when you perform Hajj, you take good care of things as mentioned above. You can also learn further information from Urwa online Quran academy. There always have detailed session’s regarding every aspect of Hajj. They also have detailed Quran learning classes, which surely will help you in your journey towards Deen (religion).