A Brief History of Holy Hajj - Islamic Overview

Prophet Ibrahim would come to Makkah to complete Hajj every year after making the Ka’bah. After his passing away, this practice was continued by his son. Still, slowly but surely with the passage of time, both the form and the goal of the Hajj rites were altered. As idolization spread throughout Arabia, the Ka’bah lost its cleanliness, and idols were placed inside it. Its walls were covered with poems and paintings, including one of Jesus and his mother Maryam, and eventually, over 360 statues came to be located around the Ka’bah.

At the time of hajj, the atmosphere around the holy boundaries of the Ka’bah was like a festival. Men and women would set out round the Ka’bah nakedly. Their request became devoid of all sincere celebration of Allah and was instead summary to a series of hand clapping, whistling, and the blowing of horns. In the name of God, sacrifices were also made However, the blood of the sacrificed animals was transferred onto the walls of the Ka’bah and the flesh was dropped from pillars around the Ka’bah, in the faith that Allah required the flesh and blood of these animals.

The Major Parts of the Holy Hajj Journey

The major parts of the whole Hajj event were singing, drinking, disloyalty and other acts of sin were rife amongst the pilgrims and the poetry competitions which were held during the Hajj event. In these competitions, poets would praise the bravery and splendor of their own tribesmen and tell exaggerated tales of the cowardice and miserliness of other tribes.

Competitions in generosity were also staged where the chief of each tribe would set up huge cauldrons and feed the pilgrims, only so that they could become well-known for their extreme generosity.

As a result, the people had totally neglected the teachings of their forefather and leader Prophet Ibrahim (A). The home that he had ready pure for the worship of Allah alone, had been totally dishonored by the pagans and the rites which he had established were completely indistinct by them. This sad state of affairs continued for almost two and a half thousand years. After this long time, the time came for the prayer of Prophet Ibrahim to be answered:

"Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own, who shall recite unto them your aayaat (verses) and instruct them in the book and the Wisdom and sanctify them. Verily you are the 'Azeezul-Hakeem the All-Mighty, the All-Wise."
{Surah Al-Baqarah, Verses no 129}

A man by the name of Muhammad ibn 'Abdullaah PBUH was born in the very city where Prophet Ibrahim had made this supplication century earlier. For twenty-three years, Prophet Muhammad PBUH spread the message of Tawheed and then the Ka’bah which once again became the worldwide center for the worshippers of the one True ALLAH(SWT).

The Prophet rid the Ka’bah not only of all its impurities, but he also re-established all the rites of Hajj which were established by Allah's Permission, in the time of Prophet Ibrahim. All indecent and shameful acts were strictly banned in Allah's statement:

There is to be no lewdness nor wrangles during Hajj.
[Surah al-Baqarah 197]

Competitions were also prohibited. Of course, the feeding of the poor pilgrims was still encouraged as this was done during the time of Prophet Ibrahim but Allah commanded that the slaughtering of the animals which was done for this purpose should be done seeking the pleasure of Allah rather than fame and the praise of the people. He said:

So mention the name of Allah over these animals when they are drawn up in lines. Then, when they are drawn on their sides [after the slaughter], eat thereof and feed the beggar who does not ask, and the beggar who asks."
[Surah al-Hajj]

As for the awful practice of covering blood of the sacrificed animals on the walls of the Ka’bah and hanging their flesh on alters, then Allah evidently learned them that:

It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is Taqwaa (piety) from you that reaches Him.[Surah al-Hajj]

The Prophet PBUH also put a stop to the practice of circling the Ka’bah in a state of nudity and the argument that the pagans put forward to justify this ritual was sharply rebutted in Allah's question:

Say: Who has forbidden the adornment [i.e. clothes] given by Allah which He has produced for His Slaves?[Surah al-A'raaf ]

Thus all the pre-Islamic practices, which were based on ignorance, were eliminated and Hajj was once more made a model of piety, fear of Allah, purity, simplicity, and austerity. Now, when the pilgrims reach the Ka’bah, they no longer find the carnivals and the frolic and frivolity that had once occupied the minds of the pilgrims there before. Now, there is the remembrance of Allah SWT at every step and every action, and every sacrifice was devoted to Him alone. It was this kind of Hajj that was worthy of the reward of paradise, as the Prophet PBUH said:

The reward for an accepted Hajj is nothing less than paradise.

May Allah grant us all the ability to visit His House and perform the Hajj in the manner of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Aameen.