Postcards From the Hajj: Pray Hard
On a hectic day at the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites, Diaa Hadid, a New York Times correspondent, felt a sudden call to prayer.
By ERICA BERENSTEIN, AINARA TIEFENTHÄLER and DIAA HADID on Publish Date September 11, 2016.Article: “What Muslims Do on Hajj, and Why”
Before Reading
What do you know about the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha? What do you know about the annual hajj pilgrimage, which ends just as Eid al-Adha is beginning?
Watch the video above, in which New York Times correspondent Diaa Hadad, who also wrote the article you are about to read, describes her experience at the hajj. What struck you the most about her description? Why?
Questions for Comprehension and Analysis
1. What is the basis for the expectation that Muslims should take part in the hajj at least once in their lives?
2. Why is stone throwing part of the hajj? What does this act represent?
3. What is the kaaba? What is the tawaf?
4. Why does the author say that Jamarat is a “notorious choke point for hajj crowds”? What happened last year during that ritual?
5. How are people expected to dress during the hajj? What are they expected to do to their hair afterward?
What Do You Think?
In the related Opinion essay “How to Celebrate Eid al-Adha Like an American,” Wajahat Ali points out that it was “not ideal timing” that the holiday fell this year so close to Sept. 11.
Mr. Ali writes:
On that horrific day 15 years ago, foreign Muslim extremists hijacked four planes and killed 2,996 people, and every day since then American Muslims have had to ask: What can I do to make you stop seeing me as a security threat?
Specifically, in my case, how can I, a dorky, brown, Muslim dude born in California and raised on Genesis and ’80s action movies, make you feel comfortable when you see me board a plane?
I guess one thing I could do is not celebrate a Muslim holiday on 9/11.
… Most communities rely on the tradition of sighting the new moon that signals the arrival of the holiday. This year it seemed, for a tense moment, that it would coincide with the anniversary of the attacks. One man wrote a letter to a New Jersey newspaper saying that if the holiday did fall on 9/11, we should just pretend it didn’t. “If we were to celebrate our Eid holiday on Sept. 11 this year, we might be mistaken for celebrating our nation’s tragedy,” he wrote.
On a group text with friends, we did ad hoc crisis management, drafted talking points and brainstormed non-Muslim allies who could talk about the holiday.
However, Saudi Arabia pre-empted controversy two weeks ago by declaring that the holiday would take place on Sept. 12. The decision coincided with the eventual sighting of the new moon, but it seemed as if the 9/12 decree was to avoid 9/11 overlap.
What do you think about the opinions expressed in this essay? Do you think it was a good idea to ensure that Eid did not overlap with Sept. 11? Why or why not?
Related Lesson Plan: “Growing Up in a Time of Fear: Confronting Stereotypes About Muslims and Countering Xenophobia”