The Pilgrimage That Levels Its Pilgrims

The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim of means and health is to make once in a lifetime, the fifth Pillar of Islam, performed in the days of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Its rites re-enact and commemorate acts the tradition attributes to Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael: the seven circuits of the Kaaba (tawaf), the running between the hills of Safa and Marwa (sa'y) that recalls Hagar's search for water, the standing at Arafat, and the casting of stones at pillars representing the rejection of Satan. It closes with the sacrifice at the festival of Eid al-Adha.

A defining feature is the state of ihram the pilgrim enters, marked for men by two seamless white cloths that erase distinctions of wealth and rank, so that millions stand in identical dress. Malcolm X's account of that levelling made the point widely known outside Islam. The modern Hajj is also one of the largest managed gatherings on earth, drawing some two to three million people, and its logistics and safety have become a major responsibility of the Saudi state.