Hajj: the journey
Islamic Studies · Key Stage 2 · The School
The rites in order
Enter IHRAM at the boundary — two plain white cloths for men, ordinary modest dress for women, so no one can tell rich from poor. TAWAF: seven circuits of the Kaaba. SA'I: seven passages between Safa and Marwah. Standing at ARAFAH on the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah. A night at Muzdalifah. Stoning the pillars at Mina. The sacrifice. Then release from ihram.
What each one remembers
Sa'i re-walks Hajar's desperate search for water for her baby Ismail — a woman's footsteps, repeated by millions every year. The stoning recalls Ibrahim rejecting temptation. The sacrifice recalls what Ibrahim was willing to give and what Allah gave instead. The rites are a family's story, walked rather than told.
Who must go
Hajj is obligatory once in a lifetime for a Muslim who is adult, sane, and ABLE — able in health and able in money, with enough left for dependants and no debt neglected. Anyone not able is not sinning by not going. That condition is part of the pillar itself.
DAY 8: enter ihram, travel to Mina. DAY 9: stand at Arafat from noon to sunset — the essential rite, without which there is no Hajj — then travel to Muzdalifah for the night. DAY 10: stone the largest pillar at Mina, sacrifice, cut the hair, then tawaf and saʿi in Makkah. DAYS 11–13: remain at Mina, stoning all three pillars each day. Each rite remembers something from the family of Ibrahim.