Islamic Holidays or Holy Days
Jumma/Friday is the day of rest - The Islamic week has 7 days of which Jumma or Friday is the day of rest. It is the most important and sacred. Hence, it is also regarded as the day of assembly. This tradition was instituted by Prophet Muhammadwho claimed it to be a divine command. According to Islamic belief, Friday is the best day on which the sun rises. It is also the day on which Adam, the first man, was taken into Paradise and turned out of it. The day on which he repented and on which he died. And Islam believes, it will also be the day of judgement. Special prayers are performed on Friday.
Ramadam - is the most venerated month. Muslims are required to abstain from eating, drinking any liquid, and sexual intercourse during the daylight hours of this month. This is the month that Muslims ask for forgiveness of their sins and cleanse themselves.
Eid Al Fitr – marks the end of the month long fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Muslims invite others in their community to join in a small feast called iftar, consisting of dates and fruits as well as the traditional food of their culture. Celebration traditions include gifts exchange among family members, wearing beautiful new clothes the community prayer which are held in several locations in every city. One tradition among Indian Muslims in celebrating Eid Al Fitr, consists of making a sweet dessert, shirkhoma, which is a milky concoction with dates and nuts. After the morning Eid Prayer is completed, Muslims greet one another with three hugs or one hug depending on their cultural background, wishing each other Happy Eid.
Eid Ul Adha – (two months after Eid Al Fitr) Muslims honor when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, and at the final moment, Muslims believe that God sent down a lamb in his son’s place rewarding Abraham for his obedience. In remembrance of this, Muslims have lambs slaughtered and distribute the meat among the needy and family members. Muslims gather in large community halls for a special Eid prayer and greet one other after the prayer is complete. Most of the day is spent meeting relatives and enjoying the company of friends and family.
AL – Hajj - The word Hajj means repairing to a place for the sake of visit (al-qasd li-ziyarah), and in the terminology of the Islamic Shari’ah, it implies the repairing to Bait-Allah (the house of Allah) to observe the necessary devotion (iqamat-an-li-nusuk) Bait-Allah is one of the names by which the Ka’ba is called. The ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years and is symbolic of the lives of Abraham and Hagar. The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Over 2.5 million pilgrims came to Mecca in 2008 to perform the Hajj.
Preparation for Hajj – Pilgrims generally travel to Hajj in groups, as an expression of unity. They are brought to Mikat to prepare and change their clothing if they have not already done so. Men are required to dress only in the ihram, a garment consisting of two sheets of white unhemmed cloth, with the top draped over the torso and the bottom secured by a white sash plus a pair of sandals. Women are simply required to maintain their hijab – normal modest dress, which does not cover the hands or face. The Ihram is meant to show equality of all pilgrims in the eyes of God: that there is no difference between a prince and a pauper. Ihram is also symbolic for holy virtue and pardon from all past sins. A place designated for changing into Ihram is called a miqat with white changing tents. While wearing the Ihram, a pilgrim may not shave, clip their nails, wear perfume, swear or quarrel, have sexual relations, uproot or damage plants, cover the head for men, or the face and hands for women, marry, wear shoes over the ankles, perform any dishonest acts or carry weapons.
1. Umrah – Pilgrims perform the first Tawaf – Circumbulation of The Kaaba starting from the Black Stone. The pilgrims must circle the Kaaba seven times in a counter-clockwise direction. Trying to Kiss the Stone, touch the stone or point to the stone with their right hand. After the completion of Tawaf, all the pilgrims offer two Rakaat prayers at the Place of Abraham, a site inside the mosque that is near the Kaaba.
On the same day they perform sai by running back and forth seven times between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah It is believed that the Prophet Ibrahim was ordered by Allah to leave his wife Hagar and his infant son Ishmael alone in the desert. While he was gone, the child became thirsty, and Hagar ran back and forth seven times searching for water for her son. The baby cried and hit the ground with his foot (some versions of the story say that an angel scraped his foot or the tip of his wing along the ground), and water miraculously sprang forth. This source of water is today called the Well of Zamzam. The back and forth circuit of the pilgrims used to be in the open air, but is now entirely enclosed by the Masjid al-Haram mosque, and can be accessed via air-conditioned tunnels. Pilgrims are advised to walk the circuit, though two green pillars mark a short section of the path where they are allowed to run. As part of this ritual the pilgrims also drink water from the Zamzam well.
2. Arafat – Pilgrims go to Mina where they spend the night in prayer. Third day of Hajj – they leave Mina for Mt. Arafat and stand in contemplative vigil and pray and recite the Qur’an, near a hill from which Muhammad gave his last sermon, this hill is called Jabal Al Rahmah (The Hill of Forgiveness, Mount Arafat). This is known as Wuquf, considered the highlight of the Hajj. Pilgrims must spend the afternoon within a defined area on the plain of Arafat until after sunset. No specific rituals or prayers are required during the stay at Arafat, although many pilgrims spend time praying, and thinking about the course of their lives.
3. Muzdalifah – As soon as the sun sets, the pilgrims leave Arafat for Muzdalifah, an area between Arafat and Mina, where they gather pebbles for the next day’s ritual of the stoning of the Devil
4. Ramy al-Jamarat – At Mina the pilgrims throw stones to signify their defiance of the Devil. This symbolizes the trials experienced by Abraham while he decided whether to sacrifice his son as demanded by Allah. The Devil challenged him three times, and three times Abraham refused. Each wall symbolizes one of these refusals. All three jamarat represent the devil: the first and largest represents his temptation of Abraham against sacrificing Ishmael, the second represents the temptation of Abraham’s wife Hagar to induce her to stop him, and the third represents his temptation of Ishmael to avoid being sacrificed. He was rebuked each time, and the throwing of the stones symbolizes those rebukes. The stoning of the jamarat also represents the act of casting aside one’s low desires and wishes. When one focuses on them and the hatred for them, then one automatically focuses with complete attention upon one’s self.
5. Eid al-Adha – The pilgrims perform animal sacrifices, to symbolize God having mercy on Abraham and replacing his son with a ram, which Abraham then sacrificed. Traditionally pilgrims slaughtered animals themselves, or oversaw the slaughtering. Today many pilgrims buy a sacrifice voucher in Mecca before the greater Hajj begins, which allows an animal to be slaughtered in their name on the 10th without the pilgrim being physically present. Centralized butcher houses sacrifice a single sheep for each pilgrim, or a cow can represent the sacrifice of seven people. The meat is then packaged and given to charity and shipped to poor people around the world. At the same time as the sacrifices occur at Mecca, Muslims worldwide perform similar sacrifices, in a four day global festival called Eid al-Adha.
6. Tawaf az-Ziyarah – On this or the following day the pilgrims re-visit the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca for another tawaf around the Kaaba. This is called the Tawaf az-Ziyarah or Tawaf al-Ifadah, which symbolizes being in a hurry to respond to God and show love for Him, an obligatory part of the Hajj. On the afternoon of the 11th and again the following day the pilgrims must again throw seven pebbles at each of the three jamarat in Mina. Pilgrims must leave Mina for Mecca before sunset on the 12th. If they are unable to leave Mina before sunset, they must perform the stoning ritual again on the 13th before returning to Mecca.
7. Tawaf al-Wada – Before leaving Mecca, pilgrims perform a farewell tawaf.
8. Journey to Medina – Many pilgrims also travel to the city of Medina and the Mosque of the Prophet, which contains Muhammad‘s tomb and Riaz ul Jannah and also pay visit to Grave of Prophet’s Companion, Umhat ul Mominen and Ahle Bait in Jannat ul Baqi.
Al-Masjid al-Haram – “The Sacred Mosque” - is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims worldwide turn towards while offering daily prayers and is Islam’s holiest place. The mosque is also known as the Grand Mosque. The current structure covers an area of 356,800 square metres (88.2 acres) including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces and can accommodate up to four million Muslim worshippers during the Hajj period.
The Legend of the Black Stone - By the time of Muhammad, it was already associated with the Kaaba – a pre-Islamic shrine that was revered as a sacred sanctuary and a site of pilgrimage. The Kaaba marked the location where the sacred world intersected with the profane, and the embedded Black Stone was a symbol of this as an object that linked heaven and earth. Islamic tradition holds that the Stone fell from Heaven to show Adam and Eve where to build an altar, which became the first temple on Earth. Muslims believe that the stone was originally pure and dazzling white, but has since turned black because of the sins of the people. Adam’s altar and the stone were said to have been lost during Noah’s Flood and forgotten. Abraham was said to have later found the Black Stone at the original site of Adam’s altar when the angel Gabriel revealed it to him. Abraham ordered his son Ishmael to build a new temple, the Kaaba, in which to embed the Stone. In 602, before the first of Mohammed’s prophetic revelations, he was present in Mecca during a rebuilding of the Kaaba. The Black Stone plays an important role in the central ritual of the Hajj, when pilgrims must walk seven times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction. They attempt to kiss the Black Stone seven times, emulating the actions of Muhammad. Its black color is deemed to symbolize the essential spiritual virtue of detachment and poverty for God and the extinction of ego required to progress towards God. As Islam strictly prohibits idolatry, this practice has been justified theologically by emphasizing the Stone’s representative and symbolic nature and downplaying belief in the stone itself. Many Muslims pay their respects to the Stone in a spirit of trust in Muhammad, not with any inherent belief in the Stone. In recent years, however, literalist views of the Black Stone have become more popular. Some Muslims accept as literally true an allegorical hadith which asserts that “the Stone will appear on the Day of Judgement (Qiyamah) with eyes to see and a tongue to speak, and give evidence in favor of all who kissed it in true devotion, but speak out against whoever indulged in gossip or profane conversations during his circumambulation of the Kaaba”. Apart from the ritual role of the Black Stone, its black color is deemed to symbolize the essential spiritual virtue of detachment and poverty for God (faqr) and the extinction of ego required to progress towards God (qalb).
Mosque – is a place of worship for followers of Islam, literally means a place of prostration. There is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, masjids dedicated for daily five prayers and the larger masajid where the daily five prayers and the Friday congregation sermons are held. The mosque serves as a place where Muslims can come together for salat (prayer) as well as a center for information, education, and dispute settlement. The Imam leads the prayer. Many mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls. The prayer hall, also known as the musalla, has no furniture; chairs and pews are absent to allow as many worshipers as possible to line the room. Opposite the entrance to the prayer hall is the qiblah wall which should be set perpendicular to a line leading to Mecca and the Kaaba. Congregants pray in rows parallel to the qiblah wall and thus arrange themselves so they face Mecca. In the center of the qiblah wall is the mihrab, a niche or depression indicating the direction of Mecca. Sometimes a pulpit is located to the side of the mihrab for a sermon. The mihrab serves as the location where the imam leads the five daily prayers on a regular basis.
Gender separation - Islamic law requires men and women to be separated in the prayer hall ideally, the women must occupy the rows behind the men. Mohammed preferred women to pray at home rather than at a mosque although Mohammed told Muslims not to forbid women from entering mosques. The second caliph Umar prohibited women from attending mosques especially at night because he feared women may be teased by males, so he required them to pray at home. Many mosques today will put the women behind a barrier or partition or in another room against most Islamic beliefs. In nearly two-thirds of American mosques, women pray behind partitions or in separate areas, not in the main prayer hall; some mosques do not admit women at all due to the lack of space and the fact that some prayers, such as the Friday Jummah service/sermon, are mandatory for men but optional for women. Although there are sections exclusively for women and children. The Grand Mosque in Mecca is desegregated.
Dress – Islam requires that its adherents wear clothes that portray modesty. As a result, although many mosques will not enforce violations, both men and women when attending a mosque must adhere to these guidelines. Men are supposed to come to the mosque wearing loose and clean clothes that do not reveal the shape of the body. It is recommended that women loose clothing:
Burqa – (body covering) that covers to the wrists and ankles
Hijab – (head covering).
Tasbih Prayer Beads - consisting of 99 or 33 beads. Using Prayer Beads as a tool of meditation is as old as human history. Tasbih has profound physical, metaphysical and psychological effects on the practitioner. The Islamic Tasbih is similar to the Komboskini of the Greek Orthodox Church and the Rosary of the Roman Catholics. Buddhists and Hindus use the Japa Mala consisting of 27 beads, a divisor of 108. The Chinese Buddhists and Taoists use a 108-bead device called su-chu, which has three dividing beads, so the su-chu is divided into three parts of 36 each. In the 99-bead Islamic version, the tasbih consists of the nisane, a disc which separates 33 beads, the pul, a small bead that marks the seventh position, the imame, which is a long piece marking the beginning and the end of the tasbih, and the tepelik (ornamental tassel) at the top of the imame. Sometimes only 33 beads are used, in this case the tasbih is cycled three times to reach 99. In 33-bead tasbih’s, the nisane separates 11 beads and there is no pul. During the Prophet’s time, date stones, olive seeds and pebbles were used to make tasbih beads.
