Click through to see photos from this year's Hajj pilgrimage:
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Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as they pray inside and outside the Grand mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims pray outside the Grand mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as pray inside and outside the Grand mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims pray inside the Grand mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as pray inside and outside the Grand mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as pray inside and outside the Grand mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as pray inside and outside the Grand mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as pray inside the Grand mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as pray inside the Grand mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims shop at a market near the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A Muslim pilgrim buys rosaries at a market near the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. The annual Islamic pilgrimage draws three million visitors each year, making it the largest yearly gathering of people in the world. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims head to Mount Arafat ahead of the hajj main ritual in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. Saudi authorities say around 3.4 million pilgrims some 1.7 million of them from abroad have arrived in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina for this year's pilgrimage. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims head to Mount Arafat ahead of the hajj main ritual in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. Saudi authorities say around 3.4 million pilgrims some 1.7 million of them from abroad have arrived in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina for this year's pilgrimage. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Muslim pilgrims head to Mount Arafat ahead of the hajj main ritual in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. Saudi authorities say around 3.4 million pilgrims some 1.7 million of them from abroad have arrived in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina for this year's pilgrimage. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Each year millions of Muslims embark on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, making it one of the largest pilgrimages in the world today. The five-day hajj pilgrimage takes place from eighth to the 12th of Dhul Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic lunar calendar. In 2012, the hajj pilgrimage is observed from Oct. 24th-29th.
Performing hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Able-bodied Muslims are obligated to perform Hajj at least once in their lifetime.
Tradition says the practice of hajj goes all the way back to Abraham. Millions of pilgrims walk from Mecca to Mina to the Plain of Arafat to stand near the Mount of Mercy and ask Allah for forgiveness. Pilgrims then walk back to Mina to throw pebbles at pilars that represent the temptations of Satan.
The symbolic animal slaughter of Eid al-Adha comes next, followed by a trip back to Mecca to perform tawaf, which is walking around the Kaaba, the most sacred site in Islam.
Pilgrims drink from a holy stream, the Zamzam, before returning to Medina to finish the hajj.
Below is a handy infographic courtesy of Al Arabiya to help understand the five steps of the Hajj pilgrimage.
Click through to see photos from this year's Hajj pilgrimage:
Each year millions of Muslims embark on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, making it one of the largest pilgrimages in the w...
Click through to see photos from this year's Hajj pilgrimage:
Each year millions of Muslims embark on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, making it one of the largest pilgrimages in the w...
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You don't have to go round it seven times, but you almost feel you should. You almost feel, when you go into what used to be the reading room at the British Museum and hear the wailing of a human voice that millions hear as a call to prayer, as if you should swap your jeans for a tunic.
During the hajj, the boundaries of ethnicity, race, gender, class and wealth are temporarily erased... The hajj is one of the only, and by far the largest public ritual amongst Muslims in which men and women pray and perform their rites together, in unison.
Time and again, Abraham is asked to sacrifice like no normal person is, or could be. He is asked to abandon, or take the life of his child, and God in each case intervenes. God saves. God guides.
At last we came close, but the crowd was too thick for us to touch the stone. Swept along by the human tide, we kept chanting prayers, struggling to touch the stone or the Kaaba whenever possible.
From the Hajj to the Stations of the Cross, the greatest pilgrimages involve walking. And many pilgrims purposefully make their gait more arduous in order to slow their pace even more. Now I understand why.
In granting Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman's habeas petition, Judge Kennedy called into question some of the government's evidence that the Yemeni man was detained legally.
I pray this spiritual mediation exercise will include us, in spirit, in the ranks of 2012 Muslim pilgrims -- it will include our prayers and supplications to theirs and these sincere cries will be received by the Almighty God as such.
Hajj calls upon our inner eye, the one that sees the spiritual worth of a person over the physical manifestation. Your beauty is found not in the physical aspects, but emanates from your capacity to exhibit kindness
One of the best things these"Lemmings" could do is to march off of a cliff and see the Lemming God would save them from dashing their foot against the stone like Jesus did !
That the rest of the world would know if they are more honest than Romney?
HdTinkler: One of the best things these"Lemmings" could do is to
The best way to be of service to others is the constant attempt to seek to share the Love of The Creator as it is known to the "inner self" This involves self-knowledge and the ability to open the self to the 'other-self' without hesitation. This will lead to radiating which is the essence or "heart" of the mind/body/complex.
Barry_MCokiner: The best way to be of service to others is
I have always felt that behind Islam is the denial and hatred of the One True God. It is interesting to note that in the 5th stage of the Hajj pilgrimage, the male pilgrims proceed to stone THREE pillars representing the DEVIL....It seems almost too clear that the devil is represented by 3 instead of 1 b/c what Muslims are symbolically doing is denying and even attacking the Trinity. God in 3 persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit attacked by man w/ stones. How perverse. They call good evil and evil good.
JPaulNorton: I have always felt that behind Islam is the denial
In the event you are interested in actually knowing the significance of the three pillars, as opposed to giving voice to currently popular Islamophobic polemics, the three pillars have NOTHING to do with the Trinity.
All three pillars represent the devil: the first and largest represents his temptation of Abraham against sacrificing Ishmael; the second represents the temptation of Abraham's wife Hagar to induce her to stop him; the third represents his temptation of Ishmael to avoid being sacrificed.
He was rebuked each time, and the throwing of the stones symbolizes those rebukes.
Ibn_Rushd: In the event you are interested in actually knowing the
The devil never tempted Abraham over this event. Where in the Bible does it ever give you that impression? Ishmael wasn't the son he went to sacrifice, Isaac was. This is elementary knowledge. Again, Islam perpetuates lies because it stands in opposition to the One True God.
JPaulNorton: The devil never tempted Abraham over this event. Where in the Bible does
Ibn Rushd ... What I found interesting about your' explanation of these three pillars is it appears the devil uses our Free Will to attempt to instil fear and confusion and lack of faith ... thoughts?
flyingfree22: Ibn Rushd ... What I found interesting about your' explanation
What a amazing site to behold and in pondering if this is what it was like, look like and took place upon the gathering of the commanded - 3 Great Holy Sabbath Feast Days of the Lord, when all were commanded by God, to all come together and gather as ONE to give Praise, Glory, Thanksgiving and in celebrating before the Lord, in Jesus time? They too traveled from miles from all over the Nations-commanded to do so, 3 Times of the Year on the commanded special Sabbaths of God which were the -3 Holy Feast Days-Sabbaths also, once a year before the Lord? . Peace
sunshine14: What a amazing site to behold and in pondering if
Hey (first stage of horse manure) Barry- I bet $70 Billion could cure a bunch of "ills" but the US Dep't. of Defense has spent $700 BILLION... (You'd think a "Moderator" would be able to correct Her own mistakes?)
Barry_MCokiner: Hey (first stage of horse manure) Barry- I bet $70
The ritual animal slaughter is the step of the hajj that bothers me. Humans and other complex "higher" animals share a huge amount of DNA, so it's hard for me to separate us homo sapiens from other animals, especially other mammals that have wombs, gestate their young inside, give birth, have obvious parental connections with their offspring, feel pain, etc.
So as shocking as this might sound, what appears to me to be gratuitous animal slaughter would not be much more offensive to me if it were instead the sacrifice of a young boy or girl.
xscd: The ritual animal slaughter is the step of the hajj
The meat from the sacrifice is given to the poor, and all over the world, especially in struggling areas, the poor look forward to receiving meat from these sacrifices.
Hassanista: The meat from the sacrifice is given to the poor,
I would like some body, one of my other 'selves' to explain how wishing harm or "dropping a bomb" on these Muslim folks' by self proclaimed "Christians" (no offense to those with Faith), differs from a 'reported Muslim' carrying out a 'reported Jihad' versus "Christians"? I'll wait for an answer.... Now while you ponder that query... Riddle me this. I'm typing to you from "Sattva" a lil town in Flor-Duh, so U.S. "US"... Take the above little blurb and think (I suggest inaudible is best for "others") to your SELF.. Why is the US Dep't. of Defense doing "offensive" grossly EXPENSIVE ($700Billion just in Afghanistan) "stuff" 6,500 miles away from what they are supposed to be "DEFENDING"....
It is obvious by the comments that are still visible and haven't been REMOVED, that a great majority of YOU don't agree with the Muslim religion? Then REMOVE the troops and let the Muslim folks' be, then we, US, we can educate all, feed all and every body will be well, so medical costs would be lower for all of US. How far could you spread $70 BILLION? YOUR child(ren) could be a Doctor AND a Lawyer or we can continue to do this?
Barry_MCokiner: I would like some body, one of my other 'selves'
Fear not judgment comes to all why we are not do not judge for you too will be judged also, God knows all Truths and the very thoughts and intentions of our own actions of all taken. Peace
sunshine14: Fear not judgment comes to all why we are not
Good comment. Isn't it strange that countries like Israel and the US attack others, kill many unarmed civilians, and expect every one to be happy and do the hora?
Any retaliation, protests and defense, by these countries, makes THEM the criminals.
You cannot keep hitting someone, and not expect to be hit back one day.
I also agree with your suggestion, that we should leave all countries alone, and tend to our suffering citizens here at home. We can also stop aiding a rogue country like Israel, if the US wants to win the hearts and minds of the Muslims worldwide, because it is obviously seen for what it is - supporting apartheid, criminals who break international law, and for crimes against the Palestinians.
Rianna: Good comment. Isn't it strange that countries like Israel and
To learn is the same as to teach unless you are not teaching what you are learning; in which case you have done you/they little or no good.
Judge not, for when you are judging me, YOU are being judged
Barry_MCokiner: To learn is the same as to teach unless you
The annual sacrifice by pilgrims and others called . 'Qurban' literally means 'to be closer', that is, to be closer to God by abiding to His wish that we should strengthen our relationship among each other through sharing of meat from the sacrificed animal, and other good deeds. And if necessary we should be ready to sacrifice ourselves to save faith and belief in God and the righteousness.
It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah; it is your piety that reaches Him." (Qur'an 22:37)
This may not go down well with vegetarians, animal lovers and animal rights groups who are opposed to any killing of or cruelty toward animals.
But, as much as we respect and understand their position and concern, we seek their respect and understanding on the needs, practices and wishes of the majority of their omnivores brothers and sisters.
Islam appreciates the fact that human beings are naturally omnivores. Our teeth consist of both the herbivores (molars) and carnivores (canine) type. Thus, Islam allows its followers to eat from both the animal and vegetable kingdom, albeit with rules and conditions. And foremost among them is to avoid cruelty to animals. In fact, Islam prohibits cruelty not only to humans and animals, it also prohibits cruelty to plants and even our planet Earth.
kodimirpal: The annual sacrifice by pilgrims and others called . 'Qurban'
odd how HP does not allow video of the sacrifice since it is so important to islam. Do you consider this an act of cruelty: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1874471.stm
demsrsilly: odd how HP does not allow video of the sacrifice
I for one am not Muslim but understand the religion gets a bad rap due to the extremists im sure many Muslims condemn such acts am i correct? No sarcasm just asking a question.
biggaveli: I for one am not Muslim but understand the religion
I applaud the efforts of the participants to follow their beliefs.
I also believe that if someone is comfortable in their religion then they should be
a student of all religions. No one can claim one religion as the absolute truth without
first proving all other religions are complete fallacy.
Think_for_once: I applaud the efforts of the participants to follow their
Have we not adopted also much into our faith and belief from those who came before us? Christ also, obeyed such commands of God to come and gather like this 3 times a year on God 's Holy Feast Days-Holy Sabbaths also. Millions also gather on theses Holy Sabbath Feast Days, 3 times a year, of the Lord who came from all over the Nations in gathering as one, like we see here. In pondering and wondering if it looked much like this, for it also was a great celebration. God also commanded it had to be done in a certain place, Jerusalem. Read Historical Studies of this, when all gather in the thousands if not millions into Jerusalem became also a great concern for Pilate? and the Priest fear for their people, to make sure to maintain peace, because of the Roman oppression would be waiting if not. Why Pilate always went into Jerusalem on such Holy Feast day gathers, His presents also would maintain that peace, put fear in all who gathered in celebration.Peace.
sunshine14: Have we not adopted also much into our faith and
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The Huffington Post | By Jahnabi Barooah Posted: 10/24/2012 3:00 pm EDT Updated: 10/26/2012 5:09 pm EDT