Assalamu Alaikum.

Everyone loves a good history lesson (assuming, of course, that it is not a history lesson, complete with class, books and boring teacher rattling of a whole lot of dates), especially if it’s about that epic journey that we all yearn to make: Hajj.

So, what is the history of Hajj?

Here’s an article which gives us a (brief, too brief) look at it:

[For those of you who are in Saudia Arabia (and hence cannot access Islam QA), I've pasted the article that is mentioned at the end about the History of Makkah right after this one.]

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http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/30897

The History of Hajj

I would like you to tell me about the history of Hajj and its rituals. For example, the Muslims perform saa’i, running between al-Safa and al-Marwah, which is what Haajar did. But with regard to the rest, I do not know their origins and I hope that you can tell me – such as the stoning of the Jamaraat, tawaaf, the standing at ‘Arafah, drinking the water of Zamzam, staying overnight in Mina and Muzdalifah, slaughtering the hadiy (sacrifice), etc. Thank you very much.

Praise be to Allaah.

One of the things on which there is scholarly consensus among all the Muslims, ancient and modern, past and present, is that Hajj or pilgrimage to the Sacred House of Allaah is one of the five pillars of Islam, as proven in al-Saheehayn from the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them both) and others.

It is well known that Hajj, like other acts of worship, involves special actions, and each of these actions must be done in the prescribed manner, such as entering ihraam from the meeqaat, tawaaf, saa’i between al-Safa and al-Marwah, standing in ‘Arafah, staying overnight in Muzdalifah, stoning the Jamaraat, slaughtering the sacrifice, and the other well-known actions of Hajj. All of these actions should be done in accordance with the teachings of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). There are very many ahaadeeth which describe the Hajj of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him); these have been compiled by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim in Zaad al-Ma’aad and by al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer in his book al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah; these scholars have also explained the rulings derived from these ahaadeeth. The Muslim should pay attention to learning these rulings and acting upon them.

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