Once a year, Muslims from around the world gather in Mecca, Saudi Arabia for a five-day pilgrimage called the hajj.
During the pilgrimage, men and women perform a series of religious rites and symbolic rituals as they seek God and ask for forgiveness from their sins.
As one of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj is required of every Muslim who is financially and physically able to make the journey. Many Muslims view their hajj experience as the spiritual highlight of their lives.
Read on to learn what Muslims do on each day of the hajj, and discover strategic ways to pray.
Day 1: Ritual Cleansing
The first ritual of the hajj involves washing and putting on plain white garments that symbolize a state of purity.
Then pilgrims make their way to Mecca’s most sacred mosque. Here they walk around the Kaaba, a cube-shaped building draped in black fabric. After circling the Kaaba seven times, they travel about five miles to the tent city of Mina. Many will spend the rest of the day in prayer.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
— Psalm 51:10
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
— James 4:8
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
— Matthew 7:7–8
Ways to Pray
- Pray that Muslims will cry out to God and ask Him to give them clean, pure hearts.
- Pray that pilgrims in Mecca will seek after God and find Him.
- Ask the Lord to reveal to Muslims that only Jesus Christ provides purification for sins so they can live righteous lives.
Day 2: Seeking Forgiveness
At dawn, pilgrims journey nine miles from Mina to Arafat. This is where Muhammad, whom Muslims revere as a prophet, gave his final sermon. Pilgrims spend the day praying to God for forgiveness of sins.
At sunset, they travel five miles to Muzdalifah, where they sleep under the stars. Along the way, pilgrims collect pebbles for the next day’s rituals.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
— 1 Peter 2:24
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
— 1 John 1:9
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
— Ephesians 1:7
Ways to Pray
- Pray for Muslims to encounter the Savior of the world who paid the price for their sins.
- Pray that their hearts will not rest until they discover the message of the Gospel, confess their sins, and receive Christ’s forgiveness and eternal grace.
- Ask God to give pilgrims in Mecca dreams and visions that point them to the truth of His Word.
Day 3: Stoning the Evil One
This is the longest day of the hajj. It’s also Eid al-Adha, the biggest Islamic celebration of the year.
Before dawn, pilgrims return to Mina. Here they throw seven pebbles at a large wall in a symbolic stoning of the devil.
According to tradition, this is the spot where God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son. The devil appeared and tried to tempt Abraham to disobey the Lord. Abraham responded by throwing stones at the devil.
After casting their stones, pilgrims sacrifice an animal or pay for it to be done on their behalf.
Then men cut their hair or shave their heads, and women trim their hair. They return to Mecca to circle the Kaaba seven times. After completing the day’s rites, they return to the tent city in Mina.
"Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God."
— Revelation 12:10
"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
— John 1:29
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
— Hebrews 10:14
Ways to Pray
- Ask God to reveal to Muslims that Christ alone has defeated the evil one and now offers them the free gift of salvation.
- Pray that pilgrims will have the chance to hear the message of the Gospel and begin to understand Jesus’ perfect work on the cross.
- Pray they will receive the perfect sacrifice of the true Lamb of God who died to forgive their sins.
Day 4: Renouncing Temptation
On the fourth and fifth days, pilgrims make their way to three walls in Mina and throw seven pebbles at each one.
These ritual stonings symbolize rebuking Satan. They also represent a renunciation of internal temptations and base desires.
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
— Romans 5:8
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
— Hebrews 12:1–2
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
— Galatians 5:1
Ways to Pray
- Thank the Lord for showing His love for us through Christ’s great sacrifice.
- Pray that Muslims will recognize their inability to cast off sin on their own and their need for the cross.
- Pray they will cry out to the Lord for Christ’s freedom and for deliverance from sin.
Day 5: Completing the Pilgrimage
On this final day, pilgrims complete one last symbolic stoning of the devil. Then they return to Mecca and perform a final circuit around the Kaaba.
Before returning home, many Muslims visit nearby historical sites such as Medina, the second holiest city in Islam and the location of Muhammad’s burial place.
According to the hadith, a revered collection of traditions and sayings, Muhammad said that people who complete the hajj return pure and free from sins.
Back in their home communities, returnees are welcomed with fanfare and celebration.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
— Ephesians 2:8–9
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
— John 3:16
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.
— Romans 3:23–25
Ways to Pray
- Pray for God to show Muslims that their works and rituals have no power to save them from sin.
- Ask the Lord to reveal to pilgrims in Mecca that salvation is a free gift to be received by faith in Jesus Christ.
- Pray that Muslims returning from the hajj will meet followers of Jesus who share the Gospel with love and boldness.