why is hajj ?
There are many legends behind the rituals performed during Hajj. In short, the Hajis are reliving the live of Propet Ibrahim.alai and Allah has made it this way to reward all his sacrifices and pious nature. Ibrahim was not blessed with a child until he was 90 years old. Finally at his age of 90 he got a son and named him Ismail. Ismail was a son to him through his wife Hajara and later he got another son Ishaq through his wife Sara.
When Ismail was a small baby, Ibrahim got orders from Allah to leave him with his mother in a desert land. When he was about to complete his mission, Satan obstructed his way but he was strong in his belief of Allah. He left Hajara and Sara in the desert with some water and dates and left the place. When the water exhausted, the little baby was crying of thirst and so Hajara ran to the hillock Safa to see if there is any water around. Then she ran to the hillock half kilometer away named Marwa and climbed on it to search for water. She ran again and again seven times which is now performed by Hajis in the name of Sayee.
Finally God blessed little Ismail and water started to ooze out near his feet. They could quench their thirst through that. Due to the presence of water, the area became fertile and the desert came to be inhabited by many people due to that oasis. This well water came to be called Zam Zam water which will never deplete as long as this earth exists.
Soon Ibrahim reunited with his son Ismail and he got divine orders to rebuilt Kaaba. Both of them carried mud and stones in their hands and built Al-Kaaba. Kaaba means cube and since it was built in a rough cube shape it is called so. After Kaaba was built, Allah asked Ibrahim to call all the people in the world to perform Hajj. Ibrahim asked how would people here if he called. Allah said ‘to call is your work and to convey is my work’. So, Ibrahim stood on a stone named Makame Ibrahim and called all the people for Hajj. This Makame Ibrahim with his footprints is still seen near Kaaba.
His call was heard by all the souls on the earth and all the souls that were to be born. Those that answered him with Labbaik meaning coming got a chance and will get a chance to perform Hajj. Whoever said Labbaik many times will get a chance to perform Hajj many times in their life.
After sometime, Ibrahim had continuous dreams of sacrificing his son and understood this is the next divine order. When he said this matter to his child Ismail, he readily agreed to abide by the wishes of Allah. So he was taken to a place and tied his eyes and got ready to cut the throat of his son. But the knife turned blunt according to the orders of Allah and did not work. He got a message from heaven that a sheep was sent instead of his son to sacrifice. They happily sacrificed that sheep and it happened on the day of Eid Ul Alha or Bakrid. This incident is celebrated by all Muslims every year as Bakrid festival. The same sacrifice done along with some other rituals is called Hajj.
Prophet Muhammad.sal did his first and last Hajj when he was about to complete his mission, just a year before his death. He performed Hajj along with his friends starting on the 8th day of Zil Hajj in 9th year of Hijri. He delivered a sermon at that time insisting the importance of performing Hajj and asked all the people of the world to perform Hajj at least once in their lifetime. So, Hajj became the last duty among all five duties Kalima, prayer, fasting, Zakath and Hajj that were destined on every Muslim in this world.