Hajj Duty
According to the news, this year around 1.4 million foreign pilgrims went to Mecca to perform their Hajj duty in Ka’be. Ka’be was the chief spiritual place of pre-Islamic tribes-people of Arabia. They singled out one particular local power as mostly believed the universe was animated innumerable spirits. Ka’be was the house of their 360 idols called Allah. Ka’be was a holy place for pilgrims for many cults and religions believing in spiritual powers (polydamensions).
Each cult had its own distinctive elements and natural features. They called each of these minor deities an “Allah”, “god.” Mecca was one of several major cultic sites over which such a chief deity ruled. There, a peculiar cubic of pilgrimage traffic associated with a lively caravan’s trade. The Ka’be remained an important symbol, as did the practice of pilgrimage, but Muhammad appropriated those aspects of tradition by underscoring their association with Abraham and Ishmael especially.
According to tradition, Abraham and his son Ishmael built (or perhaps rebuilt) a simple cube-like structure in what came to be the centre of the city of Mecca. During Muhammad’s time the Ka’be was a relatively small structure, about 4 metres tall, with a lack stone, the size of a bowling ball, of perhaps a meteoric origin built intone of its corners. Muslims believe the black stone was sent from heaven.
To empower Ka’be, Muhammad ordered Muslims to pray five times a day, according to the Five Pillars of Faith, they face the Ka’be – for a time Muslims faced the “Father Mosque in Jerusalem, where Muhammad met Allah, but then the orientation for prayers was changed by Muhammad to Ka’be–.
Rebuilt several times since Muhammad’s day, the Ka’be now stands about 13 metres high, which irregular sides ranging from 10 to 13 metres. During Muhammad’s lifetime, the building is said to have housed some 360 idols. In 630, Muhammad cleansed the Ka’be, and it has since remained empty except for some lamps – an act of vandalism which today would face a capital punishment for a non-Muslim–. The pilgrimage of Ka’be has since been associated with intensified hatred towards the non-Muslims.
Since then non-Muslims are prohibited from entering of holy Mecca. People not showing evidence of being Muslims will be denied entry. The Koran, 98:6, considers them “najis”, impure: “Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein; those are the worst of creatures.”
Ka’be is a symbol of divine presence derives largely from its association with the lives of Abraham and Muhammad. Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Ishmael. The myth is associated with the feast of sacrifice that happens once a year by slaughtering of millions of sheep on the last day of pilgrimage ceremony. Not only the sacrificial rituals, but also some of the rituals of Hajj are derived from the pre-Islamic traditions of pagans, who worshipped 360 idols in the same Ka’be. The kissing or blowing of a kiss toward the Black Stone while circling the Ka’be seven times belongs to them.
Hajj Duty and is one of the fives pillars of Islam and must be carried out by any Muslim who can afford to do so at least once in his or her lifetime. Millions of Muslims gathered each year in Mecca to perform Hajj Duty, through a 10-day pilgrimage they get the title “Hajji” meaning visitors of Ka’be. Hajji crowd during the week of pilgrimage perform a series of rituals. They mostly visit Medina, second home from the Prophet
Among the Hajji, there are routinely many Allah-certified elite Muslims like those of brutal Mullahs, corrupt Sheiks, lifetime presidents or kings who demagogically perform Hajj in order to be attracted by the prestige of good Muslims.
There is no official method to determine the income of Hajj for the oil-rich Kingdom of Arabia, but with the costs of stay, tour operators, hotels, souvenirs, service charges to guides and performing sacrifice… the obligatory pilgrimage (fard) indeed offers a big income. Besides the oil income, it is a big source of income for ruling Sheiks of Saudi Arabia.
Alone the commission of the oil-rich Kingdom of the effective Hajj industry would reach ca $18.6bn per year. Problems of an estimated ca 2 millions pilgrims to Mecca like visa, hotels, ethos of sacrifice, transportation, and accommodation in Saudi Arabia are performed by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affaires also provide the facility of entry visa for Muslims who are the only visitors authorised the entry of Mecca.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=638447&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Saudi_Arabia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaba
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