Why do people pilgrimage to Mecca?
The pilgrimage to Mecca, known in Arabic as the Hajj, is a sacrament that the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia calls “the most significant manifestation of Islamic faith and unity.”Early HistoryThe Qu’ran teaches that God commanded Ibrahim to journey to Mecca around 2,000 BC, and there to abandon his wife Haajar and infant son Ishmael, who were miraculously provided with water. Ibrahim built a a “Sacred House,” the Kaaba, on the site.Pre-Islamic TraditionThe Kaaba became a focus of pilgrimage, as taught in the Qu’ran: “And proclaim among men the Pilgrimage: they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every remote path” (22:27).Muhammad and the CleansingThe Kaaba fell into disrepair, but the Prophet Muhammad set the sacred Black Stone again into place, aided by regional tribes.
