Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca)
الحج
The journey to the Sacred House at Mecca to perform prescribed rites, one of the five pillars; the Qur'an makes it a duty for those who are able to make the way there, and tells of the call to proclaim it to the people.
At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Global / Diaspora
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Sacred space and pilgrimageWorship and the pillars
Summary
"The hajj" is the journey to the Sacred House at Mecca to perform particular rites; it is one of Islam's five pillars 1. In the Qur'an: Al 'Imran 97, in which hajj is a right of God upon the people "for whoever can make a way to it".
In the Qur'an
Surat al-Hajj mentions the command to proclaim the hajj among people: al-Hajj 27. Another verse commands completing the hajj and the umra: al-Baqara 196.
In the hadith
What is not covered here
The hajj's rites, pillars and obligations, the difference between it and the umra, and the schools' disagreements will be added in a later batch from the fiqh and sira books. The Farewell Pilgrimage is treated in its own entry where found.
Connections
People and things also explored
Islam (the religion and the term)The shahadaSalah (the prescribed prayer)Fasting in RamadanZakat (obligatory alms)The five pillars of IslamArba'un 3 — Islam is built on fiveThe change of the qibla
Sources
- Sahih al-Bukhari, 8
- Sahih al-Bukhari, 50
- Tanzil Project, Qur'an text v1.1
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/practice/hajj/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.