Like every year, this year too the Hajj Pilgrims are all set to take their flight to offer their prayers at Mecca in Southern Arabia.
From the North Eastern states of India, a total of 3,594 people have booked their flight tickets this year. Among these, 3,515 are from Assam, 55 from Meghalaya, 22 from Nagaland, and 4 from Arunachal Pradesh. A total of 2,432 are male, whereas 1,162 are female.
Last year, a total of 2,371,675 Hajj Pilgrims had visited Mecca.
The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and can support their family during their absence.
The literal meaning of the word Hajj is heading to a place for the sake of visiting. In Islamic terminology, Hajj is a pilgrimage made to Kaaba, the "House of God", in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The rites of Hajj, which according to Islam go back to the time of Prophet Abraham who re-built Kaaba after it had been first built by Prophet Adam, are performed over five or six days, beginning on the eighth and ending on the thirteenth day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar.
The state of being physically and financially capable of performing the Hajj is called istita'ah, and a Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a mustati.
The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th (or in some cases 13th) of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the name given to the special spiritual state in which pilgrims wear two white sheets of seamless cloth and abstain from certain actions.
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