The Collective Importance Of Hajj

The Collective Importance of Hajj The Kaaba is the Qibla of worship for Muslims. Muslims face it five times a day while offering prayers. So, the worship direction of all Muslims in the world is the same. Usually, this is just a conceptual truth. But during Hajj, by reaching Makkah, it becomes a visible reality. When Muslims from all over the world gather here and pray facing the same direction, it becomes visibly clear that the Qiblah of all Muslims is one and the same. The Kaaba is a tall, square-shaped structure. All people circumambulate around it in a circular path, which is called Tawaf. They line up in rows and walk around it in circles. This teaches people to unite and work together. It is a practical demonstration of moving together on one call. This great system of unity also has an outward aspect— that all people are made to take off their national dress and wear one simple dress, the ihram. Here, the difference between king and servant disappears. The distinctions of Eastern and Western clothes vanish into the atmosphere. In the common dress of ihram, all people appear as if they have only one identity—that they are all servants of one God. No one holds any other status beyond this. Although the prescribed rituals of Hajj end in Makkah, most pilgrims go to Madinah after completing Hajj. The old name of Madinah was Yathrib. But the Prophet of