Pilgrimage Experience and Consumption of Travel to the City of Makkah for Hajj Ritual

In modern society which, by definition is increasingly secular and culturally motivated, the Hajj is considered the culmination of each Muslim's religious duty and aspiration. It is stated in the Holy Qur'an, that every physically and financially able Muslim should make the Hajj to the Holy City of Makkah once in his or her lifetime. This paper explores what people do during their pilgrimage, providing a brief description of the principle rites and experiences and their meaning to an individual participants travelling from the USA. The paper will draw upon previously published literature as well as an analysis of findings from a quantitative study in which steps within the pilgrimage process were explored. These findings include participants’ descriptions of the significance and value of the experience which individual pilgrims face during travel to the holy city of Makkah. The results from the quantitative study indicated that the main motivations to attend the annual pilgrimage of Hajj were to fulfil religious obligation, spiritual enhancement and to follow teachings of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad


Introduction
The Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam: At least once in a lifetime, any Muslim who is able financially and physically to complete this journey must do so. Hajj takes place during the first days of the lunar month of Dhul-Hajjah, the 12th month of the Islamic year, and lasts for five days. Muslims from every part of the world assemble in Saudi Arabia to perform this unique form of worship. Leading authors (Nolan and Nolan, 1992;Smith, 1992;Raj, 2007) note how pilgrimage routes and experiences are increasingly becoming secularised, with their explicit promotion for tourism, leisure and cultural engagement. Despite this, in today's secular world the relationship between an individual and their belief can still play a major part in influencing an individual to visit religious sites. The visitation patterns depends on internal factors such as the individual's strength of religious belief. In the current literature, very limited research is available that explores the motivation and visitation patterns of individuals who are travelling mainly for religious purposes. The literature which is available does suggest that religion is a fundamental part of our life and culture in various different ways in the modern world (Hinnells, 1984;Raj, 2007;Usmani, 2001;Wolfe, 2000).
The Hajj is an obligatory once in a lifetime experience for those Muslims who can afford it, provided there is safety and security for travel and it leaves provision behind for dependent family, while away from home performing the Hajj. The Hajj constitutes a form of worship with the whole of the Muslim's being: with their body, mind and soul, with their time, possessions and the temporary sacrifice of all ordinary comforts and conveniences which a person normally enjoys. The person should assume for few days the condition of a pilgrim entirely at God's service and disposal. This paper will explore what people do during their pilgrimage, what the Hajj is actually like for an individual participant travelling from the USA. The paper will provide a brief description of the principle rites and experiences of Hajj and their meaning to an individual. Finally, the paper will present the findings millions of 'religious tourists' who fly in from all over the world, but also large numbers who converge upon Makkah from within Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries.
Leading authors such as Nolan and Nolan (1992) and Lefeuvre (1980) reflect on and question what Muslims do during their pilgrimage. Coming for Hajj from all parts of the globe (the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Australia etc.), as the pilgrims reach Makkah, they enter into a state of consecration known as Ihram. One takes on Ihram by expressing his or her intention to enter into that state, and putting on the pilgrim's dress (which is also called Ihram). The dress for male pilgrims is a garment unique to Hajj, which consists of two pieces of white, un-sewn cloth which cover the lower and upper parts of the body. Although no specific garment is prescribed for women, they also enter into Ihram wearing plain garments. The most important places to visit during the Hajj are Makkah where the first shrine was built and the Ka´aba stands, and Mina.
The Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah takes place during the 12th month of the Muslim calendar Dhul-Hijjah. It is the last of the five pillars of Islam, mentioned in the Qur´an. As outlined by Raj (2007), pilgrims perform different duties during the six days of Hajj. An important element for the acceptance of the Hajj by God is to take part in the assembly at Arafat, which is known as the 'Wuqoof of Arafat' -the stay in Arafat. Pilgrims stay at the plain of Arafat and then travel to Muzdalifah in order to collect pebbles -which should number forty-nine. These pebbles are important in order to stone the three pillars in Madinah. Stoning the pillars allows one to withstand evil and instead, to do Allah's will. On the last three days of the Hajj, pilgrims perform another ritual, the sacrifice of an animal in Mina. This ritual takes place in memory of the Prophet Abraham who should have sacrificed his son Ishmael. Raj (2003) mention that the final part of Hajj is held in Makkah. The pilgrims circle around the Ka´aba praying. This ritual is known as 'tawaf' and symbolises the unity of believers, God and humans. Pilgrims circle around the Ka´aba seven times in counter clockwise rotation.

The Ka'aba
When pilgrims first arrive at Makka, after they have found accommodation and taken care of physical necessities, their first obligation is to visit the Ka'aba and perform certain prescribed acts of worship following the example of the prophet Mohammed (peace be on him). The Ka'aba is an oblong stone building located approximately in the centre of the quadrangle of the Grand Mosque in the Holy City of Makkah. The front and back walls are 40 feet in Raj & Bozonelos Pilgrimage to Makkah for the Hajj ~ 39 ~ of primary research which was undertaken to analyse the experience of individual pilgrims during their travel to the holy city of Makkah.

Islam and its Acknowledgement by the Event Industry
People have traditionally accepted the celebration of special religious holy days, for example, in the Western world, Christmas and Easter are important. In addition, people participate in other festivities organised by their rulers. Kings and leaders for example, have often organised events as a way of controlling the public.
The Islamic religion represents about 22% of the world population, having approximately 1.5 billion adherents. Islam, therefore, is the second largest religion (Christianity is the most prominent with an estimated 2.1 billion followers) (Adherents, 2007), its adherents being called Muslims. They believe in their holy book the 'Qur´an' dictated by 'Allah' their God, through the Angel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) (Collinson, Miller, 1985;Brown 1986). Resulting from these beliefs, there are a number of religious festivals in the Islamic world which are celebrated annually. The main one, the holy month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Because the lunar calendar is shorter than the solar calendar, Islamic holidays are on a different date each year. In 2015, Ramadan begins at sundown on June 18th. Muslims celebrate two other annual holidays, 'Eid ul-Fitr' and 'Eid ul-Adha'. The end of Ramadan is celebrated as the Eid ul-Fitr, whereas Eid ul-Adha is celebrated when the 'Hajj' (pilgrimage) ends (Zaheer, 2007). These festivals are holy for Muslims and should be kept in mind when scheduling a major event involving adherents of the faith.
In relation to Islam, the event industry has to take cognisance of this established fact, particularly considering that the Islamic population is growing (Barrett and Johnson, 2002). This matter has implications not only for worship related time schedules but also food and drink which have to match to religious beliefs, behaviour and exposure to culture. While this advice relates in particular to the annual celebration of Ramadan, it also has implications for the other Islamic traditions.

Pilgrimage to Makkah (Hajj)
The Set in a silver surround in the east corner of the Ka'aba, some four feet above ground level, is the Black Stone. This sacred Stone, the focal point of the Hajj, is the only remnant of the shrine, which Abraham built when it was given to him by the angel Gabriel. The Stone (which may be of meteoric origin) is believed to date still further back, to the time of the first person, Adam.

The Ritual of Hajj
The Hajj is considered to be the culmination of each Muslim's religious duties and aspirations. It is stated in the Holy Qur'an, that every physically and financially able Muslim should make the Hajj to the Holy City of Makkah once in his or her lifetime. In the same year, the Prophet (peace be upon him) with 124,000 followers made the Hajj. This was the farewell Hajj for Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). In the same year, He delivered his last sermon to his followers on Mount Arafat. The Prophet (peace be upon him) stated that it is essential for pilgrims to be present at Arafat, and those who are present at Arafat have performed the Hajj. In addition He stated that even if a pilgrim arrived too late to perform the initial rites at the Grand mosque in Makkah, as long as he or she had taken part in the assembly at Arafat, the Hajj would be accepted by God.

Undertaking the Hajj
There are a number of essential Acts which must be avoided once a pilgrim enters into the state of Ihram and makes the intention (Niyah). He or she must avoid the following acts:  making marriage proposals or marriage contracts,  cutting hair,  clipping nails,  putting perfumes on their body after putting on the Ihram,  killing or hunting animals,  sexual intercourse,  shaving any parts of the body,  men must not wear any underwear or cover their heads or get in disputes.
The sole purpose of these prohibitions is to focus the individual's mind and body on the Hajj.

Intention (Niyah)
Once the pilgrim has made the intention to perform Umrah or Hajj, they need to say: Men should recite the Talbiya loudly once they are in the state of Ihram. They should keeping saying the Talbiya as often as possible during the whole journey. A woman should only raise her voice to the extent that only the person next to her can hear:

The Pilgrimage Route
To perform Hajj the pilgrims have to go through a number of stages during the six days ( Figure 1 illustrates  For the fourth, fifth and sixth day of hajj, pilgrims stay in Mina. After Dhuhr each day, they stone the three Jamaraat's, starting with the small Jamaraat and finishing with the large Jamarat. As can be seen, the festival of Hajj does not take place in a single area or city, it is spread over a number of towns and cities in Saudi Arabia. The pilgrims start their journey from Makkah on to Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat (approximately nine miles from Makkah) and vice versa over the six day period.

Methodology
Much of the primary research undertaken to date on the Hajj is highly qualitative and descriptive in nature. Because of this, it was decided to undertake research utilising a quantitative approach, in order to study and analyse the experience which individual pilgrims face during their travel to the holy city of Makkah. committee members through a phone call and followup personal visits. The survey was conducted on a random basis, during Friday prayer with a view to including as a many people of different ages and background as possible. Questionnaire administration was done for period of two weeks and a total of 250 valid responses were collected. These approaches (multiple sites, various days of survey and an established survey tool) were combined as suggested by Finn, Elliott-White and Walton (2000), in order to maximise the validity of the research. The research purpose and importance of respondent participation was explained prior to all interviews, to acquire 'informed consent'. This also served to persuade the participants of the value and credibility of the research (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2007). Appropriate assurances were made regarding confidentiality and anonymity as recommended by Bell (1993) and Blaxter, Hughes and Tight (1996). All interviewees were also asked for permission to record the dialogue.
In addition, secondary data were used through the study. Secondary research was undertaken in the form of a literature review of key theories and current related research. This took the form of researching books, journals, newspaper articles, online journals and the Internet. This was essential in developing awareness of the current state of knowledge on the subject and how the proposed research would add to what is already known (Gill & Johnson, 1991).

Findings and Discussions
The analysis of the data confirms that the Hajj is a unique event which takes place once a year. The individual pilgrims enjoy a wealth of experiences during their stay in Makkah and Madinah. Because the Hajj is such a large and long-standing event which takes place over a six day period, the Saudi Hajj ministry is greatly challenged to overcome the difficulties faced by the arrival of around 2.5 million people every year. Because the Hajj is such a unique moment for Muslims, the main purpose of the research was to analyse the experience of Hajj for individual participants travelling from the USA.
It was very difficult to capture data from Muslims living in Victorville, Claremont & Riverside, Southern California, USA. The pilgrim subjects were reluctant to share information, due to their complex political situation after 9/11. The relationship between Muslims and government in the USA has declined over the last decade. Therefore, the researchers needed to provide very clear assurances that the survey was being carried out to analyse facilities offered to pilgrims during the Hajj journey. The research was not carried out for the USA government or any other authority.
The analysis indicates that many people from the sample had not travelled to Makkah for Hajj from the USA over the last few decades. The ones who have are older Muslims and sheiks (leaders) or Imams Source: Hajj-pilgrims-path (2011) (prayer leaders in a Mosque). However, sufficient numbers were achieved to develop the findings presented in this paper.   The agent on arrival at the Makkah airport? 20% 60% 20%  Box 1 and 2 illustrate that pilgrims had moving and unique experiences. The Hajj has unique spiritual aspects, which bring together people from every part of the world, such an immense diversity of human beings. These visitors are from vastly different cultures and languages, yet, they form one community and perform the same acts of faith all devoted to the worship of their single creator. This point comes out very clear in the findings presented in Table 4, which suggests that the Hajj is not a tourist phenomenon for pilgrims, it is the journey of a lifetime for the individual pilgrim who visits Makkah and performs the prescribed rituals and prayers.    Table 4 provides clear experiential evidence of the journey to Makkah and Madinah, undertaken for one reason -to follow the footsteps of the beloved prophet Mohammed (PBUH). Therefore, one of the major reasons why a Muslim goes on pilgrimage is to pray in the holist mosques and the reward rises exponentially if the person offers Salat in Makkah (Masjid-e-haram), Madinah (Masid-e-nabawi) and Jerusalem (Masjid-e-Aqsa).

Conclusion
This paper has attempted to discuss, through research, why the Hajj is a fundamental part of the Muslim faith. Therefore, Hajj is not a tourist phenomenon. Instead, it is part of the Islamic faith for Muslim to perform the Hajj as stated in the Holy Qur'an and Hadiths. It is not like any other pilgrimage site in the world, where people go as both pilgrims and tourists. The people who go on Hajj feel unanimous in the view that nothing can quite prepare them for the sheer beauty of the experience and the overwhelming feeling of humility that overcomes them during the Hajj. It is clear from the above research that the Hajj is a very important element of the individual Muslim's faith. Those who perform the Hajj are not tourists, they are individuals who are carrying out religious acts and showing great humility and devotion during their pilgrimage.
The pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah is a unique spiritual experience, which brings together people from every part of the world from vastly different backgrounds to form one community performing the same faith and all devoted to the worship of their single creator.