A religious pilgrim walks along a street of Jeddah as he talks on his mobile phone. Each year millions of people travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, at the same time for the annual pilgrimage called Hajj. Because of its close proximity to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, Jeddah is the gateway that most religious pilgrims travel through. All able bodied Muslims are required to perform Hajj at least once in their lives. Many save up money for years in order to perform Hajj. Muslims may also perform the pilgrimage at other times during the year, but if they do, it is not counted as performing Hajj. This is called Omra when it is done at times other than Hajj.
2 comments:
Something, admittedly, that I'll never understand, in any religion.
Hi William - From what I have learned from talking to others who have gone to Hajj, there is something special that happens when you are surrounded by millions of other people who are congregated in the same place for the same purpose, doing the same rituals and praying at the same time. It's a very spiritual experience and difficult to comprehend unless you have actually done it yourself.
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