The hajj is a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

performed by millions of Muslims every year, coming from all over the

Muslim world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...

. Its history goes back many centuries. The present pattern of the Islamic Hajj was established by Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

, around 632 CE, who reformed the existing pilgrimage tradition of the pagan Arabs. According to Islamic tradition, the hajj dates from thousands of years earlier, from when

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...

, upon God's command, built the Kaaba (the "house of God"). This cubic building is considered the most holy site in Islam and the rituals of the hajj include walking repeatedly around it. In

medieval times In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire an ...

, pilgrims would gather in cities like

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

, Damascus, and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

to go to

in groups and caravans comprising tens of thousands of pilgrims. Some came from further afield in sailing ships. The Sultans of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

supported the pilgrims, appointing the Amir al-Hajj ("Commander of the Hajj") to organise and lead the caravans. As other modes of transport including steamships and trains were introduced, pilgrims were able to make the trip to Mecca more quickly. The nomadic tribes of the desert – known as Bedouin – had been a persistent security issue for the hajj caravans. The annual pilgrimage offered pilgrims as well as professional merchants the opportunity to conduct various merchandising activities both on route and in Mecca, Damascus, and Cairo. Through its history, the hajj has influenced literature and art as pilgrims have written guides and created artistic depictions of the holy sites and rituals.

Origin

In Islamic tradition, pilgrimage was introduced during the time of prophet Ibrahim (

). According to tradition, by God's command, Abraham left his wife

Hagar Hagar, of uncertain origin; ar, هَاجَر, Hājar; grc, Ἁγάρ, Hagár; la, Agar is a biblical woman. According to the Book of Genesis, she was an Egyptian slave, a handmaiden of Sarah (then known as ''Sarai''), whom Sarah gave to h ...

( Hajar) and his son Ishmael (

Ismail Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...

) alone in the desert of ancient

with little food and water that they soon used up. Mecca was then an uninhabited place. In search of water, Hagar desperately ran seven times between the two hills of

Safa and Marwah Safa and Marwa ( ar, ٱلصَّفَا وَٱلْمَرْوَة, Aṣ-Ṣafā wal-Marwah) are two small hills, connected to the larger Abu Qubais and Qaiqan mountains, respectively, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, now made part of the Masjid al-Haram. Mus ...

but found none. Back in despair to Ishmael, she saw the baby scratching the ground with his leg and a water fountain underneath.Peters (1994), pp. 4–7Haykal (2008), pp. 29–30 Because of the presence of water, tribes started to settle in Mecca, Jurhum being the first such tribe to arrive. When grown up, Ishmael

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

in the tribe and started living with them. The

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

states that Ibrahim, along with his son Ishmael, raised the foundations of a house that is identified by most commentators as the Kaaba. After the placing of the

Black Stone The Black Stone ( ar, ٱلْحَجَرُ ٱلْأَسْوَد, ', 'Black Stone') is a rock set into the eastern corner of the Kaaba, the ancient building in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an ...

in the Eastern corner of the Kaaba, Ibrahim received a

revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

in which Allah told the aged prophet that he should now go and proclaim the pilgrimage to mankind. The

refers to these incidents in and . Islamic scholar

Shibli Nomani Shibli Nomani ( ur, – ; 3 June 1857 – 18 November 1914) was an Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj. He was born at Bindwal in Azamgarh district of present-day Uttar Pradesh.Sirat-un-Nabi ''Sirat al-Nabi'' ( ur, سیرت النبی) is a 7-volume seerah book, or biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and ...

''. vol 1,

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

History

Pre-Islamic Arabia

Pre-Islamic Arabs were worshippers of other gods. The Kaaba was still the center of their worship, and was filled with idols and images of angels.Haykal (2008), pp. 439–40 During the annual pilgrimage season, people from home and abroad would visit the Kaaba. The

Quraysh tribe The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qu ...

was in charge of entertaining and serving the pilgrims.

Shibli Nomani Shibli Nomani ( ur, – ; 3 June 1857 – 18 November 1914) was an Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj. He was born at Bindwal in Azamgarh district of present-day Uttar Pradesh.Arafat. Some would maintain silence during the whole course of pilgrimage. Except for those from the Quraysh tribe, pilgrims would perform tawaf while naked. During the initial years of Muhammad's prophethood, the pilgrimage season offered Muhammad the occasion to preach Islam to the foreign people who came to Mecca for pilgrimage.

Muhammad and the Hajj

The present pattern of the Hajj was established by Islamic prophet

who made reforms to the pre-Islamic pilgrimage of the pagan Arabs. Mecca was conquered by the Muslims in 630 CE. Muhammad then destroyed all the pagan idols, and consecrated the building to Allah. Next year, at the direction of Muhammad,

Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...

led 300 Muslims to the pilgrimage in Mecca where

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

delivered a sermon stipulating the new rites of Hajj and abrogating the pagan rites. He especially declared that no unbeliever, pagan, and naked man would be allowed to circumambulate the Kaaba from the next year. In 632 CE, shortly before his death, Muhammad performed his only and last pilgrimage with a large number of followers, and taught them the rites of the Hajj and the manners of performing them. In the plain of Arafat, he delivered a famous speech – known as The Farewell Sermon – to those who were present there. From then, Hajj became one of the

Five Pillars of Islam The Five Pillars of Islam (' ; also ' "pillars of the religion") are fundamental practices in Islam, considered to be obligatory acts of worship for all Muslims. They are summarized in the famous hadith of Gabriel. The Sunni and Shia agree o ...

. Hajj was made compulsory in 09th Hijri. Khalili Collection Hajj and Arts of Pilgrimage Mss 1025 fol 17a

Caliphate era

During

, pilgrims would gather in the capital cities of Syria,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

to go to Mecca in groups and caravans comprising tens of thousands of pilgrims.Peters (1994), p. 164 The Muslim rulers would undertake the responsibility of the Hajj, and provide state patronage for organizing such pilgrimage caravans. To facilitate the pilgrimage journey, a road measuring 900 miles was constructed, stretching from Iraq to Mecca and Medina. The road's construction was probably undertaken during the third

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

caliph

al-Mahdi Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله المنصور; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name Al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abb ...

, father of fifth Abbasid caliph

Harun al-Rashid Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar , أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...

, around 780 CE. It was later named the 'Way of Zubayda' (''Darb Zubaidah''), after Harun's wife, as she is noted for conducting improvements along the route and furnishing it with water cisterns and eating houses for pilgrims at regular intervals.Al-Suyuti Both Harun and Zubayda performed the Hajj several times conducted improvement activities in

and

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

. A good deal of information on the medieval hajj comes from the firsthand observations of three Muslim travelers -

Nasir Khusraw Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani or Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī Balkhi ( fa, ناصر خسرو قبادیانی, Nasir Khusraw Qubadiani) also spelled as ''Nasir Khusrow'' and ''Naser Khosrow'' (1004 – after 1070 CE) w ...

Ibn Jubayr Ibn Jubayr (1 September 1145 – 29 November 1217; ar, ابن جبير), also written Ibn Jubair, Ibn Jobair, and Ibn Djubayr, was an Arab geographer, traveller and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to M ...

, and Ibn Battuta - who themselves performed the pilgrimage and recorded detailed accounts. Khusraw performed the hajj in 1050. Starting his first journey from Granada in 1183, Ibn Jubayr, a native of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, performed his pilgrimage in 1184 and then went to Baghdad. Ibn Battuta, a native of Morocco, left his home in 1325 and performed his pilgrimage in 1326. After the fall of Baghdad in 1258 (during Mamluk period), Damascus and Cairo became the main assembly points for the pilgrims.Cosman (2008), p. 814. While pilgrims from Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and Anatolia regions joined the Damascus caravan, those from

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and Sub-Saharan regions joined the Cairo caravan.

Ottoman era

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Pelgrimskaravaan op weg naar Mekka Suez-kanaal TMnr 60039414

After the Ottomans came into power, the sultans of

concerned themselves with the management of hajj program, and allocated annual budget for its arrangement. During this period, Damascus and Cairo were still the main points from where the chief hajj caravans would depart and come back. These caravans included thousands of camels for carrying pilgrims, merchants, goods, foodstuff, and water. A lot of people also made their pilgrimage journey on foot. The rulers would supply necessary military forces to ensure security of hajj caravans. Commanders for the caravans leaving from Cairo and Damascus were designated by the Muslim sovereign and were known as Amir al-Hajj. They were in charge of protecting the pilgrims of the caravan, and securing funds and supplies for the journey.Singer (2002), p. 141 Surgeons and physicians were also sent with Syrian caravans to doctor the pilgrims free of costs. During this period, around 20,000 to 60,000 people made their pilgrimage annually.

Modern period

During the second half of the nineteenth century (after 1850s), steamships began to be used in the pilgrimage journey to Mecca, and the number of pilgrims traveling on sea route increased. With the opening of Suez Canal in 1869, the travel time for pilgrimage was shortened. Initially, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

ship companies had a monopoly in these steamship business and they offered little facilities to the pilgrims. In 1886, the then government of India adopted some regulations to improve the pilgrimage journey from India to Hejaz. During the early twentieth century, the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II constructed the Hejaz Railway between Damascus and

which further facilitated the pilgrimage journey: the pilgrims traveled in relative ease and reached Hejaz in only four days.Al-Hariri Rifai (1990), p. 38 Starting from Damascus in September 1900, the railway reached Medina in September 1908 having a span of 1,300 kilometers (810 mi). The railroad was damaged during

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...

by a force led by British officer

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

Plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

used to break out almost every year until 1918. PalestineRailways-1946-ClassH-1

After a contract between the

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

n government and the Misr Airlines of Egypt in 1936, the Misr Airlines introduced the first airline service for Hajj pilgrims in 1937. The subsequent engine trouble of the aircraft disrupted the hajj flights, and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

from 1939 to 1945 caused a decrease in pilgrims' number. Modern transportation systems in the pilgrimage journey effectively began only after the Second World War. Saudi Arabia established the Arabian Transport Company and the Bakhashab Transport Company, in 1946 and 1948, respectively, in order to transport the pilgrims at various Hajj sites which proved highly effective in later years, and the use of camels as a means of transport for pilgrimage journeys virtually ended in 1950. According to one account, during the pilgrimage seasons of 1946–1950, around 80% of the total foreign pilgrims arrived by sea, 10% by land, and 7% by air transport. The 1970s and subsequent decades saw a dramatic increase in the number of pilgrims because of the availability of affordable air travel system. In 1979, a large group of rebels seized the mosque. This was known as the

Grand Mosque seizure The Grand Mosque seizure lasted from 20 November 1979 to 4 December 1979, when extremist militants in Saudi Arabia calling for the overthrow of the House of Saud besieged and took over Masjid al-Haram, the holiest Islamic site, in the city of M ...

. It took two weeks for the authorities to bring the situation under control and the rebels were later executed. In recent years, due to the sheer numbers of pilgrims attending there have been several notable incidents such as a human stampede in 2004 and 2006, a crane collapse in 2015 and a

stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

in the same year; the government of Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars in crowd control and safety measures. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, only 10,000 people were allowed to participate in the Hajj, numbers rose to 59,000 in 2021 and in 2023 the number of pilgrims is expected to break records with more than 2.5 million pilgrims attending the Hajj.

Hajj routes

In medieval Iraq, the principal gathering points for the pilgrims were

Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...

and

where the former was connected to the Hejaz region by the Way of Zubayda. This ''Iraqi route'' started from Kufa, ran through Fayd (a place near Jabal Shammar in central part of Saudi Arabia), crossed the

Nejd Najd ( ar, نَجْدٌ, ), or the Nejd, forms the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population and, since the Emirate of Diriyah, acting as the base for all unification campaigns by the H ...

region (a region in central Saudi Arabia), proceeded to Medina, and then reached Mecca. In medieval Syria, the departure point for the pilgrims was Damascus. This ''Syrian route'' started from Damascus, and heading south, reached

Al-Karak Al-Karak ( ar, الكرك), is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of the Karak Governorate. ...

and then

Ma'an Ma'an ( ar, مَعان, Maʿān) is a city in southern Jordan, southwest of the capital Amman. It serves as the capital of the Ma'an Governorate. Its population was approximately 41,055 in 2015. Civilizations with the name of Ma'an have existe ...

(both are in present-day Jordan), crossed through Tabuk (a place in north-western Saudi Arabia), Hijr (now Mada'in Saleh ), and Al-'Ula (in north-western Saudi Arabia, 380 km north of Medina), then proceeded to Medina, and then reached Mecca.Al-Hariri Rifai (1990), p. 37 From the Umayyad period until Ottoman times, the town of

served as a market place for the pilgrims on the Syrian route. In the ''Egyptian route'', the pilgrims would gather in

, and after four days, start for the ground of Ajrud (24 kilometers northwest of Suez), and from there they would reach

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...

, and crossing the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...

through Al-Nakhl point, they would reach

Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...

(in south part of present-day Jordan), then traveling parallel to Red Sea, they reach

Yanbu Yanbu ( ar, ينبع, lit=Spring, translit=Yanbu'), also known simply as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Al Madinah Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at ). The population is 222,360 (2 ...

, then proceed to Medina, and finally reach Mecca.Peters (1994), p. 87 The hajj caravans would start their pilgrimage journey from there, traveled by land or sea and through deserts, and, after the performance of pilgrimage, return there. The total journey would take approximately two to three months on average. The pilgrimage to Mecca was mainly an overland journey using camels as a means of transport. Throughout the history, however, many distant pilgrims from

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

, the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, and Southeast Asia also had to use various sea routes to reach Hejaz. The '' Anis Al-Hujjaj'' is an illustrated account of a Hajj taken in 1677 by a member of the Mughal court. With other pilgrims, he crossed in a ship from Surat to Jeddah via

Mocha, Yemen Mokha ( ar, المُخا, al-Mukhā), also spelled Mocha, or Mukha, is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Until Aden and al Hudaydah eclipsed it in the 19th century, Mokha was the principal port for Yemen's capital, Sanaa. Long known fo ...

. Pilgrims from Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria, Libya) would travel through the lower coast of Mediterranean sea to reach and join the Cairo caravans. Some pilgrims coming from Africa would cross the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

to reach Hejaz, and then to Mecca.

Mahmal

Khalili Collection Hajj and Arts of Pilgrimage ARC

A mahmal was a ceremonial passenger-less

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups ...

that was carried on a camel among the pilgrim caravan each year from the 13th century to the mid-20th. It symbolised the political power of the sultans who sent it, demonstrating their custody of Islam's holy sites. Mahmals were sent from

, Damascus,

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

, Darfur, and the

Timurid Empire The Timurid Empire ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani (Chagatai language, Chagatai: کورگن, ''Küregen''; fa, , ''Gūrkāniyān''), was a PersianateB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006 Tu ...

in different periods. The arrival of a mahmal in Mecca was a significant occasion which local people and pilgrims came out to watch. Before entry to the city, the simple textiles which had covered the mahmal on its journey were replaced with the ''kiswah'': an ornate, colourful textile embroidered with verses from the Quran and the ''

tughra A tughra ( ota, طغرا, ṭuġrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted ...

'' (emblem) of the sponsoring sultan. Mahmals from different countries competed for the best position in front of the Kaaba. A mahmal returning from Mecca to its city of origin was regarded as carrying

barakah In Islam, ''Barakah'' or ''Baraka'' ( ar, بركة "blessing") is a blessing power, a kind of continuity of spiritual presence and revelation that begins with God and flows through that and those closest to God. Baraka can be found within physi ...

(blessing). As the procession returned, parents brought out their children to touch the mahmal, and people briefly put their handkerchiefs inside it.

Taxation on pilgrims

Khalili Collection Hajj and Arts of Pilgrimage mtw-0995

According to Ibn Jubayr, during the period of

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...

overlordship over the Hejaz, taxes were imposed on the pilgrims by the local rulers of Hejaz at the rate of seven and a half

gold dinar The gold dinar ( ar, ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهبي) is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Lat ...

per head. Those who were unable to pay them had to suffer extreme physical torture.Peters (1994), p. 109–10 However, imposing taxes on the pilgrims was considered illegal by the Islamic jurists. After

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

overthrew the Fatimid Caliphate around 1171 and established the Ayyubid dynasty, attempts were made by him to abolish the taxes on the pilgrims. Saladin's removal of illegal taxes was praised by Ibn Jubayr. Saladin's measures, however, proved insufficient, especially in later times, partly because there were other taxes (like taxes on hajj caravans or camels) and also because the administrative decisions, taken in Damascus or Cairo, were not easy to be applied effectively in Hejaz due to long distance. Some of the later Mamluk sultans – like Baybers and Hassan – made active attempts to control the Meccan local rulers from taxing the pilgrim caravans by compensating the Meccan rulers with annual allocation of a fixed sum of money. Al-Suyuti mentions that in the year 384 AH (around 994 CE), pilgrims who came from

, Syria, and

to perform hajj went back unsuccessful because they were not allowed to perform hajj without paying tax. Only Egyptian pilgrims performed hajj that year.

Bedouin security issues

Throughout the history of the hajj, the nomadic tribes of desert – known as Bedouin – have been a persistent security issue for the hajj caravans. They often used to attack the caravans – hajj or merchandise – that passed their territories. They had to be paid in exchange for the security of the hajj caravans.Peters (1994), pp. 159-60 The head of the regime would hand over the payment to the Amir al-Hajj – the commander in charge of the hajj caravans – who would then make the payments to the Bedouin according to the demands of the situation. Even then, there were occasional casualties. In 1757, a Bedouin tribe,

Bani Sakhr The Beni Sakhar confederacy is one of the largest and most influential tribal confederacies in Jordan. The Bani Sakher began migrating to Jordan as early as the 16th century and grew to become an influential tribe as by around the mid 18th century. ...

, attacked the hajj caravans that resulted in the death of many pilgrims, immediately and afterwards, as well as other casualties.

Trading activities

Throughout the history, the pilgrimage journey to Mecca had offered the pilgrims as well as the professional merchants the opportunity to conduct various merchandising activities both en route and in Mecca, Damascus, and Cairo. The exemption of customs on land and the security provided to the hajj caravans further made it a lucrative field for trading. Many pilgrims brought

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not t ...

, produced in their respective lands, in order to sell them, thus becoming an occasional trader, and managing some expenses for hajj trip.Peters (1994), p. 181 According to John Lewis Burckhardt, the Afghans brought coarse shawls, beads of stone, tooth-brush; the European Turks brought shoes, slippers, knit silk purse, embroidered items, and sweetmeats; the Anatolian Turks brought Angora shawls and carpet; the pilgrims of

brought cloaks made of wool. The professional businessmen conducted large-scale merchandising activities that included transportation of goods between Mecca and their own towns as well as sales alone the hajj route. The Indian and other Eastern goods, brought to Mecca by ships, were purchased by big merchants of Cairo and Damascus who, upon return, then sold them in their own markets. These goods generally included Indian textile, various spices,

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

, drugs, and precious stones.

Hajj certificates

From the 11th century to the early 20th century, pilgrims could obtain paper Hajj certificates which they would typically display in their homes. The earliest known certificates, from the 11th century, are purely calligraphic works. From the late 12th century onwards, they included depictions of the Kaaba and other holy sites, either hand-painted or woodblock printed. These are some of the earliest surviving figurative depictions of these sites. Over the years, the certificates became more colourful. Being distributed throughout the Muslim world by returning pilgrims, they were used as references for other artistic depictions of the holy sites. They served as maps and guides to the pilgrimage routes. Later certificates listed the rites that a pilgrim had performed at each location, and illustrated the locations in vertical sequence. By confirming the devotional activities of the pilgrim in the sight of Allah, the certificates were seen as a source of

(blessing), which was enhanced by them being made near the holy site of Mecca and bearing Quranic text. Certificates that survive include that of the 16th century Ottoman prince Mehmed.

References

Bibliography

* * Al-Suyuti, J. '' Tarikh al-Khulafa (History of the Caliphs)''. * * * * * * * * * {{Ottoman Hajj Routes History of Mecca Islamic pilgrimages