Dreamhost deal Mecca Pilgrimage 2010 - slideshow with music "To learn about a religion is to understand its people." Hajj ( Arabic : حج Ḥajj ) is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca , Saudi Arabia . It is currently the world's largest annual pilgrimage and is Islam's fifth pillar. This religious duty must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people and their submission to God ( Allah in the Arabic language). The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to the 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah , the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar . Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar Ihram is the name given to the particular state where Muslims live while on the pilgrimage. Used in the Western world, the Gregorian date of the Hajj changes from year to year. The Hajj is associated with the life of the Islamic
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." Martin Luther King Jr.