Special
rites of the Hajj take place between the 8th and 13th day of the
last month of the Muslim year and so we advise booking early. Our
ships ply the ports of the Muslim world for those who must travel
by sea. Once you reach Arabia, you will join a caravan of fellow
pilgrims for the journey to Mecca.
Only
the faithful may enter the holy city and participate in the many
ceremonies, which mark the Hajj. The culmination of the pilgrimage
will be your visit to the beautiful Great Mosque. Once inside, you
will see the Kaaba, where the sacred Black Stone sent from
Allah to the Prophet Abraham by the Angel Gabriel is found. This
is the stone to which you turn five times each day to pray. You
will circle the Kaaba seven times, reciting verses of the Holy Quran
as you do, and touch or kiss the stone itself to complete the ceremony.
These rites commemorate the trials and sacrifices of the Prophet
Abraham; his wife, Hagar; and their son the Prophet Ishmael.
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