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Hajji (; sometimes spelled Hajjeh, Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

who has successfully completed the Hajj to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Etymology

''Hajji'' is derived from the Arabic ' (), which is the active participle of the verb ' ('to make the pilgrimage'; ). The alternative form ' is derived from the name of the Hajj with the adjectival suffix -''ī'' (), and this was the form adopted by non-Arabic languages.

Use

''Hajji'' and its variant spellings are used as honorific titles for Muslims who have successfully completed the Hajj to

. In Arab countries, ' and ' (pronunciation varies by Arabic dialect) is a commonly used manner of addressing any older person respectfully if they have performed the pilgrimage. It is often used to refer to an elder, since it can take years to accumulate the wealth to fund the travel (particularly before commercial air travel), and in many Muslim societies to a respected man as an honorific title. The title is prefixed to a person's name; for example, Saif Gani becomes "''Hajji'' Saif Gani". In Malay-speaking countries, and are titles given to Muslim males and females respectively who have performed the pilgrimage. These are abbreviated as ''Hj.'' and ''Hjh.'' (in Indonesian, it is ''H.'' and ''Hj''.) In

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, the honorific title ''Hāj'' () is sometimes used for IRGC commanders, instead of the title '' Sardar'' ('General'), such as for Qasem Soleimani.

Other religions

The term was borrowed in Balkan Christian countries formerly under Ottoman rule (

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

), and are used for Christians who have travelled to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

s. In some areas the title has been fossilised as a

family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

, for example in the surnames common among Bosniaks such as Hadžić, Hadžiosmanović ('son of Hajji Osman') etc. In

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, the title is so prevalent that it has also been permanently integrated into some Greek Christian surnames, such as . This is due to Cyprus's long history of Christian and Muslim influence. The title has also been used in some Jewish communities to honor those who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem or other holy sites in Israel.

Ethnic slur

In the 21st century, American soldiers began using the term ''Haji'' as

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

for Iraqis, Afghans, or Arab people in general. It is used in the way " gook" or " Charlie" was used by U.S military personnel during the Vietnam War.

References

{{Reflist Islamic honorifics Titles of national or ethnic leadership

Etymology

Use

Other religions

Ethnic slur

See also

References