Updated on
Summary
Millions of pilgrims are flooding into Mecca, ahead of the official start to the Hajj on November 15.The Hajj is one of the five basic obligations of a Muslim, along with a short creed, prayer, giving alms, and fasting during the month of Ramadan. Every Muslim who has the means should perform the pilgrimage at least once in his lifetime. The pilgrimage itself takes at least six days, starting on the 8th day of the lunar month of Dhul Hijja, which falls this year on Monday, November 15. But most pilgrims come earlier and first perform the rites of the Umrah, or lesser pilgrimage, which are confined to central Mecca. Other ritual acts, symbolic of the lives of Abraham and his second wife Hajar, include the sa'i, involving walking seven times back and forth between the hills of Safa and Marwa. After the Tawaf, pilgrims drink the holy water of Zamzam.
