Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians - Electric Scotland
Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians - Electric Scotland
Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians - Electric Scotland
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THE WORSHIPFUL ACTS t 223<br />
paganism, we have no real reason to think that Muhammad did<br />
not participate in the hajj be<strong>for</strong>e his call to prophecy in 610, nor<br />
indeed even after that date, at least until his departure <strong>for</strong> Medina.<br />
He made the umra at Mecca in 629 <strong>and</strong> 630, <strong>and</strong> there were Muslims<br />
on the hajj of 631, though not Muhammad himself. His first<br />
<strong>and</strong> last Muslim hajj occurred in 632, the so-called Farewell Pilgrimage.<br />
It was on that occasion that by word <strong>and</strong> example—his<br />
sunna—he made whatever modifications were deemed necessary<br />
to purify this ritual that in Muslim eyes had originally been instituted<br />
by Abraham himself (Quran 22:27).<br />
The hajj was not, at any time we can observe it, a single, unified<br />
ritual act in the manner of a drama but a concatenation of barely<br />
connected activities spread over a number of days. Or so it appears<br />
to us since whatever etiological myths the Arabs once possessed to<br />
explain these now baffling rituals are entirely lost. Perhaps they<br />
had already disappeared by Muhammad’s own day. The Quran<br />
provided the believers with their own properly Muslim explanations.<br />
The hajj rituals were now understood in reference to Abraham<br />
<strong>and</strong> his sojourn in Mecca. Here at Arafat Abraham stood <strong>and</strong><br />
prayed be<strong>for</strong>e God. Here at Mina he was bidden to sacrifice his<br />
son <strong>and</strong> then given an animal in substitution. Here too Abraham<br />
was tempted by Satan, <strong>and</strong> so the three “Satans” in the <strong>for</strong>m of<br />
pillars are stoned. And so on.<br />
Besides the Haram or sanctuary area in the middle of town,<br />
Mecca is surrounded by a larger taboo area that is marked by<br />
points or “stations” along the main roads leading into the Holy<br />
City. At or be<strong>for</strong>e he or she reaches one of those points, the pilgrim<br />
must enter a taboo state, ihram or “haramization,” by undergoing<br />
a complete ablution, donning a special garment made of two simple<br />
white sheets, one tied around the waist <strong>and</strong> reaching the knees<br />
<strong>and</strong> the other draped over the left shoulder <strong>and</strong> tied somewhere<br />
beneath the right arm. Head <strong>and</strong> insteps must remain uncovered.<br />
This is <strong>for</strong> the men; no particular dress is prescribed <strong>for</strong> the<br />
women, though most are fully covered, head to toe, in white. This<br />
garment <strong>and</strong> this alone is worn throughout the pilgrimage, <strong>and</strong> no<br />
further washing or grooming is permitted. Nor are sexual relations:<br />
any indulgence in the latter renders the hajj void.