Today, Islam which began in Arabia is the second most popular faith in the world, with an estimated 1.4 billion believers and growing everywhere in the world. The five pillars of Islam put their faith into action, provides the framework of a Muslim’s life, and weaves his beliefs into a single text of religious devotion. The five pillars are Shahadah, reciting the Muslim profession of faith; Salat, performing ritual prayers in the proper way five times a day; Zakat, paying an alms tax to feed the poor and the needy; Sawm, fasting during the months of Ramadan; and the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. Carrying out the five pillars demonstrates that the Muslim is putting his faith and not just trying to fit it in his secular life.

The Hajj is the highest of all Muslim practices and an obligation for every healthy Muslim man and woman and those with sufficient funds to undertake it at least once in their lives. The Hajj is important because it lets the believer come to the place which is the center of his faith and a place where divine revelations contained in Qu’ran first began. The Hajj is a contamination of what to Islam is the oldest and purest of religious rituals that were performed according to God’s will. For centuries, countless millions of men and women from all over the world have made this pilgrimage to Mecca. The economic, cultural, and political importance of this annual gathering cannot be calculated but its significance has made it the single largest expression of human mobility in both ancient and present times.

To the Muslim world, the Hajj is an opportunity for those of different nations to meet one another at a time when all distinctions of class and culture are set aside so that all stand equal before God. Such unity of faith is not expressed anywhere else in the world on such a grand scale as millions of Muslims come together each year to perform the Hajj, a moving spiritual experience that puts their faith into action, and their hearts into a relationship between them and Allah.